Leng Feng asked curiously, "What is it?"
"You wouldn't understand, and there's no need for you to know." Pei Jingheng felt this matter was suspicious, and since it was of great importance to both him and Shen Mingshu, he couldn't let a blockhead like Leng Feng know about it.
They walked into the dilapidated courtyard and sat in the bare-walled living room.
Leng Feng leaned into his ear and whispered, "In this broken shack, surely they won't make us sleep on the floor tonight, right?"
Pei Jingheng shot him a sidelong glance and scolded him in a low voice, "You didn't complain about sleeping under the open sky while in the military camp; why are you acting so pampered now?"
Leng Feng pursed his lips and stood beside him, not daring to complain further.
Yun Niang went to prepare dinner. Shen Mingshu, having overheard their exchange, remained expressionless.
She raised her right hand and gave it a shake, the red cord swaying along with it. "How should I address you, Young Master?"
After spending the afternoon together, she still didn't know their names.
Pei Jingheng parted his thin lips: "Pei Jingheng."
Beside him, Leng Feng cupped his fists. "I am Leng Feng."
Shen Mingshu mimicked his gesture. "Shen Mingshu."
"Young Master Pei, I will be honest with you: this red thread was not tied on by me. It is a gift from the heavens."
Pei Jingheng frowned slightly. "What do you mean by a gift from the heavens?"
Shen Mingshu chuckled, her ears warming slightly at the thought of what she had to say next.
She rubbed her fingertips together and said slowly, "You and I are bound by a fated marriage; we are each other's destined ones. The moment we met, the red thread that had been hidden within our bodies manifested so that we might know and understand one another."
Leng Feng’s brow furrowed tightly as he finished listening. "Nonsense! How could you possibly be my master’s destined one? Are you just making things up to cling to him because you see his fine silks and robes?"
Pei Jingheng raised a hand. "Leng Feng, show some respect."
"Miss Shen, how can you prove what you say is true?"
"I cannot prove it for the moment." Shen Mingshu shrugged, her gaze falling on the jade-green ring on his finger. "But the person who gave you this Dharma Artifact can prove that my words are not false."
Pei Jingheng was silent for a moment, his thin, cool lips curling slightly. "Very well. Then I shall trouble Miss Shen to accompany me to see this person, so we may verify the truth of this matter."
Shen Mingshu asked, "Where is he?"
"Shengjing."
"Very well, then we shall go to Shengjing together." Shen Mingshu agreed immediately.
In her past life, she had cultivated at the Qingxu Sect in Shengjing. Now, she was actually quite eager to return and take a look.
The door was pushed open with great force. Yun Niang said with a grave expression, "No! You cannot go to Shengjing!"
She looked at Pei Jingheng and pleaded, "Young Master, my Shenshen must not go to Shengjing. If you have nothing else to attend to, please leave first thing tomorrow morning!"
Shen Mingshu looked at her, surprised. "Mother, why?"
"There is no 'why'! I will not allow you to go!" Yun Niang gripped her hand, urging her with maternal tenderness, "Just listen to your mother, won't you?"
Shen Mingshu whispered, "Is this about my biological mother?"
Yun Niang had not expected her to be so direct. Flustered and incoherent, she stammered, "Shenshen, I didn't mean... no, this servant did not intend to hide it from you, Miss..."
She went to kneel, but Shen Mingshu pulled her up firmly.
"Do not call yourself a servant. You raised me; you are my mother."
Shen Mingshu sat her down and addressed Pei Jingheng, "I must ask you both to step out for a moment."
Pei Jingheng rose immediately, taking Leng Feng out into the courtyard.
He had noticed earlier that although Shen Mingshu was thin, her features were exquisite—nothing like Yun Niang's. He hadn't expected they were truly not mother and daughter by blood.
Shen Mingshu squeezed Yun Niang’s hand and said in a calm tone, "Actually, I wanted to ask you about my birth mother last night, but I was too tired."
"I have already divined that my biological mother is dead and my biological father is still alive. Do you know how she died, or where he is?"
Remembering the past, Yun Niang could not hold back her tears. "Miss..."
"Mother, you can just keep calling me Shenshen."
Yun Niang choked back a sob and sighed before recounting the past: "Your mother was the legitimate daughter of the Estate of the Duke of Dingguo in Shengjing, and she married into the Anping Marquis Estate as the Marchioness."
"Not long after entering the estate, she became pregnant with you. From that moment on, her health failed day by day. Her face turned as pale as paper..."
"Perhaps because her health was so poor, a premature birth was imminent. I accidentally overheard a conversation between the Marquis and the midwife; he actually wanted the child to die in the womb, and for your mother to die as well! I told your mother, and she... she actually cut her own belly open and told me to take you out!"
"I was useless; I couldn't save her. I could only hold you, still in your swaddling clothes, and flee Shengjing overnight. We hid all the way until we reached this remote Huaihua Village."
Upon hearing this, a cold, piercing malice swept through Shen Mingshu’s beautiful phoenix eyes.
A Yin-Ultimate Body was one in ten thousand; it would normally make the mother stronger to ensure the child was born safely. The Marquis of Anping wanting both mother and child dead meant he had clearly harbored malicious intent long before, which was why her mother’s health had failed during pregnancy. He simply hadn't counted on her mother carrying a Yin-Ultimate Body, which had allowed her to hold on until the premature birth.
"Shenshen, that is why you must never return to Shengjing. If the Marquis discovers you, he will surely kill you!" Yun Niang pleaded, her eyes rimmed with red.
Shen Mingshu patted her hand and asked softly, "While my mother was pregnant with me, did the Anping Marquis Estate have any dealings with a Mystic Master?"
Yun Niang nodded. "They did. They said it was to check the feng shui of the estate and to renovate a courtyard to better suit your mother's pregnancy."
A dark glint flashed in Shen Mingshu’s eyes as she said coldly, "Mother, I suspect they have known we were living here all along."
Yun Niang was startled. "How could they possibly know?"
Shen Mingshu’s eyes narrowed, her clear, crisp voice hiding a streak of killing intent: "There is an array in this courtyard called the Yin-Gathering Array. It is specifically prepared for my Yin-Ultimate Body. If a Mystic Master saw my mother back then, he would certainly have known she was carrying a child with that body."
"So, he followed us all the way here and set up the Yin-Gathering Array in our yard."
As for why they hadn't killed her and Yun Niang outright, it was clearly because the party involved was interested in her Yin-Ultimate Body.
Yun Niang said nervously, "Doesn't that mean we have been living right under the nose of the Anping Marquis Estate all this time?"
Shen Mingshu nodded. "That is why we must return to Shengjing—to avenge my mother and settle the score for this Yin-Gathering Array."
"Very well, we shall go back!" Yun Niang took her hands and looked her over. "Shenshen, what is this 'Yin-Ultimate Body' you speak of?"
Shen Mingshu said gently, "The Yin-Ultimate Body and the Yang-Ultimate Body are the temperaments most suited for being a Mystic Master. I am already a Mystic Master now."
In the courtyard, Pei Jingheng and Leng Feng had heard every word clearly; the wooden door offered little soundproofing.
Pei Jingheng stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the full moon hanging in the pitch-black night. The Yin-Ultimate Body was clearly an omen of misfortune, yet she claimed it made her suited to be a Mystic Master...
Beside him, Leng Feng suddenly leaped onto the courtyard wall, looking down at the person huddled by the gate and peeking in. "Who are you? Sneaking about and spying!"
The sword in his hand glinted coldly. Mother Zhang looked up and was so terrified she sat down on the ground, begging for mercy, "Spare me, brave warrior! I only came to look for Yun Niang!"