"Does Miss Zi really not know, or is she pretending not to know?" Old Man Luo walked to the side and sat down, raising his head and sneering.
"Is Master Luo truly unaware or feigning ignorance?" she asked, toying with her hair and tilting her head with a smile that concealed a sharp glint in her eyes.
"What makes you say that?" Old Man Luo was taken aback by my sudden question.
"Master Luo, don't you know I'm Jue's wife? You keep calling me 'Miss Zi,' isn't that rather impolite?" She sat upright, her finger lightly touching her lips, her eyes gleaming in the sunlight, yet radiating a coldness.
"That was my rudeness," Old Man Luo said, lowering his eyelids.
"There's no such thing as being impolite or not. It's pointless to talk about that now." This old man is very cunning. I have to be careful, or I might get tricked by him at any time.
"What do you think of this scene in the courtyard, Madam?" Old Friend Luo changed the subject, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard, seemingly asking casually.
"What a pity," he sighed, picking up a pastry from the side and eating it. He really didn't know what Jue was doing, always disappearing for no reason.
I narrowed my eyes. Are businessmen really that busy again?
"Isn't that a rather irresponsible thing to say, Madam?"
"Responsibility?" I scoffed. "What responsibility does Master Luo think I should bear?"
"Could it be that the courtyard wasn't arranged this way by Madam?" He deflected the question with a few words, bluntly stating his point.
Playing with languages and words has never been my forte, so I don't like this kind of formulaic approach.
"Nothing has been done. It seems the Master has come here to question me."
Why won't you admit it, Madam?
"How can you admit to something you didn't do?" It wasn't me who did it; I asked Xiaowu to do it. Why should I admit it? However, this did give me a chance to test him.
"However, speaking of responsibility, I encountered something interesting on my way here," I said with a smile.
My change of topic caught Old Man Luo off guard, and he asked, "What interesting thing?"
The fish has taken the bait...
I stood up, strolled outside the pavilion, and gazed at the lake, saying softly, "On my way here, I encountered a mother and child being harassed by thieves. I rescued them and heard a story from her about the child's father. The woman said she was once a daughter of a prominent family, and her current predicament was entirely due to the child's father. She said she met her husband by chance, saved him, and they fell in love. Her father objected, but she stubbornly insisted. Little did she know she had attracted a thief. On their wedding day, the thief stole something from their home and ran away, causing her father's death. The mother and child were left destitute, leading to their current miserable state." As I finished speaking, I glanced at Old Man Luo out of the corner of my eye.
Old Luo's lips trembled slightly, his face was a little pale, and his wide eyes stared in disbelief at my back, his clenched fists seeming to sink into his flesh.
"What's wrong with the master?" I asked, feigning surprise.
"It's nothing, I'm just indignant that such absurd things exist in the world," he said, his voice a little stiff.
"Oh..." I returned to my seat and asked softly, "What is the master resentful about?"
"Well, I just find this matter rather absurd. How can an unmarried woman so casually save a man? It's shameless. To save a man and then fall in love with him is truly ridiculous. To defy her father's orders is unfilial. Alas, this woman is also a pitiful person."
Hearing Old Man Luo spouting moralistic rhetoric to shirk responsibility and claim that all of Yuan'er's misfortunes were her own fault, it was hateful and infuriating!
I forcefully threw all the flower petals on the table into the pond, and glared at Old Man Luo, saying, "Hmph, this man failed to take responsibility, he's spineless; that man broke his promise, he's unrighteous; that man angered his father-in-law to death, he's unfilial. How come all these disloyal, unfilial, and unrighteous people are blamed on that woman in Master Luo's mouth?"
Alright, alright, I've seen through this old man. He's so shameless, his skin is really thick to an extreme!
Old Luo shuddered, then said, "I was just stating the facts. Why are you so angry, madam? I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." With that, he hurried away.
Watching Old Man Luo's departing figure, I grinned coldly, something in my eyes beginning to crack. Perhaps I should do something!
Xiao Wu, who had been silent the whole time, felt a chill run down her spine when she saw the expression on her mistress's face at the end.
Old Luo was always busy with the treasure appreciation event in the days that followed. Seeing this, I felt that I should honorably and appropriately give him something to do.
Subsequently, some servants began to see white shadows flashing by at night.
Some servants would hear gloomy singing at night.
Some of the servants saw a woman covered in blood in the garden pond at night.
All sorts of strange things were about to erupt, swirling together and making the already murky manor even more murky.
No one knew why this was happening, and the servants were all in a state of panic. In this ancient society where feudalism was deeply rooted, people inevitably thought of things like ghosts and demons.
Seeing the servants' panic, the young lady's fear, and Old Man Luo's flustered state, that wasn't enough. I had another plan, one to ruin Old Man Luo's reputation. I wanted to teach him a lesson that women weren't to be trifled with.
Chapter Sixty-Four
"Come quick, come quick, Xiao Wu!" I tiptoed to a tree, waving my hands incessantly.
"Miss"
"What, ah..." I turned my head to look, but there was no one there. When I turned my head to the side, I saw a very large face appear in front of me, which startled me.
"Xiao Wu, what are you doing?" I glared at Xiao Wu resentfully.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that, Miss? What are you trying to do? Master is out on business, Miss, behave yourself!" Xiao Wu rambled on and on.
"Wow!" I looked at Xiaowu in surprise. "I never expected this! Xiaowu, you've started to look like an old woman after being with me for so long!"
"Ah," Xiao Wu touched her cheek in confusion, "What do you mean, Miss?"
"It's getting more and more verbose," I said, glancing at it and resting my chin on my hand as I came to a conclusion.
"Miss" Xiao Wu blushed.
"Alright, stop nagging and hurry up. See that? I need to go in there." I covered Xiaowu's mouth and pointed to the gate guarded by a large number of guards in the distance.
Xiao Wu pulled my hand down and whispered, "Miss, what are you going in there for?"
I brushed the hair from my forehead and said, "According to the latest information I've received, this room contains treasures from the treasure appreciation event."
"How did you know?" Xiao Wu asked, looking like a child with a question in her eyes.
I absolutely won't tell anyone. It's a bit unethical of me to get this information. If Xiaowu knew that I found out by accident while I was pretending to be a ghost that night, she would definitely scold me to death.
"Oh, never mind that, this news is absolutely reliable," I said with a sheepish grin, turning back to stare at the door.
"Miss, you're trying to steal something!" Xiao Wu's eyes widened, and she was a little speechless.
"What do you mean by stealing? That sounds so awful. I was just borrowing it." She looked at Xiao Wu disapprovingly.
"No!" Xiao Wu pulled me back. "Miss, if you cause any more trouble, the master will punish me."
"Hey, hey, don't pull me, Xiao Wu, it's okay," I pleaded, clinging desperately to the big tree next to me.
"Miss, let's go," Xiao Wu said, desperately pulling me from behind to let go of the tree, but she didn't dare to use too much force.
"I don't care, I'm going in anyway. If you don't want to, go back. I'll go in by myself." I pouted and moved even closer to the tree, treating it as a lifeline. (Author's note: It's a tree. Are there any straws this big? Zi Xue said: Shut up. I said there are.) Actually, I was a little guilty saying this. If it weren't for Xiao Wu, I'm afraid it would be very difficult for me to get in!
"Alright, but, Miss, you have to listen to me once we're inside," Xiao Wu said helplessly, letting go of me.
"Mmm," I let go of the tree, looked at Xiaowu with my big, bright eyes, and said with admiration, "I'll be a good girl."
Xiao Wu pouted, feeling that what she said was unnecessary. If you were obedient, you wouldn't have threatened me like that!
Suddenly, I was lifted into the air. When I looked up, I realized that Xiao Wu had pulled me to the window of that house.
I have a feeling that Xiaowu is throwing a little tantrum. Otherwise, why wouldn't she hold my hand, but instead grab the back of my collar like she's carrying a puppy?
"Yeah, how come I didn't think of climbing through the window?" I looked excitedly at Xiao Wu next to me, feeling that she had a sacred halo above her head.
"So, Miss, you want to just walk through the main gate?" Xiao Wu was speechless.
"Yes, I think it's more convenient to go through the main gate." I nodded vigorously, as if I wouldn't stop until I nodded my head down.
Uh, Xiao Wu was speechless. It was indeed very convenient, convenient for being caught.
Xiao Wu and I carefully climbed into the room and tiptoed to the front of the boxes.
"Miss, what if you steal it and Master Luo finds out tomorrow?" Xiao Wu was a little worried, but she also felt that after being with her mistress for so long, she had started to act like a fool along with her.
"Allah, Allah, what do you think I was doing all that? Was it just to scare people? Tomorrow is the treasure appreciation event. Old Man Luo is in a hurry to deal with the trouble I caused. How could he have time to look at these things?" I waved my hands, looking confident.
"So what exactly are you trying to do?" Xiao Wu only knew that her mistress wanted to steal something, but what exactly was she trying to steal?
"Xiao Wu, come quick, I found it!" I called out excitedly, and Xiao Wu flashed to my side.
"Luo Ying, Miss, this is from Master Luo," Xiao Wu said, rubbing the words on the box.
“Yes, I heard from the servants that the treasure appreciation event is actually just each gang bringing out a treasure for people to admire. Look, this is old man Luo’s.” I grinned slyly.
"So what do we do next?" Xiao Wu was getting a little slow.
I slowly lifted the box, and a flash of light startled me, making me afraid that the people outside would discover it.
What caught my eye was a white silk ribbon gleaming with a white light.
"Wow, it's so beautiful!" I exclaimed, completely mesmerized.
"Moonlight Pavilion," Xiao Wu's soft voice reached my ears.
"Xiao Wu, do you know her?"
"Yes, I've seen it in a book before, but I've never seen it in person."
"What's its background?"
"I'm not entirely sure either. I only know that the book records that this white silk ribbon originally belonged to Fairy Mingyue a hundred years ago. It is said that this white silk ribbon is impervious to swords and spears, can extend infinitely, and can recognize its master. It recognizes only simple and kind people. If anyone is not recognized by the white silk ribbon, they will be immediately killed by its cold energy."
"Wow, that's amazing!" I became even more obsessed with the white silk ribbon. In modern times, whenever I read martial arts novels, I always thought that if I had to choose a weapon, I would definitely choose a white silk ribbon. It would be both beautiful and imposing when fighting with people, how cool!
I gently touched the white silk, then reached out and picked it up, examining it closely.
Suddenly, the white silk seemed to come alive, detached from my hand, and began to swirl around me. As the white light gradually invaded my body, I felt a warm and comfortable sensation in my dantian.
In Xiao Wu's view, the young lady stood in the white silk, her body strangely absorbing the light of the white silk.
Then, a white ribbon fluttered and wrapped around my shoulders, before gently landing in my hands, indistinguishable from any other shawl.
"What's going on?" I was a little stunned.
“Miss, Yue Ling has recognized you as her master. You are now Yue Ling’s master,” Xiao Wu said with a slight smile.
"Really? That means this moonlit pavilion is mine from now on." I grinned, my eyes sparkling with delight.
"Okay," Xiao Wu nodded.
"So you're saying I'm really a simple and kind person? I knew it! I'm such a good person!" I said, a little narcissistically.
Uh, Xiao Wu is speechless again. It's not the same logic as the young lady.
"Oh, right, Xiao Wu, take out the things I gave you." I suddenly remembered the handkerchief I asked Xiao Wu to prepare when I was exchanging things with Old Man Luo.