"Master, if there's nothing else, I'm going back to my place to sleep. I'm a little tired today." Yi Fan looked at Hu Feng and said coldly.
Hu Feng was full of questions that he wanted to ask Yi Fan, but these words blocked Hu Feng from getting the chance to say anything.
Hu Feng nodded, waved his hand, and said, "Go, take a good rest."
Qi Shaorong watched Yi Fan leave, tilted his head, and smiled brightly at Hu Feng, saying, "Master, since it's like this, then I'll also leave first. "
Hu Feng rolled his eyes at Qi Shaorong and said, "Go, go, you can all go!"
Qi Shaorong left, and Zhuang Hao followed him and left too.
Hu Feng watched as they all left one after the other, and couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration. After Qi Shaorong and others walked out, Li Hong walked in, "Principal, I just saw Student Yi Fan come out. When did Student Yi Fan return to the college? He seemed to have disappeared for some time."
Hu Feng rolled his eyes and said, "He didn't disappear, he was only hiding. Now that he became bored with hiding, he reappeared again, it's no big deal…"
Thinking of that face beneath the mask of Qian Mian's face, Hu Feng felt like he was a fool. Yi Fan and Qi Shaorong had been acting in cahoots this entire time, and he had actually said to them before, "This Yi Fan, very likely isn't a simple person."
What did Yi Fan say at that time, that scoundrel seemed to have said, "Principal, you're overthinking it. Under your sharp and observant gaze, how could he not be simple?" That scoundrel, talking complete nonsense with his eyes wide open. When that guy had complimented him at the time, he must have been secretly calling him an idiot in his heart.
No wonder why the people sent by the Yi Family all disappeared without a trace. They must have been killed off by the contract beast raised by Yi Fan that guy.
"Principal, why did Principal Lu Ming leave?" Li Hong said.
"It's gotten dark outside, so of course he left already. If he didn't leave, then what would he do, stay here to have dinner? I have nothing to entertain him here as a guest." Hu Feng said lightly.
"I thought that Principal Lu Ming came here to make trouble." Li Hong said. "Speaking of, didn't Student Qian Mian come in just now? I didn't even see him leave, but why isn't he here anymore?"
Hu Feng took a deep breath and said, "It's getting late, Li Hong, how about you go to bed."
Hu Feng scratched his head. Before, he used to think that Qi Shaorong that guy acted way too crazily, while Qian Mian was much more well-behaved. Well-behaved? As if! That guy was really… too unbridled and arrogant.
Lu Ming was walking on the path back, with Zhuang Hao walking beside him.
"Principal, are you okay?" Zhuang Hao asked.
Lu Ming shook his head and said, "I'm fine, I was just thinking that I've really gotten old. The young people of today are really something! I can't understand any of them, A-Hao! How's it going between you and Qi Shaorong?"
Zhuang Hao made a pained smile and said somewhat disconsolately, "Shaorong doesn't like me that much."
Lu Ming patted Zhuang Hao's shoulder and said, "A-Hao, jiayou [1]!"
Zhuang Hao smiled bitterly and said, "I will."
"I never would've expected that the two wastes of the Imperial Capital were actually like this. What were the higher-ups of the Qi Family and Yi Family thinking!" Lu Ming said a little helplessly.
Zhuang Hao: "…"
Yi Family.
"I didn't think that Qian Mian's actually a fire mage. That guy really hid himself well." Yang Man said.
Yi Chuxue looked at Yang Man and said, "Mother, you already knew."
Yang Man glanced at Yi Chuxue and said, "Naturally, as soon as the competition was over, I knew. Your father had already checked the images recorded during the competition, and during the period of time that Qian Mian had disappeared from surveillance, that was exactly when your Second Brother had his accident."
Yi Chuxue's eyes widened and she said, "Mother, what are you waiting for then? Send some people to go find Qian Mian and capture him."
"Capture him, in the name of what? All the students who entered the Hundred Schools Competition had to sign a contract, stating that their life and death during the competition would only be up to the mandate of heaven." Yang Man said with a dark expression, "What's more, Qian Mian only disappeared during that time, we don't have any conclusive evidence as to what he actually did. "
Yi Chuxue said with some agitation, "Then Second Brother's matter, we're just going to leave it like this?"
Yang Man suddenly raised her fist and said, "Of course we won't just leave it like this." Qian Mian is extraordinarily strong, and that person also has a good relationship with Qi Shaorong. The two were friends, they won't be easy to deal with!
"Madam, the people stationed at Tianlan College sent some news over." A guard said to Yang Man.
Yang Man looked at the man and said, "What's the news?"
"Principal Lu Ming went to Tianlan College to question Qian Mian about some things. Not long after Qian Mian returned to the college, Principal Lu Ming left. The students there said that at that time, it was obviously Qian Mian who entered the Principal's office, but later on, Qian Mian never came out. Instead, Yi Fan walked out of the Principal's office somehow." The guard said.
Yi Chuxue raised her eyebrows and said, "What nonsense is that!"
Yang Man closed her eyes, her expression tightening. Yang Man clenched her fists and thought to herself: The thing that she was the most worried about about still finally happened.
"Don't you understand? Qian Mian is Yi Fan, that's why your Second Brother had an accident in the secret dimension." Yang Man said.
"How is that possible?" Qian Mian was a level-seven dual water and fire mage, while Yi Fan was just a waste. How could they even be mentioned on equal terms?
Yang Man glanced at Yi Chuxue and said coldly, "Not possible, how is that not possible? Qi Shaorong was also a waste, and then what happened?" In fact, the people who were sent to kill Yi Fan had all gotten into trouble one after another, and that had already aroused Yang Man's suspicions. This time, the news of Qian Mian cultivating both water and fire magic just further confirmed Yang Man's speculations.
In the early morning.
Mu Xuelan pushed open the door, and several snakes suddenly appeared in the courtyard. Mu Xuelan's face immediately turned pale, and she retreated a few steps.
Xiang Lan saw the courtyard full of moving, crawling snakes, and screamed in fright [2].
"What are you making all that noise for?" Yi Fan said coldly and disapprovingly.
It was only when she heard Yi Fan's voice that Mu Xuelan noticed that Yi Fan was actually in the courtyard with them. Yi Fan leaned across the railings, his eyes cold and clear.
A blood-red snake was twisting around Yi Fan's feet. The blood snake hissed twice, and the snakes surrounding Mu Xuelan and Xiang Lan backed away, clearing a path.
"Didn't Miss Mu leave already? Why did you come back?" Yi Fan asked coldly, touching the blood snake's head.
"I remembered that there were still some things I hadn't taken away yet." Mu Xuelan said.
Mu Xuelan looked at the blood snake by Yi Fan's side and she couldn't take her gaze away from it for a long time.
Her guess wasn't wrong! Yi Fan really was Qian Mian! No wonder, no wonder Yi Bing was injured to that degree inside the secret dimension, no wonder Yi Huo was poisoned and turned into a waste, it all turned out to be… Yi Fan's doings.
Yi Fan looked at Mu Xuelan and said, "Really? Then hurry up and take your things away, don't miss anything this time. This courtyard is full of snakes, the next time you come here, if you're bitten by a snake, I won't help you bury your dead bodies [3]."
Xiang Lan's face turned bright red hearing Yi Fan's words. If it were like before, she'd probably retort back at Yi Fan, however, in the face of these hundred or so snakes making threatening gestures towards them, Xiang Lan wasn't able to say anything.
"I didn't know that you had an interest in raising snakes." Mu Xuelan said.
Yi Fan extended his arm and the blood snake immediately wrapped around Yi Fan's hand. "That doesn't seem to have anything to do with you."
Mu Xuelan smiled a little grudgingly and said, "Right."
Mu Xuelan entered the hall and stopped in shock. The house that had originally been empty and deserted was now filled with fresh flowers and several priceless jade ornaments.
The entire hall had changed beyond recognition. Mu Xuelan almost thought she had gone to the wrong place.
"You've completely redecorated everything." Mu Xuelan asked.
Yi Fan's courtyard was actually pretty good, it's just that it used to be like an empty shell, and the things inside were shabby and miserable.
"Yes, I did!" Yi Fan said.
"I never would've thought that you'd do something like this." Mu Xuelan said.
"It didn't matter before…"
"What about now?" Mu Xuelan asked.
"Now, the person I like has come to the Imperial Capital. I don't want to wrong him in case he's willing to come live here." Yi Fan said.
Mu Xuelan abruptly clenched her fists, her heart trembled fiercely, and she said, "It's been so long, I never knew you had someone that you liked."
Yi Fan smiled and said, "He wasn't in the Imperial Capital before."
"I can see that you like him a lot." Mu Xuelan said.
"Of course, I've only ever liked him." Yi Fan said, as if it was obvious.
"Yi Fan, why did you marry me back then?" Mu Xuelan couldn't help asking.
"You were the one who wanted to marry me, and the Second Prince wanted me to accept it. Although I didn't want to marry a wife, marrying you just for show could save me from a lot of trouble in the future." Yi Fan said lightly.
Mu Xuelan's heart twisted, and there was a tight pain in her chest and a feeling of suffocation. Mu Xuelan took a deep breath and said, "So that's the case? I understand."
Xiang Lan stood behind Mu Xuelan and looked at all the precious decorations in the room. She felt like the Yi Fan standing before them was like a completely unfamiliar person.
"Who do you like? The man from the auction?" Mu Xuelan asked.
Yi Fan nodded and said, "Yes."
Mu Xuelan: "…" Sure enough. No wonder, no wonder why Qian Mian insisted on buying that person, no wonder, when Elder Yan Xin wanted to reveal the person's face, he was stopped by Qian Mian.
Mu Xuelan smiled bitterly in her heart. Before, she had always felt that Yi Fan was too unmotivated and unambitious. She had also once thought about what would happen if Yi Fan turned out to be a rare talent. Now that he's turned around to reveal his true face, he really was a peerless, rare talent. Unfortunately, Yi Fan became a talent but he had nothing to do with her anymore.
Mu Xuelan closed her eyes. She used to think that if it wasn't for her family dragging her down, then she certainly wouldn't have gotten to the point that she's at now, but at this moment Mu Xuelan felt a strange feeling inside, a feeling that she wasn't good enough, that Yi Fan had never taken her seriously at all this entire time.
Xiang Lan swallowed her saliva and didn't speak. Xiang Lan couldn't help but feel a little puzzled by Mu Xuelan and Yi Fan's words, but this didn't stop her from sensing an extremely dangerous feeling emanating from Yi Fan.
Mu Xuelan walked into her own room and was immediately shocked, "You have a black ebony bed?"
An inch of ebony was worth an ounce of gold. Ebony was a rare treasure, it's already impressive enough for an ordinary person to own even a hairpin made from ebony, yet Yi Fan actually had an entire bed made from ebony.
Yi Fan looked at Mu Xuelan and said, "See if your things are there." Yi Fan pointed to the corner.
Mu Xuelan nodded and said, "It's all there." When Mu Xuelan moved out, she had taken all her valuables away with her. What was left were the things that Mu Xuelan didn't want anymore, coming over here to get her stuff was only an excuse that Mu Xuelan used.
Footnotes:
Jiayou: You've probably heard of this before, it literally means to "add oil", but it's used to cheer someone on or for encouragement tell someone to work harder to reach their goals.
Xiang Lan: Uhhhh, I don't know man, I'm kinda confused. So, Mu Xuelan's maid was always known as Xiang Yun, but for some reason, this "Xiang Lan" person has suddenly appeared? The first time was in Chapter 91 (I think), but then in Chapter 92 it was Xiang Yun again, but now it's Xiang Lan again. The Chinese characters for "Yun" and "Lan" are very different, so I feel like it would be hard to mix the two up. At the same time, I swear "Xiang Lan" has never shown up before this, so I don't know if Mu Xuelan actually has two maids and it was just never mentioned, or if it's a mistake? I'll wait and see what'll happen in the future chapters, but for now, I'll keep them as two separate people, Xiang Yun and Xiang Lan.
Bury your dead bodies: It means to retrieve the dead and bury them (often out of charity, in the case when it's not family members or friends doing it), because, you know, it's important to bury the dead out of respect and other factors. Yi Fan's basically just saying that if Mu Xuelan gets bitten by the snakes, she's definitely going to die, and he's not going to help her.