Chapter 85: Trouble Comes Knocking

Shen Zhao’s brows lifted slightly. Chu Mu was infamous in court for having a foul reputation and no close allies among the ministers.

So what business could the newly appointed Vice Minister of Revenue possibly have, coming here to see him out of the blue?

If she remembered correctly, today was his first day in office. She had not even seen him at morning court.

He had paid his respects to the Emperor and now had come to pay his respects to her.

Could it be that this Deputy Minister Du was poorly informed and did not know how notorious Chu Mu’s name was in the capital?

"Madam, stay here and keep watch. Do not let the Old Madam, Eldest Brother, or Second Brother suffer any grievance. Your husband will go and meet this Lord Du." Shen Zhao instructed Chu Mu, deliberately stressing the part about not letting them suffer any grievance.

Chu Mu knew what to do.

"Old Madam, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, continue questioning Physician Chen. I will be back shortly; just do not let anyone end up dead." With that, she turned and left the room.

Shen Zhao strode quickly toward the receiving hall in the front courtyard.

The moment she entered, she saw a tall, upright man standing in the middle of the hall with his back to her.

At the sound of footsteps, the man turned around.

For an instant, Shen Zhao was stunned. Pang Yunjin had met his match.

Good heavens, this Deputy Minister Du looked like a seductive fox from a mountain stream.

A pair of narrow fox eyes, an oval face that seemed almost feminine, lips red as vermilion, skin fair as snow, fine and luminous, and a straight nose beaded with tiny droplets of sweat, shining with a faint rosy glow.

When his gaze shifted, it carried a thousand forms of allure, giving one the dizzying sensation of sinking into an abyss. To look at him too long was to risk losing oneself within it.

Shen Zhao hastily averted her eyes from Deputy Minister Du’s.

Was this fellow the reincarnation of a fox spirit? How else could he have such a pair of bewitching eyes?

While Shen Zhao was studying Deputy Minister Du, Deputy Minister Du was studying her as well.

So this rumored General Chu was not nearly as dull as the rumors claimed.

Whether a person was shrewd could often be judged seven or eight parts of the way by the eyes alone.

General Chu’s eyes were bright and quick, and she herself was exceptionally sharp.

Most people, if they looked into those eyes for long enough, would inevitably be drawn in, but General Chu was not. Instead, she had keenly perceived something amiss in his gaze and swiftly looked away.

"I, your humble servant, pay my respects to General Chu. I have come uninvited and beg the General not to take offense."

Shen Zhao’s impression of this Vice Minister of Revenue was poor from the start.

Her father had told her long ago that anything too beautiful and bewitching carried a deadly poison.

Though Pang Yunjin was also extraordinarily handsome, his beauty was that of an icy immortal.

But the one before her was plainly a demonic creature, a bewitching monster risen from the wilds.

Her heart resisted this dazzling and seductive thing, and she replied coolly, "Deputy Minister Du is too polite. If you already knew that coming here would be an imposition and might cause me offense, why did you not send a formal calling card in advance to ask whether I would consent to your visit?"

For a brief moment, Du Qianan was speechless.

So the rumors were true after all. This General Chu really was unpleasant.

"I must apologize to the General. The reason I have come today is in fact to seek an elder of my clan who has been missing for many years."

Shen Zhao’s brows lifted. He had come to the General’s residence seeking an elder of his clan?

And the surname was Du.

Chu Renqing had said that Physician Chen’s real name was Du Kang.

What a coincidence.

Du Kang had sworn up and down that he was not Du Kang.

Now the Du family had come knocking at the door. She wanted to see how he would keep denying it.

It was truly like a pillow delivered just when drowsiness came.

"May I ask, Deputy Minister Du, what relation is this elder to you?"

It was still necessary to ask clearly. If this Du Kang held some extraordinary status within the Du family, then she would not take this pillow after all.

The Du family was no ordinary clan, much like her own Shen family.

A house of pure officials, with members serving throughout the state of Southern Chu. What made the Du family different from other noble houses, however, was this:

their descendants were allowed to go into trade.

That was highly intriguing, for merchants held an extremely low status in Southern Chu.

Everyone knew the old order of scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant, and that the children of merchants could not sit for the imperial examinations.

It clearly defied convention, yet the Du family had done it for over a hundred years.

They maintained a separate legitimate branch devoted to commerce, and its descendants remained merchants by identity.

Even within the Du family, where scholarship was the norm, this branch retained an exalted position, second only to the family head.

"My father’s younger brother, a legitimate son of the Du line." Du Qianan deliberately emphasized the identity of his uncle.

On this journey to the capital, there were two reasons.

First, by the rules of the Du family, it was time for members of their branch to take up official posts in the capital.

Second, he had come to bring Du Kang back to the ancestral lands and have him fulfill the duty that branch was meant to carry.

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhao’s expression turned cold. It seemed she could not accept the pillow after all.

A legitimate son of the Du family, no less.

Du Kang was truly willing to risk everything for that poisonous woman, to cast aside even his status as a legitimate son of the Du line.

What a rare and love-struck fool.

"Oh? Is that so? Then how is Deputy Minister Du so certain that the person you seek is in our residence? Who in the world does not know how noble your legitimate Du family is? Our Chu family has no master surnamed Du. If you are speaking of a servant..."

She paused, then sneered. "If he is a servant, then it is even less likely that your uncle is in our residence. Could that person be simple-minded? Giving up the status of a young nobleman of a prestigious house to come to our Chu family and be a servant to others?

"Isn’t that just choosing to debase himself? If word of it got out, it would disgrace both him and the Du family. Have you thought this through, Deputy Minister Du? Is your uncle truly in our residence?"

Du Qianan heard the warning beneath her words and smiled faintly. "He truly is in the General’s residence. My uncle has a rebellious nature and wishes to experience a different life. Our Du family will not stop him. The Du clan has always been exceptionally tolerant of its children and exceedingly protective of its own, never restricting any of their choices.

"The General should have heard as much. I will not beat around the bush. Please take me to see the residence physician, Du Kang."

Du Qianan was speaking bluntly. The Chu family was not worth the Du clan placing in its eyes.

The once-glorious Chu family was long gone. What remained of it was only Chu Mu holding it up alone, hardly anything to fear.

Otherwise, how could Chu Mu, a man who commanded armies to guard a frontier, have sunk to the point of being so wantonly suppressed?

It was only because those people relied on the fact that Chu Mu had no family power behind him.

Shen Zhao gave a cold laugh. So he was looking down on her.

"Is Deputy Minister Du threatening this General not to be ungrateful for kindness? Why is it that in Deputy Minister Du’s eyes, I look so easy to bully?

"I do not care whether your Du family shields its own or whether its influence spreads through the court. This is the Chu family’s territory. If I want to kill you, Deputy Minister Du, it would be as easy as lifting a hand."

Seeing the change in Du Qianan’s expression, Shen Zhao continued:

"That uncle of yours who chose to lower himself so willingly has probably long since been torn apart and swallowed by wolves and dogs. There is no residence physician surnamed Du in our estate. And Deputy Minister Du, since you come from an eminent family, how is it that you do not even understand the manners of a guest? You arrived empty-handed. Are you so poor you cannot even scrape together a proper visit, or have you come merely to put on airs?

"I have my face; I do not need Deputy Minister Du’s. After all, if Deputy Minister Du had no face, then he would truly be shameless. Someone come—see the guest out."

With that, she addressed a servant who had just come in. "From now on, do not let any cats or dogs wander into the gate at will. It is bad luck."

Du Qianan’s face tightened. What did Chu Mu mean by this? Did he not fear offending the Du clan?

And who was he calling cats and dogs?