In the following days, Zhao Ling kept taking the meat of those low-level soul beasts from the storage space to hold barbecue parties in the mansion.
Perhaps because those low-level soul beasts were all over a hundred years old and contained some natural heavenly energy, the meat roasted from them tasted exceptionally good.
Anyway, it felt much better than the pork or beef raised on feed on Blue Star—more tender, fresher, and with less gaminess.
Plus, with the addition of chili powder, cumin, black pepper, and other spices bought from outside, the flavor of the roasted meat was absolutely exquisite. Zhao Ling had never tasted such delicious barbecue even at street stalls in his previous life.
These consecutive days of barbecue parties quickly brought Zhao Ling and the mansion's servants closer, allowing him to hear many anecdotes about the Emperor Xue Ye.
For example, after the butler Qian got drunk, he revealed how the Emperor Xue Ye once wrote love letters to someone and was cruelly rejected, and also about the emperor sneaking a peek at someone bathing at the age of nine.
Of course, it wasn't just Butler Qian who spilled embarrassing stories; even the Emperor Xue Ye's former wet nurse became loose-lipped after drinking plenty of fruit wine, sharing how the emperor could still draw maps at the age of six.
Listening to these drunken tales, Zhao Ling couldn't help but worry that if Xue Ye himself ever found out all these embarrassing stories were leaked, he might have the culprits killed to keep quiet.
Just as Zhao Ling expected, after these servants got drunk and talked too much, the Emperor Xue Ye soon found out about it.
After all, the Emperor Xue Ye was the original owner of this mansion and having some trusted people around was normal.
These trusted aides, upon hearing the drunken ramblings, fabricated or exaggerated the emperor's words and immediately reported it back to Xue Ye.
Xue Ye was furious, almost unable to contain his rage, wanting to execute Butler Qian and the wet nurse as a warning.
However, thinking that these servants and the mansion itself had now been bestowed to Zhao Ling, and that they were technically Zhao Ling's people now, he had to consider Zhao Ling's opinion before punishing them.
Therefore, Xue Ye ultimately restrained himself from slaughtering them all.
But he did send warnings to Butler Qian and the wet nurse not to recklessly fabricate stories about him anymore, or else they'd risk losing their heads.
Receiving the warning from the emperor, Butler Qian and the wet nurse were seriously frightened.
Fortunately, His Majesty took the new owner's standing into account and didn't kill them; otherwise, they wouldn't even know how they'd die.
Later, although Butler Qian and the wet nurse would still drink occasionally, they strictly controlled their intake. They had no choice—if they didn't learn what "keeping a secret" meant, they might not survive much longer.
Zhao Ling didn't mind this. Although gossiping about others was entertaining, if this mansion ever had a new master again and these servants liked sharing their new master's stories, that wouldn't be fun at all. After all, who likes their own stories being eaten up by others?
Similarly, after spending these days together, Zhao Ling and the three women grew increasingly close.
Even Bo Saixi was becoming reluctant to leave Zhao Ling's side. During the day, she either played a card game called Mahjong with Zhao Ling, Ah Yin, and Liu Erlong, or played Landlord or Chinese Chess.
These were games she had never played before, all reportedly "invented" by Zhao Ling himself—very novel and fun. Bo Saixi was completely absorbed.
At night, she joined everyone at the barbecue party, eating delicious roasted meat and drinking fine wine bestowed by the Tiandou royal family, feeling these days were the happiest in her life.
Of course, the main reason was that she could see Zhao Ling every day. The longer she stayed by his side, the stronger her affection and attachment to him grew.
She even forgot that she had come to the mainland to find Tang Chen and that staying with Zhao Ling was supposed to help her find Tang Chen's whereabouts.
Likewise, Liu Erlong stayed with Zhao Ling these days and hadn't gone home even once. Even Yu Loumian had come home a few times recently but hadn't seen her there.
This made Yu Loumian wonder if his education of her had failed; she was hardly ever home and wasn't attending the academy.
His daughter hadn't even graduated from the academy yet—what was going on? Feeling frustrated, he returned to his clan.
There he saw the Third Elder escorting a relatively well-regarded healing soul emperor in Tiandou City away from the clan, which puzzled Yu Loumian.
He had often seen this healing soul emperor come to the clan recently but didn't know who he was treating. Could it be the Third Elder's son who was injured?
So Yu Loumian followed the Third Elder and the healer, listening carefully to their conversation.
The Third Elder wore a sincere smile: "Thank you for your trouble. Here's the treatment fee for these past days."
"No need, no need… Elder Third, it's an honor to help you. I wouldn't dare to take your treatment fee," the healer with the surname Sun replied with a flattering expression. He was just a healing soul emperor hoping to get close to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan through these treatments.
The Third Elder was well aware of the healer's intentions. He didn't want to owe him a favor or have him latch onto the clan because of the treatment fees.
"Take it, take it. Our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan isn't the type to be stingy."
With that, the Third Elder handed over a bag of treatment fees to the healer and promptly gave him the boot.
After the healer left, Yu Luomian stopped the Third Elder, curious to ask, "Elder Third, who got injured that you had to invite a healing soul emperor from outside? Is it your son?"
"Second Master, this doesn't concern you, does it? Why would I need to report to you about hiring a healing soul emperor?" The Third Elder glanced at Yu Loumian, uninterested in explaining further.
Of course, he didn't want news of how he and two other elders beat up Yu Xiaogang, breaking his leg, to spread to the clan leader, or else they'd be in trouble. The fewer people who knew, the better.
But Yu Loumian was persistent, so after much pestering, the Third Elder finally revealed the full story…