Chapter 183 - What To Do if You’re the Villain and the Heroine Likes You

The Near Virtuous Manor in the western part of the city looked like an ordinary residence. Stone walls, stone lions, wooden plaques, wooden doors. A plaque bearing the three characters "Near Virtuous Manor" hung on the dark brown wooden door, with the characters painted in black. At night, it was common for the doors of the manor to be tightly closed. However, He Yunxiao looked at the wooden door of the Near Virtuous Manor and the orange lanterns hanging on either side, feeling a strange sensation. After watching for a while, He Yunxiao finally understood what was so eerie about this feeling. It was too quiet. This place was eerily quiet. In Yinjing, it was highly unusual for it to be so quiet. Even in the dead of night, there would usually be some sounds of birds or dogs barking. But here, there was nothing. It felt as if living beings should stay away. The carriage from the Marquis' residence stopped in the empty street, and He Yunxiao stood in front of the gate of the Near Virtuous Manor. Still, it was just too quiet. He Yunxiao's throat constricted, and a pitiful strand of saliva passed through his throat, swallowed down into his stomach. His mouth felt dry. Damn it! I thought this would be a brainless harem novel plus a single female lead! What's with this eerie atmosphere? Having been born and raised under the red flag, He Yunxiao didn't believe in all kinds of superstitions. Before his transmigration. Before taking the Soul Devouring Pill. And even before coming to the Near Virtuous Manor. He weighed the fifty taels of silver in his pocket and felt that, compared to ghosts, being poor was even more terrifying. He couldn't find a job and could only rely on borrowing money to sustain his life. Summoning his courage, He Yunxiao grabbed the dark metal beast head door knocker on the wooden door, thudding it a few times. Soon, a plainly dressed maidservant peeked out from behind the door. In normal circumstances, He Yunxiao would have complimented the maidservant's beauty, but after seeing Chu Chu and Nan Zhu's close intimacy, he was "as hard as iron and unbreakable." Ordinary. Compared with the overall eerie and quiet atmosphere of the Near Virtuous Manor, this little maidservant was lively and lovely, quite personable. She said, "Sir, whom are you looking for?" As he had come to borrow money, He Yunxiao prepared to be polite, "I am from the Marquis of Wuqing's household, He Yunxiao, here to see Miss Li Qingmeng." The maidservant frowned at first, then nodded, saying, "Wait here, I'll ask." Subsequently, she pulled the door closed again, leaving He Yunxiao alone outside. According to the etiquette of the Qi Kingdom, except in the case of a great feud, it was rare to leave a guest outside, especially to close the door and leave the guest outside. The maidservant might not have noticed, and He Yunxiao didn't mind such things. Since she said to wait, he would wait. In high-class households, the manor would usually be raised above ground level, thus requiring a few stone steps for traversal, and the Near Virtuous Manor was no exception. Although He Yunxiao was polite with the maidservant, he wasn't the type to stand obediently at the door. After the wooden door was closed, he sat down on the stone steps at the entrance of the Near Virtuous Manor. He picked up a stone and played with it, and even drew a game of "Wells" on the ground. Unbeknownst to He Yunxiao, as he sat outside, beneath the quiet sky of the Near Virtuous Manor, a white dove soared from the courtyard towards the imperial palace. After about half an incense stick's worth of time, the wooden door was pushed open once again, and the maidservant peeked out, saying, "Sir, Miss Li asks you to come in and wait for her." The Near Virtuous Manor seemed eerie at first glance, but after all, it was still the residence of the female lead. He Yunxiao didn't know much about Miss Li Qingmeng except that she was quite sly, but that didn't stop him from trusting her. After all, regardless of how bad the female lead might seem, in the framework of such a naive novel like "Miss, I Just Want to Cultivate," even if she were truly malicious, it would be harmless. Even with the female antagonist character like Chu Chu, she never harmed innocent people. Avoiding crossing the line, even if the female lead's personality was a bit off, was very reassuring. He Yunxiao followed the maidservant into the manor. Upon entering, the place seemed no different from elsewhere at first. The same wooden houses, paper windows, and long corridors. However, as He Yunxiao walked further in, he began to feel that something was amiss. Walking with the maidservant for a quarter of an hour and still not reaching their destination, it was evident that the scale of the Near Virtuous Manor was quite large. Judging by the size, it was even bigger than the Marquis' residence. A manor larger than the Marquis' residence, with such exquisite interior decor, and even the plants, pavilions, and kiosks not inferior to the Deer Horn Academy. How was it possible that he had never heard of such a place before? Suddenly, He Yunxiao realized why the Near Virtuous Manor was so quiet. If a residential area only had one household, then the dwellers would perceive the area as quiet. Likewise, the Near Virtuous Manor was not just the place behind the stone wall and wooden door, but the entire half or even whole street nearby was part of the Near Virtuous Manor! To acquire such a large piece of land in Yinjing, Miss Li Qingmeng must truly be wealthy! Originally, He Yunxiao had only planned to exchange his handkerchief and Li Qingmeng's favor for two thousand taels of silver as the initial capital. The two thousand taels of rent for the month did not need to be paid to the landlord urgently, and the earnings from the five shops would be sufficient to manage. But now, he had changed his mind. He planned to directly ask Li Qingmeng for a loan of ten thousand taels. It would be disrespectful not to borrow so much from her given her wealthy status. And he would definitely repay the loan. He Yunxiao was always very creditworthy in matters of trust. As he moved further into the courtyard, He Yunxiao distinctly felt the atmosphere growing livelier around him. But the liveliness was not visible on the surface. Looking around, it was still an empty scene. Some rooms were lit, while others were not. The one thing they had in common was the absence of any sign of human presence. Perhaps because it was nighttime, the maidservants didn't need to tidy up, so aside from the guide in front of him, he couldn't see any other servants. Where the eyes couldn't see, internal forces were clashing. Without consciously sensing it, He Yunxiao could detect the fluctuations of internal forces from several dozen martial artists. The strongest among them was much stronger than the internal forces he had received from Chu Chu. The glaring fluctuations of internal forces were like flashbulbs in the dark, making it difficult to look at directly for another martial artist. Martial Grandmaster! Generally, if a martial artist of higher cultivation didn't want to reveal their true strength in front of a lower-level martial artist, the latter wouldn't know anything about it. But now, the martial artists of the Near Virtuous Manor were displaying their abilities without reservation, in the dark and nearby, surrounding He Yunxiao, as if telling him: Young man, don't act rashly. A smile appeared at the corner of He Yunxiao's mouth. In all honesty, when an ordinary martial artist came here and was scrutinized by such a myriad of intersecting internal force fluctuations, they would either be terrified to death or would lose half their soul. But He Yunxiao was completely unfazed. Nobody in the world could be stronger than Chu Chu. He Yunxiao spent every day by Chu Chu's side, so a little "intimidation" from internal forces was commonplace for him. Martial Grandmaster? Is that all? He Yunxiao released a small amount of internal force in response and even let it flicker, playing around with it a bit, mocking it. Led by the maidservant, He Yunxiao arrived at a spacious room. It had tables and chairs for receiving guests, as well as tea tables and chairs for intimate conversations, and a couch for taking naps, separated from each other by screens, but it seemed that only one area would be used at a time in this room. The maidservant led He Yunxiao to the tea table. When He Yunxiao arrived, he noticed that there were maidservants serving by the tea table, currently brewing tea. There were two servings—one placed in front of himself, and the other placed opposite him. That should be the seat where Miss Li Qingmeng would sit. The freshly brewed tea was still steaming. If he didn't drink the tea now, it would cool down shortly. He Yunxiao thought to himself that the maidservant wouldn't let the host drink cold tea, so was it... "Sir He, it's been a long time." Li Qingmeng's voice appeared from behind, sharp and laced with a hint of charm, just like her appearance. Without waiting for He Yunxiao to turn around, a fragrant breeze wafted by, and the host of the Near Virtuous Manor sat in her seat. Chapter 184: Near Virtuous Manor Tl. Soothsayer.io