“That pair of young ones seems a bit off,” Zhong Shu said to Master Liu, “Yesterday, when I passed by the backyard, I happened to notice the two of them whispering together. Don’t look at me like that—yes, I admit I was eavesdropping. I even overheard them talking about eloping.”
“Elope? Are you serious?” Master Liu expressed doubt, “Not that I mean to underestimate you, but your cultivation is practically a joke to those two. Do you really think you could eavesdrop on them without being noticed?”
“What are you talking about? Do you think eavesdropping is all about superior cultivation? You, who’ve grown used to being high and mighty, obviously don’t understand that this is a skill. Anyway, I caught a few of their lip movements. It seems the Emperor is pressing too hard on them, and the two young ones, cornered, are planning to run away,” Zhong Shu said gloomily.
“Really?” Master Liu became restless, “Then what should we do? Old man, it was your idea, so if things go wrong, I won’t let you off the hook!”
“What can you do to me even if you don’t let me off?” Zhong Shu shrugged, “You agreed to the plan back then too. You can’t blame me entirely now, can you?”
“You were supposed to give them advice when the timing was right, yet you haven’t made a move yet,” Master Liu angrily said.
“I was just afraid the timing wasn’t right yet, and they might not agree,” Zhong Shu shook his head, “Who would have thought those two would be so reckless and actually try to run away?”
“I don’t care!” Master Liu glared, “It was your idea, so you can’t possibly walk away from the mess. This is on you!”
“Master Shao, that girl Bi Zhen who came back with you the other day, why haven’t we seen her at our mansion?” Zhong Shu asked Mei Qing casually after specially coming to report some household matters.
“Oh, since Zhen’er has already returned to the capital, naturally she should go back to Dongyue Temple. It wouldn’t be convenient for her to stay at our mansion frequently,” Mei Qing replied easily.
“So then… what are you planning to do? Are you just going to let things remain as they are?”
“You yourself said that’s all we can do. As long as we care for each other, whether I can actually marry her or not is just a formality,” Mei Qing said.
“While that may be true… you still owe her some kind of explanation. Besides, I’m afraid Minister Lu won’t agree either,” Zhong Shu reminded him.
“Who cares!” Mei Qing said confidently, “He never agreed anyway. Haven’t Zhen’er and I been together all this time? If he pushes me too far, hmpf…”
Hearing this, Zhong Shu couldn’t help but sweat inwardly as he carefully said, “Still, this can’t be good, right? Haven’t you thought about whether there’s another way?”
“What for? Zhen’er is mine, and that’s enough. Everything else can just go its own way!” Mei Qing raised his head, “By the way, Zhong Shu, why are you suddenly so concerned about this? Oh, Zhong Shu, regarding my background—”
“Ah… me? Nothing. I’m just worried about your marriage. I was just asking casually, just asking casually.” With that, Zhong Shu quickly walked away, appearing calm but actually moving swiftly.
Watching Zhong Shu’s back, Mei Qing blinked and gave a strange expression before leaving.
Zhong Shu hurried out of the garden gate, then slowed down, wiping the sweat from his forehead and stomping his foot in frustration. He grumbled, “Why has the young master suddenly become so indifferent about his marriage? And that old bastard is pushing hard. What should I do now?”
“Master Shao, would you like to personally check this month’s household accounts?” Zhong Shu respectfully said to Mei Qing, holding a stack of account books.
“Accounts? Zhong Shu, when did I say I wanted to see these?” Mei Qing looked puzzled.
“Ah, when you were younger, and… being wise in simplicity, naturally you didn’t deal with these things. But now that you’ve grown up and are about to marry, you naturally need to know how to manage the household,” Zhong Shu sighed.
“When did I say I was getting married…” Mei Qing was somewhat confused.
“You don’t have to say anything, I know your heart,” Zhong Shu sighed, “Last night, I dreamed about the mistress…”
“Ah…” Mei Qing pointed at Zhong Shu, “So you secretly loved… that… and you still dream about her after all these years…”
“Nonsense!” Zhong Shu immediately got angry, his neck veins popping out, “The mistress was like a celestial being, I only had respect for her…”
“Is that so? Then tell me about my mother, Zhong Shu. What kind of person was she? And my father?” Mei Qing continued to ask.
“Ahh…” Zhong Shu, who had been furious a moment ago, suddenly froze. After a while, he suddenly realized, “Oh no, I was thinking yesterday about telling Zhu Zi to prepare for the New Year, but I forgot in the rush!”
While speaking, Zhong Shu slapped his thigh and said, “This matter can’t be delayed. You stay here, young master, I need to go check on it immediately!”
Without even waiting for Mei Qing’s call, Zhong Shu ran off in a flash.
“I’m really at a loss,” Zhong Shu lamented to Master Liu, “That kid, whether intentionally or not, always cuts me off as soon as I open my mouth, and keeps asking about his origins. Do you think he’s found out something?”
“Don’t try to dodge with that!” Master Liu exploded, “How would I know what you were going to talk to him about? It’s just that you, old man, haven’t done your job properly!”
“It’s true, ever since he came back this time, he seems to have suspicions about his origins and has already asked me several times. Your men have been secretly following him, right? Don’t you know what’s going on?”
After Zhong Shu asked this question, Master Liu also looked gloomy as he said, “I did send people. At first, everything was fine, but later, according to the man, two new people appeared around Mei Qing, a monk and a Taoist. But the last message was just that. After that, whenever they tried to get close to Mei Qing, they would inevitably fall asleep without realizing it. When they woke up, they were either dumped on the beach or in a haystack, making it impossible to continue following. Otherwise, would I not know Bi’s whereabouts?”
“A monk and a Taoist? Why didn’t you tell me this earlier? What if they mean harm to Mei Qing?” Zhong Shu asked.
Master Liu sneered, “People who can casually deal with my men, can they be ordinary characters? But judging from the situation, these two seem to have no ill intentions towards Mei Qing. They might be wandering high-level cultivators in the Taoist world… Ah, no, wait!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Mei Qing’s cultivation… his cultivation is off!” Master Liu stood up abruptly, “That day when he returned to the garrison, he also came here to report on his trip to Yongping. But at that time, I had other things on my mind and didn’t pay attention. Now that I think about it, from the time he came in to talk until he left, I actually didn’t notice at all what level of cultivation he had reached.”
“What do you mean?” Zhong Shu frowned, “Are you saying he learned a new spell to hide his cultivation?”
“No,” Master Liu shook his head, “Even people with very high cultivation would find it difficult to hide their cultivation here. Unless he had some extraordinary encounter recently and his cultivation has advanced significantly, at least to a level close to mine, which might make me overlook his cultivation!”
“Sixth Master, are you out of your mind!” Zhong Shu was first startled, then disbelieving, “Although you’re not gifted and are quite dull, you can’t say that your position as a commander is for nothing! I know a bit about the Taoist world too. even if your foundation is not very stable, your realm should be enough to reach above the Yuan Ying stage. Mei Qing just condensed his golden core a few days ago, and you’re saying he’s on par with you? Who are you trying to fool?”
Master Liu shook his head with a bitter smile, “I can’t believe it either, but after thinking about it repeatedly, there’s no other explanation. Although my cultivation was aided by external forces, if we’re talking about real ability, I’m not afraid of ordinary Yuan Ying experts. But if someone like Mei Qing could naturally deceive me like that, except for a few people close to the Qi Lian stage, I’ve never encountered such a case before.”
“That’s strange!” Zhong Shu blinked, “Could the young master really have eaten some rare elixirs? Have you ever heard of anyone in the Taoist world cultivating that fast? Things that are too unusual are often ominous…”
Master Liu shook his head, looking somewhat dispirited, “From the beginning, was there ever anything normal about that kid Mei Qing? If this continues, soon I won’t be able to keep up with the information either. People with ill intentions might target him, and even the Emperor—”
“What? Does the Emperor already know something?” Zhong Shu asked nervously.
“Not yet, I think. But with all this commotion, how can we keep it hidden? The Emperor also has other channels. I could previously do my best to cover things up, but now with Mei Qing’s cultivation, if it falls into the eyes of someone who can see clearly, it will soon be known to everyone. Then, how could the Emperor not find out?” Master Liu sighed repeatedly as he spoke.
“Sixth Master, I thought the crown prince’s position was already established. What about Mei Qing?” Zhong Shu hesitated.
“Absolutely not,” Master Liu shook his head, “If Mei Qing’s identity is truly exposed, first, the Emperor’s past movements will inevitably be known. You know how formidable that person is. If they really come looking for us, how will we deal with it? Second, Mei Qing will be targeted by unknown people. With just you and me, do you think we can protect him? Besides—”
After a moment of hesitation, Master Liu coldly laughed, “Two dragons should never meet! Now, the Emperor won’t even see the crown prince. Who knows what he’s thinking? Knowing about Mei Qing might not be a blessing. Last time, that girl Bi almost foolishly took Mei Qing to see the Emperor. With Mei Qing looking exactly like his mother, the Emperor would recognize him at first glance! If I hadn’t coincidentally been there, who knows what chaos would have ensued!”
“What should we do then? No matter what happened in Yongping, Mei Qing must have sensed something. Otherwise, he wouldn’t keep asking about his origins. Even if I can hide it for a while, I can’t keep it from him forever. If his cultivation is really at the level you mentioned, with just a bit of attention, he might eventually find out many things,” Zhong Shu helplessly said.
“If it really comes to that, we’ll have no choice but to tell him the truth,” Master Liu gritted his teeth, “Call him here. I’ll tell him myself!”
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