Differences
Bai Qiuliang walked over to He Lizhou, tilted his head to look at him, and mocked him: "Wow, Manager He?"
He Lizhou sensed the malice emanating from him, but remained calm, "Young Master, you'd better behave yourself, or you might get punished by the young lady again."
This was exactly what Bai Qiuliang hated the most. He finally managed to escape and be free, but because he went against He Lizhou, he was caught by his own sister and severely punished. So he sneered and shot back: "Thanks to you!"
He Lizhou's eyes turned and he saw the players who were huddled together and trembling nearby were also looking at this side, with curiosity and fear of being silenced on their faces. He simply stopped confronting Bai Qiuliang to avoid disrupting their judgment of the main plot line.
Bai Qiuliang probably had some restrictions in the copy and guessed what He Lizhou was planning. Although he looked unhappy, he let him leave.
The Bai family still attaches great importance to face. He Lizhou is the chief steward of the Bai family, so he has his own small courtyard, which is well maintained. When he returned to the courtyard, Bai Yimei was already waiting there.
The master of the Bai Mansion is not at home, his wife died early, and the young master is incompetent. The young lady is the one in charge of the mansion. Although the young lady has never been here before, she is involved in all the affairs of the mansion, so the servants were surprised for a moment, but did not care much.
He Lizhou looked at Bai Yimei for a while, with many questions and guesses in his mind, but this was not the place to talk, so he put them aside and just greeted her, "Miss, do you have anything to tell me?"
Bai Yimei knew that this was in a dungeon, and He Lizhou's coming in was probably arranged by the system, so there must be some character requirements, so she didn't spoil it and started asking about things in the mansion. Probably because she knew that He Lizhou probably wouldn't be able to answer, she only asked some common questions, and then started asking about the key points.
"What do the gentlemen in the mansion think?"
He Lizhou could tell that Bai Yimei wanted to discuss countermeasures with him. He had no system requirements on his side, but he didn't know Bai Yimei's situation. Her situation was obviously different from his. She was probably a real dungeon NPC. He didn't know if she had any "killing mission".
He Lizhou followed his character and carefully inquired about the master's thoughts: "What does the young lady think? Do you think they are not capable enough? Should I send them away and replace them with another group?"
Bai Yimei was not used to He Lizhou's behavior, so she started to add character to He Lizhou, "You are the talented person my father invited back, and I still need your guidance. Although those people failed to fulfill their responsibilities last night, they can be forgiven. We can make up for their mistakes later."
He Lizhou blinked his eyelashes lightly and understood the meaning of Bai Yimei's words. Bai Yimei had no restrictions and hinted to him that she could give the players some slack.
It would be best if we could reduce casualties. He Lizhou thought for a moment and said, "Then I will follow the gentlemen and show them what is happening in the mansion."
Bai Yimei nodded, "I have to go to the shop tomorrow. If Bai Qiuliang is not honest, the steward can punish him. The steward will be responsible for entertaining the gentlemen."
…
Wu Guyun was holding a thin piece of paper in his hand. He was a player with invisibility skills. He was squatting on the beam of Manager He's room and heard the conversation between the two people.
After reading it, Wu Guyun frowned and thought for a while before hesitating and saying, "It seems to me that there is something unusual between this Miss Bai and Steward He. Their conversation seems more like a discussion between peers, not like the master giving orders to the steward."
Thinking of the glance between Miss Bai and Steward He last night, and Young Master Bai's inexplicable hostility towards Steward He today, Zhong Sunyuan suddenly realized, "Could it be that they are a pair of star-crossed mandarin ducks?"
He thought of a beginning, and his imagination ran wild. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was the case. "Miss Bai and Steward He secretly fell in love, but something happened to the Bai family's shop. Mr. Bai wanted to send Miss Bai to marry a rich old man. Miss Bai didn't want to, so she and Steward He planned this haunted drama, just to elope with them while the house was in chaos!"
Wu Guyun didn't believe it at first, but the male players all swore that Master Bai's attitude was indeed wrong, so he hesitated again, "Could it be true?"
To be honest, the system had no precedent for such a main line, but Zhong Sunyuan's explanation was so coherent that several players even nodded in agreement, so Wu Guyun had no choice but to put this possibility on the list of alternatives.
"Didn't Manager He say that he would take us to visit the mansion tomorrow? We can ask them tomorrow to see if the two really have any feelings for each other."
She paused, "If that Young Master Bai is really so hostile to Steward He, he probably knows something. Maybe we can go ask him. Remember to be careful that he is silenced. Everyone protect him well."
Zhong Sunyuan thought of Bai Qiuliang's appearance and shrank back a little. "Master Bai doesn't look like a normal person. He is crazy. I dare not go to his yard again. If you want to ask, go and ask yourself."
Wu Guyun was speechless after hearing this answer. "You are a grown man, how can you say such things! You are as timid as a mouse! I will ask him tomorrow!"
*
The next day, it was already more than fifty hours into the dungeon. He Lizhou estimated that the players would also be getting anxious, so he ordered dinner early so that everyone could finish eating early and go to visit the garden earlier.
The first stop was naturally the Miss Courtyard in the worst-hit area. He Lizhou led everyone there while answering the players' indirect questions, "Me and the Miss?"
He Lizhou was really confused until the players asked this question. Were the players looking for clues or were they really chatting with him? What was the relationship between the steward and the young lady? Master and servant, what did this have to do with the main storyline?
Although he couldn't figure it out, He Lizhou still answered honestly, because of Bai Yimei's extra words yesterday, He Lizhou's identity also changed slightly, "The young lady and I are naturally master and servant. I was bought by the master to be the steward."
Wu Guyun felt that this identity was not right and did not match He Lizhou's conversation, so he asked: "But Manager He looks like a scholar?"
He Lizhou continued to make up stories: "In the past, my family had some money to support my studies. Later, they fell into poverty and couldn't even afford to eat. So why did I continue my studies? So they sold me off."
Wu Guyun nodded doubtfully. He Lizhou saw out of the corner of his eye that someone was missing from the player's team and didn't know where he had gone, but he didn't pay much attention to it. Perhaps the player himself had a clue.
They chatted all the way, and when they arrived at the young lady's yard, the maids had not started cleaning yet, so they went in.
The players acted in a very condescending manner, and if He Lizhou didn't know their background, he would really be intimidated.
There are not many ghost copies in the system, and He Lizhou happened to have been to one, so it was easy to recognize that the ghosts in this copy were fake, but someone was pretending. As for the mastermind behind it, He Lizhou thought it was probably Bai Qiuliang, but there was no evidence.
Wu Guyun saw He Lizhou standing aside, not knowing whether he was watching them. She quickly went through the people in the Bai Mansion in her mind, Bai Yimei, Bai Qiuliang, Steward He, and Master Bai who did not show up.
She thought about it and added another suspicious person, the Bai Mansion, the largest mansion on this street. If what Zhong Sunyuan said was true, then Miss Bai was probably betrothed to that family.
Wu Guyun thought seriously about whether she should sneak in and take a look tonight, but finally gave up the idea. Not to mention whether she could leave the Bai Mansion without attracting anyone's attention, even if she could leave, how could she be sure of the situation in the mansion? It would be unwise to rush in and die.
When He Lizhou came to his senses, everyone was still wandering around in the yard. Wu Guyun occasionally glanced at him, as if he wanted to go into the house to take a look, but he didn't dare to break in without permission. It was a good thing that the players had a direction to investigate, and He Lizhou would naturally not stop them. Moreover, judging from Bai Yimei's attitude, she didn't regard this place as her home, and wouldn't put anything important there, so He Lizhou readily agreed to let them enter.
The other players were a little afraid, obviously they had not forgotten the tragic scene of Bai Yimei rushing out of the room that night. In the end, Wu Guyun led the way in, and then two female players followed her into the house.
He Lizhou also followed him in. He took a quick look at the furnishings in the room. At first glance, there was nothing unusual, but the furniture was very old and even after being wiped daily, it still looked a little old.
Wu Guyun looked around but didn't find anything wrong. In fact, she really wanted to open the drawer and look around, but He Lizhou was here, and she was somewhat concerned about the "NPC", so she withdrew her hand.
He Lizhou was willing to give her an easy way out, but "Manager He" wouldn't, so he had to go back and tell the servants who were on guard tonight.
Seeing them all gathering together one after another, "We have finished looking at the young lady's yard, and next we will go to the young master's yard."
He Lizhou paused, "There was no ghost last night, it's the young master's turn tonight, everyone check carefully."
He Lizhou didn't know whether they understood what he said. He knew that it was hard to rely on others, so he looked at Wu Guyun, the center of the player team.
Wu Guyun was already a little confused, and then he noticed He Lizhou's gaze. He was shocked and could not believe his own thoughts.
Will NPCs proactively reveal information to players?
Or did the system's specific warning that no one in the palace could be trusted mean that the NPCs would go easy on the players?
Should I trust the system or the NPC?
Wu Guyun fell into doubt. In her opinion, the two were in the same group, so how could there be such a big disagreement?
No matter what, at least it’s a clue. Wu Guyun gritted his teeth and accepted it even if he was cheated!
Bai Qiuliang didn't live here originally, but the ghost stories in the Bai Mansion became more and more serious. Mr. Bai wanted the two siblings to support each other, so he arranged Bai Qiuliang to live next to Bai Yimei's yard. But now it seems that the effect is not very good.
The place Bai Qiuliang lived in before was also carefully decorated. He moved here in a hurry, and the conditions are naturally not as good as his previous courtyard. I wonder if Bai Qiuliang has any complaints.
Wu Guyun shook her head. She didn't find anything unusual. There were supernatural elements in this copy, but she had never obtained the relevant props, which undoubtedly increased the difficulty.
He Lizhou saw the sadness slowly emerging on Wu Guyun's face and guessed that he was stuck, so he asked again: "Gentlemen, do you need to go to the courtyard where the young master used to live and check it out?"
Bai Qiuliang raised his eyes and forced a smile, "Manager He, are you so suspicious of me? Do you want me to take the gentlemen around in person?"
He Lizhou smiled and said, "Miss will check your homework when she comes back, so you should recite it quickly."
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