#151 - A fight with a second-class master
“Crack~”
The faint sound of a mechanism echoed in the sunlit bedroom.
The entrance to the secret passage leading to the hidden room slowly closed, becoming indistinguishable from the surrounding floor tiles.
Wei Changtian returned the chair to its place and plopped down, pouring himself a cup of tea.
That's right, Ning Yuke was hidden in the secret room he had just built in his home.
Originally, the three secret rooms were intended to be used as a storeroom, a meeting hall, and a prison, respectively.
However, in order to accommodate Ning Yuke, he had to modify the prison first and make do with it.
After taking a sip of tea, Wei Changtian recalled Ning Yuke's final kneel.
‘Nujia’...
This self-reference was actually quite common.
Yang Liushi had always referred to herself as ‘Nujia’ in front of him, and so did Li Suyue.
However, women from wealthy families like Lu Jingyao and Liang Qin rarely said it, or at least Wei Changtian had never heard them say it.
After all, with the word ‘nu’ (slave), it implied a sense of inferiority.
But for a princess like Ning Yuke to call herself ‘Nujia’... it felt similar to Ning Yongnian calling himself ‘Nucai’ (slave) when facing him.
So, she has made up her mind...
Wei Changtian sighed, finished his tea in one gulp, and got up to walk outside.
It was almost time for dinner, and smoke was rising from the chimney of the side room.
Although it was already winter, there was still some warmth at noon.
Zhang San had gone out to run errands, and Li Suyue was washing his clothes in the courtyard, occasionally holding the damp clothes up to the sunlight to check if the stains had been cleaned properly.
Yuan'er was teaching Achun how to play ‘Devil Fight’, but the little girl didn't seem very interested, and didn't seem as playful as Wei Qiaoling.
As for Liang Qin and Yang Liushi, who had returned from the Shiwan Mountains again... the two of them were now like good sisters, sitting under the old locust tree in the courtyard talking.
One was smiling, the other was serious, probably because Yang Liushi was teaching some ‘husband-taming techniques’ again.
It must be said that the scene before him was indeed harmonious enough.
No matter how turbulent the world outside the courtyard walls was, this small courtyard had always been so peaceful.
However, just as Wei Changtian shifted his gaze to the gate, the little bit of good mood he had managed to muster vanished instantly.
Standing outside the gate was an old man with a face full of wrinkles, dressed in brocade and silk, his waist slightly bent, his fingers crossed in front of him with a slight orchid finger gesture, and his face full of false smiles.
Just from this expression, Wei Changtian knew at a glance that he was from the palace—
An old eunuch.
“Eunuch Li, please have some tea. I hope you won’t be offended if it’s not good tea.”
In the main hall, Wei Changtian looked at the old eunuch sitting next to him, already knowing the latter's identity.
The chief eunuch of the inner palace, Ning Yongnian's most trusted eunuch, Li Huaizhong.
“Oh, Young Master Wei is too kind.”
Li Huaizhong raised the teacup with his orchid finger gesture, took a sip, and his smile deepened: “Everyone says that the young master is violent, but this old one never believed it.
Having met you today, I know that those rumors from the streets are not to be believed.”
“Haha, thank you for your praise, Eunuch.”
Wei Changtian laughed and casually asked, “Eunuch Li, I wonder why you are in Shu Prefecture?”
“Oh, isn’t it all because of Prince Shun’s matter.”
Li Huaizhong sighed: “After the prince was assassinated, the Emperor was worried that the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple would not investigate the case diligently, so he sent this old one to secretly follow along.”
“I see.”
Wei Changtian nodded and asked again, “Then I wonder why Eunuch has come today...”
“Naturally, it is for Princess Rouan.”
Li Huaizhong's words came somewhat suddenly, but Wei Changtian was prepared for it, so he did not show any unusual reaction.
“Princess Rouan, hasn’t she disappeared?”
“She has disappeared, but the Emperor has always been concerned about the Princess’s safety, so he sent this old one to ask the young master if he knows where the Princess is now?”
“Eunuch, it’s okay if you don’t mention this, but when you do, I get angry!”
Wei Changtian suddenly slammed the table and interrupted unhappily: “To be honest, I had already agreed with the Princess that as long as I removed her scars, she would agree to marry me.”
“As a result, I finally managed to find a spiritual medicine to heal her scars, but who knew that this incident would happen a few days later, damn it, unlucky!”
“...”
After speaking, Wei Changtian seemingly angrily drank a mouthful of tea, but in fact, he was unsure whether his performance could deceive Li Huaizhong.
After all, he was not a professional actor, and his acting skills were still lacking.
Moreover, this old eunuch was particularly difficult to deal with.
The “difficult to deal with” here not only refers to his cunning, but also to his more superficial martial prowess.
According to the original story, although Li Huaizhong had never appeared on any of the various Jianghu rankings, he was actually a deeply hidden Grade Two master, only slightly weaker than Qin Zhengqiu, who had long dominated the top spot on the Black List.
Ning Yongnian is really determined to eliminate the root of the problem, damn it, he even sent a Grade Two master.
Silently cursing in his heart, he slammed the teacup on the table with a “clang”, and Wei Changtian perfunctorily cupped his hands at Li Huaizhong.
“This young one was momentarily失态 (shī tài - lost composure), please forgive me, Eunuch.”
“Hehe, it’s okay.”
Li Huaizhong chuckled, his expression still the same as before.
“I didn’t expect there to be such an entanglement in the middle of it, but the young master doesn’t need to be too discouraged.
The Princess has only disappeared, and if she can be found one day, she might even be able to renew her relationship with the young master, who knows.”
“Eunuch must be joking, right?”
Wei Changtian was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly: “Now everyone in the world is saying that the Princess instructed the Xuantian Society to commit heinous crimes.”
“If this matter is false, then the Princess may have already perished.”
“If this matter is true, then she deserves to die ten thousand times.”
“Even if the Emperor can spare her... does Eunuch think that I can marry such a sinful person?”
“What the young master said is indeed correct.”
Li Huaizhong nodded, but then smiled and said something that Wei Changtian never expected.
“But if this old one tells the young master... that the Princess is neither dead nor has she committed heinous crimes?”
“Hmm?”
His eyes widened slightly, and his body paused for a moment.
In this instant, Wei Changtian's acting skills reached their peak.
Without being overly exaggerated, he still showed the appropriate surprise.
“The Princess is not dead? Nor is she the mastermind? Then why is she unwilling to show herself? Could it be that she was kidnapped by bandits? But haven't all the villains of the Xuantian Society been arrested?”
“...”
Faced with a series of questions, Li Huaizhong was not in a hurry to answer, but instead looked at Wei Changtian with great interest for a while, then suddenly smiled:
“Young Master Wei, ever since you killed Prime Minister Liu, this old one has felt that you are not simple.”
“But I didn’t expect that I still underestimated you.”
“If this old one hadn’t already heard some news, I might have really been fooled by the young master today.”
“...”
Thump!
In an instant, Wei Changtian's mood plummeted like a roller coaster.
The situation had changed drastically, and the current situation was undoubtedly extremely unfavorable for him.
Heard some news?
What news?
This is the same as that sentence asked by the police when interrogating criminals in his previous life— “We have already grasped the evidence of your crime, if you confess now, you can be dealt with leniently.”
Wei Changtian didn't know if Li Huaizhong had really found out something, or if he was trying to trick him.
If he continued to play dumb, the final result would be nothing more than two possibilities.
If Li Huaizhong was trying to trick him, then he would pass by chance.
If Li Huaizhong was not trying to trick him, then he would be marked by Ning Yongnian.
Is it true or false?
The time left for Wei Changtian was very short, no matter how he chose, he had to react immediately, otherwise, it would be tantamount to admitting his guilt without being forced.
Damn it, wait a minute!
Suddenly, Wei Changtian seemed to see something out of the corner of his eye.
In the next moment, he made a decision instantly.
