Volume 3, Chapter 351 – The Fake Young Miss Was Never an Obedient Daughter

Chi Xiyan lowered her gaze slightly, pulling her eyes away from Chi Jingwen’s face.

The depths of her eyes were dark as an abyss.

Chi Jingwen had already said what he said. In truth, there was no longer any need for her to keep probing.

She had long known the true nature of this old fox, yet even so, Chi Xiyan still felt a chill settle over her heart.

He could discard even his own flesh-and-blood daughter without a second thought. So what about Chi Xiyan, his adopted daughter?

Ha. To him, an adopted daughter was probably worth even less.

It was he who had rushed to forge that marriage alliance with the Song family in the first place. And now that they had already fallen out with Lingxiao Sword Sect, did he still intend to shamelessly offer up his own daughter to them?

Chi Xiyan bit down on her silver teeth. A desolate grief swelled in her chest, and beneath the cover of her sleeve, her nails drove deep into her palm.

After a long moment, she finally spoke in a quiet voice, “Father… are you teasing me…”

The young woman kept her head bowed, not daring to meet Chi Jingwen’s eyes.

Her red lips pressed tightly together, as though the words were difficult to say.

“These shameful things between women… do you really want your daughter to say them out loud?”

Chi Jingwen’s brow furrowed. “What shameful things between women?”

“Father…” Chi Xiyan’s voice thinned to near silence. “You said before… that you wouldn’t interfere in what happens between me and my little sister.”

“That kind of… embarrassing thing…”

Chi Jingwen froze on the spot.

Then his brow drew into a tight, tangled knot.

The Chi family head, who was always composed and rarely rattled, almost never wore such an exaggerated expression.

“Xiyan, you…” His cheek twitched, his brow rigid, and he raised a finger to point at her.

He had meant to scold her, but when the words reached his lips, he found he could not say them.

Because the things between Chi Xiyan and Chi Muxue were something he had tacitly permitted.

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He had not expected that the two girls would progress to this point so quickly.

Chi Jingwen pressed his fingers against his twitching eye and asked, “You dragged her into your room just for that?”

Chi Xiyan tucked her head down low, like a little hen pecking at grain.

“Muxue and I… it was our first taste. So we got a little carried away…”

Even Chi Xiyan herself could not have imagined she was capable of saying such things.

The shame nearly burst through the walls of her chest.

She felt as though her cheeks were being scorched by open flame.

But for Muxue’s sake, she had no choice but to force the words out.

Chi Jingwen stared at the girl before him. His brow twisted and then relaxed. He asked in a low, measured tone, “Then why so quickly?”

Chi Xiyan’s head sank even lower.

Was this the kind of thing a father could say to his own daughter?

“Muxue is delicate. So we only went a little way.”

Chi Jingwen pressed his fingers to his brow, his eyes clouded and unreadable.

After a moment, he said, “Have that girl train more, then.”

Chi Xiyan said, “Father, that is actually what I came to speak with you about.”

“These past few days, the Chi family has been plagued with trouble. I want to help Muxue accelerate her cultivation.”

Chi Jingwen frowned. “What are you thinking?”

“I want to find Muxue a teacher,” Chi Xiyan answered. “Someone to guide her into the path.”

Chi Jingwen asked again, “Have you already found a suitable candidate?”

“Yes.” Chi Xiyan said, “I met a sword cultivator in the northern part of the city some time ago. His name is Tai Mingzhi.”

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“His swordsmanship is solid. I believe he would be very well suited to teach Muxue.”

“Tai Mingzhi?” Chi Jingwen turned the name over in his mind. He had heard it before.

A wandering sword cultivator, if he recalled correctly. One with a decent reputation in Beihe Commandery.

“He is only in his twenties, if I remember rightly. He is of the same generation as you. Is it truly appropriate for him to be Muxue’s teacher?”

“Father.” Chi Xiyan said, “Whether someone is fit to be a teacher has nothing to do with age.”

“Tai Mingzhi is the most suitable candidate available right now.”

“And besides…” Chi Xiyan gave a faint, bitter smile. “We cannot simply leave Muxue without cultivation because we cannot find the perfect teacher. That would be a terrible waste of her talent.”

Chi Jingwen’s expression did not change. He continued, “Have you already spoken with him?”

“Yes, Father.” Chi Xiyan said, “We have already come to an agreement. I plan to bring Muxue to visit him shortly.”

Chi Jingwen’s brow lifted slightly. “So soon?”

“Every day we delay is an enormous waste of Muxue’s talent,” Chi Xiyan said. “Muxue is the future hope of the Chi family. We cannot afford a single misstep.”

“…” Chi Jingwen was silent for a moment. “Xiyan, I do not think there is such a rush.”

“Father, why not?” Chi Xiyan’s brow creased. “Muxue started later than others to begin with. If we delay further, we may miss her ideal window for cultivation.”

“Xiyan.” Chi Jingwen cut her off. “Even so, you must keep your priorities straight.”

“The Chi family is beset by troubles right now. What must be resolved first is the matter of Lingxiao Sword Sect.”

“As for finding Muxue a teacher, that can wait until after the situation with Lingxiao Sword Sect is settled.”

Chi Xiyan’s heart slowly sank. She gave Chi Jingwen a small bow. “Your daughter understands.”

Chi Jingwen smiled faintly. “I know. You have never disappointed me.”

Chi Xiyan exchanged a few more pleasantries with Chi Jingwen. Throughout, her manner was perfectly composed. Not a single trace of anything unusual showed on her face.

After a cup of tea’s time had passed, she rose and took her leave, departing from the study.

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Chi Jingwen watched Chi Xiyan go, his eyes following her until her figure disappeared from view. Then he let out a heavy sigh.

“Xiyan… just what has that girl fed you…”

Chi Jingwen knew that Chi Xiyan had been lying from the very beginning.

What he did not know was exactly how far things between Chi Xiyan and that girl had truly gone.

And had Chi Xiyan genuinely not noticed that something was wrong with that girl?

“That girl sabotaged the marriage alliance between the Chi and Song families. She stirred up conflict between Lingxiao Sword Sect and the Chi family… all of it aimed squarely at us.”

“If her true goal really is the wealth the Chi family holds… then once she has driven us to the brink, the force behind her should be close to making their appearance.”

“…” The thought sent a wave of exhaustion through him. Chi Jingwen closed his eyes.

A reincarnated holy figure. A sacred sword body.

Who could lay eyes on such a heaven-blessed genius and remain unmoved?

Chi Jingwen was no exception.

But Lu Guan’s death had woken him up completely.

Bait is something a hunter sets out deliberately to catch their prey.

No matter how beautiful bait may appear, it is false. It is dangerous.

. . .

Chi Xiyan left the Chi family head’s study.

She had not gone far when her slender brow gave an almost imperceptible lift.

Being watched again?

Whoever was surveilling her had a cultivation of at least the Fifth Realm. With spiritual consciousness alone, Chi Xiyan would have had a hard time detecting them.

But Chi Xiyan was an alchemist. Alchemists were not suited for battle, but they had no shortage of methods for keeping themselves alive.

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What concerned Chi Xiyan was not the person watching her. It was the fact that she was being watched at all.

Chi Jingwen had, after all, come to suspect her as well.

The warmth in Chi Xiyan’s heart cooled degree by degree, like a cold wind rising in the middle of June.

After turning the matter over carefully, she did not go directly back to find Chi Muxue. Instead, she returned first to her own courtyard and called for her maidservant, Luluo.

She wrote several brief letters and had Luluo deliver them to people outside.

Chi Xiyan knew that before any of these letters were sent, they would be copied and a duplicate delivered to Chi Jingwen’s study.

That was fine. The letters were written in cipher. Chi Jingwen would not be able to make anything of them in the short term.

And in any case, the arrangements that truly mattered had already been made long ago.

The more than ten years she had spent in the Chi family playing the role of the well-mannered young miss had never been just that.

She had never been Chi Jingwen’s obedient daughter.

Not once. Not ever.

. . .

Lu Zhuxin had been waiting quietly in the courtyard.

Chi Xiyan had said she would return quickly, but Lu Zhuxin waited for several hours without any sign of her.

Had she not been able to faintly sense Chi Xiyan’s presence still within the Chi residence through the formation, relying on her Eighth Realm cultivation, Lu Zhuxin might well have begun to wonder if Chi Xiyan had slipped away early.

It was not until nightfall, just as Lu Zhuxin was preparing to lie down and rest, that Chi Xiyan came in through the window, dressed in a close-fitted dark outfit.

“Sister?”

“Shh! Keep your voice down!” Chi Xiyan pressed a finger to Lu Zhuxin’s lips. “I am taking you out of here right now!”

“Father has never thought of you as his own daughter.”

“You cannot stay here any longer!”