coobybook Chapter 426 Repayment
Chapter 426 Repayment
Hou Lai, gloating, went to report the incident.
The Duke's mansion immediately started serving meals.
Just as the meal was almost finished, Li Chengyue hurriedly arrived with Xu Xianglan.
"I was on official business, so I was delayed for a bit. Look at what you're all thinking!"
Upon hearing Hou Lai's words, he was so frightened that he immediately dropped what he was doing and ran over, after all, Liu Yuechu was really capable of doing such a thing.
She never plays by the rules.
Xu Xianglan also heard Hou Lai's words, feeling embarrassed and shy. The blush on her face hadn't faded from the journey she had followed him.
"Madam Duchess, Madam Liu..." She went directly to the women's side.
Liu Yuechu snorted coldly, asked Huajiao to bring some after-dinner snacks, and returned to the inner courtyard. She wanted to ask Xu Xianglan about being molested, but naturally she couldn't do it in front of those men.
Huang Wanwan also heard about this and was very angry.
But when they got to the backyard, Xu Xianglan said that Li Chengyue had cut out the man's tongue and severed his tendons. "...The man has been locked up in the county jail. Fortunately, Lord Li saved me, otherwise I would have had no choice but to kill myself."
"Well done! This kind of scum should have had his throat slit; leaving him alive would be superfluous." Huang Wanwan has always been fiercely opposed to evil.
After spending two days in the armory looking at the cold, deadly weapons, Xu Xianglan had become a bit bolder than before. "So Lord Li asked me to help test the sharpness of the hidden weapons in the armory, and I was happy to help. After all, he is my benefactor. Please don't blame him, Duchess and Madam Liu. He is really devoted to his official duties."
She said this with a hint of admiration.
Liu Yuechu and Huang Wanwan exchanged a glance, both noticing the slight surprise in each other's eyes.
Could it be that these two people actually have something going on? Or is this just Yuan Cuo talking nonsense?
"So what do you plan to do? Will you continue to participate in the carving competition, or will you follow Li Chengyue?" Liu Yuechu asked the most crucial question.
Especially when she mentioned the hidden weapon storehouse, Liu Yuechu understood that Li Chengyue had already planned to protect this person. After all, the reason he let her participate in the carving competition was to give her a status in the government so that she wouldn't be controlled by the Xu family.
But if she followed Li Chengyue, she would have a protective umbrella and would no longer need to participate in any carving competitions, since this powerful figure would be much stronger.
Xu Xianglan was also stumped by the question, "Should we ask Lord Li for his opinion?" She had no idea what to do.
Huang Wanwan gave a feigned snort of displeasure, "So you don't need our protection anymore? If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have brought you to the Duke's mansion in the first place, and I would have just had Li Chengyue take you away."
"No, no, I misspoke, please don't be angry, Madam Liu." Xu Xianglan quickly explained, "I am grateful for the great kindness of the two ladies, and I will repay you even if I have to be your slave in my next life. But Lord Li is also my savior, and I am willing to do my best to help him."
"Forget about whether you're helping him or not, you should first think about yourself. Are you willing to give up carving and bury yourself in the small workshop of the Ministry of Works?"
"If you are unwilling, but only want to repay the favor, you can say so directly."
Liu Yuechu still hoped that she could think things through very clearly and not be vague. "Actually, these two things are not contradictory, and there is no need to give up one for the other."
"What I just said was all a joke, just to tease you." Huang Wanwan pulled her to sit down and eat some snacks. "Kindness is kindness, and the future is the future. These two things should not be confused."
"Don't let gratitude kill your original ambitions. If you dedicate yourself entirely to gratitude, you might end up being a miserable person for the rest of your life."
They were all married, so who couldn't see that Xu Xianglan had already developed feelings for him?
But Li Chengyue was a deadbeat; all he saw were cold, hard weapons, and he had no intention of settling down and starting a family.
But Xu Xianglan wasn't one of those ruthless men; she was a young woman.
If he wastes my whole life, I'd rather be a sculptor and earn a decent living.
Xu Xianglan naturally understood, her face turning as red as a cherry. "I will think about it carefully."
The matter was thus left unresolved, and there was no need to discuss whether Xu Shan knew that the apprentice Wei Junlang was going to introduce was her.
With Li Chengyue right in front of her, Xu Shan's thousand reasons are useless.
Liu Yuechu then asked Huajiao to prepare more clothes and women's items for her, since Li Chengyue, that stinky man, couldn't possibly think of what she would need.
When Xu Xianglan saw the maids handing her basket after basket of items, she was so moved that she burst into tears.
"Alright, stop crying. I hate people who cry all the time." Huang Wanwan was straightforward and scolded her directly.
Xu Xianglan felt wronged and quickly swallowed her tears. After chatting for a while, Li Chengyue went to the backyard to ask if he could leave. After Liu Yuechu nodded, he left with his men.
Liu Yuechu saw Yuan Cuo's mischievous grin and asked, "Did you already guess that there was something going on between them?"
"How could I possibly guess? I just think that women who can get along with him are extremely rare. It's not a bad thing that he's tied to one of them," Yuan Cuo said leisurely.
Liu Yuechu didn't believe him, but she didn't say anything more.
She was also looking forward to the upcoming sculpture competition, hoping that Song Liu'er could take revenge and provoke Song Ziwen into carving a statue of a deity from the Yan Kingdom to sell for money.
……
Everything is proceeding smoothly and in an orderly manner.
Xu Shan was the most anxious of them all.
He couldn't manage the household chores, couldn't find a daughter to marry off, and couldn't repay the betrothal money owed to the wealthy man from the neighboring county.
He had hoped to use the opportunity of taking on a disciple to make some gestures and win some favors, but unfortunately, the other party still disliked his bad reputation.
However, Wei Junlang's suggestion to take on apprentices did open a door for Xu Shan. Although he did not accept "Xu Lang" as his own, he took on many apprentices under the guise of the carving competition. He even boasted that if one became his apprentice, one would definitely be able to enter the top 100 and stay in the capital for a living.
Outsiders, unaware of the Xu family's chaotic affairs, were naturally eager to become disciples upon hearing that Xu Shan was taking on apprentices. Although Xu Shan's tuition fees were somewhat expensive, the thought of reaching the final ranking made it all worthwhile.
As a result, Xu Shan made a fortune during this period, returning the betrothal money from the neighboring county's official residence and begging them to withdraw the lawsuit filed by the county government.
Seeing the lawsuit cleared, Xu Shan felt relieved. He returned to his small workshop at home and overheard his apprentices discussing the matter.
"What are you talking about?" he said, feigning seriousness. "Have you all practiced the sword techniques I assigned? If you don't complete the assignments I gave you, even if a god descended from heaven, he couldn't guarantee you'd make it to the final round. Don't blame me for not warning you beforehand!"
Having accomplished one task, he naturally needed to lay the groundwork, since his disciples' skills were unlikely to secure a place in the final rankings.
"It's nothing, I just heard that two people have mysteriously disappeared!"
“One of them is my fellow townsman, we came together, and the other is someone Mr. Wei had been paying close attention to, named Xu Lang, who also suddenly disappeared!”