Chapter 83 You Have to Win Me Over Before You Pursue Her
this!
Li Jing quickly braced Lin Dong's arms. He looked at his brother with a surprised and uncertain expression.
What does it mean to "transfer the household registration"?
He had initially thought this banquet was merely to solidify the alliance between the two families, but it turned out Lin Dong had other motives. Knowing he'd been tricked, he was somewhat displeased. However, since the person opposite him was his own brother, Li Jing could only suppress his displeasure and ask, "Why bring this up all of a sudden?"
"Although I am just a commoner, I have heard quite a bit about the king's recent temperament. Even the emperor's confidants have to worry about their heads day and night, let alone my Lin family, who are just offering food to the palace."
Lin Dong, helped to his seat by Li Jing, continued, “We are like ants, most afraid that one wrong step will lead to another, and the slightest carelessness will cost us our heads. Being selected is fate, and the imperial decree cannot be disobeyed. Yue’e and I can only comfort ourselves with the thought that ‘life and death are preordained, and wealth and honor are determined by heaven.’ But Pingyu is still so young, and Yue’e and I are really unwilling to let her bear the risks with us. So, I was thinking of asking you, elder brother, to help transfer my daughter’s household registration out of the Lin family, so that if there is any trouble in the future, she will not be implicated.”
Li Jing understood Lin Dong's meaning.
In fact, Lin Dong's concerns were not without merit. After all, the king was indeed becoming increasingly tyrannical, and the blood flowing from the palace could nourish a riverbed.
The remaining three people in the main hall stared at Li Jing, awaiting his response. Li Jing pondered for a moment, then looked up at him and said, "Do you know that the Imperial Kitchen has a new batch of staff today? The old ones were almost all wiped out this morning. When the king held the morning banquet, Daji took a few bites and, dissatisfied, started a fight. To please her, the king massacred the Imperial Kitchen, including all those who prepared food in Chaoge. It is said that the head cook who provided your family with the snacks possessed supernatural abilities, which is why the king showed you mercy."
Compared to Lin Dong's deliberately lowered voice, Li Jing's voice was not soft. His volume could penetrate the walls and be heard by ears pressed against the door.
The slaves outside the door looked troubled, unsure of what to do as they stared at the girl squatting like a mushroom by the door.
As soon as Ping Yu arrived at the main hall, he heard Li Jing talking about a shocking secret, and immediately bent down to eavesdrop openly.
She thought: It seems that the snacks from our Lin family are quite famous, and we have no shortage of discerning customers. But what exactly does this so-called "miracle" refer to?
While Pingyu pondered this, the slaves outside were exchanging glances.
They were ordered to guard the area again and not allow any outsiders to approach.
If they are not stopped now, they will certainly be punished.
The two hesitated between offending Pingyu and offending the two leaders, and finally decided to obey the latter's orders.
Male slave: "Miss, the master, mistress, and guests are all waiting for you in the main hall!"
Pingyu's hair instantly stood on end, and she looked over in disbelief: You two look so honest, how come you're so cunning?! You even dared to sell me!
The two slaves deliberately raised their voices, and then looked at the sky and the ground, staring at each other in a tense and uneasy manner.
It's my duty, I'm sorry, miss!
Their voices alerted the people inside the house.
The adults exchanged glances and wisely ended the conversation.
Xue Yue'e got up and opened the door.
Still reeling from the "betrayal," Pingyu was caught off guard by the open door. She was still bent over, looking furtive. Faced with her mother's condescending, ambiguous expression, Pingyu gave a guilty, dry laugh. She quickly straightened up, straightened her clothes, and bowed to each of them.
"Uncle, Aunt, Father, Mother."
After calling everyone over one by one, Ping Yu closed the door behind her. She sat down in her chair and urged Li Jing to continue the conversation: "Uncle Li, what strange thing? What strange thing did you see?"
She stood with her legs together, striking a demure pose. Li Jing couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the girl looking at him like a cat. He had initially thought Pingyu was too flamboyant for a girl, somewhat annoying. But after Nezha's death, she became pleasing and endearing—truly, one is influenced by one's surroundings. With Nezha's inkstone gone, Pingyu had returned to her white state. Li Jing nodded, agreeing with her, "I didn't see it myself; I heard it from my colleagues. Apparently, a steward obtained the tongue of the steward who came to cause you trouble. He begged for mercy when he was about to be executed, stealing the limelight from the king."
Wang Shanzai's tongue?
The main hall has been cleaned up, and the animal hide blankets that were previously soaked with blood have been replaced with new ones. There's no sign of anyone having died in the entire room. But just a few days ago, Pingyu was in the same spot where she is now. Several images flashed before her eyes, finally settling on Wang Shanzai's mouth as he rose from the dead.
At that time, she was puzzled as to why Wang Shanzai had lost his tongue, but as the incident subsided, Pingyu put this question out of her mind.
Now that Li Jing brought up the matter again, Pingyu recalled the lost item after learning that it was in Chaoge.
This means that on the night the corpse rose, when Nezha confronted her, he admitted that he was responsible for it. In other words, Wang Shanzai's tongue was also pulled out by him.
While she was brainstorming, Li Jing continued, "Leaving aside Wang Shugen's character, he is indeed quite skilled in food because of this tongue. In the past, he was in charge of the king's meals; he would only present them to the king if he thought they were acceptable, and if he didn't, his subordinates would die. Now, the person who has taken over Wang Shugen's tongue is named Xu Yu. Since he has obtained the other's tongue, he naturally has to take over the responsibilities left behind by Wang Shugen. Your snacks are indeed very good, and they were presented by Xu Yu, which is why the king spared your lives."
......
Even after leaving the main hall, Pingyu was still thinking about what Li Jing had said.
The Lin residence was brightly lit at night, and the long table was laden with delicacies.
The musician played music, the singer sang songs, and the two men in the room clinked glasses.
The candlelight shone on Pingyu's face, making her expression unclear.
If you look closely, you'll notice that the girl's expression is subtle.
Connecting the dots, Pingyu suddenly realized that his family had been saved by Nezha twice throughout the whole affair.
First, after Wang Shanzai was killed, he resurrected his body and left him to die outside. Then, he pulled out the man's tongue and sent it to Chaoge, indirectly saving his family's life.
Nezha's strengths became apparent at this moment.
Although he acts bluntly and rudely, he is actually very meticulous.
Nezha's meticulousness can weave a net, unknowingly encompassing everyone within it, allowing him to hunt and capture them all.
Was he planning to clean up the mess ever since he killed Wang Shanzai?
How did Nezha know that the food Xu Yu offered belonged to their family?
All signs pointed to Nezha's flawless strategy.
Pingyu was relieved that his family had survived, but he was also slightly uneasy about Nezha's intelligence.
"It would be quite scary to be targeted by him."
For a hunter, the ultimate end of affection is death. Only when the prey dies can one be truly possessed. Therefore, in the primal instincts of living beings, lust is the most concise form of killing intent. Being liked by such a child made Pingyu feel that his age and experience were completely inadequate.
She thought, "Next time, I'll let Green Robe go offer incense. I'd better not go see him by myself!"
Pingyu hoped that distance would make their relationship fade a little, pull them further apart, and return them to their purest form.
She stared at the delicacies on the table, showing no intention of touching her chopsticks. A maidservant beside her poured drinks into her round cup from a copper kettle.
Water surged up from the bottom of the cup, almost overflowing.
A sharp "Achoo!" was heard, followed by the man's scream: "It's overflowing!!!"
In the desolate Nezha Palace on Cuiping Mountain, a man sat crookedly.
Nezha, whose danger level in Ping Yu's mind had risen another notch, sneezed. He was completely unaware of the changes his actions had brought to the Lin family, nor did he know that the food Xu Yu presented was a local specialty of the Lin household. He felt like he was talking about himself, and that either Ping Yu or someone who disliked him was right. However, Nezha had no time to care about any of that, because he was standing on the table, expressionlessly watching the man on the ground.
The man was greasy all over; he was the Taoist priest who had taken Nezha away.
The boy asked, "Aren't you afraid of being punished by heaven for eating the offerings from the temple?"
The Taoist paused in his act of sipping wine and taking the offerings. He looked up and said with a smile, "What am I afraid of offerings to you? These offerings were all prepared by my future little disciple. What's wrong with eating a little?"
Nezha:
The boy, unable to bear it any longer, retorted: "I pursued her, not you."
"No, no," the Taoist waved his hand, "How can you arrange a marriage with her if you don't try to please me?"
Nezha couldn't take it anymore.
Is this person really Pingyu's master?! He glared at him angrily, thinking, "How can someone like this teach others?"
He considered himself a reasonably decent person, so he took a few deep breaths. Because Taiyi Zhenren had dealings with this man, Nezha at least refrained from uttering any more insults. He forced out the question through gritted teeth: "When are you leaving?"
This man is guarding this place, preventing him from sneaking back to Chentang Pass.
The Taoist priest ate the fruit and said, "I will leave whenever her life comes to a critical moment."
After saying that, he earnestly advised, "Your master asked me to take good care of you. I think you should just stay here and receive offerings. My disciple won't run away. You two will meet again if you are destined to."
Nezha ignored him and flashed back into his golden body.
He knew he had two palaces here, one of which was built by the Lin family. This Taoist had told Ping Yu where he was going; Ping Yu would surely come to Cuiping Mountain to see him soon! However… he activated his spiritual power within his golden body, and Little Grey outside the temple suddenly opened its eyes. It spread its wings and flew towards Chen Tang Pass. Inside the palace, the Taoist, munching on a peach, gave a soft hum and made a hand seal. A sliver of azure light merged with the moonlight, penetrating the pigeon's body like a needle.
The candlelight flickered inside the temple, affecting the two men who were already quite tipsy. As Lin Dong and Li Jing clinked their glasses, their faces were blurred in the shadows.
Li Jing patted Lin Dong on the shoulder and solemnly said, "Be careful in everything you do."
In military campaigns, too many unexpected things can happen. Lin Dong's eyes welled up with tears as he embraced Li Jing, saying, "Brother, you will surely return victorious!"
What's burning?
She lowered her head and raised her cup to drink, but saw a shadow reflected on the water swooping down toward her.
As it drew closer, the feathers became clearer.
It's Little Grey! Pingyu recognized it.
She quickly reached out and hugged Little Grey.
The moment the little animal's warmth enveloped him, the initial wariness towards Nezha vanished.
They were truly good friends, their bond running deep. Pingyu stroked the pigeon's downy feathers, muttering, "I wonder what Nezha is doing now..."
The full moon hung high in the sky; this seemed to be the only sight the two could see together.
Pingyu and Nezha, who had just parted ways, could never have imagined that their reunion would take so long and be so tragic.
After the singer finished her last song, the banquet was over.
The men got completely drunk and were carried away by their respective slaves.
Time flows like water, and half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.
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