A Records Of An Alpha’s Life In Ancient Times - Chapter 12

The carriage drove to Suzhou Prefecture’s bustling commercial district.

This counted as the ancient version of a pedestrian shopping street. All kinds of shops lined both sides of the road, selling everything imaginable, and the signboards extending out from them were varied and colorful. Since it was a day off, people flowed through the street like weaving threads. Hawkers’ cries mingled with the sound of conversation, making it extremely noisy.

Of course, no matter how prosperous it was, it still could not compare to the pedestrian streets Shen Qingshu had seen in later generations. But that antique charm completely made up for it.

The two got out of the carriage and walked, while their maids and pageboys followed from a distance behind them.

Shen Qingshu pretended to point things out. “There are really a lot of people today. Miss Lin, look over there. There’s even a monkey show.”

Lin Weizhi looked in the direction of her gaze and cooperatively gave a fake laugh.

Hearing her reaction, Shen Qingshu pointed out a few other interesting places, and Lin Weizhi played along every time.

She estimated that the groundwork was about ready.

After strolling a bit farther, her eyes lit up. At last, she found a target and quickly pointed him out to Lin Weizhi. “Hey, look at that young man in the blue-green scholar’s robe, the one holding two books. He has such a scholarly air, refined and handsome. Truly unforgettable at first sight.”

Here it finally came. Lin Weizhi looked over, secretly raised a brow, held back her laughter, and gave an “oh.”

So cold? All right, perhaps she did not like that type. Shen Qingshu comforted herself.

After a while, she pointed at another target. “Hey, that young man standing at the shop entrance in brown clothes. Tall and sturdy too, with such a spirited, heroic bearing. He really is a fine-looking talent.”

This time, Lin Weizhi only nodded.

She did not like this type either?

Shen Qingshu pondered inwardly.

Fine. Again.

She had to let Miss Lin know that the world was vast, and there were still many fine young men out there!

She pointed out several more handsome young men, but Lin Weizhi either “mm”-ed or “oh”-ed. Since she was wearing a veiled hat, Shen Qingshu also could not see her expression very clearly.

Shen Qingshu could not help feeling a little depressed. At least give her more of a reaction! She was starting to understand how Meng Bozhou felt when facing her.

She should find a place where Lin Weizhi did not need to wear the veiled hat.

Just then, she happened to see a teahouse. Shen Qingshu raised her hand to wipe her sweat and took the opportunity to suggest, “We’ve walked for so long. Would Miss Lin like to rest your feet?”

Lin Weizhi’s voice instantly became sweet. “I’ll listen to Young Master Shen.”

Shen Qingshu grumbled inwardly. Why didn’t she see Lin Weizhi being this enthusiastic just now?

The two entered the teahouse and asked for a private room on the second floor facing the street, leaving the maids downstairs.

After the tea and refreshments were served, Shen Qingshu took a sip of tea. “Miss Lin, the weather is so hot. You don’t need to wear the veiled hat in here, do you?”

Lin Weizhi obediently removed the veiled hat and smiled at her with pursed lips. “Young Master Shen is so considerate.”

Heh heh. Shen Qingshu pretended not to hear and watched her expression as she asked, “After seeing so many handsome young men just now, did Miss Lin discover anything?”

“Discover what?” Lin Weizhi looked innocent and adorable. She furrowed her little brows, putting on an expression of serious thought. “Let me think.”

Perhaps this question was too difficult to answer, because Lin Weizhi did not speak for quite a while.

Isn’t she thinking for a bit too long? Shen Qingshu wondered as she casually picked up her teacup and brought it to her lips.

At that exact moment, Lin Weizhi suddenly answered loudly and swiftly, “I discovered it! Young Master Shen is a cut-sleeve!”

“Pfft!”

“Cough, cough cough, cough…”

Before she could swallow the mouthful of tea, Shen Qingshu directly choked. Her windpipe felt extremely uncomfortable, and she coughed so hard she bent forward, her lungs and organs shaking.

A faint, barely noticeable smile slipped onto Lin Weizhi’s face, then quickly disappeared, leaving only concern. “Young Master Shen, are you all right?”

Only after quite some time did Shen Qingshu recover. She sat upright again, took two deep breaths, and glared at Lin Weizhi through gritted teeth. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“What is Young Master Shen talking about?”

Shen Qingshu snorted coldly. “Because I pulled my hand back by the carriage earlier, you deliberately waited until I was drinking tea to take revenge on me.”

“I didn’t. How could Young Master Shen wrong me like this? I really only just figured it out.” Lin Weizhi looked at her in disbelief, then immediately blinked, lowered the corners of her eyes, and pressed her lips together, as if she held endless grievances and helplessness.

With such an innocent appearance, could it really have been a coincidence? Was Shen Qingshu overthinking it?

Shen Qingshu became somewhat hesitant.

No, that was not the point. She suddenly reacted. The point was, “Why did you say I’m a cut-sleeve?”

She was a girl. How could she possibly be a cut-sleeve? If anything, she should be a lily.

Bah. That was not the point either.

“Because Young Master Shen…” Lin Weizhi paused, as if afraid of angering her. She raised her eyes and looked at her cautiously. “You were looking at handsome young men the whole way, so I thought…”

Shen Qingshu: “…”

That behavior did indeed seem easy to misunderstand. So in the end, was this all her own fault?

Suddenly, Shen Qingshu remembered that being a cut-sleeve was also an intolerable flaw.

She would turn the trick back on her. She restrained her expression and calmly admitted, “That’s right. I am a cut-sleeve.”

“But you said before that you only wanted to marry beautiful women.”

“Not only that. I also like beautiful men.”

Lin Weizhi opened her eyes wide in curiosity. “Then will Young Master Shen have male favorites in the future?”

“That’s right.” Shen Qingshu nodded firmly. Her mouth was filled with malice as she said, “So can you accept living under the same roof as them?”

In her heart, however, she was secretly thinking: Please, whatever you do, don’t say you can accept it.

“Under the same roof?” Lin Weizhi blinked in confusion. “Is Young Master Shen not worried that your male favorites and concubines will develop private affairs with each other?”

“…”

Shen Qingshu was speechless again. What kind of chaotic nonsense was this? She would never actually do such a thing, so she had never thought about these problems at all.

So tired.

Communicating with this little girl was exhausting. Why did Lin Weizhi always fail to grasp the main point and leave her with no way to respond?

No!

There was a problem. Shen Qingshu carefully recalled their interactions and suddenly came to her senses.

Although there were no flaws in Lin Weizhi’s expressions or movements, for some reason, Shen Qingshu always felt a trace of incongruity.

How could she be so perfect? Could this little girl be deliberately teasing her?

She needed to test her.

“Something’s wrong. I’ve discovered it.” Shen Qingshu stared deeply at her for a while. The corner of her mouth slowly hooked into a cold smile, and her gaze sharpened. “You said that on purpose. You’ve been acting all along!”

Lin Weizhi froze for a moment, then sat properly and smiled at her with an utterly harmless expression. “What acting? I haven’t.”

That obedient, clever act only made Shen Qingshu even more certain of her guess. She snorted coldly again. “Stop pretending. I won’t believe you anymore, you little liar.”

Lin Weizhi looked at her blankly, as if she did not quite understand what Shen Qingshu was saying.

The two faced each other through the mist rising from the tea and began a contest of will.

Perhaps a minute passed. Shen Qingshu had made up her mind not to move, and in the end, it was Lin Weizhi who looked away first. She smiled sweetly. “All right. You finally saw through me.”

Shen Qingshu sucked in a breath of cold air.

She really had been pretending. Shen Qingshu had actually been deceived by a little girl. She had been making a fool of herself all this time and only realized it now.

She immediately felt as if her intelligence had been insulted, both embarrassed and angry. “Why did you lie to me? You acted so convincingly, you little drama queen!”

“Remove the word ‘little.’ You’re only a tiny bit older than me.” Lin Weizhi lazily propped her chin in her hand. First, she corrected Shen Qingshu’s wording, then glanced at her with a smile that was not quite a smile. “Weren’t you acting too? Same to you.”

Uh…

Shen Qingshu paused, and her emotions immediately failed to continue.

Well… that did seem to be true?

She had been the one to start acting first. In that case, she was the one in the wrong.

Sigh. It was all because she wanted to dissolve the engagement too much. Being trapped inside the situation, she could not see things clearly. Thinking with her toes should have been enough to realize that no girl would be that brainless.

Shen Qingshu coughed twice and picked up the teacup to hide her awkwardness. Conveniently, she also drank two mouthfuls of tea to calm down and sort through her thoughts.

After carefully thinking it over again, Shen Qingshu suddenly discovered a brilliant point. “You didn’t know me before. How did you know I was acting?”

“Your acting skills really weren’t up to standard.”

Shen Qingshu’s old—no, little face reddened. It was not as if she was an actress. But this ancient little girl’s acting skills were actually so good that she had deceived Shen Qingshu completely. Damn it!

Shen Qingshu also did not ask why Lin Weizhi had played along with her acting, afraid that asking would only bring humiliation upon herself.

Since she had been exposed, she simply took the opportunity to speak openly. “Fine, Miss Lin. Let’s be frank. Those words before were indeed lies. My goal was to make you hate me and take the initiative to break off the engagement.”

Lin Weizhi was not surprised at all. She blinked at her playfully. “I know you want to break off the engagement. I’m guessing you definitely didn’t know that I knew.”

“…” No nesting dolls allowed.

“How did you know?”

Lin Weizhi smiled without answering. Shen Qingshu therefore assumed she had guessed it from her behavior and continued persuading her. “Since you know, then break off the engagement as soon as possible. Although I was lying to you, the essence is the same. I don’t want to marry you, so I won’t treat you well. If you marry me, your life will be miserable.”

Lin Weizhi shook her head and sighed. “Alas. The command of parents, the words of the matchmaker. Wouldn’t marrying anyone be miserable? It’s all the same.”

She was still only a little girl, yet she put on such an old and world-weary air. It was truly adorable. Shen Qingshu’s hand itched badly, and she really wanted to rub her head.

“Marrying me is different. It would be especially miserable. You should choose someone else.” Shen Qingshu emphasized.

She made it sound like buying something. Lin Weizhi asked with great interest, “How would it be especially miserable?”

This… She could not say that she was female either. Shen Qingshu thought for a moment and casually made up a reason. “My mother once found a master to read my fortune. He said my fate brings harm to my wife.”

“That’s it?” Lin Weizhi could not hold back and laughed. Her eyes shone brightly as she looked at Shen Qingshu, then solemnly spouted nonsense. “My mother also found a master to read my fortune. He said my fate is hard, and I specifically restrain those who bring harm to their wives.”

“…”

Lin Weizhi gave a sly smile and rolled her eyes in a very inelegant manner, then offered a sincere suggestion. “Young Master Shen, you’re too outdated. Who still believes in a reason like that nowadays? If you’re going to make up lies, you need to put in a bit more effort.”

Shen Qingshu choked with anger. Although this reason indeed was not very good, saying she was outdated? She came from more than a thousand years in the future!

For the sake of dissolving the engagement, she would endure.

“All right. I actually didn’t want to say the true reason, but now it seems I really have no choice.”

Shen Qingshu took a deep breath, lowered her head, and closed her eyes, as if this was extremely difficult to speak of. Her lips moved several times before she finally pressed her fist against her mouth and said in a dry voice, “Ac-actually, I’m congenitally impotent.”