It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Bai Huang slapped the table, stood up, and said loudly:

"One hundred and fifty thousand people! You guys just don't take it seriously?"

Abai Le sighed and replied:

"This is not just our idea. Didn't Miss Bai Huang notice? After you exposed this matter, not only did no one agree, but everyone was helping His Majesty the King to cover it up. They all wanted to delay it because they had no other choice! If we delay it for one day, the pressure of disaster relief will be reduced. If we delay it past the end of the year, a group of people will die first, and then the rest of the people can be rescued."

Bai Huang bit her lips, her body trembling continuously, unable to utter a word.

I looked at the files on the floor, yawned with my eyelids drooping, and did not interrupt. When the air calmed down, Tamros said:

"I hope Miss Bai Huang will consider this carefully. In addition, is Brother Lide free now? There are some precious medicinal herbs in the mansion that are very effective for sword wounds. How about I take you to have a look?"

I then looked up at him and said with a smile:

"Then please take me there."

I stood up on my knees, and Tamros took me out, but not to look for any herbs, but to a secluded place in the garden.

There were several finely carved stone chairs placed in front of the stone table. Tamros picked a chair and sat down, smiling and saying:

"I finally have a chance to be alone with Brother Lide. Come on, serve tea, good tea! We are finally away from such a depressing atmosphere. Brother Lide, to be honest, the person we invited tonight is mainly you. Second is Miss Bai Huang."

I sat opposite him and asked with pretended interest:

"Oh? Why is that?"

Tamros said:

"I heard that the relationship between Brother Lide and Lord Yunyang was a little strained. This year, Lord Yunyang took the initiative to sever the father-son relationship with you. When this matter spread to the court, we were also very angry and felt sorry for you. Lord Yunyang really went too far. Throughout history, there has never been a father and son and brother who turned against each other to this extent."

I took a sip of tea and said:

"so what?"

Tamros continued:

"That's right. Excuse me for being blunt, but Brother Lide's current situation is really worrying. Internally, you have offended the Lord of Yunyang and the current Prince of Yunyang, Li Yi. Externally, you have fallen out with His Majesty the King, and I heard that there are several territories that don't like you. It's difficult, this situation is too difficult..."

I tapped the table lightly with my fingers, pretending to be listening carefully, and asked:

"So what do you think I should do?"

Tamros said:

"In my opinion, this situation is not unsolvable. I know that Brother Lide is young and hot-tempered, and he is definitely unwilling to compromise and reconcile with Lord Yunyang. Then you should think more about yourself, find a few allies in the court, and they must be reliable; then win the support of the royal family. Lord Yunyang has a good relationship with the royal family. As long as the royal family stands on your side, Lord Yunyang will not make things too difficult for you."

I leaned forward and said:

"But now the king treats me badly just as well. How can I win the support of the royal family?"

Tamros twirled the cup between two fingers and said:

"That depends on whether Brother Lide is willing to help us."

I drank the tea in my cup and said:

"I've been in the capital for a few days and I've been in trouble several times. How can I help you?"

Tamros smiled and said:

"That's because Wumi's gang is too disloyal. They pushed you to the front and hid themselves behind. Otherwise, it would be easy for them, a white-robed minister and a general of Tiance Mansion, to protect you. From this point, we can also see who is your most suitable friend. Brother Lide, although I have something to say that may not be pleasant to hear, I still want to say it - in this world, the friendship between gentlemen is as plain as water, while the friendship between villains is as sweet as honey. This honey is much more delicious than water."

Tamros took a sip of tea and said seriously:

"We don't ask for much. You just need to hint to His Majesty the King that Wumi asked you to do the previous things, and leave the rest to us. I have shown Baihuang the compensation measures, and now let's talk about your side. Life in Yuxi City is not easy, and we have collected 10,000 gold coins. The Spring Festival is approaching, so we will treat it as a red envelope for the younger generation. In addition, if you agree, we can guarantee that your brother Li Yi, who is always causing trouble... he will not be able to return to Yunyang. Don't worry, it won't be blamed on you. The Lord of Yunyang will not bother you again. What do you think, brother Lide, consider it?"

47. Once you enter your house, it's like entering a deep sea

What else is there to consider?

I agree!

Ten thousand gold coins, I never dared to think about it before. This is enough for me to live a life of luxury in Yuxi City for two or three years. During this period, I don't have to think about anything and can buy whatever I want. Who doesn't like such a life?

To be honest, I don't believe a single word of the accounts presented by Abai Le and his team.

It's fine to just perform this play for Bai Huang to see, some things can never become real no matter how well they are performed.

Without saying too much, if the royal family was really so vulnerable, the Lingwu Lord would have led her 80,000 cavalry south long ago, right? Why did they stay in the freezing north for so many years?

The situation in the capital was not optimistic. These parasites were frantically sucking the blood of the country and swallowing all the resources into their stomachs. But a lean camel is bigger than a horse. If the royal family and the court were determined to save these 300,000 people, they would definitely be able to come up with the money.

I didn't expose the lie. What's the point of exposing it?

Tamros is right, fine wine tastes much better than plain water. What good will it do for me to help Umi defeat Tamros? Nothing. Tamros is willing to actually give me 10,000 gold coins, which is certainly a friendship between villains, but I am not a gentleman.

I narrowed my eyes, a little hesitant, and said:

"I'll think about it. Can you please tell me where the restroom is? I've drunk so much tea, so I'll go to the toilet first."

Tamros smiled and called a man who looked like a butler and asked him to take me there.

Tamros's mansion is really big, and the toilet is quite far away. The butler led me all the way there, and I was thinking about this matter all the way, weighing which side to support. I guess Tamros came to me today because he thought I was much easier to convince than Bai Huang, and as long as he could deal with me, the matter would be basically half done.

In fact, I was indeed hesitant. After all, although I was involved in this matter, I had no connection with any of the parties involved. I didn't know Umi, nor did I know Tamros. From a neutral perspective, it would indeed bring more benefits to lean towards Tamros, so why not?

As I walked with my head down, I suddenly heard a crazy female voice:

"My child, my child..."

I looked over there and saw a woman hugging a tree and crying. She was wearing a cloth skirt and her hair was disheveled. There was an overturned wooden basin next to her, and some washed clothes were scattered on the ground, covered with dust.

Soon, several maids came running over with the washed clothes in their arms. One of them frowned and said:

"He's sick again. It's happened so many times this month. It's New Year's Day. It really makes me worried."

The remaining maids chattered:

"Yes, yes, do you want to tell the master?"

"The master is entertaining guests. If you go now, you will probably be scolded."

"Just drag her back first, gag her, and lock her up in a small dark room for a few days. Isn't that what we've done before? Just listen to me, it won't go wrong."

The maid who spoke first said:

"Press her hand, quickly."

I saw several maids rushing up to try to restrain the crazy woman, but she was very strong, her nails dug deep into the bark, and she refused to leave with them, so the other maids pushed and shoved her. The crazy woman's fingers were bleeding, and the other maids were exhausted. One of the maids, panting, raised her hand, slapped her in the face, and scolded:

"I thought you were the master's concubine, but now you are just a maid who washes clothes!"

The crazy woman ignored what they said, just shook her head, looked at them with red eyes, and said:

"Give my child back to me, give her back to me!! Where did you hide her... Yes, this tree, it must be under this tree... After all these years, I finally found her. Good boy, mommy is here to take you back..."

A maid kicked her in the stomach and cursed:

"Your child? Your child died a long time ago! Are you still dreaming?"

The maids all laughed and said:

"She's still thinking about being pregnant with the master's child, and being high and mighty."

"This is the price for going against my lady."

"You vixen, why don't you continue to show off? Why don't you show off? Get up!"

Laughing and fighting at the same time.

The crazy woman seemed to feel no pain, she just hugged the tree and cried. Her charming face was scratched by nails, and blood was flowing. Her body was also covered with footprints, and her tearful eyes were really pitiful. She did not resist, but just kept digging the soil with her hands, and did not give up even when she dug to the roots of the tree, as if she was stubbornly looking for some treasure.

I watched for a while. The butler beside me didn't dare to take me away by force, but he couldn't say anything either. He could only watch with me.

I turned my head and asked with interest:

"Who is this person?"

The fat butler wiped the sweat from his face and said:

"He's just a servant. I'm really sorry for offending your eyes. When I get back, I'll tell the laundry room to give him a good beating!"

I shook my head, not looking at the scene over there, and continued walking with the butler. When I reached the bathroom door, I took out a gold coin from my pocket, gently handed it to the butler, and said calmly:

"There's no one here. Tell me something. I really like listening to stories."

The butler looked embarrassed, pushed the gold coin back, and said:

"This is against the rules..."

I looked at him quietly, smiled, took out a bag of gold coins from my pocket, about 20 or 30 of them, threw them into his arms, and said lightly:

"speak."

Hearing the clinking sound of gold coins, the butler trembled, opened the bag and took a look, then looked around and carefully put the bag into his arms.

Then he said:

"This, this is still against the rules. I can't tell outsiders about what happened in the mansion... But, this, this, you are in the toilet here, and I am talking to myself outside. If you accidentally hear something, it's not my fault. This matter is not a secret in the mansion. I just said it casually and let the air hear it."

I smiled, went into the bathroom and leaned against the door.

Through the gap, I could see the butler standing not far from the door, staring at his toes and muttering to himself:

"It is said that misfortunes are often accompanied by blessings, and blessings are often accompanied by misfortunes. No one can predict luck. Take that crazy woman for example. She was singing in a brothel more than ten years ago. At that time, the master was kind-hearted and redeemed her from the brothel, welcomed her into the house, and served her with good food and drink. The brothel woman was also very kind. She never made things difficult for us servants, and often took care of us. She gave us money every now and then, saying that it would give the maids dowries in the future and that we would be able to find wives in the future... I have been working in the master's house for twenty or thirty years. Over the years, the master has welcomed at least dozens of women into the house. Except for her, no matter their family backgrounds, they seemed to be superior to others after entering the house. They yelled at us and acted arrogantly outside, fearing that others would not know that they had entered the master's house... Only she was an exception. Alas, who could have thought that she would end up like this in the end..."

48. But I refuse!

"My master is good in everything except for one thing: he has no son. Over the years, young ladies have grown up one after another in the mansion, and the older ones have already married. Every time a young lady gets married, the master is always worried because he is worried that he will be alone in his old age and that there will be no one to inherit such a large family business. More than ten years ago, this brothel girl got pregnant soon after she entered the house. The master specially found someone to tell her fortune, and he said that this baby would definitely be a big fat boy. The master was very happy that day and gave out a lot of money. Everyone in the mansion got a share, and I also got a lot."

"Later, the master looked forward to the child being born almost every day. But he didn't expect it to be too early, two months early... The brothel girl didn't know what she ate or what strange disease she had, and the child was inexplicably miscarried. The child was indeed a boy, but unfortunately, he closed his eyes completely not long after he came into the world... When the news reached the master, he lost his temper on the spot, and a whole shelf of antiques in the room was smashed to pieces. The brothel girl also went crazy and looked for her child everywhere, unable to believe that her child was dead."

I let out a breath and asked:

"and after?"

The steward said:

"Later, it became like this. That crazy woman had gone mad, so naturally she could no longer be the master's concubine. Family disgrace could not be made public, and she could not be driven out either. So they drove her to the laundry room to wash clothes, but she still had attacks from time to time. Every time she had an attack, several people could not drag her away. Alas, it was miserable to watch... But the master said that this was her retribution, because she gave the master hope, and then destroyed it with her own hands. The master said that maybe he was destined to have only this one son, and that crazy woman had killed him. So the master didn't care when the maids bullied her. As long as they didn't kill or maim her, he would beat them as he pleased."

I asked:

"I just heard from the maids that she got into this state because she went against your master's wife."

The butler shrank his neck and said:

"It's just a rumor. I dare not say that. The master's mansion is so big and there are so many servants. It's normal to have some strange rumors. These are all groundless and cannot be counted."

I nodded and finally asked:

"Does that brothel girl have a name?"

The butler thought for a moment and replied:

"I think her name was something like Yu... I forgot. She was very popular at the time, but no one remembered her after that. After so many years, no one has come to ask about her. Alas, who would have thought that the singer who was so popular at the time would be so crazy and stupid now? If such a person dies one day, no one will mourn her..."

The housekeeper didn't want to say anything more, so he took me back the way I came. When we got to the tree, I found that the scene had been cleaned up. The blood on the tree trunk had been wiped off, and the soil dug out on the ground had been filled back. I didn't know where the crazy woman had been taken, and the wooden basin and clothes on the ground had also been picked up.

It's as if nothing happened here.

When I sat back on the stone table, I found that the tea on the table had gone cold.

Tamros apparently noticed this as well and asked the butler to bring another pot of hot tea.

I raised my hand to stop him and said:

"Just drink it cold."

Tamros was puzzled.

I smiled and said to him:

"I just thought about it, what you said makes sense."

Tamros also laughed and said to me:

"I just said..."

He didn't finish, so I smiled and said:

"But I don't agree."

Tamros' smile froze on his face.