Mountain Sea Academy, the eastern side courtyard.

The door opened, and a figure slowly walked out.

After the vernal equinox, the snow had melted, and new buds were sprouting on the surrounding plants.

Shen Ye stepped forward two steps, his gaze falling on the buds before him.

Behind him, two bird chirps rang out from the top of the tree.

Upon hearing it, Shen Ye reached out and pinched off the new bud on the branch, leaving others to wonder what was on his mind.

At the courtyard gate, the somewhat distracted scholar noticed Shen Ye coming out and quickly bent over and ran towards him.

This time in the meditation retreat, it was initially expected to finish by the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month.

But as things dragged on, it was already the end of the second lunar month.

"Young Master Ye..."

The scholar walked to Shen Ye's side, bowed, and paid respects.

Shen Ye just nodded, then turned around and sat on the rattan chair in the courtyard.

"This time the retreat was somewhat long, but the gains were considerable.

This Fifth Grade Half-Step Realm has finally been breached."

The scholar at his side, upon hearing this, showed no expression of surprise:

"After Mr. Luo came to visit you last month, he spread the word everywhere, saying you had advanced again.

It seems many people in the Capital City already know..."

Hearing this, Shen Ye shook his head and smiled wryly.

"Mr. Luo really can't keep anything to himself..."

After saying that, Shen Ye turned to the scholar beside him: "During this time, is there any important news? Tell me about it one by one."

Hearing this, the scholar quickly took out a stack of small notes from his waist, densely recorded with many things.

Before the Thousand-Autumn Grand Gathering began, Shen Ye entered meditation retreat.

During that period, he had a sound transmission exchange with the Patriarch Shen Qingshan and was visited by Mr. Luo to check on his retreat results.

But since it was during the retreat, Shen Ye was presumably not interested in affairs outside of cultivation.

After some thought, the scholar began mentioning matters from the Thousand-Autumn Grand Gathering.

"At the end of last Winter Month's Thousand-Autumn Grand Gathering, Miss Jinyu's results were quite close to your expectations.

Miss Jinyu still lacked some perseverance and only reached the seventy-sixth step of the Thousand-Autumn Steps..."

Shen Ye's gaze was on the new buds in the flowerbed around, and hearing these, he merely nodded.

"Although the seventy-sixth step is a good result, this year, Shen Han reached the eightieth step and took first place..."

"Who?"

"Shen Han, your cousin, Young Master Ye..."

Hearing this, Shen Ye couldn't help but frown and looked at the scholar beside him.

"He reached the eightieth step of the Thousand-Autumn Steps?"

The scholar nodded. Hearing Shen Ye speak in such a tone, he became a bit nervous unconsciously.

"I have learned from the Shen Family that Shen Han has been concealing his abilities; he's actually quite skilled..."

Shen Ye waved his hand, indicating no need to say more.

Whether Shen Han was hiding his abilities, whatever skills he had, Shen Ye didn't care at all since it was impossible for him to be more skilled than Shen Ye.

Shen Ye wasn't interested in knowing how Shen Han was doing.

"So how was this engagement annulled in the end? Did Old Duke come to the Capital City to seek annulment from His Holiness?"

The scholar shook his head: "It was the former Patriarch of the Su Family who entered the palace to plead for the annulment..."

Shen Ye pondered for a while and then nodded: "When Old Duke communicated with me through sound transmission, he didn't mention it at all; the Su Family must hold some resentment towards our Shen Family."

"Old Duke should have been afraid of disturbing your cultivation, so he only talked about minor matters."

The scholar said, then began to flip through his stack of small notes again.

"There were some rumors about Miss Jinyu circulating in the alleys...

Saying during Stepping into the Thousand Autumns, Miss Jinyu protected Shen Han a bit too...

The scholar didn't continue, but the implied meaning was clear.

Hearing these, Shen Ye's brow naturally furrowed again.

He didn't believe Su Jinyu had any interest in Shen Han; if she truly had, why go through the trouble of annulling the engagement?

But these rumors made him somewhat uncomfortable.

A feeling of his personal belongings being touched by others.

"There's no need to mention these baseless rumors, as long as Jinyu's eyes haven't dimmed, she wouldn't possibly fancy Shen Han."

The scholar nodded and continued.

"The results of the Shen Family's clan assessment were somewhat unexpected...

Young Master Qianmu, as the chief examiner, finally lost to...Shen Han...

After the assessment, Shen Han received an invitation from Tianyi Academy, and he has now gone there to study.

It is heard that a few days ago, he had a duel with Mr. Dugu Tian, not only did Dugu Tian lose, but he also got injured..."

Hearing these, Shen Ye's just-relaxed brow furrowed again.

"Qianmu Fan lost to Shen Han? Are you sure it wasn't Phoenix Fool?"

The Patriarch Shen had previously communicated with Shen Ye through sound transmission and learned Shen Ye was in meditation retreat, only mentioning one clan assessment matter.

Shen Ye pondered and invited Qianmu Fan and Phoenix Fool to help out.

If Phoenix Fool lost to Shen Han, he could understand it.

Phoenix Fool, due to his cultivation problem, could easily fall into a frenzy.

In that state, whether winning or losing involves some luck.

But upon hearing this, the scholar nodded firmly: "The one who lost to Shen Han was indeed Young Master Qianmu.

It is heard that his move path was seen through, and he lost in just a few moves."

Seeing Shen Ye not asking further, the scholar continued to talk about other matters.

"News from the Shen Family reports that the Yun Family in Anyang City, which is the family of the former Third Madam,

is said to have made a significant advance in their medicine-refining technique, producing middle-grade pills of excellent quality and high pill success rate.

However, now the Yun Family is at odds with the Shen Family, refusing to sell pills to us...

"Why the former Third Madam? Has the Third Uncle and Madam Yun already divorced?"

The scholar nodded: "Madam Yun always protected Shen Han, causing the marriage to be delayed for a long time, and the Yun Family completely ignored the Shen Family's feelings, insisting on shielding Shen Han.

General Lingsheng, in a fit of anger, divorced Madam Yun...

And the Yun Family seems bewitched, as they continue to protect Shen Han to this day..."

Shen Ye frowned, as the scholar beside him kept saying things that all seemed related to Shen Han.

He found it a bit irritating to listen.

"Is Jinyu still in the Capital City?"

"Not long after the engagement was annulled, Miss Jinyu went to Xiaoyao Peak; she said she would practice there for half a year before returning..."

Shen Ye nodded; he wasn't particularly eager to meet Su Jinyu.

However, the matter of the annulled engagement was ultimately borne by the Su Family.

In terms of reason, he, Shen Ye, owed Su Jinyu some explanation.

"Has my advancement been communicated to the family yet?

Go and send a message; it seems things at home haven't been smooth recently, and this news should ease my mother's mind a bit."

Upon hearing this, the scholar had a smile on his face and immediately ran to get the Sound Transmission Magical Artifact to convey the message.

The scholar had followed Shen Ye for several years, and he knew well.

Since arriving at the Capital City, each time Shen Ye's advancement was transmitted, Madam He from the Shen Family would give him a generous reward.

Gold and silver were sent directly to his home.

Among the many scholars in the Capital City, the gold and silver earned by him should be the most.

Indeed, the Shen Family was very generous and willing to invest in matters related to Shen Ye.

...

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