Chapter 230 (1): Subdued

Chapter 230 (1): Subdued

In the prefectural office, the old aide tugged Liu Gaohua along and walked to the back door of the government office. Liu Gaohua saw a horse-drawn carriage that was already prepared, and it looked like someone was about to embark on a long journey to someplace outside the prefecture. The old aide extended a hand and said with a wide smile, "Please enter the carriage, Young Master."

A young woman opened the curtain of the carriage, and her face was stained with tears. Upon seeing that it was her younger brother, she released the curtain and felt a little bit better. She leaned against the wall of the carriage and started to think about Young Master Liu again.

Liu Gaohua was baffled, and he asked, "Uncle Song, what's this all about?"

"The prefectural overseer told me to take you and your older sister out of the prefectural city," the old aide replied with a stern expression.

Liu Gaohua was astonished and retorted, "Leaving the prefectural city now? Why? Is Blusher Prefecture genuinely facing a great catastrophe? Uncle Song, the more dangerous the situation is, the more that I can't leave the prefectural city. What will I do if something happens to Father?"

The old aide who had worked in the prefectural office for many years smiled and answered, "If something truly happens, what can a feeble scholar like you do?"

Liu Gaohua was rendered speechless.

"Young Master, let's leave. Young Mistress is still waiting for you," the old aide urged.

Liu Gaohua shook his head and insisted, "I'm not leaving no matter what! You can tell my sister to leave by herself..."

Before he finished speaking, Liu Gaohua had already turned around to sprint to the back door. However, his vision suddenly became a blur, and he was surprised to find the old aide blocking the back door. As Liu Gaohua came to a stop, the old aide smiled like a sly old fox.

He looked the young man up and down and said, "Uncle Song has traveled around the world before, after all. It's only natural that I know some moves. Are you going to enter the carriage yourself, or do you want me to knock you unconscious and carry you onto the carriage? Truth be told, I am already a bag of old bones. Can you bear to have me carry you around?"

"You'll have to knock me out to stop me!" Liu Gaohua said stubbornly.

The old aide sighed and said, "Your father understands your stubborn temperament, so he initially told me to pass on a message. However, I purposely didn't mention it straight away because I was afraid of damaging the relationship between the two of you. Now that you're acting like this, however, I have no option but to tell the truth. Your father said, 'Liu Gaohua, you've never done a single thing that's satisfied me for the past twenty years. So, don't stay in the prefectural office to cause more trouble, okay?'"

Liu Gaohua's eyes became red, and his lips also started to tremble.

He fell silent for a moment before asking in a feeble voice, "What about my younger sister?"

The old aide shook his head and replied, "There's no time to worry about her right now. You and Young Mistress should leave first. I've already sent someone to search for Second Young Mistress." Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

Liu Gaohua was about to say something stubborn again, and the old aide also became impatient. He stomped his feet and snapped, "Oh, my dear Young Master Liu, don't blame me for saying this, but how can a man achieve great things if they're so hesitant and overemotional?"

"My parents don't care about me, and my younger sister doesn't care about me either. I'll be shocked if a bastard as useless as me can achieve great things!" Liu Gaohua exclaimed in grief.

The old aide almost choked upon hearing this, and he huffed, "Leave, leave, leave, hurry up and leave."

Liu Gaohua was slightly dazed, and he felt like he would be wrong no matter what he did.

At this moment, he couldn't help but recall the things that had weighed heavily on his mind in the past. For example, his father always being busy with official matters and essays about morality, his father enjoying profound discussions with outsiders and being willing to play Go for an entire afternoon with guests, and his father never sparing words of praise for the sons and daughters of his good friends.

Having never experienced warfare before, the prefectural overseer’s teeth chattered as he said those sincere words. His face was pale, and his knees were wobbling. He was unable to hide his fear no matter what.

The old aide clearly saw fear written all over his body.

To utter such brave words in such a cowardly manner...

It was truly quite the comical sight.

However, the old aide was simply unable to laugh. He hadn't found the situation laughable either.

Some scholars who had become officials were indeed very different from those impoverished and self-pitying scholars who felt like their talents were unrecognized and unappreciated.

The old aide acting as a driver pushed these thoughts aside and had the horse trot faster out of the city.

He couldn't help but glance back. Where had the mischievous disciple whom he had secretly taken run off to? Where were they playing now? He hadn't been able to find them no matter how he looked, so he could only pray that they stayed safe and out of trouble. The catastrophe looming over Blusher Prefecture definitely wasn't something that they could become involved in.

The old aide shook his head and lamented in exasperation, "The cultivation world is murky, while the mountains are filled with strong winds. Neither place is calm and easy to settle down in. Is it really that difficult to lead a quiet and peaceful life?"

————

There was a rice shop in the north of the prefectural city, and a tall and skinny old man had opened and run this shop for twenty years or so. He didn't speak much, and the two shop attendants who also lived in the prefectural city alongside him didn't like to speak much either.

However, they often visited the city god pavilion to offer incense, and thanks to this, their neighbors had a somewhat good impression of them. The rice and miscellaneous items in the rice shop were also of good quality and sold at a cheap price, so business here had always been fairly decent.

Today, the rice shop welcomed two customers from outside the prefectural city. They were a middle-aged couple who looked honest and dutiful. The rice shop closed very early, and a young shop attendant who had been newly hired last winter explained that the shop owner had relatives visiting from afar. No one found this strange. After all, it was only normal for relatives who hadn't seen each other for a long time to chat for a bit longer.

After closing the rice shop, the owner of the shop and the middle-aged couple sat around a table of mouthwatering dishes. The fragrance of the food wafted through the air. Meanwhile, the three shop attendants sat together in a corner and snacked on sunflower seeds. It was clear that they didn't have the right to sit at the table.

The man who had come from afar directly reached over to grab an oily drumstick. He ravenously chowed down on it, and he held a pot of wine in his other hand as he ate. When he tilted his head back to drink wine, half of the contents would enter his mouth, while the other half of the contents would spill.

The woman cocked her head slightly, pinched her chin with two fingers, and made a gentle tearing motion. A thin face mask was surprisingly torn off and slapped down onto the table. Only then did she lean back into the chair and heave a huge breath. "Wearing this piece of shit is so uncomfortable. I can't even breathe properly. To think that I actually spent 30 snowflake coins for it..."

The three shop attendants drew a sharp breath. The maskless woman was truly very ugly!

The three of them exchanged a smile. They felt like the woman had caught a bargain by buying the face mask for 30 snowflake coins.

As the woman spoke, she reached up with her other hand to tear off a second face mask and throw it onto the table.

The three shop attendants were instantly astonished. They all gulped as they looked at the woman.

She was criminally beautiful, and the three shop attendants prayed that there wouldn't be a third face mask. However, they couldn't help but wail in their minds when the woman raised her hand again. Alrighty then, so she really is an ugly woman, after all.

To their surprise, the extremely beautiful woman winked at them and said in a sweet voice, "There's no more face mask; this is big sister's true appearance. Am I beautiful?"

The owner of the rice shop huffed and said, "Hurry up and discuss the proper matters."

The man tilted his chin and signaled for the woman to speak. He was still busy eating and drinking.