My Father's Name Is Li Tiezhu

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. Brother Deng, hurry and open the gate. The Second Young Master is back!" A Bi shouted toward the gate as loudly as she could.

"Second Young Master, you're part of the Murong Family?" Ning Zhongze had just stepped down from the carriage when she saw A Bi running over, shouting and hopping around without a trace of ladylike decorum.

But Li Hao knew that A Bi and A Zhu only pretended to be proper ladies in public. They were both mischievous at heart.

[Ding! The system detected A Zhu, ranked 516th in the Gallery of Beauties, nearby. Host, seize the opportunity.]

[*Damn it, system, can't you stop scanning? A Zhu is my big brother Qiao Feng's woman. Are you trying to get me killed by the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms or crushed to death by the Dragon Capturing Skill?] Hearing the system's radar results, Li Hao was on the verge of a breakdown.

[Host, A Zhu doesn't even know Qiao Feng yet. Besides, we're a villain system. Don't villains make a living by killing, robbing, and sleeping with other people's wives and daughters?]

[But...] Li Hao couldn't bring himself to go through with it. A Zhu was ranked 516th, after all—higher than Ning Zhongze and Yi Lin. He really couldn't bear to give her away.

"Greetings, Second Young Master!" Not long after A Bi spoke, the tightly shut gates of Canhe Manor swung wide open. A large group of warriors in close-fitting blue robes, each carrying a saber, ran out in formation.

"Stay alert!" Seeing that the newcomers were fully armed, Yan Shun quickly stepped in front of Li Hao and the others.

"Second Young Master! The Second Young Master is over there!" From behind the warriors, a pretty young woman in purple came running out.

Li Hao took a closer look, and was stunned.

Her round eyes held glossy black pupils that darted about. Her gaze was lively, and her smile blossomed like a spring flower, giving her an enchanting air.

Her skin was fair, rosy, smooth, and luminous. She was petite and delicate, full of youthful charm and utterly delightful—a beauty seldom seen in the world!

Compared with the mature allure of Ning Zhongze and Lin Shiyin, A Zhu had a girlish innocence about her.

In Ning Zhongze and Lin Shiyin, Li Hao saw desire; in A Zhu, he saw innocence. She made him want to rush over, pull her into his arms, and give her head a good ruffle.

"Second Young Master, A Zhu pays her respects." A Zhu bounced over to Li Hao and bowed.

The Second Young Master looked exactly like Young Master Fu, as if they'd been carved from the same mold. They looked so much alike.

Their features, their builds, even their temperaments were nearly identical. They were hardly just cousins. The steward wouldn't have been wrong to say he was the master's illegitimate son from an affair.

"Wait, my surname is Li, and my name is Hao. I came with Master Jiumozhi of Tubo to pay our respects to the late Mr. Murong Bo. I'm not your Second Young Master." Li Hao waved his hands repeatedly. Sure, they were beautiful, but that didn't mean they could just look him in the eye and lie.

If the truth came out later, how would he ever face them?

"But the steward said our Second Young Master's name is Li Hao!" A Zhu blinked. Wasn't the Second Young Master here to reclaim his place in the family?

A Bi and A Zhu were nominally Murong Fu's maids, but in reality, they held a very high status at Canhe Manor.

Murong Bo had raised them as his adopted daughters since they were young, and Murong Fu treated them like younger sisters. Everyone at Canhe Manor, from the stewards to the servants, treated them as young ladies. They even lived together at Tingxiang Water Pavilion and had maids of their own.

With A Bi and A Zhu speaking to Li Hao, naturally, none of the servants dared to interrupt.

"My surname is Li, not Murong." Li Hao continued patiently explaining. If the two girls weren't so pretty and charming, he might have drawn his saber and started hacking people apart.

Unfortunately, Duan Yanqing had smashed his sword.

"Right, your surname is Li. What's your father's name?" A Bi promptly asked.

"My father... My father's name is Li Tiezhu." After saying this, Li Hao looked up at the sky, his eyes reddening...

Mom and Dad, are you doing all right in the twenty-first century? Did the company compensate you for my unexpected death...?

Damn it, last night he'd been blowing into Lin Shiyin and the others' [eyes] so much that he'd ended up with a stye himself.

"I, Deng Baichuan, retainer of the Murong Family, pay my respects to the Second Young Master." A burly, bearded man in his forties dropped to one knee.

Looking at the mass of blue-clad warriors kneeling before him, Li Hao suddenly felt his head spin. There was too much for him to take in.

What the hell was going on? Had his predecessor, Zhen Zhibing's mother, been having an affair with Murong Bo?

Then again, that didn't make sense. Yin Zhiping's surname was Yin, and Murong...

"Everyone, please get up!" Seeing a group of people much older than him kneeling, Li Hao felt a little uncomfortable.

If they'd been bandits like Yan Shun and his men, who'd committed every kind of evil, he wouldn't have minded. They could consider it an honor that he let them kneel instead of cutting them down.

But Deng Baichuan and the others were different. They were private soldiers raised by the Murong Family to restore the Yan kingdom, also known as death warriors.

"Second Young Master, this isn't the place to talk. Why don't we go inside?" A Bi and A Zhu were both clever. The prominence of Canhe Manor drew unwanted attention, and they had no idea how many spies from powerful families were watching outside.

Before Li Hao could react, each of them took one of his arms and led him into the manor.

Ning Zhongze and the others were also welcomed by maids and servants. The riders, horses, and carriage were all ushered inside by the people of Canhe Manor.

As for Jiumozhi and Duan Yu, they stood dumbfounded outside the gates of Canhe Manor.

A breeze passed, and a golden leaf drifted by in front of them. Add a sad soundtrack, and they could probably gain hundreds of thousands of followers.

"Master, may I ask what brings you to our manor?" Finally, after the main group had gone inside, Deng Baichuan noticed the monk still standing outside, with a beggar beside him.

"Well, I came with the Second Young Master," Jiumozhi replied, feeling rather put out.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that the title of Second Young Master was more useful here than his title as the national preceptor of Tubo.

"So you're a friend of the Second Young Master, Master? Forgive my discourtesy. Please, come inside." Just as Jiumozhi had expected, the moment Deng Baichuan heard he'd come with the Second Young Master, he became much more welcoming.

When Duan Yu dragged his feet and refused to enter, Deng Baichuan even kicked him in the backside.

Deng Baichuan was an old hand at the jianghu. He could tell that Duan Yu couldn't possibly be the Second Young Master's friend; otherwise, he wouldn't be dressed like a beggar.

"Young Hero Li, you've kept me in the dark!" As soon as he entered, Jiumozhi saw Li Hao sitting in the seat of honor in the main hall, surrounded by beauties.

Seeing Li Hao looking so pleased with himself, like a smug little man who'd gotten his way, Jiumozhi couldn't help complaining.