Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Xie Licheng followed Xuan Cui to the inner courtyard. Since the previous owner of this body had never entered the inner courtyard before, Xie Licheng was unfamiliar with the Gu family's inner grounds.

They took the small paths along the way, so they didn't encounter anyone on the road.

At this time, the front courtyard was still making a fuss about catching thieves, which made this small path in the inner courtyard feel especially quiet.

Xie Licheng quietly followed Xuan Cui and the others forward, his lowered eyes carefully surveying the surroundings.

Whether or not he would ever have the chance to come to the inner courtyard again, he made a habit of memorizing every path he walked.

Xie Licheng had assumed that once he followed them to the inner courtyard, he would get to see Gu Zhangyuan right away.

But to his surprise, Xuan Cui led him to a courtyard, and the first thing she did was make him take a bath.

Xuan Cui found him a set of new clothes and even had a servant come over to attend to him.

It was only then that Xie Licheng realized how filthy and foul-smelling he was.

He'd just been cleaning up the blood, and now his whole body was covered in it.

In his current state, he was indeed not fit to immediately meet the timid Gu Zhangyuan.

That person was both delicate and cowardly; his smell alone could make the man cry.

Xie Licheng still had wounds on his body, so naturally he couldn't bathe normally. Fortunately, a servant came over to assist him, and he sat beside the bathtub, scrubbing himself down as best he could.

Once he'd finished washing up and changed into clean clothes, Xuan Cui finally brought him to see Gu Zhangyuan.

By this time, Gu Zhangyuan's wet nurse had already returned, and Gu Zhangyuan naturally knew that the corpse had disappeared.

So when Xuan Cui brought Xie Licheng over, the first thing Gu Zhangyuan asked when he saw him was, "Where's the body?"

He'd clearly seen Xie Licheng come out of the rockery alone.

The corpse must have still been inside the rockery—where the hell had Xie Licheng hidden it?

Hearing the question, Xie Licheng raised his head and looked at Gu Zhangyuan.

Gu Zhangyuan had already cleaned himself up, no longer the disheveled mess he'd been in the rockery, and had regained the noble, haughty appearance he'd had when they first met.

Xie Licheng only gave him a single glance, confirmed he was in decent shape, and then lowered his eyes, putting on a look of simple, honest obedience.

Without so much as a change in expression, he said, "Thrown into the lake in the garden."

There was indeed a lake in the outer garden, and it connected to a river beyond the estate.

If the body had been dumped in the lake, the water could easily carry it out of the estate.

Besides, that river ran straight through all of Lingzhou—it was massive.

Even if someone knew a body was in there, finding it would be nearly impossible.

Gu Zhangyuan frowned upon hearing this. He'd been so consumed by fear and panic at the time that he'd just handed the body over to Xie Licheng.

Looking back now, he deeply regretted it. That person hadn't been killed by him at all, yet he'd had Xie Licheng dispose of the body, putting himself in a very bad position.

If Xie Licheng used this to blackmail him, or...

Before he could think any further, Xie Licheng knelt down in front of him.

Xie Licheng knelt and said, "Eldest Young Master, rest assured. My life was given by you, and I'll follow your lead in everything. In the future, no matter what difficult matters you have, you can leave them to me. I'll never reveal your secrets."

This time, Gu Zhangyuan stayed silent, but Xuan Cui spoke up with a smile.

"You sound loyal enough. But it's impossible you have no ulterior motives, especially when a life is involved. Speak up—what other schemes are you hiding? And why would you go this far for the Young Master?"

Xie Licheng glanced at Xuan Cui upon hearing this, then calmly said, "I said I wanted to repay the Young Master's kindness, and that's no lie. If the Young Master hadn't saved me from the Second Young Master, I might already be dead by now. Of course, I do have a few selfish motives of my own. Men die for money, birds die for food. I'm willing to work for the Young Master—first, because I want some silver in my pocket, and second, because I hope to earn the Young Master's trust and favor, so I don't get caught by the Second Young Master and beaten half to death again."

There was indeed some truth to Xie Licheng's words.

For instance, repaying Gu Zhangyuan's kindness and wanting to latch onto his coattails.

As for what he'd said earlier—about being willing to work like a beast of burden for the Young Master—that was just to fit his current persona.

He was now a horse slave, a criminal slave from the slave camps.

With such a lowly, humble status, facing a noble young master like Gu Zhangyuan, he naturally had to act as servile as possible.

Of course, this wasn't Xie Licheng's true nature. His real nature was far from good, and he wasn't nearly this obedient.

His current meekness, honesty, and simplicity were all just to earn Gu Zhangyuan's trust and make his own life a little easier.

Once Lingzhou fell into chaos, he could go back to being his real self.

Gu Zhangyuan: "Are you sure they won't find him?"

Xie Licheng: "Certain. Even if I died myself, they still wouldn't find him."

If Xie Licheng himself died, his portable world would vanish—how could anyone else ever find that person?

"Very well. You said you want to work by my side, and I do happen to need a male slave."

Hearing Gu Zhangyuan say this, his wet nurse shot him a disapproving look.

But in front of a low-ranking slave, she didn't dare interrupt him.

Gu Zhangyuan: "From now on, you'll keep working as a horse slave in the outer courtyard. I'll give you a token that lets you come and go from the Gu estate freely, and there'll be plenty of tasks I'll need you to handle."

With that, Gu Zhangyuan glanced at his wet nurse. Not daring to defy his orders in public, she could only furrow her brows and go fetch the token.

Gu Zhangyuan continued, "You handled this matter well—it saved me from a problem. As a reward, I'll give you ten taels of gold."

As he spoke, Gu Zhangyuan's beautiful eyes were sizing up Xie Licheng.

He felt Xie Licheng was no ordinary person. Giving him the token and the heavy reward was all to test his reaction.

Xie Licheng had guessed as much, so he immediately kowtowed to Gu Zhangyuan again and again, his face full of humble reverence and gratitude.

Seeing him in this pathetic, groveling state, Gu Zhangyuan felt both relieved and a little disappointed.

He always felt that someone with eyes like that shouldn't have a character that would grovel and flatter like this.

But... the man's current behavior really showed no flaws.

It was exactly how a poor, low-ranking slave who'd suddenly come into money would behave.

He wasn't as hard to control as he'd imagined.

After getting the token and the ten taels of gold, Xie Licheng was escorted out of the inner courtyard.

On the way back, Xuan Cui told him what to say if anyone asked where he'd been that night, given the whole thief ruckus in the outer courtyard.

Xie Licheng nodded along obediently, agreeing to whatever she said.

Only after he got back to his stable and watched Xuan Cui and her lantern-bearing attendants walk away did he take a look at the heavy gold in his arms.

Ten taels of gold—that handsome Eldest Young Master sure was generous.

Probably meant to buy his silence, though he wouldn't have said anything anyway. Still, getting hush money made him pretty happy.

Xie Licheng took the gold back to his place. It was already late by then.

He barred the door from the inside and was about to slip into his personal world to rest.

But just then, he noticed that someone had been in his quarters.

Xie Licheng's eyes darkened slightly, and he decided not to slip into his personal world to rest like usual.

...

He rested until nearly dawn, when the sound of someone kicking at his door rang out.

Xie Licheng wasn't surprised by the commotion. He got up calmly and got dressed.

Before he could even get to the door, his flimsy wooden door was kicked open.

The people outside didn't say what they were there for. The moment the door opened, they flooded in.

They tore through the place, looking for something.

Someone grabbed Xie Licheng to check him out, and when they saw he was lame, a flicker of disappointment crossed their eyes.

They didn't even question him—they seemed to be in a big hurry.

They didn't find what they were looking for, so they hurried off.

Xie Licheng thought it was weird they hadn't questioned him. He lived right there—if something happened in the outer courtyard, he should've been the first suspect.

It wasn't until two days later that he understood why they hadn't questioned him.

Because Xuan Cui had set it up in advance. She had the male slave who watched the stable yard vouch for Xie Licheng, saying he never left that night.

Xie Licheng wasn't the only one living in the stable yard. There was also a gatekeeper at the entrance to the yard.

That man was also lame—both legs were crippled.

His situation was different from Xie Licheng's—Xie Licheng's limp was temporary from an injury and would heal in time.

But the other man's legs were permanently ruined, said to have been crushed by a horse when he protected the Second Young Master of the main branch.

That Second Young Master of the main branch was none other than Gu Zhangyuan's full younger brother—the one in poor health.

Since he got hurt protecting the young master, the Gu family, grateful for his loyalty, gave him an easy job: keeping watch at the stable gate.

Though it was called gatekeeping, there wasn't much to it. It was basically a cushy job, and he rarely came out.

Xie Licheng had been living there for days and had never even run into him.

With his word as proof, plus Xie Licheng's injury, and the fact that the thief that night kept appearing and disappearing out of nowhere—clearly someone skilled—everyone figured it couldn't have been Xie Licheng. So they didn't bother wasting time on him.