Who in the world does not know you?

Chapter 23 Everyone Knows

Ning Qi had the utmost respect for the person known as the number one in the martial arts world, so these words from others were really grating to him.

Not to mention that the person who said such a thing was none other than Ye Zi, whom he had just bought from the Rouge Pavilion for twenty taels of silver to be a maid in Yun Luobai's household.

After Ye Zi finished speaking, she put down her chopsticks, clearly having eaten and drunk her fill.

She noticed Ning Qi's cold, frowning expression as he looked at her, but she didn't take it to heart.

"I'm telling the truth, aren't I?"

She blinked at Ning Qi, who naturally wanted to refute her, but didn't know what to say, because what Ye Zi said was the truth.

Everyone knows that twenty years ago, Li Zigui went to the capital alone to protect his beloved. The price of his earth-shattering battle was the loss of all his martial arts skills. From then on, the invincible figure of the Sword Master of the World became a legend in the martial arts world.

For twenty years, Li Zigui rarely ventured into the martial arts world, and because he had lost all his martial arts skills, people around the world could no longer witness his martial arts prowess.

"How...how do you know that Li Zigui has truly lost all his martial arts skills?"

"It is known to everyone under heaven."

"You! Second brother, give me that indenture. I want to send her back to the Rouge Pavilion!"

"oh."

Yun Luobai reached into his robes and took out the indenture that Ning Qi had given him earlier, handing it to him. Ning Qi gritted his teeth upon seeing this, but did not reach out to take it.

"Second brother, you should be telling me not to be angry at a time like this..."

"Brother, don't be angry. You can just take her back to Rouge Pavilion later."

"..."

"Hahaha, this is interesting, this is really interesting..."

Seeing this, Qingchuan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

It was precisely because his laughter eased the somewhat awkward atmosphere that Ning Qi, even though he disliked what Ye Zi said, did not push this delicate woman into the fire pit again.

Ye Zi heard Ning Qi's threatening words and saw that he did not reach out to take the contract of servitude from Yun Luobai's hand. While thinking to herself that this guy was really a good person, she smiled slightly and gave Ning Qi a way out again.

"Even though Li Zigui has long since left the martial world, he would surely be very happy if he knew that Ningzhou Prefecture still had such a devoted follower as Constable Ning."

"Alas, if one day I could meet Master Li, and he saw that I had extraordinary bones and was no ordinary person, and in his joy he would pass on his peerless internal skill, Ten Miles of Gentle Breeze, to me, wouldn't I be...?"

Ning Qi stroked his beard with his palm, looking up, clearly immersed in his chivalrous journey through the martial world after mastering his martial arts.

"Dreaming again in broad daylight."

Qingchuan's evaluation quickly pulled Ning Qi back to reality from his distant thoughts. He coughed twice, stood up, touched the scabbard at his waist, and remembered that as a constable of the yamen, he still had important matters to attend to.

"Alright, I need to rush back to the yamen to tell my father about the second son's deduction. Then we'll send people to investigate separately, based on the second son's account. Third son, what are you going to do next?"

"Go home and get some sleep. Organizing a funeral is exhausting for your voice; I'm all tired from crying. I need to go home and catch up on some sleep."

"Alright, second brother, you should take Yezi back to familiarize yourself with the house. With her around, you'll have someone to take care of your daily needs, and I can rest assured."

"Brother, here's the silver you got for that indenture."

As Yun Luobai spoke, he took out a silver note from his pocket and placed it in front of Ning Qi.

Ning Qi looked bewildered, glancing at Yun Luobai and then at the silver note, momentarily puzzled.

"If you have money, why didn't you take it out earlier? Why did you make my bunch of clerks in the government scrape together money?"

"It was you who wanted to buy her, not me. You insisted on getting involved, and now you've brought this trouble upon yourself. I'm returning this twenty taels of silver to you; you can then distribute it to the constables who contributed the money, to avoid a bad reputation. Now that I've given you the silver, she's under my control from now on."

"If that's what you want to say, then so be it."

Ning Qi chuckled as he put away the silver notes. Just as he was about to leave, he looked at the plate of leftover braised beef tripe on the table and couldn't help but feel it was a waste.

"Waiter, get a food box ready. Pack this plate of spicy beef tripe in chili oil for my brother to take home and eat!"

"Alright, sir!"

The waiter, who was waiting to serve, responded enthusiastically and then quickly ran downstairs.

"Why pretend it's leftovers? Just have the kitchen make a fresh plate to take home."

"What do you, the eldest son of a general's mansion, know about the hardships of ordinary people? The second son is always frugal; do you think he's like you?"

"Yes, yes, yes."

The conversation at the dinner table reached the ears of those around them. When they saw Ning Qi pointing his finger at Qing Chuan and scolding him, the other diners found it all very interesting.

Looking across the entire Ningzhou Prefecture, apart from Qingchuan's father, who is the esteemed General Yunque, the only person who would dare to speak to this young master of the General's Mansion like this is probably Ning Qi.

As the four parted ways at the entrance of the Red Drum Restaurant, Yun Luobai looked at the brown food box in his hand, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

"I'll be leaving now, brother. Let's get together again after the case is solved, and I'll treat you then."

"Forget it, with your meager monthly salary, how many times can you afford to eat lavish meals at the Honggu Restaurant? I have plenty of money; why would I need you?"

Qingchuan's words sounded impolite, but Ning Qi understood his third brother and didn't argue with him. He just grinned and straightened his body to look ahead.

"Regardless of social status, one should strive to have a clear conscience."

Ning Qi and Qing Chuan went down two opposite paths, while Yun Luo Bai and Ye Zi remained standing still.

"Young Master Yun, aren't we going home?"

"I have to go home, but..."

Yun Luobai looked down at the food box in her hand, then looked up at Ye Zi beside her.

"Okay, okay, I'll hold it for you."

Ye Zi reluctantly reached out and took the food box from Yun Luobai's hand. The latter's face twitched, feeling that Ning Qi was just making trouble for him.

"Alright, let's go home."

As Yun Luobai spoke, he began to walk, with Ye Zi following beside him. Because of her limp, her gait looked somewhat strange.

Yun Luobai didn't walk fast, clearly accommodating the leaves beside her.

He didn't say it, but Ye Zi knew it perfectly well.

It was just past noon, and the sunlight overhead was dazzling.

"Young Master Yun, there's something I've been wondering about."

"What is it?"

"I just heard you say that Young Master Qing is still holding a grand funeral for Mu Li at the General's Mansion. Given his status, if he were truly in love with Mu Li, it would be easy for him to redeem her from her servitude, and I doubt that Liu Niang in the Rouge Pavilion would dare to say anything. But Mu Li remained in the Rouge Pavilion until her death... Could it be because Young Master Qing fears his father's power that he is doing this..."

"The fact that he dared to hold a funeral for a courtesan in the general's mansion is enough to show that he is not afraid of his father, who is General Yun Que. So the reason why he did not redeem Mu Li is very simple."

Carrying the food box, Ye Zi tilted her head and looked up at Yun Luobai beside her. The latter was dressed in a blue robe, which was elegant and dignified, and it matched Ye Zi's thin green clothes quite well.

"What's the reason?"

"He doesn't like Mu Li at all."