Chapter 197 - 105: My Filial Piety, Supercharged

Chapter 197: Chapter 105: My Filial Piety, Supercharged

"It wasn’t me!"

"I didn’t do it!"

"Don’t talk nonsense!"

Zhao Ci flatly denied it, his voice tinged with anger. "It’s one thing for them not to trust me, but you too? The officials from the Imperial Clan Court just came down to investigate. Only the people who fought Yang Mo were poisoned. The ones with diarrhea weren’t."

What kind of person do you take me for?

In your eyes, am I, Zhao Ci, nothing but a petty, conniving scoundrel?"

By the time he finished, he even sounded somewhat wronged.

His words made Zhu Li feel a little guilty. She shrank back and said, "I-I didn’t! I just feel that I’m not weak, so I wanted to win with a bit more glory. I wasn’t talking about you..."

Zhao Ci thundered, "They’re the ones who couldn’t handle it! They ate something they shouldn’t have, got diarrhea, and lost. How does that make your win dishonorable? You’re the Chief Mansion Official of our Tenth Prince’s Mansion! If you’re dishonorable, doesn’t that make the entire Tenth Prince’s Mansion dishonorable?"

I’m truly baffled. I, Zhao Ci, have lived my life upright and honorably. How did I get dragged into such a filthy accusation out of thin air?

The Imperial Clan Court didn’t even find me guilty.

But I’ve been condemned by my own Chief Mansion Official."

Zhu Li was so ashamed she didn’t know where to look. She tugged on Zhao Ci’s sleeve and, in a rare show of submission, yielded. "I was wrong! Please forgive me, boss..."

Only then did Zhao Ci nod. "Fine. For the sake of all your hard work and great contributions, I’ll forgive you."

He chuckled to himself.

’Good thing I have the On-Spot Relief Charm. Otherwise, there’s no way Zhu Li could have won seven out of nine matches.’

’Plus, the "fire" I started left them with no fight in them at all, which even created opportunities for Feng Kucha and Yang Mo. Add in the Money-Eyed Talismans I threw in from time to time, and they managed to snatch three points.’

The Mansion Officials from those two heirs’ mansions obviously felt something was wrong and strongly demanded that an official from the Imperial Clan Court come and investigate.

But they didn’t find a single damn thing.

’No evidence.’

’Means I didn’t play dirty.’

’How could I, Zhao Ci, pure and noble as I am, ever do something so shameless?’

’Only... the results of all this don’t seem to be ideal.’

The Tenth Prince’s Mansion had already fought most of its winnable matches. All that remained were a few "gimme" matches for Zhu Li and himself. By the end, they would have sixty-eight points, at the very most.

The unaffiliated disciples from the great clans had seven or eight points at most, and they were scrambling to apply for the last spot in the Tenth Prince’s Mansion’s Prefecture Examination team.

But Zhao Ci had no intention of promising them anything. Even if one of them joined, their total would only be seventy-four points.

And yet, even that score was enough to temporarily place them third among the seven mansions.

Almost all the other points were concentrated in the Ninth Prince’s Mansion and Prince Ying’s Mansion.

Prince Lie’s Mansion was lagging a bit far behind with only sixty-seven points. It seemed they had an agreement with Prince Ying’s Mansion and the Ninth Prince’s Mansion; the three parties hadn’t fought each other at all, and all their mutual matches were scheduled for the last day before the Prefecture Examination.

In other words, they still had fifty matches left to fight.

As long as they won just eight of those fifty matches, it would completely extinguish any hope for his side.

’Even if the other two mansions are strong, they can’t possibly prevent them from winning at least eight matches, right...?’

His only chance was if some super-strong, unaffiliated person from a Merit Clan showed up with a huge pile of points and offered to be his Mansion Official.

’But...’

’Is that even possible?’

Zhao Ci was getting a headache. ’Maybe... I should ask little auntie to possess someone?’

’No!’

’That would be out of character.’

’Because of the Heaven-Suspended Spider Silk, it would leave an opening for her. Not worth it.’

’Besides, that method really is a bit dark.’

’My moral compass might be below average, but even I have a psychological barrier against doing something like that.’

"Brother Ci, it’s my fault!"

Yang Mo’s expression was downcast.

Zhao Ci curled his lip. "How many times have I told you? Don’t beat yourself up over things you can’t do! I think you’ve been doing great lately. At least you dare to make a move now. As long as you can overcome that subconscious urge to curl up and take a beating, you’ll have a bright future."

"Yeah!"

Yang Mo nodded, adding silently in his heart: ’Thank you!’

In his entire life, Zhao Ci was truly the first person to ever look out for him.

Unlike his parents at home, who only ever forced him to do things they thought were right.

With Zhao Ci around, he at least dared to swing his sword for the first time.

His heart was filled with nothing but gratitude.

He had already made a firm resolution in his heart: as long as Zhao Ci never wronged him, he would go through fire and water for him.

Even if Zhao Ci did.

He would first repay his debt of gratitude before becoming his enemy.

Zhao Ci patted his shoulder. "You’ve done everything you can. Go home and get some rest. After Zhu Li finishes her last two gimme matches, all that will be left are the matches for the ’Upper Three Mansions.’ No matter who wins or loses between them, there’s always some benefit to watching."

"Okay!"

Just then, the carriage arrived at the Yang Family Medicine Shop. Yang Mo nodded to the others and prepared to jump down.

Zhao Ci called out to him, "Lao Mo! Why don’t you move into my mansion from now on? This home is just a restraint for you!"

"A restraint..."

Yang Mo fell silent for a moment, a bitter smile touching his lips. "You can escape physical restraints, but can you escape spiritual ones? I don’t think restraints are something to be escaped."

With that, he jumped down from the carriage without a backward glance.

Zhu Li watched him leave, wrinkling her nose.

Zhao Ci ruffled her hair, which was tied in a bun. "You two will be working together for a long time. Don’t be so hostile toward him!"

"Don’t look down on me!"

Zhu Li swatted his hand away, displeased. "I’m not hostile toward him! I just feel like his personality is a little weird. I can tell he’s not a bad person, but being around him always gives me the creeps."

Feng Kucha said dismissively, "He’s just a quiet one. He’ll be fine once you get to know him."

...

「The back courtyard of the Yang Family Medicine Shop.」

"How many matches did you win in the last two days?"

"Two."

"Oh? How did you win? Did you use the method I told you?"

"No..."

CRACK!