The pictures filling his brain gradually became unsuitable for children. Xia Xingchi quickly shook his head and suddenly wanted to ask himself, what should my role be?

Twice in a row, Li Chengyuan had pulled at him while unconscious and refused to let him go. He must have identified the wrong person, so there was obviously only one truth —

I look a lot like his White Moonlight!

It all made sense now. No wonder Li Chengyuan didn’t stop the engagement according to the original plot after meeting him, but even offered him a monthly salary of one million to hire him to live with him.

Xia Xingchi had transmigrated with his original body and knew that he was different from the original owner. Li Chengyuan’s so-called “love at first sight” that day must be because he looked suitable as a substitute the moment he saw him!

Xia Xingchi was shocked when he realized that he had entered a new role without knowing it.

In any case, it was not the life of the protagonist, who was awful at first glance, and being a stand-in was better than being cannon fodder. If he performed well, he wouldn’t be doomed.

Li Chengyuan muttered to himself for a moment, and finally let go of his hand in a stupor. Seeing this, he quickly tiptoed out of the room and hurried downstairs to apply for foreign aid.

– – –

Before he could knock, the door to Uncle Ding’s room opened in front of him. The old man had been awakened by the movement upstairs and was about to go out and check: “Young Master, what is the matter? Is Sir sick again?”

Xia Xingchi immediately nodded as if grasping a lifeline: “He has a fever! I mentioned contacting a doctor, but he didn’t cooperate at all and wouldn’t tell me the phone number.”

Uncle Ding understood: “Don’t worry, Young Master, I’ll call Dr. Zhao now, and he’ll be here soon.”

After thinking about it, he added: “Go and rest first, I’ll take care of it.”

Xia Xingchi immediately shook his head, expressing that he would guard Li Chengyuan.

He didn’t dare go to sleep. After all, he knew that Li Chengyuan could die at any moment. He was very nervous when he saw that he was sick, for fear that when he woke up, he would find that such a big fiance was already gone.

Uncle Ding couldn’t help being a little surprised. It was already three o’clock in the morning, but Xia Xingchi wasn’t impatient at all, and his worried expression didn’t have any elements of acting.

Long before the engagement, there were rumors that he was cowardly and selfish, and that he dared to mutter, “I don’t want to take care of a short-lived sick child,” and “I don’t want to marry, why is Li Chengyuan still alive?”

After their short contact two days ago, Uncle Ding felt that the rumors could not be fully believed, and may have been fabricated by someone.

Now it seemed that it really was a deliberate fabrication, and Young Master Xia was not like that at all.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief and explained: “Don’t worry, Sir gets sick easily this time of the year, but he recovers quickly.”

The subtext was a hope that Xia Xingchi wouldn’t find it bothersome. He didn’t fall ill often, and never troubled others when he was sick.

The attitudes of others would not affect the current Li Chengyuan, but if Xia Xingchi loathed him, it would definitely be a fatal blow to the person who had just overcome his psychological barriers.

Xia Xingchi would naturally never be so cold-blooded. He just pointed to his head worriedly to signal Uncle Ding: “Li Chengyuan seems to be —”

Uncle Ding immediately took his meaning, and hesitated for a moment before saying: “Sir has been a little stimulated before, so he occasionally gets confused and thinks he is in the old house……but it has rarely happened in the past two years.”

The summary was overly rough, but Xia Xingchi had no choice but to nod faintly.

The original novel didn’t go over the big boss’s childhood experiences in detail. There was only a brief description:

It was said that Li Chengyuan had been a madman since he was a child, and was even able to sleep peacefully while guarding his mother’s body all night.

Thinking about it now, his mother had hanged herself, and the horror of her death must have been terrible.

What was Li Chengyuan’s state of mind at that time, to be able to watch his next of kin struggle like crazy due to an instinctive desire to survive, and eventually become so ferocious and terrifying that his original appearance could no longer be distinguished?

Although this was used to prove the fact that he was an insane villain, after getting along with him these two days, Xia Xingchi felt that he was not so deranged and that perhaps there was something more to it.

But he must have had a bad time anyway, otherwise someone wouldn’t become so paranoid and twisted for no rhyme or reason.

Xia Xingchi regained his composure with a sigh, then turned to Uncle Ding and said: “You call first, the hot water seems to be ready. I’ll go up and see if Li Chengyuan has taken any antipyretics.”

Uncle Ding paused in the middle of dialing the number, his expression stunned: “Antipyretics? Where did you get the antipyretics?”

“Huh? I just took them from the drawer in his room……” Xia Xingchi choked on his words. The cause and effect were clearly presented, and he had a very bad intuition!

— Why were there no fever reducers in the medicine cabinet? Why were they hidden in such an inconspicuous little drawer along with painkillers, sedatives, and other medicines?

Xia Xingchi immediately rushed upstairs, his heart in his throat.

Upon hastily pushing open the door, everything appeared to look very normal. Li Chengyuan seemed to be fully awake, reclined quietly in bed and back to his usual indifference.

But the more normal this situation was, the more Xia Xingchi’s already bad intuition rose toward its peak.

Taking a closer look, Li Chengyuan was chewing something with a numb face like he was eating candy —

In his hand, there was an entire empty board of antipyretics, and this person who was particularly afraid of bitterness was breaking off the last one at this time and putting it in his mouth expressionlessly.

“I……Fuck…..” 

Except for these two, Xia Xingchi couldn’t find any words to sum up his horrified mood for a moment, and was so frightened by this scene that his soul flew away.

He tremblingly asked: “Li Chengyuan, what’s wrong with you……”

Li Chengyuan raised his deep amber eyes, staring straight at the intruder while hiding the medicine in his hand like a child.

“Get out.”

His expression was intimidating, and his strong aura and tone were the same as usual.

Xia Xingchi almost thought he had recovered, and went to take a step back and leave.

But as soon as he thought about it, he felt something was wrong, so he rushed forward several steps!

He directly reached out to grasp Li Chengyuan’s wrist and went to grab the last pill in a belated attempt at damage control. As to the reason for his madness, they could only discuss it later.

Although Xia Xingchi knew that this person had strength that was quite inconsistent with his appearance, he never thought that with a high fever and illness, he would be so difficult to deal with.

To compare the two, he was no match at all. Not only did he fail to get the medicine, but he was directly dragged down on the bed.

Xia Xingchi had originally assumed a commanding position, but now it had turned into being pressed down hard on the bed and thrashing as he rolled back and forth to fight with Li Chengyuan.

The brain circuits of a crazy man were really incomprehensible. Xia Xingchi was concentrating on grabbing the medicine, but he saw that the white pill that had been clutched so tightly just now, like a life-saving medicine, had been thrown to the ground like trash by Li Chengyuan.

With a crisp sound, it even bounced twice.

And it was between those two clacking sounds that Xia Xingchi suddenly realized he had become the new target of the crazy villain!

Li Chengyuan’s body was burning hot, but his fingertips were cold.

With such strength that it was impossible to resist, he clasped Xia Xingchi’s left shoulder with one hand, and restrained his right hand with the other. Immediately after, he promptly bullied him, bending down to press Xia Xingchi under him!

In the chaos, there was only one thought: “Catch him.” Li Chengyuan gritted his teeth and clamped down on Xia Xingchi tightly, refusing to relax at all. It was as if he would disappear without a trace if he released his grip.

As soon as Xia Xingchi raised his head to meet his terrifying gaze full of unconcealed possessive desire, he shrank down instantly and could only struggle desperately to push him away.

For fuck’s sake, this guy was definitely mistaken again. Don’t spread all your hatred for the White Moonlight onto an innocent scapegoat, ah!

The battle was fierce, and neither paid attention to the footsteps and conversation at the door: “Fever? Has he caught a cold recently? I have already said these days – ahhhh!”

The rest of his words cut off, leaving only a shocked exclamation.

The young Dr. Zhao, who was carrying a medical kit and dressed casually, pushed open the door: The two people on the bed were entangled in a strange posture, with their ten fingers even interlocking.

Crouching to the side and watching for a long time was a white cat ball with a curious face, observing the strange behavior of these two humans.

It seemed to be thinking that it wasn’t spring yet, and wondering why they couldn’t wait.

“You…..!!” The battle was so shocking that Zhao Yinhe could hardly speak from the fright.

Although they became a legal couple immediately, and it was late at night in their own bed, and the time, place, and participants were all right……

Since this was the case, what was he doing here?!

T/N: Posting this early since I won’t have time tomorrow. This hourly wage slave has a big project due before I go on vacation.

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Chapter Thirteen << Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifteen

The mansion was already busy heating water and cleaning a wing of the house. Zhao Yelan stood in the courtyard watching servants hurrying to and fro. Those not in the know might have thought that a new master was about to enter.

Yan Mingting took the woman to her wing of the house and asked her to take a bath before discussing matters, then went to inform the other lieutenants and invited a doctor on the way.

This business had nothing to do with Zhao Yelan, so he picked up a fishing rod and went to fish in the back courtyard’s fish pond. After an incense stick of time passed, he hadn’t caught a single one. With his face sinking lower than the fish pond, he quickly retracted the fishing line and threw it aside angrily.

Xiao Gao picked it up for him again and began to roll up the legs of his trousers: “My lord, do you want me to go down and get you a few like the General did? Do you want to eat some?”

“No need.” Zhao Yelan spoke with a dark face, and when he heard footsteps behind him, he looked furiously at the fish pond.

“It’s getting dark, why did you come here to fish?” Yan Mingting asked.

“Who stipulated that you can’t fish when it’s dark? Do you understand the concept of night fishing?” Zhao Yelan said snappily.

“Okay, I don’t comprehend your sophistication.” Yan Mingting really thought he was delaying his business, so he warned, “Then don’t forget to have dinner later, I’ll go to the front courtyard to check on the situation first.”

Zhao Yelan turned around angrily, but found that he had already turned to leave.

The sun sank, leaving only the last bit of gray in the sky, which fell into darkness in the blink of an eye. Zhao Yelan sat quietly by the fish pond for a while, listening to the movement in the front courtyard. It wasn’t until Xiao Gao began to slap mosquitos to remind him to go back to the house that he stood up and began to walk slowly out of the back courtyard.

“Oh, my lord, have you finished fishing? Go quickly and eat, we’ve been waiting for you.” Housekeeper Qin had come to look for him, and hurriedly led him to the main hall.

As soon as he reached the door, he heard murmurs of conversation. When he stepped over, the conversation stopped. The woman regarded him vigilantly, and gave a shaky nod in a show of friendliness.

There were many good dishes on the table, but no one moved their chopsticks.

“You’re here, sit down quickly, ba.” Seeing him coming, Yan Mingting stood up and pulled out a chair for him.

Zhao Yelan took a seat and looked at the woman calmly. After taking a bath, she had changed into a maid’s clothes and her whole person looked completely refreshed. It was only that her eyes still looked a little red. Yan Mingting comforted her: “It’s all right, wait until after dinner and we will discuss it and figure out a way.”

The woman nodded, but she didn’t have any appetite. She put down the bowl and chopsticks after two mouthfuls, apologized, and hurried back to her room.

Yan Mingting gazed in the direction she had left and sighed. When he turned back, he noticed Zhao Yelan’s gloomy gaze and made introductions: “Her name is Zuo Ran, a friend I met at the border.”

Oh, a friend at the border, ah. Hurrying all the way back to the capital, there must really be deep feelings.

Yan Mingting: “She also participated in combat, and she is as good at martial arts as Zhong Yuehong. But she didn’t want fame, so she didn’t go back to Beijing with us before, concealing her credit.”

Oh, a good woman who doesn’t care about fame and is also good at martial arts. She is the perfect match for you, ah.

Yan Mingting: “We met because she went out with her friend and encountered a team delivering military rations that was trapped, so she helped them and sent them to the front lines just in time, saving all of our lives.”

Oh, there was also a life debt, so shouldn’t it be repaid with gratitude?

Yan Mingting ate two mouthfuls of food in a hurry, and suddenly heard Zhao Yelan ask: “Does she like you, or do you like her?”

“Pfft –” Yan Mingting almost spit out the contents of his mouth. Caught off guard, he choked and beat his chest heavily.

“General! Zuo Ran is here? General, what is wrong with you!” As He Cuizhang rushed in, he continued to yell.

There were several other lieutenants who came as well.

Yan Mingting: “Cough, cough, cough, cough……”

He Cuizhang quickly smacked his back and beat his chest, which seemed to stop his coughing.

Yan Mingting took several sips of water before feeling his throat relax. He pointed to the courtyard door and said: “She is in the west wing.”

“Hey, why did this girl come here without saying a word? I’ll go see what is going on.” He Cuizhang disappeared like a wisp of smoke.

Yan Mingting was worried that he would say something without thinking and poke the person’s sensitive spot, so he had no choice but to bring the others to follow. Without knowing why, he turned back and explained to Zhao Yelan: “I’ll go see them first, and then I’ll come back and explain to you that she and I are just comrades-in-arms.”

Saying this, he disappeared from sight with the others.

After dinner, Zhao Yelan went to bathe before the people who had gone to the west wing came out, and lay down in bed, falling asleep early.

It was late at night when He Cuizhang left, and Yan Mingting returned to the room. It was pitch black, and he walked lightly to the side of the bed, calling: “Mengting, are you asleep?”

Zhao Yelan closed his eyes and did not reply.

Yan Mingting called again, but there was no response, so he went to lay down the bedding and fell asleep.

The bedroom was on the east side, separated from the west wing by a considerable distance. Zhao Yelan couldn’t help thinking: when would the girl move to the east side?

Perhaps because he was about to leave, all sorts of messy things kept appearing in his mind. He couldn’t fall asleep and couldn’t turn over without waking Yan Mingting.

That night, he slept and woke without being able to distinguish between reality and dreams.

There were several dreams on and off, but only the last one made an impression.

In the dream, Yan Mingting went on to take concubines less than a month after his “death,” and a couple of children were born within the year. A few years later, his grave was already covered with grass. Yan Mingting was there among a group of wives and concubines, and had brought his family members to pay homage to him in high spirits. He told the children that it was thanks to the early death of the person in the tomb that he could have so many children, and said that in the future, he would need those beautiful concubines to spread branches and leaves for the Yan family……

Zhao Yelan opened his eyes abruptly, stunned for a moment, and then threw off the blanket and got out of bed to kick Yan Mingting: “Get up!”

Yan Mingting let out an “ouch” and then opened his eyes in a daze. He looked at the dark night outside and asked: “What’s the matter?”

“It’s time to get up, get the hell out!” Zhao Yelan snapped.

Yan Mingting rubbed his eyes, yawning as he got up, and became happy again in a flash. Could it be that he wanted to follow the example of Kan Chuan’s wife and wake up early with him?

Zhao Yelan looked at the person who was suddenly washing and dressing with excitement, and his expression became even uglier: “You’re rather happy about getting the hell out.”

“Ah?” Yan Mingting unconsciously fixed his sword in place and went out in a daze. He turned back to the door after a moment and said in a low voice, “By the way, if I come back late, you help me keep an eye on Zhuo Ran and don’t let her run around alone.”

Look at this caring appearance!

Zhao Yelan gritted his teeth and bolted the door. He couldn’t sleep in the end. As soon as he closed his eyes, there was the scene of Yan Mingting taking his wives, concubines, and children to weed his grave, and he woke up angrily. He dragged Xiao Gao up from bed and went to the back courtyard to kill two chickens.

“My lord, why are you up so early, ah?” Housekeeper Qin took the chickens from Xiao Gao’s hands and brought them to the kitchen for extra lunch that day.

After handing them over to the kitchen, he felt that there were not enough chickens to kill, so he ordered a maid to go out and buy some juvenile chickens, otherwise the coop would be empty sooner or later.

During breakfast, the woman was invited out for a meal by Housekeeper Qin. After a night’s rest, her complexion looked much better, but her legs and feet were still a little awkward and she wobbled a bit when walking. When she saw him, she knew to say in greeting: “Zhao-daren, I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time.”

“Let’s eat first.” Zhao Yelan nodded, gave her a cold look, and then watched her movements, only to find that she was also secretly looking back at him.

Caught off guard, they stared at each other and looked away in embarrassment at the same time.

Zuo Ran forced herself to eat a few more mouthfuls, then stood looking at the gate, asking the guards beside her: “When will the General return?”

The guard said it would be soon, and she stood guard at the door like a watchman, pacing back and forth.

Zhao Yelan took a deep breath, pretended to be calm, and continued to eat.

At this time, Housekeeper Qin made a cup of tea and called: “Zuo-guniang, the doctor said that your legs and knees are worn out, and you need to rest well. You must come in and sit while you wait, the General will be back soon.”

“What kind of tea are you making?” Zhao Yelan asked abruptly.

“My lord, have you forgotten? This is from the tree planted by the old lady herself ah,” Housekeeper Qin replied.

Very good, the tea from one’s own family, only served to distinguished guests.

Ever since Zhao Yelan set eyes on these tea leaves the second day after entering the door, he had never seen them again. Many guests had come to the General’s Mansion so far, and even Li Jinyu, the Prime Minister, had failed to drink a cup of this tea. Yet this girl of unknown origin could drink it.

He couldn’t finish his meal, so he put down his chopsticks and took Xiao Gao out to the Imperial Academy. When passing through the gate, Zuo Ran called out for Zhao-daren.

Zhao Yelan looked at her suspiciously, but she hesitated to speak, opening and closing her mouth several times before finally shaking her head and saying: “It’s nothing. Walk slowly, my lord.”

Before noon, Ruan Xian walked to Zhao Yelan’s side and wondered: “Zhao-xiong, you have been absent-minded. Is something wrong?”

Zhao Yelan stared blankly: “Nothing is wrong.”

“If nothing is wrong, what do you think you drew?” Ruan Xian pointed to the painting on his desk.

Zhao Yelan looked down, and there was a magnificent turtle on what was originally a map.

“……”

“Who are you drawing?” Ruan Xian joked. Not far away, Wang Guisheng came over at the sound, took a look, and laughed as well.

“You have nothing else to do?” Zhao Yelan cast a glance at the two of them.

“It’s time for lunch soon. If there is anything to do, it is to eat. Let’s go see what dishes are available today,” Ruan Xian said.

The Imperial Academy specially provided lunch, which was convenient for officials who lived far away and didn’t go home at noon. Those like Ruan Xian could also bring their own food. His wife cooked well, but the weather was hot these days. In order to prevent the food from spoiling, he didn’t bring a food box to flaunt in front of everyone.

There were naturally also officials who lived nearby, and they would rather go back than eat this lunch that always consisted of soup.

Zhao Yelan usually stayed, but he wouldn’t eat the food here and ordered Xiao Gao to bring some decent food from the restaurant outside. Only he could eat expensive and luxurious food. Others couldn’t envy him, and could only criticize him secretly.

“My lord, I’m here!” Xiao Gao called from where he stood outside the gate.

Zhao Yelan folded the turtle drawing and put it in his pocket, then went to pick up the food box. Seeing Xiao Gao turning to leave, he said at once: “Wait a moment.”

Xiao Gao stood there waiting for his orders, and Zhao Yelan turned around and handed the food box to Ruan Xian and Wang Guisheng: “I have to go back and do something, you can take this and eat it., ba.”

“How kind of you.” Ruan Xian took it with a smile, pressing Wang Guisheng’s head down and bowing. “Zhao-xiong, don’t worry, we will eat it all!”

Zhao Yelan left the Imperial Academy in a hurry, hired a sedan chair to go back to the General’s mansion, and shouted after a while: “Hurry up!”

The sedan chair soon arrived at the General’s Mansion, and as soon as it stopped, Zhao Yelan swiftly disembarked and straightened his clothes. Then he took Xiao Gao inside and pretended to act natural, just in time for the mansion to serve lunch.

The people who were talking stopped, and He Cuizhang called out: “Zhao-daren, you’re back.”

Yan Mingting, who was deep in discussion with Zuo Ran, paused and raised his head, saying joyfully: “Why did you suddenly come back?”

Zhao Yelan glanced at the way he and Zuo Ran were sitting together, whether it was intentional or not, and said calmly and collectedly: “I left a book in the study and came back to retrieve it.”

“So have you eaten? Do you want to stay and eat something?” Yan Mingting immediately ordered the servants to get another pair of bowls and chopsticks, and then drove He Cuizhang to the other side to make room for him.

As soon as Zhao Yelan sat down, he saw the braised rabbit head in the middle: “What is this?”

“Braised rabbit head,” He Cuizhang said. “Zuo Ran likes to eat this dish the most, she……”

Zhao Yelan stood abruptly, looked at them with a complicated expression, and then walked angrily toward the back courtyard.

“My lord, what’s wrong with him?” He Cuizhang was mystified. “Did I say the wrong thing just now?”

Yan Mingting looked at the rabbit meat on the table, seemed to have thought of something, and went to the back courtyard alone to find him. Sure enough, he saw him standing in front of the rabbit cage, staring at Hongshao, who was eating vegetable leaves.

“You didn’t think we were going to cook Hongshao, did you?” Yan Mingting asked with a laugh.

Zhao Yelan turned around and looked at him.

“How could this be? Who would dare to touch it without its father’s consent?” Yan Mingting teased, then tugged on his wrist and walked back to the main hall. “It’s hot outside, let’s eat first.”

As the two walked down the corridor, Zhao Yelan suddenly shook off his hand. Holding his arms proudly behind his back, he asked: “Who is that woman?”

“Zuo Ran, a friend I met on the battlefield……”

Zhao Yelan interrupted: “She came here specially to find you. Why is that?”

“This……involves her personal affairs, so it’s not convenient to go into detail with you,” Yan Mingting said vaguely.

“All right, I understand. The book has been found, I should go back to the Imperial Academy.” Zhao Yelan parted ways with him.

“Wait!” Yan Mingting immediately grabbed him. “I can’t tell you, but I can let her decide whether to tell you or not, okay?”

Zhao Yelan raised his eyebrows, turned around, and walked to the main hall. He wanted to see what was going on.

When the two returned to the table, Zuo Ran’s brow was practically in a knot, and she asked Yan Mingting in a low voice: “General, can you help me with this matter? If not, I must head south today.”

“If you go alone, you will die. I’ll go south with you,” Yan Mingting replied. “It just so happened that early this morning, someone reported that a large number of bandits had appeared in the Jiangnan area, and the officers and soldiers were unable to arrest them. The Emperor just ordered me to suppress the bandits and try to enlist them. When the time comes, you will go with me to meet the magistrate of Huaizhou. He is a stubborn man, after all.”

“Thank you, General.” Zuo Ran was incredibly moved.

Zhao Yelan coughed twice before Yan Mingting said: “Zuo Ran, this is the Zhao Yelan whom I mentioned to you. You came back in a hurry, and you probably don’t know that Yuehong almost had an accident a while ago, right?”

“What happened?”

“I’ll tell it, I’ll tell it.” He Cuizhang took the lead and vividly told her about Zhong Yuehong almost entering the palace as a concubine. Listening to this, Zuo Ran would frown one moment and then rejoice the next, and finally looked at Zhao Yelan a little differently.

“He is the person I trust the most now,” Yan Mingting said to Zuo Ran, and Zhao Yelan glanced at him in surprise.

“If you can trust me, you can tell him about your situation. Maybe you will need his help to mediate. You also know that after I returned to Beijing, there were many differences between officialdom and the battlefield, and he is more suitable for handling such matters……” Yan Mingting said.

Zuo Ran nodded, bit her lower lip, and then looked earnestly at Zhao Yelan: “Zhao-daren, if you help me rescue Pinglu, then I, Zuo Ran, am willing to be at your service for the rest of my life. Mountains of daggers and seas of flames will not stop me!”

“Guniang is serious. Tell me, what happened?” Zhao Yelan’s expression remained unchanged.

Zuo Ran glanced around and said: “Can we go to the study?”

A handful of people wandered into the study room. Zuo Ran took another look at Yan Mingting and He Cuizhang and saw that they both trusted Zhao Yelan very much, so she said: “I have a good friend who is the daughter of the Magistrate of Huaizhou. In the early years, her family, had a marriage contract with a wealthy businessman from the south of the Yangtze river. That is, their son. The old lady wanted me to marry him as a concubine. I didn’t know what it meant to be a concubine at that time, but fortunately, I met my friend. She didn’t dislike my humble background, and taught me to read and write. She showed me how to be my own person instead of an obedient servant. Later, some things happened. I was about to escape from Huaizhou, and learned that she also had this plan. The two of us made an agreement to go out together to travel the rivers and lakes, to see the outside world……”

“Wait.” Zhao Yelan felt that this story was familiar. “That wealthy businessman’s name was Wang, correct? The gongzi that was burned to death by the fire girl?”

“How do you know?!” Zuo Ran looked astonished.

He Cuizhang was also shocked: “As expected of Zhao-daren, he can even calculate this much?!”

“……” Zhao Yelan glanced coolly at Yan Mingting. This was the “bedtime story” that caused him to have a nightmare!

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Chapter Forty-Five <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Seven

Who would have thought that when he intended to stop Summer from landing on Li Chengyuan, it would go full circle and end with Xia Xingchi throwing himself on top of him, instantly doubling the lethality.

Li Chengyuan was hit hard and immediately let out a grunt.

Xia Xingchi didn’t react. He just felt that the temperature against him was quite high, as if there was a hard, scalding stove under his body — it was a cold day, and apart from being a little uncomfortable, this was quite warm.

But after a moment of being dazed, he realized what he had done and was so frightened that he wanted to get off of Li Chengyuan immediately.

As a result, he couldn’t see clearly in the dark and stretched out his hand on the bed, pressing it on his chest. Xia Xingchi had to let go in a panic. Not daring to move anymore, he leaned back down on him again.

Summer blinked its big eyes that were unobstructed by the darkness and tilted its head to look dubiously at the two overlapping figures on the bed. Fortunately, it was just a cat and didn’t know how indecent this posture was.

It tilted its head to observe for a while, then leaped lightly right onto Xia Xingchi’s back and imitated his posture, spreading its four paws to lie down.

Xia Xingchi: ……

Li Chengyuan was hit so hard by him that he almost couldn’t breathe, and he lost consciousness for a moment. This situation was similar to the pounce in the bathtub that night, as if a certain person was born to defeat him.

Xia Xingchi had always thought that Li Chengyuan was unconscious at the moment he transmigrated, but in fact, when he was not seriously ill, he just couldn’t move — in other words, he was aware of Xia Xingchi’s unscientific appearance out of thin air that night.

Over the years, he often had hallucinations of someone that he had dreamed of suddenly appearing beside him, so even though he had desperately clutched Xia Xingchi’s hand and begged him not to leave, Li Chengyuan only thought it was another absurd dream.

The next day, when he opened his eyes and saw the little liar who had thrown himself into the trap obediently hugging his waist and leaning into his arms, warm and real, he was so ecstatic that he lost his mind.

“You have a fever?” Xia Xingchi felt Li Chengyuan’s forehead with one hand. “Holy shit, why is it so hot!”

Li Chengyuan waited for a long moment before speaking in a very low voice: “Cough cough……you……”

He probably wanted to say “Get out,” so Xia Xingchi didn’t wait for him to finish. He turned over and rolled off him, quickly organizing his words to justify the trouble he had caused.

In the end, Li Chengyuan whispered with a helpless sigh: “We haven’t received the certificate yet……”

Haven’t you always only liked money, and now you’re rushing to murder your fiancé before you get married and become the legal heir of the estate?

“Huh? What did you say?” Xia Xingchi leaned closer, wanting to hear the continuation of this drop-off sentence, but Li Chengyuan was only sober for a short time and soon lost consciousness again. Maybe it was the fever making him talk nonsense.

Now that there was such a commotion and the patient had woken up, Xia Xingchi simply reached out and turned on the bedside lamp, then finally caught that little bastard summer.

It may have also realized the trouble it had caused, because it finally calmed down and was thrown out of the room obediently.

The small problem had been solved, but the big one still needed attention. Under the light, Li Chengyuan’s face was still bloodlessly pale even in the midst of a high fever, without any trace of red.

Xia Xingchi’s “decathlon-level versatility”  included simple diagnosis and treatment of patients, but Li Chengyuan was so woozy that he still gritted his teeth and didn’t make a sound. There was no way to tell where he was hurting, or to prescribe the right medicine.

The most urgent task was to reduce the fever first, lest someone’s IQ-capped brain be burnt stupid on the spot.

Carrying the first-aid kit from the central living room back to the bedroom, Xia Xingchi picked up a pillow and used it to lightly cover Li Chengyuan’s eyes. Then he narrowed his eyes and turned on the brightest overhead light in the room.

In the abrupt, dazzling light, Xia Xingchi squinted and rummaged through the first-aid kit, but he couldn’t find any fever-reducers after searching a few times. He only found a bunch of antipyretic patches, which were probably disfavored by Li Chengyuan since they had never been opened for use.

He tore open a package, lifted the pillow on Li Chengyuan’s face like the lid of a pot, and patted the antipyretic patch onto his forehead before continuing to rummage without giving up.

Uncle Ding took care of the first-aid kit, and it was also mentioned in the book that Li Chengyuan was prone to sudden high fevers, so how could he be so negligent that he ran out of antipyretics and didn’t replenish them?

After searching around, he saw the sleeping person move. Likely his extreme sensitivity to the cold during a high fever, along with the cool mint smell, woke him up.

The pillow that Xia Xingchi had carefully covered his eyes with slipped down, and Li Chengyuan, who was suddenly blinded by the bright lights, couldn’t open his eyes.

“Hey! You can’t take that off, you have a fever. I just measured thirty-nine degrees.”

Li Chengyuan remained silent. He didn’t pursue this behavior of appearing in his room or his actions in the man vs cat fight, and only continued to compete with the antipyretic sticker.

His state of mind was clearly not right. Xia Xingchi pressed both of his hands down, wondering, has this person burned himself out?

Li Chengyuan was so restrained that he couldn’t move his hands, so he finally spoke. His voice was low and weak, with a very flat tone: “Need to take fever-reducers……”

“Okay, okay, I’ll find some for you. Take the stomach medicine on the bedside table first,” Xia Xingchi said as he searched, as if coaxing a child.

Li Chengyuan unexpectedly moved to get out of bed. Likely becoming dizzy in his haste, he staggered and nearly fell down as soon as he took a step.

“What are you doing? I’ll get you whatever you want, lie down!”

Li Chengyuan whispered: “The fever-reducing medicine is there.”

Following the direction his finger was pointing, there was a rather inconspicuous little hidden drawer.

As soon as Xia Xingchi opened it, he saw that there were antipyretics inside, along with pain relievers and some other unknown imported medicines.

Why put it here instead of in the first-aid kit in the living room? To make it more convenient?

It was strange, Aunt Li had said that when Li Chengyuan’s heart was suffering, he would look for medicine in the living room, but in case of a heart condition, such an important medicine was not at hand?

Forget it, he found it anyway. This person who was burnt silly watched as he handed over the medicine box: “Take the medicine. Oh yeah, I heard that rich people have their own doctors? What’s your doctor’s phone number, I —”

“Don’t!” Li Chengyuan was very quiet at first, but he raised his voice at this moment with an extremely sharp tone.

This sentence seemed to have stepped on his tail, making him puff up instantly: “Don’t let the doctor come! I don’t……cough cough……”

Before he could finish speaking, he clenched his fist against his lips and coughed violently until he was out of breath, his face becoming more and more icy and white.

Xia Xingchi was nonplussed, and quickly patted him on the back: “Don’t get excited, don’t get excited, it was just a suggestion. Come on, drink some water and take the fever-reducers first.”

“Don’t let people know that I’m sick.” Li Chengyuan’s voice was already hoarse, but his tone was unquestionably firm and commanding.

But there was a faint sense of fear and tension in his expression…….as if he had done something wrong.

These words puzzled Xia Xingchi: “Ah, why?”

The only servants who could stay in the villa were Aunt Li and Uncle Ding, who had watched him grow up and knew his physical condition very well. Fevers had long been commonplace.

Likely due to the aggravation of the stomach pain, Li Chengyuan stopped talking and lay on his side, curled up slightly with his hands pressed against his stomach.

Xia Xingchi saw that he was exerting too much force and was afraid that he would hurt himself, so he quickly tried to pull away his cold fingers.

But he couldn’t break them away at all, so Xia Xingchi had no choice but to coax the child and ask: “May I rub it for you? My hands are super warm, and my professional massage skills are top-notch.”

He actually heard this sentence. Li Chengyuan stared at him and hesitated for a moment, then slowly let go.

It was inevitable that people would not look good when they were sick, but Li Chengyuan was different. His fragile aesthetics were combined with a powerful and serious aura, and it was not an exaggeration to say “only a god could surpass him.”

Through the black silk shirt, Xia Xingchi gently placed his hands on his stomach and rubbed them up and down. Intense body heat penetrated through the material, as well as a slight tremble as he endured the pain.

He hadn’t eaten a bite of dinner today and never mentioned it. Moreover, the stomach disease was originally an emotional disease, and he had suddenly exploded in the car and lost his temper. Speaking of which, it was the first time he had witnessed him getting so angry. It would be strange if he didn’t have a stomachache.

Xia Xingchi sighed with some distress. No matter how rebellious the tree was, it was still his own money tree after all. And he had agreed to give him the best end-of-life care, but it turned out that he was specifically designed to piss him off.

It seemed that the “professional massage” really worked. Li Chengyuan’s complexion improved slightly, his tense body slowly relaxed, and he closed his eyes and remained motionless.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi silently withdrew his hand. Li Chengyuan should see a doctor if his fever was like this, so why not quietly go downstairs and ask Uncle Ding for help?

Before his hand left completely, it was suddenly covered by a cold palm, and Li Chengyuan opened his eyes again: “Don’t leave, I’m rich now, don’t leave……”

Xia Xingchi was taken aback, knowing that he was delirious with fever and talking nonsense.

But nonsense was always based on the subconscious – how could a big tycoon with an indifferent and arrogant personality say such things?

Li Chengyuan murmured the same way as that night he transmigrated. At that time, Xia Xingchi thought he was trying to grab a temporary nurse, but now it seemed that he was talking to someone.

Xia Xingchi was immediately shocked by this thought, and his small gossip antenna sprung up:

He didn’t expect that such a fickle and fierce villain as Li Chengyuan be so infatuated and dazedly talk about his White Moonlight.

And every time, he mentioned “money.” Could it be that the big tycoon had no money before and was rejected by the money-worshiping White Moonlight, failing in his courtship?

A sadomasochism drama was immediately staged in the little brain of Xia Xingchi, who had “read countless dog-blood stories.”

According to the villain boss’s pathologically paranoid tendencies, shouldn’t he take them by force now, capture that person back and imprison them by his side, and then do indescribable things day and night……?

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Chapter Twelve << Table of Contents >> Chapter Fourteen

Xia Xingchi was concentrating on doing up his buttons when he at once felt something both warm and cool touch his forehead gently.

“Huh……?” He raised his hand in confusion and touched the place that had been kissed, but didn’t realize what had happened.

Lin Meng, who was at the side and had seen everything clearly, felt as if she had been struck by lightning and tried her best not to ask ‘who is this?’

The man looked so powerful and wealthy, and coupled with the impossible sports car, her heart trembled. My God! Could it be that Xia Xingchi was being nurtured by a boss?

But why was the other party a man? Did Xia Xingchi really like the same sex or was he being pressured?

The most important thing was that life was not an idol drama. How could those capitalist crocodiles be so good-looking and young? This person had to be a liar!

Xia Xingchi finally regained his senses and realized what had just occurred, so he turned his head to stare at Li Chengyuan with anger in his eyes, and silently asked him “Why did you kiss me!”

He dared not speak aloud. Let alone explaining it to the stunned Lin Meng, he had a monthly salary of one million, after all, and had to work hard to play the role of the villain’s lover —

When all was said and done, how could a kiss from a lover be called stealing?

Seeing that Lin Meng had been silent for a long time and wore a complicated expression, Xia Xingchi didn’t realize that it was due to her witnessing someone’s face-changing scene, and felt guilty for a moment: 

He thought to himself that it seemed all artists had to be single, and Sister Mengmeng couldn’t accept the fact that he was “in love.” He couldn’t say that Li Chengyuan was actually the kind of fiance who would get a certificate immediately.

Xia Xingchi could only warm up the scene with a playful smile: “Where does Sister Mengmeng live? Shall we send you back?”

No, wait, when did it turn into “we?” He had simply made his own decision and didn’t ask “Driver Li” if he agreed.

Besides, this was a two-seater sports car, did he want her to sit on the roof?

Lin Meng said immediately and unhesitatingly: “No need!……I’ve already booked a car. Oh yes, that white car with the hazard lights on over there!”

She had already come up with a series of possibilities, including dog-blood theater, legal drama, and ghosts.

In any case, the top priority was to avoid being someone else’s light bulb.^[1] She suspected that if she stayed here for another second, the gloomy and terrifying man would immediately take out a forty-meter machete.

Seeing her leave, Xia Xingchi touched his forehead again and stared at Li Chengyuan as if asking for an explanation, wondering why the villain wanted to eat his tofu.

“You did well,” Li Chengyuan praised casually. “Next time, take the initiative.”

Xia Xingchi was perplexed, and didn’t know why his tofu was eaten with such confidence, so he could only jokingly say: “Sir, we are just getting married for show, and I sell art, but not myself. If you want to get fresh like this, there will be an additional price.”^[2]

The last sentence was originally a popular meme, but Li Chengyuan’s eyes immediately turned cold and he stared at Xia Xingchi with a sullen expression full of scrutiny, then turned around and got into the car without saying a word.

Xia Xingchi: ……?

Damn, even the request to ban eating tofu had become disobedient and rage-inducing?

Laborers had no right to speak?

The atmosphere in the car was extremely oppressive. In fact, the two were not on the same channel at all and had different things on their minds.

The more Xia Xingchi thought about it, the angrier he became. The feeling of lips touching his forehead didn’t offend him, surprisingly, and wasn’t a big deal at all. But this exceeded the range of the terms of service, so why did the other lose his temper after a reminder?

Xia Xingchi looked out the window irritably and didn’t speak, thinking that even if the other party was the king of heaven or the god of wealth, he wouldn’t even think about apologizing.

“Is there anything else in your eyes besides money?”

The silence was suddenly broken, and Li Chengyuan said coldly, “Then for more money, anything can be done to you at will?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Xia Xingchi’s expression changed abruptly, and some nasty, awful memories came flooding back.

The joke about selling his art but not himself was his bottom line, and to be openly asked by Li Chengyuan was really unexpected.

Some extremely disgusting images emerged, and Xia Xingchi ‘s thunder point^[3] was instantly detonated. He said furiously: “Yes, yes, yes, I am superficial and I have no dreams, I only like money! I can do anything for money because I am poor and have no ambition.”

Even if he didn’t know that Li Chengyuan was abstinent, he wouldn’t accept any amount of money for being “kept.”

“Mr. Li, I am such a poor person, is there anything I can’t do as long as the money is in place? I’ll sleep with you tonight if the price is right, you know money can buy you the best.”

“Xia Xingchi!” Li Chengyuan was furious upon hearing this.

Who would have thought that a little bit of unpleasantness would turn with a single spark into a raging prairie fire.

Xia Xingchi could be persuaded, but not coerced, and this burst of anger was even more difficult to deal with. He figured that the worst case scenario would be getting fired, or maybe even being strangled to death by the villain on the spot.

In the past, he had even dared to beat up rich second-generation guests. Afterwards, even if he was retaliated against and beaten until he couldn’t walk for a few days, he would still dare to fight them to the death the next time.

Li Chengyuan turned the steering wheel with one hand, then slammed on the brakes to stop the car on the side of the road, his fingertips shaking with anger.

Just give money……Wouldn’t anyone be able to give money……

The person he had cherished in his heart all these years, was this how little he cherished himself? How little he thought of him?

Xia Xingchi gazed out at the lonely night, thinking angrily that this was a good place. Whether it was a beating or death, it was a quiet place, perfectly convenient for the villain’s use.

Just as he was thinking this, Li Chengyuan took a deep breath to adjust his emotions, then asked in a deep voice: “How much is once?”

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help being stunned, and for a moment, he even suspected that his ears were broken.

The big boss villain in the novel, who was abstinent and placed himself above common mortals turned out to be……sincerely inquiring about prostitution?

A few seconds later, Xia Xingchi burst into a rage all at once: “Are you fucking serious? Li Chengyuan, what is wrong with you! One billion per night, one cent less, no deal, no sale.”

He momentarily couldn’t hold back his temper. It had already risen to the point of a personal attack on his patron, and Xia Xingchi thought that being strangled might not be enough, and that he would end up feeding the sharks.

Contrary to expectations, Li Chengyuan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. The flames of the prairie fire suddenly sputtered, and half of them were extinguished in an instant. The lost signal finally connected. Perhaps it was his concern that had confused him, but it was rare for him to be so slow. It was only now that he realized Xia Xingchi had been talking ironically, and hadn’t actually sold himself.

But thinking of the fact that there was only a simple monetary relationship between the two of them, an unknown fire continued to burn.

To the extent that he silently restarted the supercar and didn’t say a word all the way home.

– – –

It was two o’clock in the morning.

The second floor hall was quiet, and only the warm wall lamps in the corridor glowed.

Xia Xingchi was in his pajamas, standing at the door of Li Chengyuan’s room while holding a tray with warm water and stomach medicine in one hand, and a hot water bottle under his arm.

He had been standing there for a while, staring at the closed door in a dilemma while deciding whether or not to go in.

It wasn’t uncommon for Xia Xingchi to quarrel with a bad boss at the start of a job, but after some thought, Xia Xingchi also felt that there was something wrong with himself. At this point, his explosive temper should have changed.

He had originally brought crackers to cushion Li Chengyuan’s stomach, but forgot about them after their cold war.

Although this person’s temper, words, and deeds tonight were particularly hateful and strange, the thought of when he got out of the car with a pale face and almost staggered really made him feel soft with worry.

Xia Xingchi sighed, and thought that he would just go in quietly and take a look to see if he was asleep.

After making up his mind, he gingerly placed his hand on the doorknob, held his breath, and silently opened a small gap in the door with the lightest and slowest force.

Because his eyes had not yet adapted to the dark environment, he couldn’t see anything for a while. The room was quiet at that time, and no sound could be heard, as if the person inside had fallen asleep.

But after reading the original novel, Xia Xingchi knew this person’s disposition of silent forbearance. This ruthless person with a stomach ache in the middle of the night would keep silent almost to the point of fainting, so he really wouldn’t feel relieved until he saw it with his own eyes.

Therefore, silence did not mean he was asleep, which created a big problem: If he didn’t say anything, how could he explain his behavior of opening the door in the middle of the night and entering his room?

While searching for an excuse, Xia Xingchi brought the tray into the room first, then opened his eyes wide and looked hard, trying to make them adapt to the darkness quickly.

Unexpectedly, before he could take a step inside, he saw a big white dumpling appearing out of nowhere at lightning-fast speed!

It was too late to close the door, and Summer had already sneaked in through the narrow crack and entered the room in a flash!

Xia Xingchi: ! ! !

– – –

In the dark, Li Chengyuan closed his eyes drowsily and felt a splitting headache, along with sharp stomach cramps.

His entire body was obviously hot, but he could only shiver with cold. Due to the tinnitus in his ears, he didn’t hear any changes in the room.

Whenever his consciousness blurred like this, Li Chengyuan was always in a trance, unable to tell when or where he was, but engraved deeply in his bone marrow was —

Can’t make a sound.

Can’t let anyone know I’m sick again.

In the silence, there was a “meow!” as Summer jumped onto Li Chengyuan’s bed and then quickly crawled to his side and arched back and forth.

Li Chengyuan was usually a light sleeper and didn’t let it into the room at night, so this was quite novel for Summer. It raised its front paw and retracted the tips of its claws, patting Li Chengyuan’s face with its pad to make him play with it.

But no matter whether it was scratching his cuffs or sweeping the tip of its big tail over his nose, its owner was still unconscious and trembling slightly.

Perhaps because it realized that its owner’s condition was not right, Summer became impatient and took a running leap onto the edge of the bed.

Although it had no bad intentions, little animals didn’t understand degrees of seriousness, after all.

In the darkness, a large cat weighing more than ten catties lowered its head and aimed at Li Chengyuan. It was about to jump down for a “slam down with the weight of Mount Taishan” hardcore wakeup.

All of this happened in an instant. Xia Xingchi saw this scene with his barely-adjusted night vision and his soul suddenly jumped out of his body in fright.

Setting aside his “excuses for entering the room,” he lunged forward!

A second later would have spelled disaster, but thanks to Xia Xingchi’s quick reflexes, he managed to reach out and intercept its launch track before it could leap.

Summer thought he wanted to stroke it again, so it immediately changed direction and jumped to the other side of the bed. It landed steadily, and its movements were quite agile as it dodged left and right to avoid Xia Xingchi.

The most frightening thing was that it was still eager to continue to try to forcibly wake Li Chengyuan.

Xia Xingchi feared that its precious, fragile owner would be smashed under its huge tonnage, and his heart rose into his throat. One person and one cat began a silent chase around the bed in the dark.

Xia Xingchi’s night vision was naturally far inferior to that of a cat, and since this was the first time he had entered Li Chengyuan’s room, he didn’t know the layout of the furnishings.

But the more this was so, the more this little bastard Summer thought he was playing with it, so it ran quite happily for a while.

As expected of the villain’s pet, it dared to play parkour in the bedroom and for a while, there was chaos as everything was knocked to the ground.

Xia Xingchi grew increasingly frantic the more he ran, and he was about to explode on the spot and yell, “Stop for me!!!”

Just as he was about to collapse in exhaustion, he saw this slippery white furry ball jump onto the bed again and crouch on Li Chengyuan’s long legs curled up under the blanket.

Maybe playing had finally tired it out, but this was the first time it had put on the brakes all night.

Seeing that it had finally stopped running, Xia Xingchi, who was also exhausted, was overjoyed and forgot about everything else for a moment. Only the thought of “catch the little bastard” remained in his head.

He hurried forward and rushed toward Summer!

The moment his feet left the ground, Xia Xingchi abruptly came to his senses and realized something was wrong.

The second he spent in the air seemed to stretch infinitely.

In the hazy night, he saw Summer leisurely raise its front paw to lick it, and then look at him with a rather vivid smug expression —

Then it jumped up and left Li Chengyuan like a flash of lightning!

Now it was too late to brake, and Xia Xingchi could only think, “It’s over.”

If anything could be worse, it was probably Li Chengyuan being awakened by this very fierce human vs cat fight, and at the moment Summer jumped up from him, he turned over to lay down flat.

Boom!

In the next second, Xia Xingchi threw himself on top of him.

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[1] “Someone else’s light bulb” refers to a person who appears deliberately or accidentally when and where a couple are on a date. ⮐

[2] The saying, “There will be an additional price,” became a popular meme that originated from a the popular Chinese TV show, “Star Detective.” ⮐

[3] Thunder point (雷点) is an internet buzzword that refers to the bottom line of someone’s tolerance. When something “touches the thunder point,” it will produce the effect of “being struck by lightning.” ⮐

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Chapter Eleven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirteen

Zhao Yelan handed over the rest of the purchases to Housekeeper Qin to arrange and led Xiao Gao to the bedroom. He took out a house deed and handed it to him: “You have been with me for so many years, and it is time for you to start a family. You take this deed and check on the house, see if there are any repairs that need to be made. Buy some new things and find a girl that you like, ba.”

Xiao Gao looked at the house deed, then at him, and quickly took two steps back: “My lord, what I want is tanghulu, not a house deed, ah.”

“I’m aware.” Zhao Yelan tucked it into his belt and whispered softly: “You’ve grown up and it’s time for you to have your own place. If you really can’t find a good place to go, then ask your uncle to arrange it, and he will find a good job for you.”

“I don’t want Uncle.” Xiao Gao pursed his mouth. “My lord, what’s wrong with you? Don’t you want me anymore?”

Zhao Yelan sighed, persuading with kind words: “Don’t you want to marry a wife and have children?”

“Don’t want to,” Xiao Gao said without hesitation.

“……”

“If I marry a wife and have children, I will become a bald old man like Housekeeper Qin. I just want to follow my lord.” Xiao Gao suddenly asked, “My lord, are you going to die?”

“……”

“When my dad died, he was just like you are now! Don’t die, I don’t want you to die……”As Xiao Gao spoke, his eyes turned red.

“Okay, okay, I’m not dead yet, I won’t die.” Zhao Yelan coaxed: “Since you don’t want to marry a wife, then stay.”

“En!” Xiao Gao wiped away his tears, nodded swiftly, and then quickly wiped his eyes again: “The General is here.”

Zhao Yelan looked outside. He saw Yan Mingting coming over and whispered: “Don’t let anyone know what we spoke about today.”

“Understood.” Before Xiao Gao left, he hesitantly pointed to the tanghulu in his hand. “Can you give this to me?”

As soon as Yan Mingting entered the room, he saw Zhao Yelan give Xiao Gao the last pieces of tanghulu. Just as he was about to speak, Xiao Gao turned around with tears in his eyes and ran out with it.

He opened his mouth several times, and only after a while did he ask: “What’s wrong with Xiao Gao?”

“He’s homesick.” Zhao Yelan sat down leisurely, then remembered the food he had bought and got up to look for something to eat. 

“I saw it, ah, you gave him some tanghulu.” Yan Mingting followed and walked up beside him, noticing that he had bought a lot of delicacies. There were still a few days before his birthday, was he not afraid of letting it go bad?

“What? You want some too?” Zhao Yelan took out Huichunlou’s drunken shrimp and opened the paper bag. Its fragrance wafted out immediately.

“En, I’m homesick too,” Yan Mingting blurted out.

Zhao Yelan gave him a strange look: “Whose home are you in now?”

“Oh……I mean, I miss my parents and brother.”

“Then do you want to eat these?” Zhao Yelan asked, pointing at the lavish meal he had brought back.

“No, I just want tanghulu.”

“What is the trouble?” Zhao Yelan opened a paper bag beside him. There happened to be a few tanghulu inside, and he gave it all to him. “Take it.”

Satisfied, Yan Mingting stepped aside with the tanghulu and heard Zhao Yelan summon all the servants to divide up the lavish meal.

Yan Mingting: “ ? ”

In the end, while eating tanghulu, Yan Mingting watched the servants eat fish and shredded chicken so happily, and regretted it very much.

“What’s the matter with you today?” Yan Mingting couldn’t help asking.

“If you accidentally buy too much, it will become rancid after some time, so it is better to ask everyone to come taste it,” Zhao Yelan said.

Yan Mingting grudgingly accepted this explanation, but over the next few days, Zhao Yelan seemed a bit abnormal.

First, he spent a lot of money to add things to the house. The tables and chairs were replaced with high-quality rosewood, the wooden screens were replaced with glazed ones, the weeds in the yard were pulled out, the chicken coop fence was repaired, and some koi were thrown in the fish pond. Even Hongshao had its own extra-large cage. It seemed that he couldn’t wait to renovate the General’s Mansion.

“It’s not right, really not right.” Standing in the foyer, Yan Mingting looked at Zhao Yelan who was going out shopping again, and narrowed his eyes slightly, asking Housekeeper Qin beside him, “What exactly is he trying to do?”

“Don’t you understand?” Housekeeper Qin smiled happily. “My lord is obviously preparing for your birthday, ah. Isn’t renovating the mansion just to let you live comfortably?”

“Then why did he buy so many things?”

“They are congratulatory gifts for you. After all, it’s his first time celebrating your birthday. If he can’t make up his mind, he buys more.”

Yan Mingting came to a realization and nodded: “It’s still Uncle Qin who sees most clearly.”

Housekeeper Qin stroked his beard with a smile. After being pleased with himself for a moment, he picked up a broom and went to clean the mansion.

“That’s right, Uncle Qin, you go tidy up the west wing.” Yan Mingting remembered another thing.

“Who will use it?”

“I don’t know if it will be used or not, but prepare it first.”

He had received a letter from Zhong Yuehong yesterday. According to the distance, it would take two days to be delivered from the border, so this letter was written at a post station on the way. The letter briefly mentioned a few things about her travels, and then mentioned that she had met Zuo Ran at the post station.

Zuo Ran was traveling to Beijing alone and said that she was going to look for the General. She was in a hurry, and continued on her way without taking even a sip of water.

Zhong Yuehong couldn’t find out her purpose, but knew that something had happened, so she hurriedly wrote a letter and sent it to Beijing to notify him in advance.

If she was traveling day and night, Zuo Ran should arrive at about the same time as the letter. No matter what had happened, he would know when he saw her.

Zhao Yelan hadn’t come back yet when it was time for dinner. Yan Mingting walked outside the gate and looked around for a while, and a man ran up to him and asked: “Excuse me, is General Yan at the residence?”

“I am.”

“Someone asked me to hand this to you.” The man handed him a letter and ran away.

Yan Mingting opened it and saw an address written on it. He put the letter away, walked along a secluded path, and came to a small farmyard. According to the instructions on the letter, he knocked on the door five times in succession. The door opened.

Yan Mingting looked at Xiao Gao, who had opened the door, and said, “What is this?”

“Inside, please.” Xiao Gao gestured for him to go in quickly, and then guarded the door.

Yan Mingting took out the letter, walked towards the person at the table, and put it in front of him: “Why did you go to so much trouble to call me here?”

“Can’t I just call you out for no reason?” Zhao Yelan asked back.

“Of course you can.” Yan Mingting smiled, sat down beside him, and looked around. There was only one candle lit in the room, and the environment was a little dark, so he had to move the chair a little to the side in order to see Zhao Yelan’s face clearly.

Zhao Yelan turned his head to the side with a neutral expression, and Yan Mingting grinned: “I came here specially to meet you, what is the matter?”

“I want to introduce you to a friend.”

“A friend? Who, ah?”

Just as he spoke, there were five knocks on the door, neither light nor heavy, and Xiao Gao glanced out the window before opening the door.

Yan Mingting looked out the door suspiciously but couldn’t get a clear view. When the other party walked in, he pointed at the person, dumbfounded, and was speechless for a long moment.

The new arrival didn’t seem to expect him to be there, and was briefly stunned before turning to Zhao Yelan and asking: “Why is the General here?”

“It’s fine, come in, ba.” Zhao Yelan said.

“Yes.” The visitor restrained his surprised expression, walked over calmly, and sat down on the other side of him so that he was face to face with Yan Mingting.

Now that he could see his appearance clearly, Yan Mingting couldn’t hide his inner astonishment and turned pale with shock: “Kan Chuan?!”

“General Yan, I have long wanted to pay a visit, but never found the opportunity. I didn’t think I would meet you here.” Kan Chuan smiled slightly. His speech and demeanor were somewhat similar to Zhao Yelan’s. At first glance, he was either someone under his influence or a like-minded person.

“You, you two……aren’t at odds?” Yan Mingting was so shocked that he was unable to recover for a long time.

No wonder he didn’t suspect it at all. After returning to Beijing and going to court with Zhao Yelan for the first time, he had witnessed Kan Chuan’s request to abolish Zhao Yelan’s official position and learned from hundreds of officials that the two often had verbal disputes in court. Even though Zhao Yelan had gone to the Imperial Academy, he was repeatedly mentioned and castigated by Kan Chuan from time to time. 

Originally, he had admired Kan Chuan’s temperament. If he hadn’t always insulted Zhao Yelan openly, he might still have been able to make friends with him. He really didn’t expect this……

“It seems that even General Yan has been fooled by this ruse. Does this mean that my acting skills are not bad, Zhao-daren?” Kan Chuan looked at Zhao Yelan with a smile, and Zhao Yelan smiled back.

“Then when you asked to impeach him in court that day, in fact……”

Kan Chuan took a glance at Zhao Yelan and saw that he didn’t object, so he knew the reason he was here tonight. He wanted to hand over his cards to General Yan. It seemed that their relationship was closer than he had imagined.

“It was Zhao-daren’s idea,” Kan Chuan said.

Yan Mingting understood everything. Presumably, it was Zhao Yelan who saw the Emperor’s intention behind the marriage decree. He simply retreated in order to advance and let Kan Chuan come out on top, so that he was appreciated by the Emperor. He became a supporter of high moral character and there was no objection to his extraordinary promotion. Now he had become a new palace favorite, but no one insulted him like they had insulted Zhao Yelan, and he gained a lot of support instead.

And Zhao Yelan appeared to have withdrawn from court, but still held the greatest power. Moreover, he didn’t have to go to court every day and face his enemies, but could hide in the Imperial Academy with a group of scholars, relaxed and happy.

At first, Yan Mingting had seen that he was not dispirited after being demoted, and thought that he was optimistically accepting his fate, but he didn’t expect that the arrangement had been made long ago. He had still underestimated Zhao Yelan.

“Last time, when we learned about Yuehong’s entry into the harem in advance, that was you?”

“Indeed, the Emperor discussed this matter with me. I thought it was an extraordinary piece of news, so I passed the information to Zhao-daren,” Kan Chuan said.

It turned out that this was Zhao Yelan’s person in court. At that time, he had been admonished that small indiscretions could lead to big problems, and if the informer in the court was exposed, there would indeed be endless troubles.

No wonder the two were exchanging looks at the Imperial Examination banquet.

“My lord, recently the Prime Minister has asked the Emperor to invite you to return to court several times on the grounds of numerous government affairs, but I temporarily stopped it. What are your thoughts on this matter?” Kan Chuan asked.

“Stop it, I don’t want to go back yet.”

Zhao Yelan knew that Li Jinyu was doing this either to repay his son’s gambling debts, or for Yan Mingting. But after all, Li Jinyu didn’t know that he had stepped down on purpose. Fortunately, Kan Chuan was quick-witted and opposed Li Jinyu’s suggestion in time before receiving instructions, which made the scholar-politicians favor him even more.

“All right.” Kan Chuan spoke again, “Yesterday, the Mongolian royal family sent a letter, wanting to make peace through marriage to the princess. Do you think this is a good thing or not?”

“There is only one princess, who is not yet of age, so naturally there will be discord.”

“The Emperor also thinks similarly. However, the old prince insists on the marriage.”

The old prince was the younger brother of the late Emperor, an idle prince with only a few daughters in his family. Worried that there would be no one to inherit the family estate, while taking concubines to have children and using his daughters to win over the powerful, he actually turned his thoughts to the Mongolian prince.

Zhao Yelan said firmly: “It is absolutely impossible. The Mongolian people surrendered, what prestige is there in delivering a princess for a political marriage? The Mongols are just testing us. Once they see us backing down, they will only ask for more in the future. Besides, did they forget how to surrender? Although the Yan family army has returned to the court, they are not dead yet, so what is there to be afraid of?”

Yan Mingting was shocked, and looked at him with burning eyes: “That’s right.”

“All right, then tomorrow I will have a good fight with that old prince,” Kan Chuan said with a smile.

Zhao Yelan nodded, and had another matter to discuss: “The water report from the Huainan area stated that there may be a risk of flooding, and the Imperial court has distributed disaster funds. However, I have heard people south of the Yangtze river say that it has been sunny for more than ten days, so I have sent people to verify this matter. In the end, it is either a Jiangnan population error or the water reporter lied about the disaster situation.”

“Yes,” Kan Chuan said worriedly, “Natural disasters are the most difficult. As soon as the court received notice, it prepared silver taels lest the disaster relief be delayed. The water reporter is an official position that has just been established, and I am afraid that someone will take advantage of this and use the changing weather to make false reports.”

Yan Mingting listened to the two of them discussing the affairs of the court and gradually accepted the fact that this righteous-looking Kan Chuan was actually allied with Zhao Yelan. How many other surprises was he unaware of?

Zhao Yelan talked too much and started coughing, and Kan Chuan asked in concern, “How is your health, my lord?”

“Still the same.”

“You should pay more attention to it, ah. I’m still waiting for you to come back and work with me.”

Why did these words sound so familiar?

Yan Mingting thought about it carefully, and recalled that on the day that Zhao Yelan was dismissed, Kan Chuan once said in front of all the officials once court was let out: “Zhao-daren, I look forward to seeing you again in court.”

What had Zhao Yelan said? Oh, he had said: “When I come back, you’d better be alive.”

Everyone present at the time, including Yan Mingting, thought they were being sarcastic, but didn’t know that there was truth in the drama, ah.

The candle was about to burn out, and the night was already dark. Zhao Yelan asked Yan Mingting to leave first, and then opened the box that had been placed on the table. Inside were a pair of jade ruyis^[1] and golden locks. “Is your baby coming soon? At that time, I may not be able to drink a cup of full moon wine,^[2] so I am delivering the gift to you in private.”

“My lord, what are you doing? The child will not be born until autumn, so it is too early to send a gift now,” Kan Chuan said.

“I just happened to see it when passing by, so I bought it. If you don’t like it, I’ll exchange it for another gift.”

Kan Chuan quickly put it away with a smile: “It’s fine, it’s fine. Then I would like to thank Zhao-daren. Now that the child has been mentioned, I would like to make a presumptuous request. My lord, would you like to be my child’s godfather?”

Zhao Yelan blinked and said: “No……”

“My lord, don’t refuse me in a hurry. Anyway, Li Niang and I will only recognize you. It is thanks to you, my lord, that we can be together. Other words of gratitude, I will not repeat. It is all thanks to my lord that I can have today, and the only one I admire is you. After all, not just anyone is willing to bear so much infamy,” Kan Chuan spoke with conviction.

Zhao Yelan felt that he was not as great as he said. In any case, Zhao Yelan did all those infamous things, so what did it have to do with him, Zhao Mengting?

“Let’s talk about this once your baby is born. It is too early to mention such things.”

At that time, he would have disappeared from the eyes of the world. The name Zhao Yelan, whether it was accompanied by stigma or power, would be completely buried under the tombstone of history over time.

And the one who lived would be Zhao Mengting, free for a lifetime.

The two left after the conversation was over. Zhao Yelan walked a distance away from the courtyard and heard the sound of unhurried footsteps behind him. He said without turning his head: “Didn’t I tell you to go back first?”

“That won’t do, I wanted to wait for you,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk forward, but this person did not keep up, and remained a short distance away from him.

He stopped and looked back at the other party.

Yan Mingting said with a smile: “I just wanted to see how many people there are behind you.”

Zhao Yelan frowned: “Then how many people did you see?”

“I looked horizontally and vertically, front and back, and behind you……” Yan Mingting twirled his fingers and finally pointed at himself. “It’s just me.”

The corner of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched.

After lying down at night, Yan Mingting asked curiously: “Kan Chuan is much more powerful now. Aren’t you afraid that one day he will stop listening to you and bite you back?”

“I dared to give him power to go up, but naturally there are ways to pull him down,” Zhao Yelan said. “Besides, he has a very affectionate and righteous nature, so he won’t easily betray me. If you need him for something in the future, just go to him.”

“You invited me to meet him today, and now you say this again. What is your meaning? You want him to help me with my father’s case?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan was silent for a moment, then said: “I also have my own affairs, and it is impossible to help you all of the time. Kan Chuan is a good candidate. You can observe for a while before making a decision.”

That was the point of organizing the meeting today. If there was anything more he could do for Yan Mingting before leaving, it would be with this matter.

“Are you planning to give up your responsibilities?” Yan Mingting said. “That’s why you found someone to take over?”

The words were coarse, but the rationale was not.

Zhao Yelan counterattacked: “I just want to find a few more trustworthy people for you. You can use them or not.”

Yan Mingting didn’t say anything more.

The next day when Zhao Yelan came back from the Imperial Academy, he heard commotion from afar, and then the sedan chair stopped. He went out to take a look, and it turned out that someone had taken two beautiful concubines at once. People coming and going to watch the excitement blocked the road.

He had no choice but to order the sedan chair to go back and take Xiao Gao to walk the distance. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the red-faced master standing at the door. He was very young, and continuously showed off how amazing his concubines were.

Concubines……

After he left, Yan Mingting would marry a wife and have concubines, right? The Yan family itself was sparsely populated. If he, the man that the Emperor forced onto him, died, it would be normal for him to have children.

He was lost in thought when he heard a sarcastic remark in his ear: “What are you looking at? Do you also want to see other people’s beautiful concubines?”

Zhao Yelan was startled. He turned his head and his nose brushed against Yan Mingting’s cheek. “Why are you here?” How was he so free that he could haunt him every day?

Yan Mingting blinked nonchalantly, then pretended to be angry: “I happened to pass by and saw you standing there, staring at the beauties in other people’s houses in a daze.”

Zhao Yelan didn’t want to argue with him, so he continued moving forward, followed by Yan Mingting. They went through a few alleys, entered the main road, and were about to enter the General’s Mansion when someone nearby suddenly called out to Yan Mingting: “General!”

The two turned their heads together and saw a horse coming to an abrupt stop. The horse’s hooves were raised high, almost stepping on Zhao Yelan, and Yan Mingting pulled him to the side.

Sitting on horseback was a young woman with a fair face and heroic features. She was elegant, with bright eyes and good looks, but her clothes were a bit dirty and smelly, her hair was a mess, and her travel-worn appearance was indeed a bit battered.

“Zuo Ran.” Yan Mingting saw who it was and called out her name.

“You know her?” Zhao Yelan had just spoken when he saw the woman neatly dismount the horse. Her knees seemed to have no strength, and they buckled. As soon as Yan Mingting reached out to help, the other party directly collapsed on Yan Mingting’s body.

Zhao Yelan: “……”

“General, something has happened.” The woman burst into tears and grabbed onto his arm, begging, “You’ll help us, won’t you?”

Seeing this, Yan Mingting knew that something was truly wrong and hurriedly supported her: “Let’s go back and you can explain in detail. A wing of the house has been prepared for you.”

Zhao Yelan stood on the spot, looking at their backs. His eyes narrowed slightly and a stern look flashed through them. It was all right to hug and hold each other in a public place with numerous people, and even a wing had been prepared without a word?

He gave Xiao Gao a meaningful look and said in a cold voice: “Have Gu Niaoniao investigate, who is this woman of unknown origin?”

---

[1] A Ruyi (如意) is a decorative ceremonial scepter or talisman symbolizing power and good fortune. ⮐

[2] A baby’s one-month birthday dinner celebration. ⮐

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Chapter Forty-Four <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Six

After Lin Meng finished her work, she hurried back, fearing that Xia Xingchi, who was “timid and weak,” would be bullied if she was not around.

As a result, as soon as she came through the door, she saw Xia Xingchi wave his hands and give up the performance rather stubbornly, and while packing up his things to leave, he was verbally warring against the other stars……no, warring against lackeys.

He didn’t speak much, but every word was a gem, and each time he opened his mouth, he made people so angry that they almost tried to start a gang fight.

“What’s going on?” Lin Meng was taken aback by the battle.

Xia Xingchi handed over the advertisement script, and she hurriedly stepped up to glance over it.

Just now when these angry people saw his agent approaching, they were full of anticipation, thinking that there was finally someone who would discipline him.

Look at how this ignorant kid was still struggling to live as his doom approached.

The atmosphere stagnated for a moment, before there was a pa! as Lin Meng threw the script aggressively onto the table!

Under the expectant eyes of everyone who thought Xia Xingchi was going to be scolded, she said angrily: “Xia Xingchi, we’re leaving! What a bullshit script, don’t perform.”

Everyone: ……?

Were low-tier artists and third-rate agents so capricious nowadays? 

Lin Meng had always been very protective of her artists, and things that hit her bottom line were completely off-limits. Naturally, she wouldn’t even consider such an obviously insulting script.

She found that Xia Xingchi, who used to be timid and cowardly, had finally stood up for himself and would no longer be kneaded like dough by others. Instead, she felt the kind of happiness of watching her family’s child grow up.

Seeing that both of them were so unyielding, the project manager couldn’t help being dumbfounded. He was speechless for a long time before saying with insufficient confidence: “……You are in breach of contract! You can leave, but you must make reparations!”

Xia Xingchi had already packed his things, and he was smarter than anyone else when it came to money: “Didn’t you violate the contract by changing the script randomly? Doesn’t the revised content violate advertising law?”

This hit the nail on the head and revealed the root cause of the project manager’s lack of confidence.

Even if this brand had the investment of Han Ningyu’s patron, in fact, it was impossible for them to change the content of the advertisement blindly.

It was nothing more than a tactic to scare the ignorant newcomer to the circle. They would wait for Xia Xingchi to bow his head, apologize, and admit his mistakes, and then pretend to change it back.

Xia Xingchi smiled and kindly reminded: “You broke the contract, remember to call us for liquidated damages.”

The project manager couldn’t help but grit his teeth. Bullying newcomers was a common occurrence, but judging by the situation, he still had to give in to him.

Otherwise, paying the damages was a small matter, but having personal influence in the shooting was a big deal that he wouldn’t be able to explain later.

The two parties were at a stalemate. Then the door opened with a boom! that was Han Ningyu’s signature high-profile way of making appearances, and he rushed in with hurried strides.

His target was quite clear, as if he were a human-shaped bazooka aiming straight at Xia Xingchi.

Xia Xingchi watched him suspiciously, wondering if he was going to pick a fight. Would he have to switch from literary combat to martial combat?

Just as he was preparing to toss him over his shoulder, Han Ningyu quickly snatched the outrageous script that had been tossed aside and then eagerly thrust his own script into Xia Xingchi’s arms.

“Gege!” In the blink of an eye, Han Ningyu had transformed into a smiling face like a chrysanthemum blooming, and “gege’d” at him for a long time.

“It is my eyes that failed to see the sacred Mount Tai!^[1] I’ll give you my script, you use mine, don’t remember this insignificant person, Sir! I’m sorry, I was wrong!”

Xia Xingchi was taken aback by this Sichuan opera-style face change, and didn’t know what the hell this guy had been smoking. Was it because he was wearing sunglasses and couldn’t see where he was going, so he ran into a wall and damaged his brain?

That was really miserable. He wasn’t smart in the first place, which really added insult to injury.

Including the project manager who was currently flabbergasted, no matter if it was the one who kindly persuaded Xia Xingchi to apologize or the one who taunted him for being full of himself, they were all dumbfounded when they witnessed this scene.

Xia Xingchi’s advertising fee was only 20,000 yuan, and the liquidated damages were calculated according to the advertising fee, so it wasn’t much.

Seeing Han Ningyu urging him to stay, was it possible that the man could lose his family fortune?

Unless……Xia Xingchi was the real hidden boss.

The few people who hadn’t participated in the mocking and ridicule were instantly relieved and exchanged glances. Those who played Han Ningyu’s henchmen were presumably very regretful.

Xia Xingchi tilted his head slightly — The world of the rich was really full of chaos. If you turned your head 180 degrees and weren’t afraid of twisting your head off, you could see it everywhere.

He had a good guess as to what was going on, so he perfectly reproduced Li Chengyuan’s terrifying fake smile and asked Han Ningyu quietly: “But didn’t you just say, ‘you remember me’ earlier?”

“No, no, no! I just meant for you to remember that you will always be my ge!”

When Han Ningyu thought that Xia Xingchi was not only the young master of the Xia family, but also Li Chengyuan’s lover, he wanted to slap himself.

“You are so old, who is your ge, ah?”

Having another person who misidentified him as a brother even though they had nothing to do with each other, just like Xia Yu, was already a headache.

Witnessing this abrupt change in demeanor, Lin Meng was the most confused.

She knew that Han Ningyu was well-known for stepping on the weak and flattering the strong, and this whole scene seemed to be some kind of bug. Her bleak career suddenly ushered in a bright moment —

After the arrogant project manager answered a phone call and returned, his attitude made an abnormally sharp turn. He served tea and water again, and kindly invited her to experience this brand of massage chair.

She knew her silly didi quite well, and working as background support had never been like this. The more she thought about it, the more she had a guilty conscience. If it turned out that they had the wrong person, it would be extremely awkward.

Xia Xingchi had already gone to shoot the commercial, so she had no choice but to pretend to be calm and knowledgeable for the time being – then wait to catch that little bunny when he came back and torture him to extract a confession.

– – –

It was nearly midnight when Xia Xingchi finished the advertisement and called it a day.

He was very happy when he thought about the salary of tens of thousands he would receive in a few hours, and the little money-grubber began to joyfully plan in his heart:

In the past, he maintained three or four jobs at the same time, but now he was debt-free.

As long as he concentrated on making money in the entertainment industry and played the role of Li Chengyuan’s lover, he would be rich!

Wait……Li Chengyuan?

In the middle of leisurely studying and fiddling with the massage chair, Xia Xingchi’s hands froze.

He’d felt like he was forgetting something, and at this moment, he finally realized that he had failed to remember the most important person! 

Xia Xingchi had always lacked relatives or friends, and was completely unaccustomed to suddenly being accompanied. Coupled with the fuss of all kinds of comedy scenes tonight, the matter of feeding the big cat was simply forgotten.

He hurried to the window in just a few steps and tremblingly opened the curtains to see —

In the dense night, the dazzling Shelby was still parked there quietly in front like a husband-watching stone.

……Why did he suddenly have the illusion that he was an irresponsible scumbag?

Shouting in his heart that he was dead meat, he jumped up as if he had received an electric shock and rushed into the dressing room, grabbed all of his things like a whirlwind, and then dashed out.

Fortunately everyone had already dispersed, and no one noticed him silently sprinting 100 meters in the dark.

He ran to the front of the car before barely managing to stop, lying on the windshield to look inside: Li Chengyuan’s eyes were closed as he leaned back in the car seat. In sleep, his hostility was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a quiet and fragile beauty.

Xia Xingchi blinked, his gaze subconsciously wandering between his long, thick eyelashes, the high bridge of his nose, and his pale, thin lips.

In the end, it inadvertently landed on the attractive jut of his throat.

The hand that he originally wanted to knock on the car door with paused for a moment, and then he silently put it back down. Regardless of the fact that this was the frightening villain, his title of “pinnacle of attractiveness” in the book was really well-deserved.

While Xia Xingchi was watching intently, Li Chengyuan suddenly felt something and opened his eyes just in time to meet the gaze of this sneaky peeper.

In the middle of the night, anyone who opened his eyes and saw the horrifying scene of a face lying on the car windshield and watching him with wide eyes would probably be shocked.

— But Li Chengyuan only squinted slightly when he saw this, as if he was not fully awake. He was in an uncharacteristically good mood, as if he was very satisfied with the picture outside the glass —

The corners of his lips were slightly raised when he saw Xia Xingchi’s face so close, finally revealing a faint smile as if he were in the middle of a dream.

Xia Xingchi was stunned, and when he came back to his senses after a long moment, he quickly took a few guilty steps back.

Li Chengyuan also seemed to realize that something was wrong. His eyes swiftly regained their calm indifference along with a bit of impatience, and he raised his hand to signal him to get into the car.

— The villain could actually dream?

Xia Xingchi wondered who or what he was dreaming about just now that could make him smile so nicely.

Just as he was about to walk around to the passenger seat and get in, Lin Meng’s voice suddenly came from behind him: “Xingchi? Why haven’t you left yet? What are you looking at?”

It was too dark, and she wouldn’t be able to see anyone inside the car unless she got closer, so she saw Xia Xingchi studying the car carefully and stupidly alone.

Xia Xingchi suddenly trembled, as if someone had caught him in a love affair.

He instinctively blocked Lin Meng’s view of the front seat and quickly changed the topic: “Sister Mengmeng, why haven’t you left yet?”

Lin Meng temporarily canceled the online rideshare she had booked. Although the vehicle was heading here, it was still a few kilometers away.

This was just right. She didn’t have a chance to “torture” him just now, and had no choice but to say goodbye to Xia Xingchi as if nothing had happened. But now that there was no one around, she happened to catch him alone.

“Child, tell me quickly and truthfully, what happened with them today? Are you hiding something from me?!”

“Ah–” Xia Xingchi drew the sound out guiltily when he heard these words, and said in a low voice, “It’s, it’s a long story.”

He didn’t know where to begin with the identity of the real young master and the forced marriage.

Because it couldn’t be said that the marriage was only an agreement. How could Lin Meng accept that someone other than pregnant single mothers could want a flash marriage for no reason?

Xia Xingchi was organizing his words quickly when he heard the soft sound of the car door opening behind him – It was over. It seemed that Mr. Money Tree was tired of waiting.

Facing Agent Lin, he hadn’t figured out how to talk his way out of this yet when the boss actually showed up directly. Xia Xingchi’s mouth twitched as he drew a blank on how to introduce him.

Lin Meng was startled, never having expected that there was a person in the car all this time.

The man had a tall, upright figure with wide shoulders and a narrow waist. His legs were long and lean, and his height could be estimated to be 1.9 meters.

In the hazy darkness, one could vaguely see his handsome face. It was almost seductive, so good-looking that he almost didn’t look like a real person, and his complexion was extremely pale……

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Lin Meng shivered. Could this be a ghost in the middle of the night?!

Then she saw the “ghost” turn his head away from the wind, cover his lips, and cough a few times.

Xia Xingchi heard Li Chengyuan cough, and quickly turned around and pushed him: “It’s cold outside, you get in the car first.”

In the end, he didn’t know what this big guy was thinking again, but he just stood there motionless, as if determined to remain there and stare at him.

The problem was that he couldn’t leave Miss Lin Meng and simply get in the car with Li Chengyuan. There were wolves before him and tigers behind, so he had no choice but to pray that a certain madman would not suddenly do something outrageous like kidnap him and leave on the spot.

“Sister Mengmeng, this……” Xia Xingchi thought for a moment and said, “He is my friend……”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Li Chengyuan frown slightly and cough again.

Maybe he was still waking up or wasn’t feeling well, but he didn’t look as strong and indifferent as usual.

Xia Xingchi had never witnessed such a fragile side of him, and had been soft-hearted and caring since he was a child, so he immediately felt distressed upon seeing it.

Disregarding everything else, he quickly turned around and buttoned up the windbreaker the other was wearing.

But the moment he lowered his head to do up Li Chengyuan’s buttons, he failed so see the change that came over his face —

Looking at him now, where was the slightest vulnerability and sickness?

Lin Meng was watching the two blankly at first, but was caught off guard by Li Chengyuan’s fierce and terrifying gaze. A huge sense of oppression suddenly overwhelmed her!

Immediately afterward, she watched Li Chengyuan incline his head and lightly kiss Xia Xingchi’s forehead, his eyes full of possessiveness.

It was like he was claiming true sovereignty. This was obviously not a “friend” like Xia Xingchi had alleged he was.

---

[1] This idiom means a “failure to recognize a person of importance/eminence.” ⮐

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Chapter Ten << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twelve

Everyone was amazed by the car, and deeply moved by the “true love” attitude of this mysterious benefactor.

Although they looked down on low-skilled actors who “relied on a gold master” to get into their position, in reality, they were actually quite envious.

Especially when being outclassed by Han Ningyu’s shameless domineering, they would be even more envious and jealous.

As Xia Xingchi listened, he felt more and more guilty. As the party in question, he could only quietly shrink down like a little quail, pretending that he didn’t exist.

But he only shrank down for a moment, and then couldn’t help but stretch out his neck to look out: 

He saw a vague figure in the driver’s seat. Li Chengyuan never left.

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help being a little worried. He hadn’t eaten yet, so would he have hypoglycemia? Would his stomach feel uncomfortable?

And it was chilly at night, what if he caught a cold and had a fever?

Alas, such a rich and handsome benefactor, it was true love to pick him up and drop him off in person……Huh? Wait?

Xia Xingchi finally came back to his senses, then lost his mind for an instant, roaring in his heart: No! I’ve been bewitched! Why worry about this paranoid guy!

What kind of bullshit true love? He stayed here the entire time because he’s afraid I’ll run away!

Xia Xingchi could feel that Li Chenyuan seemed to be very upset for no reason when he was out of his sight and control.

Before he got out of the car, he had ordered in a rather terrifying tone: “Shooting commercials is okay, but don’t run around where I can’t find you.”

The more he thought about it, the more helpless he felt. That person was simply unreasonable.

Even a “passer-by who got married at random” like himself had to be watched in person. Fortunately, now that the Qing Dynasty was dead, it was out of fashion to have three wives and four concubines.

Otherwise, Li Chengyuan might have to disassemble himself into eight pieces and use them separately.

– – –

The car was silent. Li Chengyuan’s slender fingers rested on the steering wheel and curled up slightly as he suppressed the surging restlessness.

— His freedom cannot be restricted. He is already afraid of me enough.

His eyes were filled with anxiety. If he just ran away……

Li Chengyuan took a deep breath. At this moment, his phone suddenly vibrated. He didn’t want to pay attention to it, but found that it was Xia Xingchi who had sent a WeChat message.

Like a barrage of gunfire, it was as if that chatterbox was right in front of his eyes:

“Why are you still downstairs?”

“Sir, I promise I won’t run away. Can you stop guarding like this? It’s scary.”

“If you turn on the air, be careful to leave a gap in the window.”

“I met a big idiot. I’m afraid he can’t see where he’s going with those sunglasses on, and will become even more stupid if he runs into a wall.”

“Thanks to him, I don’t know how long it will take to film the commercial. Don’t wait for me, go back and eat something and go to bed early.”

……..

Xia Xingchi was frightened in front of Li Chengyuan, and didn’t dare to say too much.

But it seemed he felt much safer when they were separated by a phone screen, and he immediately revealed his true nature, talking endlessly and without restraint.

Li Chengyuan looked down and smiled after a moment. Then he ignored him, and continued to wait in the car.

– – –

There were gradually “traitors” among the few people in the dressing room, who meant to turn against each other and become henchmen.

Some people would do anything for the sake of popularity, and naturally would not hesitate to curry favor with Han Ningyu.

The atmosphere became increasingly delicate, and everyone stopped gossiping about him.

Xia Xingchi was silently dismantling the phone with his bare hands.

After a dizzying operation, the broken cell phone that was nearly scrapped was once again functional, so he had contacted Li Chengyuan.

A big guy couldn’t help blurting out: “Fucking awesome!”

Xia Xingchi smiled deeply when he heard these words: “Life isn’t easy, so it’s good to be versatile.”

A jack of all trades had the kind of versatility that could accomplish anything.

Because of the “whose benefactor” debacle, he was guilty of not chatting with these people.

For example, everyone complained that the company didn’t provide a car, and discussed how they got here.

He feared letting his mouth slip and revealing that the luxury car outside was for him.

As for other entertainment industry topics, he, a “true newcomer” who had just entered the profession two days ago, really didn’t know what to ask or talk about.

So he was clearly at a loss , but in the eyes of others, he was arrogant and cold.

It was likely because Xia Xingchi was a difficult person, but this cold attitude was about to suffocate the chatterbox to death.

So Xia Xingchi had no choice but to bow his head and type frantically on the broken cell phone. Going to harass Li Chengyuan, the only one he could talk to, he advised him to go back and eat and rest, and not to waste time here.

After typing for a long time, he received a word from Li Chengyuan: En.

Xia Xingchi: ……?

Did this mean he would stop watching him, or “I have read it?”

This feeling was like raising a big, fragile, precious kitty cat. He feared that if he didn’t raise it right, he would feel sorry if it was driven away.

The problem was that this cat was very annoying, arrogant, and not obedient at all.

Before Xia Xingchi could think any further, that bastard Han Ningyu finally tidied himself up to achieve a radiant look, and everyone was finally able to work.

– – –

Before receiving their respective commercial scripts, Xia Xingchi looked over and saw fruit candies and soda crackers on the table in the lounge.

He glanced out the window again, and the outrageously expensive sports car was still parked quietly in the darkness, a bit like……a husband-watching stone.^[1]

If the villain heard this description, he would probably bite his head off.

Getting back down to business, a certain person was asking for trouble. Obviously he could help him get a taxi or ask the driver to pick him up, but he had to be paranoid and watch him personally.

However, in the end, Xia Xingchi still had a soft heart and feared that Li Chengyuan would feel unwell.

So he quietly took a few packets of crackers and candies, planning to sneak out and give them to him as soon as he got the chance.

As soon as he put the crackers in his pocket, he heard a sudden voice from the side: 

“Yo, are you stealing something over here?”

Xia Xingchi was in disbelief. No one would be unpleasant enough to paste this label on someone. What’s more, even a fool knew that the things here were free to eat.

A glance sideways confirmed that it was indeed Han Ningyu’s haughty, punchworthy face, sporting an expression of contempt.

Han Ningyu thought for a moment, then continued: “But your counterfeit clothes look rather genuine. You can’t even afford to buy them, so you want to steal the crackers and take them back with you to eat?”

There were many people in the lounge. Whether young artists or staff involved with the filming, it could even be said to be a little crowded.

Han Ningyu’s voice was loud enough that everyone could hear it.

It was a vivid performance of “I’m going to beat you, just pick a date” to set an example for others.

This move was clearly effective. No one said a word when they saw this, meekly lowering their heads.

They were fully aware of who was right and who was wrong, but it was impossible to stand up for that poor and unpopular Xia Xingchi. In all likelihood, he could only endure it alone.

Against expectations, Xia Xingchi smiled and asked: “Such concern, do you also want to buy counterfeits? But you’re too blind to tell counterfeits from the genuine article, so find a garbage bag on the side of the road and put it on. Hey, the black plastic bags from the cleaning lady outside aren’t bad. Would you like one?”

After speaking, he unceremoniously picked up another bag of crackers, thinking that he would feed some to the big, fragile cat made of glass later.

Han Ningyu became furious upon hearing his words.

As a pro at stepping on the weak and flattering the strong, he had bullied young artists many times since becoming close with his benefactor.

He had never discovered such a difficult person, who continued to not give him face and had an exaggerated opinion of his own abilities.

“Xia Xingchi, right? Just wait, you remember me!”

Upon saying this, he turned around angrily and left. The door slammed even louder this time.

Xia Xingchi was baffled, and wondered if there was a salary for bullying people. It would be meaningless if you couldn’t make a profit.

He opened an orange candy and put it in his mouth: “So anxious to grab the cleaning lady’s garbage bags? No one will fight him for them.”

The scene was silent for a moment as everyone remained speechless, and then there was a sense of comfort that came from letting go of resentment after getting justice

But they didn’t even have time to give him a thumbs up when someone said in a lukewarm tone: “Do you know why Han Ningyu can throw his weight around? His sponsor has invested the most into this brand, and he has the final say here today.”

Another person quickly said: “Ah? Will that bring disaster to innocent people? We didn’t do anything, but we’ll suffer too? I heard from a friend that Han Ningyu……”

After a dubiously authentic story about vented anger and collateral damage was told, the little artists who were already scared fell silent.

When everyone looked at Xia Xingchi, their expressions also changed.

One person turned to Xia Xingchi and said in a rather tactful tone: “Brother, little guys like us can’t provoke him. Why don’t you go and apologize?”

“He’s so petty that he’ll definitely try to squeeze you out in a while.”

When the commercial scripts were delivered, everyone was still chattering and gradually becoming unfriendly. A few of them began to educate people as if they were seniors: 

“You have to know that arrogance requires capital, but do you have power and capital?”

“You’ve only been in the industry for half a year, right? I’ve seen a lot of tough newcomers like this, but in the end they all came to nothing.”

“Go apologize and let Han Ningyu vent his anger. Not to frighten you, but it’ll be a breeze for him to sort you out.”

Xia Xingchi paid them no heed, and only opened his script to read it over: In this advertisement, besides Han Ningyu playing the “male lead” and the massage chair users, a majority of the others will be playing anthropomorphic massage chairs.

The reason he said “the majority” was because Xia Xingchi was the only “minority.”

What he had to do was bring footwashing water to Han Ningyu and then……give him a foot massage?

Even more outrageous was that Han Ningyu would kick the footwashing water all over his head and body, and then gallantly hold this brand’s electric foot bath machine and wash his feet again with a smile.

Xia Xingchi: ……?

Such blatant revenge, wasn’t it great to have a financial backer?

After everyone finished reading the script, several of them immediately donned expressions of “I knew it,” and “Serves him right.”

One said derisively: “Aren’t you going to apologize?”

This was a live performance of the comical drama where the weak become mentally unbalanced and draw their swords on the weaker.

Xia Xingchi tilted his head and looked at the script with the orange candy in his mouth: “No. Laozi will stop shooting.”

Although he had lived in miserable poverty all his life, it only made him look smooth, but did not smooth out his sharp edges and hard temper at all.

Like a prickly little hedgehog, he had suffered a lot because of this, but would always stubbornly do it again the next time.

The “huge” advertising fee of 20,000 yuan really made the little money-grubber a little distressed, but Xia Xingchi thought again —

Now I am a person with a monthly income of one million. Who doesn’t have a financial backer?

Thinking this way, he immediately straightened up and touched the sky-high priced pigeon egg diamond hanging close to his chest.

The confidence of “I can’t die from starvation” instantly went through the roof!

Seeing him appear so unyielding, the project manager sneered with disdain: “What is it, ah? Do you want to threaten not to shoot as blackmail? Who is begging you to shoot?”

Low-tier artists had no human rights or dignity, and people from all walks of life trampled on them all day long.

Someone deliberately favored one side and said: “Xia Xingchi, in this matter, you were the first to be impolite. Don’t hold up everyone’s progress, okay?”

“Quickly apologize to Brother Han. He is a senior, after all.”

Xia Xingchi listened and sincerely expressed his doubts: “The older you get, the more popular you are in this circle?”

– – –

Han Ningyu returned to his VIP room dedicated to “putting on airs,” and stomped about angrily.

“What advantages does he have besides being good-looking?!”

“Who gave him the right to be so arrogant?”

“How dare he say that I can’t tell real clothes from counterfeits? And his phone is broken like that, so how could he afford hundreds of thousands of dollars for an outfit? They fucking have to be counterfeits!”

Being a lackey for too long would distort a person’s mind. 

While kneeling and sucking up to the boss, he would showcase his split personality by being domineering in front of the low-tier artists to save face.

The assistant had long been accustomed to Han Ningyu’s behavior, so he quickly spoke up to comfort him.

At this time, the mobile phone rang, and Han Ningyu saw that it was his benefactor who took the initiative to call.

He was flattered, so he quickly dropped the ugly look he was wearing just now and answered his phone with an obedient and pandering smile, thinking that he would take this opportunity to file a complaint.

His change of attitude was as quick as turning the page of a book.

If this was not fast enough, then immediately after, the assistant watched helplessly as he changed from “smiling” to “terrified” and then to “ashen” after listening to the call.

In the end, it directly became “mourning for deceased parents.”

Those who were unaware might think that Han Ningyu had received news of his benefactor’s death.

It took Han Ningyu a long time to recover his voice, and then he said tremblingly: “So, so Xia Xingchi is……?!”

T/N: I’ll have the next chapter up quickly since this one is so short!

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[1] The husband-watching stone is a rock formation on Beishan Mountain that resembles a woman with a child on her back, watching for the moment her husband comes home. There is a whole legend based on it. ⮐

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Chapter Nine << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eleven

Seeing him coughing like this, Xia Xingchi couldn’t help being alarmed. His mind, dazzled by the huge sum of money, didn’t point himself out as the culprit at all.

In order to prevent his benefactor from accidentally dying on his first day on the job, he quickly got up and patted Li Chengyuan gently.

Meanwhile, he thought to himself, this person’s body is so precious and fragile, he needs to be taken care of carefully so that he can live longer.

Li Chengyuan covered his mouth with one hand and pushed him away with the other.

He didn’t expect Xia Xingchi to be so flexible. He was obviously terrified of him before, but now, for the sake of money, he could call him husband casually.

After coughing for a long time, he finally calmed down and said with an unnatural expression on his face: “Just call me by my name.”

Xia Xingchi noticed that he seemed unhappy, so he resolutely grabbed the shiny golden bank card and put it away before he could change his mind.

After so much excitement, Xia Xingchi finally remembered to ask: “Mr – Li Chengyuan, may I ask why me?”

This pie that fell from the sky was too big, and the poisonous ones should not be eaten.

“I needed a legal partner and you just showed up.”

As Li Chengyuan spoke, Summer finally managed to jump on top of him.

This time he didn’t drive it away. He just absent-mindedly touched its head, and it immediately started up a happy purr, like a small engine.

Xia Xingchi tilted his head. If you need a legal partner, you can marry casually regardless of gender?

This method of resolving a lifelong matter seemed a bit too unreasonable.

But remembering that Li Chengyuan only had half a year to live, he felt that it would be better to be casual.

Otherwise, if he really fell in love with someone, how sad would his lover be when he died?

This idea finally convinced Xia Xingchi, and he no longer had any doubts about this pie from the sky. He even felt that he was just right for this job.

Just as he was thinking happily, he heard Li Chengyuan say: “Come here.”

Xia Xingchi didn’t know what he wanted, so he got up obediently and walked around the table to stop in front of him.

He couldn’t help but silently look down, and saw Li Chengyuan’s slender fingers with well-articulated joints lightly resting on Summer’s flawless pure white fur, caressing it casually.

Xia Xingchi looked more and more greedily, and saw Li Chengyuan lift his chin slightly: “Touch it.”

 — Huh? He knows I keep thinking about his cat? It’s so obvious?

But most importantly, he could finally stroke the big fluffy tail of the cat of his dreams!

With Li Chengyuan around, it was a rare moment when Summer’s fur didn’t puff up. It squinted its eyes in enjoyment on its master’s lap, letting Xia Xingchi’s fingers stroke its soft, fluffy fur.

Even grasping the tip of its tail lightly didn’t annoy it.

Xia Xingchi happily squatted on the ground and petted the cat. He buried his face in the fragrant fluff, raising his head and sighing contentedly.

In just ten minutes, he had received money and the freedom to play with a cat at the same time.

Was this the joy of having a wife, kids, and a warm bed?^[1]

“Right, I —”

The second half of the sentence stuck in his throat.

Because when Xia Xingchi raised his head, Li Chengyuan wore a very strange expression.

He……was smiling.

It was a terrifying smile, and those dark amber eyes were staring at him intently, filled with strong, unknown emotions.

Like the ecstasy and obsession after getting something you had only dreamed of.

Xia Xingchi suddenly shivered, forgetting what he was going to say. He just felt his hair stand on end and immediately sat down on the ground.

— I’ll go, this scary expression is really inappropriate for the crazy villain, please excuse me.

Fortunately, Li Chengyuan also realized the problem. He turned away awkwardly, his expression suddenly restrained as he returned to his usual indifference in an instant.

Xia Xingchi’s heart was still beating wildly, and he wondered what had happened to him.

It can’t be that he’s unhappy because I petted his cat.

Or is he so vicious all the time, and it wasn’t directed at me?

The scene fell into silence for a time.

The two of them didn’t speak to each other, and it just went on like this until Aunt Li happened to knock on the door: “Sir, Young Master, dinner is ready.”

Xia Xingchi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard these words and jumped up to run downstairs.

– – –

Dinner was quite sumptuous. It would have been a month’s worth of meals for him before.

Coincidentally, it seemed to particularly suit his tastes. The delicious smell of braised pork ribs seduced him, and the weird occasion in the study was left behind at last.

Due to poverty, Xia Xingchi had always adhered to the revolving principles of “eat just enough” and “eat everything.” But in fact, there was a clear distinction between what he liked and what he didn’t like.

The dishes in front of Li Chengyuan were very light. He didn’t move his chopsticks immediately, but silently watched Xia Xingchi eating happily.

The person in question was enjoying the freedom of eating meat, and didn’t notice.

Then the phone suddenly vibrated, and he turned to look with a small fish in his mouth. There were two big characters, “Lin Meng,” on the screen.

It was his agent. He was now a low-tier, low-key artist, and Lin Meng was an unpopular little agent on the bench. The two of them were simply like two peas in a pod.

Xia Xingchi chewed the little fish and thought, yes, I am not a vagrant now, I am……ah! It’s over!

He finally remembered what that half sentence he uttered in in the study just now was, before Li Chengyuan’s smile frightened him into forgetfulness —

He had a commercial shoot tonight!

Having only transmigrated for a few days, he was still not familiar with the business, so he completely forgot about his current occupation.

As a flop who had been secretly suppressed by “Popular Idol Xia Yu” before he could get popular, Xia Xingchi had countless anti-fans and black materials.^[2]

As well as the pitiful leftover resources, such as this ad.

Thinking that he was done for, Xia Xingchi quickly answered the phone.

On the other side, Ling Meng pressed: “Xingchi, have you set off yet? Let’s go early today.”

“This is Han Ningyu’s home field, he’s a notorious bully who steps on the weak and is afraid of the powerful. His favorite thing to do is show off in front of the bottom tier artists for a sense of superiority.”

Lin Meng was an agent and an assistant all in one. Clearly very busy, she urged him to leave quickly and then hung up the phone in a rush.

Xia Xingchi freaked out as soon as he glanced at his watch. No wonder she was in a hurry. Let alone getting there ahead of time, it was likely that he would have to examine the circumstances before he took action when he arrived at the shooting location.

Luckily, the original owner was forcibly dragged into the entertainment circle by Xia Yu as a foil character. It had only been half a year, and like himself, he was not very skilled in the business.

Otherwise, it would be more than just forgetting to work, and he might invite even more ridicule.

Xia Xinchi quickly clicked on the rideshare app, praying in his heart that a driver would pick up the order soon.

While typing the location, the screen went blank, and no matter how hard he poked it, there was no response.

This weather-beaten mobile phone with a cracked screen actually went on strike at this critical moment.

Xia Xingchi:……

Why did his unlucky self always open the door to bad fortune?

I was just born unlucky!

Li Chengyuan abruptly said: “Go change your clothes, I’ll drive you there.”

This reminded Xia Xingchi that he was “kidnapped” back from the engagement banquet, and all of his clothes and luggage were at the Xia residence.

At this time, he saw the servants carrying a lot of paper bags in, all of which contained the latest clothes from high-end luxury brands. When he opened them, he found that they were sized just right for him.

It was a gift in his time of need. When Xia Xingchi glanced at Li Chengyuan, the look in his eyes became a little more worshipful.

This was more than a big villain, this was a Doraemon.^[3]

It was actually like the engagement was premeditated. These clothes were ready two days ago.

On the night Xia Xingchi transmigrated, when Li Chengyuan regained consciousness briefly and pushed him down on the bed, he already roughly knew his size.

So Secretary Ye got the opportunity to “go shopping on Imperial orders.”

Under the eyes of the shocked and awed female clerks, she took out Mr. Li’s black card and swiped it to experience the fabled joy of completely booking a place.

It was too late to choose, so Xia Xingchi grabbed a paper bag and rushed to his room. Before closing the door, he advised: “You eat your meal, just lend me your phone and I’ll take a taxi.”

Taxi drivers didn’t even pass by this mansion, and encountering one randomly on the road would be hopeless.

Unexpectedly, when Xia Xingchi ran out of the room like a rabbit, Li Chengyuan was also completely dressed.

But he hadn’t even taken a bite of the food on the dining room table.

Xia Xingchi hesitated: “Wait, you haven’t eaten yet……”

He had a delicate, fragile glass stomach. If he didn’t eat any dinner, he would probably fall ill that night.

Li Chengyuan turned a deaf ear to this. He picked up the car keys and walked to the villa’s elevator, obviously not to be argued with.

Xia Xingchi had no choice but to obediently shut up, and followed him all the way downstairs, visiting for the first time the underground garage that was comparable to a top auto show.

Likely because he didn’t bring a driver along, instead of the standard Rolls-Royce, he chose a rather cool silver-gray sports car.

He didn’t recognize the car logo, but Xia Xingchi guessed that it must be very expensive.

– – –

“Ancestor, ah, you are finally here! I was really afraid you wouldn’t be able to get a taxi at this point” Lin Meng hurriedly pushed Xia Xingchi to the dressing room.

The company didn’t provide him with a complementary car, and the original owner was too poor to buy a vehicle.

Lin Meng, as the dismal, unpopular agent, was no match for Xia Xingchi’s misery.

In the makeup mirror, Xia Xingchi’s rather attractive countenance was reflected. He had a defined look, with bright and delicate features, but didn’t show the slightest femininity. It only made people feel that the youth was full of warmth and vigor.

Lin Meng watched from the side, and the more she watched, the more amazed she became.

It took her a while to realize —

Good-looking was good-looking, but it seemed……that it wasn’t like this before?

But no matter how carefully she thought about Xia Xingchi’s original appearance, or looked back through photos and videos, the three characters “Xia Xingchi” always corresponded to this face.

There were just silent and mysterious changes that no one could detect.

Several people entered the dressing room one after another.

They were all young male artists who conformed to the current aesthetics, but were also unknown and had extremely low social status.

This was an advertisement for a new brand of massage chairs. Because there was no money to hire high-value celebrities, they had to get together seven Calabash Brothers^[4] and try to save grandpa together.

The only well-known artist was “Han Ningyu,” whom Lin Meng had mentioned earlier on the phone.

Because Xia Xingchi looked so good, the makeup was done quickly and without much effort on the part of the makeup artist.

Lin Meng looked out of the corner of her eye and happened to see something glittering on his middle finger.

Taking a closer look, she found that it was a blindingly big pigeon egg diamond surrounded by more diamonds, and she quickly reached out to tap his finger: 

“Quickly take it off. You can’t wear this ambiguous style, it will be interpreted as a love affair or engagement ring……and since it’s fake, it will be easy to draw ridicule.”

With such a large size, it would be worth several million, but how could Xia Xingchi have that kind of money?

Xia Xingchi was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly remembered this major life event and that Sister Lin Meng didn’t know he was engaged.

As a result, various questions arose in succession:

Can an artist get engaged and get married?

How is the content of the contract written, will it be a breach of contract?

And the most concerning issue for a little money-grubber – whether there would be fines.

Forget it, it’s not really love anyway.

Xia Xingchi shook his head. Li Chenyuan would be gone within a year at most, and it would be better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

He obediently took off the ring. Lin Meng nodded, and then went out again in a rush.

– – –

Although there were more and more people in the dressing room, they didn’t converse much. This was likely due to unfamiliarity, and that it would be embarrassing not to recognize each other since they all shared the occupation of “artist.”

The atmosphere was tranquil until the door opened forcefully without warning!

The other party walked in loudly, as if carried by the wind.

Baffled, Xia Xingchi raised his head to look with disdain, and saw a very conspicuous man walk in, wearing sunglasses at night.

Followed by two assistants, he stood out from the crowd among the lonely low-tier artists.

“Brother Sunglasses” frowned and looked around for a moment, then asked contemptuously then and there: 

“There aren’t even separate dressing rooms here? Do you expect me to squeeze in with them?”

He also specially emphasized “them,” full of superiority.

Xia Xingchi immediately understood. It seemed that this was the protagonist of today’s advertisement, Han Ningyu.

The atmosphere was silent. Of course, there was no one who wasn’t irritated at having someone show off in front of them.

But no one refuted him. Some kept silent, but some even said hello to “Brother Han,” and others had no choice but to politely follow suit.

Everyone here without exception had very little backing, otherwise they wouldn’t be so conflicted.

Therefore, even if Han Ningyu was not a big figure, no one wanted to confront him head-on.

“Brother Han, your separate dressing room is next door.” A staff member of the ad group quickly greeted him with a smile. “I’ll take you there right away.”

The person who spoke was polite, but was also speechless in his heart: How had such large signage gone unnoticed?

It was nothing more than the fact that the pheasant couldn’t wait to show off his prestige after turning into a phoenix. For the sake of his new backer, everyone had to endure it.

Han Ningyu looked at everyone’s flattering expressions through his sunglasses, and was immediately very satisfied.

But as he glanced around, he frowned once more —

In the corner, a young man dressed head-to-toe in luxury brand clothes not only did not look at him, but kept his head down as he fiddled with a ring and a length of string.

Han Ningyu’s eyes were suddenly unkind, and he stared at Xia Xingchi for a long moment, perhaps hoping to threaten him in this way.

The others couldn’t help turning their heads to look at him.

The embarrassing thing was that Xia Xingchi didn’t respond by the time Han Ningyu’s eyes were sore, as if he didn’t intend to acknowledge him at all.

Although it was harmless, it was extremely insulting.

Therefore, Han Ningyu was incredibly annoyed when he left and closed the door in a grandiose manner, as if he intended to shatter the windowpane.

The earth-shattering sound of the door closing echoed for a long moment, and someone couldn’t help but say angrily: “Fuck! He has a lot of nerve!”

“I heard that Han Ningyu has a new benefactor. His resources are really good now, and he’s made a lot of money!”

Fully absorbed in his work, for fear that his hand would slip and drop the pigeon egg diamond, little money-grubber Xia finally finished his project.

Hearing the word “money,” the radar antenna on the top of his head immediately stood up, wanting to learn how to make more money in this circle.

“Benefactor? Seeing that he’s such a pompous ass, who is the benefactor?”

“I don’t know, but they must be rich – I was just downstairs and saw a Shelby!”

Xia Xingchi tilted his head, wondering what a Shelby was.

He heard someone exclaim: “Oh my god, that top supercar with a starting price of at least 50 million? I’ve never seen one with my own eyes!”

“The chauffeur certainly wouldn’t drive this car, so was it his benefactor who personally sent him here? He’s really favored, ah, no wonder Han Ningyu dared to become like this.”

The more Xia Xingchi listened, the more astounded he became. The values of a small money-grubber were shattered several times in one day by the power of money. It turned out that in life, there was a luxury car worth tens of millions?

Was it made of gold? This must not be on offer at an auto show. Was the owner really willing to drive it?

In any case, Han Ningyu was truly blessed. Making money and doing whatever he pleased, where could such a benefactor be found?

One of them looked out the window, and then took a breath: “Is that the one you’re talking about? His benefactor didn’t leave, but is actually waiting downstairs.”

Everyone had nothing to do, so they all leaned toward the window and looked out.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi also raised his head curiously.

In the vast night, a rather conspicuous silver-gray sports car was parked in the dark, and it couldn’t be more familiar.

Xia Xingchi: ……!!!

Were they talking about Li Chengyuan?!

This person who had been eating melons with relish as he stayed out of the matter was stunned, and the non-existent melons were dropped to the ground in fright.

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[1] Having “a wife, kids, and a warm bed” is an idiom for “living a good and simple life.” ⮐

[2] “Black material” is kompromat/dirt/skeletons in the closet. ⮐

[3] Doraemon is an old Japanese manga series where the titular character is a robotic blue cat. The context here is that Doraemon comes from the future and uses various future tools to help a family in their time of need. ⮐

[4] The Calabash Brothers is a popular 80’s animated show that featured seven brothers who successively went to rescue their grandfather from a monster and were captured. They won in the end, of course. ⮐

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Chapter Eight << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ten

Yan Mingting saw the shock on his face that he tried his best to hide, and knew that he was right.

A courtesy name should have been chosen by his parents, elders, or perhaps His Holiness. But Zhao Yelan’s parents had died in his early years, and Zhao Xuan was the most likely to choose the courtesy name for him.

At first, when he heard the word “Mengting” from Zhao Xuan’s mouth, there was an indescribable familiarity, but after careful inspection, he noticed that Zhao Yelan’s reaction to this was not within the norm. It seemed that he was caught off guard when he heard this name, and his expression changed unexpectedly.

Later at the hunting grounds, he had asked the other party why Zhao Xuan had called him Mengting. 

Zhao Yelan said it was a courtesy name.

He called him that all the way, but every time he said it, Zhao Yelan was very annoyed. It wasn’t until they returned and he called “Mengting” in front of Housekeeper Qin that Zhao Yelan became furious, as if he didn’t want this name mentioned in front of outsiders.

So he didn’t speak it in front of others anymore, and only occasionally called him Mengting when they were alone together, just for fun between the two of them.

His name had been changed since childhood, and even though he became a noble official, there was no ancestral hall in Zhao Mansion to honor his ancestors……he had a vague guess, but he didn’t want to delve into how many stories were hidden behind the name Zhao Mengting.

He firmly believed that human nature was inherently good. If Zhao Yelan could be driven into the abyss step by step, the story behind it must be heart-wrenching. He didn’t want to investigate secretly, so as not to uncover that bloody scar again. The other party couldn’t bear it, and he may not be able to face it calmly.

As soon as the two of them returned to the General’s Mansion, they saw Housekeeper Qin and Gao Tan squatting on the steps, arguing endlessly.

Housekeeper Qin: “Why did Zhao-daren go to the brothel? It’s too outrageous, can’t he stay in the mansion honestly?”

“The brothel smells fragrant and savory, my lord will naturally like it.”

“You sure know how to talk to adults, kid, do you know what that place is?!”

“Of course I know, but I’m afraid you don’t. You’re too old to go.”

“Who are you looking down on! Who wasn’t powerful when he was young?! Back when I was messing around with girls, you didn’t even know how to breastfeed!”

“Old is old, I only hear boasting.”

“Believe it! I could tell my wife to have a third child now, how about you!”

“Of course I can’t, I don’t like your wife, I don’t want her to have my baby.”

“How can this be so!” Housekeeper Qin was so angry that his beard puffed up. He stood up to beat him but knew that he couldn’t, so he just postured and waited for him to admit his mistake.

At this time, someone grabbed his arm and he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his head to see that it was the General, and quickly said to Gao Tan: “For the sake of the General, I won’t fight with you, brat!”

Xiao Gao ignored him, stepping forward to say aggrievedly: “My lord, you are back. You didn’t take me with you when you went out today, am I still your favorite Xiao Gao?”

The veins on Yan Mingting’s forehead twitched, and he let go of Housekeeper Qin’s arm: “Aren’t you going to beat him up? Go do it.”

“Ah, this……” Housekeeper Qin looked at him in shame. How could he beat him, ah!

Yan Mingting dragged Zhao Yelan back to the room, leaving the youth and the elder looking at each other.

Housekeeper Qin was in a dilemma for a moment. When he saw someone passing by, he hurriedly asked the person to grab his arm in a whisper, and shouted: “Xiao Gao, if someone hadn’t stopped me, today I would show you the meaning of ‘old but still vigorous.’ There is no one I dare not face!”

Zhao Yelan heard the two people’s bickering and simply closed the window and let them mess around.

Yan Mingting waited for a while and seeing that he had no intention of talking about today’s events, he had no choice but to order someone to boil water. He guessed that he would definitely want to wash away the filth, but the clothes……

“Whose clothes are you wearing?” Yan Mingting had never seen him wear this outfit. He had clearly changed it, but where? The brothel? Humph!

“I don’t know,” Zhao Yelan replied truthfully. “This is a spare from the brothel, it should be new.”

Ah!

Yan Mingting gave a bitter smile: “Spares from the brothel – doesn’t it usually bother you for others to touch your clothes? How can you wear spares from the brothel?”

“……Otherwise, do you think it would be more appropriate for me to come out covered in blood?”

Yan Mingting choked, and went to the kitchen to speed up the process of heating the water. He paced over and pulled away the servants in front of the stove, sat down by himself, picked up the firewood, and tossed it in.

Moments later, a cloud of smoke rose from the kitchen.

“Is it on fire?!” Housekeeper Qin detected the smell of smoke from a long distance away and hurried to the kitchen.

Zhao Yelan also rushed over when he heard this, and just outside the kitchen window, he saw servants pulling Yan Mingting out and coaxing him: “General, you can just stay in the room and wait, ba. The hot water will be ready soon, no matter how urgent it is, it can’t be rushed, ah. That isn’t how firewood is burned, you’ll set the General’s Mansion on fire.”

Yan Mingting looked back at them in embarrassment as they waved away the smoke. Some got into his throat and he coughed uncontrollably. At this moment, a pair of white jade boots appeared in front of him. He froze for a moment, then looked up at Zhao Yelan.

Zhao Yelan held out a brocade handkerchief. He awkwardly refused to take it, thinking that it would be over after a couple of coughs, and that there was no need to bother covering his mouth and nose.

Unexpectedly, the other party wiped his face.

He looked at him in surprise, and then saw that the piece of white fabric was stained black.

Yan Mingting’s expression was as dark as the bottom of a pot. The genuine bottom of a pot.

He immediately rushed to the nearby well and looked at himself in the moonlight. Somehow ash had smeared on his face, which really made his handsome appearance ugly!

Zhao Yelan was unable to restrain his smile: “Can you wipe it properly now?”

Yan Mingting fetched a basin of water and set it aside. He was just about to accept the handkerchief, but withdrew his hand and simply wrote himself off as hopeless and acted recklessly: “You wipe it for me.”

“Who is willing to spoil you?”

Yan Mingting tilted his face towards him, making it clear that he wanted him to wipe it: “Mengting, wipe it……Mengting!”

Zhao Yelan looked around and saw that everyone was busy in the kitchen and no one had noticed, so he gritted his teeth and crouched down to wet the handkerchief, then wiped his face viciously: “Is this what you said you wouldn’t investigate?”

“What’s the matter? I only called you, and that’s not enough? You are too domineering.” Yan Mingting dangled his legs, pleased with himself.

“I’m not as bad as you, scoundrel.”

After wiping the cold well water on his face from side to side, Yan Minting smiled at him, refreshed.

As soon as Housekeeper Qin came out after rescuing the kitchen, he saw the two of them flirting with each other by the well. He couldn’t understand, why did Zhao-daren leave the General at home to go look for wild flowers, ah? Was it really just for tea?

At night, Zhao Yelan lay on the bed with his eyes open in the dark, thinking about the day he would leave and what he would do. He suddenly heard Yan Mingting ask: “When you killed that man today, there was a Madam in the house.”

“Yes?”

“She looked pretty.”

“En.”

“She wasn’t frightened by you?” Yan Mingting asked tentatively, “Or, did you actually know each other a long time ago?”

It was only after Yan Mingting walked out of the brothel that he realized something was wrong. It was such a big brothel and the door was closed tightly, but he was able to enter with ease, as if they were expecting him. And Zhao Yelan, in front of a woman, on her territory, executed a person in such a slow manner. That woman’s expression did not change, as if she didn’t care at all. There was definitely a problem.

Zhao Yelan thought for a moment. Knowing that it was impossible to hide it, he simply confessed: “Yes, I know her.”

“How do you know each other?” Yan Mingting asked curiously. It couldn’t be because he was a regular customer could it?

Zhao Yelan didn’t answer. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, and fortunately Yan Mingting didn’t ask any more questions.

Early the next morning, Li Yucheng came to visit and waited in the foyer for a while. Seeing Zhao Yelan coming out in his official uniform, he hurriedly stood up and asked: “Zhao-xiong, I was drunk yesterday, and I only realized when I woke up that Yan Mingting came to the brothel to look for you. Are you alright?”

“Is there something I can do for you?” Zhao Yelan walked toward the gate.

“Okay, forget it, then can you help this younger brother, ah?”

“That girl is not a good match for you, and you are not the only one waiting to redeem her. She is not absolutely loyal to you, so you should give up as soon as possible so as not to cause trouble. You can rest assured and wait for your father to arrange a marriage for you. Your father is the best person in the world to you.” After Zhao Yelan finished speaking, he got into the sedan chair and disappeared down the street.

Li Yucheng was stunned for a while, and then left in disappointment. He heard someone calling his name, and when he looked back, it was Yan Mingting returning from morning court.

“What are you doing sneaking around here?” Yan Mingting asked.

“Who’s sneaking around……” Li Yucheng muttered, about to run, but the other party grabbed him and pulled him over.

“Can you live in peace for two days, boy? You either gamble or whore all day long, are you deliberately trying to anger your father?” On the surface, Yan Mingting was teaching him a lesson for Li Jingyu, but in fact his teeth itched with hatred for this kid who tried to take Zhao Yelan to brothels several times. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he simply boxed him twice with his fist.

“Otherwise what can I do? Wuwuwuwu, don’t hit.” Li Yucheng put his head in his hands. “My father never let me learn scholarly arts, and I’m not allowed to join the army. I also want to do something to make him happy!”

Yan Mingting understood Li Jinyu’s desire to protect him, but he did not agree with excessive safeguarding. No father would like his child to endure hardships, but some hardships must be experienced.

When people grew up, it was easy to go astray without something serious to do. Li Jinyu could protect him for a while, but he could not protect him forever.

Yan Mingting said: “Aren’t you good at eating, drinking, and having fun all day long? You should have some understanding of these trades, how about doing some business?”

“Ah, business……my father is the Prime Minister, if I become a merchant, will I hurt his credibility?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Yan Mingting patted his head hard: “Have you hurt his credibility less? If you don’t want to endure hardship, just say you don’t want to endure hardship. Make whatever excuses you want and get out of my way.”

Li Yucheng held his head and stepped aside. Seeing him enter the mansion, he at once stepped forward and stood at the gate to shout: “Yan Mingting, I’m sorry! I wronged you before, and I will seriously consider your suggestion!”

Yan Mingting turned his head and saw that he had run away: “Brat.”

In the Imperial Academy, Wang Guisheng was clearly being isolated. Only Ruan Xian occasionally took the time to converse with him, and he worked alone most of the time. When asking others for the classics he needed, their answers were exceedingly perfunctory.

After a few days, he was somewhat frustrated, so he came to a corner of the pavilion and sighed alone with a mixture of depression and loss. He was very disheartened by the current situation.

At this time, he saw that Zhao Yelan was alone by the window under the eaves not far away, bending over to pick up a brush and write something.

He got up and walked to the window, standing in place. Only then did he realize that he was drawing a map of the Xuan Dynasty. He was a little puzzled, but the other party spoke first: “What? Are you feeling wronged?”

“I don’t think I was wrong, obviously they are the ones who are too pedantic. Why should they refuse to face their own shortcomings?”

“This is the Imperial Academy. Just like you, they all came from a scholarly background. If you have pride, so do they. You think they are wrong and they also think you are wrong, why do you persist in the end? What is in it for you?”

“But if you blind your eyes, you will only stagnate and not think about making progress. If we don’t do practical things for the people, what meaning is there in being an official?”

“But you are only sixth-rank, a junior who has just entered the officialdom and is now trying to correct their shortcomings. Isn’t this too aggressive? Why should they listen to you, a little brat? You have no power over them, and no real ability to convince them. Can you carry out your so-called official morality just by opening your mouth?” Zhao Yelan didn’t want to talk too much with him, but needed to impress upon him the dangers of officialdom so that he would understand the truth of rigidity and change. “If you still want to blame others, just find a cool patch of shade and stay there, don’t bother me.”

Wang Guisheng pursed his lips and said after a long moment: “Then what do you think I should do?”

“Go and learn worldly wisdom from him, ba.” Zhao Yelan raised his chin in a certain direction.

Wang Guisheng looked over and saw that Ruan Xian was listening to the lectures of those old scholars. Whatever he said caused those old pedants to stroke their beards and smile, and then take the initiative to bring up some knowledge.

Zhao Yelan saw that he was finally willing to put down his pride and go to Ruan Xian for advice, and let out a sigh.

Of these two, one was tactful but lacked real talent and learning, so he placed the idea of prosperity on the people around him, urging everyone on so that there was a greater chance of ascending to the top together.

The other was too prideful and upright. He was ambitious and talented, but too solitary. One could not prosper in officialdom based solely on one’s own integrity.

The two of them were good partners who could learn from each other. If they could make use of their strengths and avoid their weaknesses, they would also be able to assist the Emperor in the future and help solve the big mess left behind by the previous Emperor.

After leaving the government office, he took his purse and made purchases all the way from the street to the end of the alley. Minji’s stuffed steamed buns, Huichunlou’s drunken shrimp, Jinxuan’s silk, street trinkets……he accidentally bought too much.

After returning to the mansion, he found a few servants to move things from the sedan chair.

“My lord, why did you suddenly buy so many things, ah?” Housekeeper Qin saw that there were all sorts of purchases, and also helped to carry them.

“Be careful.” The things in the bag fell, and Zhao Yelan picked them up. They happened to be two tanghulu that he had casually purchased on the street.

Housekeeper Qin turned back again, saw the tanghulu in his hand, and suddenly realized: “I see. My lord, this is a birthday gift for the General, right?”

Zhao Yelan paused: “Birthday?”

“Yes, ah, it will be the General’s birthday in six days.”

Zhao Yelan looked down at the tanghulu, clenched his fingers, and frowned slightly – would it be inauspicious to “die” right before his birthday?

Forget it, it wouldn’t be too late to wait these few days and “leave” after Yan Mingting’s birthday.

“Oh! General, will……you?” Housekeeper Qin seemed to have seen Yan Mingting appear at the gate just now, but he vanished in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Yelan stared at the gate together with him and said: “You must have the blurred vision of the elderly, ba.”

At the corner outside the gate, He Cuizhang whispered: “General, why are we hiding?”

“Nonsense, didn’t you hear what they said about birthday gifts?” Yan Mingting rubbed his hands, standing on tiptoe to look into the courtyard at the people coming in and out. “More likely than not, those are all congratulatory gifts prepared by Zhao Yelan. If I go out now, won’t I destroy his carefully prepared surprise?”

“It makes sense……let me see what he has prepared?” He Cuizhang also stood on tiptoe to look into the courtyard, and reported in a whisper: “He has two tanghulu in hand!”

Of course!

It absolutely must be a congratulatory gift for him. Yan Mingting inwardly made a fist.

He Cuizhang: “Oh! Xiao Gao asked for one.”

Damn Xiao Gao! ! 

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Chapter Forty-Three <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Five

In the brothel, the red gauze tent was full of fragrance.

Because it was the afternoon, it was not as noisy as it was at night. Most of the girls were still resting, and only a few maids and the Madam poured wine for the two at the table.

“Li-gonzi is so powerful that he even brought someone like Zhao-daren here,” the Madam said with a smile.

“That’s right, my popularity is not just average.” Li Yucheng laughed loudly. Seeing that she was about to pour wine for Zhao Yelan, he reached out and stopped her. “Zhao-xiong doesn’t drink wine, go and fetch a cup of tea.”

“Don’t worry, I have a very good Mingqian Longjing here, which is only used for entertaining distinguished guests.” The Madam had already changed the kettle. She smiled coquettishly at him, and reached out to touch Li Yucheng’s face, which made him giggle non-stop. If she didn’t have the scar on her face, her charm could be considered stunning.

Zhao Yelan turned his eyes away and simply didn’t look.

Seeing this, Li Yucheng swiftly corrected his posture. Instead of joking with the Madam, he said seriously: “Are the doors closed?”

“Naturally, since Li-gongzi has already reserved the venue, I have done so for you. There will not be a third guest coming in.” The Madam smiled.

“Then can we ask Lady Miaoyin to come up now?” Li Yucheng asked eagerly.

“Wait a moment, she is dressing. Don’t worry, young master.” The Madam lit incense in the censer on the table, and a wisp of white smoke drifted out from the crack, overflowing with fragrance after a while.

“The fragrance of Hongxiu House is really varied. Don’t you love sachets? You can ask them where they get so many strange fragrances. There are always seasonal ones throughout the year, no wonder the business here is getting better and better.” Li Yucheng continued introducing the benefits of brothels to Zhao Yelan, as if he came here for the incense and pastries. “Don’t scholars and sophisticated guests like a few tunes with their wine? This Hongxiu House has everything you could want, auspicious days, good wine, and beautiful songs. This is one of the greatest joys in life!”

Zhao Yelan saw that he had only had a couple of sips, and drank the tea by himself. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the Madam passing by downstairs. Coincidentally, the other party looked up and their eyes met. The Madam smiled and said: “Zhao-daren, don’t worry. The person you want has already arrived.”

Li Yucheng looked down excitedly and saw the woman following behind her. She walked up slowly while holding a pipa, opened the bead curtain, and saluted whole-heartedly: “Li-gongzi is safe and well.”

“Safe and well, safe and well.” Li Yucheng’s face was full of joy, and he stepped forward to hold her hand. “A-Chang, this is Zhao-daren. Quickly sing a tune for him to listen to, and maybe he will intercede for me to marry you back…..”

A-Chang unobtrusively pulled out her hand and looked at Zhao Yelan, saying with a nod: “This one will show her inadequacy.”

“Not inadequate, not inadequate!” Li Yucheng said.

Zhao Yelan had truly used up his patience to come and listen to music with this fellow, and pushed the wine glass in front of him: “Can you please shut up!”

A-Chang pursed her lips and snickered. Li Yucheng was stunned, and immediately drank three cups. The sound of the pipa was mournful. The lingering sorrow, coupled with A-Chang’s ethereal voice, complemented each other just right. As she sang emotionally, Li Yucheng actually cried, drinking his wine silently.

Zhao Yelan: “……” Revolting.

After one song, Li Yucheng wanted to hear it again. A-Chang got up and drank a cup of wine with him, then continued to play and sing. As Li Yucheng listened, he felt that the alcohol was coming on. His head became dizzy, and he fell on the table with a bang.

The sound of the pipa did not stop, and when A-Chang finished singing the song, only then did she carefully put away the pipa, walk to the table, and see if he was breathing. She called out: “Li-gongzi, wake up.”

“He won’t be able to wake up for more than two hours, so take him down.” The Madam opened the bead curtain and walked inside. A few maids behind her carried him out and to a side room.

“Yes.” A-Chang stepped back slowly and went to guard Li Yucheng’s room.

There were only two people left in the room. The Madam took up the jug and poured the wine mixed with sleeping medicine on the ground. Then she poured a cup of tea from the tea kettle and smiled: “I thought you wouldn’t be able to drink my tea this year.”

“If I hadn’t come in person, would you still have to hide this tea for the next year?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“How can this be? It would be a waste if it stayed with me. I was planning to send it to you in a few days, but I didn’t expect you to come here of your own initiative. Has everything been arranged outside?”

“En, thanks to this kid, I’m afraid there are rumors that I was dragged along to become a brothel patron by Li Yucheng.” Zhao Yelan sneered. 

She frowned, fumbled the teacup with her fingers, and smiled peculiarly: “Become a brothel patron……you are not afraid of what other people see or say. Aren’t you afraid of General Yan?”

Zhao Yelan hesitated slightly: “Afraid of him doing what?”

“Afraid that he will become furious and flatten my little brothel. You’re not distressed, but I am. Aren’t you afraid that he will overturn a jar of vinegar, ah? Last time, he carried you back from this brothel in front of everyone. This time, I am not sure how to get you back if you are imprisoned for life……”

“Gu Niaoniao!” Zhao Yelan set his teacup down on the table heavily.

“Aiyo, he’s getting angry from embarrassment.” Gu Niaoniao giggled behind a handkerchief.

“Stop messing around and get down to business.”

“It’s rare to get together and reminisce about the old days. You really have a heart like iron~”

“Is that what you call reminiscing about the past?”

Gu Niaoniao grinned, then suppressed the smile on her lips and said seriously: “The cell boss is in the cellar now. What do you want to do with him?”

Zhao Yelan tightened his grip, clutching the teacup with bulging veins: “Are you sure you didn’t identify the wrong person?”

“No mistake, I would recognize him even if he turned to ashes,” Gu Niaoniao said in a dark voice.

Zhao Yelan stood up and suddenly heard the sounds of soldiers’ horseshoes outside. He walked to the window, glanced out, and saw that they had returned from the training grounds. Looking at the sky again, Yan Mingting should have also already left the training grounds.

“Bring that person here.”

Gu Niaoniao left for a while, and when she returned, the maids behind her dragged in a tall, burly man. After throwing him down, they were sent to guard the gate.

“Wuwuwu –!”

The man was filthy, bound with his arms tied behind his body and a rope looped around his neck. His mouth was stuffed with a dirty cloth, and he hadn’t eaten in two days. The cloth strip covering his face was abruptly torn away, and his pupils shrank before adapting to the bright light. When he opened his eyes, he saw a young, handsome man with a gloomy expression, who seemed as if he wanted to eat him alive, but he couldn’t remember when he would have provoked such a person.

“Wuwu –”

Zhao Yelan glanced at Gu Niaoniao, and she pulled the cloth bundle from his mouth.

“Are you wondering who we are?” Zhao Yelan crouched down and looked at him levelly.

The man instinctively recoiled, nodded, and was about to speak, when a reflected light suddenly lit up before his eyes as a sharp dagger was pressed against his mouth.

“But I don’t want to hear your voice. You just need to nod and shake your head, understand?”

“You……” As soon as the man made a sound, he felt the knife dig in a little bit. Blood oozed from his lips and he nodded in terror.

“Have you ever served as the head of a prison?”

The man continued to nod, staring anxiously at the knife in front of him, but he didn’t dare to nod too hard for fear of poking his nose onto the blade.

Zhao Yelan looked at him in disgust for a moment, then got up and asked Gu Niaoniao for a jar of salt.

“Who are you? What are you going to do!” The man finally had a chance to catch his breath, and ask a few questions. “I have no grievances nor enmities with you, why did you tie me up?”

“Who let you talk?” Zhao Yelan looked back at him with dark eyes and slowly wiped the salt on the blade. Then he walked in front of him and said with a voice like a demon crawling out of hell, “Listen well, if you dare to make a sound in the future, I will make another cut. The harder you scream, the more I will make you hurt.”

The man stared at him and the knife in his hand, as if guessing what he intended to do. With sweat dripping down his face, he fell headlong onto the ground and crawled forward to flee. In the next moment, his waist was stepped on by a woman’s foot. Then there was a sudden pain as his hamstring was severed. The wound was bloody and stained with salt, excruciatingly painful.

“Ah ah ah ah ah!” The man cried out in agony.

“Hush.” Zhao Yelan comforted him softly. “Didn’t I tell you to keep quiet? Why are you disobedient?”

The man’s forehead was bulging with blue veins as he watched the other stop in front of him again. Another tendon was cut.

The man still couldn’t hold back, and screamed sharply, writhing on the ground.

Zhao Yelan’s ears hurt from hearing this, and he said: “If you scream again, I still have other ways to play with you. Skinning, cooking, sticking with bamboo sticks, or quartering the body? Which do you prefer?”

The cell boss cowered suddenly, forgetting the pain for a moment and only looking at him with tear-filled eyes.

“You, fellow, don’t you enjoy using the death of a thousand cuts on people the most?” The corner of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched, and he plunged the knife into his chest without hitting the vitals. The knife was covered in salt, and the pain brought him to within an inch of his life.

The man didn’t dare scream anymore. He clenched his mouth shut and endured it. The veins on his forehead were nearly popping out, and his entire body was covered in sweat.

“I can still hear you, ah.” 

After an incense stick of time, there was a sudden knock on the door downstairs: “Zhao Yelan, Zhao Yelan, are you in there!”

“Open the door?” Gu Niaoniao glanced at Zhao Yelan, and he nodded.

The door opened, Yan Mingting ran in two or three steps, and the door closed again. He looked around. The whole building was empty, which was very strange, and he subconsciously searched for Zhao Yelan’s figure. Then muffled groans sounded from upstairs, and he dashed up quickly, opened the beaded curtain, and saw Zhao Yelan holding a short knife. A vast amount of blood stained his sleeves and robes, and there were a few drops of blood on his fair cheeks, extremely bewitching.

A dying man lay on the ground, riddled with stab wounds, blood and flesh flung everywhere. It seemed as if he couldn’t feel the pain, breathing in vain as he looked at the ceiling blankly.

“What are you doing?!” Yan Mingting took a few steps forward, only to see the large bloodstains obscured by the table. Some had dried up, and new ones covered the old. Zhao Yelan stepped on these bloodstains and smiled faintly.

He was clearly smiling, but Yan Mingting only felt that the environment was very cold, so he stretched out his hand to grab his wrist: “Come back with me.”

“Let go!” Zhao Yelan withdrew his hand, pointing the knife at him. The corner of his mouth lifted up. “Don’t you always say my knives are useless? Let’s see if it works today.”

After saying this, he crouched down and slashed the prisoner’s leg again. The man on the ground twitched twice and passed out once more.

Zhao Yelan splashed the tea on the table into his face: “Don’t play dead, wake up for me.”

“Zhao Yelan, enough is enough.” Yan Mingting reached out to stop his knife, looking at him with heavy eyes. “It’s getting late, follow me back.”

Zhao Yelan looked at him with a complicated expression, and then his eyes turned hard: “Leave, you are in my way.”

“Come back with me!”

The two were in a deadlock. Zhao Yelan said: “Yan Mingting, we are not the same kind of people after all. You go back to your high road.”^[1]

Yan Mingting took a deep breath as he was pushed aside by him. Then the other continued to torture the cell boss.

Yan Mingting took one last look at his back, turned around, and strode away.

As soon as the door opened and closed, the silence returned and Zhao Yelan paused, turning to look at the closed door downstairs. The knife fell to the ground weakly and was picked up by Gu Niaoniao.

“You……I really don’t know what to say about you. You’ve been tossing around for so long just waiting for him to come. Do you care about him or not?” As Gu Niaoniao spoke, she slit the cell boss’s neck and spit on a corpse a few times. It seemed that she had not vented her anger, so she stabbed the knife into his heart. Seeing that his breathing had stopped completely, her eyes suddenly turned red as tears welled up in them.

After a while, she wiped away her tears, looked upward with a sigh, and said weakly: “It’s over. It’s finally over……”

Zhao Yelan was a little fatigued. He stood up slowly and sat to the side, then picked up the teapot to pour a cup of tea, but it was empty. He threw it aside so hard that it shattered into a pile of porcelain when it hit a pillar.

Gu Niaoniao wiped her face, fixed her makeup, and ordered someone to tidy up the room. Then she took the hairpin from her hair to the dark case next to the porcelain, inserted it into a crack, and a secret door slowly opened.

“Let’s go get the medicine, ba,” Gu Niaoniao said.

Zhao Yelan regained his composure and followed.

Ten years ago, relying on Zhao Yelan, Gu Niaoniao went from a servant doing odd jobs to the new owner of Hongxiu House, and she procured news for him while doing business. The brothel was a mixed bag of crooks mixed in with the honest folk, and there were many high-ranking guests, including officials. In this way, it was easy to grasp the handles of many people in the court. There were also merchants and strange people traveling from north to south, and Gu Niaoniao was in communication with a group of Westerners as well. She learned that there was a sort of false death medicine in the Western Regions. After taking it, a person would appear to be dead, without breath or feeling, and would not revive until seven days later.

“This medicine is not completely safe. It is very potent, and after taking it, the memory will gradually decline and the mind will not be as good as it was before. In short, there is a chance you will become a fool,” Gu Niaoniao said, pretending to be at ease. She opened a drawer and took out the box inside, opening it with a step shaker^[2] to reveal a smaller box inside.

This one she opened with a hairpin, and there was yet another small box inside.

“Are you finished?” Zhao Yelan frowned. “What is the point of hiding it in such a way?”

“I just wanted to show off my jewelry,” Gu Niaoniao said proudly.

Zhao Yelan took a look at her hair full of pearls and didn’t know how long this process would take, so he simply found a chair and sat down, saying: “There is nothing to show off. These accessories are available everywhere.”

“I didn’t learn from you. If one has money, it must be spent in order for it to count, lest I have worked hard all this time in vain.” Gu Niaoniao smiled, and asked while opening a box, “Though I hear what you mean. Do you still have good accessories that can’t be bought?”

Zhao Yelan raised his chin proudly.

“Where is it? Let me see?”

“I didn’t bring it.” Zhao Yelan paused and added, “It’s a relic from the previous dynasty, and it is the only one.”

“Talk is useless, unless you bring it before me, I have seen as many treasures as you.” Gu Niaoniao gave a snort of disdain, and after hearing a click, she said, “Okay.”

Zhao Yelan looked up at her, and she picked up a pill and walked over.

“Before you take it, ask Xiao Gao to come up with a secret signal, so that I can prepare for the follow-up matters. If he really can’t bring any news, that’s fine, the General’s Mansion will definitely arrange for your funeral, and I will arrange for someone to pick you up at that time so that you can rest assured and die.”

“……” You certainly know how to talk.

Gu Niaoniao wrapped it in a brocade handkerchief and set it in front of him. Seeing that he didn’t put it away immediately, she teased: “What, can’t bear to part with life now?”

“It’s nothing.” Zhao Yelan packed it away in his pocket.

This was the plan two years ago, when the struggle for the throne was at its most intense, and Zhao Xuan had no time to take into account that he already had his own industry and arrangements in Beijing. He ordered Gu Niaoniao to take people and find the false death medicine, and at the same time helped Zhao Xuan ascend the throne, leaving a way out for both sides. But the medicine was not easy to find, and on the contrary, Zhao Xuan ascended the throne first.

He naturally understood the concept of casting aside the bow once the birds were gone.^[3] After Zhao Xuan was firmly seated on the throne, Zhao Yelan had planned to resign and travel around the world, but there were still a few enemies in the officialdom that needed to be eradicated, so his departure was delayed for some time.

Unexpectedly, the long delay caused complications, and the sudden marriage decree broke his original pacing.

This Imperial decree also dispelled his plan to resign voluntarily. After many years of turmoil in officialdom, he and Zhao Xuan were no longer what they used to be. Even if he resigned sincerely, the other party would only think that he was planning a bigger conspiracy. That was why he restrained him with the Imperial decree without saying a word.

Zhao Xuan had long forgotten that his purpose from the beginning was revenge and survival.

If he didn’t leave now, he feared that he would not have a good end in the future.

“Here are the bank notes I exchanged, which can be used within the territory of the Xuan Dynasty. If you go to Nanjiang or the Western Regions and beyond……remember to send a letter occasionally to let me know whether you are alive or dead,” Gu Niaoniao said.

Zhao Yelan accepted them with a smile: “Aren’t you going with me?”

“No, you spend money like running water. Who will earn money for you if I leave?” Gu Niaoniao snorted softly.

“Many thanks.”

“Isn’t it a bit strange for us to say thank you?” Gu Niaoniao smiled helplessly. “Anyway……everything outside is ready, but what about the capital? Are you really willing to leave?”

Zhao Yelan glanced at her: “If you have something to say, just say it.”

“Yan Mingting……are you willing to part with him?” Gu Niaoniao said, “Although he didn’t recognize me, I discovered a lot of things. One day when I was having dinner in Huichun Tower, I saw with my own eyes that he was drinking too much and kept telling his subordinates how beautiful your paintings are, how beautiful your calligraphy is, and how beautiful your clothes are……he never left you out of any sentence, just short of printing the words ‘I like you’ on his forehead.”

Zhao Yelan’s fingers moved slightly, and he said: “So what? Do I have to take responsibility for those who like me?”

He was not a fool, so he could not fail to see Yan Mingting’s intentions.

Gu Niaoniao laughed: “There are many people who like you, but the only person you care about is that one, ah……” 

Zhao Yelan shot her a look, but said: “People’s hearts are subject to change. Even Zhao Xuan said in the early years that he would never look upon me with suspicion in his life, but what about now? Yan Mingting and I have only known each other for less than half a year, so leaving as soon as possible is a good thing for both of us.”

“En, it makes sense, it seems that you are still that heartless fellow.” Gu Niaoniao patted his shoulder. “Change your clothes, they’re full of blood. I can’t stand it anymore, it really dirties my beautiful eyes.”

“……”

There were usually spare clothes in the building in case the guests needed them, so Zhao Yelan changed into clean clothes. He exited through the secret door, passing through the cellar to leave the small building, and hired a sedan chair to go back.

After getting off the sedan chair, he realized that he had arrived at the General’s Mansion. He estimated that Yan Mingting did not want to see him at this time, and didn’t want to quarrel with the other party, so he sat back in the sedan chair and said: “To Zhao Mansion.”

The streets were still very lively, and he could hear the discussions outside from where he sat in the sedan chair. They said that Zhao Yelan had gone to the brothel with a rich young master today, and that Yan Mingting rushed in angrily but came out alone, obviously catching him in bed, and was furious.

After the sedan chair stopped, he stood in front of Zhao Mansion. The two guards were about to speak, but he raised his hand to stop them. He didn’t want to listen to their polite nonsense, and only wanted to go to his room and lie down.

Who knew that as soon as he stepped through the gate, a voice would ring in his ear: “You still know how to come back, ah.”

Zhao Yelan was startled. He turned to look over and saw Yan Mingting emerge from the darkness, and couldn’t help saying in surprise: “What are you doing here?”

“I knew you wouldn’t go back honestly.” Yan Mingting clasped his wrist. “Now you can go back with me.”

“Go back for what?”

“To sleep, of course.” Yan Mingting picked him up without another word.

Zhao Yelan couldn’t evade in time. The world spun for a while, and when he came to his senses, he was already sitting on horseback with the other person behind him.

Yan Mingting rode the horse through the busy city, immediately attracting countless eyes. Some whispered, while others pointed at them and laughed.

Yan Mingting at once said sharply: “Good, Zhao Yelan, you’ve been dragged around by that Li Yucheng! He urged you to go to a brothel, so you went to the brothel? Although the girl who sang was not selling herself, you can’t go to such a place for fun, ah, the same tea is several times more expensive! Sooner or later, I must change your extravagant and wasteful habits, see if I don’t sort you out when we return!”

Zhao Yelan looked back at him and asked in a low voice: “What nonsense are you talking about?”

At this time, a commoner shouted in the distance: “The General is mighty, teach him a lesson!”

“And sort out that Li Yucheng too, that rich dandy, everyone hates that lowlife!”

“Hongxiu House’s tea is expensive, but it’s really delicious, ah!”

“Delicious, my ass,  I see that your brain is completely full of girls! This old lady will break your dog legs today, and see if you dare run off to that place!”

The common people quarreled amongst themselves, and it seemed that no one cared about Zhao Yelan going to the brothel for an hour or two, only that he and Li Yucheng listened to music and drank tea together.

Zhao Yelan was silent along the way, and when they reached a secluded area, he said: “You didn’t need to deliberately say those things. Anyway, I……”

“Don’t talk to me, I’m still angry.” Yan Mingting harrumphed.

Zhao Yelan shut up.

After a while, Yan Mingting said unhappily: “Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m angry?”

“You didn’t allow me to talk.”

“Right now you’re allowed.”

“Oh.”

“……Quickly ask me, ah!”

Zhao Yelan sighed: “Then, daring to ask this big brother, why are you so angry?”

“I’m angry with a certain person who promised me that he would tell me everything, and then went and broke his promise!” Yan Mingting said in a powerful, resonating voice.

Zhao Yelan was taken aback for a moment. He had thought that he would be blamed for his cruelty, or for killing innocent people indiscriminately, but had never entertained such a reason. He said: “What do you want to know?”

“Who was that person that you killed?”

Sure enough, this was what he asked.

Zhao Yelan would not tell him, so he simply kept quiet for a long time. Then he heard him say: “Do you really think I don’t know anything? If I wanted to check, the person’s family registry would be presented before my eyes. And yours, of course.”

Zhao Yelan’s eyes flickered, and he looked back at him suspiciously.

“Mengting, Zhao Mengting, that is not your courtesy name at all, but your original name, right?”

Zhao Yelan’s complexion suddenly changed.

Yan Mingting looked down into his eyes and said softly: “I won’t look into things about Mengting. I’ll wait for the day when he takes the initiative to tell me.”

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[1] This is part of the idiom, “You take the high road, I will cross my single-plank bridge.” ⮐

[2] A step shaker (步摇) is a dangling ornament worn by Han women. It is usually made of gold bent into the shape of a dragon or phoenix, and decorated with pearls and jade. It jingles when you walk, hence the name. ⮐

[3] Casting aside the bow once the birds are gone (鸟尽弓藏) is an idiom that means getting rid of something once it has served its purpose. ⮐

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Chapter Forty-Two <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Four