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墨書 Inktalez
Four years have passed, and I wonder what the "Dull Overlord" looks like now? Bai Tang is actually worried that Xue Pan has returned to his original appearance from the novel, after all, the plot is quite resilient. If Xue Pan has indeed changed for the worse, Bai Tang will definitely make him unable to take care of himself.
Since she can fly with a sword, Bai Tang reached Jinling in just one hour. She landed in a secluded area outside the city, tidied her slightly messy hair blown by the wind, and walked towards the city. After about ten minutes, the tall city walls came into Bai Tang's view. This is the outer wall of Jinling, reportedly built by Zhu Yuanzhang using the yellow earth hills surrounding the area, with only a few sections of wall added in weak defense areas and sixteen gates opened, commonly known as the "Earthen City Head." Jinling is an ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, historically praised as "Dragon Coiling, Tiger Perching," with Zhongshan dragon coiling in the east and Stone City tiger perching in the west. To the north lies Xuanwu Lake, a large body of water, and to the south flows the Qinhuai River, winding around the city. The population within the city is dense, and commerce is thriving; stalls occupy both sides of the streets, even more than those in Yangzhou. It is said that Great Ancestor of Ming Dynasty invited many craftsmen to Jinling for building the imperial city, and their descendants all remained in Jinling, promoting the development of its commodity market.
Entering through Qilin Gate, Bai Tang had not walked far when she noticed that everyone around her was rushing in one direction. Confused, she grabbed a passerby.
"Excuse me, what’s happening? Where is everyone going?"
"Of course, to see the excitement!" The passerby replied with an excited gossiping expression. "It’s said that two young masters are fighting over a woman, and that woman must be a beauty."
Regardless of ancient or modern times, it seems human nature to watch a spectacle!
Bai Tang released her grip and watched as the passerby hurried off towards the crowd, shaking her head with amusement before turning to leave. Suddenly, a familiar voice reached her ears: "Dare to fool me! Beat him up hard!"
Another unfamiliar voice chimed in: "Young Master Xue, if you hit him again, he might die. After all, this person is Miss Xiangling's father; for Miss Xiangling's sake, let’s not hit him anymore?"
The familiar voice responded: "You sure know how to play nice! Hmph! But would someone who sells his daughter as merchandise and has sold her to two families really be her biological father? A trafficker would be more fitting. I suspect this girl might have been sold by him!"
"Hearing Young Master Xue's words makes me suspicious too. But regardless, killing someone is never good; why not just take him to the authorities and let them investigate?"
"Alright then! You all take this person to the yamen."
"Sir, what should we do about this?"
"If Brother Feng likes him, let Brother Feng take him away! Just a few taels of silver."
A joyful voice exclaimed: "Thank you, Young Master Xue! To be honest, I felt very familiar when I first saw Xiangling. If I could marry her as a concubine, I would rather not have a legitimate wife!"
Bai Tang understood the situation. This was a scene from the original work where Xue Pan and Feng Yuan competed for Xiangling, leading to a confrontation with Feng Yuan. Now, Xue Pan was no longer the Dull Overlord, bullying others; instead, he cleverly recognized the wrongdoing of the Trafficker and captured him. As for Xiangling, although Xue Pan found her pleasing to the eye, he was no longer as ignorant as in the original story, where he would have impulsively pursued her. Instead, he decided to give Xiangling to Feng Yuan to build a connection with this local gentleman. It must be said that Xue Pan had been well-educated by Master Xue and had become a qualified heir for the family.
When Bai Tang left, he gave Xue Pan a Peiyuan Pill. Later, when Master Xue fell ill and was on the verge of death, Xue Pan, thinking it was worth a try, gave the Peiyuan Pill to Master Xue. As a result, Master Xue's health improved significantly, and he quickly overcame his illness. After this experience, Master Xue no longer traveled for business but spent more time at home with his family, focusing more on teaching his son and nurturing Xue Pan to become a competent heir.
With the Trafficker taken away and the beauty returned home by Feng Yuan, the crowd dispersed as there was no longer any excitement to watch. Without the crowd blocking his view, Xue Pan immediately spotted a familiar face he hadn't seen in years.
"Teacher!" Xue Pan exclaimed excitedly as he ran over.
Bai Tang looked in surprise at the graceful young man before him. The former chubby boy had transformed into such a handsome figure! The boy appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old, with a face like the full moon, complexion like spring flowers, hair neatly styled, eyebrows like ink paintings, cheeks like peach petals, eyes like autumn waves. He wore a purple gold crown adorned with gems, a two-colored golden robe with butterfly patterns and large red sleeves, tied with colorful silk tassels. Over this, he wore a stone blue patterned coat with eight clusters of flowers and stepped into blue satin boots.
Was this really Xue Pan? Or was it Jia Baoyu?
With such excellent genes from both Master Xue and Aunt Xue, it was no wonder they produced such a beautiful child as Bao Jie. As their son and the elder brother of Bao Jie, it was natural that Xue Pan's appearance would also be impressive. Coupled with his newfound confidence, today's Xue Pan was vastly different from the one in the original work.
"Xue Pan?"
"Master, you don't recognize me?" Xue Pan grinned. "Did you not expect me to be so elegant, charming, handsome beyond compare?"
"Indeed! You are loved by all; you are like a pear blossom overshadowing a begonia!"
"Master, 'a pear blossom overshadowing a begonia' is not used that way!"
"I use it this way; do you have an issue with that?"
"No!" Xue Pan shrank his neck; how could he dare to have an opinion? Despite appearing easygoing, his own Master was quite cunning. If he upset her, he had no idea what methods she might use to punish him.
“Master, how have you been all these years?”
“Not bad! How about you? From the way you handled things just now, Master Xue has taught you very well!” Bai Tang was quite pleased with her disciple's current demeanor. She reached out to pat his head but found it difficult to find a spot due to the golden crown occupying most of Xue Pan's head, so she reluctantly withdrew her hand.
Xue Pan smiled proudly.
Bai Tang looked at the young man who was not much shorter than herself and sighed with emotion. When she first met him, he was just a chubby little ball, and now he had grown so much in the blink of an eye!
“Did you really just let that beauty go to Feng Yuan without any reluctance?”
“With my status as a young master of the Xue Family, what kind of beauty do I not want? Besides, this beauty is not particularly outstanding, so there’s nothing to be reluctant about,” Xue Pan replied nonchalantly.
Bai Tang laughed, “In the future, Master should introduce an even prettier beauty to me. What do you think?”
“Of course!” Xue Pan answered loudly.
Although the beauty taken away by Feng Yuan was named Xiangling, this “Xiangling” is not the same as that “Xiangling.” Zhen Yinglian was not sold off; however, the plot arranged for another girl to handle this scene, which could not be helped.
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