37: Chapter Thirty-Four: Rules 37: Chapter Thirty-Four: Rules Zhou Chen chuckled with a mild tone,
as if he had merely asked:
“Third Young Master, what shall we eat tonight?”
It seemed that for him, killing a person was just that effortless.
Xu Yuan cast his eyes down at Xue Yong lying on the ground and lightly furrowed his brows.
Having crossed into this world and following Ran Qingmo, he had seen enough to significantly increase his threshold for shock, yet the scene before him still made him feel uneasy.
This was the first time he had seen someone collapse so miserably in front of him.
A second ago, the man had a disdainful look with a calm and collected demeanor.
The next moment, his face had contorted with pain, his gaze shrinking in fear.
Out of fear, Xue Yong tried to suppress his own screams, struggling not to disturb the two nearby, but his face, twisted and pale with agony, and his arm, which had been bent into seven or eight segments by a unique force, were still starkly visible.
Xu Yuan collected his thoughts, looked at Zhou Chen across from him, and chuckled:
Zhou, you are actually willing to make a move on my behalf?”
Zhou Chen’s earlier shake of the head was very clear – with his initial Ninth Grade cultivation, he obviously couldn’t break through the defenses of Xue Yong, at peak Sixth Grade Iron Body.
If he continued fighting, he would only humiliate himself.
But Zhou Chen had helped him anyway.
This was a surprise to Xu Yuan.
Just like Ying’er, who was peeking from the shadows, Zhou Chen could have completely chosen to sit on the fence in this matter.
His failing here wouldn’t affect Zhou Chen in any way.
Zhou Chen took a swig from his flask and chuckled with a hehe:
“Hey, the Third Young Master invited me to have fun at the Zuixian Pavilion for so long, I should do something in return.”
Xu Yuan smiled noncommittally.
That was indeed one reason.
Zuixian Pavilion, as Jingjiang City’s top pleasure ground, required a hundred taels of Patterned Silver to reserve the top floor for a day.
Alcohol and the company of women cost extra, and Xu Yuan had already spent at least three thousand taels of Silver in the past twenty days.
The technological development of this world was merely focused differently; its productivity was no less than that of Xu Yuan’s former world, and in some aspects, even superior.
Yet, an average person could hardly earn more than ten or twenty Silver taels in a year.
A great expert like Zhou Chen probably earned only a few thousand taels a month.
“Third Young Master, should this person be crippled or killed?” Zhou Chen asked again with a chuckle.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan didn’t probe further and glanced at Xue Yong on the ground, who lay there like a dead dog.
In his previous life, there were also some long-standing employees who liked to pay lip service to him due to his youth, but Xu Yuan merely responded by giving them the cold shoulder and docking their pay.
Even if he harbored a deep grudge, at most, he would make it so that the person couldn’t get by in the industry.
His mindset from his former life made Xu Yuan feel that such punishment was enough for Xue Yong.
But just as he was about to voice this, Xu Yuan saw the look in the other man’s eyes, silently swallowed his words, chuckled, and turned to walk out of the private room.
Damn it, Zhou Chen was also testing him.
It seemed that since he was taken away by Ran Qingmo and then returned with all these possessions, there were still far too many suspicious points.
With the original temperament of being sensitive and prone to rage, in such a situation, he wouldn’t let Xue Yong live.
One matter might not make a difference, but many a little makes a mickle.
Xu Yuan pushed open the door, paused in his steps, and looked back:
Zhou, I don’t want to see this person anymore.”
Having said that, he stepped out of the private room.
Zhou Chen watched Xu Yuan’s departing figure, smiling even more joyfully than before.
But in contrast to his smile, the horror in Xue Yong’s eyes was overflowing.
He didn’t want to die.
He couldn’t die here because of that worthless Third Young Master!
He was a genius, who at the age of twenty-two had already reached the peak of Sixth Grade Iron Body—a genius indeed.
As long as this protection task was completed and he obtained the cultivation resources distributed by the Prime Minister’s Mansion, he would definitely break through to Grade Fifth.
The Fourth Miss valued him so much, and he was so young.
If his cultivation made further progress, gaining the Fourth Miss’s favor or even a sliver of possibility…
As Xu Yuan’s words ended, Xue Yong on the ground immediately bore the pain in his arm and said with a trembling voice:
Protector Zhou, you can’t kill me.
Even if I have been disrespectful to the Third Young Master this time, as per the rules, crippling one of my hands is already the harshest punishment.
I know I was wrong, and if you kill me, according to the rules set by the Prime Minister, you too will be punished.”
Listening to Xue Yong’s last-ditch effort, Zhou Chen’s smile faded and he nodded in agreement:
Without rules, there is no square or circle.
The Prime Minister’s Mansion, as a massive interest group, naturally couldn’t be without rules.
If any powerful figure could just kill subordinates at will, this interest group would have collapsed long ago.
Xue Yong was a genius.
To kill a genius at the peak of Sixth Grade Iron Body without cause, Zhou Chen wouldn’t face death or imprisonment, but he estimated that his annual cultivation resources and salary were certain to be docked.
Seeing this, Xue Yong let out a sigh of relief and managed to squeeze out a smile.
Zhou Chen suddenly gave him a toothy smile and said cheerfully:
“But if it’s the Third Young Master who wants to kill you, what does that have to do with me?”
Xue Yong’s smile stiffened.
Zhou Chen looked at Xue Yong’s unsightly expression, slowly knelt in front of him, and gently shook his head:
“Xue Yong, just how much do you look down on the Third Young Master?
I remember the Fourth Miss said you were smart, but now you can’t see such a simple logic?”
Xue Yong was stunned.
Yes, it was the Third Young Master who wanted to kill him, not Zhou Chen.
Would the Third Young Master pay a price for killing him?
Yes, and a heavy one.
According to the rules, the Third Young Master’s monthly allowance for ten years would be confiscated, and he would also be whipped and put into solitary confinement.
But solitary confinement?
Who would dare to confine him?
If confined, this spoiled heir would dare to use his mortal body, testing whether his head or the wall was harder—a godly feat.
The monthly allowance?
How could a hundred Patterned Silver a month possibly be enough for daily debauchery at Zuixian Pavilion?
Xue Yong suddenly turned his head towards the door, only to see the wooden door of the private room tightly shut.
Zuixian Pavilion had excellent soundproofing.
Subconsciously, he started his cultivation technique, pouring it into his voice to plead for mercy from the Third Young Master:
Zhou Chen seemed to have lost interest and simply slapped Xue Yong’s forehead.
Watching Xue Yong’s body go limp, Zhou Chen stood up and called the other Protectors over, casually explained what had happened, and then left under the stunned and fearful gazes of the Protectors.
After leaving the private room, Zhou Chen went straight to the railing by the deep well structure of Zuixian Pavilion.
Xu Yuan was standing there, looking down.
Zhou Chen stood beside him, resting his arms on the railing, and offhandedly said:
“Third Young Master, it’s done, but there might be some trouble with the Fourth Miss, after all, she seemed to value Xue Yong quite a bit.”
Xu Yuan glanced at Zhou Chen with a hint of amusement in his voice:
If it hadn’t been for my mother insisting on taking that wretched woman as her adopted daughter, she’d probably be in some Hook Bar by now, selling smiles as nothing but a bastard child.”