Chapter 14: A Serious Matter

Su Tang carried Ke’er over the wall, climbed over it, and then set her down. The master and servant crept sneakily into the bamboo forest. After walking for a while, they saw a swing ahead and a girl wearing a long white dress.

This was where Su Tang had grown up. However, after his mother passed away, Su Tang moved to the main courtyard following the advice of Steward Old Chang to show his status as the sole heir.

Su Tang observed as he walked. The girl was not old, probably one or two years younger than Ke’er. The fabric of her long dress was very ordinary. Perhaps because she was too young or because of her status, she wore no makeup on her face. He knew that makeup was very expensive here. Zhu’er and Ke’er only spent the money to dress up on major holidays; usually, they left their faces plain.

Moreover, the girl wore no jewelry. From top to bottom, she was as simple as could be. Su Tang guessed that the girl must be a low-ranking maid.

“Little sister, are you playing alone?” Su Tang walked over with a smile.

The girl seemed unaware and continued to look silently ahead.

Was she deaf? Su Tang leaned in to look at the girl. Suddenly, his heart felt as if it had been struck hard by something and began to beat violently.

The girl’s appearance was too pure, so pure that she seemed completely untouched by the worldly air of the human realm. Her eyes were like autumn waters, her eyebrows like distant mountains, her nose was straight, and her lips were tightly pressed. Even her skin was so perfect and flawless that she looked like a real-life porcelain doll.

However, Su Tang immediately calmed his mind and complained secretly. Truly a wealthy family; even their maid was such a top-tier beauty. Compared to her, Zhu’er and Ke’er seemed much duller.

“Little sister, you are really beautiful, haha…” Su Tang gave a few dry laughs. He shifted his gaze and noticed the girl’s bare feet. Was the master so stingy that they wouldn’t even buy her a pair of shoes?

The girl finally reacted and glanced at Su Tang.

“Can you hear me?” Su Tang asked.

The girl frowned, appearing somewhat displeased by Su Tang’s questioning.

As long as she wasn’t deaf, that was fine. Su Tang reached out and grabbed the rope of the swing, smiling, “I’ll play with you.” After saying this, he began to push the swing slowly.

The girl did not agree, but she did not refuse either. She sat there silently, her body swaying back and forth with the swing.

“Little sister, what is your name? Where did you come from?” Su Tang asked softly. In his experience, people in this world matured mentally very slowly because the amount of information they encountered daily was too small and narrow. Ke’er was an example. This girl looked even younger than Ke’er, so getting close to her should be easy.

Su Tang wanted to know the origin of these guests. Then, by combining all the information he gathered, he hoped to reach an estimate. Noble status and actual strength were two different things; he had to see proof. If he had no chance of winning at all, he would have to take the people of the castle and flee.

The girl did not answer. Su Tang asked six or seven questions in a row, trying to establish communication, but the girl acted as if Su Tang did not exist at all.

Su Tang became somewhat impatient. He stopped the swing, moved to the side, and observed the girl’s eyes. After a moment, he sighed again.

There was no emotion in the girl’s pupils. Without emotional fluctuations, he had no way to analyze her. Could she be mentally challenged? Did she not understand what he was saying?

“Little sister, can you report to your master and say that I have a very urgent, life-and-death matter and wish to see him?” Su Tang gave up. He had thought the little girl would be the easiest to get information from, but he had wasted his time.

Hearing this, the girl’s expression finally stopped being so indifferent. She seemed somewhat surprised, tilted her head to look Su Tang up and down, then stood up, left the swing, and walked slowly forward.

Such an incredibly pure girl walking barefoot on the lush green grass should have been a beautiful sight, but Su Tang was in no mood to appreciate it. He said with a bitter smile, “Hey… am I waiting for you here, or am I going with you to see your master?”

The girl still ignored him and walked gracefully away. Ke’er, who had been staying beside him, whispered, “Young Master, why is she ignoring you?”

“This…” Su Tang nodded his head, but before he could continue, Ke’er had a sudden realization: “Oh, her intelligence is too low…”

After waiting for a long time, the old man in black clothes who had dealt with Zhu’er yesterday appeared. From far away, he said with a smile, “You must be Young Master Su. Our… my master invites you.”

Entering the familiar East Courtyard, Su Tang was in no mood to reminisce about his childhood. He stepped directly into the main room. There was only one middle-aged man in the room, sitting there listlessly.

Su Tang scanned the room and saw no one else. He had seen that middle-aged man before; he was also one of the attendants. It seemed… the great noble was too lazy to meet him.

“Young Master Su, exactly what kind of life-and-death matter is this?” the old man asked with a smile.

Su Tang hesitated. Now was not the time to demand respect; it was better to just speak.

Next, Su Tang roughly explained what had happened that morning. He made a few slight changes, turning some pathetic scenes into moments of righteousness. Finally, he claimed the opponent had forcibly fed him poison and threatened the people of Little Forest Castle, which was why he had temporarily bowed his head.

Su Tang did not let Liu Mingsheng of Black Wind Castle off the hook and mentioned him a few times, but did not say much.

The old man listened quite seriously, while the middle-aged man appeared half-asleep. Su Tang’s expression changed with the plot, sometimes angry and sometimes sighing, but he was thinking about something else in his mind.

The villains were practically knocking at the door, yet that middle-aged man could still sleep?! There were only three possibilities: either he did not believe his words, he was arrogant and thought no one dared to provoke them, or they possessed such immense strength that they didn’t care about this threat at all.

“Every word I say is true. If there is a single lie…” At the end, Su Tang had to swear. He had to win the other party’s attention; without attention, there would be no cooperation.

“I know,” the old man nodded with a smile, then changed the subject: “Young Master Su, they fed you poison? Stick out your tongue and let this old man have a look.”

“The poison is here.” Su Tang held out his hand. “When they stuffed the poison into my mouth, I hid the pill under my tongue. The box contains the powder they wanted me to put into the water well.”

The old man took the iron box and the pill. He smelled it under his tongue, gently broke the pill open, and then frowned, “Young Master Su, fortunately, you were clever. This poison has no antidote. Even if I could cure you, it would leave permanent damage. You would never be able to eat rich foods again and would have to survive on thin porridge.”

“They are so cruel?!” Su Tang was suddenly furious. He was truly angry, and he felt lucky that he had made the right choice.