"Capture him and take him away!"
Le Youran said coldly, not giving Xiaoyao any more chance to speak, directly having him seized and taken away.
"Wait, what do you want to do? You have no right to arrest me, you're not a constable!! At the feet of the Son of Heaven, do you have no respect for the law?" Xiaoyao hadn't expected that Le Youran would be so decisive.
"The law? In this matter, I am the law!" Le Youran said with a smile. She was different from others, she only said "in this matter," not arrogantly claiming that she herself represented the law.
This way of putting it made people feel it was quite natural, without that domineering feeling, even though what she was doing was indeed very domineering.
"Where are you taking me?" After a moment of silence, Xiaoyao was considering his options. Right now he could only ask clearly where they were going, find out what this Le Youran actually wanted to do, then make a corresponding decision.
"Taking you to the Le family. Since you like the surname Le so much, I'll make you a member of the Le family!" Le Youran smiled.
"That's not necessary. We've only met once, and though our names match well, we as people don't match. I'm not worthy of you," Xiaoyao put on an act of 'please don't do this, I'm very pure.'
"..."
...
...
Le Youran was first stunned, then her expression immediately became cold as frost. Wasn't Xiaoyao's remark taking advantage of her? But she couldn't really say anything, because what she had just said could indeed be misunderstood.
"You're thinking too highly of yourself! I'll ask you one more time, are you going to continue impersonating the surname Le?" Le Youran said coldly.
"First, please get one thing straight. I'm not impersonating. This is a surname I've been using since childhood!" Xiaoyao declared. Although this surname Le was something he had decided on himself, he had been using it for over ten years. He wouldn't change anything because of some people's unreasonable demands.
"Hmph, still being stubborn. Fine, I'll make you a servant of the Le family. When you feel you no longer need this surname, I'll let you go!" Le Youran felt she needed to teach Xiaoyao a lesson, or else he wouldn't know that the Le family wasn't something just anyone could use to swindle and cheat.
"You're being too domineering. What business is it of yours what my surname is? Can only your family use the surname Le in this whole world?" Xiaoyao frowned.
"I can't control others, but you're different. I can control you!" Le Youran said with a smile. She meant that she couldn't see others so naturally couldn't control them, and besides, others weren't going around cheating people. Xiaoyao was different!
Le Youran had misunderstood from the beginning, thinking Xiaoyao was a fraud, so naturally her attitude and thoughts toward Xiaoyao were different.
"Why? Are you really my long-lost mother?" Xiaoyao looked at Le Youran and asked.
"..."
Le Youran knew Xiaoyao had misunderstood again. At this point, she was too lazy to say anything more to Xiaoyao. She directly had people tie up Xiaoyao and take him to the Le family.
This Le Youran was indeed very decisive. She didn't let Xiaoyao say anything more, directly using chains to lock Xiaoyao's feet, then ordered servants to watch Xiaoyao to prevent him from escaping. Then she left to continue with her own affairs.
And Xiaoyao? From then on, he became a special servant of the Le family, a servant with chains on his feet. However, he could leave at any time, as long as he gave up the surname Le.
The people of the Le family seemed unconcerned about this. They seemed accustomed to such domineering behavior. Le Youran also didn't give Xiaoyao any special treatment, aside from having him chained to prevent escape, she still provided him with good food and lodging. Of course, he also had to work, she wouldn't support an idle person.
This way, things became somewhat strange. Xiaoyao seemed to have just become a servant of the Le family. This was his old profession after all, and he didn't seem particularly resistant to it - he really did stay at the Le family.
Originally, Xiaoyao hadn't planned to stay at the Le family and would have escaped directly. Even if he couldn't defeat Le Youran, he had countless ways to leave the Le family. Although the chains on his feet were quite special and ordinary people couldn't break them, even an Emperor-level martial artist wouldn't easily break them without the key. Xiaoyao had methods. Whether using his lockpicking skills or having Chi Chi bite through them, he could get rid of these chains. But he didn't do so, instead choosing to stay at the Le family.
Naturally, he had his purposes for doing this.
First, he didn't want to offend the Le family. Mainly because Guxing and the others would be staying in this Great Tang capital for a long time, and he didn't want to bring trouble to them.
Second, during the few years Guxing and the others would be at First Academy Under Heaven, Xiaoyao needed to find something to do. Reading books would at most occupy a few months, what about the rest of the time? Therefore, working as a servant at the Le family was also an option.
And finally, most importantly, Xiaoyao had heard from the old monk that the Le family had a secret small scripture pavilion containing many secret manuals, rare books, and unique volumes that the Le family had collected over thousands of years. Many of these were one-of-a-kind and couldn't be found elsewhere.
Although called a small scripture pavilion, it contained no fewer books than other places, fully half the size of Hanlin Academy. As mentioned above, the quality of the books inside was very high, so their value might exceed that of Hanlin Academy.
Xiaoyao would use various methods to get close to the small scripture pavilion. Even if he had to sneak in, he would do it. His current identity was actually very good cover.
Now the only thing Xiaoyao needed to consider was how to explain this situation to Guxing and the others. If they found out, Guxing would definitely come charging over, but Guxing's current strength was still far from being a match for the Le family. This needed to be planned long-term.
Wait, from another perspective, this was also a very good opportunity...
He had an idea!!
"Um, Le Youran, is there something we could discuss?" When Le Youran came to check on Xiaoyao, he suddenly said, making Le Youran feel slightly surprised.
"Have you agreed to stop using the surname Le? There's nothing to discuss about this, as long as you agree, I'll let you go immediately!" Le Youran said with a smile.
She had been quite frustrated these past few days, discovering that Xiaoyao was a stubborn kid who was impervious to reason. She had originally thought such a kid would quickly compromise, but unexpectedly he not only didn't feel there was any problem, but adapted very well.
For this reason, Le Youran had even given Xiaoyao several difficult tasks, deliberately making things hard for him. But unexpectedly, Xiaoyao solved all her problems without any difficulty at all!
Therefore, she was very annoyed with Xiaoyao and wanted to drive him away. But if Xiaoyao didn't admit defeat, she definitely wouldn't give in, because that would show she was useless, unable to handle even a small servant.
During these few days, Le Youran had already investigated Xiaoyao's identity clearly. Actually, most of it was what Xiaoyao himself had told her. Xiaoyao felt there was no need to hide anything, this could be found out with investigation, and the Le family's resources made it easy to investigate.
Because of this, Le Youran now seemed to have changed somewhat. She no longer thought Xiaoyao was a fraud, but she still insisted he change his surname. In her words: you're not qualified to have such a surname. A little servant like you should have the same surname as your master's family - just take the surname Mo!
Naturally, Xiaoyao wouldn't agree to this. Since Xiaoyao wouldn't agree, Le Youran wouldn't admit defeat either. She was determined to make Xiaoyao change, so they remained at an impasse!!
Every day, Le Youran would meet with Xiaoyao. This wasn't because she came specifically, but because Xiaoyao's location made it easy for them to encounter each other. After meeting, she would ask Xiaoyao, "Have you agreed to change your surname?"
Change my surname? Unless you're my mother!
Seeing Xiaoyao's "rogue-like" appearance, Le Youran would be angered into leaving every time. She had no way to deal with Xiaoyao - this was the conclusion she had reached after trying many times. Even when she threatened him with swords, this kid acted like a dead pig that wasn't afraid of boiling water.
She now felt that capturing Xiaoyao might have been a mistake.
Therefore, what she most wanted now was for Xiaoyao to admit defeat so she could immediately send him away!!
However, making Xiaoyao admit defeat was difficult - at least very difficult under these circumstances!!
"I don't agree. I've used my surname for over ten years. Unless you can find my parents, I might consider it!" Xiaoyao said casually.
"Find your head! There are tens of thousands of orphans like you across the entire continent! This young miss doesn't have time to deal with that!!" Le Youran said irritably.
"Then there's nothing more to discuss!" Xiaoyao said.
"If we don't discuss it, we'll continue like this. What did you want to tell me? Wasn't it about this matter?" Le Youran asked curiously.
"Of course not! I just have an idea. If you cooperate, you'll also get considerable benefits!" Xiaoyao said calmly.
"What idea?" Le Youran asked curiously.
"Are you currently stuck at a certain realm, unable to break through?" Xiaoyao asked.
"!? You... how do you know that?" Le Youran was very surprised. Not many people knew about her realm situation, even close friends weren't clear about it. How could this kid in front of her know?
"I just observed it! Don't ask me how I observed it. I just want to ask you - do you want to break through this realm?" Xiaoyao asked back nonchalantly.
"Of course I want to. Do you have a method?" Le Youran asked, but after asking, she felt she was being ridiculous, this question was too stupid. What kind of person was he? How could he possibly have a method?
Even if he knew martial arts, how could he solve her realm problem when the gap was so huge!!
"Of course I have a method, or why would I mention it!" Xiaoyao said.
"What level are you?" Le Youran asked tentatively.
"Basic skills!!" Xiaoyao replied calmly.
"... With your basic skills level, can you solve my King-level realm problem? This is the funniest joke I've ever heard!!" Le Youran was even more certain of her thoughts. She was really too stupid to discuss this issue with this kid.
(End of Chapter)