With the Power of Alcohol, the Hairpin is Yours
Ning Zhuoru grumbled, âWhat sort of host shows up later than the invitees?â
Lang Qing shook his head. âWe have ordered a table of food. We canât run even if he is late.â
Yuan Kou, who clearly had a bit too much to drink already based on him drumming the table with his drumsticks, said, âSir, you are too stingy. You do not need to be so late even if you do not want to treat us. You have to have three drinks as punishment.â
Teng: âWelcome.â
Ever since they started hanging around me, all of them had grown more shameless.
âThere seems to be a misunderstanding.â I sat down, had two drinks, finished a drumstick and then continued, âI did not come to treat you.â
Once they looked confused, I stated, âI shall be frank with your judgements.â
Though the five of them were bouncing off walls at the moment, they were still criminals who were only released temporarily thanks to me. They, however, seemed to forget the fact since they stayed put in the capital. Actually, they sounded as if they were ready to become residents of the capital.
Gu Xianxian and his wife started crying.
âOur poor unborn child.â
âYou, too, my dear wife! All three of us!â
Lang Qing and Teng exchanged eye contact, both planning to jump out the building and speed off, but Yuan Kou grabbed them and said, âRelax! We donât even know what theyâll do with us yet. Whatâs the hurry? Sir, what is going to be done with us?â
I shrugged. âExile.â
Gu Xianxian and his wife cried louder. Lang Qing and Teng no longer had any hesitations. Yuan Kou was ready to run, too, but the trio couldnât move. Gu Xianxian and Ning Zhuoru freaked out as they watched the three shiver as they were pulled back to their seaks.
Lang Qing: âY-youâŠâ
I removed my celestial spider silk, then helped myself to another cup of wine. It wouldnât have been possible to pull all three of them back using a vacuum from a single palm strike, so the silk saved me the trouble of striking twice.
âWhat are you all panicking for? I did say exile, but I never said suffering. Relax.â
Yuan Kou, catching on fast, even gave up on resisting the cold energy. âSir, just tell it to us straight. Stop toying with us.â
âSo, about this meal?â
âWe will pay for it.â
âDeal.â I tossed a peanut into my mouth. âYour crimes were supposed to have been swept under the rug. Unfortunately, you know about Fiendsâ Genesisâ and Jiang Chenâs recent activities. Jiang Chen assaulted the imperial city. Thatâs treason at the highest level. Therefore, it goes without saying that Fiendsâ Genesis are heinous criminals. Everyone in the imperial court unanimously supports annihilating Fiendsâ Genesis. Thing is, Fiendsâ Genesis isnât easy to locate. What are they going to do if they canât find the culprits? Would you be able to let the offence go if you were in the imperial courtâs shoes?â
They had a think and then painfully shook their heads â except for Yuan Kou, who mumbled, âI could. I could. The imperial court is tolerant. They only killed a couple of people and set a few fires.â I glared Yuan Kou into shaking his head.
âRight? Who could take it lying?â I gently tapped the table, then resumed, âWhat else could be done if you didnât want to take it lying?â I swept my gaze over them before elaborating, âVenting.â
Gu Xianxian replied, âBut they canât find Fiendsâ Genesis.â
âExactly. Precisely. Since they canât find the culprit, theyâll have to vent on the culpritâs associates, right? Brother Gu, since youâre so clever, how about taking a guess as to who that would be.â
Gu Xianxian stopped to think, then responded, âThere only seems to be the five of us, then⊠Wait, what?! Theyâre going to take it out on us?!â
I flicked up a thumb. âYou really are a genius, Brother Gu. Iâll go and give them the feedback. I promise youâll have your way.â
Gu Xianxian nearly collapsed.
Lang Qing questioned, âIt sounds like they havenât decided to kill us yet, correct?â
âNot far off, though. In short, the imperial court isnât taking this lightly. You all know who Secretary Lie is, right? Heâs in charge of the Ministry of War. Fiendsâ Genesis inflamed him. Heâs been warming up his hands to go hack some fiends.â
Secretary Lie truly was busy, and his department was also busy enough for citizens to have noticed. The five of them also seemed to have heard or seen something related.
âYou can relax, though. While the imperial court is united in the decision, you have me, right?â
Yuan Kou: âWhat did you say, Sir?â
âI tried to dissuade them! I poured my heart out to His Majesty; I had to drink three barrels of tea a day to rehydrate. I spoke to everyone involved to convince them to finally reduce your sentences to exile.â
âExile is still too much.â Teary, Ning Zhuoru sobbed, âIâm pregnant. I canât stand that much stress. Besides, my child would be⊠would beâŠâ
âDonât worry. You still have me. Who am I? I wouldnât leave you to your fates after all that you five helped me with, right? I kept pushing. I said that exile was fine, but that I would have to make the decision on how that was implemented. You know how close His Majesty and I are. He gave me the nod.â
âS-so how will you exile us, Sir?â questioned Yuan Kou.
âSimple. Our boss at Liu Shan Men has been relocated away from the capital, so I suggested bringing you five along. Since you must travel a long distance, it counts as exile. Helping Liu Shan Men out at the office and taking care of affairs in the pugilistic world counts as serving your sentence.â
Even Teng and Lang Qing relaxed after hearing that.
Considering their skills, they would have had to have their martial arts deleted before they were exiled. That wasnât a concern if they were travelling with Liu Shan Men. Plus, they were used to the freedom of the pugilistic world, so asking them to perform manual labour as servants was no different to a death sentence. Allowing them to deal with problems in the martial world granted them a degree of freedom. Yuan Kou, in particular, was obsessed with employment under the imperial court, so what complaint could he have possibly had?
After thanking me, enjoying a relaxing meal, then bidding me goodbye, they headed off to pack up and prepare to report in to Boss at Liu Shan Men.
Honestly, they wouldâve been helpful to Liu Shan Men. And honestly, the story I told them was absolutely fictitious. The imperial court forgot about them long ago. Long Zaitian erased their records to save his own rear for losing them, so they were never arrested. My date of departure hadnât been decided; how could I let Boss leave the capital without a single bodyguard? The five of them were more than qualified to be door guards, so I saw no reason to waste their abilities? Moreover, why not maximise free labour when Boss was strapped for money? Well, it wasnât as if I could pay them even if they asked for it.
As I cleaned my teeth with a toothpick, Proprietor Shi came to sit down opposite me. âWant a drink?â
Proprietor Shi gave me a nod. âNo.â
âWhat do you want then?â
âYour owed money.â
âŠ
While I was recovering at Liu Shan Men, I had my subordinates go buy me take-away from Eight Deities so that I wouldnât have to get out of bed. Accordingly, I had to put all of it on my tab.
âI owe payment for the last seven days already?â
Proprietor Shi shook his head.
Thought so.
âYou havenât paid for any of your meals.â
â⊠Brother, this is for your sake. What do you think would happen if I cleared all my tabs? Youâd lose a frequent customer. I canât sabotage you like that, right? I wonât pay anything for now.â
âWhat?! Is he not paying again?! Say something!â Proprietor Shiâs wife thundered from the kitchen.
âH-he is,â replied Proprietor Shi, then turning back to me haplessly.
â⊠Okay, on account of you being in hard times, Iâll pay today.â
Olâ Shi stared at me â confused.
âWhat? Why would I bring money when I want to eat out?â
ââŠâ Proprietor Shi turned to call for his employees to block the exit.
âNo, no, no, thatâs not what I meant. Wait here. Someone will bring the money.â
âYour foresight is truly impressive, Brother Ming.â A man slowly ascended the stairs and came over to me. He set down a heavy box on the table and conveyed, âI hope you have been well, Brother Ming.â
I smiled. âYou seem to be doing well, too, Brother Gou.â
See? I told you there would be money coming.đđŠđđŻđđŁđŠđ.đ€đ°đź