Chapter Twenty-One: Li Wenxuan Is Cornered

At this very moment, it was impossible to tell what great decision Manager Li had made in his heart. One could only roughly tell from his appearance: his whole body was trembling, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans were falling one after another down his face.

If it really came to it, he thought, he could just wash up and face it tomorrow. The only question was whether the Third Young Master would find him too old and uninteresting.

Li Hui raised his hand to knock on the door, but after a moment’s thought, he turned and left instead. Yes, he needed to wash up first. It was also necessary for his heart to come to terms with what was to come.

Inside the room, Li Wenxuan sensed footsteps approaching the door. His eyes flashed with a cold light; the Black Iron Blade was ready to fly from its sheath at any moment to meet an enemy.

But… at that very moment, the footsteps retreated.

“Are the people in this estate all mad?” Li Wenxuan picked up the nearby wine jug. As a top grandmaster, he naturally knew how to discern poison.

Just as he was about to check what kind of deadly poison had been slipped into the wine, his expression suddenly stiffened.

“This… isn’t poisoned!”

Surprised by this discovery, Li Wenxuan then took up his chopsticks and carefully examined the dishes.

“Rice… no poison!”

“Sweet and sour carp… no poison!”

“Fried spare ribs, no poison!”

“Braised lamb, no poison!”

“Red-braised donkey meat, no poison!”

“Kung Pao chicken, no poison!”

“Marinated chicken leg… also no poison?”

Li Wenxuan was speechless.

If nothing in all this was poisoned, then it must be he who was the poison.

He picked up a piece of sweet and sour carp, poured himself a small cup of wine, and began to drink by himself.

“That must be Li Hu, who somehow got wind that I’m taking a government post tomorrow. He’s deliberately having the steward treat me well now, fearing I’ll pursue the gambling contract.”

A cold smile spread across Li Wenxuan’s face. “Li Hu, oh Li Hu, if you had known this day would come, why start it all in the first place?”

“I will make you fulfill every clause in that contract, one by one!”

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Li Wenxuan, to be safe, did not sleep in the bed. He folded the clothes in the wardrobe and piled them on the bed, covering them with a quilt, creating the illusion that he was asleep there.

Instead, he climbed onto a beam to sleep. This way, if anything were to happen at night, he would have enough time to react.

Leaning against the crossbeam, Li Wenxuan slowly drifted off to sleep.

This broken general’s mansion was truly unbearable; once he began his post at the Ministry of Revenue tomorrow, he would separate his household registration himself and then go buy a place outside…

Well, he couldn’t afford that yet; housing prices in the capital were too high. Renting a one-bedroom apartment wouldn’t be a problem and would ease the financial burden.

“Sir, what exactly has happened?”

In the steward’s room, Mrs. Li Hui looked anxiously at her husband, who wore a complex expression, and asked her to fetch sesame oil, lard, and other lubricants.

Li Hui sighed softly, looking at his wife but hesitating to speak.

“Madam, don’t ask anything. If our family remains peaceful during this time, then good days lie ahead. But if anything goes wrong, immediately pry up this floor tile under my bed…”

His tone was unprecedentedly serious. “Remember, only pry it up after something happens to me. Then, follow the instructions in this letter to find someone to save me!”

“Ah Lang, don’t scare me, what exactly happened?” Mrs. Li Hui almost cried out of fear.

“Silence, no questions!”

Thinking of the trials ahead, yet glancing at his sleeping daughter and his wife who had accompanied him for so many years, Li Hui felt that everything was worth it.

A true man must face difficulties head-on.

The next morning!

Just as Li Wenxuan stepped outside, he sensed a strange atmosphere pervading the entire general’s mansion.

He paid it no mind and didn’t linger. Mounting his chestnut mare, he left the place; after today, he would never return to this broken place.

Before mounting, he carefully checked the saddle, seat cushion, and horseshoes to ensure no tampering had occurred. Satisfied, he proudly rode his mare through the streets.

After grabbing a simple breakfast at the roadside, he planned to head directly to the Literary Institute to wait for the officials from the Ministry of Personnel.

Not to show sincerity, but because his knowledge of this world was too limited.

If he could meet Mr. Zhao, he would continue talking with him. If not, he would gather information from others, including inquiries about yesterday’s assassination attempt on the Crown Prince of the Duke of Duan.

However, just as Li Wenxuan turned the corner, he was suddenly blocked.

Judging roughly, there were at least twenty or thirty men.

Just as he prepared to spur his horse and flee, he realized his path behind was also blocked.

“Well! This is interesting. So you’re the defeated subordinate after all!”

Li Wenxuan looked at Tang Qi, whose face was bruised and swollen, as he rode through the crowd. Li Wenxuan burst into a silent, mocking laugh, quickly thinking of a way to respond.

With so many enemies, fighting was a last resort; the best plan was to run!

With his retreat cut off, he considered jumping over a wall.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a dog hole in the wall’s corner… but no, a man of honor must know what to do and what not to do.

He refused to believe that if he ran into the Literary Institute, his pursuers would dare to bring men inside to attack him.

“You—”

Tang Qi started to speak and immediately noticed Xiaohong allowing this scoundrel to ride her obediently.

Xiaohong, oh Xiaohong, you were never such a fickle mare before!

“What do you mean, ‘what’? Come and try to take her!” Li Wenxuan sneered. When afraid, one must never show it.

His experience in fighting was so vast it would take days to recount.

“Hmph! I want to challenge you!”

Tang Qi arrogantly lifted his head, trying to look down on Li Wenxuan.

But seeing Xiaohong so docile under Li Wenxuan, his heart ached, and he could not maintain his cold demeanor.

“Oh? Bringing so many men to challenge me—you afraid I’ll beat you?”

Li Wenxuan laughed aloud. Was this man’s mind broken by his own fists?

Even if he had cleaned himself out this morning, with so many men, they could still beat him senseless.

And yet he said he wanted to challenge him?

“You! Don’t go too far!” Tang Qi was furious, barely able to speak. He pointed his sword at Li Wenxuan and shouted:

“Yesterday was an accident. I came today to challenge you and to tell you…”

He glanced at Xiaohong, meekly ridden by Li Wenxuan, and his heart hurt even more.

“What I lost yesterday, I will take back openly and aboveboard!”

“You mean her?” Li Wenxuan patted Xiaohong’s head. “If you can call her back, I’ll return her to you.”

“You!” Tang Qi roared in anger. “I said I’ll take her back openly and aboveboard! I want to challenge you! I want to defeat you!”

Li Wenxuan rubbed his ears, ringing from the shouting, and nodded at the furious Tang Qi like a lion.

“I accept your challenge, but I have one rule!”

“Speak! I, Tang, am fair and just—there is no threat here!”

Li Wenxuan glanced at the dozens of men surrounding him and smiled, nodding.

Tang Qi’s fragile pride felt as if it had been struck hard by an eighty-pound hammer. His eyes were bloodshot, anger and frustration nearly driving him mad. He shouted:

“I really am not threatening you!”

“I do this because I fear you’ll run the moment you see me from afar!”

“Even if I defeat you, it will be a fair and square victory!”

Tang Qi was truly losing his mind; he didn’t know what had come over him.

Before this man, he felt utterly unable to maintain his composure.

Li Wenxuan stroked Xiaohong’s beautiful mane.

Tang Qi, seeing this, suddenly howled to the sky, pounding his chest furiously.

After venting, he finally calmed down… as long as he didn’t look at the compliant Xiaohong, he could keep calm.

“State your terms!”

Those five words came out as if escaping from between clenched teeth in desperation.