Chapter 729: Her Home Was Robbed!
The Zhang Clan's household rules were notoriously strict, and Zhang Yunhai doted on his only daughter, Zhang Yaqian, to an almost suffocating degree.
For Zhang Yaqian to stay out overnight was fundamentally impossible. The only exception was if she stayed at the home of Ling Qingcheng, the General Manager of the Yunhai Group. After all, the Zhang and Ling families were friends of a generation. Ling Qingcheng's capabilities and status were extraordinary, and more, she was a woman; she wasn't about to run off with his precious daughter.
Therefore, Zhang Yunhai was more than happy for Zhang Yaqian to spend the night at the Ling residence.
Zhang Yaqian had used precisely this excuse—claiming she was staying with Ling Qingcheng—to prevent her father from asking any questions. She had even begged Ling Qingcheng long ago to cover for her.
But now, the information packed into her father's words left Zhang Yaqian utterly stunned.
What did he mean, she would see Master Shen at Ling Qingcheng's place?
"Yaqian, Master Shen. Surely you haven't forgotten him?" Zhang Yunhai's voice crackled over the phone. Noticing his daughter's dazed silence, he couldn't help but offer a reminder. "The very same Master Shen who stopped our car, warned us of a bloody disaster, and gave you that life-saving safety talisman. You haven't forgotten him, have you?"
"Of course I haven't forgotten Master Shen," Zhang Yaqian replied, her delicate brows knitting in confusion. "But why would I see him at Qingcheng's home?"
How could she possibly forget Master Shen? He was her man, Shen Anyu. It was that very encounter, the fate woven into that single talisman, that had brought them together.
But what did any of this have to do with Ling Qingcheng? How could her Shen Anyu possibly be seen at Ling Qingcheng's home?
Zhang Yunhai didn't keep her in suspense. "Yaqian, it seems you're still in the dark," he explained directly. "Your friend, Ling Qingcheng, is Master Shen's woman."
What?
Ling Qingcheng is Master Shen's woman?
The world seemed to tilt on its axis. Zhang Yaqian was completely bewildered.
Seeing the deep shock on his daughter's face even through the phone, Zhang Yunhai sighed with a shared sense of awe. "It's not just you. When I found out, I was just as surprised."
He then lowered his voice, a conspiratorial excitement coloring his tone. "Yaqian, do you have any idea who Master Shen really is? I'm telling you, this is going to blow your mind!"
"Master Shen's name is Shen Anyu, and he is the Young Master of the Yanxia Shen Clan!"
"You know of the Yanxia Shen Clan, don't you? I've told you about them before. They are one of the few supreme, aristocratic families in all of Yanxia—the absolute pinnacle of wealth and power. Even our Yunhai Group is nothing to them; they could crush us as easily as stepping on an ant!"
"And Master Shen, Shen Anyu, is the sole heir to this colossal entity. He is the First Young Master, the Da Shao, a man of unassailable status!"
"But he's not just some pampered young master; he possesses genuine, terrifying ability. Last night, at the Hilton banquet, Yu Guanying, the Crown Prince of the Yu Clan, set up a trap—a regular Banquet of Hongmen—to target the Yanxia Shen Clan. And the Da Shao..."
Zhang Yunhai was on a roll, his voice beaming with an almost fanatical excitement as he recounted the tale.
Zhang Yaqian wanted to ask about Ling Qingcheng, to demand what he meant by her being Shen Anyu's woman, but she couldn't get a word in. However, the moment she heard her father mention a "Banquet of Hongmen" set up by Yu Guanying, her heart seized. She could no longer hold back.
"Brother Shen... was Master Shen in danger last night?" she interjected, her voice tight with concern.
"For any ordinary person, it would have been a dragon's den, a tiger's lair. But for the Da Shao? It was nothing worth mentioning," Zhang Yunhai said, not at all surprised by his daughter's worried tone. His precious girl had a kind heart, and Shen Anyu had saved her life; of course, she would be concerned.
He patiently explained, "The Da Shao is perfectly safe. Although Yu Guanying set up a trap and even allied himself with Hangzhou's strongest expert, the Heavenly Human, Qin Haitian, none of them were a match for the Da Shao."
"Yaqian, it's truly a shame you didn't go to the banquet last night."
"The Da Shao was simply impressive. The moment he appeared, he forced Yu Guanxiong, the Second Young Master of the Yu Clan, to his knees and effortlessly brushed aside their Eldest Miss, Yu Guannan. When Qin Haitian and Yu Guanying finally showed themselves, he didn't even spare them a second glance."
"And that Old Qin! An existence so powerful he was practically an immortal! The Da Shao killed him instantly with a single move, something straight out of a myth—'Myriad Swords Return to the Origin.' Tsk, tsk... This Da Shao is truly extraordinary, truly on another level!"
Listening to her father's breathless account of the previous night's events at the Hilton—of how countless influential figures and magnates had ultimately bowed their heads before Shen Anyu—Zhang Yaqian felt a swell of emotion.
Her beautiful eyes began to sparkle, and a look of immense pride bloomed on her pure, charming face.
So that was how majestic and impressive her Brother Shen had been last night.
It was a pity she had been in seclusion, cultivating the Martial God Art, and had missed witnessing his divine power with her own eyes. She made a mental note to have him recount the entire story to her later, to hear it directly from his lips.
"Your friend, Ling Qingcheng, is destined for great things."
At that moment, Zhang Yunhai's sigh cut through Zhang Yaqian's reverie.
Snapping back to the present, she quickly asked, "Daddy, what exactly is going on? What do you mean Qingcheng and Master Shen are together?"
'There must be some misunderstanding,' she thought desperately. What kind of relationship could Ling Qingcheng and Brother Shen possibly have? They were from two completely different worlds.
Hearing his daughter's question, Zhang Yunhai immediately clarified, "Last night at the Hilton banquet, the Da Shao brought Ling Qingcheng as his guest and publicly declared that she was his woman. The whole reason he brought Yu Guanxiong to his knees was because of her—a fit of anger for his beloved."
He sighed again, his words rambling on with a mixture of envy and admiration. "Your friend Ling Qingcheng is set for life. Now that she's the Da Shao's woman, who in Hangzhou, or even the entire Jiangnan business world, would dare to stand against her?"
"Yaqian, you must maintain a good relationship with Qingcheng in the future. When I'm no longer around, with her looking out for you, you'll be able to live the rest of your life in peace and happiness."
"What a pity, what a pity... finding a son-in-law like the Da Shao is harder than ascending to the heavens. But don't you worry, Yaqian, Daddy will definitely find someone suitable for you. Perhaps your friend Qingcheng can even help. Through the Da Shao's connections, she could introduce you to some talented young men from the prominent families in the Imperial Capital..."
The color drained from Zhang Yaqian's face. Her expression went blank.
Ling Qingcheng... actually became Brother Shen's woman?
"Daddy, I'm going back to my room."
Her eyes were a storm of complex emotions. Without another word to Zhang Yunhai, she stomped back towards her room and slammed the door shut with a resounding bang.
"This girl... so jumpy," Zhang Yunhai muttered, watching the door his daughter had disappeared through. He shook his head with a wry smile. "But it's no wonder. I was just as shocked when I first heard the news."
He then fell into thought, pondering how to find a suitable son-in-law for his precious daughter. The Zhao family, with whom they had once planned a marriage alliance, had already collapsed—thankfully, the engagement had been broken off beforehand.
"I don't expect to find someone as extraordinary as the Da Shao, but we can't let our Yaqian suffer either. I wonder if niece Qingcheng can help..." Zhang Yunhai mused aloud.
Meanwhile, inside her room, Zhang Yaqian was already frantically dialing Ling Qingcheng's number.
She had been completely blindsided. Her home had been robbed.
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