"Ah!"
Ding Liu fell to the ground, clutching his hand.
Just a moment ago, the hand holding the jade pendant was struck by a flying stone from nowhere.
The five house servants escorting Zhong Li were also startled and all looked in the direction of the flying stone.
They saw a man dressed in a sky-blue silk shirt, with a handsome appearance and a faint smile, leading a stern-faced guard behind him, who looked as if he was about to kill someone, and calmly walking towards them.
"Who are you? This is my Ding family's private matter, don't meddle!" Ding Liu, leaning on his cane, struggled to stand up and spoke indignantly.
Lu Wuxie, upon hearing this, shifted his gaze from Zhong Li, whom he was about to examine, to the old man.
"Private matter?" he repeated Ding Liu's words and said, "But I recall the woman you've captured is not yet married?"
"Hmph!" Ding Liu snorted, his nose wrinkling. "She wasn't before, but from this moment on, she will be my Ding family's seventh concubine..."
"Seventh concubine?" Before he could finish speaking, Lu Wuxie, whose already strained composure completely broke, let out a scoff. His eyes, like peach blossoms, darted up and down as he appraised Ding Liu, saying,
"Seventh concubine? I can't quite tell how good the legs of an old man who walks with a cane and is half dead are."
Ding Liu's wrinkled face instantly turned crimson at the mockery.
"That's still my Ding family's business! I'm telling you, this woman owes my Ding family a lot of silver. If she can't repay it, she'll have to pledge her body!" Ding Liu roared angrily.
"Silver? How much does she owe?" Finally, Lu Wuxie's gaze fell upon Zhong Li.
"Ten taels!" Before Zhong Li could speak, Ding Liu sized up Lu Wuxie, saw his luxurious attire, and with a lion's mouth, stated a high price.
"Ten taels?" Lu Wuxie raised an eyebrow.
Ding Liu sneered and said, "What? No money? If you don't have money, why are you playing the hero saving the beauty?"
*Crack*
As soon as Ding Liu finished speaking, Lu Wuxie had already taken something from his embrace and thrown it over.
Ding Liu caught it clumsily. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was a silver ingot worth twenty taels. While delighted, he quickly bit the silver.
"Is that enough?" Lu Wuxie asked, looking at the man's greedy expression.
"This..." Ding Liu tucked the silver ingot into his embrace. After his sallow eyes rolled in their sockets, he replied, "It's... still a bit short."
Lu Wuxie, who was about to approach Zhong Li, stopped, looking at Ding Liu in surprise.
"It's like this, ten taels was the principal for two months. Miss Zhong hasn't been paying rent for just a day or two, so with the interest doubled, it should be at least..." Ding Liu calculated with his fingers and then extended three fingers, which were covered in wrinkles, saying,
"Thirty taels."
"Thirty taels? Why don't you just rob him?" As soon as Ding Liu finished speaking, Lin Jin, who had been silently following Lu Wuxie, spoke up.
"Young sir," Ding Liu's eyes swept over Lin Jin, and he explained to Lu Wuxie,
"This land in Nanshan was bought by this old man for his own use. Due to my relationship with Miss Zhong's father, I let her bury the deceased here. As you know, once a corpse is buried underground, the land is naturally devalued, so..."
"So you're saying you did a good deed by doing business?" Lu Wuxie finished his sentence.
Ding Liu nodded with a smile and extended his hand, preparing to receive the remaining ten taels.
Lu Wuxie, mimicking his gesture, also smiled charmingly. His gaze swept over the outstretched palm and he said, "I didn't realize such a bold person existed in a place as cramped as Anding County."
"What do you mean?" Ding Liu's expression darkened as he looked at the man opposite him.
"The laws of our country stipulate that local gentry are prohibited from extorting ordinary people on their estates. And if a certain amount of silver is involved, they will be held accountable. I've glanced at this hill; even renting the entire thing would only be three taels a month. Moreover, she only occupied this small area to bury someone. Even with the small thatched hut at the foot of the mountain, it would be less than one tael a month. How did it become thirty taels in your words?
You must know that thirty taels is thirty times the original amount. If discovered, you'd go to jail!" Lu Wuxie said with a smile.
"Jail? Jail? Who... who are you?" Ding Liu's eyes showed confusion at this.
"Me..." Lu Wuxie raised an eyebrow.
Lin Jin, standing behind him, spoke up, "How dare you! Don't you pay your respects to our Young Lord?"
Young Lord? Ding Liu became even more flustered. He squinted and looked at Lu Wuxie again, recalling the recent widespread news in the county about the arrival of the Wise Prince's young lord. His legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground with a thud.
"So it's the Young... Young Lord!" Ding Liu's tongue started to stumble nervously. "This humble one... has met the Young Lord."
"..."
After Ding Liu finished speaking, there was silence above.
He trembled, not daring to raise his head, and said, "Everything just now was a misunderstanding. I hope the Young Lord can forgive my rudeness."
Saying this, Ding Liu took out the silver ingot he hadn't yet warmed up and then took off his jade pendant, offering both hands. "This is a small token of my sincerity. The jade pendant is a family heirloom; I hope the Young Lord will accept it."
Lu Wuxie glanced at Lin Jin.
Lin Jin understood and waved his hand behind him.
At the same time, several yamen runners ran over and bound Ding Liu and the five house servants with ropes.
"Young... Young Lord, what do you mean by this..." Ding Liu was terrified. He tried to resist, but his physical condition was no match for the officers.
Lu Wuxie walked to Ding Liu with his hands clasped behind his back, picked up the tiger-headed cane from the ground, and shoved it into his hand. "Ding Liu, do you underestimate me, Lu Wuxie, too much? You think a broken jade pendant can buy me off? No one who dares to swindle me has been born yet. Today, this Young Lord will ensure you rot in jail!"
As his words fell, the yamen runners, dragging the protesting and shouting Ding Liu and the others, walked down the mountain.
When the surroundings finally quieted down again, Lu Wuxie picked up the tiger-patterned jade pendant from the ground and examined it in his palm.
"Give it back to me," Zhong Li stepped forward, extending her palm to Lu Wuxie.
Lu Wuxie looked up at the cold-faced woman opposite him and said, "Li'er, after all, it was I, this Young Lord, who saved you. Not only do you not offer a word of thanks, but you don't even use a proper address?"
"Proper address?" Zhong Li, gazing at the man's handsome features, scoffed, "This humble one hasn't even spoken of how Your Young Lord has been engaging in petty thievery following me all this way, yet you, Your Young Lord, are asking for a reward first?"
Sharp-tongued!
Lu Wuxie heard her words and the four characters flashed in his mind.
He smiled and, before Zhong Li could retrieve the jade pendant from his hand, quickly tucked it into his embrace.
"You!" Zhong Li was taken aback, her expression slightly angered. "You promised to give it to me several hours ago, and now, Your Young Lord's actions, do you intend to go back on your word?"
Lu Wuxie shook his head with a smile, his gaze fixed on her.
Zhong Li was indeed beautiful, but unlike the glamorous women of Jincheng, her serene, fair features gave her an aloofness that made people unable to stop looking.
"No," Lu Wuxie replied. "It's just..."
His eyes flickered, and he softly uttered a sentence: "What if I told you I know the secret of this tiger-patterned Yin-Yang pendant? Would you be interested, Li'er?"