Chapter 2 Rumors circulated that the master was impotent.
Ten thousand taels!!!
Even those who had heard of a reward in the martial arts world offering 200,000 taels of gold for the head of the regent Fu Huaiqing were still astonished upon hearing this sum.
Her previous job, as Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, lasted a little over a month and earned her only eight hundred taels of silver.
Who exactly is this person who can reach ten thousand taels?
You should know that ten thousand taels of silver would be enough for her to build a courtyard and then take over a restaurant to live a carefree life.
My heart pounded wildly like a deer's.
She was tempted.
“This man is the only son of a wealthy merchant in Jingzhou, the only son of eight generations. Those who have been ordered to take his head are mostly desperate criminals who will stop at nothing.” Qing Shan, who has been accompanying his master for many years, said, “There are too many people and too much gossip in the capital. In order to avoid attracting attention, this mission only requires one person.”
Upon hearing this, Biezhi knew it was another matter of secretly protecting someone.
It's unclear who came up with this idea, but they offered a hefty sum to hire an assassin to protect them in order to counter the assassins their nemesis had sent to kill them.
Xianyun Tower was established seventeen years ago and has become the number one tower in the Li Dynasty in just five years. Xianyun Tower has five major pavilions. Among them, Mingyue Pavilion mainly trains secret guards for high-ranking officials and nobles, Shanju Pavilion is used for reconnaissance, Queshan Pavilion is used for poison production, Youxu Pavilion trains archers, and Qingyin Pavilion is used for assassination.
When Biezhi was young, she entered Xianyun Tower and learned martial arts from her master along with her colleagues. According to the custom of Xianyun Tower, everyone in the tower had to make a choice before they came of age.
After careful consideration, Biezhi chose to enter Qingyin Pavilion.
For no other reason than that Qingyin Pavilion offers the highest reward among Xianyun Tower's offerings.
Putting aside the current task, just secretly taking out the assassins who came to take the life of Qin Xiao, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, would earn eight hundred taels of silver.
Ten thousand taels of silver is even rarer.
Ignoring the look her master gave her, Biezhi said, "Biezhi obeys."
The clear and resolute voice echoed in the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, lingering for a long time.
Having not heard a reply for a long time, Biezhi quietly lifted her eyes. The moment her gaze fell on the golden nanmu wood screen with its hundred flowers, it was as if a sharp gaze pierced her, and her knees involuntarily went weak.
She lowered her head, her clear, dark pupils darting around rapidly, their meaning unclear.
"I'll give you three days to think it over before you speak."
Before Biezhi could figure it out, a cold voice pierced the quiet tea room, landing in her ears neither too loudly nor too softly.
She looked up in astonishment, not understanding why her master had suddenly withdrawn the mission. "Master, your subordinate..."
Before she could finish speaking, she was greeted by the sound of her master getting up, followed by a series of steady and powerful footsteps. As he left, the footsteps grew lighter and lighter until they disappeared completely.
"Ten thousand taels!" Biezhi's vision went black as she saw the gleaming silver coins receding further and further away. She turned to her master in astonishment, "Why did he suddenly stop working for me?"
Seeing her master looking at her with a helpless expression, she pondered for a moment and tentatively asked, "Should I not have agreed directly, but instead told Master it would be split in half?"
"Your hair is practically sticking out of your mouth, and you're still thinking about taking on jobs?" Ling Feng couldn't help but chuckle, tossing the sachet he'd been clutching in his hand for a while to the wind. "Go back and pop the incense beads inside, and you'll faint in no time. Perfect for relieving your drowsiness."
Biezhi caught the sachet and examined it: "A new product?"
Ling Feng nodded.
Even though I've carefully collected the other branches, I still feel uneasy.
It's like having a duck that's almost in your mouth suddenly snatched away; it's incredibly frustrating.
That's ten thousand taels of silver!
Ten thousand taels!
She couldn't save up this much silver even if she didn't eat or drink her whole life. "Master, what do you think the master is thinking?"
"I don't know." Ling Feng looked at his disciple, whose face was filled with regret, shook his head, and said, "You really should think about it carefully. Most of the desperate people in the martial world are ruthless. They are different from the people you have come into contact with. You are new to the world. In terms of ruthlessness, you are far behind them."
“When did Master become so hesitant?” Biezhi waved her hand, pushed open the door and walked out. “In our line of work, fortune is found in danger.”
This was the sentence Ling Feng told her before she chose to join Qingyin Pavilion.
I will always remember that branch.
She glanced back at her master, whose expression had hardened slightly, raised an eyebrow, and smiled, "Don't worry, Master, we'll take care of you in your old age. We won't take anyone's life easily."
Seeing his little apprentice's carefree and cheerful smile, Ling Feng smiled slightly and said, "Get lost, your master is still young."
So, the branch quickly rolled away.
The branch rolled quite far, eventually reaching the Vermilion Bird Gate, which faces the Ding'an Gate from afar.
It was afternoon, and apart from the captains on duty at the city gate, there were only a few civilians enjoying the cool shade outside the Wuwei Shop.
She walked into the shop as if she knew the way well and casually found a place to sit down.
The waiter in the shop saw her and brought over a cup of tea. "The same as usual?"
Bie Zhi nodded, his gaze quickly sweeping around, but he did not see that familiar figure.
She came often, and the waiter was quite familiar with her, so he naturally knew what she was looking for. "Miss, you've come at an inopportune time. The shopkeeper sent him to the West Market to pick up some goods, and we don't know when he'll be back."
Upon hearing this, Biezhi withdrew her gaze in disappointment.
There were few people in the shop, and the waiter quickly brought over the soup dumplings.
Biezhi took a bite of the steaming dumpling when she suddenly heard the sound of a cart wheel rolling over gravel. She looked up and followed the sound.
In an instant, a pair of legs longer than her life came into view.
Bie Zhi raised an eyebrow, took another bite of the dumpling, and looked up along the man's long legs.
Narrow waist, broad shoulders.
The simple, unadorned brown cloth robe perfectly outlined the man's slender figure. The man's profile, with his head bowed and the shopkeeper counting the goods, was smooth, with the shadow cast by his straight nose and his long eyelashes complementing each other.
It has a unique flavor when eaten with dumplings.
Perhaps her gaze was too direct, for the man turned his head to look at her. Her handsome face made the surrounding scenery pale in comparison, and made people hold their breath, afraid of disturbing her.
"What a pity."
"Your once beautiful face is now ruined by this scar."
"Tsk, I don't know what the shopkeeper was thinking, putting him first. Seeing his face made me so disgusted that I almost threw up the water I drank last night."
The murmur of their chatter drifted into Biezhi's ears, and her pretty eyes turned cold as she glanced at the three or four men who were talking incessantly.
The man froze for a moment, then, seeing she was just a young girl, his tough stance returned: "What are you looking at!"
"Why bother arguing with a little girl?" The friend stopped the man who was about to get up.
A dark shadow descended from above, and Biezhi realized that the man had somehow appeared in front of her. She looked up at him, her gaze slowly sweeping over the scar on his face.
A long, narrow scar ran from his right eye down to the tip of his nose and down to his left jaw.
Biezhi immediately recognized the ruthlessness of the scar; if the person who struck had used even a fraction more force, the blade would have sliced through the facial bone, and the face would have been truly ruined.
The man glanced at the soup dumplings on the table and made a gesture as if he was eating.
"Hmm." Biezhi came back to her senses and nodded.
Silence!
A shout came, but the man didn't move an inch.
Hearing the call, Biezhi turned around and looked at the waving Wuweipu shopkeeper. She patted the man's large hand that had landed on the table and pointed at the shopkeeper standing at the back gate.
He then turned around and looked at her again. Only after she nodded did Ji Ran hurriedly walk to the backyard.
Biezhi thought that the manager of Wuweipu was also a genius.
They actually named a deaf person Jiran.
The word "silent" is indeed suitable for a deaf person who cannot hear or speak, but he can't hear anything, and he doesn't know how to pronounce "silent".
The weather was hot, and the steam rising from the dumplings lingered for a long time.
Biezhi slowly ate her dumplings. As the man behind her got up and left, her eyelids drooped slightly. Watching the three of them walk to the door, she raised her fingertips slightly.
A small, round pebble whistled and struck the man behind the knee, causing him to fall to the ground. His low moan of pain drifted on the breeze to the ears of another branch, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.
His companion hurriedly bent down and asked repeatedly. The man's lips trembled, and he couldn't recover for a while. His friend helped him up, but his right leg went weak and he couldn't muster any strength for a long time.
Seeing this amusing scene, Biezhi felt much happier, and the dumplings she hadn't finished eating in a while were gone in just three or four bites.
She took out some loose silver and handed it to the waiter, then walked confidently to the backyard.
Only Jiran was sweeping the path in the backyard; the shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen. In no time, he had already swept half the yard.
The afternoon sun slanted through the treetops, casting dappled shadows that subtly outlined the man's tall and slender figure, captivating the eye at first glance.
When Biezhi walked up to him, he belatedly looked up at her.
Ji Ran waved the broom once, indicating that he was sweeping the floor.
Biezhi nodded and followed closely beside him. "It's a good thing you can't hear me. Just now, some idiot was pointing and gesturing because he has a mouth. He looks weird, but I didn't see him vomit bile when he looked in the mirror."
Just thinking about that man's disdainful tone made Biezhi feel disgusted.
"But don't worry, I taught him a lesson. He won't be able to walk for at least ten days."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Ran suddenly stopped.
Biezhi looked up at him in confusion, only to see him gesturing wildly.
"Haven't seen me in a long time?" Biezhi asked. Jiran's gestures were easy to understand, and she thought about it for a moment and understood. Not understanding the gestures, she took the broom from his hand, drew a large circle, and pointed to two dots, one in the south and one in the north. Regardless of whether Jiran could hear her or not, she said, "I had a mission and went on a long trip. I only returned to the capital today."
At this point, Betsugi has a lot to say.
“I just got back today, and my master summoned me to assign me a task. I was about to accept it when he took it back. His temperament is becoming more and more difficult to understand. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking before, and now I understand it even less.”
"I heard from my master that our master has never married or had children. The women who were kindly introduced to him were kicked out of Xianyun Tower before they even saw him. Rumor has it that it's because he can't have sex. Could it be that someone is trying to rub salt in his wounds again?"
Biezhi tilted her head and thought for a moment, then frowned in confusion. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Ji Ran's handsome face, and her troubled mood suddenly vanished.
Their eyes met, and he silently gazed at her for a long while.
His clear, deep pupils showed no other emotion whatsoever, like a pool of stagnant water. Just as Biezhi felt a chill run down her spine, she saw him reach out, raise his chin slightly, and gesture for her to return the broom.
Biezhi suddenly realized what was happening and returned the broom to him.
"He's got quite a temper," she muttered, then looked up and met his handsome face again. A smile crept onto her lips, and she felt a little better. "But it's okay, as long as he's good-looking."
They're not going to bring them home to live with, so as long as they're pleasing to the eye, nothing else matters.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
