Wang Ping stayed at the Su family residence that very night.
As for what he said to Madam Su… he simply stated the facts.
Why did Madam Su refuse to show even a hint of courtesy to the city’s prominent households and those constables? In Wang Ping’s eyes, this was actually a very practical issue.
The two sides were not on equal footing.
Whether it was the prominent households in the city or the constables of the county yamen, their fundamental goal was to gain both the person and her wealth; they wanted her money and her body.
Furthermore, there was one unavoidable fact—compared to Madam Su, both the prominent households and the constables held overwhelmingly dominant positions. Madam Su had no leverage over them. She could only drift with the current, and the most likely outcome was being discarded after her usefulness was exhausted.
This was the true reason for Madam Su’s attitude.
Although this lady rarely left the house, she had come from the Eastern Capital and possessed both discernment and worldly experience. She might entertain fantasies, but she would never deny reality.
Because of this, she was definitely able to see the difference between Wang Ping and the others.
“He is an orphan, his parents are deceased, he is all alone without children, and he has no background. He only possesses fairly decent talent and formidable martial arts.”
Inside the boudoir, Madam Su sat upright, her skirt neatly gathered.
She was well aware that with Chen Haoyan dead, she could certainly not keep her family properties. The only difference lay in how to sell them for a good price.
Therefore, the city’s prominent households were immediately ruled out.
Those people intended to chew her up and spit out the bones; selling to them would be a loss no matter what.
Next were those constables. These constables were not weak and similarly had deep roots in the county town. But precisely because of this, they all already had families of their own.
So selling to them wouldn’t lead to a much better outcome either.
As for those young constables without backgrounds, their strength was too poor to protect her at all. She wanted to sell to them, but they simply couldn’t afford it.
If Wang Ping hadn’t appeared, she had actually already made plans to choose the relatively friendliest constable, give him all the businesses, and then fight to keep this current mansion. After all, this was the first courtyard residence she had bought with her own efforts, and it was her final sentimental attachment.
However, Wang Ping appeared.
A young constable with no background, foundation, or wealth, yet possessing formidable martial prowess, outstanding talent, and a bright future.
The perfect buyer.
At the very least, better than the others. If she sold to Wang Ping, how much could one person spend? Although the medicinal food supplements needed for practicing martial arts were expensive, they wouldn’t completely drain her dry.
When the time came, besides the mansion, perhaps she could even retain a sum of money for living expenses, buying herself enough time to contact her main family in the capital.
Of course, in addition to this, Wang Ping had also promised not to act frivolously or disrespectfully toward her. Madam Su, however, didn’t believe it for a second, assuming Wang Ping was merely putting on an act to gain her trust. Anyway, she didn’t care anymore. As long as she didn’t end up with nothing, what did this bit of sacrifice matter?
Just as Madam Su was continuously pondering the future.
Thump, thump, thump…
Outside the boudoir, the steady sound of footsteps suddenly approached. It was a man’s voice. Madam Su instantly jolted awake, subconsciously looking up toward the door.
Immediately after, a voice came from outside.
“Madam has yet to retire for the night? Please rest assured, the persuaders from those prominent households in the city have all been sent away by me, and they will not return to harass Madam again.”
Wang Ping had been busy with this all day.
Since Madam Su had accepted him, driving away those malicious guests attempting to annex the Su family’s properties became his duty. He even got into a few fights for this very purpose.
But as things stood now, unless a martial artist at external perfection personally intervened, no one was his match. Not to mention, he was also cloaked in the authority of his official uniform.
“…..Madam?”
Seeing no response from inside the room for quite a while, Wang Ping furrowed his brow slightly and then gently pushed the door open. The bright moonlight instantly poured into the boudoir like flowing water.
Looking around, he saw a gentle woman sitting on the bed. Dressed in mourning clothes, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears, she resembled a blooming snow lotus with morning dew still clinging to the tips of its petals.
She just stared at him desolately, and after making eye contact, she closed her eyes as if resigning herself to her fate.
As if saying, “Do with me as you will.”
Seeing this, Wang Ping couldn’t help but shake his head. Not only did he not step into the boudoir, but he actually took a step back on his own accord. “Apologies, this Wang has offended Madam.”
“Please rest assured, Madam. Since I promised not to act out of line, I will not go back on my word.”
After speaking, he closed the door himself.
“I will be staying right next door to Madam. Call me anytime if you need anything.”
As his voice faded, Madam Su opened her eyes in astonishment, only to hear the sound of footsteps outside the door again—but they were fading away, and the figure was gone.
…………..
County Yamen, Stable.
After leaving Madam Su’s room, Wang Ping rushed back to the county yamen without a moment’s pause, leading his beloved curly-maned horse into the Su Family Mansion.
Of course, during the journey, he used his spiritual sense to investigate and ensure no one was following him.
Only then did he circulate his spiritual sense, employing some methods to relax the intestines and promote bowel movements, making the curly-maned horse excrete the small elixir bottles it had swallowed earlier.
Wang Ping dared not delay. After selecting the elixirs to consume tonight, he resealed the remaining ones and fed them back into the curly-maned horse’s stomach.
After finishing all this, he patted the horse’s neck. “You’ve suffered. Bear with it a little longer.”
“……Neigh!”
For some reason, Wang Ping always felt as if his horse had rolled its eyes at him, even snorting a few times. Its intelligence was much higher than when they first met.
Next, Wang Ping carefully cleaned up the scene and resettled the horse. Throughout the entire process, he spread his spiritual sense to ensure no one saw him. Only then did he return to his room, take out the elixirs, mix them with water, down them in one gulp, and continue digesting the medicinal power, feeling the physical transformation.
As for Madam Su, he had thrown her to the back of his mind long ago.
Joking aside, how could a woman compare to the exhilaration of practicing martial arts?
Besides, he truly hadn’t come for female charms. The martial arts in Chen Haoyan’s hands were his actual goal for this trip. How could he waste time on such matters?
Moreover, if Chen Haoyan really did secretly hoard any martial arts manuals, Madam Su was the person most likely to know where she hid them.
Under these circumstances, he couldn’t force things even more.
He had to boil the frog in warm water, take it slow.
Thus, the night passed silently.
………
The next morning, when Madam Su awoke from her slumber, she realized this was the most peaceful sleep she’d had in seven days, so much so that she had even woken up late.
Pushing the door open, Madam Su entered the courtyard, only to see a young, robust man wielding a long saber. As he walked and stepped, the saber light crisscrossed with a chilling aura. Every slash emitted a sharp whistling sound, occasionally intermingled with punches and kicks. The unified ringing of his sinews and bones made it seem as if a dragon and tiger followed in his wake.
Madam Su simply stared blankly at this scene.
Memories of the past surged into her mind, and for a moment, she was somewhat spellbound. Her fingers began to move unconsciously, following the changes in Wang Ping’s saber technique.
The Great Shun dynasty was founded on martial prowess.
Although she was a woman, having come from the capital and living in such a world that revered martial arts, how could she not be interested in it?
A long time ago, she too was a young girl who loved wielding sabers and staffs.
However, as the old saying goes, the poor study literature, the rich practice martial arts. Ever since she was kicked out of her home and forced to wander to foreign lands, she no longer had the conditions to practice.
The martial arts she had practiced were long abandoned.
Had it not been for this, given her talent back then, as long as she practiced diligently, she would have been perfectly capable of protecting her family businesses by herself, even if Chen Haoyan died.
Alas, the martial path has always been— if you don’t advance, you fall back.
After years without practice, her martial arts were far inferior to the past. Her constitution might still be very good, enough to live to a hundred, but it couldn’t sustain life-and-death combat.
Originally, after making money in Longxing County and acquiring her own properties, she had thought about picking up martial arts again. But that man’s appearance had destroyed all her visions.
“Chen Haoyan…” Madam Su gritted her teeth slightly.
When that bastard first approached her, he truly helped her out a lot. But it didn’t take long for him to lose patience and reveal his true colors.
Not only did he seize the businesses she had worked hard to build for years, but he also treated her as his exclusive property, locking her in this mansion. Aside from helping him calculate and manage the accounts, she had nothing else to do. Even the slightest dissatisfaction resulted in beatings, scoldings, and punishments, and she even had to take care of his daily life.
Thinking of this, Madam Su suddenly felt somewhat dejected.
Then she looked around, only to find that this massive courtyard—which she was so familiar with she could distinguish every flower and blade of grass—now filled her with an inexplicable anger.
But what saddened her even more was that in the next second, she almost instinctively restrained her anger, burying all her emotions at the bottom of her heart, standing blankly on the spot.
This feeling was like a canary trapped in a cage suddenly flapping its wings, only to find it couldn’t fly out, and being forced to land back where it started… It made sense; she was already a domesticated bird. How could she still dream of one day breaking out of the cage and flying into the sky?
Madam Su lowered her eyelids, her aura becoming increasingly desolate and broken.
“Madam?”
A soft call interrupted her sorrowful thoughts. Madam Su looked up, only to see that the young constable had stopped his saber practice at some point and walked up to her.
“Care to practice together?”
Wang Ping smiled faintly. “I noticed Madam’s finger movements just now; it seems you have also practiced martial arts. This saves me a lot of effort in persuading Madam.”
“Persuading me?” Madam Su frowned.
Wang Ping nodded. “I originally wanted to persuade Madam that, no matter what, you should practice some martial arts. After all, I can’t live in the mansion and protect Madam forever.”
“Therefore, it’s best if Madam also learns some martial arts. This way, Madam will have the ability to protect herself. In the future, even if I am not around, you will have the ability to defend yourself.”
As his words fell, Madam Su, for some unknown reason, suddenly recalled the day Chen Haoyan locked her in the courtyard. He seemed to have said something similar to her.
Except the content was the complete opposite.
“Why should a woman practice martial arts? If you ruin your body training, I wouldn’t be able to bring you out to meet people. Just stay at home obediently. Don’t worry, I will take good care of you.”
—Complete bullshit.
And now, another man was extending his hand to her. Yet he wasn’t telling her to stay home obediently, but to pick up the things she had once thrown away.
Madam Su couldn’t describe what she was feeling.
However, when memory and reality overlapped into a single image, she still instinctively took a step back, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
But before she could speak, Wang Ping acted first. A broad, thick, calloused hand forcefully grasped her fair, slender one. One was delicate, the other rough. The stark contrast in texture caused both their hands to tremble slightly.
Madam Su’s body instantly tensed up.
On the contrary, Wang Ping looked exactly as usual, seemingly finding nothing inappropriate. Instead, he spoke very seriously and sternly, “Madam, when practicing martial arts, one must not have distracting thoughts.”
“…….”
Madam Su’s normally snow-white cheeks instantly flushed crimson.
Following that, under Wang Ping’s forceful instructions, she submissively assumed the posture, stimulated her qi and blood, stretched her limbs, and began practicing martial arts in the courtyard.
I didn’t want to either, he forced me, I have no choice…
While trying hard to convince herself, Madam Su formed a seal with her ten fingers, pressing them against her flat lower abdomen like a lotus flower, her body relaxing unconsciously.
What Wang Ping taught was the 【Planting the Lotus in the Fire】 seal method. This seal technique was most suitable for beginners to learn. Madam Su practiced with great enjoyment, her qi and blood continuously circulating in cycles.
The color on her face grew deeper and deeper, and her whole body felt incredibly warm. During the process, Wang Ping also kept reaching out, guiding her on how to adjust the seal method.
This also made Madam Su’s cheeks even more flushed.
Because every time Wang Ping helped her adjust the seal, that thick hand would lightly brush past her lower abdomen, carrying an astonishing heat.
At this thought, Madam Su couldn’t help but squeeze her legs together tightly.
“It’s, it’s a bit hot…”
By the time Madam Su snapped back to reality, she was already dripping with fragrant sweat. She couldn’t help but steal a glance at Wang Ping, only to find him still staring straight ahead, looking completely focused.
Was it intentional, or accidental?
“Madam?”
Suddenly, Wang Ping frowned slightly and finally looked at Madam Su, an expression of dissatisfaction on his face. “Focus. The hand seal is messy, and the circulation of qi and blood is also wrong.”
Smack!
A slap, neither heavy nor light, landed right on Madam Su’s lower abdomen. In an instant, she felt as if an electric current surged through her entire body.
For a moment, Madam Su’s mind was in utter turmoil. She could only comfort herself with the thought that he knew martial arts and was young and robust; if he really wanted to do something, she was powerless to resist anyway.
Over the next three days, Wang Ping would guide Madam Su in her martial arts practice every single day. He was highly dedicated and responsible, often correcting her erroneous movements hand-in-hand.
In response, Madam Su tried hard to put up a resistance, only for it to be weaker with each attempt.
I can’t trust him…
She tried hard to recall the past, attempting to use Chen Haoyan’s example to convince herself not to be beguiled. But as soon as she snapped out of it, she saw Wang Ping’s face again.
“Madam, you may rest now.”
She saw the young constable bearing an amiable smile, praising her, “You have practiced exceedingly well. I imagine you won’t need my guidance from here on out.”
After saying that, he took a step back on his own accord.
In this instant, the warmth that had been within close reach for the past few days faded away. It actually made Madam Su unconsciously sway her body, almost taking a step forward of her own volition.
However, she caught herself in the next second.
Her originally flushed face instantly turned deathly pale. Driven by an emotion that was indistinguishable from shame or anger, the jade hairpin in her hair bun trembled.
This jade hairpin was a gift from Chen Haoyan.
She didn’t like it, yet she never dared to take it off, because taking it off every time would enrage Chen Haoyan. Like this mansion, it was a cage that trapped her.
“It’s a pity, though.”
Wang Ping’s voice once again interrupted her thoughts. “The martial arts I know are few. Archery requires immense strength, which isn’t convenient for Madam to learn for the time being. The saber technique was bestowed by the Imperial Court and cannot be taught to outsiders. I only have this little trick for strengthening the body to teach Madam. I hope Madam will not take offense.”
“…….Really?”
Hearing this, Madam Su was taken aback, blurting out subconsciously, “If that’s the case, Lord… during his lifetime, Chen Haoyan hid a few manuals in the butcher shop in the west of the city…”
“Hmm?” Wang Ping turned to look.
Only then did Madam Su realize what she had just said. Her exquisitely fair cheeks flushed crimson once more, looking stunningly beautiful beyond compare.
She then quickly explained:
“I-I’m only lending them to you to read temporarily, because you said you had no martial arts left to teach me… once, once you’ve learned them, you must come back and teach me.”
This sentence seemed perfectly fine, yet simultaneously riddled with problems.
Although she knew about those martial arts manuals, she had never considered telling anyone else.
She had originally planned to secretly retrieve them after securing her family properties, to see if she could practice them herself…
How did I become like this?
Thinking of this, Madam Su was thoroughly too ashamed to stay where she was. She couldn’t help but cover her face and walk away. But on her way, she saw the mourning hall where Chen Haoyan’s coffin rested.
Is it still resting in there?
Has it been seven days since his death? How many days are left until the official burial? She had been in a daze these past few days and surprisingly didn’t remember, unable to recall off the top of her head.
Forget it, it’s not important…