"Why don't you ask around for the name of the Lu family's Fourth Young Master?"
It suddenly dawned on Chu Liuyue. So, this is Chu Xianmin's cousin.
Things haven't even begun to take shape, yet he was trying to claim his connections. Indeed, people who didn't belong together also didn't get to live together.
The old man scoffed. "I don't care who you are! Ten thousand silver taels, not a penny less. You can't afford it, but there are many who can."
Lu Zhitao was so furious that he could only laugh. Playing with that red stone, he spoke openly, "Really? I'd like to see who would be willing to buy this thing."
He glared at his surroundings with a look of warning. Those who had been interested in the red stone stopped in their tracks. Nobody could afford to offend the Lu family's Fourth Young Master.
A red stone of this size would cost 2,000 silver taels at most. Nobody would pay 10,000 silver taels for it.
Moreover, Lu Zhitao deliberately made a spectacle of himself by announcing his name. One would be going against him if they bought the stone.
Most people had heard that the Crown Prince was fond of Chu Xianmin. For the past two days, it was even rumored that the Crown Prince's personal bodyguard, Song Yuan, had hand-delivered her invitation to the Crown Prince's birthday banquet.
It seemed that Chu Xianmin would be the future Crown Princess. To offend the Lu family was akin to offending the Crown Prince.
There was dead silence in the area.
Lu Zhitao was proud of himself. "Old man, you should know better. No one will buy this except me."
"Ten thousand silver taels. I'll take it." A cold and clear voice called out. At the same time, a fair hand suddenly came out from the side and took that red stone away.
Lu Zhitao never expected anyone to have the guts to steal what he wanted. It took him a while before he reacted.
At first glance, the other party seemed to be a young girl dressed in a black robe with a bamboo hat.
Lu Zhitao was so angry he almost hit the roof. "Who do you think you are? Did you eat a bear's heart or a leopard's gall? You dare to steal what I wanted?"
The old man was surprised too. He finally opened his other eye and took a closer look at Chu Liuyue. "Really?"
Indeed, the red stone had excellent color, but it was definitely not worth 10,000 taels. He had casually said he would sell it for 10,000 taels because he was short of money lately, and he didn't want to sell it to Lu Zhitao. He didn't expect anyone to buy it willingly.
Chu Liuyue took out a 10,000 silver tael banknote and gave it to the old man.
At first, the old man hesitated, but when he saw the banknote, his eyes lit up, and he immediately accepted it. Recently, he was in a state of poverty.
"Don't you understand that the highest bidder gets the item? Besides, this red stone is worth 1,000 silver taels. If you want to buy it for 100 taels, where in the world would you get such a deal?" said Chu Liuyue with a laugh. "Or did the Lu family gain its fortune by resorting to such tactics?"
Lu Zhitao's face turned scarlet-red from anger. His family had been implicated. Without a thought, he drew out his sword at his waist, intending to strike Chu Liuyue. "I will do as I please. You are in no position to lecture me! Meet your doom!"
The old man—who had just received the banknote—clasped his hands. His eyelids fluttered, and he was about to move. He stopped in surprise and looked at Chu Liuyue.
She moved aside with light steps, turned around, and somehow managed to avoid Lu Zhitao's sword.
Seeing that he missed, Lu Zhitao flew into a rage out of humiliation. He charged at Chu Liuyue again.
Instead of avoiding this time, Chu Liuyue moved forward. Her body strangely bypassed his sword. She raised her leg and kicked Lu Zhitao above his elbow hard.
The kick numbed his elbow, making him drop his sword.
In the next moment, he felt a coldness against his neck. Chu Liuyue had already picked up his sword and placed it on his shoulders.
He might lose his head if he moved.
The old man's eyes changed from amazement to curiosity because of what he saw. He examined Chu Liuyue carefully. "Huh?"
Apparently, there was no fluctuation of force from this young lady. So, logically, she wasn't a match for Lu Zhitao. Those moves earlier were simple yet deadly.
If she wanted, she could have Lu Zhitao dead in an instant.
Interesting…
Lu Zhitao immediately broke into a cold sweat as he stammered, "W-What… W-What… are… y-you doing? H-How d-dare…"
Chu Liuyue exerted more force. Blood began to ooze from Lu Zhitao's neck.
"Noisy!"
Lu Zhitao was scared to death. He swallowed the rest of his words. He could tell that the other party was reckless. She would do anything. He really didn't have the talent for cultivation, but over the years, the Lu family had thrown in a lot of money to allow him to become a stage three martial artist at the very least.
A martial artist of this level didn't have a rich source of force. One could only master some simple martial skills. However, no ordinary person could compare to them, regardless of physical strength or fighting skills.
The other party was obviously not a warrior, but she could defeat him easily.
"Get lost!" shouted Chu Liuyue.
It made Lu Zhitao shiver as he stood up. He retreated continuously for more than ten paces before he finally shouted in return, putting on a show. "You! Just you wait!" Without waiting for Chu Liuyue to respond, he turned around and fled.
Chu Liuyue didn't take him seriously. She threw the sword down and turned to leave. It's a blessing to have bought that red stone. There's no point in staying here any longer. Besides, she knew that Lu Zhitao must have gone back to get help. She had no wish of revealing her identity so soon.
The crowd that had gathered in a circle made way for Chu Liuyue subconsciously when they saw that she was leaving. Although nobody could make out this person's frame or face, there was something about her that made people submit subconsciously.
"Hey. You there, wait." The old man reacted quickly just as she was leaving. He packed his things in a hurry and chased after her. However, when he looked up, Chu Liuyue was nowhere to be seen.
He was so stunned that he couldn't help but shake his head as he chucked a curse. "She's really an alert girl!" She must be dreaming if she thinks she can lose me like that.
…
Chu Liuyue soon realized that someone was following her. She quickly changed her route and walked through several streets. Instead of returning to the Chu family, she went further and further off the beaten path, which eventually led her to a remote and narrow street with a dead end.
All was silent when she arrived on the street. She turned around. "It must have been hard on you to follow me all this way. You may speak your mind."
The silhouette of an aged, stooping man appeared in the alleyway. It was the old man in the tattered cotton jacket.
He rubbed his hands together in embarrassment. "There, there. No need for you to get upset, girl. I didn't stalk you on purpose. I just felt guilty for earning the 10,000 silver taels. Although I am short of money, that doesn't mean I can bully a young girl like you against my conscience, right?"
Chu Liuyue raised an eyebrow. "There simply is no need for you to follow me because of this. To me, that red stone is worth 10,000 silver taels." It was more than worth it; she bought it for a great price!
The old man didn't believe her as he shook his hand. "Hey, you don't have to be so polite, girl. I've seen my share of red stones, around 90,000 to 100,000 of them. However, none of them are worth 10,000 taels. How about this? I give you something else as compensation?"
Chu Liuyue shook her head. "I'm not interested."
The old man looked crestfallen. This girl was a handful.
"What was it that you actually want to ask? You might as well spit it out."
He looked at the calm Chu Liuyue. Her sparkling dark eyes had already read his mind, so he stopped pretending to be embarrassed. "Actually… I wanted to know who your master is."
Although there was no fluctuation of force from her body, he could tell that those few movements definitely originated from one or more profound martial art techniques.
She must be learning from a highly-skilled expert. Otherwise, it would be impossible for her to defeat a stage three martial artist like Lu Zhitao.
He had been leading a boring life all these years. It would be great if he could spar with the expert!
Chu Liuyue squinted her eyes. "What do I have to gain by telling you?"
The old man scratched his head in annoyance. He was penniless, and she didn't look like she was in a shortage of money either. He finally patted his head after a long time and took out a jade pendant. "Why don't we use this to trade? It's still worth something."
Chu Liuyue looked at his hand, and her eyes lit up briefly.
It was a jade pendant with the carving of the Xuan symbol. From the looks of it, the pendant with the Xuan symbol wasn't of inferior quality. It was definitely worth more than 10,000 taels! How could he offer it to her so casually?
"Really?"
"Of course." Sensing that his proposition somewhat moved her, the old man advanced a few steps and shoved the jade pendant into her hand. "An old man like me has no use for this thing. Since you like it, it's yours."
After a moment's thought, Chu Liuyue accepted the pendant. She gladly accepted it since he dared to give it to her. "Fine. I'll be honest with you. I don't have a master," declared Chu Liuyue openly.
The old man was so excited and full of anticipation that he instantly froze.
"What? No master? How can this be? Don't tell me you actually mastered the skills on your own?"
Chu Liuyue coughed. She really had no explanation. "It's true. I don't have a master."
The old man caught her wrist in disbelief. "Damn, girl. You better tell me the truth…" He suddenly paused halfway through his words. As he stared at Chu Liuyue, his face turned a few shades darker and gradually showed shock. "You… you…"
Chu Liuyue's eyebrows knitted tightly together, and she intended to break away.
"… You're that girl from the Chu family?"
Chu Liuyue froze. He could actually tell who she was without looking at her face? She had no recollection of such a person.
The old man grew incredulous at her silence. "You're really Chu Liuyue, but I thought your Yuan meridian…"
Oh, he recognized me by checking my pulse. Chu Liuyue let out a sigh of relief, and she removed her bamboo hat. "Yes, I am Chu Liuyue. You are?"
The old man was startled for a moment when he saw the beautiful face before him. "I can't believe you've grown so big. But it shouldn't be… your Yuan meridian was…" He suddenly paused, at a loss as to what he should say.
When Chu Liuyue was young, he checked her pulse and repeatedly confirmed that she was born with a defective Yuan meridian. She would never be able to cultivate for the rest of her life. However, when he accidentally touched her pulse earlier, he noticed that there seemed to be a subtle change in her Yuan meridian!
Chu Liuyue's eyes narrowed as she looked at the old man's changing expression.
My Yuan meridian has only just begun to repair itself; ordinary people shouldn't be able to notice. Nevertheless, this old man could tell with just one look. He must be someone extraordinary. Could he… be a heavenly doctor? At the very least, he is someone powerful.
The old man shed his previous idle appearance and looked more serious. He let go of Chu Liuyue's hand while he stared into her eyes intently and asked, "Girl, you better be honest with me. Who is helping you?"
Chu Liuyue shook her head sincerely. "There really isn't anyone. You can ask around if you don't believe me. I may be the Chu family's titular eldest daughter, but I've been treated worse than a servant all these years. It's fortunate enough that I managed to stay alive until now. What else can I ask for?"
The old man remained skeptical. He hadn't been bothered with the daily ongoings in the world, so he didn't really know much about what had been happening in the Imperial City.
Chu Liuyue was a born loser. Anyone could guess the kind of life she had been living all these years.
What if there is someone helping them behind their backs… But she and Chu Ning have nobody to rely on. Who would they go to? "… There's some truth in what you've said, girl. However, your Yuan meridian… there simply isn't any explanation for it."
The old man thought long and hard, but he couldn't guess the reason for the sudden change in Chu Liuyue's Yuan meridian. He hit his head with his fan in agony.
Chu Liuyue glanced at the sky, noting its color. "If there is nothing else, I will take my leave." Although she couldn't be sure of this old man's identity, Chu Liuyue was certain that his origins were definitely not simple. She wouldn't offend someone like that now.
The old man waved his hand casually, still frowning as he pondered the question that he didn't have the answer to. "Is it…"
Chu Liuyue didn't stay long; she left with haste.
All that was left in the alleyway was that old man deep in his thoughts.
…
Everything was normal as Chu Liuyue returned to the Chu family.
The new batch of herbs had been delivered. As per the norm, she boiled Chu Ning's medicine first and awaited his return to give it to him.
Without saying a word, Chu Ning drank all his medicine. His initial misgivings had long since been dispelled by his apparent improvement in health. In his opinion, his daughter was an indisputable genius! He felt the warm power surge through his limbs.
Chu Ning sighed softly. "Yue'er, I'll take you to a master when I'm feeling better. A talent like yours must not be wasted!"
Chu Liuyue asked, seemingly unintentionally, "Father, how many heavenly doctors are there in Country Yao Chen?"
Chu Ning thought for a moment. "The conditions for becoming a heavenly doctor are very harsh. Even those who are slightly gifted might not become one in the end. Today, there are only seven heavenly doctors throughout the entire Country Yao Chen."
Chu Liuyue asked some indirect questions, but it was a pity that Chu Ning had little knowledge regarding the heavenly doctors. In the end, she could find nothing to link that old man.
She knew there was no point in rushing, so she stopped her inquiries completely. When Chu Ning left, she resumed boiling her own medication.
Xue Xue didn't come that night.
…
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
An unwelcome guest arrived just when Chu Liuyue was going to boil Chu Ning's medication—it was that old man.
He had apparently not entered through the main entrance. He was still clothed in the same tattered cotton jacket. There were even a few pieces of fallen leaves on his head; the dark eye bags beneath his eyes indicated that he had not slept for the last few days.
Chu Liuyue was surprised to see him like this. "How did you enter?"
The old man's eyes were sad. "I have pondered for the past three days and three nights, but I just can't figure out…"
Chu Liuyue was shocked to hear that he had not had a single day or night's rest since she last saw him.
He reached out with his quivering hands, pointed to the pot of aromatic herbs, and complained as if he had suffered a great deception. "You still haven't told me who is helping you! You have made this old man very miserable!"
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