Volume One, Chapter Four: Truly Hard to Show One’s Face

The enemy was right outside the car, yet with more than a dozen lives resting in her hands, she could not afford to act rashly.

Qu Pan gritted her teeth and asked Madam Liu for shoe polish...

"Young Marshal!"

Qu Hanzhi hurried over and, seeing Chu Hanliang personally guarding the city gate, smiled and greeted him.

"This is the carriage I sent to pick up the servants from the manor; no need to inspect it, right?"

Chu Hanliang had never seen Qu Hanzhi treat him so kindly before. His narrow phoenix-like eyes were cold and sharp.

"Search it. Thoroughly, every inch. Make sure to check carefully."

Hiding his fiancée in the countryside, preparing a fake to fool him, always either glaring coldly or ignoring him—now suddenly changing his attitude? Did he really think he was that easy to deceive?

Qu Hanzhi wished he could peel off Chu Hanliang’s skin, but his only precious daughter was in that carriage; he had to endure.

"Young Marshal, there are only some coarse servants inside; it’s really improper to show them," Madam Liu said apologetically.

Chu Hanliang snorted coldly, placed his hand on the railing, and jumped onto the truck.

Inside the carriage were many piled-up belongings; in a corner sat an old housekeeper, three maids, and an elderly servant.

Chu Hanliang’s gaze swept across them and finally settled on a girl wearing a blue broad-sleeved short jacket.

"Lift your head," Chu Hanliang ordered.

The girl slowly raised her head, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

Why was this girl so dark? Her exposed face and hands were shining with blackness.

Noticing Chu Hanliang’s stare, the girl immediately grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

Madam Liu, who had seen Chu Hanliang before Qu Pan left the country, quickly smiled in apology.

"Young Marshal, this is a foreign thing our master had brought back from abroad; they call it a black slave."

Chu Hanliang averted his gaze disdainfully. So dark, so unsightly—indeed not someone proper to see.

Qu Hanzhi stood nervously beneath the carriage, his heart only half-relieved when he saw Chu Hanliang jump down and wave the soldiers to let the truck pass. The rest of his worry sank back into his stomach.

That bastard was as hard to deal with as his father, Qu Hanzhi thought bitterly, then swept his sleeves and left.

He hadn’t managed to win him over, so of course he turned hostile, Chu Hanliang sneered.

Zhang Yong drove the master’s car to send Chu Xiaoman back to the mansion, while Chu Hanliang climbed into Huo Runduo’s jeep, commanding him like a lord to follow.

"I am your chief of staff, not your driver."

Huo Runduo protested in vain and was forced into the role of chauffeur, trailing the truck through winding streets.

Qu Hanzhi’s vehicle turned onto Hanhai Road, the truck and three other vehicles continued ahead.

"Is there something wrong with the carriage?" Huo Runduo asked casually.

Chu Hanliang murmured in response, the image of that shiny black face flashing through his mind, a strange sense of familiarity washing over him.

"Is there really a problem?" Huo Runduo glanced back at Chu Hanliang.

"Focus on driving," Chu Hanliang frowned.

Huo Runduo turned forward again, only to see a car turning onto Central Avenue, while the truck and two others veered into Furui Alley.

When the vehicles reached the alley’s entrance, Chu Hanliang ordered a stop, opened the door, and got out. Seeing the truck drive into the alley’s deepest red-lacquered gate, he leapt over the courtyard wall like an eagle.

From near to far came a cacophony of dogs barking and chickens squawking. Huo Runduo rubbed his forehead, silently hoping Chu Hanliang would be careful and not get caught, forcing him to intervene.

Chu Hanliang bounded into the spacious courtyard, hiding behind a massive ancient magnolia tree in the front yard.

Having arrived safely at last, Madam Liu got out first and returned to help Qu Pan.

Suddenly, Qu Pan felt the instinct of a beast’s gaze upon her. She withdrew her hand from Madam Liu’s and signaled Qiu Ju to hold tight.

The young lady’s strange behavior puzzled them, but remembering that Qu Pan had smeared shoe polish on her face to ensure their safe entry into the city, Qiu Ju immediately clasped Madam Liu’s hand and followed her out.

Qu Pan jumped down from the carriage, supporting herself on the railing, and casually asked Madam Liu in a foreign language.

“#&*$#...” Chu Hanliang couldn’t understand.

Madam Liu replied in the same foreign tongue, scanning the surroundings with her eyes. Finding no anomalies, she still trusted Qu Pan’s instincts—there was something wrong in the courtyard.

"This place has been empty for a long time. Who knows if some riffraff have secretly taken refuge here? You all search thoroughly, leave no corner unchecked," Madam Liu instructed the servants who had gotten off the car, then gave orders to the gatekeeper.

“Uncle Sun, stay at the gatehouse and keep watch, so no thieves slip out unnoticed.”

Chu Hanliang, hiding behind the tree, felt as if this was directed at him.

Watching the servants armed with sticks and brooms split into groups to search, Chu Hanliang slipped inside the main house and climbed onto a beam in the master bedroom.

Qu Pan waited until the servants had thoroughly and meticulously searched the entire mansion, not sparing even the empty rooms. Once satisfied there was no problem, she used Madam Liu’s authority to order everything from the truck moved inside.

Madam Liu lifted a large trunk and headed toward the master bedroom, with Qu Pan carrying a small box of trinkets behind her.

The two entered in single file; Madam Liu set down the trunk and left, while Qu Pan stayed behind to open the box and start unpacking.

The room had been cleaned by Qu Hanzhi’s men, bright and spotless. Once filled with various trinkets, it immediately felt lively and full of life.

Chu Hanliang sat on the beam, staring at the black slave, increasingly convinced the slave’s facial features were eerily familiar.

Qu Pan felt two burning gazes following her every move, but despite filling the room’s corners with small items, she couldn’t find the source of this strange feeling.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. She looked up sharply...

Their eyes met. Chu Hanliang on the beam was just as startled.

“Help me!” Qu Pan deliberately raised her voice rough and low, pulling out a pistol hidden beneath the box, aiming it at Chu Hanliang.

Madam Liu heard the rush of footsteps and came running.

Since Li Ma’s betrayal and subsequent punishment of the Qu family, Madam Liu had been specially brought in by Qu Hanzhi to protect Qu Pan. She was a marvel, fluent in six languages, a master of martial arts, with impeccable marksmanship and horsemanship, and unmatched agility.

Madam Liu burst through the door instantly but saw only a window swinging open with no breeze.

She exchanged a glance with Qu Pan, questioning if she should give chase. Qu Pan shook her head.

Chu Hanliang must not suffer harm in her courtyard; if death came, it would be in the Marshal’s mansion to avoid sullying her grounds.

“Is it the Young Marshal?” Madam Liu guessed without seeing Chu Hanliang, intuitively sensing the truth.

Qu Pan nodded. “He must suspect me.”

At this time, foreigners were rarely seen in the country, much less such a rare black slave. It was no surprise Chu Hanliang was paying attention.

“Did he recognize you, Miss?” Madam Liu asked anxiously.

“No…”

If Chu Hanliang had truly recognized her, he would never have left so easily.

Just as Chu Hanliang vaulted over the courtyard wall and returned to his car, a gunshot suddenly rang out.

Huo Runduo was startled. “Why the gunshot?”

At that moment, the deep red gate at the alley’s end swung open, and the truck roared out.

Without waiting for Chu Hanliang’s command, Huo Runduo immediately started the jeep and followed.

The truck stopped outside the city at a mass burial ground. Two laborers dressed plainly got off, carrying a rolled-up straw mat into the burial site. They unloaded wood from the truck, building a makeshift cremation platform, placing the mat atop it.

The straw mat, loosened from being carried back and forth, revealed a black, shining face concealed within.

“Who are these people of Qu Hanzhi, daring to kill? Should we seize them?” Huo Runduo asked Chu Hanliang.

Destroying the body, erasing evidence—very efficient!

“No need,” Chu Hanliang replied.