Xie Yanming was very angry. As the eldest son of the Xie Family, he had been pampered since childhood, always surrounded by attendants, and anything he wanted, his doting mother would have prepared for him without him even needing to ask.
When he came of age and joined the army, his progress was remarkable; it took him less than a year to rise from a common black-robed officer to a green-robed one, and only three years from a green-robed officer to his current silver Flying Fish Robe.
His life's journey had been smooth, except for his strict father, who had given him a few severe beatings.
The first time he stumbled in his life, from childhood to adulthood, was when he began pursuing Miss Xue, Xue Zige, the legitimate daughter of the Xue Family.
She was a lady from a prominent family, with graceful manners, composed and elegant in social settings, utterly devoid of the awkward affectations of ordinary women.
Xie Yanming fell in love at first sight, then again at second sight, and by the third time... he couldn't even manage to see her.
He had bought almost all the jewelry in Linglong Pavilion, yet he always just missed her.
But Xie Yanming didn't get discouraged; such a beauty, if too easily obtained, would be abnormal.
However, when he heard today that a young man had actually been welcomed out of the door by Xue Zige and then led into a private room for a secret talk, Xie Yanming couldn't sit still.
He had bought thousands of taels worth of jewelry, but he had never once entered a private room!
Something was wrong, very wrong, twelve parts out of ten!
So, he rushed over from the guard station.
By the time he arrived at Linglong Pavilion, he heard a servant report that the two had been chatting for a long time, and the jealousy in his heart grew even stronger.
“Bang!” The door of the private room was suddenly pushed open from the outside, the bolt flying off and breaking into two pieces in mid-air.
Xie Yanming entered with a gloomy face, first glancing around. Seeing that the two people inside were behaving appropriately and were far apart, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Xue Zige, however, was annoyed and said coldly, “What is this, Young Master Xie? Trespassing into a private residence without the owner's permission—is this a rule of the Xie Family?”
“I... you... I...” Xie Yanming was instantly speechless. At this moment, reason finally returned to his brain, and he explained, “Sister Zige, I was just worried that you might be taken advantage of by a bad person if you were careless.”
At this moment, Xue Zige's eyes and brows were covered in frost. She sneered and replied, “I never knew Young Master Xie was so warm-hearted, yet I haven't seen you offer a single bit of charity to the beggars and vagrants in the city. Also... we are not close, please just call me by my name.”
Young Master Xie immediately panicked. He wanted to retreat, but then he saw the doorway already crowded with guards, maids, and the hurried old shopkeeper, all craning their necks to watch the spectacle.
So, he bit the bullet and asked, “Miss Xue is always busy, I wonder why you have time to entertain an outsider today?”
“Buying some jewelry to replenish the treasury. If Young Master Xie has nothing else, please leave,” Xue Zige's expression was cold and increasingly impatient.
Xie Yanming, however, didn't want to leave. He pointed at Ning Yue and said, “Miss Xue, no matter what he wants to sell, I, Xie Yanming, will buy it all and give it to you, how about that?”
“I just ask that you don't be angry with me.”
Ning Yue: “......”
People with money at home certainly speak with confidence. Ning Yue looked at Xie Yanming, who had a calm demeanor and spoke boldly, reminding him of those 'private room big brothers' from before, each one gesturing grandly and discussing affairs of state, making people envious.
Xue Zige was indeed not angry; instead, she smiled slyly and asked, “Is that true?”
Seeing that the other party finally deigned to smile at him, Xie Yanming vowed, “Absolutely true!”
“Shopkeeper Hu! Come here.” Xue Zige waved towards the doorway.
The old shopkeeper hitched up his robe and scurried over.
“Tell me, what is the total value of this young master's jewelry?!”
“A total of nine thousand three hundred taels. If we increase the price by twenty percent as you instructed, it would be eleven thousand one hundred and sixty taels.”
“And after applying our shop's discount, it comes to exactly eleven thousand two hundred taels!”
Hiss—the servants and maids outside all gasped, this single transaction was equivalent to nearly half a month's revenue for the shop.
And the 'confident private room big brother' completely broke down at this point. As if he hadn't heard clearly, he grabbed the shopkeeper by the collar and pulled him close.
He fiercely confirmed again, “How much? How much did you say?!”
Over ten thousand taels of silver, even in the eyes of the Xue Family, was not a small sum. If he, Xie Yanming, were to add up all his income from the military and his family, it would probably take him half a year to save this much money.
The money he had previously spent to support Linglong Pavilion had not yet been accounted for, and all of a sudden, where was he supposed to get so much money?
The old shopkeeper was already too scared to speak, stammering, “Young Master Xie, this old servant would not dare to utter a single falsehood, all prices are estimated accurately, I would never dare to deceive you.”
Meanwhile, Xue Zige had somehow been shielded behind Ning Yue, and her heart warmed involuntarily.
She interrupted with a clear voice, “Young Master Xie! Please have some self-respect! I haven't even settled the matter of your trespassing today, if you continue to be so presumptuous, I can only inform Xie Zhenfu... At that time, thirty to fifty lashes of the disciplinary whip will probably be unavoidable!”
“Bang!” When Xie Yanming heard his father's name, he finally let go in fear, and the old shopkeeper slid to the ground, landing with a thump.
Ning Yue watched the 'private room big brother's' face turn from bright red to pale, and then to a purplish liver color, which was quite amusing.
But the atmosphere was too awkward, so he dared not laugh.
“What are you laughing at? I ask you, what are you laughing at?!” Xie Yanming only now noticed Ning Yue beside him.
Ning Yue: “......”
Ning Yue had considerable experience in dealing with 'bankrupt big brothers'.
So he pondered and then spoke, “I laugh at your empty pockets yet your grand promises; I laugh at your lack of funds yet your desire to pity a beauty; I laugh at you, a dignified legitimate son of the Xie Family, being constrained by mere money, seeking but unable to obtain.”
“Tell me yourself, is it funny or not?!”
A big brother with no money has no face.
At this moment, the best way to handle it was to make him face reality.
Thinking back to his previous life, when those down-and-out big brothers left the private room, not one of them left with dignity.
“Kukuku”
“Kukuku”
Many of the onlookers could no longer hold back their laughter.
But they were still trying hard to suppress it.
Veins bulged on Xie Yanming's forehead, and his face grew even gloomier, like the overcast sky before a spring rain.
He finally looked squarely at Ning Yue opposite him and asked in a deep voice, “May I ask for your name, sir?!”
Ning Yue cupped his hands in a salute and said with a smile, “I am Ning Yue!”
Upon hearing this, Xie Yanming was filled with doubt and surprise.
He is Ning Yue!
No wonder his mouth was like it was dipped in poison. He had heard about Lin Shanhe at the Thousand Households Banquet that day as a joke for many days, never expecting it to fall upon his own head today!
Although he didn't know much about Ning Yue, he had heard about his achievement of cutting down Xiao Wenjie with a single strike.
Naturally, he dared not treat him as an ordinary Xiaoqi.
But he couldn't win with words, and if it came to a fight, although Xie Yanming was at the perfected Yijin (Tendon Changing) stage, stronger than Xiao Wenjie, he still wouldn't be able to defeat the other party within dozens of moves.
He felt so stifled inside, unable to vent his anger.
He could only fiercely declare, “Good, good, good! I'll remember you, just you wait for me!”
With that, he flung his sleeve, pushed through the crowd, and fled in disarray.
Based on Ning Yue's experience from his previous life, such post-event threats of trouble usually came to nothing.
He looked at Xie Yanming's disheveled back, recalling the 'bankrupt big brothers' from his past life, their faces and smiles seemingly appearing before his eyes, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.