He knew it was deliberate harassment, but what could he do? She still cared about him and was willing to suffer with him, yet he was so useless, unable even to rescue her. What use were his talents in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and accounting?
.
That night, Ning Yu got very drunk.
When he woke up, he saw a pair of sinister, smiling eyes.
"Silly boy, what's the use of drinking?"
Even with the best self-control, Ning Yu couldn't help but feel annoyed. She coldly asked, "What are you doing here again?"
Jin Yue sat down next to him without asking, "Did you get humiliated at the Wen family's house?"
Ning Yu murmured, "What does it matter if I suffer?" Yes, what does it matter if he suffers? As long as he can rescue her, as long as he can be with her, as long as she still loves him...
Jin Yue asked, "He wants a thousand taels of silver?"
Ning Yu was shocked: "How did you know?"
Jin Yue chuckled strangely: "I was right above you back then."
He witnessed that humiliating scene? Ning Yu gritted his teeth and suddenly knelt down: "Please, senior, lend me a thousand taels of silver. I, Ning Yu, will repay you double in the future."
Jin Yue glanced at him and said leisurely, "Everyone in my Thousand Hands Sect earns their own living and we never lend money to others. Besides, doesn't Young Master Ning look down on us thieves? How can we lend such ill-gotten gains?"
Ning Yu blushed and couldn't speak.
Jin Yue said, "As long as you join my Thousand Hands Sect, what is a mere thousand taels?"
Ning Yu knelt there blankly, shaking her head: "I cannot tarnish the family's reputation."
Jin Yue rolled his eyes: "The Thousand Hands Sect does not lend money to outsiders, but since I feel a connection with you, I will make an exception this time."
Ning Yu was overjoyed and bowed down, saying, "Thank you so much, senior. Ning Yu will never forget your great kindness and virtue, even if I have to be your ox or horse in the next life..."
If you really become a beast of burden, what use will I be to you! Jin Yue waved his hand impatiently: "Stop bowing and let me finish what I have to say."
Ning Yu nodded: "This junior is all ears."
Jin Yue looked at him with interest: "I am willing to lend you money, but I only have nine hundred taels on me. Besides, you are not a member of my Thousand Hands Sect, so I can only lend you nine hundred taels. If you want it, take it."
Ning Yu paled: "But..."
Jin Yue stood up and said resolutely, "This is all I can lend. As for the other one hundred taels, you are a scholar, not like us thieves. Don't you know how to do it?"
Before Ning Yu could say anything more, the person in front of him had vanished. He stood up dejectedly, about to leave, but accidentally tripped over something, kicking scattered objects all over the ground.
The silver ingots totaled nine hundred taels.
Even if you spend all your money, it will come back again.
One hundred taels of silver is neither a lot nor a little, and one thing is for sure: no one would lend it to you easily.
"Please trouble Mr. Ning to take inventory of the warehouse."
In the bank's vault, looking at the boxes and boxes of gleaming silver, Ning Yu's hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly. She had only borrowed a mere hundred taels, and she would return it later. No one would ever find out. Only in this way could she be rescued.
He picked up an ingot with trembling hands.
Borrowing money without permission is no different from stealing! After a fierce internal struggle, he finally reached out to put the silver back, but at that moment, a group of people rushed in. Before he could explain in a panic, they punched and kicked him, then tied him up and sent him to the government jail.
Nine hundred taels of stolen silver were found in the Ning family's home.
"They told me to clean the treasury, I didn't steal! That's my silver!" He shouted for a whole day until his voice was hoarse, but no one believed him. If he could really produce nine hundred taels of silver, he wouldn't have almost had his house mortgaged and had to work as an accountant for someone else.
Two days later, Young Master Yu came to see him and sighed, "Brother Ning is also a scholar, he would never do such a thing, but my father insists on replacing the accountant. I am really sorry, Brother Ning, please find another job."
Ning Yu was released quickly, covered in wounds, his white clothes stained with blood and dust, his hair disheveled and looking like a vengeful ghost, completely unlike the image of a romantic scholar. He was met with countless pitying and contemptuous glances. The former scholar had become a thief, and the thief was even from the Yu family, who had kindly helped him protect his ancestral home.
.
Too weak to explain, Ning Yu collapsed, battered and bruised, at the doorway. He listened to passersby gossiping about the marriage between the young master and Miss Wen, their expressions often showing him pity. His heart was filled with despair. In just two days, everything had changed drastically. He had gone from a down-on-his-luck scholar to a universally condemned thief, and Wen Qin was about to marry someone else.
As night fell, my heart felt as if it were being swallowed by darkness, growing increasingly empty, while the feeling of hunger grew stronger.
"Kid, are you hungry?" Jin Yue sat down next to him with a smile.
Ning Yu said blankly, "You did it on purpose. You deliberately only borrowed nine hundred taels."
Jin Yue was puzzled: "You asked me for the money yourself, and I have already kindly lent you most of it. You are a scholar, are you perhaps less reasonable than us thieves?"
Ning Yu remained silent.
Jin Yue said, "Since you are reasonable, you should know that debts must be repaid. You still owe me nine hundred taels of silver. What do you plan to do?"
Ning Yu remained silent for a long time before saying, "I am truly sorry, it is Ning Yu's incompetence."
Jin Yue said, "It's just a mere hundred taels, yet they've all wronged you. Why not become my disciple, learn martial arts, and then you can use all the wealth in the world? With money, you won't have to worry about not being able to win back a woman."
Ning Yu turned her face away with difficulty: "You don't need to say anything, I will never do that kind of petty theft!"
Jin Yue sneered: "At least a thief won't starve to death. A poor kid with backbone is going to starve to death. If your parents really wanted you dead, they would have drowned you long ago."
Ning Yu said coldly, "If my father had known I was a thief, he would have beaten me to death long ago."
"Damn it, do you think I, the dignified leader of the Thousand Hands Sect, am afraid of not being able to find disciples?" Jin Yue retorted angrily, "Tch, I've been putting up with you for a long time! What's wrong with our Thousand Hands Sect? Our lightness skills, our hidden weapons, every single one of them is a world-class skill. Look at the martial arts world, who dares to disrespect us? Others are too busy envying us to allow a mere scholar like you to point fingers at us!"
Ning Yu simply closed her eyes and remained silent.
Jin Yue stood up, gloating: "You think that fire was an accident? It was clearly because the Zhang family next door offended someone, so that person set a fire in the night. I didn't expect that your bank would also be burned down. These people are so vindictive. How much better are they than our Thousand Hands Sect?"
Ning Yu opened her eyes, shocked and angry: "Since you knew, why didn't you call for help sooner?"
Jin Yue said matter-of-factly, "What do other people's business have to do with me? That's just how things are in this world. Look at you lying here now, neither human nor ghost. Even if you die, no one will care. That woman will still marry that guy surnamed Yu. In a few years, she probably won't even remember your name..."
Ning Yu angrily shouted, "Get out!"
Jin Yue suppressed the urge to chop him up and turned to leave: "Hmph, you're about to die anyway, what does my coming and going have to do with you? You're no longer some young master, just a thief. No one will even give you a second glance when you're dead!"
.
In the dim light, someone approached.
"Qin'er!" Smelling the familiar scent, Ning Yu quickly regained his senses, his heart filled with joy. Wen Qin still remembered him, she believed in him, and even if he died, he would have no regrets!
She silently squatted down.
Ning Yu struggled to sit up, trying to grab her hand: "Qin'er!"
She dodged away, and after a long while, she whispered, "I have already agreed to the marriage with Young Master Yu."
Ning Yu slowly withdrew her hand, her voice hoarse and trembling: "It's my incompetence."
She turned her face away: "Why did you do such a thing? I originally planned to refuse the marriage by committing suicide."
"I didn't steal it!" Ning Yu exclaimed excitedly, grabbing her shoulders. "It doesn't matter if they don't believe me, but do you not believe me either?" As long as she believed him, he didn't care what others thought of him.
She immediately looked at him and said, "Then tell me, where did this nine hundred taels of silver come from?"
Ning Yu's heart sank. She released her and murmured, "It was an old man who lent it to me. It wasn't money from the Yu family's treasury. You don't believe me?"
She asked, "He's no relative of you, so why would he borrow from you? While you're in jail, why didn't you send someone to find him and have him testify?"
Ning Yu was speechless.
"Even to me, you won't tell the truth?" she whispered. "If you want me to believe you, you might as well tell me that person's name, and I'll have someone find him to testify and clear your name."
Ning Yu had no way to express his bitterness. Associating with thieves and borrowing their illicit goods, what difference was there between him and theft in other people's eyes? Moreover, once the name Jin Yue was mentioned, everyone would probably assume that he was an accomplice of the thieves, and it would be hard to say what serious crime he would be convicted of.
Disappointment gradually crept into her beautiful eyes. She stopped asking questions and took out several silver ingots: "Now that it's all over, you should focus on recovering and not do such things again..."
She was convinced it was him! Ning Yu panicked and flung the silver coins aside: "It wasn't me, Qin'er, you have to believe me!"
She suddenly stood up, tears streaming down her face, but her voice was cold: "You're not usually like this. I like Ning Yu, who is talented and ambitious. Poverty shouldn't diminish one's spirit. Now that the facts are clear, why won't you repent?"
"Wenqin! Listen to me..."
"If you are truly innocent, go to the yamen and tell them that person's name."
“I…” He remained silent, knowing that speaking out would only make things worse.
She stood there for a long time, then turned and left.
.
Ning Yu lay at the doorway, a pile of food mixed with dust on the ground beside him. It was food that others had kindly served to him out of pity, but for some reason, accidents always happened. Either a group of children would suddenly come and kick over the bowl, or a beggar would come and snatch it away. Of course, he knew that some people wanted to see him make a fool of himself, but these things were no longer important to someone who was determined to die.
If she had just said "I believe you," he could have died in peace. But even now, in her heart, he's still a thief! The most despicable thief in the world!
She didn't come back for three days, and neither did Jin Yue.
His stomach growled with hunger, and his body was nearly collapsing. Yet, as the long-awaited death was about to arrive, his will to live returned. Now that even she had given up on him, he could starve to death here, and no one would remember him or know his grievances. He was just a thief who had died!
Living is stealing, and dying is stealing too!
He found it hilarious, so he burst into laughter, his voice like a ghost's wail.
Life and death hung in the balance, yet my mind was clearer than usual.
Why should he die! It was clearly the manager who asked him to count the treasury silver, and the accounts were crystal clear. But now they are deliberately accusing him of sneaking into the treasury to steal silver, and stealing nine hundred taels of it. Such despicable means and blatant framing are unacceptable. Aren't these people even more deserving of death?
Despite the pain in her body, Ning Yu struggled to turn over, suppressing the urge to vomit. She ate a few bites of the food on the ground, then rolled down the steps with all her might, crawled to the small puddle, and slowly drank the murky water, sip by sip.
Let those people laugh all they want, what does it matter?
.
"Useless! Useless!" Looking at the young men in front of him, the old cult leader Jin Yue waved his hands repeatedly, greatly discouraged. "None of them can compare to that kid."
By the way, is that kid dead or not?
Driven by curiosity, the old cult leader once again entered the Ning family compound under cover of night.
Just as he stepped into the courtyard, his left foot was suddenly grabbed by two claws, held tightly, which startled him. He instinctively tried to kick it, but then he heard the dark, indistinct thing utter a weak voice: "Please, save me!"
Hey, isn't that brat? Jin Yue immediately looked down to admire him, shaking his head in admiration. Even though he's starving, he still has energy. He's got great potential!
He clung tightly to Jin Yue's leg, his fingers almost digging into his flesh: "Please save me."
Jin Yue felt a surge of satisfaction and sneered, "Why should I save you?"
"I want to become your disciple."
"Many people want to become my disciples," Jin Yue thought, enjoying the feeling of being superior to this kid. "Why should I accept you as my disciple?"