Chapter 34 (1/2)

Xu Lingyue: I’ll Repay Your Kindness in Full

Li Ru was in the midst of dissing her nephew when the housekeeper announced the return of her husband. “If he’s back, he’s back. Am I supposed to stand at the gates and welcome him?”

The housekeeper nearly tripped over his feet when he entered the inner courtyard. “My lady, I saw blood on Lady Lingyin’s body and Lady Lingyue looked as if she’s been crying. The lords also seem upset. The eldest is also not back. Something must’ve happened.”

A loud crashing noise was heard as something crashed from a great height. The commotion was followed by concerned voices. “My lady…”

“Get out of my way!” Li Ru lifted her dress and rushed to the front hall.

An anxiety-filled Li Ru burst into the front hall with tears pooling in her eyes. She was met with the sight of her husband carrying her unconscious youngest daughter—the tears threatened to spill down her face.

Xu Pingzhi spoke about the most salient point, “She’s fine, she’s just sleeping.” He handed the girl over to his wife. “Bring her back to her room.”

Li Ru hugged her youngest daughter. Then, her eyes roamed across her eldest daughter’s figure. Once she was sure there were no injuries, she let out a sigh of relief but stayed her ground. “What happened?”

Tears started to fall from Xu Lingyue’s eyes.

Xu Pingzhi huffed. He told his wife the whole story.

Li Ru scowled when she heard about the harassment by the evil nobleman. Hearing that Xu Lingyin was nearly trampled by the nobleman’s horse, she tightened her grip around her youngest daughter.

The news about Xu Qian getting injured to save her daughters stunned her.

When they got to the part where he was brought to the Ministry of Justice, Li Ru clutched her husband’s hand. Her face was pale as she stuttered, “Ningyan… He… He…”

Xu Pingzhi patted her hand and said reassuringly, “He’s alright. He’s out of jail and the case is considered closed for now.”

Then, Xu Pingzhi continued saying, “If it weren’t for Ningyan, Lingyue and Lingyin would have taken from us. I know he’s a bit hot-headed but he has always been good to the family. If it were anyone else, do you think they’ll step in and save our daughter?

“Ever since we took him in, you never liked him. You felt his martial arts lessons cost too much, that he was a burden to the family. You said he always talks back and never listens to you. But did you ever think about how it feels like to be him? To spend twenty years living under another person’s roof. Do you think he enjoys it? He’s bound to be sensitive.

“Women are shallow-minded. Pretty words are just words. Actions are what counts. Lingyue was bullied and Ningyan immediately rushed to her defense. We’re lucky nothing bad happened. Will you really be fine if Ningyan never comes back?”

Her father’s words touched Xu Lingyue and another round of tears came flowing down her face. She decided she would spend the rest of her life repaying her brother’s kindness.

“I…” Li Ru sniffled and lowered her head in shame.

The sight of his stern mother crumbling in shame and regret made Xu Xinnian’s heart ached.

Despite all the bad names his mother threw at Xu Qian—gold-eater, unlucky bastard—his brother still had a spot in her heart.

After all, they had lived together for almost 20 years.

Xu Pingzhi glanced at his son and sighed. “If your son were there instead, he’d probably be kidnapped by the nobleman.”

‘That was uncalled for,’ Xu Xinnian thought.

…

After handing Xu Lingyin over to the maidservants and comforting Xu Lingyue, Li Ru returned to her part of the manor with a heavy heart.

She glanced at the maidservants who were rushing the winter clothing. “Lu Er, reduce one piece from the lord and Little Nian’s wardrobe. When Ningyan returns, take his measurements.

Lu Er was surprised to hear those words. “Have you changed your mind, my lady?”

Li Ru let out a huff. “Am I that cruel of an aunt in your mind?”

All the maidservants had a collective thought. ‘Yes, you are…’

…

Xu Qian left the Observatory and hailed a carriage. It took two hours to return to the Xu manor.

He heated up some water for a bath. While checking his body, he found the injury at his waist to be almost healed.

He rubbed some golden salve onto the injury and went back to his room. Inside, he rubbed the inkstone and proceeded to write down a few hundred characters of chemistry knowledge. As part of his usual routine, he began writing in his diary.

’16 November is a memorable day. I have finally decided to give up my dreams of being an ordinary, boring rich man. I need authority and power. I came up with some plans to achieve this:

‘1. Change my discipline and join Confucianism. If I can please the two Confucian elders, I believe they will fully support my decision. It’ll be better than stumbling blindly in my own discipline. Others who cross over the use poetry to play dumb where I’m using poetry to barter. Clearly, I’m in a class above.

‘2. Work hard to get Lady Caiwei into my bed. With the support of the Principal Imperial Astronomer, I won’t have to break my back to enjoy a good life.

‘3. Sell the magic item I received to open my Heaven’s Gate.

‘The first idea brings back memories of my high school days, I don’t think I’m cut out for studying. Also, I’m almost twenty, a bit late for a discipline change.

‘The second idea means I’ll have to give up other women. No trips to the playhouse. I think the sacrifice is too much.

‘The third idea… Well, entering the Qi rank will not protect me from the Assistant Minister of Revenue. Without relevant connections, it’ll be tough to walk down the path of a martial artist. Look at uncle, he’s been stuck at maximum Qi state for nearly ten years.

‘For now, I’ll just hold on tight to my connections in the Imperial Astronomers and the White Deer Academy. I have a feeling the case of the missing tax money is not over yet.’

…