Chapter 48: The Dilemma of the Young Lady

  Xia Chen raised his head and saw a blue-shirted girl walking towards him with a sullen face.

  This girl is about two years older than Li Qiu Tong, the two girls look quite alike, but she looks much more mature, a pair of autumn water pupils with a cold expression, eyebrows are light and elegant, slightly made up, has a unique cold and beautiful charm.

  "Sister, I'm fine, and I've even brought a friend back with me, someone I met on the way!" Li Qiu Tong said with a smile.

  She turned around and greeted: "Xiao Chenzi, come quickly, this is my sister, her name is Li Yatong, how about it, isn't she pretty?"

  "Summer dust slightly clenched his fist: 'I am Xia Chen, nice to meet you, young lady!'"

  "Who's this?" Li Yatong glanced at Xia Chen indifferently, furrowing her brow. "This is a critical moment, how can you bring someone with unknown origins into our home? What if he's a Yang family spy?"

  Li Qitong pouted: "Sister, Xiao Chenzi is not a spy, he's an outsider who practices scattered cultivation. He happened to pass by Fenglin City and was bullied by the Yang family's housekeeper. I helped him out of trouble and brought him back!"

  She didn't mention Xia Chen killing Yang Quan and others, which was what they had discussed on the way.

  "An outsider practicing alone? How coincidental that you ran into my sister, and on top of that, got bullied by the Yang family's housekeeper?" Li Yatong raised an eyebrow, eyeing Xia Chen coldly. "Are you trying to pull a fast one on me? Who are you, really? What do you want with the Li family?"

  As she spoke, a sudden burst of murderous aura flashed across her pretty face.

  "Since the young lady doesn't believe me, I'll just leave then," Xia Chen said lightly and walked out of the door without any hesitation.

  Li Yatong was taken aback, she had just intentionally intimidated him, if Xia Chen was indeed a spy, he would definitely try every means to explain himself, and it was inevitable that he would reveal loopholes in his language, but unexpectedly this young man was so arrogant, without saying a word, he simply walked away.

  "Hey, Xiaocheng, don't go!" Li Qitong suddenly became anxious and blocked Xiaocheng's path, saying loudly, "Sister, are you being reasonable? You're accusing people for no reason. Are you allowing them to find a matchmaker but not me?"

  Li Ya Tong said lightly: "Qī Tóng, you're too young and your eyes aren't sharp enough, it's easy for people with ulterior motives to take advantage of you. I'm doing this for your own good. Even if he isn't a spy, someone who leaves so easily is just a rootless weed, completely unreliable. Moreover, you said earlier that you helped him out of trouble and rescued him from the Yang family's house guard. He can't even compare to a single house guard, what use is it for our Li family to raise such a guest? Is he here to freeload?"

  "Sister, you're going too far!" Li Qiu Tong said indignantly. "I don't care, I want Xiao Chenzi to be my guest, if you disagree, I'll go find Father!"

  She pulled Xia Chen up and walked towards the hall.

  Li Ya Tong's face changed: "Qī Tóng, don't be so willful, okay?"

  Three people walked into the hall, one after another, and saw a middle-aged man with a ruddy complexion sitting in the center of the hall, looking very worried.

  When he saw Li Qitong coming in, the middle-aged man's face showed surprise: "Qitong, you're back! Dad was really worried about you, and from now on, don't run around everywhere again!"

  Li Qitian ran over to the middle-aged man, leaning against him and said pitifully: "Dad, sister bullied me. I finally found a friend from outside who is willing to be my guest, but she says that person is a spy and wants to drive away the person I found. Dad, can you let me keep Xiaochenzong here?"

  "Guest? Xiaozhen?" The middle-aged man was taken aback, looked at Xia Chen again, and then looked at Li Yatong, "Yatong, what's going on?"

  Li Yatong glared at her sister: "Dad, this person's background is unknown, we can't keep him." Then she recounted what had just happened.

  A middle-aged man laughed: "What's the big deal? Yatou, don't be so nervous either. The Yang family's spies aren't that easy to sneak in. Since Qitong likes it, let's take this little friend as a guest of our Li family. We're not short of food anyway."

  Li Qitong was overjoyed, made a face at Li Yatong and smiled: "I knew it, Father is the best! Xiaochenz, Father has agreed to let you stay, don't you hurry up and pay respects to Master!"

  It seems that this is Li Donggui. Looking at the person, he doesn't seem to be bad. He slightly cupped his fists: "I am Xia Chen, I have met the master of the Li family."

  His expression was bland, with only a slight bow, and although he spoke politely, it was just ordinary courtesy without any respect or fear.

  Li Yatong was stopped by her father and scolded, "You dare to be so presumptuous! My father has already shown great kindness in agreeing to take you in. You don't even kneel down to thank him, what a lack of manners!"

  Xia Chen didn't even glance at her, as if he hadn't heard.

  "You!" Li Yatong's face turned bright red with anger. As the eldest daughter of the Li family, she was like a princess in Fenglin City, wherever she went, people would fawn over her. Yet, this ordinary young man had directly ignored her, and the anger in her heart was unbearable.

  Li Dongkui was also stunned, but seeing Xia Chen's calm and composed demeanor, he couldn't help but secretly admire him, thinking that this young man seemed ordinary, yet unlike others who fawned and flattered, truly rare.

  Then smiled and said: "No harm, little friend alone in the city of Fenglin, courage beyond ordinary people! Qi Tong, you take Xiaochenz down, he is the one you found, from now on just listen to you, what do you think!"

  He heard Li Qitong call Xia Chen "Xiao Chenzu", and he also followed suit.

  Summer dust is speechless, I thought to myself that I have somehow managed to get entangled with this imperial concubine.

  Li Qitong was overjoyed and hugged Li Dongkui's neck, kissing him on the face: "Dad, you're so great!"

  She let go of Li Dongkui and grabbed Xia Chen's arm again, looking at Li Yatong with a pleased expression: "Xiao Chenzi, let's go! I'll arrange a place for you to stay. What kind of room do you want?"

  As they spoke, the two walked shoulder to shoulder towards the door.

  Li Ya Tong said in annoyance: "Dad, you're spoiling Qi Tong too much. When will she ever grow up?"

  Li Donggui smiled slightly: "She's still young, when she grows up a bit more, she'll naturally understand! Yatong, you shouldn't always be so worried either, it's tiring. Some things are better left to take their natural course."

  Li Ya Tong was about to speak when suddenly, a servant rushed in: "Master, young miss, big news! Yang's second son Yang Quan, as well as the gatekeeper Xu He and Xu Bing, and several servants were all killed by someone. The Yang family is now collecting the bodies and posting notices everywhere to search for the murderer!"

  "What? Yang Quan was killed by someone?" Li Dongkui and Li Yatong were shocked.

  "What's going on? Tell me clearly." Li Dongkui's face was solemn.

  Xia Chen and Li Qiu Tong exchanged a glance, standing at the door, didn't expect things to spread so quickly.

  "That's what Ding said: 'Master, I don't know the specific details either, but I heard that Yang Quan brought two gatekeepers and several house servants, seemingly looking for trouble with someone. As a result, they found him dead in front of a quiet alley, not far from our Li family. Now this matter has been blown out of proportion.'"

  "How did he die?" Li Yatong asked.

  "He was beaten to death with a large amount of silver, and before the Yang family collected his body, many people were still scrambling for the silver there." The servant said, with an incredulous look on his face.

  It's probably unthinkable for anyone who sees someone being beaten to death with silver.

  Li Dongkui and his daughter looked at each other in surprise, both seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes. Using silver to kill someone was truly a rare and bizarre method.

  "What was the reaction of Yang's family?" Li Dongkui suddenly lowered his eyes and asked.

  "That household's butler shook his head and said, 'There was no reaction, they just took away the corpses. Additionally, some of their servants were posting notices, offering a reward for capturing the murderer.'"

  "Alright, I understand, you can go now." Li Donggui said.

  That family Ding bowed and then left.

  "Dad, what great news! The Yang family was just about to make a move on us, but they suffered a setback instead." Li Yatong's face lit up with excitement. "That Yang Quan is a thoroughly despicable person, relying on the power of the Yang family to bully and tyrannize others. His underlings aren't any better either - it serves them right that they're dead!"

  Li Dongkui didn't speak, but instead fell into deep thought for a moment before suddenly saying: "Yatong, immediately order the gate guards and house servants to make preparations. From now on, we will patrol day and night, expanding our vigilance range. Every incense stick time, send someone to scout out the Yang family's movements and be prepared to fight at any moment."

  Li Yatong was taken aback: "Dad, why are you so tense? It's not like we killed Yang Quan. Even if the Yang family comes to our door, we won't be in the wrong."

  Li Dongkui shook his head and said, "It has nothing to do with whether there is evidence or not. The question is who would have the guts and the ability to kill Yang Quan in Fenglin City. If you were a member of the Yang family, what would you think?"

  Li Yatong's eyes widened in surprise and she exclaimed: "Could it be that the Yang family thinks it was our Li family who did it?"

  "Not bad!" Li Donggui nodded, "With the ability to take down Yang Quan, in Fenglin City, there are only our Li family, Yang family, Yu family, and your fiancé Qin Luo's Qin family. So, it's not necessary to have any evidence at all. Everyone will think it was us who did it. Now, the Yang family and Yu family have formed an alliance, threatening us to hand over the treasure key. However, due to the relationship between our families and the Qin family, they haven't torn their faces yet. But even so, the situation is tense. At this time, if Yang Quan were suddenly killed, the Yang family would definitely point their spearhead at us and might even immediately launch a war. So, we must respond with all our strength."

  Xia Chen couldn't help but take a surprised glance at Li Dongkui, unexpectedly finding that this family head who had only achieved third-grade cultivation in the mortal realm was quite shrewd, far surpassing some of the third-grade disciples of the Zhengxuan Sect.

  "Dad, could it be that someone is intentionally framing us?" Li Yatong thought deeply, "It's just to provoke a big fight between the Yang family and our Li family, so they can reap the benefits from both sides."

  "It's unnecessary." Li Dongkui said without thinking, "The Yang family was going to fight us for the treasure key anyway, so what's the point of provoking them? The Yu and Qin families are also allies with both the Yangs and us, who else can benefit from this? I think it's just that Yang Quan is arrogant and provoked someone he shouldn't have, resulting in his own demise. But he's just a small fry, not important."

  He spoke briefly and got close to the truth of the matter.

  "Then I'll go and arrange it now." Li Yatong said.