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"Did Snow mention this?"

Old Master Shen chuckled as he set down his teacup upon hearing Shen Yan’s report and sized him up, "You say you’re a father, but how come every child under your hand is no easy candle to burn?"

Shen Yan: "....."

"At such a young age, she’s quite shrewd with her calculations," Old Master Shen laughed.

"According to her, if her own children have the talent for inheriting techniques, they should change their surname to Shen and return to the Shen family to receive the same treatment as the descendants of the Shen family, is that right? "

Shen Yan sighed, "That’s right..."

"This girl... Haha....." Old Master Shen laughed heartily. "At the tender age of twelve, she plans so far ahead, and even bets on both ends!"

Jiangnan Academy is all the rage now, with every major family vying to have their children go there to figure things out, but after all, no one has been there, right?

What the situation is like over there remains an unknown, and what if going there delays time, even consuming one’s entire life in the process.

After all, staying with the Shen family, though the husband she marries might be a lackluster son-in-law, as long as the child has potential, the child would still be valued and nurtured by the Shen family, and would have an opportunity to turn their fate around.

Quite clearly, this girl... intends to eat from both ends!

"Grandfather..." Shen Yan sighed. "What do you think?"

"What else can I think?" Shen Qingfeng glanced at him, "Do we have a choice?"

Shen Yan fell silent and suddenly felt a wave of weariness.

When he was being groomed by the mistress, he silently vowed never to let his own descendants suffer such an environment.

Thus, when he became the Family Head and held power, he strictly suppressed Madam Zheng to prevent such things from happening.

But now... the child he raised seemed to be somewhat different from what he had envisioned...

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"Oh, has our esteemed daughter-in-law-to-be arrived?"

After everything had been agreed upon, the Shen family did not delay.

The very next day, they arranged for Bai Hua to start teaching.

After all, there was only one month left until the first assessment.

It might be a bit desperate to cram at the last minute, but the sooner they started preparing, the better.

Who knows if they could squeeze a few more descendants into Jiangnan Academy?

The current situation was clear to everyone, the more people a family could get in, the better the chances of gaining an advantage.

The next day, Shen Xue arrived early at the Shen family school, only to be unexpectedly ridiculed by Shen Yu and a group of young disciples upon her arrival.

Shen Xue’s eyebrows furrowed. Her marriage was supposed to be kept confidential by all accounts; she had no idea which Elder with a loose tongue had leaked it!

Shen Yu, seeing the defiance still on Shen Xue’s face, felt the malice in his heart growing harder to repress. Since when did such an untalented illegitimate daughter dare to show such an attitude towards him?

"Where did brother hear these things?" Shen Xue asked, looking directly at him.

Seeing the nerve of the other party to actually question her, Shen Yu couldn’t help but laugh out of anger, "What now? You dare to do it but fear others speaking of it? For a bit of a future, you resort to any means necessary. The family has never wronged you. Have you ever thought about how your behavior could affect the Shen Family’s reputation? "

"My brother means to say that I, your younger sister, have tarnished the Shen Family’s honor?"

"Do you really think your actions are bringing honor to the Shen Family?" a direct descendant of the Fang Family by Shen Yu’s side chimed in to support her cause.

Shen Xue’s expression turned cold; she hadn’t wanted to come into conflict with Shen Yu and the others—they were, after all, the descendants valued by the family.

Even if they couldn’t keep up with the current developments in Jiangnan due to their poor foundation in Art Calculation now, they still represented the future generations of the Shen Family’s techniques.

Should Jiangnan not turn out to be as bright as imagined, or if the situation there collapsed, the Shen Family would still be her support.

And Shen Yu, very likely to inherit the position of Family Head and someone worth pleasing, was she really reliable if she suppressed any emerging brother or sister like this and didn’t hesitate to speak such humiliating words?

But faced with such a narrow-minded future Family Head, who resorted to such repression and humiliation upon seeing any younger brother or sister stand out, could she really be relied upon in the future?

Taking a deep breath, the twelve-year-old, though sensible, couldn’t suppress her anger and said, "The marriage... was proposed by the Bai Family Head, and after repeated consideration by our father, this was the outcome. If you feel it disgraces the Shen Family, why not take it up with father instead of disgracing your younger sister like this? Is this the extent of a brother’s magnanimity? "

"You little wretch sure have a sharp tongue!" Shen Yu’s face turned dark as she snapped.

Seeing that her brother had even resorted to words like ’little wretch’, Shen Xue was beyond angry, "Brother, perhaps instead of mistreating your younger sister, you should spend more time studying. Even the seven-year-old children in our family have a better foundation in Art Calculation than you. At this rate, you might not make it to Jiangnan by the time you’re thirty, just as you wish! "

At these words, Shen Yu’s face immediately turned ashen.

Bai Hua had issued some basic exam questions last night, stating that he wanted to assess the Art Calculation foundation of the Shen Family’s three generations to tailor the teaching accordingly.

But that old man had gone and publicized the results!

Shen Yu, who had never given much attention to Art Calculation, was in no condition to be assessed.

Once the rankings came out, the youngest six-year-old brother scored five points higher than her, immediately turning her into a joke within the Shen Family!

Though nobody dared to mock her to her face, she could imagine just how many in the family were laughing about it behind her back.

Thinking of this, Shen Yu felt an uncontrollable surge of fury rushing to the top of her head: "You little wretch, you’re looking for death!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a cold and sinister aura suddenly enveloped the surroundings, causing the nearby descendants to stiffen, staring at Shen Yu in shock and fear.

Was Shen Yu actually using techniques at home?

Shen Xue was also pale; she had not expected that Shen Yu would resort to physical violence over a mere disagreement.

"You vile creature, stop at once!"

A thunderous roar burst forth, and a massive oppressive force instantly shook the entire hall, causing Shen Yu to shudder in her heart. Her face turned pale, and she quickly retracted her technique!

Turning her head, she saw Old Master Shen himself, and behind him stood the Family Head Shen Yan, his face as grim as still water!

"Great-Grandfather... Father, I..." Shen Yu inwardly cursed her luck, and just as she tried to come up with an excuse, she was sent flying by a slap from Old Master Shen, delivered through the air.

"Beast!" Old Master Shen’s face was extremely unsightly: "The Shen Family taught you techniques to use them against your own flesh and blood?"

At this moment, Shen Yan behind him was also extremely angry.

The Shen Family’s techniques from Jiangnan, known as the Ghost King Mantra, were extremely dangerous.

It was said that after the Shen Family split, the new direct line of the Shen Family had modified their own techniques, resulting in the notorious Ghost King Arm of the second branch!

Everyone knew that the Yin Ghost techniques were extremely perilous, yet this vile creature dared to use them against his own younger sister.

If they had arrived a moment later, even if Shen Xue hadn’t died, her spirit would have suffered greatly.

Such a cruel and ruthless disposition, how had he not seen it before?

"Old Master, listen to my explanation..." Shen Yu, who had been beaten until his mouth was bloody and half his teeth were lost, scrambled to his feet and said while covering his mouth, "I was just trying to scare her; I didn’t mean to actually hit her."

"Scare her?" Old Master Shen scoffed. "With your level of skill, once a Shen Family Technique is started, can you stop it? Very well, demonstrate for this old man how you can pull back. If you cannot do so today, I’ll chop off your damn hand!"

Thump!

Hearing these words, Shen Yu didn’t dare to talk back and thumped to his knees: "Please forgive me, Old Master. Yu was only momentarily confused by the insolence of my younger sister; I truly didn’t do it on purpose!"

Shen Qingfeng shuddered all over at these words.

Even at a time like this, this damn brat was still shifting the blame.

Did he think he was blind? It was obvious that Shen Yu was the one provoking trouble.

Just the slightest bit of opposition from his siblings next to him, and his jealousy flared up so violently.

If he became the Family Head in the future, who could he tolerate?

"Enough, what a disgrace!" Shen Yan said coldly: "Go back to your own yard and reflect for three days!"

"Father..." Shen Yu was stunned. His skills were already lacking, and a three-day confinement? Wasn’t this going to allow the other disciples to completely surpass him?

Shen Yan looked at him, hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "One day of confinement. Come to the lesson on time tomorrow. If you dare to offend again, you will be dealt with by family law!"

"Yes... Father..." Shen Yu said resentfully, bowing his head to suppress the resentment in his eyes.

"Now get out!"

After making a bow, Shen Yu lowered his head and sulkily walked towards the exit of the school. As he passed by Shen Xue, she distinctly saw a flash of malice in his eyes!

"Xue, are you alright?"

After scolding Shen Yu, Shen Yan came over expressing concern in a kind manner.

Looking at her father’s kindly smiling face, Shen Xue didn’t feel comforted at all; she only felt a chill throughout her body!

Shen Yu... nearly crippled her!!

And the consequence was just one day of confinement?

Is that all?

In that moment, Shen Xue immediately understood that in her father’s heart, Shen Yu was still considered the pillar of the family’s future. Even though she had become somewhat valuable as an investment, she was still far less important than Shen Yu.

That was fine; what was truly intolerable was Shen Yu’s venomous and petty nature.

If the Old Master could make it in time today, could he always be so timely in the future?

If one day Shen Yu harbored a grudge and decided to get rid of her, she suspected that the family would hardly penalize him!

After coming to this understanding, Shen Xue’s heart grew colder, but at the same time, her determination became even more resolute.

She had to get admitted to Jiangnan Academy as soon as possible, to get away from here, and ideally, she should take her aunt with her; otherwise... disaster was sure to come sooner or later!!

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"Mother, are you feeling seasick?"

Meanwhile, Shen Yuan, who had already brought his mother to Jiangnan, took the water route directly from Nanming Prefecture with the plan to go straight to Lyuzhou.

Madam Zheng, looking at the lively boats coming and going in Jiangnan from the deck, smiled and shook her head, "No, I thought I would be seasick since I even get dizzy on a carriage, but to my surprise, this boat is so stable that I don’t feel unwell at all.

Say... are all the boats in Jiangnan this big? "

"Ours is considered small," Shen Yuan said with a laugh. "Once Sister Huang from Yunzhou develops the steamboat, I’m afraid it will be more than twice this size."

"Twice as big?" Madam Zheng was shocked. The ship already seemed like a fortress on the water, yet it was to become even bigger—was she planning to build an Imperial Palace on the water?

"There will be plenty of interesting things here in Jiangnan in the future," Shen Yuan boasted. "Mother, just watch; you’ll never be bored for the rest of your life."

"Really?" Madam Zheng said with a chuckle. "Well then, I truly look forward to it."

Madam Zheng laughed freely, her anticipation genuine.

Having left the Shen Family, she had expected some difficulties adjusting, but once they were away, she found it much easier than she imagined.

It was as if shackles that had been bound for many years were unlocked, and she felt as if she had returned to her maiden days.

All the troubles were gone, and what remained... was only curiosity about the future.

Seeing her mother’s relaxed and hopeful expression, Shen Yuan smiled behind her, quietly watching. Freed from the Shen Family, his mother had finally regained her former self.

As for the affairs of the Shen Family, he didn’t want to reveal a thing to his mother.

Just now, he had used the Thousand Eyes Technique of Seventh Master Shen to see the situation at the Shen Family estate clearly, including the nearly violent encounter involving Shen Yu and his younger sister.

To be honest, he wasn’t surprised at all. Having grown up together, he was very familiar with Shen Yu’s temperament.

The key issue was his cold and impartial father, who seemed to still favor his precious son...

Thinking of this, Shen Yuan quietly sneered.

The current atmosphere of the Shen Family was all thanks to his detached father.

His overemphasis on talent had made the younger generation aggressively opportunistic, including forcing his mother to drastically change her personality as a result of that environment.

In such a toxic atmosphere, it was inevitable for monsters to emerge.

And now, he still dares to indulge...

Shen Yuan speculated that Shen Xue must have completely lost heart in their father by now.

With a sneer, he believed that a second one would soon follow. He was convinced that he would soon witness the moment when his cold father would suffer the desertion of his kin.