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墨書 Inktalez
He had just arrived here and hadn't shown his face yet, so it was impossible for ordinary people to know he was here. There were only two types of people who could know: either they had followed him all the way here, or they had placed spies around him to closely monitor his movements. The people in the lobby of the inn were clearly the Yan People, so it was easy to figure out who was keeping an eye on him.
However, until he clarified the other party's intentions, it was better not to reveal himself to avoid any misunderstandings that would be difficult to explain to someone.
Ju Rong had just finished dinner and was sitting in the lobby drinking tea to cool down. The two ladies were arguing fiercely with him, all because of Ju Dan. Madam Ju wanted to marry her daughter off to the king, which was simply a case of a toad wanting to eat goose meat; he wished she would quickly give up this idea to avoid becoming a laughingstock.
He knew his wife looked down on their daughter, but there was no need to belittle her like this. He was filled with anger and had nowhere to vent it when he suddenly heard a servant report that an old acquaintance had come to visit.
An old acquaintance? All his old acquaintances had passed away.
Ju Rong couldn't recall who it might be, so he said, "Please bring them in."
"Yes." The servant went out and soon brought in two people.
Ju Rong had just taken a sip of tea when he suddenly looked up and saw the person entering. He couldn't help but spit out the tea he had in his mouth, soaking the front of his clothes.
He shook off his clothes, hurriedly stood up, and pointed at Zhong Xue's nose, saying, "You, how did you come here?"
Then realizing that this was inappropriate, he quickly changed his tone and said, "I didn't know Lord Jun had graced us with your presence; I apologize for not welcoming you properly."
Still feeling it was too polite, he switched to another tone and asked, "Lord Jun, what brings you here at this hour?"
Zhong Xue found his father-in-law's demeanor quite amusing and raised the corner of his mouth as he replied, "It's nothing much; I just wanted to borrow a place to stay for the night."
Ju Rong exclaimed, "Ah! Why would you come to my house for a place to stay?"
He asked, "Just for one night?"
"A few nights would be fine too."
"How many nights?"
Zhong Xue coughed lightly, "Or until you decide to leave."
Ju Rong's face turned pale. This was his home; why should he have to stay? Chengyang Jun was notoriously difficult to deal with. If he truly let him move in, getting him to leave would not be easy.
He opened the door and shouted outside, "Come here, come here—"
A few servants rushed in, and Ju Rong pointed at Zhong Xue, "Get him out of here."
When he turned back, Zhong Xue was no longer in his original spot but was instead sitting in his master's seat, drinking his tea and playing with his favorite hand-crafted item, completely disregarding the fact that he was an outsider. From the looks of it, he seemed to have intentions of dominating the host.
"What are you doing?" Ju Rong strode over to reclaim his beloved item.
Zhong Xue casually handed it back to him and smiled, "Do you really think that with just this few people in your household, you can drive This Lord away? I advise you to think carefully about what it means for people to know This Lord is in your house. If you don't keep This Lord here, then This Lord will spread the word about your relationship with me. I wonder if you understand the consequences?"
Ju Rong wanted him gone precisely because he understood all too well. But having seen scoundrels before, he had never encountered one like this. This was not Lord Jun; he was more like a common street thug.
Zhong Xue put an arm around his shoulder, acting as if they were good buddies. "You and I are old acquaintances. Once we become in-laws, we’ll be family. By the way, you probably don’t know yet, but I’ve already married your daughter."
Ju Rong shrugged off his hand, thinking that there was nothing about this that resembled how one should treat a father-in-law.
"When did this happen?"
"About half a year ago," Zhong Xue said with a click of his tongue. "Didn’t Ju Dan tell you?"
San Chun had indeed prevented him from handling her marriage affairs; she was already taken. At that time, he didn’t believe it and thought it was just her excuse. Could it really be true that his daughter married him?
He knew that Chengyang Jun was not someone to provoke and understood that under no circumstances could he let him go today. It felt like holding a hot potato—too hot to hold onto, too troublesome to throw away—leaving him utterly unsure of what to do.
Unable to think of a solution, he said, "Do whatever you want, just don't get me into trouble." He shrugged off his sleeves and walked out. He couldn't help but mutter to himself about how unfortunate he was, getting into trouble even while lying down.
Ever since he found his daughter Ju Dan, he had clearly noticed that troubles had increased significantly. It must be his charm; how could he have a daughter who attracted so much attention?
Zhong Xue naturally knew that he couldn't arrange a place for them to stay; they were unwelcome guests. He didn't mind the cold treatment from the host family and instructed Kazama to carry their luggage and move into the courtyard where they had stayed last time.
He was quite familiar with this mansion, needing no one to guide him. Whatever he wanted to eat, drink, or do, he casually ordered the servants in the house.
Ju Rong told the servants that they could do whatever they wished and that all their requests should be met as much as possible. Since they were already living there, there was no need to create more animosity; as long as they didn't cause him trouble, he would let them be.
But was it possible? Wherever Zhong Xue went, trouble would follow.
On the second day of his stay at Ju Mansion, an incident occurred. In the middle of the night, an assassin suddenly entered his room. Fortunately, he was alert enough to let Kazama sleep in his bed while he lay down in the servants' quarters, thus escaping disaster.
He was fine, but Kazama was unfortunate; half of his shoulder was stabbed with a bloody hole, blood gushing out. It was only because of his martial arts skills and quick reflexes that his throat wasn't pierced.
Zhong Xue heard the commotion and rushed over, hurriedly bandaging Kazama's wound. After applying a generous amount of healing ointment, the bleeding finally stopped.
Kazama grimaced in pain and complained, "Lord Jun, you can't play like this! You said this bed is good—spacious and prosperous—everyone who sleeps here has a chance to become a noble. Now look what happened: I didn't become a noble and nearly lost my life."
Zhong Xue laughed and said, "That's because you're not smart enough. Do you believe everything this Lord says?"
Kazama certainly didn't believe it, but what could he do? Whatever the Lord commanded, even if it meant suicide, he had to comply; it was only right for him to take a sword for him. The fact that he bothered to trick him for fun already showed how much he valued him.
He forced a smile and said, "Next time something like this happens, could you give me a heads-up? So I can be prepared."
Zhong Xue chuckled, "If I gave you a heads-up in advance, it wouldn't work."
Kazama couldn't hide anything; if warned ahead of time, he would have brought it up during the operation. How could they possibly deceive the assassin then? If they couldn't deceive the assassin, someone would surely suspect whether he got hurt or not. Originally, Zhong Xue wanted to make it even bigger by having the assassin kill someone so that everyone would think he was dead; then the next act could unfold smoothly. However, considering Kazama had served him for many years and not wanting to see him lose his life over this game, he decided to stop at an appropriate point.
However, since it was done, he had to put on a show.
He bandaged Kazama's wound, then wrapped a bandage around his own arm just like Kazama did, tying a neat knot.
After finishing, he went to find Ju Rong, informing him to relay the news to the palace and quietly let San Chun know.
Ju Rong was also worried about him. An assassin had attacked his residence, which was detrimental to him as well. If Chengyang Jun were to die here, he would not be able to bear the consequences when questioned later.
In a hurry, he entered the palace and met with San Chun, recounting the incident of Zhong Xue being attacked.
San Chun immediately became anxious and inquired in detail about his injuries. Hearing from Ju Rong that the injury was on his arm and that half of it might be useless, she grew even more worried and asked, "Do you know who did this?"
Ju Rong shook his head, "I don't know who it is, but you definitely know this person."
San Chun couldn't help but speculate who this person could be that she knew.
As she pondered, she thought of Uncle Qi, feeling a surge of anger. She hadn't expected her worries to come true; he had indeed taken action against him.
She immediately went to see Uncle Qi. Upon meeting him, she said, "If anything happens to him, I will never forgive you."
Uncle Qi was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
San Chun coldly asked, "Do you know about Zhong Xue at Ju Mansion?"
Uncle Qi sneered, "How would I know where he is?"
San Chun was certain he was trying to evade responsibility and said, "Whether you know or not, let me tell you: if he suffers even a little harm, I will never acknowledge you again." With that, she flicked her sleeve and turned to leave.
A hint of bitterness appeared at the corner of Uncle Qi's lips. He had thought that she at least cared about him; unexpectedly, in her eyes, he still could not compare to Zhong Xue. It turned out that their time together—filled with affection and mutual support—was nothing but an illusion. She ultimately never loved him...
Last night, he indeed sent an assassin, but the message that the assassin returned was that the plan failed, and Chengyang Jun had become cautious, only injuring his subordinate bodyguard.
In the blink of an eye, it turned into him being attacked and seriously injured? That was truly a big joke.
Was she foolish, or was he foolish, to be so easily deceived?
He took a few steps forward and blocked her path, coldly saying, "Whether you believe it or not, I truly did not harm him."
San Chun angrily replied, "Are you still trying to deceive me? Today Lord Ju entered the palace and has already told me that he was injured in his left arm."
He was also angry. "Believe it or not, it's up to you."
This was their first argument. Throughout their lives, they had never quarreled over anything. This was the first time; it wasn't even a real argument—she was merely accusing him while he had no words to respond.
He indeed wanted to kill Zhong Xue; there was no doubt about that. Even if she scolded him and hated him, it would be his own fault. However, he clearly did not harm him but was falsely accused. This grievance was something he could never swallow.
San Chun was worried about Zhong Xue; she was very concerned. He must be in pain from his injury. If his arm didn't heal well, she didn't know what to do. She thought of many things and hurriedly sent someone to deliver a message to Ju Rong, asking him to take good care of Zhong Xue and instructing Ju Rong to protect him well; otherwise, she would not recognize him as her father.
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