Chapter 55: The Murderous Lord Li Hongtian
“Aunt Liu went out to search for a job while I’m here walking around,” Qingqing was obviously trembling, holding on Hong Xiaobao’s clothes with a pitiful look. She then said, “Aunt Liu and I somehow ended up staying here since we heard it’s rather safe. However we don’t have any money with us, so Aunt Liu had to find a job. I don’t know if she managed to get one yet or not…”
After listening to Qingqing, Fang Xinghan immediately understood the situation. It certainly seems like they have a plan. En, I’ll just go with the flow and act like I don’t know anything. He rubbed his nose and kept his mouth shut.
“Oh, erm…” Hong Xiaobao pondered. He then laughed and said, “Then Qingqing, I have a job to offer you. I don’t know if your Aunt Liu will be interested or not, since she might get a little dirty while doing it…”
“She’s not afraid of getting a little bit dirty,” Qingqing stared at Hong Xiaobao and did not ask what the job was about. “Then prince brother, can I help you out as well? Although I’m young, I can still help out. I don’t want Aunt Liu to exhaust herself.”
“Ah? You want to work as well?” Hong Xiaobao scratched his head. “En, this job is certainly not difficult. However your eyes may wear out. You must promise your Brother Xiaobao that you can’t work for too long, okay?” He nodded and said.
“Okay!” Qingqing nodded without hesitation.
At this moment, Jian Pu walking in from the entrance. Once she saw Hong Xiaobao, she wondered what happened and walked towards them. She then said anxiously, “The ninth prince, did Qingqing cause you any trouble?”
“Ah, no she didn’t. I’m quite short of manpower.” Hong Xiaobao chuckled and said, “I have a job to offer, I don’t know if Sister Liu is interested or not?”
“You have a job to offer?” Aunt Liu stunned for a while before jumping in joy and saying, “Thank you, ninth prince! Please forgive me for being rude earlier.” She was referring to when she first met Hong Xiaobao where Qingqing and her had not paid respect to him. It was natural for her to apologize this time.
“Keke, it’s okay,” Hong Xiaobao waved his hands which signified that he accepted her apology. “I’m going to buy a piece of land to build a factory. How about the two of you follow me from now on? I’ll pay twenty silver taels per month and cover your living costs. What do you think?”
Twenty silver taels was reasonable. It was even considered to be high for common residents. Since he was the ninth prince, he naturally could not be too stingy.
“Good, good! Thank you, ninth prince. I’ll pack my stuff right now.”
After a while, Aunt Liu walked and Qingqing walked out of a room with a small bag on their shoulders, “We’re done.” Hong Xiaobao clapped once to gather his men’s attention, “Let’s go.”
Just as they were going to leave, Fang Xinghan smiled and said, “Your Majesty, I saw an old pal here. I want to approach and talk to him for a while. You guys should leave first, I’ll catch up later.”
“Okay, sure.” Hong Xiaobao naturally could not deny his request. He smiled and said, “I didn’t know that there are people you knew over here. See you later!”
“Of course. Alright.” Fang Xinghan nodded.
After Hong Xiaobao and other people left, Fang Xinghan sat in front the bearded man who had acted to scold Qingqing earlier and poured himself a cup of wine before drinking it in one go. After that, he then laughed and said, “One of the four Great Lords, Murderous Lord Li Hongtian, a formidable 9-star martial artist, went as far as doing something like this!”
Murderous Lord Li Hongtian, a 9-star martial artist known to have killed an uncountable number of martial experts. He was considered to have the same rank as one of the head teacher of the Six Great Orthodoxies, Fang Xinghan. Li Hongtian certainly had the power to shake the entire Jiang Hu up by just stamping his foot. However who would expect him to come over to do something like this?
“Hehe, I was given an order from the mistress,” Li Hongtian touched his beard under his broad, square face. He then chuckled and finished his cup of wine. “Since I have no other things to do, walking and looking everywhere are quite enjoyable. This ninth prince is quite good — polite, kind and intelligent.”
Having earned a compliment from a Great Lord was definitely rare. Once this matter was spread around the Jiang Hu, Hong Xiaobao’s name would be known by the entire world in an instant.
“It seems like you look up to Xiaobao by quite a lot.” Fang Xinghan chuckled and said, “Yeah, Xiaobao was definitely intelligent and modest. I like everything about him, particularly his expertise in poetry.” Speaking of this, Fang Xinghan sighed and shook his head, “Unfortunately, he did not want to be my personal disciple and I can do nothing about it.”
“Oh?” Listening to Fang Xinghan’s words, Li Hongtian got curious, “you are the imposing head teacher of a major sect and you want Hong Xiaobao to be your personal disciple? This is definitely something everybody else would wish for, but Hong Xiaobao declined? Could it be that Hong Xiaobao’s brain is damaged?”
It was expected for Li Hongtian to be shocked. Fang Xinghan being the head teacher of one of the Six Great Orthodoxies and a person who had a ma.s.sive influence in the Jiang Hu had his offer declined.
“Keke, I was thinking the same way as you initially.” Fang Xinghan smiled and shook his head, “Unfortunately, I had still looked down on him earlier. En, his brain is undoubtedly smart since he has invented his own martial art. You may not believe this, but at the first level of his martial art, he was able to lift 600 jins and is immune to toxins. I don’t know what the later levels can do. This one is very curious.”
“What? Are you kidding me?!” Li Hongtian was left completely speechless.
He had only heard of a person in the Jiang Hu who inherited his master’s martial art and became insanely strong. But someone like Hong Xiaobao who had invented his own martial art and had this kind of capabilities was definitely the first time Li Hongtian had encountered.
“What else do you expect? Keke.” Fang Xinghan drank a cup of wine once again and asked, “By the way, who is your mistress, Qingqing? She is only this young and has a higher rank than you guys. Oh ya, since you guys are out, who’s defending the base?”