A cup of tea passed.
"Look at Wudang, Shaolin, Emei, Kongtong, Qingcheng, Jiuhua, and the Beggars' Sect..."
Afraid of missing anyone, he rattled off the names of all the sects present, causing everyone whose words resonated with him to bulge their veins.
"It's such a pity that you don't go out and perform crosstalk at a street stall, Senior Brother." Eleven said to her in a low voice without moving his lips, "Even Old Zhang, who is quick-tongued under the Rainbow Bridge, can't match his ability to recite the names of dishes."
"eleven!"
“What you say is true, senior brother,” he replied instinctively.
Huh? Why is my senior brother's face starting to look so ferocious?
"Just now, my senior brother asked, 'Will you continue to be so unruly in the future?'" Yu Zigui kindly reminded him.
"Huh? Why didn't you say so sooner!"
The tenth senior brother had long served as their teacher, responsible for instructing the two of them. Seeing the senior brother's ferocious expression, he understood his fate.
"Confined to the house."
The senior brother would only be concise when punishing them.
"You are not allowed to leave your brother's side even a step before we go home."
Lightning, strike him dead!
Seeing Eleven's grief-stricken appearance, Yu Zigui found it somewhat amusing but also relieved.
That's fine too. Eleventh Senior Brother is simple-minded. Rather than letting him run around Jiangdu City, it's better for Tenth Senior Brother to keep a close eye on him. With less worry, she can act more boldly.
Just then, several figures emerged from a side hall at the back of the courtyard. Wei Baizhong humbly led the way for one of them, who wore a black gauze hat and had slightly droopy eye bags, looking quite haggard.
"It is Prefect Liu."
A slight commotion arose around them.
"Hey, who's that person behind the prefect?" someone asked, pointing to the young man behind the prefect.
The swordsman by the window glanced at the man's attire and said disdainfully, "He's just a servant."
Yu Zigui looked closely and saw that Prefect Liu would glance at the man after hearing each sentence, his inquiry filled with caution, even trembling.
A person's appearance can change, but their innate temperament is hard to change. If a person has an overly strong aura, they are probably either a king or a general.
If we guess even bolder...
As if sensing that someone was watching her, the person's sharp gaze fell upon her in an instant, and she immediately moved to hide behind the hero who had just whispered to her.
"Huh? Why is that servant looking at me like that? Did he overhear our conversation?"
"So what if we heard it? We didn't say anything."
That was close; she almost got caught red-handed. She breathed a sigh of relief, just in time to hear someone speaking again from the hall.
"I am grateful that you have come in the rain today, but this matter is purely a conflict between martial arts practitioners and should be resolved by them. I hope you will understand." Wei Baizhong stated his position.
The government and the martial arts world should keep to themselves, a consensus reached during the late emperor's reign. Furthermore, Wei Baizhong was extremely perceptive and never hesitated to offer gifts and favors, so during his years in office, Jiangdu Prefecture and Jade Sword Manor maintained a harmonious relationship. He originally didn't want to interfere, as it was convenient for both sides, but he had no choice.
The gazes behind him were like needles, so Prefect Liu gritted his teeth and said, "The Jianghu belongs to our Great Wei, and you are all citizens of our Great Wei. As the Prefect of Jiangdu, how can I not have authority over it?"
Wei Baizhong was initially surprised, but it took him a while to recover. "There is a division of labor. As the leader of the martial arts alliance, and since this matter occurred in my Jade Sword Manor, it is naturally up to me to make the decision."
"The leader of the martial arts alliance?"
The cold snort behind him startled Prefect Liu, who broke out in a cold sweat. He secretly wiped his sweat and looked up again, only to see that the man's face was displeased, just like the one during the bloody purge of the court that year.
He was just thinking about how to resolve the matter amicably when he heard Wei Rong shout recklessly.
"How dare this lowly servant be so insolent! Doesn't he even know where he is!"
"Where? Is it the inner palace or the main hall of Jinhua?" His gaze swept across the plaque with the words "Upright and Bright" in the hall like lightning. "They dare to misuse these four characters."
"You!" Wei Rong angrily drew his sword, making Prefect Liu almost unable to catch his breath.
"Rong'er, how dare you be so insolent!"
"father!"
Wei Bai glared at Wei Rong and dismissed him, then bowed slightly. "I will give you an explanation within three days."
After glancing at the expressions of those behind him, Prefect Liu immediately said, "Today, I will give Master Wei face. I hope everyone will be careful with their words and actions and not disturb the people of Jiangdu." He then smoothed his sleeves.
Yu Zigui watched the two departing figures and felt that Prefect Liu's steps were unsteady and slightly unsteady, while the other's steps were steady as if he had made up his mind.
"Junior brother, junior brother?"
She withdrew her gaze from the distance, turned back, and asked with a smile, "Is dinner ready?"
"Twelve, did you just ignore what I said? We're out and about..."
"Oh no, senior brother is at it again! Junior brother, it's all your fault!"
Hearing the scolding and complaints beside her, she felt a sudden sense of peace. In this chilly spring night, with its wind and rain, there was still a place of warmth.
"Lightning, strike me dead!"
She smiled softly.