The Imperial Capital.
Bi Liuyun tiredly looked through a ledger, while Qi Heng was at the side fiddling with an abacus.
Bi Liuyun yawned and rubbed his head as if he had a headache, "Young Master and Yi Fan, those two jerks, they caused such a huge commotion and ran away to avoid the limelight, leaving us behind to deal with the mess they made."
Qi Heng looked at Bi Liuyun and said, "You've done a good job of handling things here!"
Bi Liuyun lay back on a sofa, "I'm exhausted. When the Young Master comes back, I'm definitely asking him for a raise."
Qi Heng, "…I'm afraid the Young Master won't be coming back anytime soon, so if you want a raise, who knows how long you'll have to wait."
Bi Liuyun pursed his lips and said, "I heard that Young Master saved Feng Yuan's life, and he's been doing pretty well in Li Country. He must be really happy this time!"
Bi Liuyun swung his legs and said, "By the way, I heard that when the Emperor found out that Young Master saved Feng Yuan, he was delighted at first, then became very angry later on."
Qi Heng tilted his head and said, "The Emperor probably didn't expect that Young Master would make such a request to Feng Yuan. Tingxuan has been with the Young Master for a long time, while the Emperor, that guy, is so stingy. You don't even have to think about it to know that the Young Master will definitely choose to make his request about Tingxuan."
"For so many years, the knot in Tingxuan's heart could never be untangled [1]. If Tingxuan can't undo that knot, I'm afraid he'd never have any chance at getting rid of his heart demons. At most, he'll only ever be at the eighth level in this lifetime." Bi Liuyun said.
Qi Heng lowered his head and sighed, "I hope that Tingxuan can succeed this time."
Bi Liuyun propped up his chin and said, "Third Master Zhuang has been a lot of help lately."
As soon as Qi Shaorong left, many people began eyeing Allure Cosmetics covetously. Fortunately, Zhuang Renquan stepped in and helped them deal with all those ill-intentioned people, but he didn't meddle in any of the internal affairs of the cosmetics business. He really was straightforward and upright.
"Third Master Zhuang was probably entrusted to do this by Zhuang Hao, Zhuang Hao actually isn't that bad either." Qi Heng said.
Bi Liuyun nodded and said, "He's not bad, at least he's good-looking."
Qi Heng: "…"
Qi Family.
Qi Yao was full of anger as he paced back and forth around the room, "Zhuang Renquan that bastard."
Qi Yao clenched his fists. Ever since he learned that the Allure Cosmetics business belonged to Qi Shaorong, Qi Yao's heart was full of regret.
Allure Cosmetics was like a hen that only laid golden eggs! What a pity! Qi Shaorong left Yuan Country, but he gave all administrative power over the cosmetic store to Bi Liuyun and Qi Heng.
What kind of person was Qi Heng, he's only one of Qi Shaorong's subordinates, and Bi Liuyun was just the owner of a brothel [2], it's not proper at all.
Qi Shaorong would rather trust these two outsiders than his own father.
After Qi Shaorong left, Qi Yao had also thought about using the Qi Family's power to take over Qi Shaorong's cosmetics shop by force, but was stopped by Zhuang Renquan.
Qi Yao was full of anger when he thought about the Zhuang Family. Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao got engaged, yet he, the father, was pushed to the side.
And who knew what Qi Shaorong was thinking, he saved Feng Yuan's life, but he used such a precious opportunity on Mu Tingxuan. He didn't know where this Mu Tingxuan popped out from either.
The Emperor, because of the matter between Qi Shaorong, Feng Yuan and the Mu Family, was furious at him and accused him of not raising his son well enough.
Qi Yao ground his teeth, and he felt both grieved and pained in his heart. In regards to Qi Shaorong's prosperity, he couldn't benefit from it at all, but when Qi Shaorong did something wrong, he's the one who has to take responsibility for it.
If he had paid some more attention to Qi Shaorong in the past, then things would be much different now.
In a small building on the outskirts of the city.
Yang Man, Yi Chuxue, Yi Huo, and Yi Bing were all crowded together.
"Mother, this house is so small, so messy, so dirty, how can we live here!" Yi Chuxue said, feeling aggrieved.
Yang Man closed her eyes and said, "If you don't want to live here, then go find your father!"
Yang Man lowered her gaze, and her heart was full of anger. After Yi Huo and Yi Bing had both gotten into an accident one after another, Yi Xun's attitude towards her had also changed dramatically. In order to treat Yi Huo and Yi Bing's injuries, Yang Man had spent all of her savings.
After Yi Xun found someone new to be by his side, he saw her and her children as an eyesore, so he sent them away to the outskirts of the city.
Yi Chuxue lowered her head. Go find her father, how could she dare go and bother Yi Xun. At first, Yi Xun only had some suspicions that she wasn't his flesh and blood, but now that there were a few more women by Yi Xun's side, gossiping and fanning the flames, Yi Xun seemed to have already been convinced that she wasn't his daughter.
Yi Chuxue gritted her teeth, her grievances in her heart couldn't be suppressed.
Yi Chuxue looked at Yang Man and she immediately felt even more angry. If it weren't for her mother's actions, her life wouldn't be so miserable right now. What kind of place was this! Not even her family's servants would live in such poor conditions.
Yi Chuxue felt that she had lost too much face, she can't even show herself in front of other people anymore and let them see her like this.
Yang Man glanced at Yi Chuxue. Yang Man was able to go from being a mistress to gaining an official position, and her ability of gauging other people's thoughts was first-rate. Yang Man knew what Yi Chuxue was thinking, and although Yang Man felt angry, there was nothing she could do about it.
Yang Man closed her eyes. The feeling of falling directly from the top of the mountain to the very bottom made her feel like she was on the brink of collapse..
At first, Yang Man didn't understand why Yi Fan targeted Yi Bing, Yi Huo, and Yi Chuxue, but didn't do anything to her. Now Yang Man finally understood, she's lost her children, she's lost Yi Xun's protection, and now simply being alive, in and of itself, was a kind of unspeakable torture.
[T/n: Overdramatic much? I mean, her children are still alive, they're just wastes now, but like that's better than them being dead…]
Yi Fan! In her heart, Yang Man hated this person, she was practically bleeding with hatred, but there was nothing she could do.
Zhuang Family.
"Third Uncle, you received a letter from Brother?" Zhuang Qian rushed in and asked.
Zhuang Renquan nodded and said, "Yes!"
"What did Brother say!"
Zhuang Renquan rolled his eyes and said, "Your brother said that Qi Shaorong attaches great importance to his subordinates, so I must protect Bi Liuyun and Qi Heng. If anything happens to the two of them, he won't be able to lift his head in front of Qi Shaorong anymore, and he'll have no choice but to die!"
Zhuang Qian rubbed his nose and said helplessly, "Who'd have thought, Big Brother is actually talking about things like dying in the name of love now."
Zhuang Renquan, "…Qi Shaorong, this guy, really does care a lot about his subordinates! He even used Feng Yuan's favour to help his subordinate vent his anger."
Zhuang Qian nodded and said, "Fourth Young Master Qi really values loyalty. It's good that Big Brother is with someone like Qi Shaorong."
Zhuang Renquan: "…" Zhuang Qian this kid sure was bought over by Qi Shaorong pretty quickly.
Zhuang Qian rolled his eyes, looked at Zhuang Renquan, and said, "Third Uncle, did Big Brother say when they're returning home?"
Zhuang Renquan shrugged and said, "That guy and Qi Shaorong have been getting along well over there, who knows how happy he must be. I'm afraid he's not going to come back for a while."
Zhuang Qian: "…"
Li Country.
As soon as Chen Yuan returned, he saw the scene of Zhuang Hao and Yi Fan having a very animated conversation.
The two had just finished talking when Chen Yuan walked in.
Chen Yuan walked to Zhuang Hao, nudged Zhuang Hao with his elbow, and said, "Since when did your relationship with Yi Fan become so good? What were you talking about just now?"
"I was teaching him about something!" Zhuang Hao said. .
Chen Yuan looked at Zhuang Hao in confusion and said, "Teaching? About what?"
Zhuang Hao shrugged and said, "I was teaching him about how to pursue his wife!"
Chen Yuan's face collapsed and he said, "You were teaching him about how to pursue his wife. Oh no, it's over, Yi Fan this guy is going to be single his whole life!"
Zhuang Hao glared at Chen Yuan angrily and said, "What did you say?"
Chen Yuan smiled awkwardly and said, "I was just kidding."
Zhuang Hao: "…"
"If it weren't for your meddling, I wouldn't be like this now either!" Zhuang Hao said in an angry tone.
Chen Yuan scratched his head and said, "You can't blame it all on me! It was your stepmother who instructed me to do it!"
Zhuang Hao sighed and lowered his head.
His father met his mother, Yan Fei, when he was out on an adventure one time. The two fell in love at first sight and got together quickly, and their relationship was very good.
After they got married, his mother gave birth to him and his younger brother, and their family was very happy. Unfortunately, a few years ago his father was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and in order to save his father, his mother exhausted all her magic power and passed away.
After his mother's death, his father was almost completely unable to recover from it. He'd spend all day drowning his sorrows in alcohol, muddle-headed and in a daze.
It was at this time that the Yan Family sent Yan Li to the Zhuang Family. Yan Li was his mother's sister and looked a lot like his mother. While he was drunk, Zhuang Renxian regarded Yan Li as his late wife, and an ridiculous incident occurred between him and Yan Li.
After his father sobered up, he was full of regret and felt that he had let down Zhuang Hoa's mother, and he suddenly became clear-headed again.
The Yan Family then asked his father to marry Yan Li, and his father agreed.
Although his father married Yan Li, he's always had an indifferent relationship with Yan Li, and has never touched her since.
Zhuang Hao and Zhuang Qian were also very indifferent to this stepmother. The Yan Family could only be regarded as a small family, and Yan Li wasn't liked by Zhuang Renxian and didn't have much of a presence in the Zhuang Family.
Towards this stepmother, Zhuang Hao's feelings were a bit complicated. On the one hand, Zhuang Hao felt that Yan Li had destroyed the relationship between his father and mother, but on the other hand, he felt she's wasted a lot of her life, getting married into the Zhuang Family only to spend her days all alone, and she's kind of pitiful.
"Yan Li probably asked you to break off the marriage arrangement because she thought it was for my own good." Zhuang Hao shook his head.
Chen Yuan shrugged and said, "Probably!" It's just that, due to a strange combination of circumstances, things have become like this now.
"Where have you been going these days?" Zhuang Hao asked.
Chen Yuan shrugged and said, "Our Chen Family has some shops here, I went to take a look."
Zhuang Hao nodded and said, "You should." Although Qi Shaorong always talks about Chen Yuan like he's someone without a single redeeming feature, in reality, Chen Yuan was the heir to the Chen Family, one of the four major families in Yuan Country. In the minds of countless people, he's the ideal son-in-law.
"By the way, here are some letters for you. The Emperor already knows that Qi Shaorong cured Feng Yuan, and he also knows about his request to Feng Yuan." Chen Yuan said.
Zhuang Hao smiled bitterly and said, "The Emperor must be very angry!"
"Yes! I don't think you should go back anytime soon. I heard that Qi Yao has received a lot of criticism from the Emperor." Chen Yuan said, looking worried.
"Qi Yao has received a lot of criticism from the Emperor? Why?" Zhuang Hao asked curiously.
Chen Yuan rolled his eyes and said, "What other reason could there be? The Emperor dislikes him for not educating his son properly!"
"Well what's wrong with Shaorong?" Zhuang Hao asked.
Chen Yuan shrugged and said, "He's pretty good! It's just that, if you look at the overall situation, the Emperor is someone who wishes that the people of our country can have the country's best interests at heart. This time, Qi Shaorong did what he did for Mu Tingxuan's sake, and he's shown where he stands."
Zhuang Hao shook his head and said, "Shaorong is someone who just does as he pleases, there's nothing more to it!"
Footnotes:
Knot: It's like an emotional entanglement in MTX's heart.
Brothel: The original words translate literally to "flower shop". "Flower" in Chinese can also mean "woman" or be used metaphorically for courtesans and prostitutes, so I guess Qi Yao is saying that Bi Liuyun runs a brothel?