Qi Wang’s gaze swept across the chicken’s fishy smelling blood in the bathtub, and turned around to leave the room.
As the Martial Lord, who commanded countless subordinates, it was beneath him to do such trivial things like this. He just needed to make some arrangements, and there would be people ready to clean everything up for him.
Qi Wang was not the Original, so obviously, he would not hide his injury. In some cases, the more you try to be secretive about things, the more you would rouse suspicion. It would be better to do things in the open for all to see, preventing other people from overthinking.
After being scolded by him, Zhang Qingyun left and probably went to find Lin Yingying. The two of them have never really concealed their feelings for each other. They blatantly flirted as if they were not doing a blunder, but anyone with eyes could easily perceive that there was something off between the two of them. Yet, it seemed that no one from the Great Blade Manor could see the fault in the sudden intimacy between the Master’s Lady and his disciple.
The disciple hugging his Master’s Lady? It was because the Master’s Lady had slipped and the disciple went to support her, to prevent her from falling.
The Master’s Lady feeding the disciple? It was because the disciple was injured, so the Master’s Lady fed him out of sympathy.
Also, the two of them reciting poetry with each other and dancing with music was not really a big deal. These were all the normal things that a Master’s Lady and a disciple should be doing together.
The insensitivity of these people was what precisely allowed Zhang QIngyun and Lin Yingying to become progressively overboard with their unscrupulous behavior.
Qi Wang followed the direction of the corridor.
Meanwhile, the small flower garden beside him was filled to the brim with every type of beautiful flower of different colours in full bloom; as it should be during springtime.
There were butterflies flying gracefully among the flowering shrubs with the strong flowery scent wafting through air. It felt as if his body was daubed completely in this sweet scent as he walked in the flower garden.
Zhang Qingyun was obviously the one who put in great effort to gather these flowers with great difficulty, rather than the Original, who was a coarse spirited man and would not pay attention to such things. Every single flower was grown by Zhang Qingyun all because Lin Yingying had commented that the Great Blade Manor’s flower garden was too empty. She wanted a flower garden brimming with fresh ones. Hence, Zhang Qingyun put together such a magnificent flower garden for her.
Oh right, Zhang Qingyun was broke. Apart from a small portion of the flowers that was handpicked and brought back by him, most of it was actually bought using money that he borrowed from their account office. In other words, these flowers were bought using the Original’s own money. But neither Lin Yingying, Zhang Qingyun nor the rest of the people of the Great Blade Manor saw anything wrong with this.
As a disciple, should not he show filial respect towards his Master’s Lady? This just proved that the disciple’s display of filial piety is indeed laudable.
When Lin Yingying said that she loved to wear the handmade dresses from the Shu province, Zhang Qingyun immediately borrowed silver from the account office to buy it for her.
Lin Yingying said that she loved to eat the dried fruits from Suzhou; Zhang Qingyun then borrowed silver from the account office to buy it for her.
Lin Yingying said that she loved the hairpins from the Thousand Jewel Pavillion; Zhang Qingyun then borrowed silver from the account office to buy it for her.
Whatever Lin Yingying said she wanted, Zhang Qingyun would simply borrow silver from the account office to buy it for her. He would never let her wishes be left unfulfilled. Compared to the Original who never bought her anything, Lin Yingying naturally liked Zhang Qingyun even more.
Lin Yingying loved men who knew how to flatter her with gifts and care for her seriously, but the Original was an annoying blockhead. Considering the kind of man he was, he would naturally be unable to win her affections.
In actuality, the Original’s thinking was quite simple. There was not much of a difference whether it was him or his disciple buying things for Lin Yingying; it was still his money that was used. Although he was only a disciple in name, he raised him and could easily pass off as his own son. A son showing filial piety to his mother was simply right and proper. Therefore, all these gifts should be credited towards him.
Unfortunately, Lin Yingying only looked at who gifted her. She could hardly care whose money was spent, thus her feelings for Zhang Qingyun increasingly deepened.
As the goddess of the demon sects and the Demon Lord’s daughter, Lin Yingying has never been treated unfairly. All she ate and wore were of the finest quality; Zhang Qingyun did not see a problem with her excessive wishes. Considering the limitless supply of silver that the account office provided him, there was no need to overassess it.
Yeah, to think that he used the Original’s money to pick up his wife; this scum of a disciple was really quite sure of himself.
At the same time, one could say that the Original was also to be blamed for what happened. He treated these three disciples as his own sons. He completely cared for them with his whole heart; and to some degree, he expected the same sincere treatment from them as well. As a result, he had no qualms when it came to money-related issues with his children. So long as they went to the account office to borrow money, it would be lent without even needing his approval.
Lin Qingfeng and Xiao Qingyu were quite similar to the Original, in the sense that they did not care much for material goods. In addition, their food and clothing expenses were already covered by the Great Blade Manor. Only when they went out to travel the martial world did they need to borrow silvers. Money had little importance to them. Since they did not need to spend much when staying within the manor, there was no need to go to the account office to borrow.
Though the Original raised all three of his children in the same way, Zhand Qingyun—this rascal—diverged. On the other hand, Lin Qingfeng and Xiao Qingyu became good and honourable young men. This could only prove one thing, the rascal Zhang Qingyun, was born to be naturally evil. In the end, how he turned out had nothing to do with the Original’s teachings.
His other two disciples knew how to keep a proper distance with their Master’s Lady, but not Zhang Qingyun. On the surface, he was just showing filial respect to his Master’s Lady. But in reality, he was treating her as if she was his Lady instead; pampering her in every way possible. He had already done all that he could possibly do with her, save for that last line that he dare not cross.
His lips may have declared that the person he respected the most was his Master, but in the end, he did not even think twice before he wrapped himself in the arms of his Master’s wife.
“My Lord.”
The two guards at Qi Wang’s door immediately declared their greetings as they saw him approach.
Qi Wang waved them off and ordered, “Qi Yi, find Qingfeng and Qingyu, then bring them to me.”
Qi Yi quickly left after a brief acknowledgement without asking further questions.
Seeing Qi Yi easily leap across the garden cemented the knowledge that this was truly a world of martial arts.
It seems that people of the martial world really like to jump here and there.
Qi Wang thought, as he pushed open the door to his study room and sat on his mahogany chair. Afterwhich, he picked up a book that lay conveniently at his side; slowly flipping it, page by page.
Qi Wang did not even manage to flip even two pages before he felt his eyes getting fuzzy. His whole being was struck dazed and confused.
He originally thought that this was caused by his internal injury that had yet to recover, but after putting the book down, this feeling suddenly dispersed.
Qi Wang: “...”
Perhaps he felt exhausted from reading the book.
As Qi Wang was silently contemplating about the existing bookshelves that were chock-full, he was struck by the Original’s memory about those that were stuffed in the corner.
These bookshelves were basically designed by Lin Yingying herself. She said that she liked people with culture and a man who she could read and discuss poetry with. She hoped that the Original could read more books so that they could have a common topic to talk about.
The Original actually disliked reading. He would be easily bored if he were to pick up a book. But just because of Lin Yingying’s one mention, the Original still tried his best to start reading. He did not care if he detest it nor if it would bore him to death. He put in great effort to cultivate his understanding and appreciation of the arts.
However, Lin Yingying did not really care whether the Original was cultured or not. She only looked for an excuse to prevent the Original from getting closer to her. She used this opportunity to further hang around Zhang Qingyun, deepening their affair.
Lin Yingying only saw the things that Zhang Qingyun bought for her with the Original’s money and overlooked the Original’s sincere and heartfelt generosity towards her.
Why is it that the more he thought about it, the more sorry he felt for this man with the same name as him?
While Qi Wang was thinking about this nonsense, Qi Yi already came back with Lin Qingfeng and Xiao Qingyu. After showing them inside, Qi Yi turned and considerately closed the door as he left, leaving Qi Wang alone with his two disciples.
Qi Wang raised his head to look at his two disciples and found that both of them were fine-looking. Each of them had their own merits: one was full of confidence and grace, the other looked well distinguished and equally as elegant.
If one were to look at appearances alone, they were truly deserving of their titles: Nobel Yu Mian (Face like Jade) and Noble Bai Long (White Dragon).
It was truly a pity that these two were too naive and ignorant for their own good. Just like the Original, there was not even a strand of doubt in their stomach. If it were not for this, these two would not so easily fall into the schemes and plots of Lin Yingying; dying a horrible death under Zhang Qingyun.
His face suddenly turned a shade of disappointment and defeat at the grimness of his thoughts. He fixed his eyes on his two disciples and said in a painfully deep tone: “Qingfeng, Qingyu, the reason your teacher has called you here is because there is something important that I want to discuss with you two.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Qingfeng and Xiao Qingyu were tense and anxious as they had never seen Qi Wang with this kind of serious expression before.
“Master, what happened? Is there another general assembly to be organised?”
“Master, are we going to attack the demon sect again? Didn’t we just attack them three months back?”
“Master, are we short on money again? Which corrupt official shall we steal from this time?”
“Master, is it some righteous sect who needs our help with paying back loans after civilian stores were caught in the crossfire between them and the demon sect?”
Qi Wang: “...”
The more they guessed, the further they were from his point. Qi Wang raised his hand to stop them from making any more nonsensical guesses.
“I’m not referring to any of these. What I’m about to reveal is even more serious than that. Your teacher has suffered great internal injury and my internal force is already gone. From now on, I am just an ordinary man.”
The moment he said this, Lin Qingfeng and Xiao Qingyu were shocked stupid.
Wait, what did their Master just say? His internal force is gone? He can only be an ordinary man from now on? What a joke! This cannot be true, their Master’s martial arts is number one in the world. How is it possible that he had lost all his internal force?
Lin Qingfeng and Xiao Qingyu were both in a state of disbelief, thinking that Qi Wang was lying to them.
Seeing that they were unwilling to believe him, Qi Wang cut the long story short and told them all about how he went into the base of the demon sect. That he single-handedly saved Zhang Qingyun and took the Demon Lord’s blow that was meant for Zhang Qingyun just as they were trying to escape.
“The Demon Lord and I are evenly matched in terms of our martial arts. I wouldn’t be in this state after dealing with his attack if my injury was treated on time. However, when I was just about to use chicken blood to treat my injury, that child, Qingyun, stormed into the room. I’m not sure what he heard, but he was questioning why I was practicing demonic cultivation. My cultivation was interrupted, the cold poison entered my body. As a result, my internal force was completely lost.”
After explaining the hows and whys of his current situation, Qi Wang finally arrived at his conclusion. From now on, he would be living his life as an ordinary man. He could no longer be the Lord of the Great Blade Manor, not to mention the position of the Martial Lord.
But it seemed that both Lin Qingfeng and Xiao Qingyu did not care about all these. They were only concerned about the condition of Qi Wang’s body.
“I’m fine, don’t worry. But I’ve decided to hand over the position of Martial Lord and Lord of the Great Blade Manor to your Senior disciple, what do the two of you think?”
Lin Qingfeng and Xiao Qingyu chorused: “It’s all up to our Master to make the decision.”
These two did not care much for all these titles and reputations and only focused on Qi Wang’s health. They promised to find the best doctor in the world that would definitely be able to restore his internal force to maximum capacity.
“No need, living the life of an ordinary man is quite good. I’ve been the Martial Lord for a good five years and have grown tired of it. Currently, I have other plans.”
Qi Wang stated: “I want to enter the palace courts to become an official.”
Lin Qingfeng: “...”
Xiao Qingyu: “...”
Are they hallucinating? Why is it that their Master, who had lost all his internal force, decided to become a court official?
Alas, facts have proven that their ears were indeed working fine.
Qi Wang wanted to become a court official. He even wanted them to escort him all the way to the capital.
The two fellow disciples: “...”