To be fair, Madam Ning had always been very good to Lord Ning. Often, just a glance from him was enough for her to know what he needed.
In the past, Lord Ning only thought his wife was considerate. But now, all that remained in him was dread. He had actually been sleeping beside a murderer all these years.
“Madam, don’t worry. I was just startled by a mouse that suddenly appeared in the room. You know I can’t stand those things.”
Lord Ning changed his expression, acting as though he knew nothing at all.
If it were his former self, he would have reported it to the authorities immediately and investigated everything thoroughly until the truth came out.
But he had already been an official for nearly twenty years, and this case was more than twenty years old. There was no way to continue investigating it. Besides, how could an official have a wife who was a murderer?
Moreover, what was the point of revenge if it was carried out by someone else? It was far more satisfying to do it himself.
Over the years, Lord Ning had treated Madam Ning with nothing more than polite respect. If there was any affection, it was there—after all, they had lived together for so long.
But the deceased Kang Yazhi had become a knot in his heart, his eternal “white moonlight” and “cinnabar mole.” In comparison, Madam Ning was at best just a “mosquito’s blood stain.”
Seeing that Lord Ning truly seemed fine, Madam Ning patted her chest and said aggrievedly, “My lord, I had a nightmare just now. My heart still hurts from the fright.”
“Madam, dreams are all false. It’s nothing. Go back to sleep,” Lord Ning said, patting her on the back.
Madam Ning lay back down in satisfaction, completely unaware of the increasingly cold look in Lord Ning’s eyes.
ᕙ(⇀‸↼‵‵)ᕗ
The early autumn morning was slightly chilly. A gentle breeze blew through, and those sleeping under the trees were drenched by the morning dew.
“Xiao Yu, take your father and go find Lord Lu with the mint. I’ll make some porridge for you all—you should be able to eat it when you come back.” Early in the morning, Tian Chunzhu was already busy.
She wanted to make more food while they still had time, in case they ran out once the fleeing famine began.
Since every household already had food sent by others to see them off, and they had also previously divided grain from the Yu family, most families were already cooking breakfast. So making extra food wouldn’t attract attention.
Xiao Yu and her father, Liu Hongyi, went to where Lord Lu was resting.
Then she saw her father chatting and laughing with Lu Youguang, acting as if they were one and the same person.
“Brother Lu, look at the mint we picked yesterday. This is good stuff—just soak it in water, and a sip will cool you down and relieve the heat,” Liu Hongyi said cheerfully, holding out the mint leaves.
Lu Youguang took the leaves and looked at the bright green plant in his hand. He honestly couldn’t see anything special about it.
“Brother Liu, does this really work?” he asked hesitantly.
Liu Hongyi nodded seriously. “It really does. Try it—see if you feel a cool sensation in your mouth.”
Half-believing, Lu Youguang put a leaf into his mouth. Immediately, a strong, icy freshness filled his mouth.
“This… this… it really is cooling,” he muttered.
Then his eyes lit up. “Brother Liu, how much of this mint do you have?”
“Not much, but it should last a few days,” Liu Hongyi said, patting the bulging cloth bag in his hand.
“Good, good, good!” Lu Youguang said excitedly.
He then instructed the officers to notify everyone to boil water and drink mint water before setting off.
Seeing her father chatting so happily with Lu Youguang, Xiao Yu felt like she had nothing to do and idly drew circles on the ground with her foot.
[Beep beep. Detected that the host has recently been slacking off and has not spread the name of the Dragon Overlord. A mandatory mission is now issued—“Dragon Martial Arts.”Please choose a suitable martial art to learn within 48 hours. Reward upon completion: Food Gift Pack ×1. Failure will result in electric shock punishment.]
Huh? A mandatory mission?
Given the current situation, learning martial arts did seem more practical. Her skills were only enough to deal with a few small-time thieves; against real martial artists, she would be finished.
[Host, this mission was not issued by me. The main system detected insufficient Dragon Overlord reputation and automatically assigned it.]
Seeing her host deep in thought, the system quickly explained.
“It’s fine, I’m not blaming you. I do need to learn a martial art anyway,” Xiao Yu replied mentally.
The system let out a small sigh of relief. Even it didn’t know why it had more emotions than a human sometimes.
Xiao Yu looked at the transparent system interface and instructed it to open the shop to search for martial arts manuals.
The system obediently complied, and soon various martial arts manuals appeared:
All of them were extremely tempting, but the prices made her hesitate.
The Acupoint Sealing Hand, Small Phantasmal Skill, and Absorbing Star Technique all cost 1000 points.
As for the Evil-Piercing Sword Manual—it was even more expensive, at 1200 points.
And these were already discounted prices from the system; otherwise, they would cost even more.
[Host, do you like the Evil-Piercing Sword Manual?]
“…Why are you asking that so suddenly?” Xiao Yu asked in confusion.
This was the signature skill of the Eastern Sect Leader. As a child, she had loved the version of Dongfang Bubai played by Brigitte Lin. She had even taken her mother’s needles to imitate it—only to be punished severely with a broom.
[Oh, I happen to have a coupon for the “Evil-Piercing Sword Manual.” It seems I got it from a past lottery draw. I can give it to you if you want.]
The system placed the coupon into Xiao Yu’s inventory.
After checking it, she found it reduced the price by 700 points—which meant she could buy it for only 500 points.
“System, thank you so much! This came at the perfect time!” she said happily.
[Hehe, as long as it helps the host~]
She used the coupon, and her points instantly dropped from 503 to 3.
Her points really didn’t last long. If not for the system’s 500-point compensation, she wouldn’t have been able to complete the mandatory mission at all.
But thankfully, it seemed even fate was helping her. The Evil-Piercing Sword Manual—it was hers.
After Liu Hongyi finished talking with Lu Youguang, he saw his daughter smiling brightly, clearly in a very good mood.
“Girl, what are you so happy about?”
Xiao Yu smiled and whispered, “I didn’t expect you, Dad, to be so impressive—you’ve already become sworn brothers with Lord Lu.”
“Heh, make sure you and your mother praise me more later,” Liu Hongyi whispered back. “Let her see my strengths instead of always focusing on my flaws.”
Looking at her lovestruck father, Xiao Yu sighed helplessly. “Got it. Let’s head back—Mom’s probably waiting for us to eat.”