That night.
Ye Liuyun was standing in place, practicing the Pine Wood Saber Skill.
After all these days, his Pine Wood Saber Skill was already well-mastered—probably just a bit more and it would reach perfection.
But at that moment, the maid Xing'Er suddenly came over.
"Master!"
"Hm?"
His hand paused in midair as he looked over, puzzled.
Usually, if it wasn't something important, Xing'Er would never disturb him when he was training.
So, did something happen?
"Is it Madam? Did something happen to her?"
"Uh, it's not about Madam."
Why is Madam always the first thing you think of?
Xing'Er didn't dare look into it further, just said directly:
"It's about Master's subordinate in the Embroidered Uniform Guard."
Subordinate in the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Besides Si Nan, seems like there aren't any others.
Don't tell me something happened in the Embroidered Uniform Guard?
Thinking like this, Ye Liuyun set his saber aside and waved Xing'Er over.
"Go bring him here."
"Yes, Master!"
,,,
While Ye Liuyun was stretching his somewhat sore shins, Si Nan was brought over by Xing'Er.
"My lord, are you practicing?"
Seeing Ye Liuyun like this, Si Nan was briefly stunned. Just like Xing'Er before, he could hardly believe that Ye Liuyun actually knew how to train.
",,," You saying that makes me look a bit silly here.
He waved it off, too lazy to argue about that, and got straight to the point.
"Just say what you have to say and stop interrupting my training."
"Yes, my lord!"
Si Nan snapped back to attention, gathering his thoughts and replied seriously:
"It's like this: tonight, Lu Quan, Lord Hundred Households, booked the entire Golden Tower to host a banquet for the guests, and hopes my lord can attend."
"A dinner invitation?"
Ye Liuyun knew of this Embroidered Uniform Guard Lu Quan—his brother's roster had his name on it too, marked as greedy and lecherous.
The Golden Tower was a pretty famous restaurant in the Imperial City; lots of rich officials and nobles held banquets there.
This Lu Quan was actually quite generous.
After muttering inside, Ye Liuyun didn't bother hesitating at all—he just waved his hand.
"No need. Just tell them I'm at a crucial moment in my training and really can't spare the time. If it's just a dinner, let's do it next time."
This wasn't Ye Liuyun lying to get out of it.
Ye Liuyun genuinely felt his Pine Wood Saber Skill was only a hair's breadth from being perfected.
Dinner invitations aren't exactly urgent business; it's not like he couldn't go next time instead.
But—
When Si Nan heard this, his face turned kind of awkward.
"It's not really a dinner invite. Lord Lu Quan and his guests are almost done eating."
"So you're calling me over when the meal's almost done—what for? To pay the bill?"
Honestly starting to wonder if Si Nan was messing with him. Everyone was nearly finished eating, so what was the point of calling him anymore?
,,,
It was just a casual complaint.
But before he knew it, after blurting that out, Ye Liuyun noticed that both Si Nan and Xing'Er had gone silent, their expressions saying they seemed to agree with his guess.
"?"
Wait, seriously? They really want me to go pay?
Are they crazy? He invites people to dinner and I'm supposed to pay?
Ye Liuyun suddenly thought of his own brother's habits and probed:
"Is this kind of thing a regular occurrence?"
"Yeah!"
Si Nan said it as if it was utterly normal.
"Not just Lu Quan, lots of Lords Hundred Households or Thousand Households hold banquets—my lord usually goes and pays."
Probably because it happened so many times, Si Nan's tone sounded entirely natural as he said this.
,,, Really pathetic!
You think this makes you popular, but they've probably pegged you as the resident sucker.
Seeing Ye Liuyun just silently stand there, not responding,
Si Nan tentatively called out, "My lord?"
Lately there had been so many changes with this master that Si Nan couldn't really figure out what Ye Liuyun was thinking anymore.
"It's fine."
Even if he was pissed, no need to take it out on Si Nan; Ye Liuyun just lazily waved it off.
"If this sort of thing happens again, don't bother reporting to me. Just tell them, 'If you can't pay, don't host—not gonna wait for me to bail you out. Am I their dad or something?'"
I'm already a Postnatal Martial Artist! From what Ye Liuyun knew, even Embroidered Uniform Guard Lord Thousand Households wasn't much stronger than a Postnatal Martial Artist.
If I still have to suck up and keep acting subservient—
Then what's even the point of training? Just so I can be their workhorse? Is my kneecap only good for kneeling to others?
"Uh!"
Si Nan thought if he really passed on those words, he'd definitely offend Lord Lu Quan.
But from his master's attitude, it seemed Ye Liuyun didn't care at all about making enemies.
"Any other issues?"
"N-no, nothing else!"
Si Nan figured he'd just let it be—if his master didn't care, no point pushing it as a subordinate.
Master must have his reasons for handling things this way.
These past few days, Si Nan's faith in Ye Liuyun had only gotten stronger.
After exchanging a few more words, Si Nan left.
Xing'Er, on the other hand, kept quietly standing to the side.
Yet, even after Si Nan had left for a while, Ye Liuyun was still standing there, deep in thought. Xing'Er was a little confused by that.
"Is Master troubled by something?"
Xing'Er thought maybe Ye Liuyun was worried about offending that Embroidered Uniform Guard Lord Hundred Households.
But—
"Not really. I was just thinking, is there a way to get all that money back?"
No wonder.
Back when organizing her brother's "inheritance," she hadn't seen much cash—turns out it had all been spent like this.
Xing'Er really didn't know how to respond to that.
She just stared at Ye Liuyun for a long while; not sure what she was thinking, but eventually the corners of her mouth started to turn up in a smile.
,,,
"What did you say!"
Inside the Golden Tower.
Listening to his underling's report, Lu Quan's previously cheerful face suddenly darkened.
He'd gotten used to people buttering him up, so he never imagined "Ye Liufeng" would actually dare defy his orders.
If not for all the high-status people around him, Lu Quan would've cussed him out right then and there.
"What's wrong, Lord Lu Hundred Households?"
Someone nearby had clearly noticed Lu Quan's mood shift and curiously asked.
"N-nothing, just a subordinate acting out—that's all. Nothing but a trivial matter!"
Lu Quan didn't want to lose face here, so he forced out a smile.
But in his heart, he was already plotting—once he was back at the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he'd definitely teach that "Ye Liufeng" a lesson.
,,,,,