April 22, 2018

When Wang Jiu unfolded the crumpled draft, Shen Qingming and the other kids crowded behind him, bouncing to see the content on the paper.

And then she twisted her ankle as she landed.

For the Immovable Tyrant Body in Fourth Heaven, someone whose physical body had expanded and been refined through a reincarnation stage, to sprain her ankle on the spot, it shows how shocking the content on the paper was.

After twisting her ankle, Shen Qingming didn’t even dare to cry out in pain—of course, considering her usual intense training, a mere sprain was nothing compared to the agony of shattered limbs and ruptured organs; a dislocated joint or bruised soft tissue was like a relaxing massage. It was truly because the content on the paper was too unbelievable and sensitive.

A scandalous love affair!

A single large, bold line of text right at the top of the draft was impossible to ignore.

Even a child like Shen Qingming had long been familiar with the idea; every City Lord’s Mansion official removed during investigations seemed to carry such a charge. But to think, the revered City Lord Golden Jade, the acknowledged number one beauty of Xiangzhou, couldn’t escape this cultural trap!

Considering Zhao Chenlu’s relationship with Wang Jiu, Shen Qingming immediately felt like a hapless nobody in a horror story, accidentally witnessing the villain’s true face at the start. The death star was almost visible above her head, bright as day.

Even something as inhumane as the Celestial Divine Sword, upon learning that the woman who had once crazily obsessed over him, the former beauty of Jiuzhou, was secretly entangled in scandalous affairs, would probably feel like he’d been given the wrong Jade Sword Tip.

No man could tolerate such humiliation. And although Wang Jiu wasn’t human, his Sword Spirit True Form was undoubtedly male, so there’s no reason he could just let this slide.

Shen Qingming’s thoughts were mirrored by Li Wanqing and the others. After seeing the contents of the draft, they all simultaneously took several steps back, afraid that the Celestial Divine Sword would suddenly explode in rage, with Sword Qi sweeping in all directions, slicing innocent bystanders into pieces.

Objectively speaking, despite knowing Wang Jiu for so long, none of them had ever seen him truly angry. It seemed like this Celestial Sword Spirit always had a gentle smile, making people feel like a fresh breeze in spring.

But, even if Wang Jiu was easygoing, finding out that Zhao Chenlu, who appeared as loyal as a chaste woman on the surface, was secretly involved in scandalous affairs, surely he couldn’t stay calm!

Yet, one second passed, ten seconds passed, a minute passed. By the time they had quietly retreated to the entrance of the basement, Wang Jiu finally turned around.

And then, neither brilliant sword light nor scorching intent was present, only a slightly puzzled face: "Why did you all go so far away?"

The group exchanged glances, then forcibly pushed Wang Jiu’s number one mount forward. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Shen Qingming braced herself and asked, "You... aren’t angry?"

Wang Jiu was even more curious: "Angry about what?"

Shen Qingming continued pressing, "It’s just that, they say, Zhao Chenlu is involved in scandalous relationships."

Wang Jiu said, "Framing former political leaders or defeating political rivals in disputes is the basic skill of politicians in human society. They are merely fulfilling their duties and maintaining the normal operation of human society."

Shen Qingming was stunned: "To think you could say such things so impressively!? No, does this mean you don’t believe their accusations? But didn’t the boss say there were several pieces of solid evidence?"

Wang Jiu flipped through the manuscript: "There isn’t. This page just positively discusses how normal relationships are important for the smooth operation of Golden Jade City, while Zhao Chenlu deviated from the right track. As for the specifics of the deviation and the evidence, those are written on the second page."

Shen Qingming immediately moved toward the boss: "What about the rest?"

"No, there’s no more," the boss said tremblingly, "I only found this one page..."

"And you have the nerve to say it’s loaded with substance!?"

The boss grimaced: "Compared to our findings over the past ten years, this page is already considered substantial. Every stroke was handwritten by Golden Jade City staff, not something we made up after hearing some drunk customers’ talks..."

"..."

"Moreover, and!" The boss sensitively realized the basement’s air was getting colder, quickly adding, "I have a few more pages here, though they are merely notes of conversations from staff during their leisure time, but they fortuitously corroborate this page’s content!"

Saying this, the boss took out a few crumpled pages, some even torn, and explained, "These pages were recorded by the Automatic Secretary Puppet during meetings held by Golden Jade people. Since they recorded some private complaints by the staff, they were discarded, but..."

Before he could finish, Shen Qingming snatched the pages eagerly.

As the boss said, they were neatly written by the Automatic Secretary Puppet, yet lacked Spiritual Qi. This kind of mechanical device only converts heard content into text, severely lacking the ability to discern, so it has always been merely an auxiliary recording tool. These pages recorded the insignificant noise.

"I never thought the former City Lord would actually do this..."

"Indeed, in the past, they seemed so dazzling..."

"It’s indeed somewhat unbelievable... but the evidence presented by the elders is undeniable, it leaves no room for doubt."

"Sigh, idol shattered."

After reading these words, Shen Qingming felt her throat dry, as if she couldn’t speak.

At this point, even wanting to deceive oneself by saying it’s merely the slander of political enemies would be difficult, wouldn’t it?

Even putting myself in someone else’s shoes, if I were a rebel wanting to overthrow Zhao Chenlu’s rule, would I use absurd and fabricated things to frame her?

Regardless of how complicated people’s feelings towards Zhao Chenlu are in Golden Jade City, it cannot be denied that most people respect her. Zhao Chenlu is a hero of Golden Jade City, and to frame a hero, real evidence is needed.

For a moment, the young girl only felt her head numbing: "Ah Jiu, don’t worry just yet..."

Wang Jiu frowned, showing a serious expression: "I see, it seems it isn’t a baseless allegation."

Shen Qingming quickly argued against her own heart: "It might be the case! Maybe it’s just a baseless accusation! After all, since Zhao Chenlu is a woman, framing her is what pleases the public the most..."

Wang Jiu shook his head, speaking in a muffled voice: "Back in the Jiuzhou days, she had this problem. After we taught her a lesson, she promised to be more restrained. It appears that in this life, she’s back to her old ways."

These words shocked everyone present.

Except for the boss who didn’t hear the content, the other few felt their worldview was greatly shaken.

The Zhao Chenlu, who passionately pursued Wang Jiu and was known for her chastity to the point of infatuation, was in fact a master at indiscriminate love affairs back in the day!?

"Yes, for example..."

"There’s no need to force yourself to talk about these things, Ah Jiu. I understand... Even though you are not human, you were once human, and you have had a human’s heart. This matter is surely hard for you, so leave the intelligence work to us. We’ll certainly do everything we can to help you find a way to save Zhao Chenlu!"

——

On an impulse, Shen Qingming made a bold promise, and Wang Jiu, going along with it, no longer insisted on watching further.

However, the next step was where the difficulty lay.

Do we really have to keep searching for this kind of information? Find the history of Zhao Chenlu’s infidelity? Gather the truth behind her passionate pursuit of Wang Jiu while running indiscreet affairs?

"...We have no choice but to look for it, right? Either we know nothing at all from the start or know everything without missing a part. Being in an incomplete state is the hardest." Li Wanqing, with the air of someone experienced, advised Shen Qingming.

"Why do you sound so familiar with it, Sister Wanqing?"

Li Wanqing said, "You should know."

"...I don’t really want to know anymore."

Shen Qingming said, all the while having thoughts of backing out, perhaps simply telling Ah Jiu that it was all fabricated and that it never happened. Zhao Chenlu indeed loved him to madness, never betraying him... and certainly never transforming.

However, at this moment, the greasy boss suddenly took the stage, stealing the spotlight.

"I, I’ve found it again! The contents behind that piece of paper, I’ve found it!"

In the afternoon, the boss, holding a few crumpled pages, eagerly rushed into the basement, raising his hand high, boasting: "Look quickly, tangible evidence of Zhao Chenlu’s indiscriminate relationships, it’s all here!"

At that moment, Shen Qingming wanted to unleash a Flying Sword and blast the top of this person’s bald head!

No wonder he was banished at such a young age to this kind of institution, looking like a 50-year-old even at 36. His perception is even worse than a pig’s!

But the situation had reached a point of no return, because just as Shen Qingming was drawing her sword, Wang Jiu had quietly appeared beside the boss, took the papers from his hand, and after just one glance, shook his head and sighed: "Indeed, she’s back to her old ways."

With that, he left the basement, looking very disappointed.

Shen Qingming and the others exchanged glances, faintly filled with doubt and uncertainty.

From Wang Jiu’s reaction, it seemed Zhao Chenlu’s indiscriminate affairs were true, and he indeed showed disappointment... but compared to the expected anger, it was much less intense. Could it be that Wang Jiu never really cared about Zhao Chenlu at all, so no matter how indiscriminate she was, at most it only warranted a sigh?

With doubt, they approached the table and together looked at those pages.

Then...

"In March 2010, forcibly ordered subordinate official Zheng Shi, Secretary of the City Lord’s Mansion of Golden Jade City, to break up with his fiancée the day before the wedding, arguing that Zheng Shi’s appearance was not suited to marry a woman, and forced Zheng Shi to pair with his male colleague Liu Ziyue, claiming it was to prevent the inheritance of ugly genes..."

"..."

"In May 2011, forcibly ordered subordinate official Zheng Liu, Deputy Head of the Golden Jade City Arts Troupe, to break up with her boyfriend, and requested her to..."

Just after reading two entries, Shen Qingming felt like vomiting blood.

Indiscriminate relationships...

It turns out this is what the indiscriminate relationships were!