Outside the Shen Medical Hall.

Shen Shanhu and a few of her girls had been waiting outside for a while, but had not gone in immediately.

They exchanged glances, seeming a little uncertain.

“Miss, maybe we should just slip in quietly.”

One of the girls advised her, “Even though we’ve come all this way, if we walk in directly, it might be a bit… a bit awkward.”

Another girl also chimed in, “That’s right, showing up like this out of nowhere would make things embarrassing.”

Shen Shanhu shook her head. “There’s nothing awkward about it. I’ve already made my decision. If he’s alright, we’ll go back to Yanzhou together. If something’s happened to him, I’ll stay here and the rest of you can return to Yanzhou.”

The girls all refused.

“Miss, wherever you go, we go.”

“Without you there’d be no us. You’ve never abandoned us, so we could never leave you alone in Youzhou.”

Shen Shanhu took a deep breath and nodded. “We’ll talk about all that later. Wait outside for me — I’ll go in alone.”

She stepped forward.

The moment she walked through the door she stopped short. She saw at a glance that several people were standing in the main hall — clearly waiting for her.

Because she had seen all of them before, just two days ago at the roadside tea stall.

“First, allow me to apologize, miss.”

Yu Jiuling stepped forward with a bow. “We deceived you the day before yesterday, which is why we find ourselves meeting like this today.”

The moment Shen Shanhu laid eyes on Yu Jiuling, her own eyes went wide.

Seeing Yu Jiuling made her angrier than seeing her worst enemy.

This rotten, good-for-nothing wretch — he had given her nonsensical directions that sent her and her girls on nearly an hour-long detour through nowhere.

And then it was him again, deliberately leading them in circles around Youzhou until their legs nearly gave out.

“You little—!”

Shen Shanhu, never one to hold back, lunged forward and grabbed for his collar.

Yu Jiuling immediately jumped back. “There’s a perfectly good explanation — please, miss, stay calm for a moment.”

Then he ducked behind Li Chi.

Seeing him dodge, Shen Shanhu instantly kicked out at him — only to find, to her surprise, that he moved impossibly fast. So fast that even she hadn’t fully reacted before the kick sailed through empty air, missing by the narrowest margin.

Li Chi glanced at Yu Jiuling, cowering behind him, with a look that said everything — Yu Jiuling truly was a loyal and devoted comrade.

Li Chi cupped his hands. “Miss, you—”

He hadn’t even finished speaking before Shen Shanhu swung an open palm straight at his face. “You think because you’re good-looking I won’t hit you?!”

Yu Jiuling thought to himself — lucky I got out of the way fast. This girl really has no mercy.

But then a thought struck him. What exactly did she mean by that?

*You think because you’re good-looking I won’t hit you?*

What the hell — was she calling someone ugly?

This girl truly had no mercy.

Li Chi stepped back, and the slap swept past his face so close it sent his hair flying.

Li Chi said, “If you’ll allow me one word—”

He had barely spoken before Shen Shanhu’s second slap came flying.

Xiahou Yili frowned and stepped forward, catching Shen Shanhu’s wrist.

Shen Shanhu glanced at her. “Out of my way, young lady — I’m going to hit these con artists!”

Xiahou Yili said, “Can you not always be so quick to resort to hitting people?”

Shen Shanhu raised an eyebrow. “What, do you also think that just because you’re good-looking, I won’t hit you?”

Xiahou Yili had been a little annoyed — but hearing that, somehow her irritation faded.

Yu Jiuling’s annoyance grew instead.

Xiahou Yili said, “Tell me first how they deceived you. I’ll listen carefully, and if what you say makes sense, there’s no need for you to do anything — I’ll deal with them myself.”

Shen Shanhu said, “These people tricked us two days ago, making us walk in circles all around Youzhou until we were half dead.”

Li Chi said, “Miss, if you want to hit someone simply because they led you on a roundabout walk that was exhausting, it’s really not worth it. Hear me out — once I explain everything else, you’ll understand that the extra walking was actually… not worth mentioning at all.”

Yu Jiuling added, “Exactly. Once you hear the rest of it, you’ll probably want to kill us — hitting us will seem far too mild.”

Li Chi: “…”

Shen Shanhu frowned. “What else did you deceive me about?”

Li Chi said, “As for our identities — this man isn’t actually a coachman, that was a disguise. And I’m not actually an innkeeper, that was also a disguise. And the tea stall owner you were drinking tea at two days ago was also a disguise.”

Shen Shanhu’s eyes went wide. She stared at Li Chi in fury. “All of it was fake?! You already knew who I was, you knew why I’d come to Youzhou, so you all put on a performance together to deceive me?!”

Li Chi said, “We had, in truth, guessed at it.”

Shen Shanhu demanded, “What else was fake?!”

Li Chi explained, “Well… regarding General Xiahou’s injuries — what you overheard two days ago — that was also fabricated.”

Shen Shanhu went still.

She had been burning with fury only a moment before, but upon learning that Xiahou Zuo’s injuries were also a fiction, the anger suddenly deflated considerably.

She even felt a quiet, unspoken sense of relief — a faint, almost imperceptible lightness.

But of course, she could not let any of that show, because she was supposed to be angry right now.

So she demanded, “This is fake, that is fake — even General Xiahou’s injuries are fake — then why have you come here to wait for me? Just to infuriate me on purpose?”

Li Chi said, “We wanted to explain things. There truly was no malice in any of it.”

Shen Shanhu said, “Now that I know everything was fabricated, I have nothing more to say to any of you. I’m leaving now. Don’t try to stop me.”

Li Chi waved a hand. “Please, miss — wait.”

Shen Shanhu said, “What — you want to deceive me about something else?”

Li Chi said, “No, it’s just — regarding what was fake, there are still a few things left unsaid.”

Shen Shanhu’s eyes went wide. She stared at Li Chi as though he were something from another world. “How can there possibly be anything else that’s fake?!”

Li Chi said, “Well… the truth is… Xiahou Zuo is also fake.”

Shen Shanhu: “????”

Xiahou Zuo, standing at the back, figured the matter needed a full explanation eventually, so he stepped forward.

He clasped his hands. “I am Xiahou Zuo.”

Shen Shanhu instinctively turned to look at him, and her eyes went even wider. When a girl has eyes that wide, even her anger carries a certain beauty.

The fury in her eyes blazed outward, unstoppable, as though she might spring into action at any moment.

“So it really is fake!”

Shen Shanhu tore herself free from Xiahou Yili and charged straight at Xiahou Zuo.

She was a trained martial artist, but her rage had reached such a peak that she forgot any technique — she simply lowered her head and barreled straight into him.

Xiahou Zuo was completely caught off guard.

If he dodged, the counter behind him would take the full impact — the girl would slam straight into it.

So he held his ground and took the hit directly.

Shen Shanhu was a trained fighter — even without technique, the force of a full-speed charge was nothing to dismiss.

Xiahou Zuo, not wanting to hurt her, hadn’t braced to deflect — so he absorbed the full blow. It knocked him back two steps, his chest aching sharply.

“You pack of swindlers — how dare you impersonate him!”

Shen Shanhu’s fury peaked, and she drove her knee upward hard toward a sensitive area.

This was roughly the second of the three great moves a girl in the extremes of rage might resort to in a fight.

“That won’t do at all!”

Yu Jiuling grabbed Shen Shanhu’s foot from behind and pulled — and since she still had her hands on Xiahou Zuo’s waist, with her foot yanked back, she was suddenly suspended horizontal in mid-air.

Shen Shanhu whipped her head around. “You wretch — let go!”

Yu Jiuling, startled, immediately released her.

And so Shen Shanhu dropped.

Xiahou Zuo reacted instantly, reaching out to catch her, and she was saved from hitting the floor.

The ungraceful thud was averted.

She seemed genuinely surprised that Xiahou Zuo had caught her. She stepped back — but continued to glare at him.

“What are all of you up to, impersonating Xiahou Zuo — what exactly is your scheme?!”

Shen Shanhu demanded.

Xiahou Zuo gave a quiet sigh. “I am not a fake Xiahou Zuo. I am the real one.”

He looked at Li Chi and the others, then turned back to Shen Shanhu. “All the other identities were fabricated. Only Xiahou Zuo is real.”

Shen Shanhu said furiously, “You still dare to lie to my face.”

She made to charge forward again, but Xiahou Yili stepped in front of her once more. “Would you please let someone finish speaking for once? My brother really is Xiahou Zuo!”

“Your brother?”

Shen Shanhu looked at Xiahou Yili. “Xiahou Zuo has a younger sister?”

Xiahou Yili said, “As you can see, everyone in the medical hall is watching us right now. If we keep up this commotion and disrupt the physicians in their work, isn’t that an inexcusable offense? Let’s find somewhere quiet and talk through all of this properly.”

Shen Shanhu glanced back at the onlookers, then thought — they’re worried about disrupting the patients. People like that can’t be truly bad.

The back courtyard of the Shen Medical Hall. Half an hour later.

After Li Chi had told her the whole story from beginning to end, Shen Shanhu still found it difficult to believe.

It was all simply too absurd.

She frowned and studied Li Chi. “You’re Prince Ning?”

Li Chi nodded. “The genuine article.”

Shen Shanhu said, “‘Genuine article’? With all the fakes you lot have been producing, can you even keep track?”

She asked him, “How do you prove you’re Prince Ning?”

Li Chi said, “Come to the military encampment tomorrow. You’ll know the truth then.”

Shen Shanhu looked at Xiahou Zuo. “And how do you prove you’re the real Xiahou Zuo?”

Xiahou Zuo said, “I don’t need to prove it. If you still want your revenge, I can point you in the right direction.”

He raised his hand and gestured southward. “Right now, Tang Pidi is leading his army in an assault on Yuzhou. Go and find him — and you’ll know whether what we’ve told you is the truth.”

Shen Shanhu drew a long, silent breath. She knew, deep down, that this had to be the truth.

She simply hadn’t expected — it wasn’t Xiahou Zuo at all. It was Tang Pidi.

Xiahou Zuo said, “Tang Pidi is my younger brother. He deceived you, and I apologize on his behalf. If you require any form of compensation, you need only say so.”

Shen Shanhu said, “Tang Pidi deceived me, and you come to apologize? What about them?!”

She turned to look at Li Chi and the others.

Xiahou Zuo said, “Though we are not brothers by blood, we are as close as brothers. They all regard me as their elder brother, and so they are my brothers too — which means that when they deceived you, I offer my apology for them as well.”

Shen Shanhu stepped forward. “And if I want someone dead?”

Xiahou Zuo said, “Then I will kill you first.”

Shen Shanhu went still.

She had not expected that answer from Xiahou Zuo.

Everything he had said before — apologizing on behalf of others, taking responsibility — had made him seem like a steady, generous elder brother.

But when he said *I will kill you first*, it was absolute. Not a moment’s hesitation.

In that instant, Shen Shanhu understood who this man truly was — the great general who held the northern frontier, who had never once retreated in the face of the formidable forces of the Black Martial Kingdom.

He could kill enemies in defense of the people of the Central Plains.

And of course he would kill in defense of those he cared for.

But she refused to back down.

Xiahou Zuo’s words had stirred her competitive spirit. Both of them were martial artists. Both of them commanded soldiers. She had never once believed she was any lesser than a man.

So she said with cool defiance, “What if you can’t kill me?”

Xiahou Zuo fell silent.

She gave a short huff. “Afraid to answer?”

Xiahou Zuo said, “If I cannot kill you, then I will be the first to die.”

Shen Shanhu froze.

She stared at this man, and something shifted deep within her.

—