Chapter 67
Chapter 67
White Snow Villa was Lord Liu Wuyan's secret treasury, so a dozen or so warriors were guarding it. But Shen Lang dispatched them with ease and opened the villa's secret underground vault. Inside, several chests were piled high with an impressive amount of gold coins.
“My lady, this corrupt official is a disappointment. Corrupt, yet incompetent.”
The gold coins totaled about eleven thousand taels. *Liu Wuyan, you've been the city lord for three years and this is all you could hoard? I was expecting a huge windfall... But something's strange. Tian Heng paid Xu Wensu six or seven thousand taels every year...*
Mulan, noticing Shen Lang's expression, cleared up his confusion.
“Liu Wuyan also has to please his superiors, so he must have given most of the gold as bribes. This money is likely his personal savings.”
That made sense. While it wasn't a large sum for a noble family that had held power for over a hundred years, it was a fortune for a mere official. For instance, if Liu Wuyan were to retire now, this money would be enough for him to live lavishly.
So, how much pain would Liu Wuyan feel upon losing all this gold?
“Combined with the gold we recovered from Xu Wensu, this will greatly alleviate the Count's Estate's financial crisis.”
“My lady, is our Count's Estate really that short on money?”
Mulan nodded.
“Desperately so.”
Was it just short? Ever since losing sovereignty over Gold Mountain Island forty years ago, the Count of Xuanwu's Estate had been operating at a deficit every year. The accumulated debt over several decades had reached an astronomical sum.
Furthermore, the previous Count of Xuanwu had recklessly accumulated massive debts, and just servicing those debts had pushed the estate's finances to a critical point. However, this was a top secret known only to Mulan and the Count himself.
In such a situation, Shen Lang bringing in gold for the estate twice was like putting out a fire that was licking at their feet.
“Wait, for us to completely empty Lord Liu Wuyan's vault, leaving nothing behind, isn't right. That's not something a person should do.”
Mulan was taken aback. *What mischief is my husband up to now?* Shen Lang took out a piece of paper, found a piece of charcoal, and scrawled messily on the white paper with his left hand.
“Shen Lang did not steal the gold!”
* * *
Lord Liu Wuyan was in high spirits. He had never imagined Tian Heng had an identical twin. It was truly a stroke of genius. Having lost his original identity, Tian Heng was now like a poisoned dagger, and since he would be even more reliant on him, he would be all the more useful.
He warmed some yellow wine, waiting for Tian Heng's return. All that remained was to have a heart-to-heart talk and properly console his disfigured hound.
“It should be about time for him to have killed them all and returned, shouldn't it?”
“Yes, my lord. However, given that Tian Heng is filled with resentment and fury, I imagine he will torment them in various ways and tear their bodies to shreds before he returns.”
*What a pity. That Shen Lang isn't the one who died.*
As if reading his master's mind, the advisor smiled and said,
“My lord, sometimes living is more painful than dying. Unless one is heartless, people suffer from the mere fact that they could do nothing while their family died tragically. Shen Lang will surely suffer.”
Lord Liu Wuyan wanted to laugh out loud, but worried it would compromise his dignity, he restrained himself and simply smiled serenely.
“To think I considered a petty scoundrel like Shen Lang a major adversary... it's both laughable and sad. It seems my inner wisdom has lost its way recently. This is why one must read. Reading calms the mind and brings clarity.”
“Your words are wise, my lord. Only someone like the Count of Xuanwu is worthy of being your adversary. Shen Lang is merely a hound. No matter how painfully he bites, he is still just a dog. Once his master is gone, he can easily be beaten to death or boiled in a pot.”
“A scholar must have an elegant character. A nouveau riche scoundrel from a dirt-poor background like Shen Lang doesn't even belong on this stage. Such a vulgar and unsightly creature, using crass language. Simply being in the same room with him was a disgrace.”
After speaking, he began to read, pushing the matter of Shen Lang from his mind. Just then, a servant's voice came from outside.
“My lord, someone has sent a box. They said it's from the former gang leader, to report that the job is done.”
“Bring it in.”
A warrior brought in the box, the top of which was sealed with a paper strip.
“Tear it and open it!”
After giving the order, the lord took a few steps back.
*What if it's a poison dart or something?*
When the seal was torn and the box opened, inside lay a gruesome, blood-soaked human head. It was a face all too familiar to Lord Liu Wuyan—to be precise, it was the disfigured Tian Heng. In that instant, Lord Liu Wuyan's mind went blank, and his limbs grew cold. Then, an urgent voice cried out from outside.
His trusted servant rushed in, shouting,
“Master, it's a disaster, a disaster! All the gold at White Snow Villa has been stolen!”
At that moment, Liu Wuyan felt as if he'd been struck by lightning, unable to react for a long time. That was practically his entire fortune. It was money he needed to live on until he died, as well as money to bribe his superiors.
How long had it taken to amass it? He had been an official for a long time, but he hadn't started embezzling that long ago. Was it easy? That money was the price of his conscience.
“They left a note when they robbed your secret vault, my lord.”
Lord Liu Wuyan took it and saw a few crookedly written words on the paper.
“Shen Lang did not steal the gold!”
Lord Liu Wuyan's face twitched once. No, twice, three times. Then, he roared fiercely,
“Shen Lang, you son of a bitch... *Cough!*”
The lord collapsed to the floor, spitting out a cough mixed with blood.
* * *
“My lady, you have to hold me steady. Don't you dare let me fall.”
Shen Lang was performing a sacred task. Standing on a chair, he was using a brush dipped in crimson ink to cross out Tian Heng's name with an X. The chair was less than fifty centimeters high, yet Mulan was holding it with both hands from below, worried her husband might fall.
“Another one of my enemies has fallen. And yet, I haven't even used thirty percent of my strength! Life is truly a lonely affair.”
A subtle twitch crossed Mulan's beautiful face. Shen Lang looked at the remaining names on the wall.
Xu Qianqian, Xu Guangyun, Lin Mo, Zhang Jin.
With a brush dipped in black ink, he wrote Liu Wuyan's name on the wall. Liu Wuyan had played a key role in the recent plot to harm him. He couldn't rest easy without adding him to his list of enemies.
“Hmph, you shun the path to heaven and instead break down the gates of hell to enter.”
After saying this, Shen Lang felt the line was quite familiar. Then he remembered. It was what Tian Heng had said last night.
“Ptooey, ptooey... I take it back.”
Shen Lang spat twice, retracting his thought. It seemed all villains used the same catchphrases.
Mulan no longer felt like holding the chair for him.
“My lady, I'm going to jump down, so you have to catch me. What if I fall from this height and get hurt?”
Mulan turned as if to walk away. Despite jumping from a chair barely fifty centimeters high, Shen Lang managed to fall backward. Mulan wanted to see her husband take a proper tumble, but in the end, her heart softened, and she lightly steadied his waist. With Jin Mulan's help, he landed on his feet, but he was disappointed that the scene he'd imagined—falling into his wife's arms—didn't play out.
* * *
He could no longer let his parents stay in Maple Leaf Village, where their safety was not guaranteed. Therefore, Shen Lang urged his parents to move closer to the Count's Estate.
His younger brother, Shen Jian, was thrilled, but his parents, who usually agreed to whatever Shen Lang said, strangely refused to move this time. They felt that while it was natural for their son, a live-in son-in-law, to live in another's house, it would be shameless for his parents to move in as well.
The previous night, Shen Lang hadn't properly explained Tian Heng's assassination attempt, instead using another excuse to move his parents and brother to a safe place temporarily. Unaware of the real danger, his parents had refused his suggestion. Shen Lang couldn't just tell them outright that he had many enemies and they needed to move for their own safety.
Seeing this, Mulan had no choice but to step in.
“Mother, my husband is so filial that he wants to visit you almost every day. But this place is too far from the Count's Estate. It takes him more than half a day just to travel back and forth. My husband has plenty of money, so if you're uncomfortable living inside the estate, we can build a new house for you just outside.
Besides, Mother, you are so skilled at embroidery and weaving. I'm not very good at it, and neither is my own mother. If you move closer, it would be wonderful for me to learn from you when I need to make clothes for my husband later on.”
Mulan's few words melted even Shen Lang's heart.
*But my lady, you've never spoken to me so gently.*
Shen Lang's mother couldn't resist Mulan's gentle persuasion and finally agreed to the move.
The family of three moved from Maple Leaf Village to a place a moderate distance from the Count's Estate. It was located within a manor belonging to the estate's fiefdom, a very safe area regularly patrolled by the estate's cavalry. For now, they decided to stay in a vacant house there while a new one was being built.
* * *
After the move, Shen Lang and Mulan had a meal with his parents at their new home before returning to the Count's Estate. Shen Lang was overflowing with love for Mulan; not only was his wife adorable and discerning, but she was also noble, beautiful, and a master of martial arts, and on top of all that, she treated his parents with such kindness.
Shen Lang could no longer hold back and wanted to advance his relationship with Mulan, but a single question she casually asked sent him into emergency combat mode, instantly snapping him to attention.
“Husband, my blue cotton skirt and undergarments are missing. Have you seen them?”
Shen Lang's neck went ramrod straight. Danger! Danger! Combat situation imminent. In a crisis like this, what choice should he make?
A: Lie. “I haven't seen them.”
B: Answer honestly. “I have. I stole them.”
Shen Lang quickly made his decision. A man shouldn't waste a lie on something so trivial and insignificant, saving them for moments when he absolutely has to lie. So, Shen Lang chose B.
“I... I have. I stole them.”
Mulan was pleased and relieved that Shen Lang hadn't lied.
“What did you take them for, husband? In a few days, it will be time to harvest the silkworms in the fief. I need to wear that cotton skirt when I go to pick mulberry leaves.”
Shen Lang once again found himself at a crossroads.
A: My affection for you grew so overwhelming that I couldn't bear it, so I took your skirt and did something unspeakable with it. Afterward, I burned it because I was afraid you would find out.
B: I took it and wore it.
In life, there are many situations that seem to offer a choice but actually don't. Choosing the first option would lead to a very miserable death; choosing the second would lead to an even more miserable death.
If death awaited him regardless of his choice, he decided he might as well pick the one he could at least explain. In the end, Shen Lang chose the former.
“My lady... I'm sorry. One night, I was tossing and turning, unable to sleep. My mind was filled with thoughts of you, and I couldn't stop myself. I stole your skirt and did... something I can't speak of. Afterward, I was filled with regret and worry... so I burned your skirt.”
After finishing, Shen Lang closed his eyes and muttered to himself.
“I'm a dead man.”
*I'm going to die a horrible death. How embarrassing, how shameful! Wait, if I'm going to die, I should at least die like a man.*
Shen Lang's eyes suddenly flew open, and he said, feigning bravado,
“Jin Mulan, I've done something despicable. Do with me as you will, kill me or spare me. If I so much as frown, I'm not worthy of being your husband. Go on, Jin Mulan. Torment me in any way you see fit!”
Mulan was dumbfounded.
*Husband, how can you be so shameless as to speak so boldly after doing such a thing?*
Mulan shot Shen Lang a sharp glare, then said with a serious expression,
“Husband, you could have just washed it. Why did you burn the clothes? I still needed to wear them. Wastefulness is forbidden in our Count's Estate.”
Then, she placed a bottle of medicine in front of Shen Lang and promptly left the room. As she walked out the door, she said quietly,
“Husband, your health is most important. You must exercise restraint.”
Shen Lang looked up at the medicine bottle. It was a Six-Flavor Rehmannia Pill, prepared by Physician An Zaishi. A tonic for nourishing the kidneys.