Chapter 482

"It wasn't me."

Xie Dong must have exaggerated. Xie Zheng is quite old; perhaps he just misses his daughter.

The Taoist priest didn't believe her and sneakily approached her, saying, "I heard you said something in his room that made him act that way."

As he spoke, he stroked his long, black beard. "I'm really curious, what did you do to him that he took sick leave? Xie Dong said that when his wife insisted that he write a letter of divorce, he acted like nothing had happened. My junior brother is really something."

Song Chunxue smiled faintly, "Back then, he was young and could get through anything. Now he's more fragile, and anything can bring him to tears. If only he were a cultivator."

If she had reached this age in her past life, she would have cried twice if she had seen ants carrying things and then knocking them over.

If Xie Zheng had said those words to her, she would have cried too.

"You clearly cut off their hopes?" The Taoist priest was determined to get to the bottom of it. "You didn't leave them any way out?"

“Yes,” Song Chunxue took a bite of the crispy biscuit, picked up the tea canister and poured him a cup of tea, her expression unreadable. “I said I had no romantic feelings for him, and when I held his hand, I felt nothing but gratitude.”

"Huh?" The Taoist priest exclaimed in surprise, "Are you made of wood? You don't feel anything at all?"

Song Chunxue looked at him, "Senior brother, why are you so disappointed? If I were extremely excited, blushing and my heart was pounding, would you be happy when I came out of his room this morning?"

"This..." the Taoist priest chuckled awkwardly, "I know you know what you're doing..."

"No, if I really touch one next time, I might just make it a done deal and become your Daoist partner."

The Taoist priest shook his head slightly, staring into her eyes. "You wouldn't. If you really encountered something like that, you would have run even faster. Perhaps you wouldn't have climbed over the wall to get to this courtyard; you might already be almost at Zhuanglang County by now."

Song Chunxue scoffed, "I won't."

"You're not happy either, are you? How are we going to organize the housewarming banquet tomorrow? Are we still going to invite Lord Xie?"

She was worried when the topic came up. "I don't know. If I had known, I would have talked about it tomorrow. Maybe I should just go back to Zhuanglang County as soon as possible."

“No need for that. I reckon he’ll say he’s too busy with official business and have Xie Dong send over some gifts.” The Taoist priest took a sip of tea. “You can leave tomorrow; it would make you seem guilty.”

Song Chunxue nodded, "Yes, that's right. Shall I go back tomorrow?"

The Taoist priest said irritably, "You heartless bastard, didn't you agree to work with your senior brother to arrange the construction of the Taoist temple?"

Song Chunxue took the bundle, took out a few gold bars from it and handed them to him, "Didn't you say I didn't need to go? You can take these."

The Taoist priest was caught in a dilemma: to accept the offer or not to accept it.

He grumbled angrily, "Fine, go back if you want. In the end, I was the one who misplaced my trust."

Song Chunxue was surprised, "Senior brother, isn't this word used in a different way?"

"Hmm, that's quite fitting for Lord Xie today. Are you going to leave the establishment of the mountain gate to me alone because of such a trivial matter?" The Taoist priest looked displeased. "I was originally counting on you to achieve great things."

That sounds rather unkind.

"Senior brother thinks too highly of me. Shall I go up the mountain and cook for you?"

"No need. I'll send winter clothes tonight and prepare a few dishes for tomorrow's housewarming. I heard you caught the assassin who tried to kill Xie Zheng at the Yang family's house. They'll probably come looking for you. Anyway, prepare a few extra dishes. From now on, be my good junior brother."

"Do more good deeds and cultivate yourself more, practice your swordsmanship diligently, and let things take their course with Lord Xie."

Song Chunxue felt reassured, "That's exactly what I was thinking."

In the afternoon, Song Chunxue bought a lot of paper and cut it into paper money, and bought a bag of yellow paper and folded it into yellow paper.

That evening, she went to the roadside to burn paper money with her two children and the Taoist priest.

They happened to run into Lord Xie returning home. He greeted them with normal pleasantries, as if nothing had happened yesterday.

“We burn paper money during the Ghost Festival in our area, but we don’t pay much attention to the Cold Clothes Festival,” Xie Zheng said, looking at the paper money in their hands. “Xie Dong, go to the paper money shop and buy some to burn.”

The Taoist priest handed him a portion, saying, "No need for trouble, just burn them together. I'll teach you."

Xie Zheng hesitated, "If I just leave like this, won't the offerings I was going to burn for your ancestors fight each other down there?"

The Taoist priest laughed and said, "No, at most they'll curse a couple of times, but we've bought enough anyway."

Afterwards, they knelt by the roadside and one of them drew a circle and burned paper money.

After burning the paper money, they went to the Xie residence together. The second and fourth sons' rooms were not yet ready, so they would stay at the Xie residence tonight.

The Taoist priest and Lord Xie drank and chatted happily. Song Chunxue planned to climb over the wall again to the neighboring courtyard and stay there for the night.

"Sister Song, aren't you going to drink?"

Just as she got up and walked to the door, Xie Zheng's voice came from behind her.

Song Chunxue turned around and noticed that he was wearing a dark, muted blue casual suit, which made his face look somewhat pale.

"I have an upset stomach, so I won't drink. Lord Xie is also injured, so please drink less. I'll go back and rest first."

Xie Zheng lowered his eyes. "Well, let's stay here tonight. It's too cold over there since it's not ready yet."

"..."

“I know you’re good at climbing over walls, but your body isn’t what it used to be. Xie Dong set up two ladders for safety.”

Seeing the Taoist priest biting his hand to suppress a laugh, Song Chunxue said with dissatisfaction, "Did Lord Xie have to expose me to my face?"

“We’re all on the same side.” He turned and poured wine. “Lord Yang will personally come to deliver a gift of thanks tomorrow.”

What brings Lord Yang here? Isn't it enough to present a thank-you gift?

The next day, when Song Chunxue saw Lord Yang smiling broadly and having a box of congratulatory gifts carried by his men, she realized that the man she had kicked unconscious was actually a serious criminal who had been on the run for three years.

"By the way, I also heard that Sister Song offended Wang Can's cousin, Wang Yong. He's a vengeful person, and your son Jiang Yehui might be in trouble. I've already warned Wang Yong about this, but that guy is very vengeful, so we have to deal with it thoroughly."

Song Chunxue's heart tightened, and she quickly thanked him, "Thank you for reminding me, Lord Yang. I will go to see him again."

Lord Yang nodded with a smile, "That's right, you have to be ruthless when dealing with that kind of person. If that doesn't work, just go find Wang Can. Wang Can is very superstitious."

I understand. Lord Yang means that using subtle methods to deal with him is the most appropriate approach.

"Thank you very much, Lord Yang. I will remember your kindness today."

Lord Yang waved his hand, "Lord Xie's friend is my friend too, you're too kind."

Song Chunxue made a special trip to inquire about Wang Yong's address and saw Lord Yang off.

That evening, Song Chunxue asked about the second son.

"Has anyone been bullying you lately? Is it someone working for Wang Yong?"

Jiang Yehui didn't want her to worry, "No, no one's bothering me."

"Then it is. I'm the one who dragged you into this. I'll take care of it tomorrow."

Jiang Yehui looked worried. "How about we let the Taoist priest accompany you?"

"No need. I can't rely on others for everything. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Relying on others is unreliable, and besides, everyone has times when they can't get away from their own affairs.

She has to deal with the mess she made herself.

The next day, Song Chunxue went straight to the Wang family without informing anyone else.

"Aunt Jiang?"

Wang Qing, holding a girl's hand, was somewhat surprised to see Song Chunxue arrive.

"Where's your second uncle? I heard he's been having his men make things difficult for my son lately,"

Wang Qing shook his head and lowered his voice, saying, "Aunt Jiang, you should go back first. Today is not the time."

“Let her in,” Wang Yong said in a long, drawn-out tone, a fierce glint in his eyes. “Now that she’s here, she can’t leave so easily.”