My game even includes ancient times

Having grown up in the most filthy environment, he naturally knew how much such words could hurt a woman, let alone when they were directed at Xia Yuan, who treated him like family.

For a moment, He Shi even felt an urge to draw his sword and kill someone.

"Junior brother, why did you hit him?" In the few hours since she met Steward Chang, Xia Yuan's eyes revealed a genuine smile for the first time. "Your sword was stained with that stinking blood for no reason."

As she spoke, she handed He Shi a handkerchief: "Quickly wipe yourself."

He Shi took it and slowly wiped away a trace of blood from the scabbard.

Prefect Zheng glanced at the expressionless He Shi, then at Xia Yuan with a smile on her lips, and couldn't help but think to himself, "These two siblings are really ruthless. The Chu family has gained another remarkable talent."

When Xia Yuan arrived from the manor, she brought several capable members of the manor with her. At this moment, two of them stepped forward, grabbed the steward who was lying on the ground like a dead dog, and dragged him away.

Xia Yuan bowed to Prefect Zheng, still smiling graciously and appropriately, as if the extremely vicious curses from before weren't directed at her.

"Lord Zheng, today's matter is settled. Thank you for coming to uphold justice. The place is in chaos now. In order not to delay our departure tomorrow, Xia Yuan will not entertain you any longer. I will definitely visit your residence with generous gifts another day."

Prefect Zheng laughed heartily: "Miss Xia, you are too kind. I have a deep friendship with Master Chu, and I regard you as my own nephew. We are all family, so why speak of separate matters? Do not worry about it, go and do your work."

Xia Yuan bowed gracefully: "Thank you, Lord Zheng. I'll see you off."

She led Prefect Zheng into the carriage, watched him walk away, and then turned and walked towards the warehouse.

The guards who were watching the warehouse today were already kneeling on the ground. Xia Yuan casually glanced over them and said in a low voice, "Replace them all. Send two people to take them back to the manor, along with Chang Dong, and hand them over to the manor lord for disposal."

"Oh, right," she said as if she had just remembered something, and instructed the villagers who were about to make their move, "Remember to sever Chang Dong's tendons in his hands and feet. He's quite skilled; you're no match for him."

The group agreed in unison and then dispersed to attend to their own tasks.

Xia Yuan bent down slightly, keeping her gaze level with He Shi's, and asked him with a smile, "Junior Brother, what exactly happened to you in the past day and night? How did you end up in such a disheveled state?"

She pulled He Shi along, walking towards the carriage parked to the side, saying as they went, "It's almost noon. Let's find a place to eat first, and you can tell me about it while we eat, okay?"

He Shi nodded: "Okay, Senior Sister, I want to eat braised beef."

As he spoke, he subtly glanced at the empty space behind him out of the corner of his eye.

Only when an unseen hand gently patted his shoulder did He Shi raise the corners of his mouth slightly, turn around with relief, and follow Xia Yuan into the carriage.

At the same restaurant where Steward Chang hosted a banquet for He Shi, He Shi and Xia Yuan sat in a private room for their meal.

He Shi erased He Yu's existence, embellished his experiences during this period, and told Xia Yuan about them.

"So that's it."

Xia Yuan nodded thoughtfully and put a piece of braised beef into his bowl.

He Shi asked curiously, "Senior Sister, do you know who's chasing Lu Zhuo and the others?"

"Based on your description, they should all be assassins from Moyunlou."

Xia Yuan swallowed the beef in her mouth and commented, "Hmm, it's not as good as the chef in the village."

He Shi had been with the Chu family for more than half a year and had gained some understanding of the various forces, large and small, in the martial arts world.

The Moyun Tower is internally divided into the Yun Tower and the Mo Tower. The Yun Tower deals in intelligence trading, while the Mo Tower specializes in assassination. These two professions are the most hated.

More than eighty years ago, the headquarters of Moyun Tower was suddenly besieged by nearly half of the forces in the martial arts world and was almost wiped out. The then-leader of the tower fled to Suoyuan with the remnants of his troops. Several years later, he returned to the dynasty with not only a large number of troops, but also a large amount of gold and silver to rebuild Moyun Tower.

Learning from past lessons, the owner built identical Moyun Towers in every state across the country. The owner and the core assassins and intelligence personnel within the towers were randomly stationed in different branches to prevent being wiped out again.

Over the following decades, they gradually built more branches, eventually reaching a scale where almost every major city has a branch.

"The green-clad man wielding twin swords you mentioned is one of the top experts in their Mo Lou, codenamed Twin Moons." Xia Yuan lowered her eyes in thought. "Who would want to kill a disciple of the Hualing Sword Palace? They're really bold. Mo Yun Lou daring to take this job is no small feat either..."

He Shi stopped talking about his own affairs and instead asked how the matter of Steward Chang would be handled.

When the topic turned to Steward Chang, Xia Yuan smiled and said, "This time he really crossed Master's bottom line. No matter what, Master will not let him off the hook."

He Shi nodded, and after a moment of silence, he continued to ask, "Senior Sister, when that old scoundrel Chang slandered and insulted you like that, I even thought of just chopping off his head, but you remained calm. Aren't you angry?"

Even his heartbeat remained unchanged, steady and calm from beginning to end.

Xia Yuan used her bamboo chopsticks to remove the scallions covering the steamed fish and said casually, "It's just a loser barking; it's not worth my attention."

She picked up the fattest piece of meat from the fish's belly and gave it to He Shi, then suddenly laughed: "But he wasn't entirely wrong. I was indeed a woman who was divorced by her husband's family."

He Shi was taken aback.

“I have a congenital illness and cannot have children.” Xia Yuan’s tone was indifferent, as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with her. “He married me for the sake of the sect’s interests. He said he didn’t care about offspring, but in private he kept three concubines, hoping that they could give birth to one of them to carry on his family line.”

He Shi frowned: "And then?"

"Then, a woman actually got pregnant, and before the child was even born, he couldn't wait to write me a letter of divorce."

He Shi felt a lump in his throat, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he coldly uttered two words: "Scumbag."

Xia Yuan patted his shoulder with a smile: "Junior Brother, don't be sad for me. After I left, that damned sect fell into ruin long ago. Now, I don't know where he is begging with his wife and children."

“Oh, why am I explaining this to a child like you in such detail? The feelings between elders are very complicated. You’ll understand when you grow up.”

Xia Yuan served He Shi food again: "Eat quickly, eat quickly. After you finish eating, you still need to help your senior sister replace those old grains, sand, stones, and wooden sticks. You'll be busy today."