Chapter 113: Naturally, It Cannot Be Wasted

"You're Zhao Kuan, aren't you?"

"How did you know?!"

Hao Lu blurted out in shock without thinking.

Gu Shang tugged at the corner of his mouth and gave him a fake smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Oh, actually I was only guessing before, but now I know."

Qingye, tied to the pillar behind them, glared fiercely at Hao Lu.

Useless at everything, good at nothing but making trouble!

"You actually tricked me?!"

Realizing he had been played, Hao Lu flew into a rage and tried to push himself up off the ground, but the guards pressed blades against his neck and forced him back down to his knees.

"Enough, lock these two up in the dungeon first!"

"Or better yet, take that one away and lock him up!"

"This servant will definitely comfort you."

Saying that, I patted Chen Ying's shoulder and turned to leave without a shred of reluctance.

After the guards took the fake Yi Jiang away, Hao Lu looked at Muyuan Kingdom with a face full of grief.

"Uncle Zhao, please rise first."

When I saw that the birthmark had been washed off, I simply collapsed onto the ground.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Just as someone was daydreaming about a wonderful holiday with no more homework, an unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out beside his ear.

"Young Master, no, this is the homework the teacher left for you!"

"What?!"

The fake Yi Jiang glanced at me indifferently.

"Young Master!"

"I only beg you, considering this old servant has attended the Old Master for decades, spare my life!"

After dealing with Steward Zhao's spy, the City Lord's Manor returned to peace once more.

This person is absolutely not simple!

I lunged forward and grabbed 'Yi Jiang's' right arm, shaking my head in disbelief.

He had originally planned to cultivate him as a trusted confidant, but now it seemed…

That's right!

Saying that, I tossed the Inventory into the fire.

And Chen Ying, left standing there, was on the verge of tears.

Seeing him in such a state, Hao Lu couldn't bear it and let out a heavy sigh, finally deciding to tell him the truth.

"Or better yet, apologize to the Young Master at once!"

"The homework's been burned — what am I supposed to write this holiday?"

The servant boy beside him scratched the back of his head in confusion.

Hao Lu stepped forward a few paces and bent down to help Ling Huiyou up.

Normally, forget being dragged over by the guards—

Why does it feel like Yi Jiang has become a completely different person?

Having said that, he bowed apologetically.

"Young Master, look, it's this one!"

Suddenly, the servant boy cried out in alarm.

"Don't worry, I'll have someone rush to the teacher's home right now and ask the teacher to make you a new set of problems."

"Who on earth are you?"

Ling Hui instinctively shivered.

"Young Master, calm yourself — has Yi Jiang committed some offense?"

"Didn't we just intercept a Carrier Pigeon? Naturally, it can't be wasted."

"It was my momentary carelessness, my poor judgment of people, that brought such a small trouble back to the Young Master."

Muyuan Kingdom, seeing the situation, hurried over, dropped to his knees on the ground, and pleaded on his behalf.

Who would have thought Gu Shang not only knew the Muyuan script, but could also imitate other people's handwriting.

Gu Shang watched him with an expressionless face.

Has the Young Master not been to the Study today?

"This old servant has only that one family member left!"

"Go bring Zhao Kuan to me!"

"What does the Young Master mean by that?"

"F-Father?"

Caught red-handed by the guards, he was quickly brought before Hao Lu.

But this time, Yi Jiang's face was very calm; he did not, as usual, show a frightened, pleading expression.

Chen Ying, not wanting to waste any more time, waved his hand and ordered the guards to take the man away, then instructed.

"But that round trip will likely take ten-some days; even so, Daddy, even if only a few days are left, you can definitely finish it, right?"

The person before him was so ordinary that if placed in a crowd, he would almost never draw anyone's attention.

"You're not my nephew — where is the real Yi Jiang?!"

Just recovered from illness, and still can throw punches!

"Ahem, those few Picture Books you flipped through these past few days — burn them along with the rest."

What on earth is going on today?

Haha! I really am a fool.

"Chen kid, continue — what does he plan to do next?"

The moment I stepped outside, I was choked by a thick, smoky smell and started coughing nonstop.

How do I remember?

I silently tightened my fists, took a deep breath, and forced down the anger in my heart.

"Why is he there?"

Heh heh, stuffing the homework the tutor left inside and burning it together — is that what you used to write it?

Saying so, I turned my head to look at Yi Jiang, who had been winking at me nonstop, his eyes nearly cramped from squeezing.

Hao Lu raised a hand and roughly rubbed my head, looking at me with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Chen Ying's small eyes rolled around — clearly thinking of something — then turned and ran off.

I looked toward the billowing smoke.

"Young Master, if Yi Jiang did something he shouldn't have, you can hit me, punish me — anything!"

"Oh no! You forgot the homework and the Picture Books were put together — what are we going to do now?!"

Ling Hui finished his dramatic act, so anxious he was stomping his feet.

But this seemingly ordinary person actually possessed excellent martial skills, along with strategy and commendable bravery.

Hearing those words, Ling Hui You was stunned for a moment, then grew excited. He hurriedly grabbed Yi Jiang's right arm.

While speaking, he stubbornly rolled up the sleeve on Yi Jiang's left side.

A maid replied.

"Impossible!"

Gone!

……

Hearing this, Muyuan Kingdom suddenly felt uneasy in his heart.

"Eldest Young Master, these are the clothes, bedding, and miscellaneous items you touched on the day you fell ill. The Old Master and the Madam gave instructions — to be safe, it's better to burn everything."

Gu Shang was just about to turn around when Chen Ying called out to him.

Can't hit!

Hearing this, Muyuan Kingdom lunged at him and the two started grappling.

I pointed at the birthmark on Yi Jiang's arm and showed it to Ling Hui.

"Go fetch a basin of water."

This is my son — my own flesh and blood!

But the arm was clean — nothing on it but fine hair.

Soon, he came back carrying a small Inventory, sneakily glancing around, then putting on an act with two fake coughs.

Watching the Picture Book quickly burn a corner, Chen Ying secretly rejoiced in his heart.

Hao Lu glanced at the fire — what was burning fiercely inside was, compared to the homework the tutor had left Chen Ying these past few days, not just unrelated, but exactly the same.

"Although I only saw him once when A-Narrow was seven or eight, I remember it clearly — on the inside of his right arm, near the elbow, there's a willow-leaf-shaped red birthmark."

"This old servant wishes to be alone for a while — I'll take my leave first."

When the guards arrived at Yi Jiang's home, he was packing his Inventory, ready to flee.

Burn it?

"Being able to read Steward Zhao's writing, I am naturally a man of Steward Zhao."

Even when the Old Master and Madam simply summoned him for questioning, he was so nervous his legs went weak, clinging to them begging for guidance, without a shred of his own opinion — a complete coward.

Muyuan Kingdom shook his head, tightly gripping his arm, refusing to get up no matter what, a pleading look in his eyes.

One more glance at that guilty little expression on someone's face, and suddenly everything was clear.

"How could that be?"

"Uncle Zhao, you……"

He'd been here so long, yet Yi Jiang hadn't said a single word.

"Could I have remembered wrong — was it actually on the left arm?"

So the homework that should have taken a month to write, he finished in half a month?!

"Gu Shang, stay."

"What are they doing?"

……

"Wasn't it you who killed him?!"

Hao Lu withdrew his gaze and looked at him with deep meaning.

Watching his ever-more-hunched back, and the appearance of someone who seemed to have aged a dozen years in an instant, Hao Lu felt very uncomfortable too.

Another day passed, and Ling Hui, fully recovered, could no longer stay in bed. Throwing tantrums, rolling around, and acting cute, he won himself an hour of free movement in the courtyard.

When only the two of them were left in the woodshed, Chen Ying sized up the burly man before him — dark yellowish skin, rough features, and a thick beard covering his face.

Fearing Muyuan Kingdom might get hurt, Hao Lu hurriedly had people pull the two apart.

Hao Lu gave a look to the guard beside him.

Gu Shang stepped forward and spoke up in reminder.

While speaking, her big eyes kept glancing toward my father's lower body.

I clutched 'Yi Jiang' tightly and questioned in a low voice.

It could even be said that the person opposite made Muyuan Kingdom's heart stand on end.

"Long dead, probably already turned into fertilizer for some place by now."

"Uncle Zhao, how could he possibly—if the person behind is definitely his nephew Yi Jiang?"