Demon Cultivator with Celestial Book-Chapter 52 - 38: Scheming and Intrigue, Delivering Money to the Door (Part 2)
He immediately stood up, tossing down a few crimson talisman-coins and a single sentence:
"Keep an eye on Qian’er. If that brat surnamed Jiang comes around again, report to me at once! Does he think he’s made it just by cozying up to a Servant? If he dares to try anything with Qian’er again, I’ll make him regret it..."
Zhou Can strode out of the Laundry Room. As the cold wind scraped his face, the rest of his thought, which he had suppressed deep down, now surfaced with killing intent—
’The life of an Inspector... it’s not like I can’t afford to buy it!’
His steps were quick and hurried, crunching on the thick snow.
Before long, he saw the solitary courtyard at the peak’s summit.
’Qian’er is the proper daughter of the Lianxi Luo Clan. She shouldn’t be looking at a worthless Mortal Servant.’
’But I came from a Mortal background too...’
Zhou Can’s heart was a tangle of emotions. As a Servant in charge of an entire room, he never had a shortage of women.
But he was uniquely taken with Luo Qian’er precisely because of that certain air she had—the air of a proper daughter from a Qi Cultivation Clan.
Expressionless, Zhou Can walked to the courtyard gate and raised a hand to knock the Beast-Mouth Copper Ring.
In fact, he was the one who had paid to rent this private courtyard.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
Hearing the noise, Luo Qian’er slid the bolt and opened the door a crack.
Seeing it was Zhou Can, she said softly,
"It’s so cold, and the snow is so heavy. What brings you here?"
Hearing this, Zhou Can thought of her secret meeting with Jiang Yi, and it was like fuel to a fire. A wicked flame flared up in his heart.
He suppressed his simmering anger and said in a low voice,
"I told you before I could arrange a serving girl for you. It would be much more convenient to have someone for daily cleaning and to look after you. But you refused."
In front of Zhou Can, Luo Qian’er had always maintained a gentle, pliable, and good-natured demeanor.
"I prefer the quiet. Besides, it’s easier to get into the right state for Cultivation, meditation, and Breathing exercises when I’m alone."
Zhou Can loved this about her. A proper daughter of a Qi Cultivation Clan was, after all, different from those cheap maids whose crotches were worn into several holes.
He’d get bored of the latter after toying with them a few times, unable to muster the slightest interest afterward.
Zhou Can stepped over the threshold, entered the main hall, and sat down at his leisure, savoring the fragrant tea Luo Qian’er served him.
He didn’t confront her directly, instead choosing a random topic to start the conversation:
"I heard you’ve been going out a lot lately? Running errands for your younger brother’s entry into an Inner Peak?"
Luo Qian’er hummed softly in affirmation.
Zhou Can continued,
"Your brother has been in the sect for a few days now, and I haven’t had the time to host him. Let’s find some time for me to meet him. I know a few Elders on the Inner Peaks and have some influence with them."
Luo Qian’er looked at Zhou Can and said,
"How could I let you call in favors for my little brother’s future for no reason?"
But in her mind, the face of Junior Brother Jiang appeared.
Compared to the vibrant, dashingly handsome Jiang Yi...
...the forty-something, skinny, and somewhat somber Zhou Can was like a withered tree, hardly a place for a phoenix to build its nest.
"We’ll be family in the future. Why draw such clear lines?"
Zhou Can lowered his head and said, as if nonchalantly,
"Your brother is on Red Flame Peak, isn’t he? You can visit him more often in the future. He might get lonely and homesick by himself."
Luo Qian’er’s heart skipped a beat. Zhou Can had come over in the middle of the night and suddenly brought up her little brother, Luo Tong, with every sentence circling back to Red Flame Peak.
’It seems he’s caught wind of my secret meetings with Junior Brother Jiang.’
Luo Qian’er reacted quickly, but showed no sign of panic. She was average in other respects, but exceptionally skilled at handling men. Her bright eyes flickered a few times as she said,
"I won’t be going to Red Flame Peak anymore. Zhou Lang, do you remember I told you before about a Mortal Servant from the Quenching Room who’s been pestering me?"
Surprise flickered in Zhou Can’s eyes. He hadn’t expected Luo Qian’er to bring it up herself.
"He used to always offer me talisman-coins, hoping to win my favor."
Luo Qian’er forced a look of vulnerability onto her face:
"I rejected him time and again, but he was relentlessly persistent. A few days ago, my brother came looking for me. He wanted me to ask Junior Sister Li Ruohan from the Weaving Room to help him get into that Inner Peak social Association."
"I had to say many kind words to get Junior Sister Li to agree. I was planning to go tell my brother the good news that very night, but I never expected..."
The temper that had been burning in Zhou Can’s chest like a wildfire was gradually soothed by her words.
"The nerve of that bastard! Qian’er, why didn’t you tell me sooner! If I had known, I would have crippled him!"
Luo Qian’er shook her head, looking pitiful and helpless.
"He also has a Servant for a backer, and his Cultivation talent isn’t bad. He’s bound to enter an Inner Peak sooner or later. Zhou Lang, if you make such an enemy because of me, wouldn’t that truly make me a femme fatale?"
Doubts still lingered in Zhou Can’s mind, but before he could speak, he heard Luo Qian’er continue,
"I know what you really think of me. You think I’m vain and materialistic, that I’m only with you for your status as a Servant and for this courtyard at the peak."
"But I, Luo Qian’er, am a proper daughter of a clan. Back in Lianxi, many young masters from prominent clans and promising Dao Materials from Major Sects came to my family to propose marriage."
"If I really wanted to climb the social ladder, why would I have left my home hundreds of miles away? Why would I have joined the Qianji Sect?"
Zhou Can looked awkward. He wanted to say a few words to comfort and placate her, but then he heard Luo Qian’er’s voice, like pear blossoms in the rain, with tears in every word:
"When I first joined the Outer Sect, I was assigned to Nourishing Soul Peak. No one cared about me."
"It was you, Zhou Lang, who helped me up. I used to think all men just coveted a woman’s beauty and none were ever sincere."
"But after being with you these past few years, I can see you have genuine feelings for me, and I am grateful in my heart."
"I know you want to return to your hometown and establish a clan, so I wrote a special letter home, asking my parents to get a Ninth Grade Spiritual Object, the ’Purifying Flood Lotus’."
"I even had them add two acres of Spirit Fields, to serve as the foundation for you to get started!"
Zhou Can’s eyes widened, as if in shock and delight.
Luo Qian’er turned her body slightly and tossed out a reply letter.
"See for yourself! Because of this, there’s been a lot of criticism in the clan. Many people are calling me a losing investment, saying I do nothing but throw myself at men and empty the family coffers!"
"My little brother hasn’t even established his career or started a family, and here I am, his older sister, squandering our savings!"
Zhou Can was completely caught off guard by this tirade. It even made him think of how he’d been groping the female workers in the workshop during the day. Even his thick skin couldn’t hide his shame, and the thought ’I really am a bastard’ suddenly surfaced.
