Chapter 55: Redirecting the Calamity Eastward

Shen Yuan stood to the side, her brows furrowed, silent.

Shen Zhaoxi shook her head inwardly, a touch of helplessness in her heart. It seemed it was truly impossible to keep anything from this brother of hers.

Since Shen Mo saw she refused to say anything, he fixed his gaze upon her, his voice cool and even, though it was clear he was restraining his temper. “Is it a serious injury?”

Rather than blaming her, worry for her condition took precedence in his tone. Inevitably, he appeared sterner than before.

“It’s not serious, not serious, Second Young Master. The young lady just hurt her leg by accident,” Xiaoxiao, who stood nearby, quickly explained when she saw Shen Zhaoxi lowering her eyes, looking aggrieved and fiddling with her fingers, a sign things were not easy to handle.

Yet Shen Zhaoxi was still in a wheelchair.

Shen Mo’s expression was cold and stern, but beneath it lay a trace of concern. He looked into her eyes and said, “For now, stop concerning yourself with affairs of the military.”

Shen Zhaoxi raised her brows in surprise. No scolding? But seeing the solemnity on Shen Mo’s face, all because of her, she couldn’t help feeling moved.

When had this supreme commander of the General Military District ever been so accommodating? Only for her.

So she decided to retreat while she could.

“Understood, brother,” Shen Zhaoxi replied obediently.

Shen Mo frowned, his face growing darker. His lips pressed together as if he wanted to say more. But faced with Shen Zhaoxi’s pale face, all words of reproach choked in his throat.

“I truly don’t know whom you take after,” he said, his lips a thin line, his voice cold and clear, though the furrow in his brow never eased.

That military operation in the Eastern Continent was fraught with danger, yet she had gone without a word, attempting to cover it up. He was always helpless before this sister of his.

“Like father, like mother, but most of all, like you, brother,” Shen Zhaoxi teased, lightly tugging at the corner of his suit jacket, all the sharpness and chill from before utterly gone.

One must know when to flatter.

Indeed, Shen Mo and Shen Zhaoxi resembled each other most within the Shen family. Only they had inherited their mother’s peach blossom eyes—eyes that seemed full of affection toward anyone.

In his youth, Shen Mo had been like the first rays of the sun, eyes always smiling, coaxing her to happiness. Now, his gaze was pitch-black, cool and distant, stripped of any superfluous emotion, leaving only calm and composure.

People change, as they say, but no matter how much, traces of the past could still be found in him. Especially with Shen Zhaoxi—before her, Shen Mo was not the aloof commander of Y Nation’s General Military District.

He was her brother—a family member who worried about her health and cared for her well-being.

As Shen Mo frowned, at a loss before Shen Zhaoxi, Shen Sisi, newly out of danger from Shen Xin’s grasp, pursed her lips and, eyes brimming with tears, watched the scene before her.

Aggrieved, she cried out, “Brother Shen Mo.” Clutching the wound at her neck, she dared not look, knowing blood was seeping out. Sobbing, she whimpered, yet no one paid her any mind.

After a moment, recalling how Shen Zhaoxi had threatened her with a knife just moments ago, Shen Sisi began to complain, “Shen Zhaoxi…”

She wept helplessly, inching forward, watching as Brother Shen Mo crouched before the girl—his gaze cold, yet reined in with gentleness.

Through her tears, she choked out, “Did you just want me dead?”

Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes in exasperation. Heaven help her, how could there be anyone as foolish as Shen Sisi? She still didn’t understand the situation, thinking Shen Zhaoxi had meant her harm when in truth she had nearly lost her life, not realizing it was Shen Zhaoxi who had just saved her in secret.

“Brother Shen Mo…” Shen Sisi continued to whimper, but no one answered her, not even Shen Mo, who didn’t so much as glance her way.

Her sobs grew louder, her grievances deepening.

“Go bring a doctor to look at her,” Shen Mo finally said after a pause, turning to glance at the shallow cut bleeding at her neck, then instructing a bodyguard.

“Yes, Second Young Master.”

He spoke methodically, “Go rest first. I’ll have someone tend to your wound.”

“All right…” Shen Sisi agreed meekly, and soon a bodyguard escorted her away.

Xiaoxiao looked on with disdain, scoffing.

For some reason, Shen Zhaoxi found the scene amusing—the brainless and the unhappy.

“Boss, what’s so funny?” Xiaoxiao asked, puzzled by her laughter.

“Nothing, just praising you,” Shen Zhaoxi replied, a smile lingering in her eyes.

Seeing her in good spirits, Shen Mo finally let out a breath he’d been holding.

“Brother, I want to eat your cooking,” Shen Zhaoxi said, leaning forward to gently hug his arm, her beautiful eyes taking on a spoiled look.

“Alright.” Though Shen Mo’s face remained cool, he relented at her coquettish plea.

#

The storm passed, and the servants resumed sweeping away the fallen leaves of Birch Garden. The afternoon sun blazed overhead, cicadas droned incessantly.

In the lakeside pavilion, Shen Zhaoxi sat over a game of Go. She held a black stone poised at a critical moment, the balance between black and white tense and uncertain.

“Is everything settled?” Old Master Shen lifted his eyes to her. He wasn’t as oblivious as he seemed; he knew everything, had seen it all, but let Shen Zhaoxi act as she wished.

“Mm.” Shen Zhaoxi’s cool voice drifted as her gaze lingered on the board, her answer casual.

“What do you plan to do next?” Old Master Shen asked, his eyes deep, probing.

At that, Shen Zhaoxi placed her black stone, her slender fingers releasing it from her grip. “From here on, I’ll draw in the net and catch the fish.”

The opponent could only retreat. Shen Xin, this piece on the board, was as good as wasted.

The moment Shen Xin returned to the capital, she tried to stir up trouble and frame the Shen family. Why was she in such a hurry? It proved that the findings of the Seventh District investigation were true.

Now, as the Seventh District delved deeper, those in Y Nation colluding with the Eastern Continent would be forced into the open. Of course, their enemies weren’t idle; they tried to shift the blame onto the Shen family. This move—diverting disaster—was skillfully played.

But now that Shen Xin’s identity had been exposed and she’d fallen into the hands of the military, those hiding in the shadows would want nothing more than her silence. All Shen Zhaoxi had to do was wait and see who would be desperate enough to reveal themselves.

“You’d better focus on recovering before you think about catching any fish!” Suddenly, a stern and commanding voice cut through the air.

A strikingly handsome young man, dressed in a crisp military uniform, appeared outside the pavilion.

“Eldest Young Master?” The old butler, who had been watching Old Master Shen and his granddaughter play, exclaimed in surprise.

Old Master Shen’s hand paused mid-move, and he looked at Shen Zhaoxi with a gaze full of sympathy.

She wanted to run.

How did it come to this?