Seeing Li Hui's changing expression, Li Xia stood up and approached him. "Big brother, I am the second young lady of the Li Manor."
Li Xia's words brought the fluctuating thoughts in Li Hui's heart to an abrupt halt. He smiled and reached out to pat her head. "Yes, you will always be the second young lady of the Li Manor, my younger sister."
As for whether those things were true or not, it no longer mattered. As long as their Li family was doing well, that was enough.
"So, big brother, you don't need to have Zhang Hu keep an eye on me anymore." It was quite a hassle to have to shake him off every night when leaving the manor.
Li Hui's heart knew he had guessed correctly. He took a deep breath, "Don't go too far." The righteous hero had been quite active lately, drawing everyone's attention.
"Big brother, Zhang Hu is too weak. Do you want me to help train him?" Li Xia ignored Li Hui's words and, looking through the window at the distant Zhang Hu, spoke with some disdain.
"Has Qiu Ling been trained by you?" Qiu Ling sometimes ran into Zhang Hu while gathering information, and Li Hui had heard of her progress.
Qiu Ling was trained by Zhou Heng's help, and Li Xia's abilities were not suitable for Qiu Ling to learn. Li Xia didn't mention Zhou Heng's matter to Li Hui for now, so she casually made up an excuse, "I can't go all out."
This statement made Li Hui choke a little. His own people couldn't go all out, but his people could. However, Zhang Hu's martial arts skills were somewhat lacking. During the last investigation, he almost got discovered. He needed further training.
Sitting in the corridor, Zhang Hu couldn't help but sneeze. Rubbing his nose, he wondered if he had caught a cold from the chilly weather.
After seeing Li Xia off, Li Hui called Zhang Hu into the room. He instructed him that he no longer needed to keep an eye on the Plum Blossom Pavilion. From today onwards, he would receive guidance from Li Xia.
Zhang Hu was perplexed. What could the second young lady teach him, embroidery? However, Zhang Hu soon found out. That night, Li Xia took Zhang Hu to Sanhui Lane in the southern part of the Capital City. This was a gathering place for people from all walks of life.
Previously, when Li Xia was capturing wanted criminals, she had been here. She knew that the Yongsheng Gambling House would hold real martial arts competitions in the underground level every eighth day of the month. Anyone, male or female, could participate by signing a life-and-death agreement. The winner of each match would receive 50 taels of silver.
It was the first time Zhang Hu learned of such a place. Upon entering, he saw a match taking place in the center of the arena, with two evenly matched men fiercely exchanging blows in a bloody and violent manner.
Soon, one of the men found his opponent's weakness and landed a punch on his face, causing teeth and blood to spray out.
Zhang Hu was somewhat concerned, but the surrounding spectators were extremely excited, shouting "Kill him!"
The beaten man, realizing he was outmatched, quickly admitted defeat.
What kind of place was this? What were these people doing? Before Zhang Hu could make sense of the situation, Li Xia had already signed him up and whispered in his ear, "The power unleashed when facing life and death is boundless."
With that, Zhang Hu was pushed onto the stage, facing a tall, muscular man with a scarred face. In comparison, Zhang Hu appeared quite slender. The crowd erupted with shouts:
"Kill him!"
"Go on!"
"Hurry, hit him, cripple him, kill him!" These voices reached Zhang Hu's ears, causing his expression to change.
Staring at the fierce, murderous-looking, strong man across from him, Zhang Hu swallowed nervously. He glanced around the arena, hoping to find Li Xia. He wanted to ask the second young lady if she disliked him and didn't want him to live.
Unfortunately, Li Xia was cloaked in a black robe, concealing herself completely. Zhang Hu had no idea where she was positioned.
At the sound of the gong, the muscular man charged at Zhang Hu. Zhang Hu was no match for the man's strength. He tried his best to dodge and avoid direct confrontation, hoping to exhaust the other's energy before seizing an opportunity to strike.
Seeing Zhang Hu only evading and not retaliating, some in the audience grew impatient and shouted loudly, "Coward!"
"Go on!"
"Fight him head-on!"
"Hit him!" The gamblers who had bet on the muscular man winning yelled furiously.
There were also those who had gambled on Zhang Hu winning, shouting at him, "You must win!"
Zhang Hu could no longer hear any of this. He now felt that he might really die here. Just as the man's fist was about to make intimate contact with his face, Zhang Hu swiftly dropped to the ground and rolled away to dodge.
The man roared and stomped, forcing Zhang Hu to roll around the arena to avoid being trampled. In his mind, he pondered what to do, as continuing like this would undoubtedly result in him being crushed to a pulp.
Rolling away once more as the man raised his foot, Zhang Hu gritted his teeth and went all out, aiming his hands at the man's most vulnerable area. The man lost his balance and fell, allowing Zhang Hu to seize the opportunity, straddling him and wrapping his legs around the man's neck, squeezing with all his might.
The unbearable pain from both sides caused the muscular man to scream in surrender. The gong sounded, signaling the end of the fight, and no further attacks were allowed. Zhang Hu released his hold and collapsed to the side. Those who had bet on the muscular man winning shouted insults, while those who had bet on Zhang Hu cheered in celebration.
Li Xia had bet on Zhang Hu winning and cashed in the silver. She led Zhang Hu out of the Yongsheng Gambling House, taking a detour through a small alley to shake off any followers. After a few turns, before Zhang Hu could ask the questions he wanted to, Li Xia had already brought him back to the Li Manor through a side gate to the Osmanthus Alley.
Li Xia tossed Zhang Hu a bottle of medicine and left him with the words, "You're too weak." She then lightly returned to rest.
Holding the medicine bottle and watching Li Xia's retreating figure, Zhang Hu didn't know what to say. He gripped the bottle and went to the front courtyard, where Li Hui was waiting for him, unable to sleep. Seeing Zhang Hu's battered state, Li Hui stood up and approached him, "What happened to you? Where did you go?"
Zhang Hu briefly recounted their evening's activities.
"The Capital City has such places?" Li Hui had never set foot in or understood this world before. In the Capital City, the sacred place where the emperor resides, there were actually locations that treated human life so carelessly.
"Not just you, young master. I've been out gathering information, visiting places frequented by all kinds of people, but this is the first time I've seen such a place." However, what surprised Zhang Hu more was how Li Xia seemed completely unaffected by it all, even slightly excited.
"No one other than me can know about this matter," Li Hui didn't inquire further, instructing Zhang Hu not to discuss it with anyone else.
"You have my word, young master," Zhang Hu solemnly replied.
"Go rest now. Don't come on duty tomorrow. Rest well," Li Hui added another instruction, and Zhang Hu acknowledged it before leaving and closing the door behind him.
Returning to the Plum Blossom Pavilion, Li Xia entered through the back window and took out a roll of silver bills from her pocket. She thought to herself, "What a profitable night, with someone to train and money to be made." She placed the silver bills in the drawer, yawned, changed her clothes, and went to bed to rest.
Before dawn, Auntie Mei came to wake Li Xia up.
"Auntie, let me sleep a little longer," Li Xia clung to the blanket, unwilling to get up as the sky was still dark.
"Today is already the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, you can't sleep in," Auntie Mei uncovered Li Xia's blanket and took the cold wet cloth handed to her by Qiu Ju, directly fanning it onto her face. Today there were many things to do, so she couldn't let Li Xia sleep in.
The cold wetness of the cloth hitting her face completely woke Li Xia up. Qiu Shui and Qiu Ling helped Li Xia get dressed, while Qiu Kui brought Wu Chan to tidy up the room and brought over some warm water for Li Xia to wash her face.
