Following the voice, a cultivator walked in, set a gift box on the table, and said, "Young Master Xu Du of my house inadvertently wounded Martial Nephew Wei. He feels deeply apologetic and has specially sent one hundred taels of immortal silver as amends."
Zhang Sheng's expression darkened at once. But before his temper could flare, a familiar voice suddenly carried in from outside: "Little Wei Yuan, I hear somebody stabbed you?"
Her voice arrived before she did, immediately picking at his scabs—it was Eldest Senior Sister.
Ji Liuli entered the ward. When she saw Zhang Sheng, her eyes lit up imperceptibly before returning to normal. She picked up the gift box, weighed it in her hands, and said, "A hundred taels of immortal silver! Truly far too much! Go back and tell your young master that our Little Wei Yuan isn't worth that much. Next time, just toss him one or two taels whenever."
The cultivator's attitude toward Ji Liuli was markedly different. He forced a smile and said, "Eldest Senior Sister Ji, my young master has always held you in high esteem. This matter has nothing to do with you..."
Ji Liuli's face darkened instantly. "Just deliver the message. Who asked for your blabbering? Scram!"
The man dared not say another word and scurried off in disgrace.
Ji Liuli came to the bedside, casually gave Wei Yuan a pat and a grope, and said, "Just a tiny scratch. Hmm, they put on too much medicine, otherwise it would have healed already. By the way, I heard that girl from the Bao family took a sword for you! Out with it—what tricks did you pull to fool her so thoroughly? Have you two already done something behind my back? How many times in total?"
This Eldest Senior Sister was truly a gossipmonger; arriving in such haste, she somehow knew even more than Zhang Sheng. Her eyes shone as she waited for an answer. But how could Wei Yuan possibly know why Bao Yun had blocked that strike for him? When he fell, he had already blacked out, and only learned the other details after the fact.
In their previous agreed-upon brawls, the reason Wei Yuan had constantly been undermined by his own allies was actually due to Bao Yun's covert arrangements. Children couldn't keep secrets; those who acted on Bao Yun's orders always muttered about it behind his back, and with Wei Yuan's keen perception, he naturally overheard it all. But for one thing, taking a beating in a chaotic brawl was hardly a big deal—Wei Yuan was extraordinarily thick-skinned and tough. For another, Bao Yun had privately lent him quite a bit of immortal silver, which, combined with what he borrowed on the public account, amounted to several centuries' worth of his stipends and allowances.
Forget Bao Yun merely scheming behind his back; even if she beat him to his face, Wei Yuan would only grin and bear it, going so far as to soften his posture lest he bruise Eldest Young Mistress Bao's delicate hands. After all, keeping his financial backer happy was more important than anything.
For this pre-exam brawl, Wei Yuan would have counted his blessings if Bao Yun hadn't schemed against him—so how could he know why she would take a sword for him?
Ji Liuli questioned him for a good while, but seeing she couldn't pry anything out, she grew rather displeased. Idly pinching and kneading Wei Yuan's body, she said, "This scratch is nothing at all. You can cultivate tonight, and tomorrow you'll continue cleansing your foundation."
Watching Ji Liuli's roving hands, Zhang Sheng frowned slightly.
Fortunately, she drew her hands back in time, sparing herself Zhang Sheng's outburst.
Turning around, Ji Liuli asked, "A hundred taels of immortal silver—can you really endure this?"
Zhang Sheng snorted. "If you hadn't rambled on, I would have taught those two a lesson already."
Ji Liuli said lazily, "Xu Du merely has some status, but his innate talent is abysmal. Even his fortune was borrowed from someone else, and even then, he barely scraped together an Earth Tier foundation—a complete and utter piece of trash. Xu Zhuang is just a slightly less useless piece of trash. They're just two wastes of space; even killing them would be pointless. Besides, that boy was merely jealous of Wei Yuan; it's hardly a capital offense. It's beneath us to lay hands on them, and we'd only earn a reputation for bullying the young."
Zhang Sheng knew this logic as well, yet seeing Wei Yuan lying in bed, he simply could not swallow this grievance.
Ji Liuli said, "Considering how much money you owe me, come on. I'll take you to vent your anger!"
Dubious, Zhang Sheng nevertheless followed her out of the ward.
Once outside, Ji Liuli looked back at the exceedingly rudimentary ward and remarked, "Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding... Only two of these Xin-grade wards remain in the entire Hall of Xuanming, and both have practically become exclusive to your Sky Azure Hall. Next time something happens to Little Wei Yuan, put him in a better ward. Put it on my tab."
Zhang Sheng gave a snort. "Meddlesome! Tell me first, how are we going to vent our anger?"
Ji Liuli asked, "Who in our generation of the Xu family possesses the greatest talent and the highest status?"
"Xu Henshui. But this matter has nothing to do with him."
"Who told him to carry the surname Xu? That makes it his business." Seeing that Zhang Sheng still didn't get it, Ji Liuli explained, "The two of us are renowned figures, after all. Beating up two pieces of trash sounds bad, but thrashing him is perfectly fine. We'll use Xu Du wounding your disciple as the excuse and give him a sound thrashing!"
Even with Zhang Sheng's temperament, he hesitated. "Isn't that... a bit far-fetched?"
"You don't understand! That fellow is petty and narrow-minded, and loves venting his anger on others. Once he takes a beating and realizes he can't get revenge on us, he will definitely direct his wrath onto those two wastes. Given his personality, he'll surely make trouble for them at every turn, refusing to let them off for years to come."
Zhang Sheng could only sigh in admiration. "When it comes to wicked, nobody beats you!"
Ji Liuli laughed. "Why else do you think I'm the two-zhang-five Eldest Senior Sister? That extra foot over you wasn't gained for nothing!"
Zhang Sheng's face darkened immediately.
Moments later, the two stealthily appeared outside a quiet, secluded courtyard. The courtyard was planted with orchids throughout, elegant and tranquil.
Ji Liuli listened for a moment and whispered, "That fellow is composing poetry again. His guard is lowest right now. In a moment, we strike together: you suppress his movements, and I'll uproot his Dao Foundation!"
Zhang Sheng nodded. With a flicker of his figure, he vanished from where he stood.
Suddenly, sword qi soared into the heavens within the courtyard! The roof of the small building was blasted tens of zhang into the air, then silently disintegrated into powder! Amid the rush of wind and rustling trees, a plaintive, resentful cry echoed faintly, followed by complete silence.
Inside the room, Xu Henshui's body was still trembling slightly as he stared at Zhang Sheng and Ji Liuli in shock and fury.
Zhang Sheng stood by the window with his hands behind his back, admiring the orchids in the courtyard, offering Xu Henshui only his back.
Ji Liuli stood before the desk, clutching an orchid in one hand and a sheet of paper with wet ink in the other, reciting with cadence: "'Lush and fragrant grows the orchid, plucked by the recluse of the shadows...' Yo, you wanted to be plucked? You should have said so earlier!"
Xu Henshui wished he could die of shame.
Yet that immortal orchid was right in Ji Liuli's grasp—he could neither die if he wished, nor live in peace.
"Enough! What on earth do you two want? Did you come specifically to humiliate me?"
Ji Liuli said, "Someone named Xu Du from your Xu family wounded Zhang Sheng's disciple without cause. Is humiliating you uncalled for?"
"Who is Xu Du?" Xu Henshui frowned in thought.
He deeply detested the family's internal scheming and intrigues, so he had never cared much for the Xu family's people or affairs. After pondering for a long while, he finally recalled that such a person did seem to exist back home, though he forgot whether the boy was the child of some cousin or another—hardly anyone worth paying attention to.
"Either way, he's of your Xu family. When someone from your Xu family causes trouble, you ought to show some contrition, shouldn't you? And on what grounds did you apologize and compensate only the Bao family while ignoring us? Is our Wei Yuan not human? In short, this matter isn't over!" Ji Liuli unleashed a tempest of words right into Xu Henshui's face.
With his Dao Foundation in her clutches, Xu Henshui had no choice but to bow his head. "Fine, fine, fine! Even granting that it is my Xu family at fault, how do you want us to make amends?"
"How about this: cut the medicine bill I owe you in half. Just a token gesture will do."
Xu Henshui's voice spiked instantly. "Why don't you just go rob someone?"
"I'm not capable of doing something like that. Besides, if I were robbing you, would I leave you half?" Ji Liuli sneered.
Xu Henshui turned toward Zhang Sheng and ground his teeth. "Zhang Sheng! Is this your intention too?"
With his back to Xu Henshui, Zhang Sheng remained motionless, as though in deep meditation or spirit wanderings. In truth, his face burned hot and his heart pounded fast; Ji Liuli's conduct right now was brazenly shameless. Yet what Ji Liuli owed Xu Henshui was, in reality, what Zhang Sheng owed Xu Henshui. Hearing that it could be halved, Zhang Sheng didn't feel like speaking up.
In the past, Zhang Sheng truly would never have done such a thing. But now, for one, Ji Liuli stood in front taking the brunt of it; for another, having mastered the Zhanxu Sword Art, his sense of shame had dulled considerably. Though he still felt quite ashamed at this moment, it was well within tolerable limits—after all, it was several hundred thousand taels of immortal silver. How many shreds would he have to slice, how much filling would he have to mince to earn that?
Seeing Xu Henshui resist, Ji Liuli's eyes lit up. "Refusing, are we? Then don't blame me for being discourteous."
With a wave of Ji Liuli's hand, a basin of clear water appeared before her, into which she sprinkled flour and stirred it evenly. Then she brought out an assortment of condiment dishes, set up a pot, poured oil, and struck a fire.
Xu Henshui usually took great care to enjoy the pleasures of life, so he occasionally cooked. When he saw Ji Liuli make as if to dip the orchid into the flour batter, he let out a shriek, finally realizing what she intended to do: she was going to coat his immortal orchid in a starch slurry!
If this could be endured, what could not!
...Yet even what could not be endured had to be swallowed down.
With tears welling in his eyes, Xu Henshui had no choice but to agree to cut the medicine bill in half and promise to supply medicinal herbs in full whenever Ji Liuli needed them in the future. Only then did he manage to send the two banes of his existence on their way.
Chapter 56