Chapter 12: Her Secret (1)

Shen Tianyu thought back with slight regret to the members of Lavender Palace they left behind as she moved her spoon to her lips. Ming Su, the maid that wears pink robes had had recovered her wits and divided the soup, handing them to everyone. Ming Su was the head maid at Lavender Palace who was in charge of serving important guests as well as the Manager and Vice-manager, Sung Ming and Mu Shenchou. Though unknown to some workers at the Palace, Ming Su was actually also a senior member of Yaodu, the Demonic Underworld, which Shen Tianyu had inherited from her Master. Though, Ming Su was a senior member, that was in terms of her achievements and merits, not necessarily her age.

After all, Ming Su was about the same age as Shen Tianyu, she's 16.

'I really wonder if it's a good thing or a bad thing... I guess it depends on circumstances... If it was in the modern world, this would be considered child labor, but here, there's no real consent age or anything for a child, much less laws about what they can or can't do. Well, at least kids that need money to survive can work without needing to worry about getting them or their employer into trouble with the law.' Shen Tianyu's thoughts turned to the maid as she stared at Ming Su while drinking her soup.

Noticing her gaze, Ming Su turned towards her and asked, "Is there something the matter, Miss?"

Sung Ming, having noticed her stare also, and proceeded to tease her. "What? Did you take a liking to her?"

Shen Tianyu glared at him as he guffawed. Then, she turned back to Ming Su and innocently apologized. "I'm sorry for staring. It was rude of me. I just thought how young and pretty you are."

Ming Su was somewhat flustered at being apologized to by her Miss and the subsequent compliment, though, others would think it was just the latter. The other members of Yaodu present were somewhat bewildered on how to react. Though it was the Miss's fault for staring, it felt strange for her to apologize for it. Besides, why would the Miss apologize to a member of Yaodu? Aside from the Former Master, Miss had the most authority in the organization and Ming Su was just a senior member.

Noting the strange tension in the atmosphere, Shen Tianyu sighed internally and said: "Let's eat, let's eat. What's everyone daydreaming about?" As they were conversing, most of the food they ordered had arrived and been placed on the table in front of them. Everyone was sitting around a wooden circular table about as big as one in a big conference room in ornate wooden chairs.

"Yes, yes. Let's eat." Sung Ming responded and picked up his chopsticks. He held his rice bowl in his other hand and started eating. Everyone else, starting from the normal employees, started following suite.

Shen Tianyu resumed her former demeanor and happily started eating and chatting with the others. Sung Ming and Mu Shenchou internally shook their head and sighed as they thought back to her previous speech. 'This Miss of theirs is really unique and domineering. How would we get a Young Master in the future?'

Though the Former Master had adopted the Miss as a head disciple and later as a daughter, meaning they had no blood relations, everyone in Yaodu readily accepted Shen Tianyu as their Miss. In part because the Former Master was an obsessive recluse who only cared about poisons and cultivation. Therefore, despite Yaodu being quite infamous in the cultivation world and not many people willing to mess with them, it doesn't have as much property or financial power as other organizations or sects. The fact that the Former Master had adopted a child was already a weight off everyone's shoulders, who were worrying who was to continue leading the organization in the future. In addition, Shen Tianyu was quite talented, despite suffering in such a household and being ridiculed by the outside world for her nonexistent talent. She could be a candidate for the Oscars in the modern world with her acting.

When Shen Tianyu was first brought to Yaodu, she was still acting as she was in the secular world and very few favored her. Though no one openly acted on their dislike because of her position as the Master's lead disciple, his only disciple. However, as others began noticing her different attitude towards the Master, as if she was an equal discussing poisons or, sometimes, even seemingly teaching him, they began questioning. They questioned why she acted differently towards the Master and if either of her attitudes was just acting. Many people didn't believe it at first, 'how could a disciple teach their Master?'. However, they were still curious about the change in attitude they saw in her and the more daring ones eavesdropped on a few of the conversations between the pair of Master and Lead Disciple. When they heard the discussion, some almost fainted straightaway. The Lead Disciple was, in fact, teaching the Master.

Shen Tianyu was quite a curious cat in her previous life and had read about many different subjects, except math, and had acquired a wealth of knowledge even the elderly admired, at the young age of 16. However, due to that, she had to force herself to learn more advanced math at a younger age. Though, she hated math, it was required for school. With her wealth of knowledge, she was qualified to skip several grades. However, if she didn't put any effort in math, her talents would be too disproportionate. She knew if that happened, even if she could skip grades, if she was far behind in math, she would suffer for it. Therefore, despite hating it, she actively studied it and managed to graduate college at the age of 20. And by then, her business was already flourishing and fast becoming a top economic power in the world. Back on point, naturally, in her wealth of knowledge, she also possessed knowledge about poison and some about cultivation, the two subjects the Master was most interested in. Though the modern day relied more on the "safer" ways to treat illnesses, it doesn't mean all the historical documents about various poisons had been destroyed. Incidentally, she was quite interested in the subject despite the controversy it might cause, so she was able to obtain more information than possible for others, with her wealth and power. Nevertheless, the plants in this world were different in appearance and names than the ones of Earth but that didn't pose as much of a problem. In fact, it was a benefit to her because she could create poisons from the ancient times of Earth by merely hearing about the properties of a plant. After all, there were many plants with similar properties in the ancient times and she had fun experimenting. As for cultivation, though some things were different,the principles of martial arts cultivation from Earth could still be applied to the cultivation of this world.

After some efforts at probing, Shen Tianyu, quite nonchalantly, revealed that she was indeed, at least, as knowledgeable as the Master if not more. In addition, it was her who asked to be named a disciple when the Master wanted to bring her back because of the uproar it would cause if it was the other way around. Though, the famous recluse who never even bothered taking a second look at a woman, claiming it to be a waste of time, actually taking in a disciple still caused a scene. Because she revealed it so easily, people began questioning her difference in attitude. As the questioning continued, as Shen Tianyu told the Master there was no need to stop it, she began to disclose more of her true self.

Now, all the members of Yaodu are well aware that, although her happy-go-lucky persona is a part of her personality, she is not nearly as dense, timid or weak as the rumors would have one believe.