When the Deed Is Done, Brush Off Your Sleeves and Leave

"Master, Old Li beat Second Master's man."

A middle-aged steward stood there with a respectful expression.

Zhu Ping's expression did not change in the slightest. "Just servants brawling. Give them ten lashes each. Old Li is nearly seventy already, isn't he?"

"Yes, Master."

Zhu Ping seemed to recall something and added:

"Old Li is too old to be punished physically. Put it on the record for now."

The middle-aged steward looked up in astonishment.

So in the end, Zhao Mazi was the only one getting beaten.

Master's favoritism was far too obvious.

"Understood."

The middle-aged steward had served as a steward in the Zhu Family for over a decade and was long since a seasoned hand. How could he fail to understand that Master was using this chance to knock Second Master down a peg?

Only Zhu Ping remained in the room.

The corner of Zhu Ping's lips curled slightly. "Old Li, you really have given me a surprise."

"Old Li, Master has taken your advanced age into consideration and waived the penalty of whipping. You are merely confined to your quarters for three days."

The middle-aged steward smiled warmly, with not the slightest hint of punishment on his face.

Li Rui said, "Thank you, Master. Steward Zhu, please accept this small token of appreciation."

He took a bulging money pouch from his sleeve.

Steward Zhu accepted the pouch without changing expression and weighed it in his hand. The copper coins clattered inside, and his smile deepened.

Old hands really did understand the rules better.

"Old Li, you are an old servant of the household. Work hard. Master sees it all."

What he meant was: hit whoever you pleased; Master had his back.

Li Rui said, "Master truly is a great benevolent man."

In the Zhu Family estate, what one did was not important at all. Picking the right patron was the key. As long as someone sheltered you, anything you did was right.

He had only had Wang Zhao exchange the silver at a shop on the next street after hearing the news.

A gift, after all.

How could a tiny scrap of silver look as generous as a whole bag of copper coins?

After seeing off the middle-aged steward,

Wang Zhao finally said with the look of a man who had survived a disaster, "Master, is it really over now?"

Li Rui glanced at his foolish apprentice. "What could possibly happen?"

The Zhu brothers had been at odds for a long time, but there was still a layer of paper between them.

Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals.

As long as he had not beaten Zhu Lie himself, there was not much of a problem. Zhao Mazi could only blame his own lack of ability; he had taken that beating for nothing.

"Go on. Don't neglect the fodder these three days."

"Yes, Master."

After sending Wang Zhao away, Li Rui was alone in the room. A cold gleam flashed in his eyes. "Zhao Mazi cannot be allowed to live!"

Zhao Mazi had relied on Zhu Lie's banner to lord it over others in the Zhu Family, committing all manner of evil, bullying men and women alike. Yet Zhao Mazi knew his limits and never provoked those he should not provoke.

Master Zhu of the Zhu Family had thus kept one eye open and one eye shut.

But he should never have provoked Li Rui.

"Zhao Mazi always eats at the dining hall. Poisoning him could easily harm others by mistake and cause even greater trouble."

If too many people died of poison, it would not just alert the Zhu Family—it might even bring the authorities.

Though this world lacked sophisticated instruments, experienced constables were still not to be underestimated.

"Then I'll make it quick and clean!"

Li Rui finally made his decision.

Late at night.

In a pitch-black little room on the west side of the Zhu Family estate, the door stood open, and the faint sound of someone's agonized howls drifted out.

"You old bastard, once I'm healed, I'll poison your horses first and see how you explain yourself!"

Zhao Mazi lay facedown on the bed.

His upper body was bare. In the moonlight, bloody whip marks could be seen across his back, neither more nor less than ten.

"Ow."

The thought of taking ten lashes while Li Rui had merely been confined for three days made Zhao Mazi's anger flare even hotter.

"Who's there?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Zhao Mazi saw an extra shadow in the room.

"Damn it, are you dead? You don't even make a sound when you walk."

He assumed it was one of his underlings coming to change his medicine.

Just as he was about to turn his head—

"Mm!"

A quilt was thrown over his head, plunging his vision into darkness. The suffocating sensation made his limbs flail wildly. Zhao Mazi struggled desperately, but it was useless.

He might have had some strength, but how could he compare to a martial artist who had entered rank?

"Be more careful in your next life. Some people are beyond your right to provoke!"

Inside the quilt, Zhao Mazi's face flushed crimson as his eyes widened.

It was Old Li!

He wanted to curse the bastard, but no words came out. He could only whimper faintly. Then his limbs went slack, and he stopped moving entirely.

Li Rui did not loosen his grip just because Zhao Mazi had stopped resisting.

He counted silently in his heart:

"Two hundred and fifteen."

"Two hundred and sixteen."

Only after reaching five hundred did he release his hands from the quilt. Zhao Mazi had long since wet the bed, his face blue-purple, his tongue lolling out. He was dead beyond doubt.

Li Rui gave Zhao Mazi no chance to play dead.

There was not much turmoil in Li Rui's heart. He even had the presence of mind to carefully clean up the scene, sweeping away every valuable item in the room.

In the end, he staged it to look as though Zhao Mazi had fallen from the bed and frozen to death.

Only after finishing everything did he turn away calmly.

When the deed was done, he brushed off his sleeves and left.

There were no surveillance cameras in this age. Many murder cases ended up as unsolved mysteries, let alone the death of a mere Zhu Family servant. The authorities had no interest in pursuing it.

Of course, the authorities might possess supernatural powers beyond his imagination.

Like the Divine Weapon Talisman he had heard Zhu Yue mention before.

But even if they had such methods, the authorities would never use them over a lowly wretch like this.

Zhao Mazi's body was discovered by several guards the next day.

It was the bitter midwinter season. Meat hanging in the kitchen would not rot even after half a month. By the time Zhao Mazi was discovered, his corpse had frozen stiff as a board.

Li Rui heard that when Second Master Zhu learned of it, he flew into a rage and swore he would find whoever had killed his man.

The valuables in Zhao Mazi's home had vanished without a trace, so it looked like murder for money.

But Zhao Mazi had taken part in many of Second Master's secret dealings and offended far too many people. Li Rui was merely one of them.

Besides, Li Rui was currently confined in his room and had no chance to act.

Unless he was a martial artist.

A seventy-year-old old man becoming a martial artist who had entered rank? What a joke!

In the end, the matter could only fizzle out.

With Zhao Mazi dead, the Zhu Family servants secretly rejoiced. Without Zhao Mazi's oppression, their lives might become much easier.

Some stories changed flavor as they passed from person to person.

At first, some claimed Old Li had done it, but it did not seem plausible. After passing through seven or eight mouths, it became that Zhao Mazi had done too much evil alongside Second Master, and a vengeful ghost had come to claim his life.

Otherwise, how could a strong, living man die without a sound, when even the several guards sleeping next door had not heard the slightest noise?

None of this had anything to do with Li Rui, a seventy-year-old man with one foot already in the grave.

Li Rui returned to his room.

A string of small words appeared before his eyes.

Congratulations, Host, for completing the beginner achievement Famous Throughout Jianghu—First Entry into Jianghu 2.