Su Fu also relaxed considerably after discovering that Yun Huizhou and Lian Li weren’t staring at her excessively.
Su Jun’s mood gradually improved as well.
Only Master Su seemed to have fallen into a foul mood.
Lian Li kept his head down, shoveling rice into his mouth while thinking to himself: Who cares if he’s in a good mood or not? As long as he and Yun Huizhou are happy, that’s enough.
After the banquet ended, Master Su spoke again. “The garden was just renovated last year, and we brought in many rare species only found in the west. Jun’er, Fu’er, why don’t you take the two young heroes for a proper stroll through the garden?”
Yun Huizhou’s expression remained unchanged.
Lian Li lowered his head and curled his lip.
The moods of Su Jun and Su Fu turned visibly unpleasant once more.
Master Su likely saw his children’s reluctance as well. As soon as he finished speaking, he left without giving anyone else a chance to object.
Lian Li: “…”
Su Jun: “…”
Su Fu maintained a smile, but there was a faint sorrow in her eyes… yet she also seemed resigned to her fate.
She turned to look at Yun Huizhou, her vermilion lips parting slightly. “Young heroes…”
Just as Lian Li shifted his gaze from Master Su’s retreating back to the speaking Su Fu, a sudden pain shot through his waist. He instinctively cried out, “Ah! You—”
He looked at Yun Huizhou, wanting to ask what he was doing.
However, Yun Huizhou grabbed him by the shoulder, cutting him off. “Junior Brother, didn’t you say you hurt your waist during practice yesterday? Hurry back and rest.”
Lian Li: “…”
Fine, you’re the Senior Brother. Whatever you say goes.
The questioning words at the tip of Lian Li’s tongue turned into: “Ah, yes, yes. My martial arts have grown rusty from traveling these past few days, so I practiced too hard yesterday. My waist has been very uncomfortable all day. Let’s skip the garden stroll.”
Su Jun: “…”
Su Fu: “…”
“In that case, the two young heroes should rest early,” Su Fu said, sounding as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
Thus, the four of them split into pairs and went their separate ways.
Back in their courtyard, the two did not go straight to their rooms but sat down at the stone table.
“Master Su wants Miss Su to marry us,” Yun Huizhou said.
Lian Li felt this wasn’t quite right and countered, “Miss Su can’t marry two people at once. Master Su wants her to marry you. It just so happens you were the champion of last year’s Martial Arts Assembly, so winning the martial arts marriage competition would be a breeze for you. He wants to go with the flow, let you meet Miss Su, and hopes you’ll be moved by her beauty.”
To be honest, Master Su’s approach disgusted Lian Li a little.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on why he felt disgusted, but after realizing Master Su’s intentions, he was indeed very irritated.
Fortunately, Miss Su and Su Jun weren’t interested in this arrangement, and Yun Huizhou hadn’t reacted at all, which made him feel much better.
He felt they really shouldn’t have entered the Su Mansion. Helping was one thing, but they should have been cold-hearted enough to refuse Su Jun’s invitation at noon.
Yun Huizhou was also quite relieved. Fortunately, Master Su’s target was him; if the target had been Lian Li, he was truly worried the boy wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation.
“Let’s just start this and get it over with quickly,” Lian Li muttered under his breath. “And that Su Shan—he should either die somewhere far away or show up quickly so he can be eliminated.”
Yun Huizhou stroked his blade and said, “If you want to help the Su family, then simply eliminating Su Shan won’t be enough.”
Lian Li blinked, understanding Yun Huizhou’s meaning.
As long as a person like Su Shan lived, even if Miss Su married out, the Su family would never know peace.
But truthfully, their relationship with the Su family hadn’t reached that level of depth yet. They had mainly come because of the East Island Lord’s letter.
However, now that they were here and knew about the situation, trying to stay uninvolved felt a bit awkward.
Especially Miss Su—she was too innocent and too pitiful.
Her kindness had actually attracted such a white-eyed wolf; she didn’t deserve to be treated this way.
“Let’s just go with the flow,” Lian Li said. “If nothing happens, we’ll leave after the marriage competition is over and we see Miss Su married off. But if Su Shan appears and there’s an opportunity…”
Before he could finish, Yun Huizhou spoke. “Su Shan has gathered a group of people to act as bandits. Once I’ve figured out their full strength, I’ll take you to suppress the bandits, depending on the situation.”
Lian Li was somewhat confused. Was Yun Huizhou planning to create an opportunity to help the Su family deal with Su Shan even if one didn’t exist?
He leaned toward Yun Huizhou’s ear and whispered, “Is your relationship with the Su family that deep? How come I didn’t know?”
As soon as Yun Huizhou heard this, he knew where Lian Li’s thoughts were heading and had to explain. “I meant that I’d take you to suppress bandits because the first battle for sect disciples after leaving their island is usually catching thieves or suppressing bandits.”
“Even without a reward from the Martial Arts Alliance, raiding the nests of these bandits can yield a lot of money to use as funds for traveling the Jianghu.”
“If the local residents are grateful, they might also pool some money together for us.”
“Oh, I see.” Lian Li understood; this was taking him to grind experience and earn money. So he quickly replied, “Alright.”
During the days waiting for the marriage competition at the Su Mansion, Master Su still didn’t give up on his ideas. He kept creating opportunities for Yun Huizhou and Miss Su to meet.
He wanted Yun Huizhou to fall for Miss Su’s beauty.
Lian Li was anxious, fearing that Yun Huizhou might actually take a liking to Miss Su and suddenly want to participate in the marriage competition.
He didn’t know why he was so anxious. He had clearly decided long ago not to use an escapist strategy and had made many preparations, yet he was still anxious.
Fortunately, Yun Huizhou was not very cooperative.
Su Fu’s attitude on the other hand was a bit strange.
She seemed very passive and uncooperative, just like Yun Huizhou, yet she also seemed to be hoping for something.
But Yun Huizhou was a hopelessly dense straight man; he couldn’t understand Miss Su’s delicate thoughts.
Lian Li, however, picked up on a few things. Miss Su didn’t want this, but she also didn’t want to just marry anyone, so she wanted to see what Yun Huizhou planned to do, handing over the initiative.
However, even though Lian Li grasped Miss Su’s meaning, he pretended not to know and didn’t remind Yun Huizhou.
He thought he would just act as if he hadn’t transmigrated; Yun Huizhou could do as he pleased, and he wouldn’t meddle recklessly.
He knew he seemed quite conflicted, but he didn’t know why he was being so awkward.
So he acted as if he knew nothing and saw nothing, focusing solely on studying the medicine he had scrounged from the West Island Lord.
On the third day at the Su Mansion, Yun Huizhou found him and said, “Staying in the Su Mansion all the time is stifling. Why don’t we go out for a stroll?”
“Sure,” Lian Li agreed readily. Going out was great; it would be best to stay out all day to avoid Master Su’s matchmaking.
“Let’s tell Su Jun,” Lian Li said, preparing to go to Su Jun’s courtyard to find him, but Yun Huizhou grabbed him.
“Just tell a servant. If Su Jun asks, let the servant reply,” Yun Huizhou said.
Lian Li thought he had a point, so he only informed a servant before leaving the Su Mansion with Yun Huizhou.
