Trustworthy Cripple

Chapter 203 The Trustworthy Cripple

Qin Mu frowned slightly when he heard the news and glanced at the Imperial Master Yankang beside him. Imperial Master Yankang showed a look of grief and said, "I will go to the Zhenbei Palace to express my condolences."

Qin Mu whispered: "National Master, why did the King of Zhenbei rebel?"

"He is not against the emperor, he is against me for the sake of his Ling family's kingdom."

Yankang Imperial Master said softly, "My power is too great. It makes him uneasy and he thinks I will definitely overthrow the rule of the Ling Family. You are right. I should start a family. I should keep the principles of heaven in mind and also the desires of man."

Qin Mu looked strange.

A man like Yankang Imperial Master would start a family and establish a career? It was somewhat absurd, but it was going to happen.

"I have to go back to the mansion first and change into some plain clothes. The King of Zhenbei has made great contributions to the country. Although he does not agree with the way I deal with things, he is a man worthy of respect and must be worshipped."

Imperial Master Yankang said goodbye to him, "Once we reach the capital, you won't have to worry about my injury anymore."

Qin Mu nodded. Imperial Master Yankang had been seriously injured in a sneak attack before, but his injuries had long since healed, which meant that he must have a miracle doctor by his side. When he arrived in the capital, there would be no need for Qin Mu to treat his injuries.

When Imperial Master Yankang returned to the Imperial Master's Mansion, he suddenly became alert. He did not go through the main gate, but jumped directly into the mansion. He looked around and saw that all the restrictions and seals in the mansion were still there.

He still did not relax at all and asked in a deep voice: "Fu Lao? Yuan Qing?"

Still no sound was heard. The Imperial Master's Mansion was surprisingly quiet.

Imperial Master Yankang walked inside, and when he arrived at the hall, he saw several servants and guards of the Imperial Master's Mansion were tied up tightly and stacked together like a pile of Arhats.

Master Yankang frowned, and then he saw Fu Yuanqing. The Poison King Fu Yuanqing was stripped naked, tied up, and hung on the ceiling of the hall. His tongue was sticking out, and a golden rope was tied to his tongue. Under the golden rope hung a huge iron weight, and no one knew how heavy it was.

Imperial Master Yankang frowned, and with a flash of sword light on his fingertips, he cut the golden rope and then the rope on his body. Fu Yuanqing fell down, and he was hit hard. Imperial Master Yankang realized that his cultivation was sealed, even the divine treasure in his body was sealed, and he could not use any of his cultivation.

Imperial Master Yankang unsealed him, and unsealed the other servants and guards as well, then asked with a gloomy face, “What’s going on?”

"have no idea."

Fu Yuanqing shook his head and said with shame: "I didn't see anything, but I was sealed, then I was hung up, and my tongue was pulled out without seeing anything, and a big iron pole was hung on it. I couldn't even call for help!"

"Master, is our mansion haunted?"

The servants also looked horrified and said, "I didn't see anything either. Then we were piled up together and couldn't move!"

"Haunted?"

Imperial Master Yankang shook his head and said, "It's not a ghost. It's just that the man was too fast, so fast that you couldn't even see him. I know who he is. He broke into my house just to take back his leg while I was away. If my guess is correct, the storehouse where I keep the treasures should be empty."

He brought everyone to the warehouse, only to see that the seal on the warehouse was still there and had not been moved.

Fu Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Master, you are wrong. The seal is still there. I guess the thief couldn't break your seal, so he didn't touch the things in the warehouse."

Imperial Master Yankang sighed and said, "The phantom is invisible and can steal the day. Why do we need to unlock the seal? He can pass through the seal directly without touching it at all. The storehouse is indeed empty."

No one believed it.

Master Yankang opened the seal and pushed the door open, only to see that the house, which was once filled with various treasures, was now empty and had been cleaned spotlessly.

On the wall opposite the door, there should have been a painting hanging. That painting was a picture of the Sword God carrying a sword painted by the Crown Prince of Tiantu Kingdom. But this painting is nowhere to be seen.

Instead, there was a crooked and ugly calligraphy: "Master, I took my legs, and I accepted the treasures you collected. I took good care of your servants, so don't worry. By the way, I slept in your bed, and after waking up, I even pooped on it. I also made a pot of fragrant tea for you in the study. Our grudges are settled, so you don't need to thank me!"

Imperial Master Yankang's face was gloomy. He hurriedly turned around and went to the bedroom. He lifted the quilt and smelled a foul stench. He quickly covered his nose and waved his hand, saying, "Master Fu, throw it out! Throw it out!"

Mr. Fu quickly wrapped up the quilt and rolled up the mattress, but the whole bed still smelled bad. Mr. Fu asked, "Master, are you going to throw this bed away too?"

“Throw it away!”

Imperial Master Yankang waved his hand and walked quickly to the study. There was a strong smell in the study and the orange liquid in the teapot was obviously not tea.

Imperial Master Yankang rolled up his sleeves and sent the teapot and teacups out of the window. His face turned livid. "Asshole, it's fine if you took your own legs, but you still eat, drink, defecate, urinate and sleep in my house, ruining my peace! Elder Fu, prepare some more tea sets and bedding."

Mr. Fu hesitated for a moment and said, "Master, there is not much money left at home..."

Imperial Master Yankang was slightly startled, and said thoughtfully: "The emperor's reward will not come for a few days. My salary this month is paid every month, but it will not be paid until the beginning of the month. Is this month's salary gone?"

Fu Lao said, "The master took most of his salary with him on this trip. The money left behind was used to send some small gifts to the princes and ministers for their birthdays, and some for the birth of newborns. The Empress Dowager celebrated her birthday a few days ago, and I prepared some gifts, but the palace still thought it was too shabby."

Imperial Master Yankang had a headache and said, "The King of Zhenbei has passed away, and we need to prepare some gifts. Is there really no money left in the family? Is there anything else that can be pawned?"

"this……"

Mr. Fu hesitated and did not answer. Imperial Master Yankang looked around and saw that although the house was not small, there were few pieces of furniture and he could not find many things that could be pawned.

He always believed that playing with things would lead to a loss of ambition, so he lived a simple life and did not have any antiques. The things he collected were often strange and bizarre, such as the magical legs of a lame man and the paintings of the prince of Tiantu Kingdom, but these things were stolen by that thief who came to his house.

"Can I get an advance on my salary?"

Mr. Fu said, "Master, do you not want to save face?"

Imperial Master Yankang hesitated and asked, "Can I borrow some?"

Mr. Fu shook his head and said, "There has been a war recently, and those who are close to the master are all out on the expedition. Besides, the master has borrowed money from them many times, but never paid it back. People will gossip about it. Their boss is not at home. Who would be willing to lend me money if I go to borrow money? Unless the master comes in person."

Master Yankang pondered for a moment and said, "My painting skills are not bad. I can make some paintings and sell them to earn some money."

Mr. Fu said, "Will the master sign his name?"

Imperial Master Yankang shook his head and said, "If you sign my name, then those who buy my paintings are bribing me. If you don't sign my name, then those who buy my paintings are bribing me."

Mr. Fu shook his head and said, "Then the master's paintings cannot be sold."

Imperial Master Yankang was furious: "How do you know you can't sell it? I have collected the paintings of the Crown Prince of Tiantu Kingdom and have copied them countless times. I can't say I can compare with the painting saint, but it's still okay, right?"

"Master, what is the capital city? There are so many famous people, but how many of them can make money from calligraphy and painting? Most of them are starving. How do you think your painting skills compare to theirs?"

Mr. Fu said, "It's the disciples of the master who can lend money to the master."

"Borrowing money from my apprentice? I can't bring myself to do that."

Yankang Imperial Master suddenly thought of Qin Mu and said with a smile, "I know someone who has money. I can borrow it from him. He is very generous and he often buys medicine for me with money. Otherwise, I would have spent all my salary long ago. He is not in the court, so it is not shameful to borrow money from him. I will go and borrow the money, and you wait here."

Qin Mu returned to the scholars' residence of the Imperial Academy. As soon as he walked into the scholars' residence, he smelled the fragrance of spiritual medicine. The fragrance of spiritual medicine seemed to be coming from his own yard, and he couldn't help but wonder.

There are special servants in the Scholars' Residence. Although they are servants, each servant often goes to the palace to listen to lectures, so their cultivation strength is really not weak. Some servants are even stronger than scholars. In the history of the Imperial Academy, there are many servants who have cultivated extraordinary skills and jumped from servants to scholars, and were promoted to become generals in famous towns.

There are servants guarding the scholars' residence, and basically no outsiders can sneak in.

Qin Mu took Long Qilin and Hu Ling'er into his yard, only to see large and small bags of medicinal materials piled up in the yard, as well as medicine furnaces, medicine cauldrons and the like.

Both the medicine cauldron and the medicine furnace are extraordinary, and the patterns imprinted on them are extremely extraordinary. They are obviously precious treasures, and are no less valuable than the treasures Qin Mu looted from the Golden Palace of Loulan!

There was a leg in one of the medicine cauldrons, and an arm in another one.

Qin Mu was slightly startled when he saw the leg and arm, and said to Hu Ling'er and Long Qilin, "Wait outside the yard, don't let anyone enter my house."

Hu Ling'er and Long Qilin stood up and walked out of the yard. Qin Mu looked back and saw that Long Qilin was squeezing the door frame so hard that it creaked. He couldn't help but shake his head and thought, "This guy has gained weight in the past few days. It won't be long before he can break my door. Then I'll have to replace it again."

He pushed open the door of the main room and saw two middle-aged men sitting there. The lame man was well-washed and combed, with shiny hair and a beard tied with a golden rope on his chin. His clothes were also very particular.

Ma Ye sat opposite him, wearing a blue shirt, not as fancy as the cripple's, with one sleeve hanging down empty. He looked a little dusty, probably just arrived not long ago, with gray hair on his temples and messy hair.

When the two saw Qin Mu coming in, the lame man showed a simple smile, and Ma Ye's cold face also showed a smile.

"Master Ma, Grandpa Lame..."

Qin Mu was touched, his eyes reddened: "Are you here to see me?"

"No." said Master Ma.

Qin Mu felt a little pain in his heart. The cripple smiled and said, "You live a much more comfortable life than us. Why do we come to see you? We picked you up. Why would we come all the way here to see you? Don't be so self-indulgent."

Qin Mu said angrily: "Just come to see me!"

The lame man shook his head and said, "I just came here for you to help me reattach my leg. Can you help me see if my leg is still alive?"

"No help."

The cripple said angrily: "Have you grown wings, little brat? We are not here to see you!"

Master Ma coughed and said slowly, "You didn't come to see him, why didn't you take your own legs to find the pharmacist, but came to him? Don't tease him, you're about to cry."

"I'm not about to cry." Qin Mu said with a stiff neck.

"Okay, okay, don't be so angry, I came to see you. I just came back from the Imperial Master's Mansion, where I stayed for a while and took away a few things. Did you see the leg in the stove?"

The old man was very proud: "My leg! I got it back from the Imperial Master's Mansion. The Imperial Master had no way to stop me and watched me take my leg away!"

Qin Mu was silent for a moment, then showed a simple smile: "Grandpa Lame, the Imperial Master and I just came back from another place. Who is the Imperial Master in the Imperial Master's Mansion?"

The lame man stared at him, and Qin Mu did not give in at all, staring back at him. The smiles on their faces were almost equally honest, giving people a sense of trustworthiness. Even if they stabbed someone in the back, they would still feel that they were very trustworthy.

————It’s the third update. More than 9,000 words were completed today. Another busy day!