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Chapter 143 - 143:143. Unmasking Her Disguise (Part One)
Chapter 143 - 143:143. Unmasking Her Disguise (Part One)
Chapter 143:143. Unmasking Her Disguise (Part One)
Translator: 549690339
“What is the Master doing?” Huang Bo completely failed to understand how things had developed to this point.
Duanmu Che picked up the prescription written by Su Liang again, his gaze solidifying onto it, not uttering a word.
Huang Bo sighed repeatedly, “The Master made Miss Su kneel, and she did kneel. Why must it be blown up to this extent? She is completely different from before. Why does the Master linger on the past?”
“Yes, she is different, so different….” Duanmu Che’s pupils held deep shadows, “I always had my doubts. Seeing her today has only validated my suspicions.
She is not Su Liang at all!”
“Master… what do you mean?” Huang Bo staggered.
“In just over a year, I don’t believe that a person can change so completely. Even if there was a wandering monk who taught her martial arts and her progress was rapid, her entire demeanor and manner of speaking are totally different. Even her handwriting doesn’t resemble her previous handwriting in the slightest! Is this possible?” Duanmu Che said coldly.
Huang Bo looked at him in disbelief, “Master suspects…that this Miss Su…is a fake?! Impossible, who would deliberately impersonate Su Liang?”
“You told me that she treated Xing Yusheng and cured Old Master Qin.
Huang Bo furrowed his brow, “I did say that.”
“If someone is impersonating Su Liang, these would be their objectives. Disguise technique can create a convincing false identity, for the rest, they can claim amnesia, even use their ‘amnesia’ as an excuse to openly ask about all of Su Liang’s past.” Duanmu Che said coldly, “Even though Su Liang is a commoner, her identity is unique and as long as someone uses it well, there are endless possibilities.”
Upon hearing these words, Huang Bol s face changed dramatically, “Now that the Master has explained, it indeed makes sense. When you think about it, her transformation is simply unbelievable.”
“Others may not know what the original Su Liang was like, but you and I saw her.” Duanmu Che said coldly.
“But the old servant found out that when Su Liang was at the Huguo Temple, she hit the Second Prince. Surely it was because she knew that the Second Prince was involved in the deaths of the Su Family.” Huang Bo frowned.
“How would you know that she didn’t do that on purpose to gain my trust?”
Duanmu Che retorted.
Huang Bo furrowed his brow, “Does Master really think she is a fake? If so, what is she trying to do?”
“Don’t forget, the Fourth Brother went to Bei’an County last year.” Duanmu Che said.
Huang Bo’s eyes widened, “Is Master suspecting that they knew each other in
Bei’an County?”
Duanmu Che said coldly, “Bei’an County is not that big. She was with Ning Jing, Imew the then Crown Prince Bei Jingwang Xing Yusheng, and was also the last of the Su Family, it is impossible for Duanmu Chen not to have noticed her.” Huang Bols expression was indescribable.
“Perhaps, she is a spy for the enemy, borrowing Su Liang’s identity to intentionally get close to Duanmu Chen, and also to get close to me, using the platform of the military exam to achieve some unspeakable goal.” Duanmu Che mused, “Or even, she is a piece placed covertly by Duanmu Chen!”
“Master made her kneel, to test her because he suspected her?” Huang Bo asked.
Duanmu Che coughed a few times, and nodded, “The current Su Liang, is indeed outstanding, and very special. The more so she is, the more suspicious I find her.”
“This…” Huang Bo was most concerned about Duanmu Che’s health. But what if Su Liang was indeed a spy with malicious intent? How could he entrust Duanmu Che’s treatment to her?
On the handkerchief Duanmu Che used to cover his mouth, little plum blossoms blossomed with blood, his voice weak, “For the time being, I can’t die. And even if I were to die, I will not be used by others.”
Huang Bo sighed deeply, pushing Duanmu Che into the inner chamber, “Master’s caution is right. But what if, that person is really Su Liang?
“I believe in my intuition, she is not.” Duanmu Che’s pupils were devoid of any warmth, “Send a message to Lian Shun to come over. I will certainly expose her disguise, and give her nowhere to hide!”
The sky had darkened completely, there were very few pedestrians around.
Su Liang and Ning Jing were walking home together.
Ning Jing began, her tone cold, “Have you lost your mind?”
Su Liang knew what Ning Jing was talking about and heaved a light sigh, “The original Su Liang was saved by Duanmu Che, which allowed her to live and leave the capital for Su Village. Having taken her identity, I took it upon myself to thank Duanmu Che for his kindness. If I had to kneel, then so be it. I thought everything would go smoothly after that, but who knew Duanmu Che would turn out to be so peculiar in character.”
“There’s no need to go to him anymore,” Ning Jing said.
With a helpless look, Su Liang said, “There’s a limit to everything. What’s the point in trying again? He made me kneel this time, next time he might ask me to hurt myself. I have figured it out; he completely despises me and doesn’t seem interested in helping the Su Family avenge their injustice. I better not push myself into such situations anymore. As for the matters of the Su Family,
I’ll think of another way.”
“How long did you kneel?” Ning Jing asked.
Shaking her head, Su Liang replied, “I don’t know, it doesn’t matter. It was good knee practice.”
The next day at the Battle Arena, Duanmu Chen publicly asked Su Liang if she was able to successfully treat Duanmu Che the day before.
Su Liang claimed that her medical skills were inadequate, and so she was unable to do so.
The bystanders were not surprised, as they were aware of Duanmu Che’s critical condition.
However, Duanmu Chen felt bewildered. He was present at the time; Su Liang seemed confident after checking Duanmu Che’s pulse, so what had changed?
However, deeming it inappropriate to question her publicly, Duanmu Chen simply expressed regret and said that he would seek another renowned doctor for Duanmu Che.
After the competition ended, Chang’an, following orders, asked Su Liang and she flatly stated that Duanmu Che made things difficult and hence the deal fell through.
Upon learning this, Duanmu Chen was even more bewildered.
He didn’t suspect that Su Liang was lying to him, since he had no connection to the past events of the Su Family and was not at odds with Su Liang.
But this led Duanmu Chen to suspect even more that Duanmu Che was faking his illness, thereby rejecting treatment out of fear of being exposed. If he were truly ill, why would he refuse treatment from a skilled doctor who could save him?
Su Liang was unaware of Duanmu Chen’s thoughts. Determined not to deal with Duanmu Che again, she immediately put the matter out of her mind.
At the end of the ranking matches, as expected, Su Liang and Nian Ruxue triumphed with a perfect score in ten rounds, making it into the top ten.
There were five people, including them, who obtained a full score in ten rounds. As these five had not yet faced each other, their individual ranks were not decided yet.
However, the top thirty contestants had been preliminarily decided.
The reason why it was still preliminary was due to the upcoming challenge contests.
Registration for the contest spanned a day, and the selection process took an additional day for the participants who challenged the same person.
Su Liang predicted that she would get a two-day break as there was a low chance that someone would choose to challenge her.
As expected, after registration ended, Qi Yan informed Su Liang that none of the participants who had won all the ranking matches had been challenged.
Some competitors with lower ranks had been challenged by many participants.
Su Liang handed over the medicine that she had specially prepared for Qi Yan’s and Qi Jun’s father, Qi Jiang, instructing him on how to use it.
Qi Jiang had not fully recovered from an old injury.
“Thank you, Miss Su!” Qi Yan expressed his gratitude joyously.
Su Liang then asked about Qi Jun, “When will your younger brother be back?”
“The Martial Exam has been extended due to the addition of the challenge contest. At the earliest, Ajun will be able to reach the capital before the finals!” Qi Yan said.
After Qi Yan left, Su Liang mentioned Nian Jincheng again, “If you tell him about now Nian Ruxue harmed me, would he believe you
Ning Jing nodded, “He would.”
“Would he argue with Nian Ruxue because of that?” Su Liang asked again.
Ning Jing nodded, “He would.”
Surprised, Su Liang said, “You are so confident? That’s his beloved sister.”
“The reason before was that I didn’t have any evidence of Nian Ruxue’s wrongdoing, it was merely my own opinion.” Ning Jing said with a calm demeanor, “Nian Jincheng doesn’t distrust me. However, he thought that I was prejudiced towards Nian Ruxue. He thinks he understands her better than me.”
Su Liang nodded, “Fine. You are indeed true friends. But righteousness and emotion, sometimes it may not be easy to distinguish clearly. I hope you won’t be slapped in the face when he returns.”
The selection of the Challenge Contest has ended. The ten martial artists who have obtained the opportunity to challenge will compete with the military exam candidates they have chosen tomorrow. If they succeed, they can replace them.
This includes Luo Rong, one of Su Liang’s previous opponents. He chose to challenge the martial artist who ranked tenth in the qualifying exam, which was also the highest ranked opponent chosen by all challengers.
If he succeeds in the challenge, he will jump into the finals.
Qi Yan learned that Luo Rong and his chosen opponent knew each other, presumably, the odds were in his favor.
At nightfall, Su Liang and Ning Jing were having dinner at the Wan Family Restaurant.
After eating to his heart’s content, Zhengzheng joyously ran around the room, proudly holding up the wooden toy airplane Ning Jing made for him.
Wan Hui and Lu Yu were discussing business in a private room next door.
The toy airplane was made by Ning Jing from a drawing Su Liang made. He wanted to see what a thing that could carry people and fly in the sky looked like, so he made several wooden models of different sizes according to the drawing.
The private room was street-side, with the window open.
Su Liang was about to ask Ning Jing if he was going to watch the Challenge
Contest tomorrow, but she saw him suddenly get up and run to the window!
Turning her head, she saw Zhengzheng had somehow climbed onto a chair by the window and was leaning out with his small body. Ning Jing quickly scooped him back in.
“Fly!” Zhengzheng held up his toy airplane with sparkling eyes, having been about to throw it out the window.
Ning Jing lightly spanked Zhengzheng with a serious expression, “No climbing around, no throwing things outside, you might hit someone.”
Seeing this, Zhengzheng turned to Su Liang with a pitiful look.
Su Liang took a piece of paper from her medical box and quickly folded it into a paper airplane, which she threw to Zhengzheng.
His little face lit up with excitement, his gaze following the paper airplane.
Ning Jing reached out and caught it, handing it to Zhengzheng.
Now he could throw it outside, but the little guy didn’t want to let go, he hadn’t had enough fun yet.
Su Liang walked over and looked down.
Two men came out of the inn across the street. One of them looked up and made eye-contact with Su Liang, politely bowing in greeting.
It was Luo Rong.
After returning Luo Rong’s nod, Su Liang heard Ning Jing saying, “His forehead is darkened.”
Having been away from work for some days, Su Liang looked serious, “There may be trouble tonight. It seems that he will pose a threat to someone in tomorrow’s Challenge Contest.”
In the still of the night.
Both Luo’s uncle and nephew had already fallen asleep. Su Liang and Ning Jing sat on the roof of the inn, quietly watching the stars…
After waiting for a while Su Liang began to yawn, finally seeing a figure appearing at the edge of their vision.
“Here they come.” Su Liang said in a low voice, her hand already on the hilt of her knife, ready for battle.
The man moved with exceptional agility, taking unconventional paths, leaping over rooftops, and quickly approached.
Su Liang thought this was the man coming to kill Luo Rong, but to her surprise, the man settled on a nearby rooftop, waved carefreely in their direction, and said with a joking tone, “What a wonderful occasion, a man and a woman watching the stars on a roof. How charming. If I wasn’t in a hurry to see Little Cheche, I would have joined you for fun.” With that, he jumped again and floated away…
Su Liang looked perplexed, “Just a passerby?”
Ning Jing turned to another direction, “Here they come.” This time, it was their real target.
The one who came was an older man, not the scholar who ranked tenth in the qualifying exam, but his father.
Like Luo’s uncle and nephew, he was also from the martial arts world, they knew each other, but were not friends, and held long-standing grudges.
Luo Rong’s strength was stronger, but his luck was too bad. He met Su Liang in the last round of the elimination match and was directly eliminated. Luckily, there was still the opportunity of the Challenge Contest, so he chose that man as his opponent.
Su Liang knocked the man unconscious and left him in front of Luo Rong’s door.
The noise waked Luo Rong, he came out to check and was surprised! Seeing the man dressed in night-gear, with stupefying powder hidden in his sleeve, a dagger in his chest, what else was there to not understand? He immediately dragged the man inside.
The only thing the Luo’s uncle and nephew were puzzled about was that it was obvious someone had secretly helped them, but they had no clue who this “good Samaritan” was…
After completing their mission, Su Liang and Ning Jing retired for the night.
In the mansion of the Fifth Prince, Duanmu Che had a visitor.
“On my way here just now, I saw a man and a woman sitting on the roof looking at the stars, that was so lovely. If I wasn’t in such a rush to see Little Cheche, I would have joined them for some fun.” The tall man who was speaking relaxed lazily on a cushion. His deep-set eyes were full of laughter.
He waved his hand at Duanmu Che, “Call me cousin.”
Duanmu Che appeared indifferent, “Lian Ershan, how is your Disguise
Technique?”
At his words, Lian Shun shot up to his feet and twisted Duanmu Che’s ear, “Bastard! Call me like that again, and I’ll sell you off to Zuixiang Building as a host!”
Duanmu Che frowned, “Cousin.”
Lian Shun huffed, “That’s better…. Anyway, my Disguise Technique is obviously excellent. What do you need me for?”
“There are two women in the Military Exam this year, but the gap in their abilities from previous years is too large. I suspect they are spies in disguise.” Duanmu Che said with a straight face. “Give me some medicine that can expose their disguises.”
Lian Shun gave a strange look, “Little Cheche, you’re almost dying, and yet you’re worried about the country and the people. Have you lost your mind?”
Duanmu Che frowned, “Will you give it?”
Lian shun signed melodramatically, “I’ll give It, I give It, atter all, wno am l’ I’m your brother. But you need to tell me why you care about the two women who are participating in the Military Exam?”
“It has nothing to do with you.” Duanmu Che said coldly, “When the finals arrive, I will ask my Father Emperor to allow me to use your medicine to check both women’s identities..”