Chapter Six Intelligence Quotient

  Xī Piān Yuàn is the kitchen of the inner city, where seven or eight men and women are standing in the courtyard. Zhūér is loudly scolding them, while Cǎo calls over a curious child who has come to watch the commotion, asks him a few questions, and understands what's going on.

  Su Tang regained consciousness, and Zhu'er was overjoyed. He specially sent someone to the county town to buy a piece of Wenji's secret recipe venison, which was very famous for its use of snow deer from the black forest as raw material, combined with many precious medicinal materials to create a product that had a great nourishing effect on the body and tasted extremely good. It was deeply loved by the big bosses in the county town, but the price was also outrageously expensive. If Su Tang hadn't just recovered from his illness, Zhu'er wouldn't have been willing to spend money on such a luxury item.

  However, the secret venison had just been put into the cellar in the backyard, and it disappeared in an instant. A servant found a few pieces of bones emitting fragrance in the weeds outside the courtyard, which tasted the same as the secret venison, obviously stolen by someone.

  Zhu Er was furious, when Su Tang fell ill, those who stole and snatched could pretend to be ignorant, not holding past grudges. But now that Su Tang has recovered and the inner city's operation is returning to normal, someone still dares to do such a thing, she absolutely cannot tolerate it!

  Ke'er also got angry upon understanding the reason and kept muttering beside Su Tang.

  Su Tang furrowed his brow, three or four house servants holding wooden sticks stood around, staring at the suspects with a fierce gaze, it seemed that Zhu was going to investigate thoroughly.

  He could understand Zhu's thoughts, on the one hand, he had to vent his anger, and on the other hand, he also wanted to use this matter to reorganize the internal order of life in Nei Bao, to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys.

  It's just that Ke'er was pretending to be fierce earlier, but now Zhu'er is being blindly fierce. Even if she scolds for a whole day, she may not necessarily find the person who stole the food. Moreover, making such a big fuss and then letting it drop would have a bad influence on Zhu'er. On the surface, the servants will be intimidated by Zhu'er, but behind her back, they won't take her seriously, just like when I occasionally overheard the maids talking about Su Tang, each of them seemed very disdainful.

  Why?

  Because he is silly, because he is stupid, because his heart is too soft and easily deceived.

  Not all good intentions are rewarded with corresponding returns; otherwise, the world would be very simple and beautiful.

  Su Tang walked forward with a calm pace, and Zhu Er, who was loudly scolding, only then discovered Su Tang and hastily came to greet him. Her voice also became softer: "Young Master, how did you come?" Zhu Er's eyes had a hint of helplessness because she could anticipate what Su Tang would say: "Aren't you just making a fuss over a piece of dried venison? Why make such a big deal out of it? Forget it, forget it..."

  In the past, when someone made a mistake in the fort, Su Tang didn't know about it and that was fine. But once she found out, she would always come out to plead for them, so the board she held high wouldn't land on its intended target.

  Su Tang's gaze swept over the men and women, and upon seeing Su Tang appear, although their expressions still looked very honest and fearful, their eyes revealed a hint of joy. According to habit, as long as Young Master says a few words, they will be fine, even if Zhu Er's temper is arrogant, she wouldn't dare to hurt Su Young Master's face.

  "And you, come and play a little game with me first. If I'm happy, that's the end of it. Did you hear?"

  "I heard."

  "Yes, sir."

  Those men and women could no longer conceal their joyful expressions, it was indeed the case. The family servants standing around them revealed bitter smiles, looking at Zhu'er one after another. Zhu'er let out a faint sigh, but didn't say anything.

  "Close your eyes and carefully feel the wind blowing past you..." Su Tang said softly: "Do you feel it? Good, slowly open your eyes, look at me, and raise your hands like I am... yes, just like that... a refreshing fragrance is carried on the wind, smelling very good, making you feel comfortable... you will feel your body becoming lighter and lighter..."

  Several men and women, although they did not know what Su Tang was doing, whether it was Yan with ulterior motives or the innocent ones, all followed Su Tang's words very seriously, making Su Tang happy, and they got rid of a big trouble, after all, it was just a small game that could be persisted.

  Su Tang's tone was very gentle, and after about five minutes of linguistic guidance, he found that the eyes of several men and women had become somewhat dazed. He then began the next step: "A cloud like cotton is spinning around your right hand... The cloud is very mischievous and warm... You will feel more and more comfortable, and a little sleepy... Your eyes are slowly opening... Okay, now, those who have eaten deer jerky, like me, slowly put down their right hands..." Su Tang was very careful with his words, avoiding all language that might be stimulating. If he had said "those who secretly ate deer jerky" earlier, it would have been highly likely to arouse suspicion and undo all his previous efforts.

  Su Tang put his hands down, and two other men followed Su Tang's actions, but they didn't know what they were doing, their eyes were confused, and their eyelids slowly drooped.

  Zhu'er silently watched from the side, feeling very wronged in her heart. However, regardless of whether Su Tang's decision was right or wrong, she had to unconditionally execute it. Trying to forcibly change something, not to mention the outcome, would first and foremost betray Su Furen's last words and also betray Su Tang's kindness towards her.

  Finally, Su Tang suddenly changed the subject to those who had eaten venison, Zhu'er was stunned, and immediately raised her head. She found that two men were following Su Tang's example and put down their hands.

  What on earth happened?! She scolded them for half a day, but none of these guys took responsibility and all made excuses. The young master just played some inexplicable game with them and then admitted it?

  In fact, Su Tang's language guidance had no effect on Zhu Er, Ke Er and the onlookers. Closing their eyes, opening them again, raising their hands - all these actions made by those men and women were linguistic switches with underlying meanings, but the onlookers hadn't received the switch, so their subconscious wouldn't follow the guidance naturally.

  So, Zhuer who was isolated outside couldn't understand why those two men would actively plead guilty.

  "It was them who stole the food." Su Tang smiled at Zhu'er: "Zhu'er, it's up to you now." After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked out of the courtyard.

  Zhu'er stared blankly at Su Tang's back, and it took her a long time to react. Her momentum suddenly surged, and she shouted: "Tie them up for me!"

  The long-awaited house slaves rushed up like wolves and tigers, kicking the two men to the ground. They only came to their senses when they were knocked down, struggling and shouting in surprise.

  "Miss Zhu'er, what's going on..."

  "What's wrong? Stop it... I didn't do anything..."

  On the other side, Su Tang had already taken Ke'er out of the yard. Ke'er's eyes were full of little stars as she murmured: "Young Master, you're so amazing..."

  "Just found out?" Su Tang stretched out his hand and pinched Ke'er's little face.

  "But...young master, how did you know it was them?" Ke'er asked.

  "They didn't pass my test." Su Tang said: "It can only be blamed on their low IQ, I reckon it's not even eighty."

  "What's IQ?" Ke'er had never heard of this term before.

  "It's just being smart." Su Tang could only give this dismissive explanation, a serious one would be too much trouble.

  "Master, what's my IQ?" Ke'er started to get curious.

  "What's your IQ?" Su Tang looked at Ke'er with a serious expression, his smile somewhat evil. To be strict, Ke'er was a little beauty, with big eyes, long eyelashes, white skin, and well-developed features. There was only one thing that didn't quite fit Su Tang's aesthetic: Ke'er's lips were too small, to the point where they could be described as "pale rosebud". Su Tang smiled so strangely because he had thought of certain images: "You can only know after testing."

  "Test? Okay!" Ke'er nodded without any doubt.

  Su Tang stretched out a finger and said with a smile: "Hold it in your mouth and then suck it in."

  Where can Ke'er understand Su Tang's evil thoughts? Very obediently holding Su Tang's fingers, sucking hard.

  Su Tang forced a smile, pretending to be disappointed, and slowly pulled out his fingers, shaking his head: "Your IQ... is less than fifty."

  "What's going on?" Ke'er was even more disappointed, and hastily grabbed Su Tang's hand, shouting: "Young master, I didn't use my strength just now, it doesn't count, it doesn't count! Let's test again!"

  This time, Ke'er used all her strength, her cheeks were flushed red, Su Tang couldn't help but laugh in her heart. If it were someone else, she would definitely be very embarrassed... En, she should let Ke'er train early, to become a happy and fortunate young landowner, right?

  "It's no good." Su Tang shook his head again: "This time it didn't even reach thirty."

  "What?" Ke'er opened her mouth, and when she was a child, the lady praised her for being clever and smart. Zhu'er sister also said that she was quick-witted, how could her IQ be less than thirty? Not even comparable to those two rascals, Ke'er felt a little sad.

  A layer of fog veiled Ke'er's eyes, and Su Tang finally smiled: "Haha, teasing you, Ke'er, your IQ is over 200, even higher than mine."

  "Really?" Ke'er immediately turned sorrow into joy, which was just about right.

  Just then, Zhu'er hurried out of the yard and caught up with Su Tang. After all, she had followed him for over a decade and often ran errands inside and outside, so her experience was much broader than Ke'er's. She found that after Master fell ill, he seemed to have changed somewhat.

  "Master, how did you get them to confess earlier? Now they're taking it back," cried Zhu'er.

  "I knew it!" Ke'er said: "It's because their IQ is too low, so they didn't pass Young Master's test."

  "What's IQ?" Zhu'er was taken aback.

  "It's just clever!" Ke'er smiled and said: "Zhu'er sister, do you know what my IQ is?"

  "How much?"

  "I'm over 200! Don't believe me? Ask Young Master!" Ke'er said with a shake of his head and a swing of his body, looking very pleased.

  "How could I not believe? Ke'er is the smartest." Zhu'er said with a somewhat perfunctory tone, then shifted her gaze back to Su Tang. With so many trivial matters to attend to in Xiaolin Fort, she didn't have time to chat idly with Ke'er and wasn't interested in IQ either: "Young Master, they keep calling for grievances, what should we do?"

  "It's easy to handle." Su Tang said lightly: "Tell them, cut open their stomachs and let the truth be revealed. If I wronged them, I can pay with my life. If they have deer jerky in their bellies, then they deserve it." The subconscious cannot fake it, since they followed and put down their right hands, it must be that they stole food, Su Tang was absolutely sure.

  "Ah……" Zhu Er was shocked, staring blankly at Su Tang. Could this be the young master?! Of course, Zhu Er also knew it wasn't possible to take action, as long as she passed on Su Tang's words, those two people would collapse on their own. The problem was, Su Tang's attitude gave her a strange feeling.