Chapter 31

"Brother, brother, were you hurt by the thieves?"

Xu Siyuan dismounted, walked quickly to Li Miao, held his hands, and looked him up and down.

"Look at this mess. This Wu family is a long-standing wealthy family in the area. I've never seen them do anything out of line before. Who would have thought they were hiding a witch in their home!"

"If you had suffered any mishap, brother, I truly wouldn't know what to do!"

He had received the report from his trusted aide in the morning and rushed to the Wu Fu immediately. Seeing Li Miao completely unharmed, he let out a long sigh of relief and set his mind at ease.

No matter how big the haunting at the Wu Fu was, it was ultimately just a folk rumor and had not reached his ears for a while, which was why he dared to let Li Miao stay there.

If Li Miao had met with an accident under his watch, he would have been in big trouble.

Witchcraft/Gu and the Embroidered Uniform Guard—either of these terms alone was sensitive enough, representing the disaster of having one's family wiped out. Yet, they had converged right here.

If an Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander had met with an accident in the residence he arranged, what would the court think?

If an Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander had been harmed by witchcraft under his jurisdiction, what would the Emperor think?

Were you intentional, or were you careless?

Intentional meant having a heart of rebellion; careless meant incompetence and dereliction of duty. No matter how he explained it, he wouldn't be able to escape unscathed.

Even if Li Miao was completely fine, as long as the court knew there were witchcraft practitioners here, he would definitely be implicated.

Xu Siyuan became more and more afraid as he thought about it. Fear turned into anger, and his eyes glared fiercely at Squire Wu, who was being restrained by soldiers in the courtyard.

He secretly calculated that he must deal with this Wu fellow properly, to let him know what it meant for a Prefect to ruin a family and a County Magistrate to wipe out a clan.

Li Miao smiled and patted Xu Siyuan's hand: "Brother, why worry about mere small thieves?"

"I think there's no need to handle this as a witchcraft case. Let's both save ourselves the trouble of paperwork."

He winked at Xu Siyuan.

Xu Siyuan's eyes lit up, and he understood: "Brother, you mean?"

"Just call it murder for money. Brother, have your subordinates draft it, write it up, and give me a copy. I'll change the wording and submit it, just framing this Wu fellow. It's not good to suppress the matter if too many people are involved." Li Miao pointed at the dejected Squire Wu.

"With the two sides corroborating, there's no fear of any omissions."

"Oh, brother!" Xu Siyuan patted Li Miao's hand: "You have truly taken a great worry off my mind!"

"Haha, we brothers hit it off the moment we met; why be so polite?" Li Miao responded enthusiastically.

"It's just..." Li Miao frowned later.

"When I was fighting the ferocious Gu-raiser last night, I was careless and got some of her blood on me."

"The travel money you gave me yesterday was all tainted by the ferocious one's blood."

"Alas, it was truly careless... wasting your good intentions, brother..." Li Miao said, looking full of self-reproach.

"Ah? Ah hahahaha..."

Hearing this, Xu Siyuan frowned first, then laughed heartily: "I thought it was some big matter. Brother, no need to worry. I will make up for it later, consider it a token to calm your nerves!"

"Many thanks, brother." Li Miao did not stand on ceremony and bowed to Xu Siyuan.

After the two reached an understanding, Xu Siyuan invited Li Miao to his residence for a meal, and Li Miao did not refuse, leaving together.

When he returned in the afternoon, the Wu Fu was already empty, everyone having been arrested by Xu Siyuan's men.

However, with Li Miao's words, there was no fear that Xu Siyuan would vent his anger on anyone other than Squire Wu.

At this time, Wang Hai, Li Xiaosi, and Mei Qinghe were waiting at the entrance of the Wu Fu with their horses, while You Zi'ang sat on the ground, dejected.

Li Miao walked over, took a stack of banknotes from his chest, and handed them to Li Xiaosi.

Li Xiaosi took them, counted them carefully, and beamed: "Master, you squeezed this much?"

"That Xu fellow is afraid I'll report the matter, so naturally he has to show more filial piety." Li Miao smiled: "I can spend, but I can also earn."

"Yes, yes, yes, you have great ability." Li Xiaosi took the money and didn't say much else, happily stuffing it into her waist pouch, calculating how much she could deduct to make her dowry.

Li Miao reached out and took half of it, handing it to Mei Qinghe.

"Alright, let's divide the manpower."

"Hai'er, take Li Xiaosi to Jinan Prefecture, bring You Zi'ang along, and by the way, have the family send more men over."

Li Miao's mission, of course, was not just for the few of them to handle.

He was on a publicly funded vacation, saying he was bringing people to scout first, but in reality, he was walking and playing along the way, which was why he only brought Wang Hai and Li Xiaosi.

Now that he had been out for more than two months, it was time to send You Zi'ang to Shuntian Prefecture, and by the way, have the Embroidered Uniform Guard send the rest of the men.

He had also taught Wang Hai the method to suppress the Gu poison for Li Xiaosi. With Wang Hai's internal energy cultivation, managing it for a few months would be no problem.

"You go east to Jinan Prefecture, and I will go south with Little Mei directly to the Taishan Sect to take a look."

"Wait in Jinan Prefecture for the family to send people, and when they arrive, come directly to Tai'an to find me."

Li Xiaosi had been robbed of her love by Li Miao, and half of the money she had just gotten was gone, so she was pouting in anger.

Hearing that it was official business, Wang Hai straightened his attitude, nodded in agreement, took Li Xiaosi, grabbed You Zi'ang, and rode away.

Seeing the two go far away with You Zi'ang, Li Miao turned to Mei Qinghe and said: "Little Mei, I have something to tell you."

With You Zi'ang present, Li Miao had not told Mei Qinghe about the Plum Blossom Thief, fearing she might have an extreme reaction.

Now that Wang Hai had taken You Zi'ang away, Li Miao told Mei Qinghe everything about the Plum Blossom Thief's scheme that he had discovered on You Zi'ang last night.

After listening, Mei Qinghe closed her eyes and pondered for a long time, her hand unconsciously gripping and releasing the sword hilt.

After a while, she opened her eyes and said to Li Miao: "Thank you, Senior, for telling me the truth."

"Did you tell me only after Senior Wang took You Zi'ang away because you were afraid I would vent my anger on him?"

"That was the intention." Li Miao spread his hands.

"Your temperament is rigid and extreme, and it concerns the murder of your mother. I didn't know what you would choose."

Mei Qinghe was silent for a while before saying to Li Miao: "Senior is overthinking."

"When I heard that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had killed the Plum Blossom Thief, I naturally hated not being able to kill the thief myself. But with the person dead, the debt is cleared. I will not hold unrelated people accountable."

"It's just that since I know his scheme, I will not let him succeed."

"In the future, if anyone else makes a name for themselves as the Plum Blossom Thief in the Jianghu, I will naturally bring my sword to their door. If they are evil, I will kill them with one sword."

"If they are guilty of minor crimes, I will punish them and then teach them other internal energy practices."

Li Miao nodded: "It's good that you've thought it through."

"Then let's set off. Counting the days, there isn't much time left until the Five Mountains Sword Sect Alliance meeting."

Mei Qinghe nodded, and the two mounted their horses and left the city, heading toward the Taishan Sword Sect.

(End of chapter)