Dodge

Zhou Buzhang strode out, his face filled with disbelief. “Zhi'an, what’s going on?”

“Why is it so noisy outside?”

“Has something happened?”

Shen Zhian glanced at him indifferently. “Nothing. Just some unruly commoners causing trouble. Don’t concern yourself with it. Go back to your storybooks.”

There was clear displeasure in Shen Zhian’s voice as she spoke, evidently directed at Zhou Buzhang.

Such a major incident had occurred at home, yet the husband she had married didn’t even know the specifics. Every day, all he did was lose himself in storybooks, caring about nothing else.

She had to shoulder the entire household on her own!

Zhou Buzhang failed to notice Shen Zhian’s mood. Even if he had, he had no time to worry about it now. He asked impatiently, “What do you mean, ‘don’t concern yourself with it’?”

“They’ve rammed into the Zhou household’s front gate.”

“I’m the master of the Zhou household. They’ve rammed into my gate—how could I not get involved?”

Shen Zhian’s temper flared. Unable to hold herself back, she snapped, “Oh, so you do know that’s the gate to your household. Then why don’t you pay a little more attention to what goes on here?”

“That’s a business empire, yet you don’t care about it at all…”

Before she could finish, Zhou Buzhang said, “Wasn’t that what you wanted? You said you would handle all the business matters yourself and wouldn’t let me interfere. You even said I wasn’t suited to that sort of thing and only needed to provide the money…”

Shen Zhian cut him off coldly. “Just because I won’t let you handle the business, does that mean you can’t show the slightest concern?”

“You were completely indifferent before, and now you suddenly care?”

“Hah. You really are a model husband!”

This was a rare occasion on which the two of them had crossed swords. It was also one of the few times Zhou Buzhang had managed not to lose ground in an argument with Shen Zhian. In the past, his clumsy way with words had always left him stammering after Shen Zhian tore into him.

But even though his agitation had allowed him to perform unusually well this time, he ultimately still lost the argument. He simply stopped wasting his breath on Shen Zhian and headed straight for the entrance to open the gate.

Shen Zhian moved ahead of him and grabbed his arm. “Zhou Buzhang, what are you trying to do?”

“I’m going to open the gate and see what’s going on!” Zhou Buzhang said anxiously. “So many people are gathered outside our home. Don’t I need to find out what this is about?”

“If word gets out, the reputation I’ve built up over half a lifetime will be completely ruined.”

Zhou Buzhang explained himself clearly, but Shen Zhian still held him back. Yet she also knew that she could not stop him for long, so she finally told him the truth.

“Since that’s the case, Zhou Buzhang, I’ll tell you.”

“After the martial arts academy shut down, those creditors came knocking.”

“Creditors?” Zhou Buzhang was startled. Then he asked in shock, “Didn’t you say the money we lent out would be returned soon, and that we’d use it to pay off all those creditors?”

“What? That one million taels still hasn’t come back?”

Zhou Buzhang had swallowed his pride and borrowed one million taels in banknotes. He had been reluctant when Shen Zhian took the money in the first place, especially since the martial arts academy had already gone under.

But he had always only concerned himself with taking money from the household, never with how it was spent. And Shen Zhian had seemed so confident that he had assumed she would resolve everything properly.

Later, Shen Zhian had assured him that she would take care of it. But… was this what “taking care of it” meant?

To have so many creditors surrounding their home?

“The money can’t be recovered for the time being…” Shen Zhian remained calm. “After all, that money is tied to something of great importance. We may have endured a momentary humiliation because of it, but the reward we’ll receive in return will be so immense that you can’t even imagine it!”

“So forget about getting that one million taels back.”

“However…”

After a brief pause, Shen Zhian continued, “There’s no need for you to panic over what’s happening now. They’re merely blocking the gate. Yunjing has its authorities—do you really think these people would dare force their way inside?”

“Besides, you retired from the army because of your injuries, but you haven’t lost your strength. You may be somewhat outmatched when dealing with elite soldiers and fierce warriors from the battlefield, but against ordinary commoners, you could take on ten of them at once.”

“What are you afraid of?”