Chapter 178: Chapter 158: Meeting Huangpu Yue Again
A young woman in a yellow dress stood quietly on the docks, holding a beautiful paper parasol. A gentle sea breeze stirred the hem of her dress, revealing a pair of fair, smooth calves. She gazed at the distant sea, her face filled with joy, and called out to someone behind her, "Ah Da, look! The sea! Isn’t it beautiful!"
Behind the young woman in yellow stood four middle-aged men with deep-set, expressionless eyes. One of them, Ah Da, had a smile on his face, his gaze full of affection as he looked at her.
He walked over and said softly, "Miss, you’ve been standing here for over two hours. The guards over there have already noticed us. If you were a man, I’m afraid they would have come over to question you long ago."
Huangpu Yue smiled radiantly. "It’s not like anyone owns this place. Am I bothering someone just by standing here looking at the sea?"
A wry smile appeared on Ah Da’s face. "Miss, the land we’re standing on belongs to Viscount Ling Xiao."
"Oh, sorry. I forgot." Huangpu Yue raised a delicate hand and gently tapped her forehead with a look of resignation. "The private ownership of land is the root cause of all corruption!"
"..."
The four guards behind her seemed accustomed to their young miss’s strange pronouncements and simply pretended they hadn’t heard. But someone else was unwilling to ignore it. A middle-aged man in rather magnificent clothes, looking like a nobleman, glanced at Huangpu Yue. He noted that the young woman in yellow was quite attractive and seemed to be from a family of status, but her words were a bit too naive.
"Greetings, Miss. What you’ve just said is quite improper. Are you not a noble yourself? How could you say something only a commoner would complain about?"
"I..." Huangpu Yue rolled her eyes. ’Who do you think you are?’ she thought. ’I’ll say whatever I want. What’s it to you?’ However, the man’s manners were elegant and polite. From a nobleman’s perspective, there was nothing wrong with chiding her for saying something that undermined the interests of the nobility. Still, Huangpu Yue felt annoyed.
Just then, she saw a young man walking over from the shore. He wasn’t particularly tall or powerfully built, yet he moved with an exceptionally natural and coordinated grace. Dressed in fitted clothes, he looked sharp and capable.
Huangpu Yue didn’t recognize Ling Xiao, but she found his eyes familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere before. To escape the stuffy nobleman beside her, Huangpu Yue waved at Ling Xiao with a brilliant smile.
"Hello there!"
Ling Xiao was genuinely surprised to see Huangpu Yue. ’What is this woman doing down south?’ he wondered. ’The Huangpu Clan does have some business in Penzes City, but it’s not a large operation. I can’t think of any reason for the great young miss of the Huangpu Family to be here.’
Confirming that she hadn’t recognized him, Ling Xiao felt a little relieved. ’After all, it’s better if fewer people know certain secrets.’ He gave a calm nod and asked, "Do you know me, Miss?"
A smile on her face, Huangpu Yue replied, "Aside from our parents, don’t we all make friends by talking to them first?"
Ling Xiao smiled, discovering another side to this girl, Huangpu Yue. She was quite lively, completely different from the cold severity she displayed at the Adventurer’s Bar or her calm competence at the auction house. ’Which one is her true self?’
Meanwhile, the nobleman was still staring relentlessly at Huangpu Yue, posturing as if he wouldn’t leave until she answered him. People were coming and going on the docks. Some noticed the scene but only cast a curious glance. This place was mostly filled with merchants and laborers; who had the time to care about other people’s business? The real priority was to make one last sum of money before the carnival and have a good new year.
The four men behind Huangpu Yue glared at the nobleman bothering their miss with somewhat unfriendly eyes. They always had a bit of a headache when it came to nobles. A down-on-his-luck one was manageable, but getting entangled with a powerful and influential noble would be a huge problem, even for the Huangpu Clan.
After all, the Huangpu Clan was just a family of wealthy merchants, not part of the privileged class.
Ling Xiao smiled calmly. "May I ask your name, Miss?"
Huangpu Yue gave a charming smile, revealing a set of perfect teeth as neat as a row of shells. "My name is Huangpu Yue. And you?"
"I’m Ling Xiao."
"Huh? You... you’re Ling Xiao?"
Both Huangpu Yue and the nobleman froze for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise at the same time.
Ling Xiao smiled faintly. "Am I famous?"
Huangpu Yue’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. "The Lord of Penzes City. The very ground we stand on is your territory. It would be a bit much to come to a place and not even know who the lord is!"
When the nobleman heard this man was Ling Xiao, he elegantly performed a standard noble’s bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you, esteemed Viscount," he said. "My name is Li Fu. I am a noble from the Memphis Kingdom, holding the rank of Baron. I greatly admire your reputation, my Lord Viscount, and have come all this way specifically to follow you!"
"Er..."
Ling Xiao stared at the middle-aged nobleman, somewhat at a loss for words. ’A noble... a Baron... from Memphis? He ’admires my great name’ and came all this way just to follow me? This... this is too ridiculous, isn’t it?’
Huangpu Yue was far more direct than Ling Xiao. She let out a "PFFT" and burst into laughter, covering her mouth with a small hand, her lively eyes filled with mirth.
Li Fu looked as if he’d been provoked, roaring at Huangpu Yue, "You unreasonable girl! Just now, you spouted words that harm the interests of the nobility. As a nobleman of quality and good breeding, I chose not to lower myself to your level. But why do you mock me while I am speaking? Is there something so funny about this? You have wounded my noble dignity, and I demand that you apologize to me at once!"
The four guards behind Huangpu Yue frowned in unison. She glanced at them before turning back to the nobleman with a cold smile. "First, I am not a noble, so please don’t measure me by noble standards. What I say has absolutely nothing to do with you! Second, why did I laugh at you? Haha, because you’re hilarious! You’re clearly a down-on-your-luck nobleman. Did you think dressing up in fancy clothes would fool everyone? HAHAHAHA!"
As Huangpu Yue laughed, the middle-aged nobleman’s face turned beet red with embarrassment. He shouted at her, "You’ve gone too far! Even if I have fallen on hard times, noble blood still flows through my veins! I... I am still more noble than commoners like you!"
Looking at the righteously indignant nobleman, Huangpu Yue’s expression was a mixture of contempt and pity. She said coolly, "A nobleman who can’t even fill his own stomach? Hmph. A starving nobleman is worth less than a commoner with a full belly!"
"You... you!" The nobleman was so angry his eyes bulged. But when he saw the four glowering guards behind Huangpu Yue, his bravado deflated. He said hatefully, "I will not stoop to arguing with a woman!"
Huangpu Yue smiled serenely, then turned to Ling Xiao. "My Lord, your fame has spread far and wide. It’s quite impressive that people even in neighboring kingdoms have heard of you!"
Ling Xiao chuckled. ’What a pointless argument,’ he thought. This middle-aged nobleman, Mr. Li Fu, seemed to be a very stubborn person. Still, he said he wanted to follow him. ’Could it be true, just as Huangpu Yue said? Is he really a nobleman who has fallen on hard times?’
In any case, tomorrow was the Lanyue Empire’s grandest carnival. Besides, although Mo Qing had already been appointed City Lord of Penzes City, they were still short-staffed overall. Ling Xiao decided to see what he could do. This middle-aged noble might be stubborn, but he spoke in a very orderly manner. Perhaps he could be given a minor official position in the city. Aside from Mo Qing, this was the first nobleman to proactively seek him out.
Besides, Cultivators believe in fate. An encounter like this could be considered a kind of destiny. Ling Xiao nodded at the middle-aged nobleman. "In that case, I can accept you. However, I can’t give you any particularly high-ranking position right away. I can start you off in the administrative office handling some documents. What do you think?"
The middle-aged nobleman probably hadn’t expected the young Viscount to be so generous. He had even been prepared for rejection. After all, they had just met; there was no reason for the Viscount to trust him. What if he were a spy from an enemy nation? The nobleman was so moved that his eyes welled up with tears. He glanced back at that shrewish girl, and the contrast between the two... ’The difference between people is truly vast! Nobles are better after all!’
In truth, Ling Xiao didn’t care if he was a spy or not. ’So what if he is?’ He would only be handling some public affairs documents. The truly core matters were all in the hands of Mo Qing, Ling Wu, Ye Zi, and Meng Li. ’Who would let subordinates handle confidential information before they’ve earned enough trust?’
Huangpu Yue beamed at the nobleman. "Not bad at all. Congratulations!"
The nobleman, his face a mask of arrogance, didn’t even glance at Huangpu Yue and just snorted through his nose. Unbothered, Huangpu Yue smiled at Ling Xiao and said, "My Lord Viscount, may I be a guest at your residence?"
Ling Xiao’s recent expenditures had been enormous, especially for his private army. Before he had arrived, most of the wealth Penzes City had accumulated over many years had been spirited away by Li Wutong. The remainder was taken by City Lord Li Houlin. Although Ling Xiao had sent people to recover a portion of it, it was a small fraction in the end.
The expenses for a well-equipped private army were staggering. As a result, Ling Xiao was now financially strapped, and he couldn’t resort to draining the pond to catch the fish.
Mo Qing was still busy single-handedly contending with three other noble families. Although those three had been keeping a low profile lately, they were constantly making small moves behind the scenes. Therefore, Mo Qing couldn’t be of much help to Ling Xiao either.
Seeing Huangpu Yue, Ling Xiao suddenly remembered that the Huangpu Clan possessed a powerful marketing network. Furthermore, his own experiences confirmed that the Huangpu Family had an excellent reputation. Therefore, it was possible they could cooperate.
Ling Xiao mused.
