Scourge Messenger

Chapter 47 The Second Night's Banquet
"well said!"

There were voices of admiration in the distance. Qian Gongyu and Shang Xinlei turned around and saw that it was Jie Zilong and Jie Yuanshao, the uncle and nephew.

Jie Zilong walked up to them while clapping his hands and said loudly, "As the Art of War says, attack the enemy, not be attacked by them. Why should we step into a battlefield carefully arranged by others? We can't afford to offend the Qun and Chen families, but do we think our Jie family and your Shang family are easy to offend?"

"Uncle Zilong, Qun Yushu relies not only on the Qun and Wu families, but also on the twenty-three prominent families gathered here." Shang Xinlei retorted calmly, "You and I are certainly not afraid of the consequences of offending them, but Xiaoyu and Jiang Shi..."

Jie Zilong shook his head: "As long as our two families can keep them out, no matter how much resentment they have, they will only think that we have formed an offensive and defensive alliance to monopolize the information of the Mansu Forest Land, and will not implicate the two people of the Qian family."

Qian Gongyu nodded repeatedly after hearing this. Okay, okay. She really didn't want to have any contact with big shots like Qun Yushu and Chen Linchuan. If there were no conflicts of interest, she would still be happy to show her face in front of such big shots and leave a good impression. However, she knew with her toes that the other party came for Jiang Shi.

What if the other party makes a request that she cannot accept? If she refuses, she will offend him, but if she accepts, she will not be able to do it. Wouldn’t that be a double-edged sword?
"Although I really want to say this to show my goodwill to the two of you, I don't think Guard Jiang Shi will appreciate it." Jie Zilong looked at Jiang Shi and smiled, "You are not afraid of offending those people at all."

"She just doesn't know how high the mountains are or how deep the water is." Jie Yuanshao suddenly said, "Only by being ignorant can one be fearless, and fearlessness is ignorance."

"I'm not trying to say how powerful or intimidating the Qun and Chen families are. I'm saying, Jiang Shi, you have no idea what the world is like on the courier. What a second rank looks like, how awe-inspiring the third rank is, and how godlike the fourth rank is... If you've seen how vast the world is, you'll naturally be in awe."

"Reverence is not weakness; it's a way of not wasting your life on meaningless things. When you reach the peak of your achievements, the hardships of the past will ultimately be nothing more than a passing hurdle."

Although Jie Yuanshao's words were blunt, everyone could tell she meant well, and Qian Gongyu internally praised her. That's right, right? As the saying goes, a true man doesn't suffer a loss in the face of adversity, and a man who understands the current situation is a hero. Is there anything you can't endure until you have the strength to kill the other person's entire family?
"Yuan Shao, we have different paths, so we cannot work together. Your outlook on life is right for most people, but it's not for everyone." Unexpectedly, Jie Zilong refuted his niece's words: "There are some people in this world who, when they fail, are reduced to dust, but when they succeed, they are unstoppable. They live their entire lives on the edge of a knife, unbreakable before the cold iron blade."

"You may not agree with this way of living, but... not all fish need to live in the same ocean."

"Our family will hold a banquet here. You two from the Qian family can come or not. I won't stop other families from contacting you, but you are also welcome to come to the Jie family when you encounter trouble."

"Don't worry, I'll be watching from the side." Shang Xinlei said immediately: "I'm really curious about what rewards I can get for having high personal points. Anyone who dares to harm you will be my enemy."

Qian Gongyu looked left and right and immediately felt relieved.

Jie Yuanshao and Shang Xinlei are both their teammates in the Mansu Forest. Even if it is to safeguard their own interests, both families must protect Jiang Shi. If they cannot protect their teammate Jiang Shi, they will lose not only their interests, but also the face of the family - for them, the latter may be more important.

A thought suddenly occurred to her: Could it be that Jiang Shi had already realized this and was deliberately saying this? This way, they wouldn't have to owe the Shang family any favors, and they could still gain the protection of these two families...

But when he saw Jiang Shi practicing sword with an expressionless face, Qian Gongyu felt that he was overthinking it.

Clearly being watched by so many families, coveted by so many, how could she still practice with her sword so calmly? Fear, worry, hesitation, not even the slightest emotion ever appeared on Jiang Shi's face, as if the world's affairs had nothing to do with her. Her life was filled with only training, rest, and battle.

Someone who lives on the edge of a knife... Qian Gongyu's eyes were a little confused and a little envious.

"Miss, once you've rested, come and have the sixth round of sparring."

"what?"

……

...

As the servants lit the bonfire and served the food, the guests gradually arrived. Each of the prominent family members present was elegantly dressed and had a noble temperament, but at this banquet, they were as inconspicuous as the servants around them. Everyone's attention was focused on the few people at the center of the banquet.

The so-called flowers are nothing but insignificant backdrops under the stars and the bright moon.

Because of Shang Xinlei, Qian Gongyu thought that Qun Yushu must be the kind of ambitious, ruthless, cruel and sinister man. So when she saw a young man with his robe open at the banquet, dancing to the beat of the tap dance, she was unable to react. She thought it was a dancer invited by the Jie family to liven up the atmosphere until the dancer came over and invited her.

"Miss Qian, would you mind dancing with me?" He bent down and stretched out his right hand. His open robe revealed his pectoral and abdominal muscles that were as sculpted as statues. His long hair was tied up casually, and both ears were adorned with nine earrings. His clothing style did not resemble that of a Southern Liang person at all. He looked more like a northern barbarian - and a barbarian living on the border at that.

However, the purple ribbon on his wrist instantly betrayed his identity.

"Qun Yushu." Shang Xinlei stopped Qian Gongyu and said sarcastically, "Why don't you continue to be your brother's follower and come to Mansu Forest to join in the fun?"

"It seems I have to close the windows tightly tonight, otherwise the female thief will target me again." Qun Yushu replied lazily.

"Qun Yushu, I won't stop you from contacting the Qian family, but please make sure you talk in public." Jie Yuanshao also came over and said, "But as a child of an aristocratic family, you should set an example. You must not use your power to bully others, and you must not make unreasonable demands."

"What if Ms. Qian Gongyu wants to spend the night with me and makes unreasonable demands on me?"

"I won't!"

"You're not allowed to." "Don't dream."

Qun Yushu seemed to be struck down, and said dejectedly, "Your rebuttal is too neat and decisive... And is it really impossible? We can be friends first. I think Miss Qian Gongyu has a lot of my mother's temperament..."

"You can be friends with my niece." Jie Zilong walked over and said with a smile.

"No, no, Miss Jie has too much of my father's temperament." Qun Yushu shook his head repeatedly: "I can accept having another mother, but I would rather die early and be reborn sooner than later."

"You really aren't afraid that these rumors will spread back to the family..."

"Since I've already escaped, is it really possible that my father would put aside his official duties and come out to beat me up?" Qun Yushu put his hand on the shoulder of a middle-aged man with a scar on his face and invited him, "By the way, Senior Zilong, Uncle Linchuan and I have agreed to go into the Mansu Forest together tomorrow. Do you want to come?"

"To be honest, my last experience in the Mansu Woods was not very good..." Jie Zilong was a little hesitant.

"That's why we have to go in together. I feel much more at ease with you two seniors around." Qun Yushu said with a smile, "I still remember that time when I was teamed up with three young ladies. They hugged me tightly out of fear, and I was scared too! But I had to comfort and encourage them, otherwise we would lose face for the Qun family and then be bullied by the uncles and aunts when we get back... Being a man in the Qun family is really not easy."

"Since you are so kind, I'll join in. It's really unreasonable to come here and not enter the secret realm."

"Are you done with the small talk?"

Chen Linchuan's voice was like his appearance: weathered, hard, and scarred. He went straight to the point: "We're here at your request. Where is Jiang Shi?"

The sounds of chattering and drinking quickly faded away, and the lively banquet seemed to have been paused. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Logically speaking, as long as the four members of the team do not leak any information, the outside world will not be able to know what happened in the Mansu Forest. Even if they knew, they would not be able to determine who was the leader. Unfortunately, the personal score list revealed all their secrets, and there was no way to cover it up.

Jie Yuanshao, 230 points.

Qian Gongyu, 325 points.

Shang Xinlei, 389 points.

Jiang Shi...660 points!
Jiang Shi is obviously the weakest and lowest-status person among the four, but her score is far ahead of the others. There is only one possibility: the source of the score change is Jiang Shi. Jiang Shi has mastered the secret of Mansu Forest, and the others are just taking advantage of the situation to win!
Although Jiang Shi was only Qian Gongyu's bodyguard, half a day in the afternoon was enough for them to investigate clearly that Jiang Shi was picked up from the street by Qian Gongyu and was not a native member of the Qian family.

"Jiang Shi is practicing with her sword," Jie Zilong said calmly, "She has no interest in the banquet."

"How rude, how arrogant!" Someone immediately jumped out and said, "Young Master Qun and Elder Chen are here, how can she, a mere black belt, not come out to meet them! She's deliberately trying to embarrass the aristocratic family!"

"Hey, talk nicely and don't bring up the family issue." Qun Yushu interrupted him immediately. "There are so many people in this world who don't give me face. My father doesn't give me face, and Miss Jie and Shang Si don't give me face either. Do they hate the Qun family? They just hate me. It's normal for them to hate me. I'm not Lingyu. How can everyone like me? And my father never attends banquets. Have I ever embarrassed all the families in Jiangnan City that invited my father?"

The young man who was making the commotion moved his lips but was unable to utter a word - Qun Yushu had already brought up his father, and if he dared to say anything else, it would be tantamount to attacking the extremely powerful head of the Qun family.

"Then ask her to come out and talk." Chen Linchuan said.

"I've invited you," Jie Zilong said, still smiling, "She refused."

The expressions of many guests changed, and it was obvious that they all wanted to speak, but Qun Yushu turned his head and glanced at them, and everyone choked back their words.

"After all, we're the ones who want to meet her. Since she's unwilling to come, we should go there instead." Qun Yushu said casually, "Can you lead the way?"

There was really no reason to refuse such a reasonable request. As Qun Yushu and Chen Linchuan set off, the guests attending the banquet naturally followed closely behind. Qian Gongyu walked in front, and as he watched the large group of people following behind, a strange thought suddenly occurred to him - who would have thought that the person so many children from noble families took the initiative to visit was actually just a black belt guard with no achievements, no family background, and even low strength?

She had realized that she had been drawn into a huge whirlpool, and if she was not careful, she and the Qian family might be torn to pieces. All this was because she picked up Jiang Shi halfway.

But Qian Gongyu did not regret it at all. Instead, she began to look forward to Jiang Shi's next performance. Some people are like this. Even if you know that the other person is beautiful and dangerous, you still fall for their charm and forget all the consequences.

Jiang Shi continued to practice her swordplay beside the carriage, unfazed by the crowd approaching. She slashed with her robe, slashed upwards, and slashed downwards, without any pattern, simply practicing basic techniques over and over again. But her appearance was so striking that every move was as graceful as a dance. Even wearing only a black training suit, her graceful figure was hard to conceal. Sweat dripped from her forehead, running down her cheeks to the tip of her nose, glistening like a delicacy, making one long to taste it.

After being stunned for a moment, Qun Yushu suddenly walked forward and knelt on one knee.

"Miss Jiang Shi, will you marry me?!"

(End of this chapter)