Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Clearly, he was the one who had almost been killed—shouldn't he be the one calling for help?

Why was the horse slave clutching a weapon the one to shout for help first?

Before Gu Qiyue could figure out what was going on, Xuan Cui had people kick the door open.

Gu Zhangyuan had indeed sent people early on to wait for Xie Licheng, but someone had beaten them to it and taken him away.

It turned out that the person who took Xie Licheng was from Gu Zhangyuan's own courtyard.

At this thought, Xuan Cui was furious.

She and her people burst into the room, saw Xie Licheng covered in wounds, and hurriedly took him away.

No matter how capable she was, she was nothing more than a maidservant.

She had no right to rebuke Gu Qiyue.

As for that traitorous attendant who had sided with outsiders, she had him brought back too.

Before she could bring them before her young master, Xie Licheng—with old wounds unhealed and new ones on top—collapsed.

Of course, Xie Licheng hadn't really fainted.

His injuries were minor—he had a scraped forehead, and although the wound on his arm looked scary, it wasn't actually deep.

The two injuries only cost him four health points in total, which was hardly any damage for him in his current state.

Given the circumstances, Xie Licheng could have easily killed Gu Qiyue and retreated into his personal world.

But then he thought of the timid Gu Zhangyuan—this time he was the one who had led the Gu family out to offer incense at the temple.

If the second branch's young master were to drop dead in the temple today, he would have a hard time answering to the second branch's uncle.

Gu Zhangyuan had been kind to him, and he never forgot that kindness, so naturally he didn't want to leave him to deal with the fallout.

Besides that, he was genuinely curious.

Given what happened today, how would Gu Zhangyuan, as the master, handle it?

Would he believe him, or would he believe his cousin instead?

As for why he faked fainting—it was simply to look pitiful on purpose.

He'd said it before: he wasn't a good man.

Sometimes, to get what he wanted, he would stop at nothing.

Whether it was being ruthless or playing the victim, he could do it without a second thought.

Xie Licheng stayed unconscious until the next morning, by which time Gu Zhangyuan had already brought the Gu family back to the city.

They had made the journey back during the night. The reason they left in such a rush was twofold: first, because of the scandal Gu Qiyue had stirred up, Gu Zhangyuan didn't want anyone else at the temple to find out. Second, Gu Zhangyuan had heard that the northern part of Lingzhou was getting restless, and he had a bad feeling about it.

To keep everyone safe while they were out, he had them pack up and head back to the city that very night.

After all, the city was always much safer than outside the walls.

When Xie Licheng woke up, he realized he hadn't been sent back to his stable but was lying in a side courtyard of the inner residence.

He had faked fainting yesterday, but when he saw that Gu Zhangyuan was genuinely concerned about him and that Xuan Cui was personally keeping watch, he fell asleep at ease.

When he woke up, a maidservant went to tell Gu Zhangyuan.

When Gu Zhangyuan came with Xuan Cui, he brought Gu Qiyue along too.

Yesterday, he had brought the man home but hadn't allowed Gu Qiyue to go straight back to the second branch's courtyard, intending to hold him and interrogate him thoroughly.

If it were just about a horse slave, it really wouldn't warrant such a big fuss.

But... Gu Qiyue had made a grave mistake—he had stuck his nose into Gu Zhangyuan's courtyard over a horse slave.

Yesterday, he could coerce Gu Zhangyuan's servants to do his bidding over a horse slave.

Tomorrow, he might cause even greater harm to Gu Zhangyuan for another horse slave.

This was no small matter. Gu Zhangyuan truly couldn't let it slide, and he wasn't the type to suffer losses willingly.

Whether for Xie Licheng's sake or his own, he had to teach Gu Qiyue a lesson.

Only by demonstrating the authority of the Eldest Young Master could he manage the household properly in the future.

Gu Zhangyuan came to the bedside where Xie Licheng was resting and said, "Tell me in detail what happened yesterday. I will give you an explanation."

His voice was gentle, and he looked like an immortal.

Xie Licheng looked at the man standing by the bed, and even his cold, sharp eyes couldn't help but soften slightly.

Xie Licheng: "Young Master need not trouble yourself on account of Your humble servant. I was also at fault in yesterday's matter. I am but a criminal slave—for the Second Young Master to take a liking to me is a blessing I've cultivated over three lifetimes. I... I should have served the Second Young Master obediently, but... then I thought of how I now belong to you, so I didn't obediently comply with the Second Young Master. As it turned out, the Second Young Master grew very angry and even wanted to..."

Before Xie Licheng could finish, Gu Qiyue outside the door couldn't listen any longer.

Gu Qiyue burst in and shouted angrily, "He's talking nonsense! I—I did covet his body, but it wasn't like he said. He had a knife on him—a knife that long—pressed right against my neck. Brother, you can't believe his words. He's a ruthless thug. You must send him to the authorities today."

Gu Zhangyuan looked at him coldly, showing no sign of believing him.

Seeing this, Gu Qiyue grew even angrier. "How can you not believe me? He really does have a knife on him. If you don't believe me, I'll search him myself and show you."

With that, he moved forward to tear at Xie Licheng's clothes.

Xuan Cui quickly blocked him and said, "Young Master Yue, he's just a lowly horse slave. He wouldn't dare touch you even with ten times the courage. And... you say he has a knife, but I was the one who took him away yesterday. We even had a physician examine him—there was no knife on him at all."

A knife—of course Xie Licheng had one.

Not just a knife, but a sword, and a gun...

Of course, he kept all of those in his personal world.

When Xuan Cui kicked the door open yesterday, he had already returned the knife in his hand to his personal world.

On him, he only had a small bamboo basket for snakes and a pouch stuffed with a few pieces of silver.

How could he let anyone discover something as dangerous as a knife?

As for the male slave who had been present at the time, he had been knocked unconscious by Xie Licheng and never saw the knife.

Moreover, since the male slave was Gu Qiyue's man, the two of them—master and servant—were in league together.

Yesterday, they were trying to do Xie Licheng harm. Even if he could prove Xie Licheng really had a knife, as long as Xuan Cui and the others didn't find the knife, then it'd be the two of them—master and servant—who were lying.

So no matter what Gu Qiyue said, he was lying and scheming against Xie Licheng. Everything he said now was just hot air—it couldn't hurt Xie Licheng.

Gu Qiyue: "How could there be no knife? I saw it with my own eyes yesterday. He's got a knife, he really does. You can't believe him."

"No, no, it's gotta be Xuan Cui. She must've hidden the knife to protect him. You're all in cahoots. I'm going to see my father right now. I want to see my father."

Gu Zhangyuan was getting a headache from all the racket. He frowned and called out, "Someone, gag him, tie him up, and make him kneel in the courtyard."

Gu Qiyue flew into a rage and lunged at Gu Zhangyuan, grabbing for his clothes.

Gu Zhangyuan took a half step back, and Xuan Cui and an old matron blocked Gu Qiyue.

Gu Qiyue cursed loudly, "How dare you! Gu Zhangyuan, you're just a young master from the main branch. How dare you treat me like this?!"

Gu Zhangyuan was getting angry too. "Why wouldn't I dare? You had the nerve to stick your dirty hands into my courtyard, so you should've known this day would come."

Before Gu Qiyue could say anything else, two martial arts matrons came in and dragged him out.

These martial arts matrons were tough—most had been training since they were kids, unlike your average matron.

They were big and burly, so dragging out the scrawny, skinny Gu Qiyue was a piece of cake.

Only after Gu Qiyue was tied up hand and foot and gagged did Gu Zhangyuan finally get some peace and quiet.

Xie Licheng, hearing the ruckus outside, said cautiously to Gu Zhangyuan, "Young Master, is it really okay to treat the Second Young Master like this? What about the Second Master..."

Gu Zhangyuan: "It's fine. My father specifically said before he left that I have the authority to discipline the younger siblings in the family."

Since the main and second branches hadn't split up the family yet, as the eldest young master of the main branch, he still had the right to discipline his younger brother.

Gu Zhangyuan's so-called discipline of his younger siblings involved dragging Gu Qiyue to the ancestral hall and giving him eighteen lashes with the family whip.

The family whip wasn't as scary as the one Gu Tinghe used, but it still hurt like hell.

When Gu Qiyue was being punished, the Second Master of the second branch never showed his face the whole time.

If it was just about bullying a horse slave, Gu Qiyue wouldn't have faced the family punishment.

But now, he'd stuck his nose into Gu Zhangyuan's inner courtyard.

He could make servants from the main branch do his dirty work, and for something so despicable at that.

Gu Zhangyuan had every right to be angry, since this involved the authority of the main branch and his position as the eldest young master.

So when Gu Qiyue was getting beaten, even though the Second Master felt bad about it, he didn't step in to stop it.

He figured his second son deserved the beating; if he didn't discipline him now, the kid would probably cause chaos down the road.

Gu Qiyue's punishment also shut up Gu Tinghe, who'd been getting restless.

Gu Qiyue was a son, a male heir of the Gu family.

If Gu Zhangyuan dared to beat even him, then if Gu Tinghe didn't behave, he figured he'd end up worse off than Gu Qiyue.

Gu Qiyue was from the second branch, but he was from the main branch.

Gu Zhangyuan would find it even easier to discipline him than the second branch's young master.

Thanks to this incident, Xie Licheng enjoyed a few comfortable days afterward.

He still didn't have to work and kept recovering in that small, shabby room in the stable.

Gu Zhangyuan had said no one would disturb his recovery, and sure enough, no one did.

Xie Licheng used those days to level up from level 22 to level 35.

13 levels meant 13 attribute points.

He put points into luck until it hit 20, then dumped the remaining 9 points all into strength.

At this point, Xie Licheng's luck was 20, and his strength was 39.

After these days of rest and recuperation, his weight hit 56 kilograms, gaining another four pounds compared to before.

He was really tall, and without enough weight to support him, he'd not only look terrible but also be in poor health.

If a person's too thin, their qi and blood become insufficient.

Insufficient qi and blood lead to all sorts of problems.

Like insomnia and excessive dreaming, poor mental state, weakened immunity, and getting sick easily.

Getting sick also drops health points, and sometimes, if you're in a bad mood or depressed, health points drop too.