Chapter 42

Chapter 42

After distributing the farmland, Xie Licheng stepped out of his portable world.

At that moment, he opened his personal panel to take a look.

Over the past two days, Xie Licheng had leveled up 4 more times, and his current level was 108.

He had gained 4 more attribute points, and he put all of them into luck.

He always felt that luck was something mysterious—he had already experienced the downsides of low luck, and now he wanted to experience the benefits of high luck.

Over these past few days, his weight had also changed somewhat, and he was now up to 70 kilograms.

He was still too skinny overall, but compared to before, he'd gained weight pretty fast.

After all, Xie Licheng had been working out like crazy during this period, and it wasn't easy to pack on pounds with that much exercise.

After adding his attribute points, Xie Licheng pulled an apple out of his portable world.

He decided that from now on, no matter what he was up to, he would make sure to push himself to eat more.

Then, munching on the apple, he slowly kept searching for the Gu family's secret chamber.

He knew the exact location of the Gu family's secret chamber, but he just hadn't figured out how to open it yet.

Gu Zhangyuan had told him it was beneath a stone slab on the ground. He'd checked the ground slab by slab, and finally found it under an inconspicuous flower stand.

By the time he finally got the secret chamber open, he'd just finished the apple.

Xie Licheng wiped his hands and walked into the secret chamber.

The Gu family's secret chamber was way bigger than Gu Zhangyuan's.

Inside, there were two rooms in total—front and back. The front room had two booby traps and was filled with many treasures.

If Xie Licheng hadn't known there were two rooms, he easily could've missed the one hidden behind the first.

The Gu family had set up two secret rooms on purpose, so that if one was found, not everything would get stolen.

They stocked the front room with more loot, figuring most people would grab that and think they'd cleaned the place out.

Xie Licheng carefully dodged the traps and scooped up all the treasure in the front room first.

Then Xie Licheng stepped into the second room, and his eyes landed on several big chests of gold ingots.

Seeing that much gold at once, he realized it was even more than all the gold, silver, and jewelry he'd stashed away before.

Xie Licheng felt a twinge of envy, for no real reason—no wonder the officials and bandits all wanted to gobble up the Gu family. They'd been hiding this much good stuff.

Xie Licheng shoved it all into his portable world, then decided to keep exploring the Gu estate.

He wanted to sweep the Gu family's ancestral hall and the Eldest Master's stuff into his space too.

It wasn't that Xie Licheng was being cheap or anything, wanting to cram everything he found into his space.

Mainly, it was because his portable world was so huge, and since this was Gu Zhangyuan's birth family, Xie Licheng figured it'd be a waste not to use the space—might as well help the Gu family by hauling more stuff in.

When you've got a pocket space that can hold tons of stuff, you can't help but want to cram everything into it.

While Xie Licheng continued searching for supplies in the Gu estate, meanwhile, Gu Zhangyuan was busy with a bunch of servants.

He had to sort through what Xie Licheng had brought in, get it into the warehouse, and keep detailed records so nothing got messed up.

If nobody knew how much stuff there was, it'd be easy for someone on the inside to start stealing.

Too many inside thieves, and a family's bound to be anything but peaceful.

Gu Zhangyuan had been trained in running a household since he was young, so he was pretty sharp and careful about this kind of thing.

The Eldest Master wasn't feeling well, so he didn't pitch in with the work.

He grabbed a chair and sat down, watching Gu Zhangyuan and Gu Yangxue handle the household.

He wasn't worried about Gu Zhangyuan at all—he was just watching because he wanted to split up the family's stuff.

Without Xie Licheng's help, none of this stuff would've made it out of there.

Plus, there was the matter of Xie Licheng saving their lives. Sure, it was because of Gu Zhangyuan, but they couldn't just act like it was nothing.

The Eldest Master said to Gu Zhangyuan, "Split this into four shares—one for the Gu family to live on, one for Xie Licheng as thanks, and the last two for you and Xiaoxue, one each."

Gu Yangxue's face lit up at that, and she turned around to ask, "What about little brother?"

The Eldest Master's expression turned grim just thinking about him. After a long while, he let out a sigh and said, "With a temper like his, he's better off not marrying. He can stay by my side from now on."

Since Gu Zhangyuan was getting married and Gu Yangxue would eventually marry too, the Gu family would just be left with him, an old man. Having Gu Tinghe stick around would at least keep an heir in the family.

Speaking of this, the Eldest Master looked at Gu Zhangyuan and asked, "Now that you are Xie Licheng's husband, when do the two of you plan to hold the wedding ceremony?"

Gu Zhangyuan kept working while he answered, "The world's a mess right now—I don't see any point in a wedding ceremony."

The Eldest Master disagreed, "The ceremony still needs to be held. Otherwise, if you two stay in this wishy-washy situation, what will people think of you later?"

There weren't many people in Peach Blossom Village yet, and since everyone had come here together, they all knew about Xie Licheng and Gu Zhangyuan's relationship.

But as more people showed up later, they wouldn't know the backstory. If the two of them kept living together without making things official, someone was bound to start talking about Gu Zhangyuan.

Xie Licheng was a guy, so he didn't give a damn what people thought of him.

But Gu Zhangyuan was different—the Eldest Master was really worried he'd end up getting hurt or talked about.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "That won't happen. This place isn't like the outside world—no one dares to say anything about me. Also, I don't want to marry into his household. Even if I'm his husband now, I don't want to directly move into his place."

"What are you saying? He'll be pissed if he hears that."

After all, Gu Zhangyuan was the one who'd said he wanted to be Xie Licheng's husband. If he went back on it now, that wouldn't look good.

Gu Zhangyuan walked over to the Eldest Master and said, "Father, don't worry. I'm not saying I won't be his husband. It's just that the Gu family has no one in charge right now—little brother's got a hot temper, and little sister's still young. Xie Licheng's gone a lot, so I want to help you carry the load before I have kids. As for me and Xie Licheng, we can still get married without me moving out. We'll bow to heaven and earth, have everyone witness it, and that'll be that."

Gu Zhangyuan's point was simple: he wasn't going to marry out as a male wife.

He could move in with Xie Licheng, and if he wanted to come back and stay here, he could do that too.

He figured if he explained it right, Xie Licheng wouldn't care about something so minor.

In fact, Xie Licheng really didn't care about stuff like who marries who or where they live.

He was a laid-back guy, rough around the edges and straight to the point.

Earlier, when Gu Zhangyuan wanted to see him, he had even claimed he was heading off to attend to bedchamber duties.

It was precisely because he knew Xie Licheng's temperament that Gu Zhangyuan dared to say such things.

Eldest Master of the Gu Family: "Enough, you've grown up now. Handle your own affairs carefully—don't go offending someone important."

Afterwards, Gu Zhangyuan followed his father's instructions and divided the family's wealth into four portions.

He took the servants with him and first brought Xie Licheng's share to the farmstead.

The valuables were far too heavy for Gu Zhangyuan to carry by himself.

Knowing that aside from him and Xie Licheng, no one else could enter the farmstead, he just had the servants leave the chests at the entrance.

Together with the servants, they pushed with all their strength, shoving the chests across that boundary line.

Only after confirming that no one outside could possibly get their hands on the contents did he and the servants leave.

In truth, the people who had entered Peach Blossom Village at this point were all honest people.

When Xie Licheng had thrown in so many fine things earlier, everyone had been curious and envious, yet not a single person dared to touch them without permission.

Since Eldest Master of the Gu Family had declared those were gifts specifically for Xie Licheng, the villagers were even less likely to touch them.

Gu Zhangyuan had just returned from the farmstead when he saw that the area where things had been piled was now covered with many new items scattered around.

This time, nothing was particularly valuable—just potted flowers, carriages, horses, water buckets, flower stands, vases, screens, and there was even a swing.

Seeing this, Gu Yangxue hurried over, beaming as she said to Gu Zhangyuan, "Brother-in-law is so kind! This is the swing from my courtyard—he even sent it in here."

Seeing her so delighted, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help but smile too.

"Then take the swing back to your place first and see if there's a good spot to set it up."

Xiaoxue was about to head back with the servants when she suddenly turned around and said, "Big brother, the house we're living in now is too small, and there's probably no time to build new ones. Why don't we split up and live in different places for now?"

The house they currently occupied was the largest in Peach Blossom Village, but even so, it couldn't hold more than thirty people.

The Gu family originally had thirty-four members; today, one maidservant had been freed, leaving thirty-three.

Thirty-three people was no small number, and they truly couldn't all squeeze together.

Moreover, there were other people in Peach Blossom Village now, and they still hadn't figured out who gets which house.

Everyone had just found a place to stay, but as for who truly owned which house, no one dared to make that call on their own.

The Gu family had taken the largest house, and they wanted to buy it from Xie Licheng so it could really be their home.

There was a difference between living in someone else's house and living in your own place.

Hearing this, Gu Zhangyuan said to Gu Yangxue, "Alright, when he comes back next time, I'll discuss it with him properly. I'll ask whether the houses here are for sale or rent, and also about that small town he mentioned. If we can go to the town later, then of course we should."

But compared to getting the fields planted, the housing issue wasn't urgent.

It was summer now, and they could still forage for food in the mountains.

Once winter came, finding food would get a lot harder.

Their top priority now was to stockpile as much food as possible and get the fields they'd acquired planted with crops.

Xie Licheng didn't return until noon the next day—he'd spent the night searching for the prefect.

He'd finally located the man's hiding place, but on the way, he'd used up a lot of energy dealing with a few rioters.

Lingzhou hadn't fully fallen yet; most of the garrison troops and conscripted soldiers were still fighting the rebels outside the city.

The main force of these rebels was the large army of the protagonist's love interest.

Though the city hadn't been breached, the city was in chaos.

The prefect, along with bandits, was burning, killing, and looting all over the place, and many local ruffians and rogues had turned into rioters, joining in the carnage.

With the male lead's men also present, the city was in complete turmoil—nowhere was safe.

Xie Licheng didn't want to run low on stamina; running into trouble while exhausted would be a serious problem.

He figured he'd been up all night, so he might as well come back and get some rest.

Rest during the day to recover his strength, then go find that prefect and have a little fun with him at night.

When Xie Licheng returned, he showed up right in the village, and many people saw him.

Upon hearing this news, Gu Zhangyuan thought that since Xie Licheng had been out all day and night, he probably hadn't eaten properly.

He knew Xie Licheng's storeroom was stocked with plenty of pre-made food, but he assumed it was all cooked by Xie Licheng himself.

Thinking Xie Licheng's cooking was mediocre, he decided it would be better to stew a chicken soup for him and let him taste Gu Zhangyuan's cooking.

The chicken had been caught in the mountains by one of the Gu family's male slaves.

It belonged to the slave himself, and since he wanted to earn money to buy his freedom from the family, he sold the chicken to Gu Zhangyuan.

Gu Zhangyuan knew how to cook, but since he'd always been busy and had servants to take care of him, he rarely bothered to cook himself.

By the time Gu Zhangyuan finished making the chicken soup, the sun was already setting outside.

He walked slowly toward the farmstead with Yuan Qiao and noticed the chests at the entrance hadn't been touched by Xie Licheng, which made him a little worried.

Could he be injured?

Otherwise, why wouldn't he have picked up all that gold and silver and jewelry?

And he hadn't come back all night long—could something have happened?

With these thoughts, Gu Zhangyuan quickly took the food container from Yuan Qiao and strode into the farmstead.

Yuan Qiao, left outside the barrier, couldn't help but reach out and pat the invisible wall in front of her.

She whispered softly, "What is this?"

Gu Zhangyuan soon reached the farmstead and headed straight for Xie Licheng's bedroom.

The sky outside had darkened, and the room was dimly lit.

Gu Zhangyuan felt a bit uneasy entering—mainly because he wasn't familiar with the place, and Xie Licheng hadn't even lit a candle.

Fortunately, the bedroom wasn't far from the front door.

Gu Zhangyuan quickly found him, fast asleep in the bedroom.

Maybe it was because he was exhausted, and besides, this was his turf.

When Gu Zhangyuan set down the food box, he accidentally made a little noise, but it didn't wake Xie Licheng.

Gu Zhangyuan tiptoed around the bedroom, hunting for a candlestick to light a candle, but after circling the whole room, he came up empty.

Gu Zhangyuan had no choice but to ditch the idea of lighting a lamp and decided to go check on Xie Licheng, just to make sure he wasn't hurt before he left.

Last time Xie Licheng was resting, he'd accidentally woken him up.

This time, he'd learned his lesson and decided to be super, super careful—absolutely no waking him up again.

But to Gu Zhangyuan's surprise, the moment he crept to the bedside, he got yanked onto the bed, and a hand clamped down on his slender neck.

Startled, Gu Zhangyuan let out a startled yelp.

"Xie Licheng, what are you doing?!"

At that moment, Xie Licheng was genuinely scary—his whole vibe cold and terrifying, like a soulless killer.

What Gu Zhangyuan didn't know was that this was Xie Licheng holding back.

He hadn't slept a wink all night, so he was pretty wiped when he got back today.

Since he was back on familiar turf, he slept deeper this time, and he was a little groggy from it.

Half-asleep, he suddenly felt someone getting close and instinctively went to attack.

Luckily, his body instinctively remembered Gu Zhangyuan's scent, so when he went to strike, he unconsciously pulled his punch.

Xie Licheng quickly let him go, awkwardly explaining.

"Sorry, I used to be single and never liked anyone getting near me when I slept, so I accidentally scared you."

With that, he got out of bed, found an oil lamp, and lit it with a lighter.

As the dim light flickered on, it lit up not just Xie Licheng's bedroom but his body too.

Gu Zhangyuan realized this guy was... actually sleeping naked?

Thinking about how he'd just been pinned underneath him, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help but feel a rush of heat and embarrassment.

Xie Licheng wasn't fully naked; he had on a pair of boxers.

Of course, to a proper, well-bred young gentleman like Gu Zhangyuan, that probably seemed no different from being naked.

Having accidentally scared him, Xie Licheng knew he was at fault, so he held up the oil lamp and leaned in to check if Gu Zhangyuan's neck was hurt.

He'd caught that familiar scent on Gu Zhangyuan and immediately let go, so he shouldn't have hurt him.

But the second he leaned in, Gu Zhangyuan twisted away, looking pretty pissed.

Damn, first time having a husband, and he had no clue how to make it up to him.