Chapter 367: Many Backers Behind

“I bullied it?!”

“It shat right outside my door!”

“It tore my courtyard apart—am I not allowed to punish it?!”

This time, Gao Wanli felt morally justified.

Xu Yuan said casually: “Your courtyard was already torn down…”

Gao Wanli glared at him.

Xu Yuan waved his hand: “You’re a grown adult—why are you arguing with a poultry?”

“Besides, there are plenty of empty courtyards behind the yamen. Why insist on this one?”

Gao Wanli froze.

Yes, I just moved into this courtyard myself.

Most of my belongings are still in the boxes, not yet unpacked.

The one thing I loved most in this courtyard has been destroyed.

Why should I fix it? And be humiliated again and again by this Xu?

Gao Wanli refused to admit that her rage had blinded her to the possibility of moving elsewhere…

To admit it would make her look foolish.

But if she didn’t admit it, she had no choice but to keep repairing this courtyard.

“I… I just like it here!” Gao Wanli gritted her teeth and snarled.

Xu Yuan looked at the dilapidated courtyard: What was so good about this place?

“Fine,” Xu Yuan suddenly became magnanimous: “If you want to repair it, go ahead. As long as the expenses aren’t outrageous, the office will cover it.”

After all, it’s the yamen’s back courtyard.

Thus, Xu Yuan brushed off the matter of Dafu.

He tucked away the beast-tendon rope, hugged Dafu, and smiled: “Wang Shen, stepmother, let’s go home. This place is far more spacious than the patrol post in Chengnan.”

“Good, good,” Wang Shen nodded with a smile.

Gao Wanli watched them from behind, noticing Lin Wanmo.

She had gathered intelligence on Xu Yuan and knew his stepmother was an unproven Wu Xiu.

Lin Wanmo disliked her the moment she saw her.

Likewise, Gao Wanli found Lin Wanmo utterly repulsive.

This woman had such a slender waist, such long legs, and her face and neck skin was so pale and delicate!

Truly disgusting!

So beautiful—clearly immoral! Born to seduce men!

Gao Wanli was silently cursing the old craftswoman with venomous thoughts when a voice drifted over—Lin Wanmo was asking Xu Yuan:

“Who’s this fat-faced oaf?”

Gao Wanli leapt up with a shriek, and behind her instantly emerged a dense array of interlocking gears, clanking sharply.

Countless metal structures spread outward, engulfing her body.

She donned a suit of iron armor brimming with foreign design.

Sharp claws, one and a half chi long, extended from her hands; behind her, a pair of metallic bat wings unfurled.

“Who called me fat-faced?!”

She lunged at Lin Wanmo like a madwoman.

Lin Wanmo pulled out a leather pouch.

She squeezed it toward Gao Wanli, and a spray of oil burst forth.

Hss—

Fine droplets landed on Gao Wanli’s armor.

Instantly, the gears inside her armor spun wildly out of control.

Mid-lunge, Gao Wanli crashed to the ground with a thud.

The gears continued spinning at high speed.

The armor tightened relentlessly, locking Gao Wanli inside.

Gao Wanli screamed and hastily retracted her craft.

She had no time to confront Lin Wanmo—she urgently inspected her precious craft.

But she found the oil had seeped into every single component.

And clung tightly to their surfaces.

It would require complete disassembly and careful cleaning.

Otherwise, the craft was ruined.

“You—” Gao Wanli clenched her teeth, glaring venomously at Lin Wanmo.

Lin Wanmo feigned confusion: “What’s wrong with this person?”

“You called me fat-faced!”

Lin Wanmo’s eyes flickered, slyly saying: “You’re shouting so loudly—I won’t acknowledge it. You’re a new craftsperson; I’ve heard foreign lands have devices that can record voices. Don’t you have one? Did you record what I just said?”

“If you didn’t record it, then there’s no proof, right?”

“No proof—what are you even talking about?”

Gao Wanli was speechless.

Not only were such devices impractical, difficult to make, and expensive—she didn’t own one.

Even if she had, who could possibly record those words in such haste?

Xu Yuan, of course, sided with family over justice: “I didn’t hear anything about ‘fat-faced.’”

Xu Yuan winked at Gao Wanli: “Did you mishear?”

Gao Wanli finally calmed down, realizing she’d taken the abuse for nothing.

She etched this debt deep into her heart: “Fine, fine, fine! You’ll regret this!”

Xu Yuan shrugged and walked off with his stepmother and Wang Shen.

Gao Wanli resumed repairing the courtyard.

Her subordinates worked cautiously, moving quietly—any loud noise would bring their mistress’s wrath.

These were all cultivators; they worked swiftly.

By nightfall, the courtyard was restored.

Gao Wanli said nothing, entered the house, and shut the door.

The insults she’d endured these past two days exceeded all she’d suffered in her entire life.

Back inside, she pulled from the bottom of her trunk a jewelry box.

Inside lay a strange seed, the size of a fist.

“We begin tomorrow!”

“When the outskirts are overrun by malevolent spirits, preying on villagers!”

“Xu’s just taken office—his jurisdiction suffers a major incident, he fails to handle it—I’ll report him to higher authorities!”

“Dare to provoke me? You have no idea how powerful my patrons are.”

“This time, I’ll have Xu removed and investigated—his entire family will be implicated.”

“That damned old craftswoman? First, throw her into the Imperial Brothel—let ten thousand men ride her, torment her for years, then retrieve her and force her to craft for us!”

Gao Wanli savored her cruel fantasies of revenge against Xu Yuan and Lin Wanmo—her heart felt lighter.

…

Day two’s prohibitions: Linhe, Jiechi, Nongzhuang, Taying.

Xu Yuan read the prohibitions and rubbed his temples in pain.

“Taying” meant not stepping on any shadow.

Including human shadows.

So today required extra caution.

It was easy to imagine the city would be utterly deserted.

Everyone would stay still if possible.

Even staying indoors demanded care.

During daylight, shadows were everywhere.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard captains arrived on schedule but kept wide distances from each other.

Most dared not enter through the main gate—instead, they flew over the courtyard walls.

Lang XiaoBa reported to the lord: “High Lady left early this morning.”

“Did she say where she was going?”

“No,” Lang XiaoBa said. “I asked from afar and got cursed at.”

Xu Yuan waved his hand: “Ignore her.”

“Yes.”

Xu Yuan went to his office and handled some documents.

Around mid-morning, Miao Yu sent someone to deliver a case file to Xu Yuan.

The newcomer did not even dare to approach the yamen’s main gate.

A large patch of shadow fell across the front of the Zhan City Office under the sunlight.

After giving a brief instruction, he tossed the dossier inside and turned away.

Lang Xiaoba brought the dossier to Master Xu; Xu Yuan unrolled it and saw the detailed records of the Gao family.

After reading it, Xu Yuan burned the dossier.

“About what I suspected.”

The dossier showed that the Gao family had deep ties with the Fu family.

Moreover, Xu Yuan deduced from certain clues that the Gao family was likely one of the buyers of the previous batch of cocoons.

Gao Wanli’s arrival in Zhan City had far from simple intentions.

(End of Chapter)