HBWMA -Chapter 40 The Key Figure, Zheng Song

The next day, Jiang Huashan got up early on purpose, intending to ask Shen Zhuang for advice—how could she become smarter in the shortest time possible? Was there a way to grow a new brain?

Full of ambition, she ended up leaving disappointed, because the maid in Qinyuan told her that the old master had gone out.

Unable to achieve her goal, Jiang Huashan hung limply on the windowsill like a deflated ball.

“Young master.”

Just as she was idly passing time, Shen Guiling walked into the flower hall with a group of people. The servants in the courtyard went up to greet him and then let them move the flowers and plants in the front courtyard.

“Hey—” Jiang Huashan called over a maid working inside, pointing at the activity in the flower hall. “What are they doing? That peony, ‘Wei Zi’, the old master has been taking care of it for so long. Aren’t they afraid of damaging it?”

The maid glanced over and smiled in reply. “Those flowers have already been gifted by the old master to Young Master A-Ling. He even specifically instructed it before leaving this morning.”

Gifted to Shen Guiling?

Jiang Huashan felt a little sour. That was the old master’s favorite flower—how could Shen Guiling just accept it so easily? The old master was being far too good to him.

In Zhuyuan, several quick-handed workers had arrived, each carrying a pot of peonies. Shen Guiling looked at them for a long time and finally chose the “Wei Zi” plant that was still only a sapling.

After the selection was mostly done, Shen Guiling was about to return to Zhuyuan when he suddenly heard someone call him.

“Hey! Shen Guiling!”

The boy paused, holding the flower in his arms as he turned sideways to look.

Under the corridor, a girl leaned out from a flower window, half of her body visible, smiling as she waved at him.

“Come here.”

“……”

Shen Guiling fell silent for a moment, then changed direction and walked under the corridor.

“You’re calling me?” His gaze was bright and misty; even a casual glance carried an oddly focused, almost affectionate illusion.

Jiang Huashan nodded. “I have a question to ask you.”

Shen Guiling studied her bright, radiant smile for a moment, then said gently, “What question?”

Jiang Huashan asked, “How can I become smarter in the shortest time possible?”

The Book Spirit had once told her that Shen Guiling was the smartest person in this world. The reason he could rise up and stand shoulder to shoulder with Shen Lanxi was not only because he was ruthless, but also because he was intelligent. Even though he was just a child now, he was still a smart child—he would definitely be able to answer this question.

Shen Guiling never expected this short little girl to ask something like that. In his view, anyone who asked such a question basically had nothing to do with “smartness” in this lifetime.

He pretended to think seriously for a moment and replied, “Study.”

“Study?” Jiang Huashan immediately changed expression and narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you fooling me?”

Shen Guiling said calmly, “Studying opens the mind. The words of sages and the principles of the Great Dao are all in books. Believe it or not.”

With that, he turned to leave.

“Hey!” Jiang Huashan stretched out half her body and grabbed his collar. “Come back, I’m not done talking yet.”

Shen Guiling stopped again and glanced sideways at her. It wasn’t that he was being obedient—if he took one more step forward, he’d probably be strangled by this little ball of a girl.

Jiang Huashan lifted her chin and pointed at the peony in his arms. “This—this is the old master’s favorite flower. You can’t take it. Give it to me.”

Has this little girl gotten addicted to giving orders?

Shen Guiling raised an eyebrow. Seeing no one around, he leaned slightly closer and said, “The old master doesn’t like it? I don’t care about it either.”

Jiang Huashan looked up, eyes widening as she stared at him. What was wrong with this guy? Wasn’t he supposed to be the originator of the “gentlemanly villain,” the epitome of hypocrisy and refinement? Why was he already dropping the act?

Shen Guiling automatically interpreted the shock in her eyes as stupidity, and gently advised, “You’re still young. If you start reading more from now, you might still make it.”

Jiang Huashan frowned. “What do you mean by ‘might’?”

Shen Guiling smiled faintly, turned around holding the young sprout in his arms, and walked out of Qinyuan.

At noon, Fang Mei came specifically to say goodbye. Jiang Huashan was taking a nap at the time, and since things between her and Fang Mei had already been laid bare, there was nothing left to say, so she just had the maid send her away.

Later, the returning maid said that Jiang Wanyi already knew she was in the wrong. Because she couldn’t bear to part with her “sister,” her eyes were swollen from crying.

Jiang Huashan couldn’t be bothered to expose her. That so-called “wolf-like” sister—how could she possibly be reluctant to part with her? She was clearly reluctant to part with the Shen family’s wealth and status.

Her grandfather, to take care of them, had specially arranged Jiang Wanyi into the “Elite Class” at Yucai Primary School in Lianshi. In that class, good grades alone weren’t enough—family background mattered most.

And her “sister” was far more capable than her at this sort of thing. Borrowing the Shen family’s name, she had no idea how well she was doing at school.

She remembered Jiang Wanyi’s entrance exam results were actually quite good, and later she was directly promoted into the elite junior middle school track. If those classmates found out she had been kicked out of the Shen family, those young masters and ladies would probably stop playing with her.

In the evening, Shen Zhuang returned right on mealtime. Jiang Huashan had been waiting all day and finally saw him. Like a little sparrow, she rushed forward chattering excitedly.

“Grandpa, there are lion’s head meatballs from Huai City today!”

Before Shen Zhuang could respond, Shen Zhi stepped forward to stop her, crouching down and gently explaining, “Miss Jiang, the Old Master is a bit tired today. How about I eat with you instead?”

Jiang Huashan felt that something was off. She peeked around him to look at Shen Zhuang.

Under the moonlight, the old man stood against the light, his expression unclear. For some reason, she felt that after going out this time, Grandpa’s aura had changed.

“Oh! You’re meddling too much.” Shen Zhuang pushed Shen Zhi aside with his cane and slowly walked forward. As the light shifted, his kindly and gentle face was revealed.

“Perfect timing, Grandpa is hungry too. Go wait in the dining room first. Grandpa will go change clothes. And don’t you dare sneak food ahead of me~”

Jiang Huashan glanced sideways at Shen Zhi and nodded. “Okay!” Then she bounced away toward the dining room.

Shen Zhuang’s smile faded. He turned and instructed Shen Zhi, “Go change your clothes. Don’t scare the child.”

Shen Zhi raised his arm and sniffed himself, then nodded and left Qinyuan.

Inside the dining room, the lights were warm and golden.

Jiang Huashan rested her chin on her hands, staring blankly at the lion’s head meatball in her bowl. Earlier, when Shen Zhi crouched down, she seemed to catch a faint smell of blood.

Was Shen Zhi injured… or something else?

“What are you thinking about?”

Shen Zhuang had changed into a Tang suit and entered with a smile, leaning on his cane as he took his seat.

Jiang Huashan quickly looked him over and quietly sighed in relief. As long as Grandpa was fine, that was enough.

Shen Zhuang scooped a meatball into her bowl. “What did you do in Qinyuan today? If Grandpa isn’t around in the future and you get bored, you can ask Zheng Song to take you out to play.”

Zheng Song?!

Jiang Huashan’s pupils suddenly contracted.

How could she have forgotten this person?!

Zheng Song was responsible for Qinyuan’s security. Although his personality was strange, the Old Master trusted him greatly.

In her previous life, on the night her grandfather was poisoned, Zheng Song also mysteriously disappeared. Afterward, Shen Lanxi used every possible resource but still couldn’t find him.

Because he was never found, there were many theories—but the Shen family tended to believe he had betrayed the Old Master.

Seeing the sudden light in her eyes, the Old Master assumed she just wanted to play and thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“Let’s wait a few days. If you’re really bored these days, go camp at the mountain spring stream behind the estate. I’ll have people prepare everything for you.”

If it were before, Jiang Huashan would never have understood the hidden meaning in those words. But now it was different—she clearly sensed the implication.

“Wait a few days”… could it be that something big is about to happen in the next few days?