Chapter 33: The Rumored Shen Chaoxi

Jiang Buyan was taken aback, as if he had discovered something deeply hidden. In the capital’s social circles, everyone knew that the crown prince of the Lu family had a fiancée named Shen Chaoxi—the eldest Miss of the Shen family. Rumor had it that this pampered little princess of the Shen family was, in truth, frail and sickly. From birth, she had been plagued by illness and possessed a weak constitution, so she was carefully sheltered within the Shen household.

That was why, though everyone in the city knew of the Shen family’s little princess, none had ever seen her in person.

Now, as Jiang Buyan watched the girl in the pristine white gown step into the Shen family’s car—complete with chauffeur and the old Shen family steward to escort her—he assumed she must be Shen Chaoxi.

“No,” Lu Yunzhou replied, his gaze dim, his voice cold and indifferent. His expression was icy, betraying no hint of emotion. Indeed, a man as ascetic as he was hardly likely to care about any woman. Even his own fiancée, Shen Chaoxi, might not truly hold his attention.

“Not her?” Jiang Buyan was momentarily stunned. “How can she not be? Second Brother, you’ve never even met your—” He trailed off, thinking of the rumored frail fiancée.

“Yunzhou is right,” Gu Suizhou interjected gently, seeing where Jiang Buyan’s thoughts were headed. “His fiancée has been sickly since childhood. She could never look like that.” Someone who had suffered from illness since birth would not grow up so graceful and poised; there was no sign of poor health in the girl they had seen. Even if her condition had improved over the years, someone constantly ill would never have such a vibrant appearance.

“But she clearly—” Jiang Buyan frowned.

“That was the Shen family’s steward, wasn’t it? He addressed her as Miss. Isn’t she the eldest Miss of the Shen family? And as far as I remember, they have only one eldest Miss. If it’s not her, who else could it be? Surely not some unknown elder sister?” Jiang Buyan speculated freely.

It was hardly their fault. The rumors insisted that the eldest Miss of the Shen family was too frail to travel, rarely seen in public. Almost no one in the capital had ever laid eyes on her, fueling curiosity about what kind of person she truly was—the little princess of the Shen family.

Even Gu Suizhou and his friends were intrigued. After the Shen family’s car disappeared down the road, Gu Suizhou turned to Lu Yunzhou, whose eyes were deep and enigmatic.

“I heard that since the start of summer in June, Old Master Shen has been staying at Sanqing Peak, ten miles outside the capital for the heat, and took Miss Shen with him. Perhaps if you visit Old Master Shen, you might see her.”

#

“Listen to Sister!” Jiang Chen called out with a smile.

“You’re here,” Sheng Ting greeted as she and Shen Chaoxi exited the private rear entrance of the Imperial View Club, finding an army green military vehicle parked outside. Night deepened; the capital’s summer was stifling, and the back of the club was quiet—reserved for special access.

Jiang Chen, dressed in a sharp suit, stood tall and slender, his features handsome and refined, his broad shoulders and narrow waist accentuated by the streetlight. He stepped forward and opened the car door for Shen Chaoxi.

“Boss!” When he saw Shen Chaoxi, Jiang Chen’s face softened with a youthful, gentle smile. His long, fair fingers rested above the car door, lest she bump her head.

Shen Chaoxi got in, Sheng Ting entered from the other side, and Jiang Chen took the wheel as their driver.

“Boss, the situation in the Eastern country has been temporarily resolved.” The Eastern continent’s war zone had been tense. But due to the recent joint military operation, the W multinational corporation—an international crime syndicate entrenched in the region for decades—had suffered a devastating blow. With W Group out of the picture, no longer interfering in military affairs or undermining peace between the two nations for profit, the situation in the Eastern war zone eased.

Jiang Chen gripped the steering wheel, and after a moment’s thought, glanced back at Shen Chaoxi. “By the way, Boss, the person you asked me to investigate—you were right. He’s indeed the captain of the Eastern country’s top criminal police unit, Qin Mo! Three years ago, he participated in cross-border crime suppression. Later, during a mission in Yingdu, he was hunted by the Black Serpent organization, badly wounded, and went missing...”

That was when he was rescued by Gong Shenxi, the heiress of W Group, who kept him close as her personal bodyguard.

Long ago, Shen Chaoxi had sent someone to investigate his background, but his records were blank—no trace of his true identity. It was impossible for someone hunted by the Black Serpent organization in the Eastern continent to have a spotless background.

From that moment, Shen Chaoxi suspected the truth, though she had no proof. For three years, she lay low in the Eastern continent, searching for evidence of W Group’s crimes to avenge Zhou Xu, waiting for the right moment to bring down the syndicate.

She paid no further mind to Yu Mo’s identity until now, when the Eastern situation settled and the information database in the Eastern country updated Qin Mo’s records. Previously, Yu Mo’s status as police captain had been erased to facilitate his mission.

Shen Chaoxi had always known Yu Mo’s identity was complicated; perhaps he was another enemy of W Group. The syndicate had no shortage of foes, and he might have been one of them. Yet she had not guessed he was the captain of the Eastern country’s criminal police.

“A three-year infiltration—he’s from the Eastern country,” she mused.

Shen Chaoxi’s exquisite face, framed by a jet-black backless gown, her arms pale as snow, leaned against the car window. Her eyes lowered, she radiated a powerful aura that belied her pallor. Her beauty was not merely in her face; her presence could not be judged by appearance alone. Otherwise, one might mistake her for a frail beauty, when her gaze revealed a lethal resolve.

“No wonder,” Jiang Chen recalled, “when I made my way in, he was dispatching W Group’s own people. Later, I saw the Eastern country’s forces join him.”

It had been a joint operation between Y country and the Eastern country, with their troops divided into several units. Jiang Chen belonged to the First Military District, entering with his own team—thus encountering Qin Mo within W Group, joining up with the Eastern country’s forces.

“Still thinking about your little bodyguard?” Sheng Ting, seated in the car, suddenly turned to Shen Chaoxi, her voice alluring.

During Shen Chaoxi’s three years in the Eastern continent, she relied on Sheng Ting’s protection—she was from the Seventh District, which did not fall under military jurisdiction but instead managed the intelligence networks of all nations.

Sheng Ting was well aware of Shen Chaoxi’s situation and had helped investigate this man. Yet, just as Jiang Chen had said, all records of his background had been wiped. She could find nothing.

“No,” Shen Chaoxi replied, her gaze downcast as the dazzling city lights played across her pale face. She remembered the little bodyguard Sheng Ting teased her about, who once vowed to remain by her side, to protect her always.

From this vantage point, she realized it had all been an illusion. Countless times, he had faced W Group’s bloody storms for her. Countless times, he stood before her with a black umbrella, claiming to be the one to take the young lady home.

He had been an enemy lurking at her side. If she truly was Gong Shenxi, then Yu Mo was the one who destroyed her.

“It turns out, there’s no such thing as human treachery—only different allegiances.”

Just as Gong Shenxi was born to be a villain. Just as she was from Y country. Just as Yu Mo acted for his nation, in service of his mission. Their loyalties were not the same; there was no right or wrong between them.