Chapter 999: A Way Out

Gu Jinli: "Of course there is, just write with peace of mind, the evidence will be here soon."

Daqing and his group were always watching the Ge family, and they had evidence of what the Ge family had done.

Yao Youqian was relieved after hearing this and let Lv Bai continue writing.

You wouldn’t believe it, Lv Bai became the county top scorer in Yujiang County, his literary talent is impressive, the choice of words is exquisitely beautiful, Gu Jinli glanced at it and found the whole story to resemble a fine piece of poetry.

However...

"It doesn’t work, you need to revise it." Gu Jinli said, "You must curse in a way that resonates with the people, writing too beautifully makes the storytellers uncomfortable when they curse, and the guests won’t enjoy listening."

"What does resonate with the people mean?" Lv Bai didn’t understand.

Yao Youqian was quite adept: "It’s like when your second brother took a liking to Zhang Furong from Manager Zhang’s family, and Zhang Furong’s mother cursed your second brother as a wild boar wanting to chew lotus flowers, saying he’d drown before even getting near the lotus leaves—something like that."

Lv Bai’s face turned sour upon hearing this, he knew the incident when his second brother took a liking to Zhang Furong, went to Zhang’s family to propose, only to be driven out by them.

Back then, he was arrogant and self-important, even sided with Zhang Furong’s family, saying his brother, a rough man, shouldn’t fancy the shopkeeper’s daughter and should marry a country girl to live humbly.

His second brother didn’t speak to him for two years after that.

Lv Bai knew he was wrong, but he felt he was a scholar, how could he admit wrong to a porter? That would be a disgrace to ancient sages, he had to endure it, wait until he got an official position, and then let his brother come to him to admit his mistake.

Looking back now, Lv Bai felt he really was not a good person.

He wiped his tears and revised the story as Gu Jinli suggested.

After revising it, Gu Jinli was quite satisfied, the beauty and the essence of life were both present: "Nice. Write another story, the matters with the Ge family might not sell for more than three hundred taels."

Lv Bai held his brush and said, "Master, please go ahead."

Then, Gu Jinli dictated a story of Bao Chuan’s resurrection, which was even more dramatic than the Ge family’s story, comparable to Granny Gu’s Three-surname Poisonous Woman tale.

Except in Bao Chuan’s resurrection, the villain was not the female lead but the male lead Xue Pinggui.

After hearing the story, Lv Bai was so furious he trembled: "How can this Xue behave like this? Mrs. Wang remained celibate for him, waiting for eighteen years in the cold cave, and when he married the princess and became a prince consort, he let the princess’s family poison Mrs. Wang, who enjoyed just eighteen days of good life before dying. Disgusting, truly disgusting, more revolting than Mr. Shi and his ilk!"

Eighteen years in a cold cave for only eighteen days of good life, this is simply trampling good people, a humiliation to virtuous wives and mothers.

Lv Bai was very angry, writing while crying, and by the end, his sleeves were half soaked with tears.

Yao Youqian disdainfully said, "Why cry, isn’t it true that after resurrection she leaves the Xue family, relies on her craft to become a renowned embroidery master, and marries a good man? It’s considered living a second life."

"Young Master, the things you requested have arrived." Erqing brought over the evidence of the Ge family’s sins, seeing Lv Bai crying bitterly, he was quite puzzled.

"Give these two to them." Gu Jinli said, "Take these two stories and evidence to Shenghe Building to find Young Master Ke, and the selling price is up to you, I only want three hundred taels."

Yao Youqian’s eyes lit up at this, implying that the higher the selling price of the story, the more silver they could get.

"Thank you, Master." Yao Youqian was quite pleased, after checking the evidence, he pulled Lv Bai along to leave.

Now it was dusk, Shenghe Building was bustling, those young gentlemen were out to enjoy themselves.

Nevertheless, upon hearing that Ge family secrets were delivered, Young Master Ke personally went to meet them, feeling at ease when the visitors were Lv Bai and Yao Youqian.

Master Tongsheng, shouldn’t be lying to him.

"Please, the two of you, as long as the secrets are true, the price is negotiable." Young Master Ke clasped his hands in greeting, invited them to sit, and said.

Yao Youqian directly handed both stories and the evidence of the Ge family’s wrongdoings to Ke Yuli.

Ke Yuli was quite satisfied, saying one word of refreshment, then began reading the story, becoming more excited the more he read... God, couldn’t see it coming, could he? The Ge family, those who only know to live off past glory, had the guts to commit such vile deeds?

That Little Old Lady Ge is known for her fiery temper and renowned respect for Old Master Ge, if word of drugging him while he’s bedridden gets out, she’d charge back from Linhe Prefecture and chop up those Ge family bastards!

If the Little Old Lady Ge leads the charge back, they could continue the Ge family story, truly a gainful endeavor!

"I’ll buy the Ge family matter for three hundred taels of silver, no haggling, how do the two of you feel?" Ke Yuli was very straightforward, offering a good price.

Lv Bai was thrilled and immediately nodded: "Good, good, just, just three hundred taels."

Yao Youqian felt like kicking him to death, he agreed too fast, hold out a bit longer, the price might go higher, but Lv Bai already agreed, there was no turning back for him.

He then asked, "And what about the Wang’s Resurrection tale? This story is thrilling, how much silver can it fetch?"

Ke Yuli took a look at Wang’s Resurrection tale, also applauding it, a revenge story in resurrection, never seen before. Once told, surely fetch a good price.

However...

"This story’s price isn’t high, it’s merely fictional, doesn’t exist in reality. At most, I can offer fifty taels."

The fifty taels are offered considering he’s a Master Tongsheng, if someone without an official position came to sell this story, they would at most receive twenty taels.

To Lv Bai and Yao Youqian, fifty taels were already considered a sky-high price, and since these fifty taels were theirs, they didn’t owe any to the lady benefactor, they happily agreed.

Ke Yuli wasn’t dilly-dallying, immediately giving them silver notes, and seeing they came as two, he thoughtfully divided the silver notes into two parts for easy distribution.

Lastly, he offered Lv Bai a task: "Lv Tongsheng’s story writing is good, words are both beautiful and lively, we occasionally invite people to pen curses or praises in the form of poetry to add to stories. If you don’t mind, you can cooperate with Shenghe Building to write poetry, a poem can earn you a tael of silver."

In the past, Lv Bai wouldn’t have done such work even if he died, but after being reprimanded by Gu Jin’an, he realized his uselessness, also recognized his likeness to the Old Gu Family people, sucking his family’s blood like a parasite.

Lv Bai no longer wanted to live off his family’s blood, after hesitating for a while, he agreed: "Thank you for offering work, Young Master Ke."

Before becoming a scholar, this was a lifeline for him and his family.

Yao Youqian was quite comforted, Miss Lv finally abandoned her arrogance and started learning how to earn money. With this income, Grandpa Lv’s family would live much better days.

Ke Yuli saw he agreed, inquired about their return to the countryside, then handed Lv Bai two notebooks: "Finish reading promptly, then write six poems for each story, deliver them before heading back home."

"Sure." Lv Bai received the two notebooks and left holding them.