34: Strong-Arming Him into Signing a Slave Contract-He'd Kill Himself on the Spot

"What a mighty stone lion."

The manor gate looked small from afar, but huge up close. It stood a good ten feet tall, with copper studs on the doors and vermilion lacquer that proclaimed its authority. It looked like a gaping bloody maw, ready to swallow anyone whole.

Standing outside the gate, Li Xiaofan couldn't help feeling oppressed. Thinking that his older brother lived in a place like this only strengthened his resolve.

After hesitating for a moment, he gently knocked on the door.

"It's the middle of winter. Which lord has come calling?"

A mutter came from inside the gate, followed immediately by the door opening.

The ones who opened it were some of the waiting servant foremen. They were responsible for clearing the snow from the courtyard. When the snow melted, it stuck together, making it difficult to sweep. But compared to the other servant chores, it was already much easier.

Those who managed to get this sort of work were all veteran servants.

At first, these waiting servants had been bowing and scraping, their faces full of ingratiating smiles. But when they saw that the visitor was dressed in dirty, tattered clothes, even worse than their own, their attitude changed in an instant.

"Kid, who are you?"

One servant demanded, his face full of impatience. "We're not hiring servants right now."

"Look at those bones of yours. One gust of wind could knock you down. You can't do any work. Hurry up and get lost. Don't die at the manor gate and leave us to clean up after you."

Another servant spoke up as well.

With that, he started to close the gate.

"Big brother, you've misunderstood." Li Xiaofan breathed into his hands and rubbed them together. "I'm here to look for someone. Could I trouble you to see if you can let him know?"

His voice was childish, but polite.

"Looking for someone?" The servant frowned, then called over his shoulder, "Master Bi, there's an outsider kid who wants to find someone. Do you want us to send him away, or..."

Bi Hao rose from a wooden chair, leaning on his cane. His last fight with Li Xian had left him badly injured, and only in the past few days had he finally been able to get out of bed.

"Looking for someone?" Bi Hao was surprised, too.

It was rare for someone to come looking for a relative who had sold himself into slavery.

"Who are you looking for?" Bi Hao asked with interest.

Li Xiaofan answered earnestly, "I'm going to take the Winter Examination and will be leaving Qingning County. My older brother is at the manor. I want to see him once."

"What's your older brother's name? If he's a servant, he might already be dead," Bi Hao said mockingly.

"No, no, that can't be. My older brother is already a guard." Li Xiaofan shook his head repeatedly.

"Oh..." Bi Hao frowned. "He's a guard now." There was much less mockery in his voice.

"My older brother's name is Li Xian. Big brother... could you trouble yourself to go let him know?" Li Xiaofan pleaded.

"Li... Xian?" Bi Hao's expression changed, but he immediately suppressed it. "You're sure your older brother's name is Li Xian?"

"What's wrong?" Li Xiaofan grew nervous, too.

"Nothing... It's nothing. Wait here for a while." Bi Hao shot the servants a meaningful look, then hurried off, leaning on his cane.

Those servants were all foremen of their respective crews. They had no other abilities, but they were very close to Bi Hao and knew what was on his mind.

They immediately dispersed without a sound, deliberately or otherwise blocking Li Xiaofan's way.

"Maternal Uncle, Maternal Uncle!"

Bi Hao hurriedly found the steward, Luo Fang.

Luo Fang frowned and waved him away. "Get lost, get lost, get lost. Just looking at you gives me a headache."

"Maternal Uncle, just hear me out." Bi Hao briefly told him what had happened at the manor gate.

"Oh..." Luo Fang raised his brows as a sinister scheme came to mind. "So you're saying the whole thing has come to us without any effort at all?"

"Maternal Uncle, what do you mean?" Bi Hao pressed him.

"You good-for-nothing. You're a little slow and a little stupid, but you do have one fine quality." Luo Fang stood with his hands behind his back, pacing as if he had everything under control, then continued:

"You know how to obey. You never take it upon yourself to make a decision."

"Li Xian's younger brother has shown up. All we have to do is trick him into signing a slave contract and becoming a servant. Then... wouldn't we have leverage over Li Xian?"

Bi Hao's eyes widened. "Maternal Uncle, you truly are the cleverest man in the world!"

"Hahaha. Not at all, not at all." Luo Fang laughed heartily and said, "Get the contract ready. Come with me to the front gate at once."

Before long.

At the front gate, Luo Fang indeed saw Li Xiaofan. The boy's clothes were filthy and disheveled, but his eyes were bright, and his brows bore a three-tenths resemblance to Li Xian's.

"Young brother, you want to see your older brother?" Luo Fang asked with a warm smile that hid a knife.

"Mm, can I?" Li Xiaofan asked hesitantly.

"Well... that'll be a little difficult. The manor has rules against outsiders entering on their own." Luo Fang pretended to be troubled.

Li Xiaofan gave a quiet sigh and gazed into the manor. If things stayed this way, he wouldn't be able to tell his older brother that he was going to take the examination.

"But..." Luo Fang deliberately drew out his words and took out a contract. "If you want to see your older brother, sign this contract and you can enter the manor. Then I'll take you to see him."

Li Xiaofan only glanced at it before recognizing it as a slave contract.

His heart sank, and his thoughts raced. Though young, he wasn't stupid; he was quite clever.

"That servant said they weren't hiring servants right now. This man heard my older brother's name and immediately came over. He wants to force me to sign a slave contract."

"He must have a grudge against my older brother and wants to use me to control him. My older brother said the people in the manor are all beasts. He was right!"

Li Xiaofan pretended to be naive. "Oh dear... I ate some wild berries on the way, and now my stomach really hurts... I'm going to the latrine, then I'll come back and sign. Sirs and big brothers, please wait for me, okay?"

"Hahaha." Luo Fang stroked the short goatee on his chin. "Of course, of course. Go on."

Li Xiaofan was drenched in cold sweat. He turned and ran. Luo Fang waited a moment before realizing something was wrong. It was winter, after all, and everywhere he looked was a vast expanse of white.

It wasn't hard to see that Li Xiaofan had already taken off at a run. Luo Fang cursed, "Damn it, that kid's trying to escape! Bring him back!"

"What are you standing around for? Get after him... Aiya..." Bi Hao was so anxious that he kicked the servant beside him, but the kick aggravated his injuries, making him grimace in pain.

Several servant foremen hurried after him. Li Xiaofan was small with short legs, and he was dragging an adult's clothes behind him. How could he possibly outrun them?

He was quickly caught and brought back.

"Press his hand onto the contract," Luo Fang said coldly.

"Don't even think about it!" Li Xiaofan struggled wildly like a trapped beast, but there were too many of them, and they held down all four of his limbs.

"Ah!"

He suddenly spotted an opening and bit down hard. One servant cried out in pain and let go. Li Xiaofan hurriedly scrambled to his feet and ran.

"You little bastard! I can't handle the big bastard, but I can handle you!"

Luo Fang was furious, too. The two brothers were truly troublesome.

He sprang forward and grabbed Li Xiaofan by the back of the neck. With his Inner Qi circulating, Li Xiaofan could struggle all he wanted, but he was powerless to resist.

Luo Fang held Li Xiaofan's hand down and circulated his Inner Force. Blood welled from the tip of the boy's index finger, and he moved it toward the contract.

"Hahaha."

Li Xianfan suddenly laughed and glared coldly at Luo Fang. "You want to use me against my brother? Dream on! If you press my fingerprint onto that contract, I'll kill myself on the spot!"

He had stopped resisting completely.

Hearing this, Luo Fang felt a bone-chilling cold for no reason.

He hadn't expected both brothers to be so unyielding. If this was true, wouldn't his scheme backfire?

"Heh. You little brat, still running your mouth." Luo Fang was about to press the finger firmly onto the contract.

Just then, he suddenly felt a hand settle on his shoulder. Five fingers dug in, as if sinking into his flesh.