Chapter 29: Ah, Ah, Ah, Lu Cha Can Also Be Very Gentle

Xu Lu Cha did not return to the Xu mansion.

By now, everyone in Yun City probably knew about his escape from marriage. If he went back, Xu Hong would definitely confine him for the sake of her face.

If he were to be under house arrest in the Xu mansion, he would lose contact with Qin Long’s side, which would hinder his goal of becoming stronger.

Moreover, if he were confined, he wouldn’t be able to see that person.

He would rather wait for her on the mountain, wait for her to come and reunite with him.

Xu Lu Cha cleaned the house thoroughly and took out the bedding to wash.

He had lived in brothels since childhood, and Gong Mi had never taken care of him, so he could do all kinds of housework.

To please others and earn a meal, he had done embroidery for young masters, cooked for kitchen maids, and helped carpenters whittle wood…

Even after living a life of luxury in the Xu mansion for a few years, he still found it hard to forget the humiliation of those times.

He had once told himself that he would never again soil his hands for others in this life.

But now that he had her, he could be a sensible and virtuous husband.

He would wash his hands and cook soup for her, he would take care of all the household chores for her.

Zhang Meng’s room was very tidy, and in the wardrobe, he could find her simple dresses.

She didn’t have many clothes, less than a dozen pieces from childhood to adulthood.

Xu Lu Cha arranged those clothes on the bed in order of size, as if seeing Zhang Meng as a child, Zhang Meng as a young girl, and the Zhang Meng who now captivated him.

Xu Lu Cha gently folded the clothes and put them back in the wardrobe.

He would clean the house spotlessly, and when she came, she would surely like it.

Meeting such a beautiful and virtuous man like him, she must have accumulated virtue in her previous life, Xu Lu Cha thought.

Coming out of the room, he was about to go to the kitchen to pick vegetables when a group of people burst into the courtyard.

“Young Master, please come back to the Xu mansion with us.”

The crowd quickly surrounded Xu Lu Cha.

Xu Lu Cha’s beautiful eyes turned cold. He scanned the Xu mansion’s servants, took a slight step back, and lightly placed his foot on a mechanism.

“Get lost!” Xu Lu Cha said coldly.

It was that old bastard Chen Yue! If they dared to act recklessly, he would surely teach them a lesson.

“Young Master, forgive us!” The middle-aged man at the front turned back to signal everyone to take action.

Xu Lu Cha stomped hard, and the ground suddenly collapsed under the feet of the servants closest to him.

For a moment, cries of pain were incessant.

The remaining servants, though somewhat wary after seeing this, still rushed forward, wanting to subdue Xu Lu Cha.

Xu Lu Cha nimbly avoided them, activating the mechanisms one by one. Before long, of the dozens of servants who had burst into the courtyard, only two or three remained, while the rest were wailing in the pits below.

The man in charge said angrily, “Since the Young Master is unwilling to return with us and chooses to stay here, we’ll just burn this place down.” As he spoke, they somehow produced torches and immediately set fire to the firewood by the fence.

Xu Lu Cha’s pupils constricted, and he trembled with anger.

They had come prepared.

How dare they burn his and Zhang Meng’s house!

Xu Lu Cha grabbed a sharp piece of wood nearby and hurled it at the man who had started the fire. The man let out a scream of pain, and the torch fell to the ground.

But the fence had already caught fire, and under the fierce sun, the flames spread rapidly.

Seeing Xu Lu Cha’s panicked look, those few servants realized the house was his weakness, so they all worked together to light the flammable wood, then started setting fires everywhere.

“Stop!”

Xu Lu Cha’s beautiful eyes were filled with raging fury. He clenched his fists, about to press down on a mechanism to make those people suffer.

But the fire had already become fierce. If he killed them, there would be no one left to help him put out the fire.

This home was important…

“I’ll go back with you!”

Finally, Xu Lu Cha shouted through gritted teeth.

“Put out the fire!”

…

“Constable Zhang, what’s wrong with you?”

Lin Hao’s deep voice came through.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Zhang Meng, who had been lost in thought, came to her senses and smiled at Lin Hao.

For Lin Hao’s safety, she had been checking on his stall from time to time during her patrol today.

But her thoughts had been disturbed by the white-haired boy in her dream, and she had been in a daze all morning.

It’s just a coincidence, Zhang Meng reassured herself.

Seeing Zhang Meng’s absent-minded state, Lin Hao wasn’t in a good mood either. His face had been dark all morning, standing stiffly by his jewelry stall. When customers came, he didn’t greet them, and when they occasionally asked about the price of jewelry, his fierce eyes would sweep over them, scaring them away. As a result, even though he had set up his stall before dawn, he hadn’t earned much money.

The patrol time quickly came to an end. Zhang Meng put away her sword and was about to return to the government office when Lin Hao called out to her.

“Constable Zhang, if you have anything troubling you, you can tell me. Although I can’t help you much, at least I can make you feel a bit better.” Lin Hao’s eyes were sincere, his dark face faintly tinged with red.

“Mm, thank you. But I really don’t have anything.” Zhang Meng smiled at him, “I just had a somewhat strange dream.” Lin Hao nodded, looking at her smile, he lowered his eyes slightly, his cheeks heating up. His gloomy mood from the entire morning finally brightened a bit at the sight of her smile.

…

As Zhang Meng passed the street corner, she saw Xu Lu Cha.

Xu Lu Cha had changed into a light and flowing green robe, his skin snow-white, his long hair like a waterfall, his demeanor otherworldly, with nobility hidden in every move.

Behind him followed dozens of men, all bruised, wincing and softly gasping in pain, their eyes fixed unblinkingly on Xu Lu Cha in front, as if afraid he might run away.

“Young Master Xu?”

Zhang Meng called out.

Xu Lu Cha, whose handsome face had been cold and eyes indifferent, was slightly startled and quickly turned his head towards Zhang Meng’s direction. Seeing Zhang Meng, his icy eyes seemed to melt, softening into a pool of water.

“Zhang Meng…” he called out softly.

Being able to see her before being confined was enough.

The men behind urged him to move forward, but Xu Lu Cha ignored them and walked straight towards Zhang Meng.

The closer he got to her, the more his heart ached sweetly. If he could, he really wanted to hold her hand and elope with her.

But it wasn’t possible now. He hadn’t become strong yet, hadn’t been able to control his own destiny. He had to swallow his pride and watch others’ faces, he had to maintain a good image in front of others.

“Zhang Meng, the house on the mountain was burned a bit. If you have time, go back and repair it.”

Zhang Meng was stunned: “It was burned?”

Xu Lu Cha felt both guilty and heartbroken. He had just cleaned and decorated the house beautifully, only for it to be messed up by these bastards behind him. One day, he would definitely kill them. He lowered his head, avoiding Zhang Meng’s gaze, and said guiltily in a low voice: “It was my fault this time. It won’t happen again.”

Hearing that the house had been burned, Zhang Meng felt anxious and distressed. But she didn’t blame Xu Lu Cha, just dropped a “I’ll go up the mountain to take a look” and turned to leave.

She was indeed angry.

Xu Lu Cha clenched his fists, his heart feeling stuffy and uncomfortable, his beautiful eyes slowly filling with moisture. He hadn’t protected that home, it was right for her to be angry.

“Young Master, we should go back now.” An impatient voice sounded.

The moisture in his eyes disappeared, and he turned back to look at the group of men, his eyes cold. These bastards, relying on Chen Yue’s support, often tripped him up. They were nothing but lowly servants.

Back at the Xu mansion, Xu Lu Cha was locked in his courtyard.

Zi Yi hurriedly rushed over: “Young Master, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Xu Lu Cha sat at the stone table, his delicate hand picking up a teacup and pouring himself some tea. He took a light sip, his beautiful eyes glancing at Zi Yi, “Zi Yi, tell me in detail what happened in the mansion during the ten-odd days I was away.”

That old bastard Chen Yue, he wouldn’t show him any mercy anymore.

…

Zhang Meng ran up the mountain. The terrifying scene she had imagined of the house burned to ashes didn’t appear. The house was still intact, only the fence in the courtyard was blackened, with traces of water still on it, indicating that the fire must have been extinguished shortly after it started. However, all the traps in the courtyard had been activated, and now there were many pits of various sizes scattered around.

Zhang Meng pondered for a moment and figured that the Xu mansion’s people probably came to take Xu Lu Cha back, but Xu Lu Cha was unwilling, so he activated all the mechanisms in the courtyard.

Zhang Meng naturally hoped for Xu Lu Cha to be well, but other people’s family matters were not for her to interfere with, nor was it her place to do so. She not only represented herself but also the government. Apart from maintaining the peace in Yun City and arresting criminals, officials couldn’t arbitrarily interfere in citizens’ private and family matters.

But the courtyard had been left in such a state, it would take quite a while to clean up.

Zhang Meng resigned herself to the task and started resetting the mechanisms one by one, carrying back the wooden planks that had been ejected, covering the pits, and rubbing the edges of the planks to connect them to the depressions in the pits…

…

Under the scorching sun, a brown-robed man wearing a black hat stood not far away, silently watching the woman who was busy working.

“Meng…” the man sighed.

Zhang Meng happened to look up, her gaze passing over where the man stood. The man quickly hid behind a thick tree trunk, concealing his presence.

After filling half of the pits in the courtyard, it was already getting late. Zhang Meng stopped her work, planning to come back tomorrow to finish tidying up. She locked the gate of the courtyard fence and went down the mountain.

The man came out from behind the tree trunk. He opened the lock on the courtyard gate and walked in.

There were still many pits, large and small, in the courtyard. He carried the wooden planks back to the pits, continuing the work Zhang Meng had left unfinished.

A hot breeze blew by, lifting the brim of his black hat, revealing a delicate face. His skin was snow-white, his eyes like autumn waters. Looking closely, one could see fine, dense scars on his face.

…

Zhang Meng returned to the government office and saw Zheng Shu, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed. She hadn’t forgotten that this morning, Zheng Shu had sneaked into her room, wanting to look at her chest.

Zheng Shu, however, appeared normal. As she walked past Zhang Meng, she spoke calmly: “About this morning’s incident, you should forget it.”

But Zhang Meng didn’t want to let it go: “I specifically checked, and there is indeed a red mole under my left breast. You have to tell me, how did you know about this?”

Zheng Shu answered casually: “I heard it from Madam Zhong.” Having said that, she left with her account books.

Zhang Meng’s eyes widened in shock, her face turning red.

The shocked Zhang Meng failed to notice the slight curl of Zheng Shu’s lips as she left.

Silly Zhang Meng.

Since he wants to protect you, I won’t dwell on your background anymore.