Chapter 173: Living off a Woman

At dusk.

The hazy sky suddenly began to drizzle again.

The rainwater brought the chill of late autumn.

Yet a warm aura rose from the lake behind, enveloping the entire Bai Mansion and dispelling the chill of the autumn rain.

On the lake and in the garden, thin mist curled, as if in a fairyland.

Before long, Bai Qingtong, wearing a cyan-green long dress and holding a floral umbrella, arrived at Junzi Residence.

Luo Zijun was standing on the corridor waiting.

"Is the gentleman's health better?"

Bai Qingtong entered the corridor, handed the floral umbrella in her hand to Hua'er behind her, and looked at him with concern.

Luo Zijun said, "Many thanks, Third Miss. I am much better. Third Miss, please come inside to talk."

The two entered the room.

Xiaohuan and Zhiyuan poured tea, then went into the adjacent room with Hua'er and Shi'er, and closed the door.

Bai Qingtong sat down on a chair and asked, "I heard from Zhiyuan that the gentleman has something to ask of me?"

Luo Zijun nodded and said with some embarrassment, "I do indeed have a request."

Bai Qingtong smiled slightly and said, "The gentleman may speak freely. As long as I, Qingtong, can manage it, I will certainly not refuse."

Seeing her so straightforward, Luo Zijun did not beat around the bush and said directly, "I would like to borrow some silver from Third Miss."

Bai Qingtong was startled upon hearing this, as if she truly had not expected it to be a matter of borrowing silver, and could not help but laugh: "Tell me, gentleman, how much do you need? I will go to the accounting office to fetch it in a moment."

Luo Zijun said, "It is quite a lot: fourteen thousand taels."

He currently had seven hundred taels on him, and when Jia Tanchun and the others came tomorrow, scraping together three hundred taels of silver would be no problem.

Therefore, he was still short fourteen thousand taels.

The reason he sought to borrow from this Bai Third Miss before him was that he knew that regarding the affairs of the Bai Mansion, this Bai Third Miss seemed to be able to make most of the decisions.

Silver was naturally no exception.

In this regard, she was far superior to those young ladies of the Jia Mansion.

As for Jia Tanchun and her sisters, let alone fourteen thousand taels, they probably could not even produce one thousand taels.

As for asking the mansion for it, he could find no reason.

So, the only one who could produce this much silver right now was the person before him.

Hearing the amount, Bai Qingtong paused for a moment, then smiled: "It is indeed quite a lot, but I can still manage it. I will go to the accounting office to fetch it in a moment."

Truly generous!

Luo Zijun felt a touch of emotion in his heart; he hurriedly stood up, cupped his hands, and thanked her: "Many thanks, Third Miss. I will repay it as soon as possible."

Bai Qingtong looked at him with a smile for a few moments and said, "No rush. The gentleman may just take it and use it. Even if you do not repay it, it does not matter."

Luo Zijun dared not owe such a massive favor.

Jia She had sold his own biological daughter for five thousand taels of silver; this fourteen thousand taels was naturally a large sum.

If he did not repay the silver, he feared that what he would have to repay in the future would be even more.

In this world, human favors are the hardest to repay.

He already owed this person many favors; he could not owe any more.

"I must repay it."

He hurriedly said, "Third Miss, please wait a moment. I will go inside and write an IOU."

Having said this, he immediately went into the room next door.

Bai Qingtong's eyes flickered, and she did not speak again.

Before long, Luo Zijun emerged from the room with the IOU and held it out to her with both hands.

Bai Qingtong took it with a smile and said, "If I do not accept this IOU, I fear the gentleman will feel uneasy. Then I shall accept it. However, the gentleman need not be in a hurry to repay the money; fourteen thousand taels is not a small sum. Just repay it when you have money in the future."

Luo Zijun thanked her again: "Many thanks, Third Miss."

Bai Qingtong hesitated for a moment, looked at him, and asked, "Is the gentleman doing this for Yingchun?"

Luo Zijun nodded, but did not explain.

This matter was too absurd and outrageous; whether it was Jia She's cold-bloodedness and cruelty, or the fact that the Second Miss of the Jia Family was willing to become a slave and a maid, none of it could be told to others.

Unless the person involved said it herself.

Bai Qingtong did not ask further, only saying, "If the gentleman needs help with anything else in the future, just tell me. Do not be reserved."

Looking at the sincere young lady before him, Luo Zijun felt a warmth in his heart. He thanked her again and added, "If Third Miss ever has a place where you need me in the future, please just say so. If I am able to do it, I will certainly not refuse."

Bai Qingtong's eyes held a smile, and her brows arched slightly: "Truly?"

Luo Zijun cupped his hands and lowered his head: "Naturally, truly."

Bai Qingtong smiled slightly, said nothing more, stood up, and said, "Then I shall not disturb the gentleman further. I will go to the accounting office to fetch the money and have Hua'er deliver it in a moment."

"I have troubled you, Third Miss."

"It is nothing, just a small effort."

Bai Qingtong smiled and called out toward the room next door.

The door opened, and Hua'er and Shi'er immediately walked out.

Luo Zijun hurriedly walked in front, picked up the floral umbrella from the corridor, opened it, handed it to Hua'er, and said, "The road is slippery, Third Miss, be careful."

"Mm, the gentleman need not see me off."

Bai Qingtong stepped off the corridor, trod upon the bluestone slabs covered in rainwater, and left with the two young maids.

Before long, Hua'er delivered three silver notes.

One was for five thousand, totaling fifteen thousand taels of silver.

Hua'er said, "My young lady says the extra one thousand taels of silver is for you to buy books, sir. It is her personal gift to you, so you do not need to return it."

Luo Zijun took the silver note, fell silent for a moment, and said, "Please thank the Third Miss for me."

Hua'er nodded, opened her umbrella, and left.

Luo Zijun looked at the heavy silver note in his hand and sighed inwardly.

He had not expected that even after passing the exam to become a scholar and becoming a master of the Martial Artist Fifth Realm, he would still have to borrow money from women.

Looking back on his journey, whenever he needed money, hadn't he always borrowed it from women?

Was he really going to be a kept man who lived off women in the future?

"Young Master, the Third Miss is truly good to you."

Xiaohuan said from the side.

Luo Zijun nodded and said, "Yes, ever since we entered the mansion, the Third Miss has always been very good to us."

Zhiyuan watched him for a while, then suddenly said half-jokingly, "Young Master, since the Third Miss is so good and very beautiful, why don't you offer yourself to her and marry into her family?"

Luo Zijun turned his head to look at her.

Zhiyuan said with a face full of smiles, "Would the Young Master like to consider it?"

Xiaohuan hesitated for a moment on the side and also said, "Young Master, if the Third Miss is willing, this servant also thinks..."

Luo Zijun said, "That's great. The Third Miss has two senior maids and four junior maids. When the time comes for me to go over, I will be fickle and sell the two of you. I'll use the money from the sale to buy sugar figurines for those six maids every day."

The two of them immediately let out a "pfft" of laughter.

Luo Zijun did not joke with them anymore and said, "Go back to your rooms, I need to cultivate." Returning to his room, he still spent an hour practicing his disguise technique first.

His current disguise technique could already easily change his appearance, demeanor, and even his aura.

The last time he went to Bao'an Hall, he had given his master quite a fright.

Aside from his senior sister, no one else should be able to tell.

At the third watch.

He sent his soul out-of-body, found that black cat, and continued to possess it for cultivation.

Before long, the white cat named Daidai came again.

After he successfully broke through to the Day Wandering Realm that day, he had seen this white cat at night and originally wanted to show off and flaunt his power before it. As a result, the other party had lightly raised its paw, grabbed a handful of mud from thin air, and thrown it onto his face.

Only then did he realize the gap in talent between the two of them.

He worked hard and sweated every night to cultivate just to reach the Day Wandering Realm, while the other party just came over every night and squatted there without moving, yet had already advanced to the Object Manipulation Realm.

Since then, he had not dared to provoke this white cat again.

!

Of course, he had other little thoughts.

"Swish!"

He had cultivated for two hours, then leaped up, jumped onto the courtyard wall, and arrived in front of the white cat, communicating with her through his eyes and cat language.

"Xiaobai, the soul-controlled Flying Sword you mentioned last time can take a person's head from a thousand miles away. What kind of sword should we use?"

The white cat said with a blank look, "A Flying Sword, small and black, as black as you. That way, it won't be discovered at night."

Luo Zijun: "Then where can one buy a Flying Sword?"

White cat: "Daliang probably doesn't sell them; they need to be specially forged."

Luo Zijun: "Then who should I go to for forging?"

The white cat tilted its head: "I remember... I think I know how to forge them."

Luo Zijun: "You know how to forge?"

A young maid who knows how to forge a Flying Sword?

This person is truly some kind of big shot hiding in the Bai Mansion!

The white cat seemed to think for a moment: "I don't know if I can yet, I need to go back and think about it."

Luo Zijun hurriedly said, "Sister Bai, if you really can forge one, please be sure to help your little brother forge one!"

White cat: "On what grounds?"

Luo Zijun: "I've already called you sister. Isn't it only natural for a sister to give things to her younger brother?"

The white cat tilted its head, seemed to think for a while, and said blankly, "Oh..."

Luo Zijun was secretly happy.

This white cat is called Daidai, and this possessed soul also seems a bit slow.

After these days of contact, he discovered that although this fellow is very powerful, it seems very silly, slow, and easy to trick.

So he decided to use the other party to strengthen his soul!

When dawn was approaching, everyone returned to their own homes and found their own bodies.

Luo Zijun's soul returned to his body, and after thinking about things for a while, he finally closed his eyes to sleep.

This sleep only lasted for two hours.

When he woke up, Xiaohuan hurriedly said, "Young Master, Sister Hua'er just came and said that those young ladies from the Jia Mansion have all arrived and are currently boating on the Bai Hua Hu in the back. The Third Miss said you can just go over after you wake up."

"They have already arrived?"

Luo Zijun pondered for a moment, went out to brush his teeth and wash his face, ate some food, and then went out.

Xiaohuan and Zhiyuan both followed behind him.

At this time, the sky had cleared, and the heat rising from the Diyuan hot spring made the entire mansion feel warm and comfortable.

In the Baihuayuan, mist swirled, hazy and indistinct.

The three of them walked through the flower path and arrived at the lakeside, seeing that the surface of the lake was also shrouded in white mist, curling like smoke, as if it were a fairyland.

Just as the three of them were walking along the lakeside, a burst of young girls' giggles suddenly came from the lake not far away.

Then, a voice rang out: "Fenfen, you cannot laugh; we are still in a period of national mourning."

"There are no outsiders here anyway."

"What about those young ladies from the Jia Mansion?"

"They went over there into the lotus cluster to pick lotus seeds. Hua'er, are you here to pick up that bad guy?"

"How is Young Master Luo a bad guy?"

"Hmph, that fellow puts on a very good act in front of you all, but he is actually hot-tempered, rude, and impolite; he hits people at the drop of a hat, and he likes to hit women! Hua'er, you had better be careful."

"Hmph, I don't believe you! Young Master Luo is a scholar; he has always been gentle, refined, and courteous, and he is humorous and witty, and very kind to all of us. Fenfen, you just love to talk nonsense."

"You silly girl, I already told you, that fellow is especially good at putting on an act, he..."

The conversation on the boat suddenly stopped.

The people on the shore and on the boat could now see each other through the thin mist.

"Those who like to speak ill of others behind their backs will get rotten mouths."

Luo Zijun said, looking at the pink-clad figure standing at the bow of the boat.

"Hmph!"

Fenfen gave a haughty huff and ignored him; she rowed the small boat to the shore, jumped onto the bank, tied up the boat, and left.

Hua'er rowed another small boat to the shore and said, "Young Master Luo, this maid will first take you to the pavilion in the middle of the lake. The young miss and the others are still picking lotus seeds in the lotus cluster and will be over in a moment."

Luo Zijun nodded; he first helped Xiaohuan onto the boat, and when he went to help Zhiyuan, Zhiyuan smiled and nimbly jumped onto the boat herself.

The small boat swayed, and Xiaohuan was so frightened she hurriedly crouched down, but Zhiyuan still stood steadily.

Hua'er laughed: "Zhiyuan is very impressive in the water; she swims faster than the fish."

Luo Zijun boarded the boat and asked: "Do you often come here to swim?"

Hua'er said: "Yes, in the winter, if we want to bathe, we come here; the water here is very warm. This winter, Young Master can come and try it; there is a hot spring underneath, and even on snowy days, the water in this lake is warm and comfortable."

Luo Zijun said: "May I come here to bathe?"

Just as Hua'er was about to nod, she suddenly remembered something and said with a blush: "This maid does not know; I would have to ask my young miss."

Luo Zijun said: "It is fine, no need to ask; I will just sneak in when the time comes."

"Pfft..."

The three Young Maids on the boat all burst into laughter.

In the middle of the lake, on the pavilion.

At the railing on the top floor, a figure in a white dress was standing there, staring blankly at the white mist on the lake surface.

Fragmented images surged into her mind from time to time.

"Dark Iron, Geng Metal, Ghost Soul Flower..."

She murmured to herself.

Before long, a small boat appeared on the lake, breaking through the mist and slowly sailing toward the pavilion.

The person standing at the bow of the boat stood tall and straight, dressed in a scholar's robe; amidst the blue waves and the breeze, his sleeves fluttered, and he moved gracefully, as if stepping on the waves.

She lowered her head and looked at that figure, ripples gently stirring in her eyes.

(End of this chapter)