Chapter 13 isn't about making him believe that you...
Returning to this moment, Hengbo saw several sedan chairs parked in front of the restaurant from the window. She immediately handed over Fenye to Acai as previously arranged. As for herself, she lightly touched the roof beam and hid in a dark room that had been specially made to accommodate one person.
This restaurant is actually a shop under the young master's name, and the "smoke and mirrors" here were naturally told to her by him.
The two men prepared themselves, and before long, they heard voices coming from downstairs. First, a rather old voice asked, "Young man, who are the guests who invited us?"
Then came the waiter's cheerful and pleasant voice: "You're too kind, just call me Xiao Chen. A rather robust-looking young man is coming upstairs and waiting for you all."
A familiar cold laugh reached their ears: "Second Uncle really thinks too highly of me. Besides Ah Cai, who else do I have that I can use?"
“Nephew, there’s no need to belittle yourself. Times have changed. It’s just that your second uncle is getting old and frail, and you don’t want your third uncle to come along. This is a big deal, so I can only put in extra effort.”
Just as the young master had predicted, with his explicit request that the Third Elder not proceed, the Hidden Sword Manor would send out the Second Elder, whose martial arts skills were mediocre.
However, the Second Elder's martial arts skills were only average compared to the First Elder and the Third Elder, but still far superior to the young master's. Moreover, judging from the footsteps, they had brought at least two guards with them on this trip.
With a creak, the Second Elder led his men through the door. As Hengbo judged, besides the young master who was with him, there were two other unfamiliar faces carrying weapons behind him.
One of the guards was holding a frail-looking man nearing forty. The man was thin, with a sorrowful expression, and always looked at the young master with a hesitant gaze. He must be the young master's uncle, Ruan Lin, who was being held hostage.
Another guard, having received a signal from the second master, immediately stepped forward to search the entire room. His actions were rough and direct; whenever he encountered a place where someone could hide, he would either slash with his sword or kick it over. The commotion caused by this ransacking made Ah Cai, who was trying to maintain a calm demeanor, feel his heart leap into his throat. He could only hide his nervousness by constantly eating peanuts, fearing that Hengbo would give himself away.
Fortunately, although the man glanced at the roof beam several times, the hidden structure where Hengbo was hiding was very clever. The connection between the hidden structure and the wall was exactly level with the two spliced templates, so even if he went up to the roof beam and looked closely, he would hardly be able to find him.
After a short while, the man finally stopped searching. He shook his head slightly at the Second Elder and then returned to his side, appearing very well-trained. Upon seeing this, the Second Elder visibly relaxed and even exchanged a few words with Ah Cai, who was listlessly eating peanuts.
“Brother Ah Cai, you’ve become even more majestic and imposing these past few days, quite like your father back in the day.”
Although Ah Cai was a favorite of the young master at Cangjian Manor, he had never been treated with respect by figures like the Second Elder. Now that he knew the other party was an enemy, not a friend, he was not pleased by such praise and felt a chill in his heart. So he looked for help at the young master who was quietly watching everything from the doorway.
The young master was no longer wearing the plain white robe he had borrowed ten taels of silver from Hengbo, but instead a crimson brocade robe with cloud-patterned satin, a silver belt with two fishtails around his waist, and a sword with tiny pigeon-blood rubies inlaid on its hilt hanging to his side. This opulent attire made his originally handsome and refined appearance appear somewhat flamboyant.
A smile played on his lips: "My servant is timid and can't take such praise from you, Uncle. But now that you've finished searching, shouldn't we get down to business?"
The Second Elder, despite being humiliated, showed no sign of anger, demonstrating the man's deep cunning. He nodded cheerfully, "Since my nephew can't wait any longer, let's speak frankly."
"As we agreed before, my dear nephew, you will hand over the night to me, and I will immediately order my men to release your uncle. How about that?"
Ah Cai had no idea about the young master's plan before, but now that he heard it was just a matter of exchanging the night for his uncle, his expression changed drastically. His muscles bulged, his thick eyebrows furrowed tightly, and his eyes, fixed on the Second Elder, burned like flames. "What about the young master? No, we have to release the young master first."
However, the Second Elder looked at him as if he were a child playing around: "Recently, a sudden change has occurred in the manor, and things have been quite chaotic for a while. As the young master of Cangjian Manor, Qingchen naturally has to return to the manor to handle affairs."
The young master looked slightly impatient and interrupted his hypocritical words: "There's no need to say anything more. My uncle is not well, so hurry up and find someone else. According to our previous agreement, Second Uncle, you should release my uncle first, and I will have Ah Cai hand over Fenye to you."
Upon hearing this, the Second Elder stopped talking and gestured to the guard who was controlling Ruan Lin. Without any hesitation, the guard pushed the uncle towards A Cai, who quickly stepped forward to help him up.
Ruan Lin finally spoke the words he had been holding back for so long, his face full of shame and emotion: "Child, it is your uncle who has dragged you down."
When the young master faced his uncle, his attitude became much kinder, but there was a hint of unfinished business in his words: "Uncle, what are you saying? Compared to how you have taken care of Qingchen all these years, what Qingchen has done is not even one ten-thousandth of what you have done."
"Ah Cai, give the sword to the Second Elder."
Ah Cai held Ruan Lin tightly with one hand, and threw the sword to the guard who was eyeing him menacingly. The guard immediately presented the sword to the Second Elder. The Second Elder examined it, nodded in satisfaction, and looked up at the group meaningfully. "Since the deal is done, I will not bother you any longer."
"Let's go, Qingchen."
"Wait a minute," the young master smiled and finally stepped out of the door, naturally walking to Ah Cai's side. Because his expression was so matter-of-fact, the second elder did not stop him for a moment.
"Second Uncle, you should go back first. Qingchen and Uncle haven't seen each other for many days. It's a rare opportunity, how can we not catch up?" As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Ruan Lin, but beneath that gentle smile, there was a hint of barely perceptible murderous intent.
"Qingchen, it's not that your second uncle is unwilling to help you, but if you do this, it will be difficult for your second uncle to explain when you go back." The second elder's voice couldn't help but darken when he saw that Chu Qingchen had gone back on his word.
"Then, Second Uncle, do you think this is enough to complete the task?" As he spoke, he used the same move he had used on the ship when he tried to take Hengbo hostage. This time, however, he pointed his sword at Ruan Lin, who had never practiced martial arts.
"Qing Chen".
"Qing Chen!"
The first sound came from the Second Elder, who was utterly shocked, while the second sound came from the incredulous Ruan Lin.
He looked at the sword at his neck, his surprise genuine, even his lips trembling: "Child, what do you mean by this?"
"What do you mean?" The young master's smile, which had been on his lips since he entered, grew wider and wider, then suddenly turned into sorrow: "Then I would like to ask Uncle, what is the meaning of all this, Uncle?"
“That day, after my father summoned me, I had some doubts and went to ask my uncle. But after that, my father was assassinated. Fortunately, I listened to his advice and didn’t tell you about the night separation, otherwise I’m afraid I wouldn’t be alive today!”
"So, Qingchen, you suspect I killed the Master of the Manor?" Ruan Lin looked heartbroken upon hearing his suspicion. "Qingchen, you know I have no martial arts skills. How could I possibly kill the Master of the Manor? Besides, what good would the Master's death do me?"
“Uncle, of course you can’t kill my father, but what if you’ve already boarded the Third Elder’s pirate ship?” His tone was filled with deep disappointment. “If I had to say before, I would have just been suspicious, but three days ago, I asked you, Uncle, why that woman went to see you before seeing my father, and why she saved me.”
"Uncle, do you still remember what you said that day?"
The young master didn't need his answer and continued speaking on his own: "My uncle said that she is an old friend of my Ruan family."
"But, when dealing with such an old friend, is the uncle's approach simply to push him out as a shield?"
“If I remember correctly, it was on the eighth day that a servant discovered my father had been assassinated in his room. However, what I learned from that woman,” the young master said, his tone becoming more serious, his brows furrowed with sarcasm, “was that she was surrounded and killed on the night of the seventh day under the pretext of assassinating the manor lord.”
"And her residence at that time was arranged by you, Uncle."
"So, Uncle, can you tell me how the Third Elder was able to predict the future?"
Ruan Lin recalled the ambush before spring, a moment of panic flashing across his face, but he immediately denied it, saying, "Perhaps there was some misunderstanding, or maybe that person remembered it wrong."
"Uncle!" The young master's eyes reddened, and he looked like he was about to cry, his heart broken. "Even now, Uncle, are you still going to keep lying to me?"
"In that case, Uncle, please return the manor lord's seal that I secretly gave you three days ago."
"What?" This time, it was the Second Elder who had been watching the show with amusement who exclaimed in surprise. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up, his face full of anger as he questioned Ruan Lin, "The seal is actually in your hands?" He seemed to have already believed it.
The young master immediately gave a bitter smile, not giving Ruan Lin a chance to argue, and accused, "That day, in order to prevent the seal from falling into the hands of the Third Elder, I asked to see my uncle under the pretext of confirming his safety. My real purpose was to bring the manor lord's seal that my father had given me to my uncle, hoping that he could take this opportunity to take the seal out of the manor for future purposes."
He smiled bitterly and said, "If that weren't the case, why would I walk into a trap? Wouldn't it have been more worthwhile to just send Ah Cai to exchange his life for my uncle's?"
The young master's words were sincere and eloquent. Ruan Lin, however, was completely panicked, his mind blank. He didn't even care about the blade at his neck, and shrilly, he explained to the Second Elder, "No! He didn't give me any seal! You must believe me!"
With those words, everything became clear.
The Second Elder muttered under his breath, "Fool!"
Ruan Lin finally realized what was happening. He turned his head inch by inch to look at the young master, and you could even hear the creaking of bones as he moved.
But all she saw was the person in front of her slowly taking out a handkerchief from her bosom with her other hand, wiping away a few tears from the corner of her eye, her voice low and soft, as if carrying an innocent naivety: "Uncle, what do you want the Second Elder to believe in you? You don't want him to believe that you are loyal to them, do you?"
A note from the author:
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I added a few hundred more words to the previous chapter while revising it yesterday. Those of you reading before December 14th can check it out! (Heart emoji)
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