Volume 3, Chapter 317 – Keep the Peace?

[Host, shall System 03 retrieve the conquest progress for your Heaven-Mandated Woman, Chi Xiyan?]

The system’s flat, toneless electronic voice surfaced in Lu Zhuxin’s mind.

Tch. This thing.

Lu Zhuxin let out a quiet, irritated click of her tongue inwardly.

Unlike Ming Zhaoxi, this system never wore its feelings on its face. But the timing of its appearance was suspicious enough that Lu Zhuxin was fairly certain it was gloating.

“No need,” Lu Zhuxin said. “I have my own read on the situation.”

“Chi Xiyan measures everything by profit and worth. Once you understand that about her, it’s not hard to figure out what she’s thinking.”

“Weigh the gains. Count the losses.”

“She simply made the choice that offered her the most value.”

“Ha…” A cold smile crossed Lu Zhuxin’s lips. “Since she enjoys calculating value so much, I’m curious what expression she’ll be wearing when all her scheming amounts to nothing in the end.”

[It seems the Host already has a plan for how to handle Chi Xiyan.]

[Then, what about Bu Lianshuang? Would the Host like System 03 to check Bu Lianshuang’s current favorability rating?]

Lu Zhuxin’s chest tightened slightly.

“Funny. What exactly is your relationship with Bu Lianshuang? How does she always end up getting dragged into the conversation?”

[Based on the Host’s current conquest priority order, 03 asked about Chi Xiyan first. After receiving the Host’s response, 03 then moved to the next priority, Bu Lianshuang.]

[The Host’s accusation is therefore without basis.]

[Does the Host have any further questions at this time?]

Tch…

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Airtight as ever.

As for Bu Lianshuang. Well. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that little she-wolf.

Lu Zhuxin reined in the scattered thoughts the system had stirred up and turned her attention back to Chi Xiyan.

She raised a hand and pressed it lightly to her own chest.

“Sister… I don’t remember what happened before.”

“Nothing you’ve told me feels real to me yet.”

“If Sister says it was only a misunderstanding, a mix-up, then of course I believe you.”

Lu Zhuxin looked at Chi Xiyan with a sweet smile on her face.

Looking at her like that, so agreeable and well-behaved, Chi Xiyan felt a twinge of guilt.

But when she thought of the situation the Chi family was in, she knew they had no other options.

And besides, this was also the will of the Chi family head.

A shadow passed through Chi Xiyan’s eyes.

Knock knock. A rap at the door came from outside the room.

“Miss, are you in there?”

It was Luluo’s voice.

Chi Xiyan frowned and strode to the door, pulling it open.

“What is it?”

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Luluo’s face was taut with anxiety. “Miss, Qingshan… something may have really happened to Qingshan…”

As she spoke, Luluo produced a strip of pale blue gauze stained with blood and held it out to Chi Xiyan.

The moment Chi Xiyan saw it, her gaze went cold.

Clinging to the gauze was a faint but unmistakable trace of sharp, cutting energy.

As a sword cultivator, no one would fail to recognize that aura.

“Lingxiao sword qi…”

Behind Chi Xiyan, Lu Zhuxin watched her back, the corner of her mouth curving upward ever so slightly.

Just wait and see, Chi Xiyan. This is only the beginning.

I want to see exactly how much you can stomach.

Chi Xiyan stared at the gauze for a long moment before finally reaching out and closing her fingers around it.

“Where was this found?”

Luluo answered, “Right outside… right outside the young master’s courtyard…”

“…” Chi Xiyan was quiet for a moment. “I see. You may go for now.”

Luluo looked taken aback. “But Miss, what about Qingshan?”

“Keep people searching,” Chi Xiyan said. “Find her first. Alive or dead, I need to know. As for anything else…”

“We’ll talk once she’s found.”

Luluo bit down on her lip and gave a firm nod.

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By midday, the Chi Family Grand Mansion’s main hall.

Chi Jingwen tapped his fingers lightly against a tea cup that had long since gone cold, listening to the reports of the household staff.

His brow was drawn tight.

Before long, Lingxiao Sword Sect’s Lu Guan arrived with Song Shutao and a sizable group of Lingxiao disciples, sweeping into the hall with no small amount of presence.

“Family Head Chi. A full night has passed. Has the Chi family finished looking into the events of last night?”

Chi Jingwen’s face betrayed nothing. “Elder Lu need not be in such a rush. I have already uncovered some leads.”

Lu Guan said, “If leads have already been found, then what is the Chi family head still dragging his feet for?”

“A moment longer,” Chi Jingwen said, smoothing his beard. “Not everyone has arrived yet. Once they have, I will explain everything to you in full.”

Lu Guan looked at Chi Jingwen and let out a cold laugh. “Then let us hope the Chi family has a satisfying answer to give Lingxiao Sword Sect.”

Song Shutao followed just behind Lu Guan, head down, not a word passing her lips from start to finish.

Shortly after, Chi Xiyan walked in with Lu Zhuxin at her side.

She found Song Shutao in the crowd, and her gaze sharpened like a blade.

Song Shutao felt the weight of that look. She glanced up at Chi Xiyan once, then turned her eyes away with a complicated expression.

Song Shutao did not know how to face Chi Xiyan.

She had spent the entire previous night turning it over in her mind. The marks on her own hands were not faked. It was possible she had truly wronged the other family’s younger sister.

And on top of that, Chi Muxue was a once-in-a-millennium talent for the Chi family. This was no small grudge to have made.

Song Shutao had not told Lingxiao Sword Sect about Chi Muxue’s Sword Dao Sacred Body.

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She could not say it. Did not dare to.

She had no idea how to even begin handling any of this.

For someone who had spent her life rarely stepping out of her own doors, this entire situation was well beyond what her mind could work through.

Chi Xiyan noticed Song Shutao look away, and something unreadable shifted in her eyes.

There was something she could not make sense of. She had examined Chi Muxue’s body the previous night. There were no signs that she had been violated by a man.

And if Song Shixuan had truly assaulted Chi Muxue, the aphrodisiac in her body would not have been left for Chi Xiyan to deal with.

Lu Guan spotted Chi Xiyan, then glanced at Lu Zhuxin beside her.

“Family Head Chi, now that everyone is present, perhaps you can share the results of the Chi family’s investigation?”

“Or shall we start by asking the person at the center of all this?”

“Yesterday I requested that the second young miss be examined, to determine whether she had truly been assaulted. Your eldest young miss refused me.”

“One wonders whether the eldest young miss was deliberately concealing something.”

Chi Xiyan’s gaze cooled at those words.

She spoke with steady composure. “Elder Lu has misunderstood. I had no intention of concealing anything.”

“Last night, I was worried about my sister’s wellbeing. I acted on impulse and said things that were out of line.”

Lu Guan looked at her and let out a dismissive snort.

Chi Xiyan kept her eyes lowered and said nothing.

Lu Guan then turned to Chi Jingwen. “Family Head Chi, since the eldest young miss herself says so, does that not confirm that last night’s incident was indeed nothing more than a misunderstanding, and has nothing to do with Lingxiao Sword Sect?”