From a slave to the Great Qian Martial Saint

"...Please, sir, have mercy!"

Under Gu Tingshu's stern gaze, Chen Shi bowed and pleaded again, unwavering in the slightest.

Gu Tingshu frowned, and it wasn't until a moment later that his expression relaxed again.

Chen Shi and Sun Bingyi were different after all. Sun Bingyi's attempt to seduce the young lady was incredibly audacious and reckless. But all Chen Shi wanted were two maids.

Moreover, neither Cui Nong nor Ting Yu had a formal title, so strictly speaking, they could not be considered Gu Chengze's people.

After a slight pause, Gu Tingshu spoke again.

"You can have that Cui Nong, but Ting Yu is Cheng Ze's concubine, so we can't have her because of our different statuses."

"Master..."

"No need to say anything more!"

"……yes."

Chen Shi still wanted to try, but Gu Tingshu's attitude was firm, so Chen Shi frowned and dared not say anything more.

At the very least, get back Cui Nong's indenture!

As for Tingyu, since Chen Shi had promised her, he would naturally help her, but obviously, the time was not yet ripe, and they would have to wait a little longer.

Having finished speaking, Gu Tingshu waved his hand, indicating that Chen Shi could leave.

He will later instruct someone to give Cui Nong's indenture to Chen Shi and have it cancelled at the yamen.

"I'll take my leave."

Chen Shi bowed again and left the study.

Very good!

As soon as he stepped out the door, Chen Shi clenched his fist, his face beaming with barely suppressed excitement.

Cui Nong is finally free!

In this way, both of them are free, and no one can arbitrarily decide their life or death!

Chen Shi couldn't wait to go back immediately and tell Cui Nong the good news.

Unfortunately, there are still things to do.

Chen Shi took a deep breath to calm himself down and went to see Zhou Bingzhi first.

Gu Tingshu ordered him to assist Zhou Bingzhi in handling Gu Chengze's funeral. Zhou Bingzhi was in charge, and he was in charge of assisting. Naturally, he had to communicate and consult with Zhou Bingzhi.

Walking along the road, one could see that the entire mansion was solemn, and everyone had a gloomy expression.

The death of Gu Chengze is no small matter.

Even if he is not favored, he is still the legitimate son of the Marquis's family.

Moreover, the Gu family had just lost a young master.

"Manager Zhou."

When we arrived at Zhou Bingzhi's place, we saw him flipping through a pile of accounts, looking very annoyed.

With Sun Bingyi dead and Jin Bingren seriously injured, Steward Hua didn't really get involved in affairs, and all the big and small matters in the mansion suddenly fell to Zhou Bingzhi.

This coincided with Gu Chengze's funeral, making things several times more complicated than usual.

Zhou Bingzhi has always been lazy, but this time he's really going to get what's coming to him.

"Please sit down, you sit down first."

Zhou Bingzhi casually greeted Chen Shi, but didn't even bother to look up.

Chen Shi wasn't in a hurry, so he found a place to sit down and wait.

Looking at the overwhelmed Zhou Bingzhi, he pondered in his heart.

He originally thought that the altar master was Zhou Bingzhi, but how did it end up being Sun Bingyi?

Chen Shi was so certain because the courtyard where the secret room was located was under Zhou Bingzhi's name. But since Zhou Bingzhi and Sun Bingyi were sworn brothers, giving him a courtyard was nothing unusual.

As for why the property wasn't transferred, given their status, the courtyard wasn't worth the trouble.

Moreover, given the cautious nature of that altar master, it is indeed impossible for him to directly build the secret chamber in his own courtyard.

Chen now realizes that he was too anxious at the time, which led to his oversight.

Let's set aside these questions for now. The real issue is that if Zhou Bingzhi wasn't the leader of the altar, then his actions of stopping Zhou Bingzhi and threatening him wouldn't have been valid.

But the result was that the leader of the altar did indeed gather a large number of people to assassinate Gu Chengze.

The mission, which was originally suspended, was suddenly restarted at all costs. Is it really just a coincidence?

Chen Shi glanced at Zhou Bingzhi again, his pupils slightly contracting.

There are too many coincidences. Since the altar master is Sun Bingyi, it is very likely that Zhou Bingzhi relayed the message to Sun Bingyi.

This means that Zhou Bingzhi knew Sun Bingyi's identity as the leader of the Fufeng Association!

However, Chen Shi mistakenly believed that Zhou Bingzhi was the leader of the altar and used this to blackmail him. Sun Bingyi was actually not exposed and was safe. Why would Sun Bingyi be blackmailed by Chen Shi and risk losing a lot of manpower to assassinate Gu Chengze?

"It's a misunderstanding."

Recalling what he had said to Sun Bingyi that day, Chen Shi suddenly understood.

He said at the time, "The dignified steward of the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion is actually the leader of the Fufeng Association," without directly mentioning Zhou Bingzhi's name!

This likely led Zhou Bingzhi to mistakenly believe that Chen Shi knew Sun Bingyi was the leader of the Fufeng Association.

After thinking it through, Chen Shi shook his head secretly again.

What a twist of fate! What a mess this all is!

However, he still felt something was off. Was it really that simple...?

"You've come at the perfect time."

Just then, Zhou Bingzhi looked up at Chen Shi with a look of utter despair.

"I'm at my wit's end right now, you need to lend a hand."

"Yes."

Chen Shi smiled and agreed, then got up and came over.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Bingzhi took out a stack of lists and began assigning tasks to Chen Shi.

Like Gu Chengen, the body was kept in state for forty-nine days, and with the funeral procession and other preparations, it would take about two months to complete.

In the past two months, in addition to the purchase, decoration and personnel arrangements in the mansion, the key thing is to welcome and send off the guests. As a marquis's mansion, those who come to pay their respects are either rich or noble, and there are quite a few dukes and ministers. We cannot be the slightest bit lacking in etiquette!

The guests were divided into male guests and female guests, and the people in charge of entertaining them and the etiquette were different depending on their status.

"This is indeed a bit troublesome..."

As Zhou Bingzhi spoke, Chen Shi looked troubled and felt a headache coming on.

"It's more than just trouble."

Zhou Bingzhi sighed, then gave a wry smile and said.

"In this way, we'll divide the work: you'll handle the internal affairs, and I'll handle the external affairs."

"What do you mean by 'inside' and 'outside'?"

"You will be responsible for all the purchases and decorations needed for the funeral, as well as the personnel arrangements in the household. I will take care of all the welcoming and sending off of guests."

"good!"

Chen Shi nodded and immediately agreed.

It must be said that Zhou Bingzhi took good care of him.

Purchasing, arranging, and personnel arrangements may seem like a lot of work, but in reality, there are precedents to follow, and you can simply follow the rules.

In contrast, welcoming and seeing off guests is a chaotic affair, and if not handled properly, it can affect the reputation of the Marquis's mansion and cause serious trouble!

Furthermore, everyone knows that procurement is a lucrative job. This funeral alone will cost money like water, and there will be kickbacks of at least tens of thousands of taels!

Zhou Bingzhi took the troublesome task himself and gave the simple and lucrative task to Chen Shi. Wasn't that taking care of him?

"Thank you for your care, Steward Zhou."

Thinking of this, Chen Shi thanked him again.

He was thinking to himself that once the funeral was over, he should also share some of the profits with Zhou Bingzhi.

"We both work in the Marquis's residence, so it's only right that we support each other."

Zhou Bingzhi waved his hand with a smile, then spoke seriously again.

"Second Master's funeral is a major event. We servants should just do our jobs well."

"Yes."

"Alright, let's discuss this further."

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Bingzhi took out a dozen more lists and began to discuss them in detail with Chen Shi.

The funeral was a complex affair, and the conversation lasted for more than two hours.

By the time Chen Shi came out of Zhou Bingzhi's place, it was already past noon.

"Let's go take a look."

Chen Shi glanced at the sky, then, without even eating, went straight to the inner courtyard to see Xiao Fengxiao.