Chapter 468: Made a Mistake

“Master, you haven’t had your lunch yet, have you? Someone, go tell the kitchen to prepare some food and drinks.”
Li Chongshang understood the importance of acting quickly. After showing filial piety to win Ren Qingsong’s favor, he stepped forward, attempting to help Ren Qingsong sit in the main seat. As he spoke, he continued, “Master, please calm down. After all, Manager Yang has served you for so many years—though he may not have achieved any great things, he has surely endured hardships. If it were me, I might also become arrogant due to your favor…”
Ren Qingsong remained silent, his face dark, allowing Li Chongshang to help him sit in the armchair. He felt he had lost all face in front of Lin Dong. He decided to give up trying to save face and now only wanted to know just how blind Yang Laiting and he themselves were, so as to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
Lin Dong and Yun Lan giving orders and even hitting people? The thought made Ren Qingsong laugh and cry at once. Lin Dong might not be much, but given Yun Lan’s status and grace, who among them deserved her to hit someone?
The claim that Yang Laiting was arrogant due to favor was even more absurd. As for those who followed him like puppies, Ren Qingsong was confident that even Yang Laiting himself couldn’t compare to his understanding of him.
Lin Dong released his control over Li Xun. He believed Zhang Wanfu wouldn’t be able to leave anytime soon. As for Yang Laiting, no matter how much mud Li Chongshang tried to throw at him, Yang Laiting never spoke in defense. This behavior greatly boosted Li Chongshang’s confidence.
From his attitude toward the servants and maids to demanding four or five times more bribes than usual when purchasing various furniture and antiques, Li Chongshang pretended to defend Yang Laiting while secretly slinging mud at him that should have belonged to him.
After talking for over ten minutes—mentioning how Manager Yang had called a maid into his room a few days ago, and how she came out crying after over an hour—Li Chongshang finally realized his mind wasn’t up to the task. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t come up with any more shameful things to accuse Yang Laiting of.
“Manager Yang, is all of this true?” Ren Qingsong secretly admired Li Chongshang. He spoke for over ten minutes without a pause longer than three to five seconds, listing more than a dozen charges, large and small, while also trying to cover up his slander. It was hard to have such quick reflexes unless one had done it themselves.
“About half, I guess!” Yang Laiting wasn’t entirely sure. He had only heard it from Liu An today, and it was quite different from what Li Chongshang had said.

Li Chongshang was overjoyed, yet his face showed regret, as if he were deeply saddened for Yang Laiting. Nearby, Zhang Wanfu was also extremely pleased. Judging from the situation, it was clear that Head Butler Yang was in trouble. From now on, only Li Chongshang would have control over QingSong Villa, and the highly respected Lord Ren would undoubtedly trust Li Chongshang even more. With Li Chongshang’s eloquence and Lord Ren’s trust in him, Zhang Wanfu had reason to believe that the restaurant’s business would thrive—perhaps even enough to qualify it as a top-tier restaurant if they could hire one or two top chefs.

Seeing that Li Chongshang had nothing left to say, Ren Qingsong turned to Yang Laiting and asked, “What should we do?”

“Lord, it can’t be done! Butler Yang has served you for so many years. To just drive him out of QingSong Villa like this—although he isn’t short of money, he’s old now, and it would be inconvenient for him,” Li Chongshang immediately protested loudly, trying to persuade Ren Qingsong to spare Yang Laiting. But his words actually aimed to pressure Ren Qingsong into showing mercy out of old loyalty.

“Recall the money and break one of his legs before driving him out!” Yang Laiting said coldly, feeling somewhat down. It was the first time in his life he had been so harsh on a subordinate.

“Break his leg?” Li Chongshang was stunned, his gaze toward Yang Laiting becoming strange. Not only did he not argue against all those false accusations, but he also demanded such a severe punishment—was this man crazy?

Of course, Li Chongshang was happy about it. Breaking his leg would eliminate any chance of Ren Qingsong regretting it later and bringing Yang Laiting back as head Butler.

“Someone!” Ren Qingsong shouted.

A few servants rushed in, each looking hesitant. Then one of them mustered the courage to speak up, “Lord, those accusations earlier were actually framed. The greedy and ruthless person is actually the second head Butler, Li Chongshang. Please be wise, Lord.”

“Yes! Please be wise, Lord.”

The servants had been waiting outside, ready to act, and had heard everything clearly. Seeing someone take the lead, they quickly started speaking up in defense of Yang Laiting.

“Shut up! Don’t think I don’t know—you’ve taken money from Butler Yang. You’re already his lackeys,” Li Chongshang shouted angrily.

“Enough, take Manager Li down and beat him until he spits out the embezzled silver,” Ren Qingsong said impatiently, waving his hand. “After that, break one of his legs and throw him out of Qingsong Villa. Divide the recovered silver among you servants and maids; if there’s any left, give some to the villagers too. If I find out again that you knew about it but didn’t report it, I’ll drive all of you out of Qingsong Villa.”
“Did you hear that? The master has spoken—why haven’t you taken Manager Yang away yet? The master hasn’t had his lunch yet. Later, Master Zhang also wants to talk to him. If this is delayed, it will be your fault!” Li Chongshang puffed out his chest, planning in his mind to avenge himself for being thrown off the grand chair by Lin Dong. He needed to figure out a way to get Zhang Wanfu to cooperate.
Lin Dong laughed—what excellent memory.
Zhang Wanfu dug at his ears and stared at Ren Qingsong, thinking he must have heard wrong.
“Master, are you saying to take Manager Li down?” a bolder servant asked softly.
“Are you all deaf? Of course it’s Manager Yang we’re taking down,” Li Chongshang snapped.
The servants all turned to look at Ren Qingsong.
“What are you waiting for? Don’t you think I’m already disgraced enough? Take down Li Chongshang, who framed Manager Yang, and do as I ordered just now,” Ren Qingsong commanded angrily.
This time, the servants were overjoyed and immediately became energetic, surrounding Li Chongshang.
“Master, you’ve got it wrong—it’s Manager Yang. Manager Yang indeed embezzled money. A grand chair only costs a thousand taels of silver, but he forced me to report five thousand. And also, Manager Yang…” Li Chongshang, in a daze, frantically tried to explain and struggle.
“Master Ren, you’ve got it wrong,” Zhang Wanfu also grew anxious. He didn’t understand what Ren Qingsong was up to. How could, in the blink of an eye, the guilty party become Li Chongshang?
“Spread the word—Manager Yang will now be the second master of Qingsong Villa. Manager Lin will always be the most honored guest here,” Ren Qingsong said coldly.
Li Chongshang’s struggling body trembled as he stared in horror at Ren Qingsong. The second master? In that moment, he finally understood why neither Yang Laiting nor Lin Dong had challenged the false accusations he had made—there was no need for them to explain at all.
“Save me, Manager Yang! I know I was wrong. Manager Lin, I was blind. Save me! I won’t dare do this again…” In the next moment, Li Chongshang begged desperately.
“Dean…” Yang Laiting didn’t even glance at Li Chongshang, looking at Ren Qingsong hesitantly.

Ren Qingsong waved to stop Yang Laiting. Sharing Lin Dong’s thoughts, he had appointed a butler who would deceive superiors and hide the truth; he hadn’t even considered matters like money at all. What concerned and worried him was the huge hidden dangers this could bring.

He knew Yang Laiting didn’t want to be on equal terms with him, but Ren Qingsong wouldn’t allow this to happen again. Only by placing Yang Laiting in the position of master, with the supervision of servants and maids, could such issues be completely prevented.

Before long, the servants dragged the disheartened Li Chongshang away joyfully. Ren Qingsong bowed to Lin Dong and Yun Lan, his wry expression and tone identical to Yang Laiting’s: “Shopkeeper Lin, Miss Yun, I’m sorry for the embarrassment.”

“It’s rare to go out; it’s nice to see some excitement,” Lin Dong said with a smile, shaking his head.

Ren Qingsong’s gaze then shifted to Zhang Wanfu. Although this man wasn’t from Qingsong Villa, daring to cause trouble there, Ren Qingsong was confident that, in his current position, killing him would be no different from killing an ant.

“Master Ren, I won’t disturb you and these two distinguished guests from catching up,” Zhang Wanfu said, his spine turning cold under Ren Qingsong’s gaze. He mustered the courage to stammer out his farewell. In his mind, any business related to a large restaurant was nothing compared to keeping his life—already the greatest fortune he could hope for.

What he didn’t know was that both he and Ren Qingsong were wrong. The reason was that neither of them knew just how powerful Li Xun really was.

Zhang Wanfu was just a local tycoon with little understanding of martial artists’ levels and even less exposure to them. In his view, although Li Xun was strong, he was only good enough to deal with petty thieves and bandits—no one within a hundred miles could match him. But this didn’t include the people from Xiangyanshan.

As for Ren Qingsong, he knew even less about Li Xun’s terrifying strength. He could never imagine that a local tycoon might have a household servant at the Eighth Level of the Mental State Realm, capable even of defeating lower-level warriors. Not to mention that, because he was the manager of the Spirit Materials Building, no one dared to touch him. He hadn’t brought the two strong warriors and group of martial artists with him as guards but sent them out to search for spirit materials. Even if he had brought them all, without Lin Dong and Yun Lan around, it would be difficult for those two strong warriors to save his life, let alone kill Zhang Wanfu.

“Lord Zhang, I remember you seemed to have something to ask Dean Ren,” Ren Qingsong said, still thinking about what to do with Zhang Wanfu, when Lin Dong suddenly spoke up, “It’s better to come at the right time. Since Dean Ren has returned early, let’s just continue chatting while eating.”

“This, this…” Zhang Wanfu had originally seen Ren Qingsong as hesitant but still hopeful. Hearing those words, he immediately hated Lin Dong deeply.
“Lord Zhang, please don’t be polite. I run an inn, and it would be a good chance for us to discuss business strategies,” Lin Dong said with a smile.
“No, I can’t. There are matters at home. I…”
Zhang Wanfu stammered, trying to protest, but Ren Qingsong cut him off indifferently, “If Manager Lin asks you to stay, then stay. Does my Qingsong Villa not deserve to host such a guest?”
Zhang Wanfu felt as if he had lost his mother. He shakily moved toward the round table. The closer he got, the heavier his heart grew. If he could choose, he would never dare offend Lin Dong even if it meant his death. But who would have thought that Li Chongshang was so blind as to mistake such a distinguished guest for a poor friend?