The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 290 Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader (3k words)

After a moment of stunned silence, the shopkeeper seemed to realize something and his steps faltered. He hurriedly turned back to find the calligraphy copybook he had made.

To his surprise, as soon as he stepped into the inner room, he saw his wife wearing an apron, busily preparing the tea and food for the morning's stall—a scene that startled the shopkeeper once again.

Then, in a trembling voice filled with disbelief, he said, "Wife, you...you didn't leave?"

His wife rolled her eyes at him, her tone carrying a hint of reproachful disdain:

"If I really leave, do you think you, an idiot, can keep this shop going?"

After being married for many years, how could she really ignore this clueless man over such a small matter?
The shopkeeper lowered his head even further, his voice also becoming quieter, and moved closer to his wife:

"But you...you said before that if I dared not agree, you would do that, right?"

His wife waved her hand, interrupting him:
"Stop talking nonsense and get ready to set up the stall! Since you don't want to leave the calligraphy copybook behind, let's put in more effort, save up some money, and then sell the shop and go to the countryside to live a peaceful life."

"Those demons and monsters wouldn't ignore the big cities and specifically target our little place, would they?"

These words made the shopkeeper chuckle sheepishly, but after a few seconds of laughter, he quickly stepped forward, fawningly saying:
"Actually, I think we've passed the test!"

His wife looked completely bewildered, her brows furrowing: "What do you mean by 'passing or not passing'? Are you out of your mind?"

The shopkeeper hurriedly rummaged through a drawer and pulled out the calligraphy copybook he had made, handing it to her.
"Look, it says 'Good luck when you open the door' here, right?"

His wife glanced at the paper and said impatiently, "I can't read, what's the use of showing me this?"

The shopkeeper, having been rebuffed, could only scratch his head, chuckle awkwardly, but continued explaining:

"But guess what happened after I gave the original to Lao Liu? It didn't say 'Good luck upon opening the door' that I made; it said 'Go quickly and return quickly' specifically for Lao Liu!"

Actually, when he saw this "Good Luck at the Door" sign yesterday, he wondered what its purpose was, but today he finally figured it out completely.

But his wife still didn't understand, her brows furrowing even more: "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Seeing that she still hadn't grasped the point, the shopkeeper had no choice but to be direct:

"Don't you understand, woman? This is a trap set for us by that gentleman! If we really hide the calligraphy copybook, let alone the original, I reckon even this rubbing will be useless!"

Old Liu couldn't keep his principles when faced with gold, which is why he suffered retribution; and when the man tried to save Old Liu, he set up a similar "trial by conscience" for him.

If he can hold on, he will receive this "good fortune"; if he cannot, he will receive nothing.

As soon as he said that, his wife's face changed instantly. She grabbed his sleeve, her voice filled with lingering fear:
"Oh dear, you're so quick-witted, honey! I almost got us both in trouble just now!"

These words made the shopkeeper, who usually couldn't hold his head high in front of his wife, instantly straighten his back a bit, and he said with his head held high:

"Of course not! I'm the head of the household!"

But as soon as he finished speaking, he smiled ingratiatingly, his hands unconsciously rubbing together, and he tentatively whispered:

"Then, can I sleep in the room tonight?"

Seeing him revert to his pathetic self in the blink of an eye, the slight admiration that had just appeared on his wife's face vanished instantly, and she gave him a helpless glare.
"Alright, alright, look at you, so useless! I really don't know what I was blind to have fallen for you back then!"

The shopkeeper wasn't annoyed at all; he just stood there, his smile never fading.

With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for?
-
Almost at the same moment, Du Yuan also chuckled softly.

"Yes, yes, if everyone in the world could be like that, that would be wonderful."

He originally wrote two pieces of calligraphy: one for the shopkeeper, which was an auspicious phrase wishing him "good fortune upon opening"; the other for the merchant, which was an admonition to "go quickly and return quickly".

Helping others is a duty, but if in the end you end up in the same situation as that merchant, then you should absolutely not get involved in such a favor.

Of course, even if things don't go as planned, there's no real punishment for the shop owner.

After all, the farther he goes, the more traces he leaves behind, and the heavier the causal entanglements become.

Therefore, he had to carefully consider every move. Fortunately, this time, he was right.

After laughing heartily on the spot, Du Yuan raised her hand to support the old sword beside her, and continued forward without stopping.

He was going to visit Wuyi Lane to find the scholar who used to be surnamed Meng, but is now surnamed Cui.

But Du Yuan encountered a problem halfway there: Kyoto is divided into inner and outer cities, and Wuyi Lane is a place where the powerful and nobles gather, so it is naturally located in the inner city, which is of utmost importance.

However, Du Yuan could not enter the inner city—or rather, he did not have the legal credentials to enter the city.

To enter the inner city, the city gate guards would verify the person's place of origin, occupation, and reason for entering the city one by one. Those without legal credentials would be stopped directly outside the city.

Unfortunately, Du Yuan was an undocumented immigrant with an unclear occupation, and even the reason for her entry into the city was not important.

The imperial guards guarding the city were secretly suspicious, wondering whether they should go forward and question them, when suddenly they saw a group of elegantly dressed young men riding towards them.

Seeing this, the Imperial Guards hurriedly bowed and retreated, not daring to be negligent in the slightest—these people were all sons of nobles, and any one of them was someone that these lowly soldiers could not afford to offend.

A few kind-hearted people even secretly gave Du Yuan a wink, signaling him to quickly move aside.

After all, even if these young masters dared not be too presumptuous under the emperor's nose, how could he, an ordinary person who couldn't even enter the inner city, possibly confront them?
Seeing that the Imperial Guards were kindly reminding her, Du Yuan took a few steps back.

There's no need to disappoint someone's good intentions, and even less need to get worked up over something so trivial.

He merely observed the group of young men with interest—judging from their appearance, they seemed to have just returned from a hunt, each dressed in fine clothes and riding spirited horses, with numerous guards in concealed armor following in front and behind them, clearly skilled in martial arts. But just as one of them rode past Du Yuan, he suddenly pulled on the reins, dismounted, bowed respectfully to Du Yuan, and asked:
"May I ask your name, sir?"

"I'm just a nobody, not worth mentioning. May I ask your esteemed name, sir?"

Upon hearing this, the young man smiled and replied, "My surname is Cui."

"Surname Cui?!" Du Yuan's eyes lit up suddenly, and she cupped her hands in greeting, asking, "May I ask, young master, do you know someone named Cui Yuancheng?"

"Cui Yuancheng?" The young man surnamed Cui was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized, "Is he the one from the Cui family of Boling?"

"It is indeed the Cui family of Boling. But judging from your tone, young master, you don't seem to be very familiar with him?"

The other party nodded and smiled:

“I am from the Cui family of Qinghe. Although we share the same surname Cui, we are from two different branches and are not very familiar with each other. But what business do you have with him, sir? If it is not too much trouble, I would like to lend you a hand.”

As he spoke, he stepped aside and said, "Why don't you come with me into the inner city first, sir?"

Since someone was willing to help, Du Yuan naturally had no reason to refuse, and immediately said:
"Then I shall respectfully accept your offer! Thank you for your assistance, young master!"

"You're too kind, sir. Here, please allow me to ride your horse!"

His respectful attitude, coupled with his status, immediately drew the attention of many people around him at the inner city gate.

Looking at the expressions of the people around her, Du Yuan asked out of curiosity, "Young Master's status seems to be quite noble?"

The other person had a slightly smug look on their face and replied with a smile, "It's alright. By the way, my surname is Cui and my given name is Shilu."

"Oh? Nice to meet you!"

Du Yuan didn't actually know who Cui Shilu was; she simply bowed politely out of courtesy.

This reaction, however, displeased Cui Shilu's attendants. Their young master was the eldest son of the Qinghe Cui clan! The position of future head of the clan was almost a certainty.

This commoner before me is dressed plainly, without any jade ornaments, clearly not even from a poor family, but a lowly person, yet he dares to be so disrespectful.

The attendants were about to retaliate, but a single look from Cui Shilu silenced them.

Then his gaze toward Du Yuan became even more intense—he didn't know my identity, and my attire was so unique.
It can't be wrong!

Seeing Du Yuan holding a sword to his side, some imperial guards tried to step forward to stop him.

After all, the inner city and the outer city are different, but as soon as he stepped forward, he was scared away by a look from Cui Shilu.

Oh well, he's a guest from a prestigious family anyway, and he's just an old, rusty sword.

Then, he asked curiously:

"But I wonder what business you have with him, sir?"

Du Yuan thought for a moment and said:
"He recently gave me a very useful stone, but unfortunately I used it the wrong way and it all came to nothing. I have to go back to him and ask if he has any more, or if I can find the same one somewhere else."

Cui Shilu wrote down each of these points in his mind and kept pondering their meaning.

At the same time, he turned to the side and said:

"Please mount your horse, sir."

Du Yuan didn't step forward, but merely glanced at the horse and said:
"It's a fine horse, but unfortunately, I'm not good at riding."

"That's easy, I'll accompany you there."

Cui Shilu immediately responded and then invited Du Yuan to walk with him.

"Young master, don't you find this troublesome?"

"About that place!"

The other attendants were a bit worried. There was still a long way to go to their residence. How could the young master not ride a horse?

I wanted to say something, but a single look from the other person deterred me.

Then he could only turn back and try to lead the horses to catch up, but to his surprise, the usually docile steeds were now impossible to lead.

This moment left the attendants drenched in sweat.

What kind of behavior is it for Cui's guards to be unable to control their own horses in broad daylight?
Fortunately, before they could think too much about it, Du Yuan stepped forward.

The horses that had been motionless just moments before finally responded to their pulls and slowly moved forward.

However, he always kept a great distance from Du Yuan.

This scene naturally caught Cui Shilu's eye, and it made his heart burn with excitement.

Just then, Du Yuan asked another question:
"Does the young master know Wang Chengsi of the Langya Wang clan?"

This statement surprised everyone. Wang Chengsi? Who didn't know him?

(End of this chapter)