Chen Liang strode away and, before long, arrived at the village chief’s residence.
Unlike the dilapidated homes of every other villager in West Slope Village, the village chief’s house was not shabby in the slightest. On the contrary, it was extravagantly imposing: high outer walls, gray brickwork and dark tiles beneath broad eaves, vermilion gates fitted with bronze knockers, and the faint outline of upturned roof corners visible beyond the wall.
It was truly grand.
Chen Liang knew this place well. Upon reaching the gate, he went straight up and rapped the door knocker. The clanging echoed out, and before long, the steward’s voice came from inside.
“Who is it?”
When the gate opened and the steward saw Chen Liang, a look of astonishment came over his face.
“Young Master Chen Liang? Didn’t you leave West Slope Village?”
“Why have you come back?”
“What are you here for?”
Chen Liang cupped his hands politely in greeting. “I wish to pledge myself to the village chief. Please announce me.”
“What?” The steward froze on the spot. “You—Chen Liang—want to seek refuge with our master?”
The steward knew perfectly well that when Chen Liang had first come to the village to recuperate, his master had learned that Chen Liang was an important man from the capital and had treated him with great courtesy and friendliness. Yet Chen Liang had never shown the master the slightest respect.
He had even... spoken harshly to him.
Because the master held extraordinary power in the village and bullied the locals, Chen Liang had taken the side of those impoverished villagers.
But now...
How had Chen Liang gone out for a while, returned to West Slope Village, and then taken the initiative to seek out his master?
To offer his allegiance?
Surely he had misheard.
“Please announce me,” Chen Liang said. “Tell him that I, Chen Liang, am sincere.”
Astonished though he was, the steward promptly went to report the matter. Not long afterward, he returned.
“Young Master Chen Liang, Master asks that you come to the reception hall.”
Following the steward into the hall, Chen Liang immediately spotted Village Chief Li Quan seated in the place of honor. There was no need to mention his snow-white hair and wrinkled face. His potbelly and fleshy, cruel-looking features alone made him unpleasant to behold.
Yet Village Chief Li Quan was at that moment affecting an air of refined elegance. Holding a cup of tea, one leg crossed over the other, he sat in leisurely repose and said blandly, “Well, if it isn’t Young Master Chen Liang.”
“What wind has blown you here?”
“This humble house of ours cannot possibly accommodate such a great figure as yourself!”
Chen Liang at once put on a fawning smile, his manner exceedingly deferential.
“Oh, Village Chief, please do not mock this humble one.”
“I took a trip outside and only then learned that the world beyond is full of raging storms. It is no place for a man to live. Our West Slope Village, far from the wars, is a true paradise untouched by the world.”
“It is far too hard to survive outside. One never knows whether one will make it through the day.”
“So I could only return. Gathering my courage, I have come to seek your guidance, hoping that, in your generosity, Village Chief, you will overlook my past offenses and take me in.”
At these words, Village Chief Li Quan was immediately tempted.
Whatever Chen Liang’s fortunes outside might have been, the man truly was capable. He could ride out to hunt in the wild, and he could keep accounts with a scholar’s skill. On his own, he was more useful than everyone in Li Quan’s household put together.
That was precisely why Li Quan had once been so eager to befriend him. Yet Chen Liang had never even given him a pleasant look. And now...
Chen Liang had come of his own accord to offer his allegiance?
Then... should he lower himself and take Chen Liang in?
Should he humiliate Chen Liang a little and finally get back at him for all the insults he’d suffered?
Village Chief Li Quan was already scheming to himself. Chen Liang saw it at once and volunteered, “Village Chief, I know I’ve been disrespectful to you in the past and made you angry.”
“I’ve come to you sincerely this time, but I’m sure you’re still upset.”
“So I need to show you what I can do and make you see me in a new light. I’m ready.”
Li Quan wasn’t surprised that Chen Liang had seen through him. Instead, he put on an air of composure, took a leisurely sip of tea, and said coolly, “Oh? And what contribution can you offer me?”
“I can help you marry Liu Cuihua, Village Chief!”
“Pfft!”
The tea Li Quan had just taken into his mouth sprayed out in an instant.
He sprang to his feet, not even caring that the hot tea had spilled all over him. “What did you say?”
“Liu Cuihua!” Chen Liang blinked. “The Liu Cuihua who lives at the village entrance. She’s twenty, beautiful enough to outshine the flowers and captivate a kingdom.”
“When I was recovering from my injury in the village, I once happened to hear you singing…”
“What was it again?”
“Tonight I’m back outside your window; your silhouette in the window is so lovely!”
Li Quan’s face turned liver-red. He hurriedly waved his hands, then shot his steward a fierce glare. “Why are you still standing there? Have you finished your work?”
“Have you tended the crops?”
“Finished the accounts?”
“Collected the court’s taxes from the villagers?”
“Get out of here, now!”
The steward let out a sigh. What a juicy bit of gossip, and now he was being sent away! As he left, he kept looking back, reluctant to miss a thing.
Only then did Village Chief Liu Quan say, “Hey, Chen Liang, don’t go spreading that around. That song of yours came from the Tongxin Alliance. Haven’t people been saying that the Lord Duke is heading south on a campaign to stamp out those bewitching demons?”
“They say everyone in the Tongxin Alliance is one of those bewitching demons.”
“You can sing that song to yourself here, but if word gets out, neither of us would have enough heads between us to pay for it. Understand?”
Chen Liang looked unconcerned. “You’re worrying too much, Village Chief.”
“What kind of place is this, anyway?”
“Officially, it’s under the court’s jurisdiction, sure. But it’s on the border between the court’s territory and Yunjing, and tucked away in the mountains. Who’s going to come all the way out here to keep an eye on us?”
Li Quan thought it over and relaxed. Now he just had to wait for Chen Liang to continue with his plan for Cuihua. After all, Liu Cuihua was his dream woman.
But Li Quan said nothing, and Chen Liang said nothing either.
The room fell silent.
Li Quan began to think something was off. Wasn’t Chen Liang the one who had come to ask for his help? Shouldn’t he be the one making suggestions?
So he gritted his teeth and waited.
Chen Liang, confident he had the situation in hand, stayed perfectly calm.
Li Quan started to lose patience and glanced at Chen Liang.
Chen Liang immediately gave him a smile.
Li Quan kept looking at Chen Liang.
Chen Liang kept smiling.
In the end, Village Chief Li Quan held out for less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea before he could no longer keep it in.
“Um, Young Master Chen Liang,” he said, “did you just say that you can help this old man marry Cuihua?”
Chen Liang replied, “That’s right.”
“Really?”
“Couldn’t be more real.”
“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”
“Look at my upright, honest face. Do I look like someone who would deceive people?”
Village Chief Li Quan could not detect even a trace of honesty on Chen Liang’s face, so his courage immediately faltered. Shaking his head, he said, “Ah, forget it, forget it.”
“I’ve heard that General Zhang Shi under the Lord Duke is especially ruthless when it comes to cracking down on love-struck fools. What if I make a move and get labeled one of them? That would be bad.”
“Besides…”
“My son has always objected. He says Cuihua is only twenty, while I’m nearly seventy—that it isn’t appropriate.”
Chen Liang promptly said, “Ah, Village Chief, that is where you are mistaken!”
“Although General Zhang Shi under the Lord Duke does crack down on love-struck fools, the Lord Duke’s goal is to restore peace and order to the realm. He does not interfere with normal courtship and marriage.”
“And what do you and Cuihua have?”
“You have mutual affection. You are truly in love.”
“Even if the seas run dry and the rocks crumble, even if heaven and earth collapse, the two of you would still stand shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand. That is true love!”
“The Lord Duke would never stand in the way of your true love.”
“On the contrary, he might even offer his blessings!”
“As for your son…”
“That is even easier to deal with!”
“I’ll go and persuade him. I’ll tell him that the love between you and Liu Cuihua is so earth-shattering and soul-stirring, so moving that it deserves to be recorded in history. With my silver tongue, I’m sure I can make him agree.”
…
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
