Another example would be the famous young Sir Yu Tianjie: it was said that he once had a tryst with a maiden from E Mei Sect but betrayed her afterwards, resulting in the girl committing suicide with their unborn child of three months old — of course, she was honorable enough to never reveal the wretched lover’s name.

Zhou Zishu was deeply interested in them since he knew all too well the kind of people they all were; besides, he was weak to Zhang Chengling’s pleadings, so he agreed to stay at the Zhaos’ for one more night.

Despite his past, Zhao Jing did have a gallant aura to him; he didn’t look down on the ragged Zhou Zishu who couldn’t even walk properly. But he was also experienced, and through Zhang Chengling’s stories of the dangers he had to face on the journey, he became suspicious of this beggar-looking man’s background.

That day, after helping the two settle down, have a proper shower and food, Zhao Jing called Zhang Chengling to the study to tell him what had happened in the past days.

Zhang Chengling after all was still a child — it was hard enough for him to find someone he could call family; so he told the elder everything, even stuffs that he had yet to understand. Zhao Jing listened to him in terror; and after contemplation he couldn’t help but ask, “This… Zhou gentleman, do you know who he really is?”

Zhang Chengling told him what happened at the abandoned shrine without hesitation.

Zhao Jing narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard. He comforted the younger briefly before sending him to bed.

From the ten days of travelling together, Zhou Zishu had come to know this Zhang Chengling child. Despite lacking a lot due to being pampered from a young age, he was a good kid with a good heart, never complaining when facing hardship, to the point of being a little simple-minded. Since Zhao Jing wanted to talk to him, Zhou Zishu was sure that the sly old fox must have succeeded in tricking Zhang Chengling into revealing information about him without meaning to.

He laughed internally — it didn’t really matter whether he was Zhou Xu or Zhou Zishu, as both names were shrouded in mystery anyway. Even someone with vast knowledge and ample resources would know no further about Tian Chuang other than the general information about the organization itself, much less its leader.

Even if one investigated into “Lord Zhou”, they would only dig up a nominal general whose responsibility was managing the inner court’s royal guards, who was worth currying favor with but not important enough to be looked at twice.

Sure enough, from the early morning of the next day, Zhou Zishu became the newest hot topic among residents in Tai Hu Holdings. It was impossible to leave the guest’s room thanks to the never-ending stream of visitors.