Yinyue hurried forward to shield her, saying, “Elder Brother, Baoxiang Sister didn’t mean it that way. If you have something to ask, why not wait until Second Brother arrives?”

“When he comes, he’ll have his own questions to ask. What I want to ask right now is this woman.” Zhang Ting’an looked coldly at Chen Baoxiang. “You deliberately sought out Fengqing. What exactly are your intentions?”

“How could this be called deliberately seeking him out? Baoxiang Sister and Second Brother…”

“I want to hear her say it.” Zhang Ting’an waved his hand, and a household servant immediately stepped forward to block Yinyue.

Chen Baoxiang glanced at Yinyue with some concern.

From what she had seen earlier, this young girl had always been smiling and lively, full of cheer. But now she looked like a cat that had fallen into water — frightened and uneasy.

Chen Baoxiang couldn’t help but furrow her brow as she looked up at the man above: “My acquaintance with Fengqing was simply a matter of fate. There was no deliberate scheming involved.”

“Oh?” Zhang Ting’an gave a half-smile. “You attended his Shaowei Banquet — you didn’t bribe anyone to get in?”

“Well, I did bribe someone for that.”

“After meeting him, you didn’t take money from him?”

“Well… I did take some.”

“The position you currently hold — did you not benefit from his patronage?”

“…I did benefit somewhat.”

Zhang Ting’an let out a cold laugh. “And that is what you call a fated encounter. For the sake of this fate to climb higher branches, you must have expended quite a bit of effort.”

Chen Baoxiang wasn’t entirely willing to accept this: “It’s not like that between us. It’s a very special kind of fate.”

Zhang Ting’an found this amusing: “Special indeed — how could it not be? Given the Zhang Family’s exceptional standing in Shangjing, combined with their exceptional wealth and his exceptionally fine appearance, anyone who came along would find it rather special.”

She was stunned, momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

Zhang Ting’an studied her and delivered his cold verdict: “To you, Fengqing is nothing but a high branch to climb.”

Chen Baoxiang scratched her head, feeling that what he said wasn’t entirely wrong. Zhang Zhixu was precisely the kind of person she had always dreamed of attaching herself to, and he had generously given her many things.

But to say he was merely a high branch—

She lowered her eyes and said very quietly: “That’s not so. He is a very good person.”

Carefree in his youth, well-fed and well-clothed, yet still harboring grand ambitions to serve the common people — Chen Baoxiang had never encountered anyone like him before.

With him around, she discovered that the path ahead wasn’t a dead end, that everything still had a chance to improve, that if she worked a little harder, perhaps she too could accomplish what she wanted to do.

Her life had been given to her by the Great Immortal. So had her fighting spirit.

Compared to the simple high branches offered by other wealthy young masters, the Great Immortal was different — completely different.

“I know what you want to say.” Zhang Ting’an leaned back and accepted a fresh cup of tea from a servant. “You want to say that you and he are mutually in love, that you truly like him.”

The act was far too clichéd — so clichéd he didn’t even have the patience to watch her perform it.

“Come now. Ask yourself honestly: if he didn’t have his current wealth and status, would you still be his mistress?”

Chen Baoxiang raised an eyebrow.

She had to admit — this elder brother really did hit the mark with every question. If she answered from the heart, she would indeed come across as a scheming temptress who came only for money.

But wait.

She couldn’t figure it out: “General, who told you I was Fengqing’s mistress?”

“Are you not?”

“Of course not!” She was caught between laughter and tears. “I currently serve as a records clerk in the Military Affairs Bureau. By rank, I’m Fengqing’s subordinate. We simply share some acquaintance, and as I had nowhere to stay, he made an exception to take me in.”

Zhang Ting’an looked at her with an expression of complete seriousness, clearly unconvinced.

“I’ve heard that the General has distinguished himself defending Ximing City, with great military merit and unparalleled martial arts.” Chen Baoxiang didn’t bother with further explanations and simply held out her fist. “I would like to request the honor of two moves from you.”

“You?” Zhang Ting’an laughed. “A little girl, requesting moves from me?”

“If I can’t withstand five moves from you, I’ll move out of the Pearl Tower tomorrow.”

Zhang Ting’an stopped laughing.

He narrowed his eyes at the person before him, then gripped the armrest and rose to his feet. “Do you understand the rules of a challenge?”

“Naturally. Life and death are one’s own responsibility.”

“Good.” Zhang Ting’an pointed toward the weapon rack in the courtyard. “Go choose one.”

Zhang Yinyue was so frightened her face went white, and she immediately cried out: “Baoxiang Sister, don’t! Elder Brother doesn’t know his own strength — what if—”

“These past days at the Military Affairs Bureau, I’ve worked very hard, but I’ve never received any truly useful guidance.” Chen Baoxiang’s fingers brushed over the weapons on the rack. “Today presents such a rare opportunity. Of course I want to request the General’s instruction.”

Had it been last month, Chen Baoxiang might not have had the confidence, since her sparring partners at the Bureau had all been rather unremarkable junior officers.

But recently, at the main office, she had encountered Xu Buran again. The two had crossed hands once more, and she was now able to last through twenty exchanges with him.

Her progress had been so rapid that she now felt confident enough to make an attempt even against someone of Zhang Ting’an’s caliber.

“Pick anything.” Zhang Ting’an gestured. “Emei daggers, soft sword, shortblade — I have them all.”

Chen Baoxiang smiled and casually drew out the meteor hammers from the back row: “Will these do?”

Zhang Ting’an: “…”

What was this joke? Those two meteor hammers alone weighed forty catties each — even a man would strain to hold them, and yet she, a young woman, had lifted them with such ease?

Lifting them wasn’t enough — she swung them twice as well, and the heavy hammerheads moved in her hands like light pieces of wood.

Zhang Ting’an finally sensed that something was off.

This young woman truly seemed to have some real ability.

“Come.” She settled into her stance.

Zhang Ting’an focused his mind and raised his fists. His iron-hard knuckles cut through the air, his movements extraordinarily deceptive — at a glance it appeared to strike left, but in the blink of an eye the blow landed on Chen Baoxiang’s right rear side.

The force was bone-shattering. Chen Baoxiang had no time to dodge and took the full hit — half her body shuddered with it, and then her shoulder erupted in agony, as though the bone had cracked.

She drew in a sharp breath and gritted her teeth to ask: “May I counterattack?”

“Attack is also a form of defense.”

“My thanks.”

She split her two hammers apart, and the moment the words left her mouth, she hurled them at him.

The Zhang Family’s eldest brother appeared to be in his thirties, yet his reactions were no slower than those of a youth. Her strikes missed one after another, while his blows kept landing on her.

A blow to her upper back — she tasted iron at the back of her throat.

But fortunately her strength was more than sufficient, and she could swing the meteor hammers in an uninterrupted flow, her technique both swift and dense. Even after more than ten consecutive swings, her movements showed no sign of fatigue or sluggishness.

Zhang Ting’an was a battle-hardened veteran and feared nothing, maintaining continuous evasion. But he was older than her, and after twenty consecutive dodges, his movements finally slowed for just a moment.

Thud. Chen Baoxiang’s hammer struck him squarely in the back.

Zhang Ting’an wore armor and had thought that taking this one blow wouldn’t matter — once his final strike landed, Chen Baoxiang would fall first.

But what he hadn’t expected was that these seemingly ordinary meteor hammers, upon impact, struck like a mountain crashing down. A tremendous force drove straight through his armor into his chest and abdomen, as though something deep within the darkness had sounded out with the fracturing lines of a cracked shell.

The irresistible weight instantly darkened Zhang Ting’an’s vision.

His hands had already moved to deliver the strike, but his body collapsed like a mountain falling — crashing to the ground with a thunderous impact.

Chen Baoxiang stumbled two steps and was herself somewhat unsteady, but remembering their wager, she forced herself upright and smiled: “I withstood it.”

She had withstood it. She didn’t have to move out of the Pearl Tower.

She had no family left in the world anymore. Having only just found the Great Immortal, she had no intention of leaving that home.