Chapter 8: When You Start Groveling, You Become Cheap

"I don’t care who you are. If you dare to abduct women in broad daylight, I’ll arrest you."

The one making the move was the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander, Shi Sheng, whom Ye Liuyun had seen not long ago.

At this moment, Shi Sheng was gripping a pampered young noble who looked rather scrawny, dressed in luxurious robes—no matter how the young master struggled,

Shi Sheng kept his grip firm, not letting the kid resist one bit.

"Let go of me! My father won’t let you get away with this!"

Clearly spoiled to the bone—caught by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and still mouthing off.

"Men, tie him up!"

Shi Sheng couldn’t care less.

To catch someone abducting a girl in broad daylight right in front of him—like hell he was going to let it slide.

He immediately ordered his men to tie the young noble up.

Seeing that the kid was about to spew more nonsense, he grabbed a rag and stuffed it into the boy’s mouth.

Just as he was about to haul the guy away, one of Shi Sheng’s men suddenly noticed something and quietly leaned over.

"Sir, look over there!"

"?"

Shi Sheng was puzzled at first, but when he spotted Ye Liuyun standing in the crowd, his brow furrowed at once.

"If he dares to come over and tell me to let him go again, I swear I’ll give him no mercy!"

Shi Sheng had arrested these young lords before, and every time, Liu Feng would show up, snatch the kid, and let him go—for no other reason than to cozy up and get his face known among these entitled brats.

It was all about currying favor.

Not that it ever worked, but Liu Feng sure enjoyed the process.

"What’s with the aggression?"

Ye Liuyun was enjoying the spectacle when he suddenly caught Shi Sheng’s fierce glare—looked like he was about to throw punches.

"Uh!"

Si Nan, standing nearby, didn’t know what to say after witnessing that.

"Sir, should we go over now?"

After tagging along with Liu Feng for so long, Si Nan knew all about these little operations.

"Go over? Go over what? Let’s move!"

Ye Liuyun had zero intention of joining the show—once it stopped being fun, he just turned and walked off.

"???"

Si Nan was genuinely baffled by this scene.

But by the time he came to, Ye Liuyun was already far ahead—he hurried to catch up.

"Wait for me, sir!"

...

Just like that, they left? Watching Ye Liuyun walk off, Shi Sheng also felt a bit lost.

He’d already braced himself for a confrontation, but the guy simply left.

"Sir, you don’t think there’s some sort of plot here, do you?"

Shi Sheng’s men had run into Liu Feng plenty of times before.

"Who cares about their schemes? If they come looking for trouble, I’ll let them taste my fist!"

He clenched his fist.

Shi Sheng wasn’t bothered, and told his people to drag Marquis Wanshun’s son back to the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters.

...

Already departed, Si Nan glanced at the nonchalant Ye Liuyun beside him, thought for a moment,

then couldn’t resist asking,

"Sir, aren’t we going to help Marquis Wanshun’s son out this time?"

"???" Judging by that, sounds like I’ve done this plenty before.

Ye Liuyun casually asked,

"How many times have I done this sort of thing before?"

Assuming Ye Liuyun was testing him, Si Nan answered directly,

"At least ten times, right? Aside from Marquis Wanshun’s boy, there were other marquis and duke sons too. You always said it was the best time to build ties by helping them!"

Hardly anyone in the Embroidered Uniform Guard dared arrest those brats—Shi Sheng was one of the few.

No wonder Shi Sheng looked ready to throw hands just now: ’I arrest, you release—are you messing with me?’

’Why does this feel like licking boots?’ Ye Liuyun couldn’t help but mutter inwardly.

Apparently, Liu Feng used to really want to get in with those good-for-nothing sons.

And as expected, Ye Liuyun already knew how that turned out.

"So, did you ever win any of them over? Not even one, I bet!"

"Uh!"

Si Nan let out an awkward laugh—yeah, they’d helped plenty of prince and marquis sons, but not a single one had ever really acknowledged Liu Feng.

"So we’re not doing anything this time?"

"We should do something, but not like before."

Ye Liuyun realized his brother’s thinking was fine, just the method was flawed.

He wasn’t their nanny—rushing in to help every time? What a joke.

"Once you start throwing yourself at people, you just look cheap. If they want help, let them come ask me."

Hearing this, Si Nan immediately got it.

So, we’re changing tactics, huh?

"As expected from you, sir—always dropping pearls of wisdom!"

No denying it, Si Nan did have a knack for ass-kissing.

"I’m sure you’ve only figured this out through hard-won experience, sir."

"..."

Heh! Should I tell you I used to be a bit of a bootlicker myself?

"Enough. Tell me, what’s Marquis Wanshun’s deal, and what’s the part I don’t know?"

Ye Liuyun didn’t even know who Marquis Wanshun was yet.

"Understood!"

Si Nan held nothing back, recounting everything he knew about Marquis Wanshun.

...

After listening, Ye Liuyun nearly burst out laughing.

The Marquis’ ancestor had followed the late emperor in wars—just a grunt who lucked into some merit and got granted the title.

But over the generations, though the title stayed in the family, none of the descendants ever accomplished anything.

Simply put,

Marquis Wanshun now only had an empty title—barely even had a decent mansion.

And yet, Liu Feng used to lick boots so willingly.

After hearing all this, Ye Liuyun felt even less inclined to care about the affair.

After circling the city and confirming no issues, he told Si Nan to head back, while he went home to train.

By the next day,

Sure enough, Marquis Wanshun sent people to look for Ye Liuyun.

But first, they found Si Nan, who then reported to Ye Liuyun.

When Si Nan relayed the message, Ye Liuyun hadn’t even warmed the seat yet and was already chuckling.

"After all those times I helped, not a single thank you—now just once I didn’t rush to release his son, and they’re already berating me?"

From what Si Nan described, even the household lackey delivering the message was obnoxiously arrogant,

practically ordering Ye Liuyun to release the Marquis’ son immediately.

Typical—nobody remembers good deeds.

"Did he say how much he’ll pay?"

"Pay?" Si Nan was visibly confused.

"What, he wants me to do it for free?"

...