Chapter 389 - Giving an Honest Account
Chapter 389 Giving an Honest Account
However, Master Guo shook his head, held on to the young man’s hand and whispered, “People like us who travel around to earn a livelihood should not give in to such antisocial behavior. Listen to me, we will settle this matter with money.”
Master Guo held on to the idea that maintaining harmony was the most important thing for a businessman.
To Master Guo, this young man might be tactful but he was after all still young and too aggressive and quick to vent his spleen.
If he continued in his ways, sooner or later, he would land himself in an unfavorable situation.
“But…”
Lin Mengya was about to say something when Master Guo waved his hand to dismiss her, so she shut her mouth.
She knew these scoundrels best. If they succeeded the first time at extortion, they would attempt it again soon after.
She could well walk away and resume her status as Princess Yu, however, the group of businessmen would be implicated.
Unfortunately, Master Guo had stopped her from doing anything. He was after all the leader of the group of businessmen. All she could do was to put away her ideas and watch the event unfold in silence.
‘Meatball’, the leader, looked as if he would take advantage of her.
He looked her up and down to size her up as if she were his prey from hunting.
While Lin Mengya was repulsed by his mannerisms, she tried to appear indifferent on the surface. She was not going to make things difficult since Master Guo had already made himself clear to her.
“How’s it going? What’s the outcome of your discussion?”
‘Meatball’ did not seem to show much respect for Master Guo. To him, Master Guo was merely a regular old man from his appearance.
However, hidden behind his aged countenance covered with wrinkles was a truly strong and competent man, who had been through the storms of life.
Master Guo’s way of handling the matter was part of the protocol in their circle. Dealing with the scums like these men was not a big deal to him.
“Little brother, we’re truly sorry for hurting your brother. How about we leave you some taels of silver for you to engage a physician to attend your brother. Take it as giving Guo some face.”
Master Guo’s coaxing manner was a kind gesture of showing reasonable respect for ‘meatball’.
Unfortunately, some people were born shameless.
‘Meatball’ had taken Master Guo’s tolerance as a sign of fear for his power and action.
In an instance, ‘meatball’ tore off the mask of hypocrisy and courtesy, exposing his shamelessness.
“Humph, old man Guo, I’ve named the price of three thousand taels out of my respect for you. Why? Are you getting senile because of your age that you don’t know how to appreciate my kindness?”
At ‘meatball’s words, Master Guo’s eyes turned cold.
Master Guo did not want any trouble since they were at the point of exiting the city.
Never would he expect this young man to be so ignorant of the protocols.
The smiley face of Master Guo gradually turned into a stern one.
Master Guo was not a pushover at the mercy of others.
‘Meatball’ had counted on the fact that he had more company and therefore treated Master Guo with disdain.
The situation had pushed Lin Mengya to act. Just when Lin Mengya got ready for the poison, the shadow of a white figure, like a phantom, appeared before them.
“I was just wondering who it was, and it’s none other than Millipede Qian, who just got down on your feet a few days ago. Why, Lord Qian. Are you unable to hold back anymore and are here to exercise your body? How about I keep you company while you do that?”
Millipede Qian? Lin Mengya gazed quizzically at ‘meatball’.
This ought to be a joke. He looked more like a dollop of cow dung. He looked nothing like a slim millipede.
The figure in white had completely blocked her.
The more she looked at the figure from behind, the more familiar he seemed. Until he fitted the image she was searching in her mind, she was surprised to find it was him, but how?
‘Meatball’ who was called Millipede Qian swallowed hard.
Despite the fear in his eyes, a brilliant smile had already spread across his face.
“How would I be so audacious? So it’s you. I’m merely seeking justice for my brother. I wonder what brought you here?”
The man simply ignored Millipede Qian, but turned around and gave Lin Mengya a brilliant smile.
“He’s my cousin. My aunt was worried about him and sent me to check on him. Did my cousin make any trouble for you?”
Looking at Qiu Yu’s smiling face, Lin Mengya was stunned.
Her mind was a mess. Should this guy not be in the palace taking care of the emperor right now?
Why was he here to get her out of this sticky situation? Also, what did he mean when he made that statement to Millipede Qian?
“You…”
Lin Mengya was about to question Qiu Yu, but he shuffled her to the horse carriage with a smile on his face.
He pulled and dragged her into the horse, winked at her and turned around to go to Millipede Qian.
When Millipede Qian heard that this fish that was about to get hooked was this man’s cousin, Millipede Qian’s face fell with disappointment.
However, things did not end here. Qiu Yu walked up to Millipede Qian, all smiles as if he was a yesman.
“My cousin is a good boy, except that he’s a little cheeky. No matter what trouble my cousin caused you, Millipede Qian, as his older cousin, I’ll take all the responsibility. Tell me what he’s done.”
Qiu Yu might look like an easy-going person, but Millipede Qian obviously recalled some unhappiness between them in the past.
As Qiu Yu approached him, his face turned pale and his hands started to shake.
Finally, when Qiu Yu came up next to him, Millipede Qian let out a cry.
Then, without turning his head back at all, he fled before everyone’s eyes.
“Big Brother! Big Brother!”
The remaining burly men were at a loss at the sight of Millipede Qian’s behavior.
They looked on for a second, gnashed their teeth and fled after Millipede Qian. They were out of sight in no time.
As Qiu Yu watched Millipede Qian fled, he felt a sense of satisfaction within him. He clapped his hands, then greeted Master Guo as if he was one of his familiar friends.
Finally, he went into Lin Mengya’s small horse carriage.
Wearing a cheeky smile on his face, he sat down nearest to the exit and chose to ignore the pair of bewildered eyes looking at him in the horse carriage.
“What just happened?”
Dissatisfied, Lin Mengya pouted as she demanded an answer.
Qiu Yu chose the most direct way of response, which was to smile quietly.
“Didn’t we agree that you will stay in the palace to take care of the emperor while I go out to look for the medicinal herbs? Now, who will be responsible for the emperor’s safety?”
Qiu Yu simply looked left and right and refused to answer.
Lin Mengya was mad at him for keeping a calm manner. She pounced on him like a fierce tiger and put her delicate hands on him like a pair of pliers.
Immediately, tears welled up in the eyes of Qiu Yu, who was calm and composed just a second ago.
He was too embarrassed to cry out so he held it in with great effort.
By the time Lin Mengya was satisfied, Qiu Yu was like an abused young married woman, looking at her with tears in his eyes.
“Out with it! Are you not going to say anything?”
Lin Mengya had always been rather good at extorting confessions aggressively.
On the other hand, Baishao was obediently looking out of the window casually, as if she were blind to what was happening.
Qiu Yu grimaced lest Lin Mengya should proceed with more punishment. He hung his head as he made confession of what he had done, without leaving out any details.
“The emperor had woken up, but he still needed to rest in bed. Thank goodness that the people around him may now be moved around. I’ve left the emperor the prescription and he will take care of himself.”
Lin Mengya was rather satisfied with his answer.
She nodded, but before she let go of him, she gave him one last squeeze.
“Ouch…” Qiu Yu trembled before he continued.
“That Millipede Qian also tried to bully another woman sometime back and I happened to see it, so I taught him a lesson then.”
Qiu Yu gave Lin Mengya an innocent look when he was done reporting. Thereafter, he simply sat there quietly like a good little boy.
Lin Mengya was not the one to be fooled easily. She sneered at Qiu Yu and with a cold tone, she said, “Really? How then did you find out that I’m among the group of businessmen? Also, you and Master Guo seem to be familiar with each other. Tell me what is going on.”
Qiu Yu’s smile froze.
He had always known Lin Mengya to be the one who had to get to the bottom of things. It was almost impossible to hide anything from her.
He coughed and said in a whisper, “Actually, I wasn’t aware that you were with the group of businessmen. On the other hand, Master Guo and I know each other well. A few days, I met up with him and he told me about this young couple who was taking a trip to the Nation of Lintian. So I…”
Lin Mengya glared at him and decided to let him off for now.
Qiu Yu was an intelligent person so he naturally guessed that this young couple was very likely Lin Mengya and Baishao in disguise.
As to why he managed to catch up in time to get her out of trouble was not so important. However, it would be good to have Qiu Yu accompany her on the way so they could look out for each other.
After this unexpected incident, the vast group of businessmen finally emerged from the Capital City.
As Lin Mengya turned to look at the magnificent city wall, her mood was somehow lifted.
As a princess, she had always been very secretive each time she left the city. This was the second time she had openly gone out of the city.
The first time was when Long Tianyu brought her to visit her elder brother in the army camp.
She did not know if Long Tianyu would blow his top if he found out that she had secretly sneaked out.
She was not afraid anyways!
The pace of the procession of businessmen was not too fast, given that there were many people and merchandise. After a morning of traveling, the people were becoming more familiar with each other.
Within Dajin, the governing court did not encourage trading at first. However, for the sake of the nation’s development, businesses had prospered and as a result, the taxes had increased.
Moreover, the tax collected from trades had brought about a constant income to the nation, which was used to sustain Dajin’s army. As a result, the court had propagated many policies that benefitted the businessmen.
For example, along this public road, the government had set up post stations at regular intervals to provide the businessmen a place to rest and replenish their water and food supply.
The procession of businessmen had traveled an entire day and by evening, they finally arrived at the station closest to the Capital City.