140 Lost

Li Xintian made arrangements as well.

"She is the one Mother mentioned in her letter, Hu Qiuyan."

Huo Wanping pulled Hu Qiuyan forward to introduce her to Li Qizong and Chen Shuxia.

"Greetings, Master, Madam."

Hu Qiuyan blushed slightly and gave a gentle bow.

"No need for such formalities. Now that you are here, consider this your home. There are no such rigid rules in this household."

Seeing Hu Qiuyan's well-read and sensible demeanor, Chen Shuxia was thoroughly pleased. She nodded with a warm smile.

"Madam is right. Since you're here, treat this as your own home. In a few days, after choosing an auspicious date, I will have Tian'er go to your family to propose marriage."

Standing nearby, Li Qizong also nodded with satisfaction, without even inquiring about Hu Qiuyan's background.

The elderly couple exchanged glances and smiled.

Hu Qiuyan blushed deeply, feeling awkward and shy, not knowing what to say.

"Alright, alright. She just arrived after all. Let Tian'er arrange her room first; there will be plenty of time for everything else later."

Huo Wanping stepped in to rescue Hu Qiuyan from her embarrassment.

"Very well. I'll go call Tian'er over to make the arrangements."

With that, Li Qizong quickly departed to summon Li Xintian.

"Father, did you call me?"

Li Xintian had originally thought on his way back of having Hu Qiuyan stay at her own home first, but after second thoughts, abandoned the idea, and was currently feeling quite a headache over it.

"You rascal, go arrange a place for her to stay instead of wandering around. There's nothing for you to attend to here—let your younger brother and your cousin handle things here. Hurry up, we'll go make the proposal in a couple of days."

As Li Qizong approached, he grabbed Li Xintian by the arm and urged him to quickly settle Hu Qiuyan's accommodations.

"Alright, alright, alright."

Left with no choice, Li Xintian walked over to Hu Qiuyan with a helpless expression.

"Grandmother, Mother, I'll go arrange Qiuyan's room right now."

Li Xintian stood beside Hu Qiuyan and said.

"Fine. I remember there is still an empty room in your courtyard. You can arrange for her to stay in the same courtyard as you."

Chen Shuxia nodded in approval.

"Very well then."

Knowing he could not avoid it, Li Xintian conceded and said, "Qiuyan, let's go."

"Madam, Elder Madam, please excuse me for a moment."

Before leaving, Hu Qiuyan did not forget to offer a polite parting remark.

"Go ahead. If anyone bullies you, just tell me. In this household, I still know how to keep this scoundrel in line."

Chen Shuxia added with a parting smile toward Hu Qiuyan.

Blushing, Hu Qiuyan nodded and followed behind Li Xintian.

"Don't worry about anything now that you're here. Just treat it like your own home; there are no strict rules here. In a few days, I'll go to your family to propose and give you a unique wedding."

Li Xintian and Hu Qiuyan walked side by side as he spoke. Servants they passed along the way still bowed and greeted him as the eldest young master.

"Really? When will it be?"

Hu Qiuyan asked with a radiant smile.

"Of course it's real. I still need to prepare the wedding dress and get everything properly arranged before I tell you, so there's no need to rush."

Li Xintian said with a smile.

"Is that person the future eldest young mistress? She looks so pretty, I'm truly envious."

"Our eldest young master is so talented and versatile; I wonder who else he might marry in the future."

The maidservants whispered among themselves, already aware that Hu Qiuyan was to be Li Xintian's wife.

Upon entering his courtyard, Li Xintian saw many servants and maids busy at work.

"Eldest Young Master."

The servants and maids greeted him respectfully upon sight.

The courtyard was exceptionally clean, showing that the staff worked hard and diligently.

"Everyone, our courtyard will soon have a new resident—your future eldest young mistress. Before long, you'll all be invited to drink at my wedding banquet."

Li Xintian took the opportunity to announce.

"Understood, Eldest Young Master."

"Congratulations, Eldest Young Master."

The servants and maids chorused in unison.

"Good, everyone keep up the good work."

With that instruction, Li Xintian led Hu Qiuyan to another room located directly opposite his own sleeping quarters.

"The room is fully prepared with clean daily necessities and quilts."

Li Xintian opened the door and said.

"This courtyard really is remarkably clean."

Hu Qiuyan could clearly see that the courtyard was impeccably spotless.

"Of course. After all, I practice self-discipline and treat others with kindness."

Although Li Xintian practiced self-discipline, his gentle disposition toward others, generosity, inherent kindness, and youthful good looks meant that whenever a new maid entered the estate, she would inevitably lose her heart to him. Just like today, when chatting with the servants and maids, he never put on the airs of a privileged young master, treating everyone as equals.

Consequently, in this world dominated by strict hierarchies, Li Xintian easily stood out from the crowd, making women naturally drawn to flock toward him.

"Get some rest, and tomorrow I'll take you to meet my father and mother."

Without entering the room, Li Xintian said.

"Alright."

Hu Qiuyan stepped into the room and closed the door. Her heart pounded wildly, feeling as though she were living in a dream.

Li Xintian walked back to his opposite room, looking forward to getting some proper rest himself.

The next day.

The bed in Li Xintian's room was positioned with exquisite care and ingenuity. Around the morning hour of Chen (between 7:00 and 9:00 AM), the first ray of sunlight outside the window shone precisely upon the head of the bed, softly and silently awakening anyone sleeping soundly within.

Struck by the sunlight, Li Xintian's eyelids fluttered and his consciousness gradually returned. By his usual habits, he would have gotten up to wash immediately, but having not rested properly during his hurried journey back to Shuiwen County over the past few days, he felt a sudden urge to linger in bed. He buried his head deeper into the pillows to dodge the annoying sunlight and snatch a little more sleep.

"Right, today I'm supposed to take Qiuyan to meet my parents."

Suddenly remembering, Li Xintian threw off the quilt, quickly dressed, washed up, and stepped out of his room to find Hu Qiuyan already waiting for him.

"Let's go."

When Li Xintian and Hu Qiuyan arrived at the main hall, they found his father, Li Qizong, furiously shouting and cursing at Steward Qian, looking extremely angry.

Steward Qian knelt on the ground with his head lowered, his face ashen, as if he had committed some unforgivable, grave offense.

The servants and maids waiting outside the doors trembled with fear, not daring to come close.

"Father, why are you flying into such a rage early in the morning? It wouldn't do to damage your health."

Li Xintian said.

"Tian'er is here." Seeing Li Xintian walk in, Li Qizong reined in much of his fury before continuing, "What else could it be? This Steward Qian bit the hand that feeds him! The heavily guarded treasury of the Li family has lost a full ten thousand taels of silver in the span of a single month. Tell me, shouldn't your father be furious?"

"What?"

Li Xintian was startled as well. How long had he been away for such a major incident to happen at home?

The loss of ten thousand taels of silver.

That was an astronomical sum.

Ever since arriving in this world, Li Xintian had long understood the immense value of gold and silver—it wasn't like the casual depictions in novels where wealthy young masters could pull out tens of thousands of taels on a whim. Here, ten thousand taels of silver constituted a massive fortune, enough to fill a large chest to the brim if converted into physical bullion.

"Father, how could such a huge sum of money vanish out of nowhere?"

Li Xintian asked.

"You'll have to ask Steward Qian that. He has always managed the Li family treasury on my behalf. Believing him to be utterly loyal to the family, I entrusted the storehouse to his care with absolute peace of mind. And now look—we've raised a treacherous wolf in sheep's clothing right here in our own home."

Approaching fifty years of age, Li Qizong still possessed a booming voice, and his scolding was enough to strike terror into listeners.

"Father, do not be angry yet. Everything must be thoroughly investigated before we jump to conclusions. Steward Qian has served our Li family for many years, showing great diligence and unwavering loyalty. Your child finds it hard to believe that Steward Qian would embezzle ten thousand taels of silver from our family for his own gain."

Li Xintian said.

Li Qizong replied, "Am I so foolish? I already inspected the treasury earlier. An entire chest of silver has vanished into thin air. Furthermore, the storehouse is normally restricted with no unauthorized entry, and the keys are held only by myself and Steward Qian. If Steward Qian didn't misappropriate it, could the silver simply have grown wings and flown away?"

Hearing this, Li Xintian conceded that made sense and turned his gaze toward Steward Qian.

At that moment, Steward Qian was kowtowing repeatedly, begging for mercy: "Master, Eldest Young Master, this matter truly has nothing to do with me! I honestly did not embezzle ten thousand taels of silver. Please investigate this clearly, Master, Eldest Young Master!"

"Kowtowing is useless! I'm telling you, no matter what methods you used or when you stole the Li family's ten thousand taels, I give you three days time. If you do not return the silver within three days, don't blame me for disregarding years of master-servant ties and having you beaten to death on the spot!"

Li Qizong raged.

Terrified out of his wits, Steward Qian turned pale and wept tears of despair: "Master, I really didn't take that ten thousand taels of silver! Truly not me, I am wronged!"

"Someone come, drag Steward Qian down and give him thirty heavy strikes of the rod to see whether he decides to speak the truth or not."

Li Qizong shouted immediately.

Two robust male servants strode forward at once, preparing to drag Steward Qian away.

"Father, Steward Qian is nearly sixty years old, and his body is no longer what it used to be. Thirty heavy rod strikes could very well break his legs, if not kill him outright; even if he survives, he'll likely be crippled for life."

Unable to watch any longer, Li Xintian stepped forward and argued: "If Steward Qian truly stole our family's ten thousand taels of silver, there should be clues to track. Shuiwen County is only so big—which household suddenly grew wealthy, or which individual suddenly started spending extravagantly? We can easily find out by investigating, and by following the trail, we will naturally locate the silver."

"On the other hand, if the silver disappeared mysteriously and it wasn't Steward Qian's doing, wouldn't we be wronging an innocent man? Besides, silver vanishing out of thin air doesn't necessarily mean it was taken by human hands."

Li Qizong felt there was reason to this, but upon hearing the last sentence, he was slightly startled: "Are you saying the silver disappearance wasn't done by a human, Tian'er?"

Li Xintian nodded and said, "Precisely. The silver vanishing into thin air could be the work of sorcery, or theft committed by spirits and monsters, or perhaps even wandering netherworld deities and ghosts taking a fancy to wealth as they passed by."

"How can that be?" Li Qizong was stunned, never imagining that so many supernatural methods could be used to extract money from his own family treasury.

"It is entirely possible."

Li Xintian nodded affirmatively.

His words were not spoken without basis; the world of Strange Tales of Liaozhai was wondrous indeed. In many of the stories, certain wealthy merchants suffered karmic retribution, having their wealth taken away by spirits and ghosts, while benevolent female ghosts or spirits would sometimes treat wealthy households as their personal treasury vaults, taking money to reward the kind-hearted.

If one carefully deduced every story in Liaozhai, it became apparent that whenever poor scholars were aided or good people rewarded with hundreds of taels of silver, the origin of the money was never explicitly explained.

Real wealth could not simply be conjured out of thin air. Even if certain Daoist priests possessed the art of turning stones into gold, those were merely optical illusions incapable of withstanding genuine scrutiny.

In this world, households possessing gold and silver were unquestionably the wealthy elite.

Just like the Li family.

Therefore, Li Xintian suspected that the loss of the treasury silver was highly likely related to such phenomena.

Only spirits, ghosts, or monsters could purloin the silver undetected right under everyone's noses, fooling everyone completely.

Yet, the protective aura of righteousness within the household had not been triggered, which suggested there was something peculiar at play.