Shen Lingzhen felt both joy and worry, reasoning that even Huo Shuyi didn’t know the truth about Huo Liuxing’s legs, let alone the servants in the mansion aside from Jingmo and Kongqing. To practice so openly at the training grounds—if Huo Liuxing inadvertently exposed himself during his movements, wouldn’t the gains fail to make up for the losses?

She called out to Huo Liuxing: “My lord, in any case I’ve already seen your skills in Bianjing. Since it’s inconvenient for you to exert yourself now, there’s no need to force yourself too much for my selfish desires.”

“I’m not forcing myself.” Huo Liuxing seemed somewhat displeased. “Such a small matter doesn’t require me to force myself.”

Kongqing’s eyelid twitched.

Although with the lord’s capabilities, handling such a small matter was indeed more than sufficient, since “holding the favor over her” was already enough to secure the young mistress’s loyalty, why go to this extra trouble?

Moreover, looking at the lord’s disgruntled expression, he seemed positively goaded. How was it that now he no longer suspected the young mistress of playing hard to get?

Shen Lingzhen’s eyes suddenly brightened: “I have a perfect solution. My lord, do you know that my father acquired a private residence for me in Qingyang? That residence is currently completely empty. Why don’t we go there? It would also be convenient for my lord to ‘display your prowess.'”

Huo Liuxing naturally knew of this matter. Moreover, because he had previously harbored much suspicion toward Shen Lingzhen, he had long since sent Jingmo to investigate. Indeed, as Shen Lingzhen said, no servants had been installed inside—it was just an empty residence.

Although he had temporarily set aside his doubts about Shen Lingzhen now, behind her stood the two branches of the Shen family, as well as the imperial family. The people involved had positions that overlapped yet weren’t entirely the same. Being able to openly explore the Shen family residence again wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Huo Liuxing agreed.

Having removed her worries, Shen Lingzhen was quite excited. To match this good mood, she specially changed into a bright goose-yellow silk dress and suggested that Huo Liuxing bring along his sword so she could feast her eyes.

Thinking that the sword might be slightly different from what she had seen before and close inspection could expose him, Huo Liuxing originally didn’t want to take it out from its dusty storage. He had planned merely to sit in the wheelchair and show off a few moves, letting her see his ability to pierce a willow leaf at a hundred paces. But reconsidering, these past two days he had Jingmo thoroughly investigate everyone in the mansion up and down, yet remained completely clueless about the true identity of her benefactor. Since she said she had seen that person’s skills in Bianjing, perhaps risking a display of swordsmanship before her might reveal something.

The two thus went to the Shen residence in the eastern part of Qingyang city.

Although Shen Lingzhen trusted Jianjia and Bailu, she knew that Huo Liuxing kept his private matters concealed even from his own servants, so he naturally might not trust them as she did. She found an excuse to have the two remain on guard outside the mansion.

Huo Liuxing gave Jingmo a meaningful look, signaling him to patrol the surroundings for danger, leaving only Kongqing nearby to push Shen Lingzhen’s wheelchair.

This residence, like the Huo mansion, had three courtyards, yet the atmosphere was completely different. It was neither as luxurious as the Duke’s mansion nor as austere as the Huo mansion, but rather possessed the delicate refinement of small bridges over flowing water. Willows lined the paths providing shade, green bamboo grew luxuriantly, and in the distance a pond of lotuses waited in bud—everywhere one looked was vitality.

Since entering the residence, Shen Lingzhen had worn an expression of “meeting too late to cherish.”

Huo Liuxing glanced at her: “This place looks better than home?”

Shen Lingzhen was staring absently at a single outstanding lotus by the pond’s edge. Not immediately realizing anything wrong with this question, she honestly nodded without even looking at him.

Huo Liuxing made an “oh” sound: “The Duke is truly thoughtful, finding such a secluded paradise in Qingyang. If you’re bullied by me at the Huo mansion, you can leave whenever you want—you have a place to shelter.”

Shen Lingzhen’s expression froze as she restrained her delight: “My lord, please don’t misunderstand. Father meant no offense. Since I married into the Huo mansion, I’m a person of the Huo family. How could I possibly leave whenever I want?”

Huo Liuxing nodded: “That’s also true. If I truly intended to bully you, even if you had a hundred Shen residences, you still couldn’t find shelter.”

Shen Lingzhen’s face paled. In the next moment, however, Huo Liuxing was already smiling with tender affection: “I’m joking with you. How are you still so easily frightened?”

She looked at him reproachfully.

Huo Liuxing jerked his chin: “Want to go look by the pond?”

She nodded, then hesitantly looked at the wheelchair beneath her: “But it seems rather inconvenient.”

Huo Liuxing glanced at Jingmo in the distance. After he nodded slightly, Huo Liuxing braced his knees and stood: “Get down. I’ll support you.”

Kongqing voluntarily stepped aside.

Shen Lingzhen’s foot—moving a few steps presented no major problem now. Huo Liuxing placed one hand over her right shoulder and supported her left arm with the other, leading her step by small step toward the pond’s edge.

She freed one hand and pointed ahead: “My lord, I want that lotus. Can you pick it for me?”

These hands of Huo Liuxing’s had gripped knives, wielded spears, and killed people, but truly had never plucked flowers.

He cleared his throat softly: “You really want it?”

Shen Lingzhen detected his discomfort and softly said “ah”: “Then it’s fine not to…”

He sighed: “Wait here.”

Huo Liuxing released her, went to the pond’s edge and crouched down. He extended his hand, then withdrew it. He extended his hand again, gesturing and measuring, as if truly at a loss for where to break the stem. Finally, under Shen Lingzhen’s urging, he frowned and pinched hard, handing her this pond’s first blooming lotus along with a section of its stem.

He said: “I thought you were someone who cherished flowers.”

Shen Lingzhen nodded: “But this residence sits empty. If I don’t pick it today, no one will come to admire it in the future. In the end, it will just wither alone anyway. There’s a saying: ‘When flowers bloom and can be plucked, pluck them straight away; don’t wait until there are no flowers to pluck empty branches.'”

Huo Liuxing neither agreed nor disagreed.

Having looked at the flower, Shen Lingzhen asked: “My lord, when will you perform sword techniques for me to see?”

Huo Liuxing helped her back into the wheelchair, then extended his hand backward. Kongqing immediately handed over his sword.

Shen Lingzhen glanced at that sword inlaid with eighteen bodhi beads and asked curiously: “I’ve always been curious—why does my lord inlay Buddhist prayer beads on a sword?”

Many people in Daqi revered Buddhism. It wasn’t strange that Huo Liuxing often studied scriptures. But Buddhist teachings emphasized compassion and mercy, while swords were fundamentally bloodthirsty, vicious weapons. Wasn’t this self-contradictory?

Huo Liuxing smiled faintly: “The swordsmith said I carried too much murderous aura and should use Buddha to suppress it.”

“Then my lord’s scripture reading isn’t because you believe in Buddhism, but only to cultivate yourself and nurture your Buddhist nature?”

He nodded, smiling as he stared into her innocent eyes, lowering his voice: “After all, I’ve killed too many people.”

On this midsummer day, Shen Lingzhen suddenly shivered despite the warmth, stammering: “My lord’s killing… killing people was also to defend home and country. That’s… understandable…”

Huo Liuxing smiled: “But what if I didn’t kill people to defend home and country?” After asking, he suddenly glanced at Jingmo standing guard nearby, then casually looked toward the base of the wall, telling Shen Lingzhen: “Close your eyes.”

This command came so abruptly that Shen Lingzhen didn’t react in time, staring blankly as he flipped his palm, drew the sword from its sheath, then threw it backhanded.

The sword light was sharp. With a “pfft” sound of penetrating flesh, a person dressed as a young servant tumbled down from the wall with a “thud.”

The sword firmly pierced through his arm, pinning him solidly to the ground.

Amid his earth-shaking screams, Huo Liuxing walked forward with hands clasped behind his back, bent down and asked with a smile: “What benefits did our unwilling-to-give-up prince offer you?”

The servant gritted his teeth convulsively, mumbling a few words from his mouth: “My… my lord, this humble one is not…”

“No matter if you don’t speak—I’m not particularly interested anyway. Master and servant for a time—I’ll send you on your way.” Huo Liuxing smiled, crouched down and gently gripped his neck, giving it an easy, skillful twist.

With a “crack,” the convulsing servant’s head lolled to the side, completely losing all life.

Throughout this entire process, Shen Lingzhen forgot to close her eyes. Only now did she belatedly break out in goosebumps, her back breaking out in a cold sweat that dripped profusely.

That swordsmith was right—Huo Liuxing was fundamentally not the gentle-as-jade person she had thought him to be when they first met.

He recited the world’s most compassionate Buddhist teachings, yet when killing people didn’t even blink an eye.

If he was jade, then it was the “jade” in “jade-faced asura.”

——

After such an incident, Shen Lingzhen naturally lost all interest in touring the residence, following Huo Liuxing home in a daze.

At first she had thought that servant was someone her father had stationed at the Shen residence. Later, hearing Huo Liuxing’s phrase “master and servant,” then looking more carefully at the indigo coarse hemp clothing on the servant’s body, she recognized him as a Huo mansion servant.

It seemed that although Zhao Xun had left, he was unwilling to give up and had bribed a Huo mansion servant. This servant had probably been waiting for an opportunity to act all day. Discovering something suspicious, he had stealthily followed them here.

Shen Lingzhen suddenly thought that with Huo Liuxing’s capabilities, he couldn’t have been unaware someone was following him. Deliberately allowing this servant to enter was perhaps only to lure the snake from its hole so he could eliminate it swiftly.

What Zhao Xun could think of, he could certainly think of as well. That being the case, how could he tolerate the existence of a spy in the mansion?

Arriving at the Huo mansion gates, Shen Lingzhen still hadn’t recovered. When Huo Liuxing moved to help her down from the carriage, she shuddered all over and avoided his hand: “My lord hasn’t washed his hands yet…”

This time was somewhat different from the previous two occasions. The previous two times she had seen him kill, both had been hasty battles between two sides. First, she couldn’t see the details clearly; second, it was fundamentally a kill-or-be-killed situation, so using lethal force was reasonable. But this time, his technique of smilingly breaking someone’s neck and his ruthless determination in punishing a traitor had truly startled her.

Although she could understand his difficult position, recalling it still made her secretly apprehensive.

Huo Liuxing helplessly lowered his hand: “I reminded you to close your eyes.”

She felt somewhat wronged: “How could I have such quick reflexes? My lord should have proactively covered my eyes…”

He sighed: “Fine, my consideration was insufficient.”

Seeing him admit fault, she softened: “It’s alright. My lord’s elimination of enemies takes priority.”

Huo Liuxing laughed: “Then since eliminating enemies prevented me from performing sword techniques, shall I demonstrate again for you?”

Shen Lingzhen shook her head: “I’ve already witnessed my lord’s exceptional martial skills. They’re truly just as extraordinary as that time in Bianjing.”

“The same? I don’t recall what sword technique I used at that time.” Huo Liuxing narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze on her.

“Wasn’t it exactly today’s sword technique?” She gestured timidly with retracting hands and feet: “Like this, flip; like this, draw; like this, throw backhanded… Though last time you were more vicious—one sword thrust and you skewered a person’s head…”

Huo Liuxing’s brow gradually furrowed.

To say this technique of piercing through the skull with one blade was unique under heaven would be presumptuous, but it should at least be extremely rare.

Even this was identical to his own—how truly strange.

While he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard Shen Lingzhen say tremulously: “My lord, now that I also know your secret, you won’t really bully me in the future, will you?”

Huo Liuxing came back to his senses: “What, are you also going to betray me?”

Shen Lingzhen shook her head rapidly: “I will definitely share honor and disgrace with my lord and keep your secret sealed tight.”

“Mm,” Huo Liuxing nodded, smiling as he gently rubbed her neck. “You’re so well-behaved, of course I won’t bully you.”