Chapter Ninety-Three: Shen Guosheng Once More
The old man froze for a moment, staring at Ye Tianci in surprise, then instead of anger, he laughed.
“Young man, I can barely remember the last time someone was so insolent in my presence.”
“I am very curious. What gives you the right to act so brazenly before me, Shen Jianye?”
His sharp eyes were filled with undisguised contempt.
“Grandpa, he’s a friend of Shen Ying’s. He even said that Shen Ying begged him to come to our house,” the girl Xiaoyi said.
Shen Jianye gave a cold snort. “Young man, if you presume to rely on being Shen Ying’s friend and then behave rudely before me, then you are truly ignorant of the height of heaven and the depth of earth.”
Shen Ying blinked at Ye Tianci and said, “Hurry up and apologize to Grandpa.”
There was a hint of slyness flashing in her eyes.
Ye Tianci had seen through it long ago. Shen Ying had deliberately brought him here, intending to make him step into a trap.
He was the one who had saved her grandfather, but when Shen Jianye asked about it, she said nothing at all. That, too, had been intentional.
“What a willful, spoiled young lady beyond all hope.”
Ye Tianci’s impression of Shen Ying had fallen straight to the freezing point.
He rose to his feet, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked at Shen Jianye with calm composure. “Why should I, Ye Tianci, ever borrow the status of another?”
“Shen Jianye, you need not be so lofty. Though you are now the father of the city’s top official, and your son struts about as if he were the foremost power in Shu City, in less than three months he will face imprisonment.”
“Within half a year, your branch of the family will decline at great speed.”
As soon as his words fell, Shen Ying’s expression changed drastically.
She had brought Ye Tianci to Shen Guosheng’s home with no ill intent. She simply could not stand Ye Tianci’s cold arrogance.
Shen Jianye, father of the city’s chief official, doted on her and had a terrible temper besides. She had wanted to use him to suppress Ye Tianci’s arrogance a little.
Never had she imagined that Ye Tianci would actually say such a thing.
Even among ordinary families, such a “prediction” would be taken as a vicious curse.
Not to mention that the one standing opposite him was Shen Jianye.
“Ye Tianci, don’t talk nonsense!” Shen Ying panicked and hurriedly explained to Shen Jianye. “Uncle Shen, I actually forgot to tell you just now. Ye Tianci is—”
“Be quiet!”
Shen Jianye cut her off coldly, fixing Ye Tianci with icy eyes. “Young man, your arrogance exceeds my expectations. To be conceited, one must have real skill.”
“Where is your skill? Merely in that mouth of yours?”
“Heh. You move your lips a little and declare that Guosheng will suffer imprisonment, declare that my line will decline. What a ridiculous joke!”
Ye Tianci curved the corner of his mouth and said unhurriedly, “Earlier, at Qingcheng Hospital, I had just seen your son Shen Guosheng. His brow was dim, his heavenly canopy clouded in dust; within one hundred days, he will surely face imprisonment.”
“If I am not mistaken, he is currently in the midst of a divorce, and the one behind it is the golden bird he has secretly kept outside.”
“Nonsense!”
Shen Jianye flew into a rage and slammed the table as he stood.
“Guosheng and my daughter-in-law get along perfectly well! How could there possibly be a divorce?”
“To say he is secretly keeping a mistress outside is even more absurd!”
He glared angrily at Shen Ying. “Xiaoying, what kind of friend have you made? He’s utterly deranged!”
“Grandpa, I told you already—the taste in friends Shen Ying has gotten worse and worse,” Xiaoyi huffed, puffing out her cheeks.
Shen Ying had only thought it amusing to toy with Ye Tianci. She never imagined the fire would burn back onto her own hands. A little flustered, she said, “Uncle Shen, don’t be angry yet. Why not call Guosheng here and ask him what’s going on?”
Shen Jianye was so angry that his face turned dark.
Just then, the sound of brakes came from outside. The living room door opened, and a middle-aged man walked in. It was none other than Shen Guosheng, the chief official of Shu City.
“Guosheng, you’re here at the right time.”
“Where is Meiru? I don’t think I’ve seen her for three days.”
Shen Jianye suppressed his anger as he asked, though of course the anger was aimed at Ye Tianci.
But Shen Guosheng did not know that. The moment he entered and saw his father’s ashen face, and then heard the question, his heart gave a sudden jolt.
He answered casually, “Meiru’s been a bit busy these past few days, so she didn’t come over.”
“Someone said Meiru has been fighting with you over a divorce?” Shen Jianye asked as if in passing.
Shen Guosheng’s heart thudded.
Since childhood, he had known that his father liked to ask questions while already holding the answers in hand.
“Dad, so you already know. I was planning to discuss it with you in these next two days,” Shen Guosheng said honestly, not daring to hide it.
At his words, Shen Jianye’s eyes widened. Shock made him draw in a sharp breath, and he could not help asking, “Have you been secretly keeping a mistress outside? Keeping a second household?”
“Dad, I…”
Shen Guosheng lowered his head.
He did not need to answer anymore. His expression and reaction had already given the answer.
“So it’s true... it’s all true?”
The astonishment and shock on Shen Jianye’s face could not be expressed in words.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Shen Jianye erupted in fury. “You wretch! What kind of bewitching potion did you drink to be acting this shamelessly!”
“Dad, this is family business. We can talk about it behind closed doors. There are guests here now.”
Shen Guosheng finally noticed Shen Ying.
He still had not noticed Ye Tianci standing beside her.
Shen Jianye rose and walked to stand before Ye Tianci. With solemn gravity, he said, “Guosheng, do you know this man?”
Only then did Shen Guosheng notice Ye Tianci. His eyes lit up as he exclaimed in surprise, “Divine Doctor Ye, what brings you to my house? Ah, it must be Shen Ying who brought you here.”
“Dad, this is Divine Doctor Ye. We just met recently at Qingcheng Hospital.”
“It was also he who cured Uncle Cangyun.”
Shen Jianye looked enlightened and studied Ye Tianci anew, astonished. “So you are that mysterious young divine physician!”
“It is I,” Ye Tianci said with a slight nod.
“You said just now that after merely glancing at Guosheng in Qingcheng Hospital, you saw through all those hidden matters of his. Does he truly face imprisonment?”
“And is it really true that my branch of the Shen family will decline?”
Shen Jianye asked, half believing and half doubting.
He had completely dismissed Ye Tianci’s words just moments ago, but now he already believed them most of the way.
“Dad, what is going on?” Shen Guosheng asked from the side, increasingly confused.
Shen Jianye explained what had happened earlier.
When he finished, Shen Guosheng’s expression changed drastically. He stared at Ye Tianci in disbelief.
“You glanced at me once and knew I was in the middle of a divorce? Knew I had someone hidden behind my back?”
“An ox plows the earth and sows gold; a child with a chisel can carve through a thousand leagues. In a single grain of millet, a world may hide; in half a ladle, mountains and rivers may be boiled.”
“The old man’s white brows sweep the ground, the green-eyed child points to heaven. If one can truly comprehend this mystery, then beyond this mystery there is no further mystery.”
“Anyone I, Ye Tianci, choose to look at has nothing I cannot see through.”
Ye Tianci recited softly, his tone calm.
Shen Guosheng stood with his mouth open, drawing in cold breaths, looking at Ye Tianci as though he were gazing upon a god or a ghost.
The matter of his keeping a golden bird outside was known only to his trusted driver. Even his wife, Zheng Meiru, did not know.
He had been wondering how his father had found out. So it had all been calculated by Ye Tianci.
How terrifyingly miraculous!
“Divine Doctor Ye—no, Master Ye—what you said, that I will surely face imprisonment within one hundred days, is it true?” Shen Guosheng asked in alarm.