"Zhen did make a clear observation on this matter." Chu Murong said coldly.
Minister Li lowered his head at his words and said no more. Although the Emperor's birth had always been a mystery among the people and even in the Imperial Court, he, one of the key officials who had gone south to Jinling to welcome the new Emperor, knew all about it. The Emperor was neither a true dragon son sent from heaven nor Wen Quxing who popped out of a stone, but the direct grandson of Emperor Tiancheng. The Emperor's father was Chu Changge, the once-popular Leader of the Mojiao Sect. His mother was Murong Yunshu, the young mistress of the first under heaven residence, Murong Mansion.
When Chu Murong saw that Minister Li did not admit his guilt or cry out for justice, the corners of his mouth curled up in a cold smile. He said indifferently, "Since Zhen remembers that my dear courtier is already old, Zhen grants special permission for my dear courtier to retire and return to my dear courtier's native place."
Minister Li's jaw dropped at these words. His face was full of disbelief, and he even suspected that his ears were ringing and he was hallucinating. The Imperial Court ministers were willing to submit sincerely to such a young Emperor because they feared his parents. Minister Li also did not dispute this decision, and that was precisely why. But he did not fear what the Emperor might do to him. His connections in the Imperial Court were so with twisted roots and gnarled branches that he had friends and disciples from the first-ranking ministers to the ninth-ranking minor court official. It would be like pulling one hair, making the whole body move. He believed that the young prince who just came out of his thatched cottage would not do anything to him and would at most reprimand him a few times.
But he never imagined that he had been underestimating the child Emperor's boldness.
This soft blow to the head dumbfounded Minister Li that he was at a loss as to how to react. How could he forget that even though Chu Murong was young, he was still the one wearing the Dragon Robe and sitting on the Dragon Chair? To an eight-year-old child, to bring a Minister of Revenue under control might be just a fantasy. But to an Emperor, life and death were but a word. Even if it was a child's word, it was still an Imperial Decree that one must not disobey. If the child Emperor wanted him to live, he could not die, and if the child Emperor wanted him to die, he could not live.
*
The next day, above the courtroom. A dozen officials, large and small, petitioned together for orders to reinstate Minister Li. Chu Murong rejected them all.
On the third day, they continued to present a petition on the matter, and he continued to reject them.
On the fourth day, the petition was still being rejected.
On the fifth day, the petition was still being rejected.
On the sixth day, Chu Murong no longer rejected the petition but threw the ten or so folds of the petition down instead, while growling, "Whoever cannot let go of Old Li, Zhen will allow him to retire along with him!"
The noble face of the child Emperor was full of anger, causing everyone in the Imperial Court to lay down their flags and still their drums on their request.
Inside the Minister's residence, Minister Li was as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof, becoming too agitated to sit or stand.
"Look what a good son you have!" Minister Li scolded angrily and bitterly.
Wang Shi, the Minister's wife, returned in a rather unfair tone instead, "He's your son too. I didn't give birth to him alone."
"You!" Minister Li was so angry that his fingers trembled. He pointed his finger at Wang Shi for a long moment before he hatefully withdrew his hand and shouted, "Someone, bring the Young Master back to me!"
*
Soon, word of Minister Li being forced to retire spread through the great streets and small alleys and the Jiugua House. However, the rumour only said that Minister Li's son had broken the law and committed crimes by snatching someone's daughter in a town. The Emperor was angry at Minister Li's incompetence in teaching his son. His Majesty was going to dismiss him from his official position. Still, remembering his merits to the court, he did not tear his face in front of the world, allowing him to retire, without even mentioning Li Shaoqing's marriage proposal to Murong Yunshu. But everyone guessed that the two events were more or less related, and those in the Jiugua House who knew about them understood the reason for it without the need to think about it. Take Lu-er, for example.
"The little Young Master is so domineering!"
"The little Young Master is so domineering!"
"The little Young Master is so domineering!"
......
......
Lu-er's face had a starry-eyed infatuation appearance as she repeated the same sentence non-stop and had a tendency to go on in an infinite loop.
Murong Yunshu: "After following me for so long, haven't you learned anything else to say?"
"......anything else to say cannot express my admiration for the Young Master."
"Then change the order."
"......"
"If not, changing your tone will do."
"......" Lu-er wanted to say something but squirmed for a long time before saying, "Miss, don't you feel strange at all? The Young Master is far away in the capital. How could he know what is happening here?"
Murong Yunshu didn't even raise her head at her words and answered indifferently, "It's not that strange."
It's not that strange? That's it? You're not even showing any concern for this? Even if you didn't care, the least you could do was speculate in the spirit of gossip. This is the Jiugua House. There's undoubtedly more to it than gossip. The more Lu-er thought about it, the more powerless she became. She couldn't help but sigh. Why was Miss so disinterested in the little Young Master's affairs now? Was she planning to go beyond the three realms by flying on a crane to the Western Paradise......that was wrong. It should be sprouted wings to become an immortal……sprouted wings to become an immortal. No matter how much Miss didn't care about the affairs of human life, she wouldn't even save out her breath. But Lu-er wondered if immortals still need to breathe......[T/C]
"Miss." Lu-er spoke cautiously, "Is......the matter of Guye forgetting you too much of a blow to you......that you......"
"No." Murong Yunshu interrupted her directly and gave her a scornful glance in the process. "If you are too idle, you should go to the warehouse and count the silver. Don't guess blindly."
"Uh......" Lu-er's face looked like she had eaten a fly, "Miss, I don't have that kind of hobby."
Murong Yunshu: "You can cultivate it slowly."
Lu-er turned speechless. She went silent for a while before quietly saying, "It's not my silver. It will only make me feel sick at heart if I count them too much."
For the first time, Murong Yunshu heard Lu-er speak in such a grieving tone that she could not help but stop pounding the mortar and look up at her. "What are you being so sad about?"
"Just think about it, Miss. There is so much silver, but it's not your own. Won't you feel sad? I didn't think my life was so miserable, but when I think that I can't even fit a crack in the warehouse with all my belongings, I feel like a failure......pretty much a failure......" Lu-er said, getting even sadder. She finally let out a long sigh as she asked, "Miss, am I a failure as a human being?"
"Nothing of the sort." Murong Yunshu stated, "I have long prepared a dowry for you, a very generous dowry. You will become a rich woman as soon as you get married."
"Really?!" Lu-er's eyes instantly lit up, and then there was dullness as she said, "I don't want to get married."
"Don't worry. With this dowry, you will get married in another three years. Whenever you want to get married, just let me know. I will ask a matchmaker to come and talk to you about your marriage. Or if you have any ideas of your own, you can talk about them too."
Lu-er's eyes welled up at these words that she almost cried. She bowed her head and whispered, "I won't marry anyone. I'll stay with Miss for the rest of my life."
"Alright. Since you don't want to marry, I will leave the stewardess position open for you. I'll find a husband that will marry into our household for you when that time comes."
"Miss......" Lu-er couldn't hold back her tears any longer. How fortunate she was to have followed such a loving and righteous Master.
Murong Yunshu: "Alright. Go to the front and call Yun Si Niang here. I'm looking for her for something."
"Oh." Lu-er wiped her tears as she walked, afraid of being seen as a joke.
As soon as Lu-er left, Brainless Ah Chang appeared. Brainless Ah Chang was the 'elegant name' given to Chu Changge by Murong Yunshu. Chu Changge had fought against this name but failed to win the struggle in the end.
"Disagree? Fine. Gather everyone together for a meeting and vote on it." These were Murong Yunshu's exact words. Chu Changge originally thought that such an unethical and unpleasant name as 'Brainless Ah Chang' would attract opposition from everyone, but to his surprise, the result was just the opposite. No matter how much he tried to force them, all of them unanimously went to Murong Yunshu's side, all with the expression that the name sounded good, making him suffer a real loss. What was even more bizarre was, when he accused Murong Yunshu of using underhanded tricks to bribe the audience, she not only admitted openly but also admonished him, "You can also bribe them if you have money."
If he had the money, he would have bought the Jiugua House and kicked out those idle people who had nothing better to do than jumping around!
Chu Changge was so angry when he thought of this that he had just lost his mother's expression no matter whom he faced these days. But for some reason, when he saw Murong Yunshu, the corners of his mouth would twitch incessantly, a contradictory product of physically wanting to put on a smile but not being able to smile emotionally. At this moment, the corners of Chu Changge's mouth were still in this contradictory state.
Murong Yunshu would be in a good mood whenever she saw Chu Changge's comical expression of wanting to smile but couldn't emotionally smile, and it was the same today. "It looks like you've taken it well." She said as she poured the pounded medicine from the jar into a dustpan to dry. Her mouth curved up pleasantly.
"Thanks." His mouth moved and twitched at the same time.
"No need to thank me. I'm keeping track of the daily happenings for you because I don't want to be grabbed by you every day and asked, 'why are you calling me Brainless Ah Chang'."
"......" Did she have to say that over and over again every day? Chu Changge thought of the record in a handwritten journal by his bedside. Every day, especially in recent days, he would come to thank her, and she would answer the same thing every time. This made Chu Changge's heart feel upset. Couldn't she show a little bit of care for him? Although he could not remember yesterday's events every time he woke up every day, he remembered her. At first, it was her face, then her name, and then his feelings for her. It was very inexplicable, wonderful, but very natural feelings.
But she, it seemed, was unwilling to even say one more word to him. Chu Changge guessed that his other self had done something to her, and he thought about asking Ye about it, but for some reason, Ye had disappeared recently.
The disappearance of the other Chu Changge was the very thing that had puzzled Murong Yunshu and all those in the know at the Jiugua House. Without warning, Chu Changge no longer travelled at night, and even when he woke up at night, he was still this Brainless Ah Chang who remembered nothing. This was the main reason why Murong Yunshu started writing handwritten notes to help Chu Changge remember things. Now that Chu Changge no longer had a split personality, she believed that he was not far from returning to normal.
The two of them were silent for a while with their thoughts before Chu Changge spoke first, "Are you really not curious about how the Emperor knew what happened here?"
Murong Yunshu gave him a somewhat peculiar look after hearing his words. "I'm not curious."
"Why aren't you curious?" Chu Changge asked.
Murong Yunshu asked instead of answering, "Why should I be curious?"
Chu Changge frowned slightly. "This matter is related to you."
"There are many things that are related to me."
"This matter is out of the ordinary."
Murong Yunshu raised an eyebrow, "How is it out of the ordinary?"
"The Emperor is far away from the capital, yet he knows everything that is happening here, which means he has his spy here. Don't you feel uncomfortable once you have the Emperor's spy around you?" Chu Changge asked coldly, displeased with her attitude. Although she said she was not curious about the Emperor's knowledge of what was going on here, he always felt that she was disinterested in communicating more with him.
"Who says the Emperor has a spy around me?"
"If he didn't put a spy on you, then who told him about this?" Chu Changge asked rhetorically.
"Me."
"Uh." Chu Changge's jaw dropped. He didn't hear it correctly, right? He honestly didn't hear it correctly, right......
Murong Yunshu arched her eyebrow and looked at him without saying anything, but those beautiful eyes clearly said one thing: You did not hear wrong. It was me who told him.
"You......you and him......"
"We are very close." Although they get together less often, the mother and son duo had always gotten along so well.
Chu Changge's face changed as he asked, "Does he mind you getting married again?"
This was a subtle question, but Murong Yunshu understood what he meant. She squinted her eyes in thought and said, "He shouldn't mind me marrying someone else." When one's mother was determined to marry, it didn't matter if it was going to rain. The Emperor had no control over this matter.
"Then why did he......"
"Probably because he doesn't like Li Shaoqing too well." Murong Yunshu said in a light-hearted manner. After unpacking a packet of medicine, she poured it into the medicine jar to continue pounding.
When Chu Changge saw that she did not want to talk about this topic anymore, he asked no more questions. He hung his head in thought for a moment. "What are you fiddling with?" He asked, looking up at the unidentified brown and black lump in the dustpan.
"Medicine." Murong Yunshu said lightly.
"......" He knew it was medicine. The question was what kind of medicine.
"That's the medicine that Murong Meizi got from a quack jianghu practitioner to cure your brainlessness." Yun Si Niang appeared behind Chu Changge with a smile at some point.
When Chu Changge heard that, using his palm, he backhanded her, aiming to strike Yun Si Niang straight at her chest.
Yun Si Niang dodged sideways, then jumped in front of Chu Changge and pointed at his nose. "I was kind enough to answer for you, but you hit me with your palm. What do you mean by this?"
"Brainlessness is not something you can call out for." Chu Changge said coldly.
Yun Si Niang smiled sweetly and said, "The name was for people to call you out. You are not annoyed with the person who created it, but you blame the person who used it. Are you still being reasonable?"
"No." Chu Changge had an incredibly cool expression on his face. [+]
"......" Yun Si Niang couldn't help but roll her eyes. Then she looked at a certain woman watching the show with a calm smile on her face. Yun Si Niang's two eyes almost didn't roll back. If it was someone else's place, she could still say 'mind your husband'. But when it came to Murong Yunshu, it was better not to say anything. Otherwise, if she was bored with nothing to do and genuinely started to teach her husband, she was afraid that it would be another bloody storm. It was better to keep quiet, just to be on the safe side.
Yun Si Niang moved back a few steps with a feeling of concern and asked, "What do you want to see me about?"
"I've heard that you've been running to the warehouse a lot lately." Murong Yunshu glanced at her indifferently and spoke slowly.
Ugh. I have been discovered. Yun Si Niang moved back a few steps, squeezed out an extremely flattering smile on her face and said, "I'm just worried that someone will steal your precious treasure......."
Murong Yunshu: "You are worried that no one will steal them, right?"
"What are you saying, Murong Meizi! I am such an upright and loyal person. How could I have that kind of bad thoughts? I am just worried that someone will steal the treasure. Really." Although she didn't have the guts to steal it, she couldn't take advantage of others. "And, ah, I've also found out a major problem."
"What?"
"There are people hanging around the warehouse."
"It's a warehouse and not a graveyard. It's normal for people to be out there." Murong Yunshu looked uninterested.
"Those people are not ordinary people!" Yun Si Niang said, "They are all highly skilled in martial arts. If my guess is correct, they are hitting on the warehouse. A few of them also look a bit familiar, similar to those who came to the brothel to......" Halfway through her sentence, Yun Si Niang looked cautiously at Chu Changge.
"He can't even remember who he is, so how can he remember he had drunk flower wine? Just say it."
It was a true statement, but it was strange to hear it coming from her mouth. Chu Changge always felt that her focus was not on his memories but him drinking flower wine. Chu Changge frowned slightly, "I don't like those who put on that kind of rouge and vulgar powder."
Without waiting for Murong Yunshu to say anything, Yun Si Niang rushed to speak, "You said you don't like it, but you still go there?" After saying that, she quickly jumped behind Murong Yunshu to hide. She took the warning from the overturned cart in front.
This time, Chu Changge did not send her a direct slap but pondered for a little while before he said, "If I did go there, then it must be for another purpose." Although he had no memory of it, he knew himself. Something like visiting a brothel was the most disgraceful thing to do in his life.
Murong Yunshu did not comment but only raised an eyebrow and said to Yun Si Niang, "Go on."
Yun Si Niang flinched for a moment and then said, "A few of them I had seen in the brothel. After I described their appearance to Li Wunai, he also thought they were the same people." Li Wunai had been soliciting customers in the brothel for quite a long time, so he certainly couldn't be mistaken.
If the truth were as Yun Si Niang had said, everything here would be a sham. The various faces of the jianghu people, the tense situation with swords drawn, were all illusions deliberately created by someone, and their primary purpose was the warehouse. But there was nothing but silver in it. Why would the jianghu people, who had always treated money as worldly possessions and despised merchants who regard money as their life, be so calculating for the sake of silver?
Murong Yunshu pondered, connecting the dots in her head, and after a few moments, it finally dawned on her. It turned out that the one who wanted the silver was someone else.
Yun Si Niang noticed that Murong Yunshu had not spoken for a long time. She was about to ask her how she felt about this issue when she suddenly saw a murderous glint spilling out of her face, sending a chill down her spine. "Murong Meizi, you, you're not trying to kill me, are you?"
Murong Yunshu gave her a strange look. "Why would I want to kill you?"
"To shut me up." Yun Si Niang lifted her wide sleeve and said with an exaggerated fake sob, "I know so many of your secrets and have even entered your warehouse. You must want to kill me to silence me. So that I can bring the secrets in the warehouse into my coffin."
Murong Yunshu rolled her eyes at her. "Firstly, to keep the secrets of the warehouse from leaking out, the person whom I should silence is Mister Shi Er, not you; secondly, there are many ways to shut you up without killing you; lastly, even if I have to kill you, I will not do it myself. Many people in the jianghu will gladly do it themselves."
"......Murong Menzi, can you be more subtle? You're honestly lacking virtue for poking at people's vital points with every word you say."
Murong Yunshu's dark eyebrows slightly moved. "I had already accumulated a lot of virtue when I rebuilt Shaolin Temple. It doesn't matter if I lack a little bit in your case."
"......" Yun Si Niang held back the mouthful of black blood in her chest and said, "Although you are unkind, I cannot be unrighteous. From what you're saying, you don't seem to know that the warehouse is already empty, and there's nothing left inside." She had previously thought that Murong Yunshu had hidden the silver because she knew she would be visiting the many generations of silver in the warehouse. Or perhaps Murong Yunshu had long been aware of the enemy's plot and had used the empty city trick. But now, it seemed that she had guessed wrong.
"What did you say?!" Murong Yunshu only felt a hot stream of water rushing from her chest, and her mind went blank.
"You don't know about it yet, huh." Yun Si Niang said, "There isn't a single copper coin left in the warehouse."
In an instant, Murong Yunshu felt that the sky and the moon were spinning, and her eyes went black, but the mouthful of blood in her chest, which she had been holding back, spurt out in the end.
"Zhen did make a clear observation on this matter." Chu Murong said coldly.
Minister Li lowered his head at his words and said no more. Although the Emperor's birth had always been a mystery among the people and even in the Imperial Court, he, one of the key officials who had gone south to Jinling to welcome the new Emperor, knew all about it. The Emperor was neither a true dragon son sent from heaven nor Wen Quxing who popped out of a stone, but the direct grandson of Emperor Tiancheng. The Emperor's father was Chu Changge, the once-popular Leader of the Mojiao Sect. His mother was Murong Yunshu, the young mistress of the first under heaven residence, Murong Mansion.
When Chu Murong saw that Minister Li did not admit his guilt or cry out for justice, the corners of his mouth curled up in a cold smile. He said indifferently, "Since Zhen remembers that my dear courtier is already old, Zhen grants special permission for my dear courtier to retire and return to my dear courtier's native place."
Minister Li's jaw dropped at these words. His face was full of disbelief, and he even suspected that his ears were ringing and he was hallucinating. The Imperial Court ministers were willing to submit sincerely to such a young Emperor because they feared his parents. Minister Li also did not dispute this decision, and that was precisely why. But he did not fear what the Emperor might do to him. His connections in the Imperial Court were so with twisted roots and gnarled branches that he had friends and disciples from the first-ranking ministers to the ninth-ranking minor court official. It would be like pulling one hair, making the whole body move. He believed that the young prince who just came out of his thatched cottage would not do anything to him and would at most reprimand him a few times.
But he never imagined that he had been underestimating the child Emperor's boldness.
This soft blow to the head dumbfounded Minister Li that he was at a loss as to how to react. How could he forget that even though Chu Murong was young, he was still the one wearing the Dragon Robe and sitting on the Dragon Chair? To an eight-year-old child, to bring a Minister of Revenue under control might be just a fantasy. But to an Emperor, life and death were but a word. Even if it was a child's word, it was still an Imperial Decree that one must not disobey. If the child Emperor wanted him to live, he could not die, and if the child Emperor wanted him to die, he could not live.
*
The next day, above the courtroom. A dozen officials, large and small, petitioned together for orders to reinstate Minister Li. Chu Murong rejected them all.
On the third day, they continued to present a petition on the matter, and he continued to reject them.
On the fourth day, the petition was still being rejected.
On the fifth day, the petition was still being rejected.
On the sixth day, Chu Murong no longer rejected the petition but threw the ten or so folds of the petition down instead, while growling, "Whoever cannot let go of Old Li, Zhen will allow him to retire along with him!"
The noble face of the child Emperor was full of anger, causing everyone in the Imperial Court to lay down their flags and still their drums on their request.
Inside the Minister's residence, Minister Li was as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof, becoming too agitated to sit or stand.
"Look what a good son you have!" Minister Li scolded angrily and bitterly.
Wang Shi, the Minister's wife, returned in a rather unfair tone instead, "He's your son too. I didn't give birth to him alone."
"You!" Minister Li was so angry that his fingers trembled. He pointed his finger at Wang Shi for a long moment before he hatefully withdrew his hand and shouted, "Someone, bring the Young Master back to me!"
*
Soon, word of Minister Li being forced to retire spread through the great streets and small alleys and the Jiugua House. However, the rumour only said that Minister Li's son had broken the law and committed crimes by snatching someone's daughter in a town. The Emperor was angry at Minister Li's incompetence in teaching his son. His Majesty was going to dismiss him from his official position. Still, remembering his merits to the court, he did not tear his face in front of the world, allowing him to retire, without even mentioning Li Shaoqing's marriage proposal to Murong Yunshu. But everyone guessed that the two events were more or less related, and those in the Jiugua House who knew about them understood the reason for it without the need to think about it. Take Lu-er, for example.
"The little Young Master is so domineering!"
"The little Young Master is so domineering!"
"The little Young Master is so domineering!"
......
......
Lu-er's face had a starry-eyed infatuation appearance as she repeated the same sentence non-stop and had a tendency to go on in an infinite loop.
Murong Yunshu: "After following me for so long, haven't you learned anything else to say?"
"......anything else to say cannot express my admiration for the Young Master."
"Then change the order."
"......"
"If not, changing your tone will do."
"......" Lu-er wanted to say something but squirmed for a long time before saying, "Miss, don't you feel strange at all? The Young Master is far away in the capital. How could he know what is happening here?"
Murong Yunshu didn't even raise her head at her words and answered indifferently, "It's not that strange."
It's not that strange? That's it? You're not even showing any concern for this? Even if you didn't care, the least you could do was speculate in the spirit of gossip. This is the Jiugua House. There's undoubtedly more to it than gossip. The more Lu-er thought about it, the more powerless she became. She couldn't help but sigh. Why was Miss so disinterested in the little Young Master's affairs now? Was she planning to go beyond the three realms by flying on a crane to the Western Paradise......that was wrong. It should be sprouted wings to become an immortal……sprouted wings to become an immortal. No matter how much Miss didn't care about the affairs of human life, she wouldn't even save out her breath. But Lu-er wondered if immortals still need to breathe......[T/C]
"Miss." Lu-er spoke cautiously, "Is......the matter of Guye forgetting you too much of a blow to you......that you......"
"No." Murong Yunshu interrupted her directly and gave her a scornful glance in the process. "If you are too idle, you should go to the warehouse and count the silver. Don't guess blindly."
"Uh......" Lu-er's face looked like she had eaten a fly, "Miss, I don't have that kind of hobby."
Murong Yunshu: "You can cultivate it slowly."
Lu-er turned speechless. She went silent for a while before quietly saying, "It's not my silver. It will only make me feel sick at heart if I count them too much."
For the first time, Murong Yunshu heard Lu-er speak in such a grieving tone that she could not help but stop pounding the mortar and look up at her. "What are you being so sad about?"
"Just think about it, Miss. There is so much silver, but it's not your own. Won't you feel sad? I didn't think my life was so miserable, but when I think that I can't even fit a crack in the warehouse with all my belongings, I feel like a failure......pretty much a failure......" Lu-er said, getting even sadder. She finally let out a long sigh as she asked, "Miss, am I a failure as a human being?"
"Nothing of the sort." Murong Yunshu stated, "I have long prepared a dowry for you, a very generous dowry. You will become a rich woman as soon as you get married."
"Really?!" Lu-er's eyes instantly lit up, and then there was dullness as she said, "I don't want to get married."
"Don't worry. With this dowry, you will get married in another three years. Whenever you want to get married, just let me know. I will ask a matchmaker to come and talk to you about your marriage. Or if you have any ideas of your own, you can talk about them too."
Lu-er's eyes welled up at these words that she almost cried. She bowed her head and whispered, "I won't marry anyone. I'll stay with Miss for the rest of my life."
"Alright. Since you don't want to marry, I will leave the stewardess position open for you. I'll find a husband that will marry into our household for you when that time comes."
"Miss......" Lu-er couldn't hold back her tears any longer. How fortunate she was to have followed such a loving and righteous Master.
Murong Yunshu: "Alright. Go to the front and call Yun Si Niang here. I'm looking for her for something."
"Oh." Lu-er wiped her tears as she walked, afraid of being seen as a joke.
As soon as Lu-er left, Brainless Ah Chang appeared. Brainless Ah Chang was the 'elegant name' given to Chu Changge by Murong Yunshu. Chu Changge had fought against this name but failed to win the struggle in the end.
"Disagree? Fine. Gather everyone together for a meeting and vote on it." These were Murong Yunshu's exact words. Chu Changge originally thought that such an unethical and unpleasant name as 'Brainless Ah Chang' would attract opposition from everyone, but to his surprise, the result was just the opposite. No matter how much he tried to force them, all of them unanimously went to Murong Yunshu's side, all with the expression that the name sounded good, making him suffer a real loss. What was even more bizarre was, when he accused Murong Yunshu of using underhanded tricks to bribe the audience, she not only admitted openly but also admonished him, "You can also bribe them if you have money."
If he had the money, he would have bought the Jiugua House and kicked out those idle people who had nothing better to do than jumping around!
Chu Changge was so angry when he thought of this that he had just lost his mother's expression no matter whom he faced these days. But for some reason, when he saw Murong Yunshu, the corners of his mouth would twitch incessantly, a contradictory product of physically wanting to put on a smile but not being able to smile emotionally. At this moment, the corners of Chu Changge's mouth were still in this contradictory state.
Murong Yunshu would be in a good mood whenever she saw Chu Changge's comical expression of wanting to smile but couldn't emotionally smile, and it was the same today. "It looks like you've taken it well." She said as she poured the pounded medicine from the jar into a dustpan to dry. Her mouth curved up pleasantly.
"Thanks." His mouth moved and twitched at the same time.
"No need to thank me. I'm keeping track of the daily happenings for you because I don't want to be grabbed by you every day and asked, 'why are you calling me Brainless Ah Chang'."
"......" Did she have to say that over and over again every day? Chu Changge thought of the record in a handwritten journal by his bedside. Every day, especially in recent days, he would come to thank her, and she would answer the same thing every time. This made Chu Changge's heart feel upset. Couldn't she show a little bit of care for him? Although he could not remember yesterday's events every time he woke up every day, he remembered her. At first, it was her face, then her name, and then his feelings for her. It was very inexplicable, wonderful, but very natural feelings.
But she, it seemed, was unwilling to even say one more word to him. Chu Changge guessed that his other self had done something to her, and he thought about asking Ye about it, but for some reason, Ye had disappeared recently.
The disappearance of the other Chu Changge was the very thing that had puzzled Murong Yunshu and all those in the know at the Jiugua House. Without warning, Chu Changge no longer travelled at night, and even when he woke up at night, he was still this Brainless Ah Chang who remembered nothing. This was the main reason why Murong Yunshu started writing handwritten notes to help Chu Changge remember things. Now that Chu Changge no longer had a split personality, she believed that he was not far from returning to normal.
The two of them were silent for a while with their thoughts before Chu Changge spoke first, "Are you really not curious about how the Emperor knew what happened here?"
Murong Yunshu gave him a somewhat peculiar look after hearing his words. "I'm not curious."
"Why aren't you curious?" Chu Changge asked.
Murong Yunshu asked instead of answering, "Why should I be curious?"
Chu Changge frowned slightly. "This matter is related to you."
"There are many things that are related to me."
"This matter is out of the ordinary."
Murong Yunshu raised an eyebrow, "How is it out of the ordinary?"
"The Emperor is far away from the capital, yet he knows everything that is happening here, which means he has his spy here. Don't you feel uncomfortable once you have the Emperor's spy around you?" Chu Changge asked coldly, displeased with her attitude. Although she said she was not curious about the Emperor's knowledge of what was going on here, he always felt that she was disinterested in communicating more with him.
"Who says the Emperor has a spy around me?"
"If he didn't put a spy on you, then who told him about this?" Chu Changge asked rhetorically.
"Me."
"Uh." Chu Changge's jaw dropped. He didn't hear it correctly, right? He honestly didn't hear it correctly, right......
Murong Yunshu arched her eyebrow and looked at him without saying anything, but those beautiful eyes clearly said one thing: You did not hear wrong. It was me who told him.
"You......you and him......"
"We are very close." Although they get together less often, the mother and son duo had always gotten along so well.
Chu Changge's face changed as he asked, "Does he mind you getting married again?"
This was a subtle question, but Murong Yunshu understood what he meant. She squinted her eyes in thought and said, "He shouldn't mind me marrying someone else." When one's mother was determined to marry, it didn't matter if it was going to rain. The Emperor had no control over this matter.
"Then why did he......"
"Probably because he doesn't like Li Shaoqing too well." Murong Yunshu said in a light-hearted manner. After unpacking a packet of medicine, she poured it into the medicine jar to continue pounding.
When Chu Changge saw that she did not want to talk about this topic anymore, he asked no more questions. He hung his head in thought for a moment. "What are you fiddling with?" He asked, looking up at the unidentified brown and black lump in the dustpan.
"Medicine." Murong Yunshu said lightly.
"......" He knew it was medicine. The question was what kind of medicine.
"That's the medicine that Murong Meizi got from a quack jianghu practitioner to cure your brainlessness." Yun Si Niang appeared behind Chu Changge with a smile at some point.
When Chu Changge heard that, using his palm, he backhanded her, aiming to strike Yun Si Niang straight at her chest.
Yun Si Niang dodged sideways, then jumped in front of Chu Changge and pointed at his nose. "I was kind enough to answer for you, but you hit me with your palm. What do you mean by this?"
"Brainlessness is not something you can call out for." Chu Changge said coldly.
Yun Si Niang smiled sweetly and said, "The name was for people to call you out. You are not annoyed with the person who created it, but you blame the person who used it. Are you still being reasonable?"
"No." Chu Changge had an incredibly cool expression on his face. [+]
"......" Yun Si Niang couldn't help but roll her eyes. Then she looked at a certain woman watching the show with a calm smile on her face. Yun Si Niang's two eyes almost didn't roll back. If it was someone else's place, she could still say 'mind your husband'. But when it came to Murong Yunshu, it was better not to say anything. Otherwise, if she was bored with nothing to do and genuinely started to teach her husband, she was afraid that it would be another bloody storm. It was better to keep quiet, just to be on the safe side.
Yun Si Niang moved back a few steps with a feeling of concern and asked, "What do you want to see me about?"
"I've heard that you've been running to the warehouse a lot lately." Murong Yunshu glanced at her indifferently and spoke slowly.
Ugh. I have been discovered. Yun Si Niang moved back a few steps, squeezed out an extremely flattering smile on her face and said, "I'm just worried that someone will steal your precious treasure......."
Murong Yunshu: "You are worried that no one will steal them, right?"
"What are you saying, Murong Meizi! I am such an upright and loyal person. How could I have that kind of bad thoughts? I am just worried that someone will steal the treasure. Really." Although she didn't have the guts to steal it, she couldn't take advantage of others. "And, ah, I've also found out a major problem."
"What?"
"There are people hanging around the warehouse."
"It's a warehouse and not a graveyard. It's normal for people to be out there." Murong Yunshu looked uninterested.
"Those people are not ordinary people!" Yun Si Niang said, "They are all highly skilled in martial arts. If my guess is correct, they are hitting on the warehouse. A few of them also look a bit familiar, similar to those who came to the brothel to......" Halfway through her sentence, Yun Si Niang looked cautiously at Chu Changge.
"He can't even remember who he is, so how can he remember he had drunk flower wine? Just say it."
It was a true statement, but it was strange to hear it coming from her mouth. Chu Changge always felt that her focus was not on his memories but him drinking flower wine. Chu Changge frowned slightly, "I don't like those who put on that kind of rouge and vulgar powder."
Without waiting for Murong Yunshu to say anything, Yun Si Niang rushed to speak, "You said you don't like it, but you still go there?" After saying that, she quickly jumped behind Murong Yunshu to hide. She took the warning from the overturned cart in front.
This time, Chu Changge did not send her a direct slap but pondered for a little while before he said, "If I did go there, then it must be for another purpose." Although he had no memory of it, he knew himself. Something like visiting a brothel was the most disgraceful thing to do in his life.
Murong Yunshu did not comment but only raised an eyebrow and said to Yun Si Niang, "Go on."
Yun Si Niang flinched for a moment and then said, "A few of them I had seen in the brothel. After I described their appearance to Li Wunai, he also thought they were the same people." Li Wunai had been soliciting customers in the brothel for quite a long time, so he certainly couldn't be mistaken.
If the truth were as Yun Si Niang had said, everything here would be a sham. The various faces of the jianghu people, the tense situation with swords drawn, were all illusions deliberately created by someone, and their primary purpose was the warehouse. But there was nothing but silver in it. Why would the jianghu people, who had always treated money as worldly possessions and despised merchants who regard money as their life, be so calculating for the sake of silver?
Murong Yunshu pondered, connecting the dots in her head, and after a few moments, it finally dawned on her. It turned out that the one who wanted the silver was someone else.
Yun Si Niang noticed that Murong Yunshu had not spoken for a long time. She was about to ask her how she felt about this issue when she suddenly saw a murderous glint spilling out of her face, sending a chill down her spine. "Murong Meizi, you, you're not trying to kill me, are you?"
Murong Yunshu gave her a strange look. "Why would I want to kill you?"
"To shut me up." Yun Si Niang lifted her wide sleeve and said with an exaggerated fake sob, "I know so many of your secrets and have even entered your warehouse. You must want to kill me to silence me. So that I can bring the secrets in the warehouse into my coffin."
Murong Yunshu rolled her eyes at her. "Firstly, to keep the secrets of the warehouse from leaking out, the person whom I should silence is Mister Shi Er, not you; secondly, there are many ways to shut you up without killing you; lastly, even if I have to kill you, I will not do it myself. Many people in the jianghu will gladly do it themselves."
"......Murong Menzi, can you be more subtle? You're honestly lacking virtue for poking at people's vital points with every word you say."
Murong Yunshu's dark eyebrows slightly moved. "I had already accumulated a lot of virtue when I rebuilt Shaolin Temple. It doesn't matter if I lack a little bit in your case."
"......" Yun Si Niang held back the mouthful of black blood in her chest and said, "Although you are unkind, I cannot be unrighteous. From what you're saying, you don't seem to know that the warehouse is already empty, and there's nothing left inside." She had previously thought that Murong Yunshu had hidden the silver because she knew she would be visiting the many generations of silver in the warehouse. Or perhaps Murong Yunshu had long been aware of the enemy's plot and had used the empty city trick. But now, it seemed that she had guessed wrong.
"What did you say?!" Murong Yunshu only felt a hot stream of water rushing from her chest, and her mind went blank.
"You don't know about it yet, huh." Yun Si Niang said, "There isn't a single copper coin left in the warehouse."
In an instant, Murong Yunshu felt that the sky and the moon were spinning, and her eyes went black, but the mouthful of blood in her chest, which she had been holding back, spurt out in the end.
