DLWAV CH92

Third Master Liu had not taken the matter to heart at all in the first place.

Because his instincts told him that he simply did not like men.

And most critically, he had no intention whatsoever of cooperating with Lu Dang.

Not only because he had no desire to get entangled in the power struggles of the imperial court, but also because he genuinely did not believe Lu Dang and the others had any chance of succeeding in the end. Especially given that the Emperor Jianxing in question had been foolish enough to leave behind a personal edict cursing out every last official in the court, then voluntarily abdicated and relinquished his own legitimate claim to the throne.

So he drew his gaze back from the small goatee on the middle-aged man’s chin.

But right at that moment, a commotion suddenly broke out not far away.

Third Master Liu looked up to find several hundred soldiers galloping toward them.

The one at the head appeared to be the Yangzhou garrison general, a man of imperial blood who might well recognize someone as prominent as the former head eunuch Lu Dang.

A sharp voice cut through the air: “Halt! Nobody move!”

“Do not be alarmed, everyone. A band of river pirates has been spotted in Yangzhou. We are here under orders to apprehend them.”

……

Third Master Liu then looked down.

Lu Dang and the others had, as expected, begun to panic.

Third Master Liu’s brow creased. Giving credit where it was due, Emperor Jianxing had at least been a decent ruler. In the end, he couldn’t help himself.

“Pull to shore. Let them on board.”

His subordinate responded without hesitation: “Yes, Third Master.”

When the pleasure boat drew alongside, Lu Dang and the others still hadn’t quite processed what was happening.

It was only when a young man stepped off the boat and addressed them with polite courtesy that it clicked: “Honored guests, the soldiers are a rough lot and may cause you some unpleasantness. Why not come aboard first? Our Third Master will help send those soldiers on their way shortly.”

Lu Dang recognized the man at once as one of Third Master Liu’s most capable subordinates. Connecting that with what he had just said, there was no longer any question that they had been recognized.

Lu Dang’s pupils tightened.

Was their disguise really that poor?

Somehow everyone and their grandmother kept managing to unearth their secrets.

But he also knew that now was not the time to dwell on this. The priority was getting away from those soldiers.

Which meant he had no room to decline: “We would be most grateful to Third Master Liu.”

Then he stepped ahead of Ao Ruize.

Because he figured that since his own identity had already been exposed, he absolutely could not allow Ao Ruize’s to be exposed as well.

The young man led them straight down to the lowest level of the pleasure boat.

Before long, the soldiers closed in, and then a voice drifted down, clear as running water and tinged with a half-measure of lazy ease: “General Sun, it’s been a month. You look even more formidable than before.”

The milk dumpling’s ears pricked up instantly.

“That voice is rather nice.”

Then a rougher voice followed: “Ah, so it’s Gang Chief Liu. What refined taste you have, taking to the pleasure boats in broad daylight.”

“What can I say, I’m nothing but a man of leisure. Can’t compare to the General, shouldering ten thousand affairs every day.”

“But General, what brings you here——”

“There’s a band of river pirates that came up from the south…… Someone tipped us off that they’re hiding in the Little Qinhuai River right now, so I brought my men over to have a look.”

“The General has worked hard.”

“Though I happen to be entertaining honored guests at the moment. Would the General perhaps be willing to search elsewhere first…… This is a small token from Liu, for the General and the brothers to take some tea with. Please do me the honor of accepting it.”

“…… Well, since you have honored guests, it would indeed be rude to disturb you. We’ll move on then. If Chief Liu spots any sign of those pirates, do be sure to report it promptly.”

“Of course, of course.”

Before long, the sound of footsteps rose again, only this time growing steadily more distant.

After another quarter of an hour, the wooden hatch above the cabin was lifted once more.

The young man at the front simply said: “Honored guests, the soldiers have gone. You may come out now.”

Lu Dang had already composed himself. He knew perfectly well that his identity had been blown, and there was no point agonizing over it.

Once outside, he said only: “Many thanks to the Canal Gang for lending us your aid. I wonder if Third Master Liu might have a moment. I would like to thank him in person.”

Lu Dang spoke with impeccable courtesy, and the Canal Gang naturally could not treat him carelessly in return.

The young man immediately stepped aside: “Our Third Master is just upstairs. Honored guests, this way please——”

Lu Dang and the others followed him up to the upper deck.

Before Ao Ruize had even fully steadied himself, the milk dumpling’s voice rang out: “Those beautiful upturned phoenix eyes, that high-bridged nose, those lips made all the more vivid by wine…… I’ve decided. He is my new wife.”

Ao Ruize: “……”

He was a little disturbed to realize he had already gotten used to this.

So in the next instant, his full attention settled on Third Master Liu.

Which made it rather difficult for Third Master Liu not to notice.

His guess had been right. This person was indeed someone Lu Dang had sent to rope him in, and the way the man was currently looking at him as though he wanted to devour him whole was all the evidence he needed.

But as he had always maintained, he simply did not like men, and had no intention of working with them.

So when Lu Dang reached the part about “the Canal Gang’s great kindness, which we will forever hold in our hearts,” Third Master Liu said only:

“You flatter us, Lord Lu. Liu asks for nothing in return, only that Lord Lu remembers to look after the Canal Gang a little if the day comes when you rise again.”

Hearing this, Lu Dang fell briefly silent.

Because what Third Master Liu had just said carried a clear underlying meaning.

He was saying: the Canal Gang had helped them today. Since they acknowledged this debt, the Gang would not report them to the authorities, and in return, they were not to take revenge on the Canal Gang in future.

Lu Dang instinctively wanted to glance back at Ao Ruize, but catching himself, he remembered that they could under no circumstances allow Ao Ruize’s identity to be exposed, and held back.

Lu Dang could only say: “Since Third Master Liu has spoken so plainly, allow Lu to be equally direct.”

“Third Master Liu may rest assured. Our master is the most magnanimous and broad-minded of men. He would never repay kindness with enmity. From this day forward, let us consider the past to have never happened.”

In this way, they no longer needed to worry about the Canal Gang moving against them.

So for them, perhaps this had not been such a bad outcome after all.

Thinking this, Lu Dang’s mind settled completely.

“Good.”

Third Master Liu gave a light, appreciative clap.

He hadn’t expected that this outing on the Little Qinhuai River would, by one twist of fate after another, resolve the tension between the Canal Gang and Lu Dang’s camp entirely.

When he put it that way, those few thousand taels of silver he had spent today had been quite worth it.

“Come, allow me to raise a cup to Lord Lu.”

The moment the Yangzhou garrison soldiers withdrew, Lu Dang wasted no time in taking Ao Ruize and the others back to the residence.

The moment they were inside, Lu Dang couldn’t hold back: “Master, today we were lucky enough to run into Third Master Liu, and Third Master Liu had no real desire to make enemies of us, so he lent us a hand. But if we hadn’t run into Third Master Liu today, do you know what would have been waiting for us?”

The milk dumpling chimed in pointedly: “Exactly.”

Even though the points Ao Ruize had left would have been more than enough for it to muddle the soldiers’ perceptions so they would never have spotted them. So even without its future wife stepping in to help, they would have been fine.

What could Ao Ruize do.

He could only agree readily: “I understand. I won’t go out so carelessly again in future.”

As for what he actually had in mind, the milk dumpling found out soon enough.

Because the moment Lu Dang withdrew, ready to shift his focus to a new recruitment target and take another run at the middle-aged man, Ao Ruize returned to his room, turned, and climbed straight out of the window. Then the courtyard wall. The rockery. The back gate. He even successfully slipped past several rounds of patrolling guards with ease.

The milk dumpling: “……”

Was this really the level of physical ability Ao Ruize was supposed to have?

Wait.

Only now did it remember: even though Ao Ruize had been confined to bed since entering this world, he was, at his core, the kind of person who thought nothing of clambering up several tens of meters onto ocean swells just for the thrill of it.

But none of that mattered anymore.

What mattered was that after leaving the residence, Ao Ruize headed straight for Third Master Liu’s estate.

The milk dumpling froze for a moment.

A bad feeling rose in its chest.

Third Master Liu, who happened to be returning home at that exact moment, also froze for a moment.

But in the next instant, he pieced it together.

And then he laughed.

Because he hadn’t expected Lu Dang to still refuse to give up.

So much so that for a moment he wasn’t sure whether to feel flattered, given how determined Lu Dang clearly was to have him, or worried, given that Lu Dang’s camp obviously had no intention of letting him go.

But as he had always said, he simply did not like men, and had no intention of working with them.

So Third Master Liu did no more than spare Ao Ruize a single extra glance before withdrawing his gaze and continuing toward the front gate.

Seeing this, Ao Ruize’s brow lifted slightly.

His wife was getting harder and harder to win over with each passing world.

But that was alright. Wasn’t that part of the fun?

Thinking this, Ao Ruize gave a small, unhurried flick of the hand he held behind his back.

In the next instant, rain came pouring down in torrents.

Third Master Liu, already under the eaves, turned his head instinctively and caught sight of Ao Ruize, drenched through, looking thoroughly miserable and forlorn.

And critically, it being the height of summer, Ao Ruize had been dressed in very light clothing to begin with. The sudden downpour plastered his robes against him, tracing every line of his figure in perfect, unsparing detail.

The milk dumpling: “……”

Third Master Liu: “……”

Third Master Liu’s throat caught.

He was quiet for a moment.

Whatever else could be said, Ao Ruize was still one of Lu Dang’s people.

Lu Dang might go back on his word, but he himself could ill afford to offend Lu Dang’s people too severely.

Thinking this, the furrow in Third Master Liu’s brow released at once.

He gave a silent look to the servant nearby.

The servant immediately turned and ushered Ao Ruize inside.

But before long, the servant came back to find him in his study, reporting that Ao Ruize wished to see him in person to express his gratitude.

Third Master Liu had no particular desire to see Ao Ruize, but on reflection, if he simply sent him away, there was no guarantee the man wouldn’t come back to pester him again. Better to make things clear once and for all.

“Let him in.”

The Liu household kept no plain-colored garments.

So the Ao Ruize who walked back in was now clad in a robe of deep blue, embroidered at the chest with cloud patterns, a piece of jade green stone hanging at his waist sash, and gold trim worked along the cuffs. Paired with Ao Ruize’s composed and upright features, anyone who didn’t know better would have taken him for someone who had stepped right out of a painting.

Third Master Liu, who had been reclining in a grand armchair, found his phoenix eyes narrowing almost involuntarily.

It was only then that the milk dumpling caught on.

Was Ao Ruize trying to seduce its wife?

He was absolutely trying to seduce its wife.

He was not even bothering to hide it anymore.

Almost simultaneously, Third Master Liu’s voice rang out: “What is your name?”

Ao Ruize: “Ao Ruize.”

Ao Ruize?

The milk dumpling: “……”

He had just openly admitted to being a dog, and didn’t even leave it an opening to scold him for it!!!

Support me on Ko-fi