Chapter 143
Xi Ning unfolded it and looked, his brows locked tightly: "Who gave this to you?"
Wang Jin shook his head: "I don't know. Someone slipped it through the door crack today."
"It was I who asked a ger from the pavilion to help deliver it to the young master." A voice came from the doorway.
Both Xi Ning and Wang Jin were startled. Turning to look, they found it was actually Cheng Li.
Xi Ning shot a glance at his attendant, who then let Cheng Li enter.
As soon as Cheng Li entered, he knelt before Xi Ning and said: "City Lord, Cheng Li requests to go with the young master to search for someone."
"If you want to find Yao'er, you could go directly. Why send a letter?" Xi Ning looked at Cheng Li suspiciously, pinching the paper: "I'll ask again, did you really have someone deliver this paper to Yao'er?"
Cheng Li lowered his head: "Yes. The young master is a ger, it would be improper for me to directly request a meeting with him, so I thought of this method, and calculated the time to come to the pavilion to see you."
"......" Xi Ning, upon hearing this, crumpled the paper in his hand, his face full of anger. "Cheng Li!"
Xi Ning seemed about to say something, but after glancing at Wang Jin beside him, he forcibly swallowed his words and concealed his anger. Speaking softly to Wang Jin, he said: "Yao'er, you go and make preparations first. Later, I will send people to go to sea with you."
"Alright." Wang Jin glanced at the kneeling Cheng Li, understood that Xi Ning wanted to send him away, and obediently left.
After Wang Jin was out of sight, Xi Ning tore the paper to pieces and threw it onto Cheng Li's face: "What do you mean by this? Cheng Li, if you want to go to sea, come to me! Why involve Yao'er?"
"......" Cheng Li knelt straight, neither humble nor pushy: "If not for this, I feared the City Lord would not agree to go to sea."
"...... So you're using Yao'er to pressure me, is that it? Haven't I told you that Cheng Bai's life isn't in danger? Don't you trust even my guarantee as City Lord, made with my own life?"
"......" Cheng Li was silent for a moment, then pressed his lips together and said: "City Lord... it's not that I don't trust you. I don't trust Cheng Bai. He grew up in Ning'an City, never suffered much hardship, never participated in any life-risking activities. How could he possibly manage to hunt for Haiqiong... And to make matters worse, he is completely unaware of his own limitations.
As he spoke, Cheng Li's face was full of anguish: "But no matter how incompetent he is, he is my only relative... I... I simply can't set my mind at ease."
"......" Xi Ning paced back and forth for a moment before finally letting out a heavy sigh. "Very well. I've already agreed to let Yao'er go. What's one more agreement? But remember this: once you're at sea, you are to watch over Yao'er for me. Ensure he does not leave the cabin under any circumstances. If anything happens to him, I will hold you personally responsible."
"Yes. Thank you, City Lord." Cheng Li breathed a sigh of relief.
Inside Pan Shulin's room, he was boiling tea. The water was rolling and boiling, but he had no mind to attend to it, his eyes constantly looking towards the door, as if waiting for some news. It wasn't until a servant entered that a flicker of interest showed on his face.
He stood up and went to meet them.
"How did it go?"
The servant nodded to Pan Shulin and said: "Young Master, it's done."
Pan Shulin relaxed and slumped onto the stool, only then turning his attention to taking the boiling kettle off and brewing a cup of tea.
The servant, seeing this, leaned in and asked in a low voice: "Young Master, is it really alright for us to let the matter of sending the letter be blamed on Eldest Young Master Cheng? If Xi Yao encounters trouble at sea later, Eldest Young Master Cheng might be suspected and punished."
"It's not Brother Bai who gets punished, so what's bad about that?" Pan Shulin said with a calm expression.
"But he is Young Master Cheng's elder brother. The two of them have always had a deep fraternal bond," the servant said.
Pan Shulin said: "As long as Brother Bai doesn't know it was us who did it, it's fine. Besides, this Cheng Li agreed voluntarily. When I met him earlier, I told him that although this method could get the City Lord to agree to go to sea, Xi Yao would likely have to go along. If anything unexpected were to happen to Xi Yao during the voyage, his position, even his life, might be hard to preserve. He himself said that as long as he could go search for Brother Bai, he was willing to bear the potential consequences of any accidents."
"......" Wasn't it you, Young Master, who said this was the only way to get the City Lord to agree to send people to sea? The servant thought this, felt a lump in his throat, but ultimately couldn't say it out loud.
"Furthermore, if Cheng Li is actually punished over this—and ideally, if he loses his position as Martial Hall Master—then that role would go to Brother Bai. I now hold the authority of the Incense Hall Master. If he were to become the Martial Hall Master, our status would be perfectly aligned... we would be a match made in heaven."
"......" The servant silently bowed his head.
Pan Shulin placed the finished teacup on the table and said: "Alright, you go find my brother Pan Yue, the one who always sides with outsiders. It's time for us to set off too."
"Yes." The servant assented and withdrew.
Watching the servant leave, Pan Shulin curled his lips into a pleased smile.
This time, he must get rid of Xi Yao, and even more, he must make Cheng Bai understand that in this world, only Pan Shulin was truly good to him.
The decision to set sail was made that very day, and they departed that same day. They originally thought that apart from City Lord Xi Ning, no one would come to see them off. But unexpectedly, when they reached the seaside, Shi Yu actually rushed over.
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