As soon as the lazy man saw Huang Cixi's hair, he understood his mistake. Pure white hair was the clear mark of the Huang family, especially in a young woman like her. Moreover, on her robe, there were emblematic signs and designs of the Huang family as well. However her cart had been really modest. As such, he had failed to consider the possibility that the cart obstructing his path belonged to a noble.
"Oh? Miss... My servant has been rude to you. I'll discipline him later. Get assured of that."
Hearing his master forsaking him even though he merely obeyed his order, the brute lost all color. Just after that, he could finally move again and he simply fell to the ground, deprived of the will to stand up. Indeed, Huang Liyue who was still protecting Huang Cixi from afar let go of the pressure she was exerting on him.
The lazy man was quite charming and maybe a year or two older than Huang Cixi. As she was still a Mortal, it was hard for her to discern someone's cultivation level, but this guy was probably a 7th-grade Mortal. It wasn't that bad. However, his character and brain were doubtful. Stirring problems right in front of the governor's residence was more than stupid.
Thanks to all the reports she had read, she quickly recognized this guy, Gui Bei. Apparently he was the son of a small shop owner. In truth, this shop owner had some ties with criminal organizations but nothing could be clearly proven. And as their activities were not too problematic, and kept some kind of control over the overall criminality, Governor Leng was lenient with them. However, these last few months, Gui Bei's strength soared for no apparent reason and he started to cause problems here and there. All of a sudden, he went from middle 4th-grade Mortal to 7th-grade Mortal in less than a year.
From Huang Cixi's reasoning, this boy had either made a fortuitous encounter or he was allied with demonic cultivators. If he were a demonic cultivator, at least one Spirit Warrior would have found him out, especially with this sudden increase in cultivation. Either way, she was disgusted by what she had read about him. One day, he had challenged a man in a duel for his fiancée. The man got viciously killed and Gui Bei tried to force himself on the poor woman. Thankfully, some city guards had intervened. Then, Gui Bei's father had had to use many resources but he had been able to prevent too harsh of a punishment for his son. For Huang Cixi, it was clear that this guy was insane. Even if he wasn't a demonic cultivator, he was scum.
Seeing Huang Cixi immobile and silent, Gui Bei left his cart and bowed down.
"Miss Huang, please, let's forget this incident. Are you here alone? We could get inside together. I'm sure your poetry must be delightful. I don't want to brag but my talent is also very impressive. What do you say about joining me for the day?"
"Scram!"
The direct response from Huang Cixi shocked Gui Bei who didn't even know how to react. Huang Cixi did not want to entertain this moron even for one more second. Even Bao Zhong and Zhao Guodong were surprised. It wasn't in their young mistress' habit to talk like that.
"Miss... I'm sorry about my man's brutality. Please..." The sincerity he tried to infuse in his words could not hide the savage glint Huang Cixi saw in his eyes.
"Either you scram now or I will break all of your limbs. Your choice!"
Gui Bei clenched his fists, ready to act upon his impulse, when someone else arrived. The new cart was very sumptuous and wore proudly the colors of the Huang family. From the sides, a curtain got pushed aside and a woman's voice could be heard.
"Xixi, this is no way to act today. With your brutality, how do you think you will fare in poetry?"
Of course, she was Huang Lü. Her eyes still staring straight at Gui Bei, Huang Cixi answered in a cold voice.
"Senior Sister, you should know that poetry can express any feeling. The simplistic idea that poetry must be tame and docile is antiquated. Saint Dashan himself wrote some ruthless and savage poems. With such a shallow understanding of poetry, I doubt you can achieve anything in today's gathering.
"And if you fail to protect your own servants, know that I won't let anyone bully mine. Maybe you do not care about the reputation of our Huang family, but I do. If we allow an outsider to deal out his own punishments to our servants, what are we?"
After these words, Huang Lü stayed quiet for a while. Indeed, if she chose to back up Gui Bei to oppose her sister, she would also choose to side with an outsider beating a servant of the Huang family. However, Gui Bei was not stupid to the point of not seeing this rivalry. Everyone knew that the Huang family was now divided on the matter of the matriarch's division. And he knew exactly what to do.
"Senior Sister Huang Lü, I swear that this is just a misunderstanding. My servant acted without my approval and got violent for no reason. Please, believe me. I would never do such a thing."
Of course, no one believed him for one second. But this was the perfect chance for Huang Lü to try and gain the upper hand.
"You see, Xixi... A good ruler never resorts to violence first. This is a joyous occasion. I'm sure that Governor Leng wouldn't appreciate you being so ruthless right in front of his residence. Think about our Huang family's reputation. We should not jump to conclusions and deal out unfair punishments."
"Senior Sister Lü, I admit that you have a very elegant way of presenting your cowardice as a moral virtue. But if you want to be responsible for that idiot with a rotten brain, I'll let you do it." After her harsh words, she simply stopped talking to Huang Lü. "How will you compensate my servant?"
Huang Lü was incredulous. Usually, she was the most ruthless in the room. But today, Huang Cixi had abandoned her quiet act and showed the more forceful side of her character. Even she didn't know how to react right away. In fact, she had been waiting for Huang Cixi to arrive so as to cause some problem for her. When she saw what had happened with Gui Bei, she had thought that this would be a good opportunity. Indeed, if Huang Cixi kept on acting weak, this would prove that she wasn't fit to rule the family. However, she had simply abandoned this role even before Huang Lü could intervene.
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"Miss Huang, I'll have my man beaten right away."
Gui Bei's servant was still livid on the ground. He knew that he would have to take responsibility even though he had only obeyed his master's orders. But he knew that his master was extremely ruthless.
This proposal wasn't satisfying though. And Huang Cixi immediately retorted before Gui Bei could add anything.
"How does that compensate my servant in any way? Do what you may with your men, that's none of my concern. But you'll have to take responsibility for their actions. So I repeat myself. How are you going to compensate my servant?"
As Gui Bei was still unsure of what he should do, he took out a small pouch. Opening it, he made sure of the amount of gold within. There were ten strings of coins, each one with a thousand coins. As they had a hole in their center, coins could be gathered on a string, either by a hundred or by a thousand. Even without counting, these strings of coins were clearly the latter.
"Miss Huang, here is my compensation."
Gui Bei was still repressing his anger. He bowed once more and gave the money to Huang Cixi.
"With this, we can put this terrible misunderstanding behind us, I hope."
Huang Cixi did not make any motion toward the charming Gui Bei, no matter how docile he acted.
"Why do you give it to me? Give it to my servant. In person!"
Feeling completely humiliated, Gui Bei waited for Huang Lü to say something but she did not. He knew that he had no way of getting out of this. As such, he clenched his teeth and walked toward the middle-aged man. Bao Zhong was still hurt from the strikes he had suffered. But seeing his young mistress protect him in such a way had alleviated most of the pain.
"Mister. Please forgive my servant. This was just a terrible misunderstanding. Please accept this as compensation."
"Thank you."
Nonchalantly, Bao Zhong took the pouch and looked inside. Gui Bei was ready to see him shaken by the amount. But contrary to his expectations, Bao Zhong almost did not react.
"That's acceptable..."
The way he spoke almost made it look like he took the compensation out of pity for Gui Bei. It was as though he was so poor that Bao Zhong didn't want to take too much from him. All this encounter was infuriating for the young man. In fact, he only wished he could skin this servant alive and throw his bloody corpse toward Huang Cixi. Right now, Gui Bei was fantasizing about all the atrocities he could inflict upon them both. But in reality, he wouldn't dare do anything against the Huang family, for now...
"If my servant is satisfied, then all is well. However, if you dare act so blatantly arrogant in front of me again, you will regret it."
Huang Cixi immediately went back in her cart without adding anything toward Huang Lü. Then Bao Zhong brought the cart inside the residence.
Still outside the residence, Gui Bei was furious but he had to hide it as Huang Lü had not left yet. The woman also felt a bit humiliated and didn't want to stay here for too long. Several people were now watching them. And some guards had probably already reported everything to Governor Leng. Huang Lü also knew of Gui Bei's reputation. In fact, she would have preferred not to associate herself with him. Sadly, she felt like she had to seize every opportunity to try and get one over Huang Cixi.
The curtain of her cart closed and she didn't even say anything to Gui Bei before leaving as fast as she could. This only made him even more angry. As he had no one to turn his anger against, he stared at his servant who was cowering in fear.
-
In Huang Cixi's cart, she heard a voice in her head.
"I won't be able to follow you inside, or the governor will know of my presence. But as long as you don't go inward, my spiritual senses will be able to see you. However..." Huang Liyue had a pause as she wasn't sure whether her next words would be inappropriate.
"Ask away."
"This behavior was unlike what I've seen of you."
Letting a smile show on her face, Huang Cixi answered by whispering. With Huang Liyue's spiritual senses, she could hear her even though almost no sound escaped her lips.
"I've been docile for far too long. And I know enough about this Gui Bei to understand his type. Sadly, and it pains me to admit it, but he looks exactly like my late first brother. Men like him only understand strength. If I had been a commoner or from a small noble family, he would have acted way differently. Trying to reason with this kind of men is of no use at all.
"But his stupidity was a good way to show Huang Lü's true colors. Although she tried to act against me, she still understood what was proper. Yes she is way too forceful in her approach but she still knows that protecting our family's name is primordial. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't know when force is necessary and when reason and calm are. If she only has one way to solve her problems, she won't do much. In that regard, Huang Si seems way more apt. I feel her moving against me and yet I never even met her."
"What do you mean? Did Huang Si do anything to you?"
"Humph. Even you didn't notice...? Unfortunately, she's not as subtle as she thinks. I have to admit that she's good, but not good enough."
Her words were really intriguing Huang Liyue. She wondered what Huang Cixi had seen to make her believe that Huang Si was moving against her. But she knew that this would happen at one point. After all, they were both vying for the position of matriarch. As long as both of them were not going overboard, no one within the Huang family would oppose them competing.
"Moreover, this Gui Bei is very suspicious. Did you notice anything at all about him? I do not believe he is a demonic cultivator, but..."
Hearing this, Huang Liyue amplified her spiritual senses around the boy.
Gui Bei was sitting in his cart sulking. Both his eyes were full of repressed rage. With every ounce of will, he was trying to control himself so as to not cause a ruckus right in front of the governor's residence. But he was unable to restrain his vivid emotions. The Spirit Warrior tried to look inside his body. This boy was a mere 7th-grade Mortal. In fact, he was even very close to becoming a 8th-grade Mortal. Yet he wasn't even eighteen. Huang Liyue had thought that her young mistress' speed was incredible, but this boy's was unimaginable. The only explanation she could find was that he had found an ancient treasure of some kind.
There were still ruins and antics from the ancient eras. Even artifacts from the Legendary Era could be found sometimes. It was extremely rare and only chance could make you find one. But maybe, he had had a huge stroke of luck.
Just as she was about to retract her spiritual senses, Huang Liyue almost got the impression that the boy was looking at her. It only lasted for an instant, but this was impossible... Right? A Mortal could not possibly feel the spiritual senses of a late Spirit Warrior, even for an instant. No, it was impossible. This was surely just a coincidence...
Keeping her worry for herself, she confirmed to Huang Cixi that he wasn't a demonic cultivator. At least, he had never used a demonic cultivation method. If he had used one to advance his cultivation so fast, there would be traces of it on him. Demonic cultivation always affected the mind but also the Qi of any cultivator. If the techniques were not used for long, these traces could be very difficult to notice. But with his current level, they should have been obvious.