Chapter 123
"These... were all sent to Yao'er by Zhao Xiang?" Xi Ning picked up some medicinal herbs, rubbing them carefully with his fingertips. Then, he placed them under his nose to smell; there was not a hint of medicinal scent. He disdainfully threw the leaves back into the wooden box and looked at the physician standing below.
The physician replied, "Indeed they were."
Xi Ning sneered and leaned back in his chair. Several scenes flashed through his mind, from the first time Uncle Shan came to find him...
"City Lord, the gers in the pavilion are all bullying the young master. This old servant suspects the person behind them is Zhao Xiang. That Zhao Xiang has been embezzling money from the pavilion all along."
"I know I have no evidence, but City Lord, think about it. Zhao Xiang is the deputy city lord's ger. The deputy city lord has two sons, he is not the most favored, yet he has many gold and silver jewelry. His clothing and daily expenses are even better than the deputy city lord's..."
Uncle Shan had spoken so earnestly that he had almost believed it at the time. Later, he confronted Xi Yao, Zhao Xiang, and the gers from the pavilion, only to find that Xi Yao intentionally protected Zhao Xiang... so he had not pursued the matter further.
He had been thinking before that Zhao Xiang might have so much money because Yao'er treated him as a friend and provided him with funds from the pavilion...
But a few days ago, Uncle Shan came again to borrow a physician, and his explanation at that time was...
"City Lord, the pavilion's accounts have problems. The young master was looking for the pavilion's account books to reorganize the internal affairs of the pavilion. Zhao Xiang suddenly rushed in and killed all the servants in the pavilion. The scene was too bloody, and the young master was frightened. He wishes to borrow your physician."
Xi Yao was investigating the pavilion's accounts. So that meant the previous situations were not at all what he had understood them to be...
Without Xi Yao's approval, Zhao Xiang killing the servants in the pavilion showed he did not respect or value Xi Yao at all.
And he tried to fool Yao'er with these tonic medicines, half of which are fake. That person simply does not consider Yao'er a friend in his heart!
If that's the case, then Uncle Shan's previous words hold some credibility...
Zhao Xiang suddenly rushing in to kill people was to destroy evidence...
Xi Yao protecting Zhao Xiang before was perhaps because of his kind heart. And not letting him know about these matters was because Xi Yao had been sensible since childhood, often afraid of troubling or burdening him...
Xi Ning's knuckles curled, clenching tightly. His own younger brother had been bullied right under his nose, and he only found out now!
Moreover, now the witnesses and evidence were long gone, and that person was still the deputy city lord's ger.
Zhao Xiang was formidable indeed!
Xi Ning's face was extremely gloomy: "Someone, bring Zhao Xiang here."
Zhao Xiang was in his room burning the account books. Although he had resolved the crisis this time, he actually hadn't gained any benefits.
All his confidants in the pavilion were dead, he could no longer withdraw money from the pavilion's funds...
This truly pained his heart. The more it pained him, the more furious he became when he thought of Xi Yao, so furious that he wished he had simply killed Xi Yao along with the others in the pavilion.
Just because Xi Yao was the city lord's brother, just because he was prettier than him, yet he possessed everything he could not have!
Zhao Xiang took several deep breaths, suppressing the jealousy and anger in his heart.
"Something bad has happened." Suddenly the door was knocked open, and a ger hurriedly came forward saying, "Young master, the city lord has sent someone to summon you."
"!" Zhao Xiang's eyes snapped open, and he fell silent where he was.
Seeing Zhao Xiang had no reaction, the ger cautiously approached him and whispered, "Young master, do you think it's because of the matter with Xi Yao..."
A glint of shrewdness flashed in Zhao Xiang's eyes: "Besides matters concerning Xi Yao, what other reason could the city lord have for summoning me?"
"Then... then what should we do? Has the matter been exposed?" The ger panicked.
Zhao Xiang sharply interrupted him: "What are you panicking for."
After saying this, he stood up, straightened his clothes, appearing completely confident: "Relax, he's probably just coming to ask me why I killed the gers in Xi Yao's pavilion. I'll go explain it. It's not a big problem."
He took two steps, then turned back to instruct: "By the way, clean up those braziers. I don't want to see them when I return."
"Yes."
Arriving before City Lord Xi Ning, Zhao Xiang preemptively started making accusations.
"City Lord! The gers in A-Yao's pavilion are utterly excessive, they've even bullied A-Yao!"
"Oh?" Xi Ning lazily narrowed his eyes, looking at the ger below.
That ger was fat and short, not good-looking—one could say he was the ugliest among all the hall masters' biological gers—but he had a pair of very bright eyes. These eyes had always seemed very clear, appearing particularly sincere when looking at people usually... When he smiled, those eyes would curve, making it very infectious.
His voice was also extremely pleasant, soft and gentle like Xi Yao's, making it very easy for people to let their guard down.
This person usually didn't stand out among the many young masters, his presence was relatively low. Even as the deputy city lord's ger, if it weren't for Xi Yao being his friend, Xi Ning wouldn't have noticed him.
Originally, Xi Ning had been quite grateful to him—with him around, his younger brother had his only friend...
But now, knowing this person had been deceiving his younger brother, the anger in his heart surged as overwhelmingly as the previous gratitude had...
And this person was still pretending. Xi Ning had initially held a sliver of hope, thinking how could such a sincere person possibly be like this...
Now, seeing his acting skills... Xi Ning finally believed that every bit of kindness Zhao Xiang had shown Xi Yao was nothing but an act.
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