Chapter 37: Trouble in the Teahouse

  Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan fought underwater, Yue Lingshan withdrew her palm force in time to avoid exposing her martial arts skills, but was struck by Lin Pingzhi's palm on the shoulder and sank to the bottom of the river.

  Witnessing Yue Lingshan being knocked into the river without any resistance, Lin Pingzhi's heart shouted "Oh no!", he didn't expect that the little thief who was secretly watching didn't know martial arts, so all of this might be a misunderstanding. Although he is a spoiled son, he never bullies the weak and small, but instead is hot-blooded and righteous, likes to do good deeds and eliminate evil, and is considered a rare talent among the spoiled sons of Kyoto.

  Lin Ping's face changed drastically, he gritted his teeth and dove down to the bottom of the river, chasing after Yue Lingshan's falling direction. He withstood the huge water pressure, swam to Yue Lingshan's side, grabbed her arm and pulled her up to the surface with great difficulty.

  "Hoo-hoo!"

  By the shore, Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan stared at each other, panting heavily.

  Yue Lingxuan's shoulder was dislocated, and the hairband on her head also fell into the water. Her raven-black beautiful hair flowed with the river water. She pouted her mouth and stared fiercely at Lin Pingzhi. Since she was a child, she had been the most spoiled little princess of Huashan Sect, always teasing others, never suffering such humiliation. At this moment, her eyes were filled with tears, looking pitiful.

  Linghu Chong, hiding in the distance, saw Yue Lingshan with a wronged expression, almost crying, and his heart skipped a beat. He barely controlled his emotions and stared at Lin Pingzhi, thinking that if this kid doesn't perform to his satisfaction later, he'll take action and give him a good beating, making sure his mother won't recognize him.

  Lin Ping's face was also flushed with embarrassment, and he couldn't believe that the person in front of him was a beautiful young girl. There was no doubt that this innocent-looking girl with tears in her eyes could not be an enemy of the Lin family. He had misjudged the situation. For the first time, he blamed himself for his impulsive nature.

  "Auntie, young lady, why are you secretly spying on our family's ships?" Lin Pingzhi stuttered.

  "Who, who peeped? Is this great river your home?" Yueling Shan also had a bit of breathlessness and pretended to be fierce: "I am a pearl-picking girl. Since I was young, I have been collecting precious pearls here. You made me lose the pearls I collected with difficulty. You must compensate me!"

  "I'll compensate, I'll compensate!" Lin Pingzhi was somewhat at a loss, hastily pulling out all the silver coins from his pocket and handing them over to Yue Lingshan, saying apologetically: "Miss, sorry, I misunderstood you. These silver coins are compensation for you. If it's not enough, follow me to the boat and I'll get more for you. My name is Lin Pingzhi, I'm the only son of Lin Zhennan, the commander of the Brocade Guard. I won't default on my debt."

  Lin Ping's appearance was handsome and chivalrous, with a hot-blooded sense of justice, always eager to take up the cause of the weak. He easily won the favor of women in the jianghu world. Seeing his sincere apology, Yue Ling-shan couldn't bear to scold him anymore, so she magnanimously said: "Forget it, those few pearls are worthless, I won't bother with you about this."

  Yue Lingxuan did not accept the silver Lin Ping handed over, and she was not a real pearl-picking girl. These silvers were no different from mud in her eyes. She was the little princess of Huashan School, with clothes coming to her hands and food coming to her mouth. Whatever she wanted would naturally have Old Yue and his wife and a large group of Huashan School brothers serving her, so how could she care about a few pieces of silver?

  She turned to leave, just lifted her foot, but suddenly felt a sharp pain under her feet, staggering and almost falling, only to find that she had been scratched by the sharp rocks at the bottom of the river.

  Lin Ping hastily supported Yue Lingshan with one hand, carefully helping her sit down on a stone slab. Yue Lingshan didn't like wearing shoes when playing in the water and preferred to go barefoot, which was why she had been injured by the rocks. Only then did they see that her clean white feet were flowing with fresh blood, making it unbearable for people to look at.

  Lin Pingzi blamed himself even more, hastily tore the precious silk and satin clothes on his body, carefully bandaged the wound for Yue Lingshan, and asked softly: "Miss, where do you live? Your foot is injured and it's not convenient to move. I'll carry you back home?"

  Watching Lin Pingzhi anxiously sweating, carefully bandaging the wound for him, Yue Lingshan felt a little moved in her heart. She thought to herself that this Lin Pingzhi was different from those young masters in the city, and he was actually willing to bandage an unfamiliar person who didn't know martial arts, apologize, although his martial arts skills were slightly inferior, but he was still a young hero.

  Although Yue Lingxuan wanted to go back by herself, her left foot was in unbearable pain and not suitable for walking, so she had no choice but to agree to let Lin Pingzhi carry her back. As Lin Pingzhi carried the light-as-a-swan Yue Lingxuan and was about to head towards the teahouse where Luo Danno was, his two little followers came down from the boat and found their way here, saw this situation, and became displeased, loudly saying: "Young Master, your status is noble, let me carry her instead!"

  "Yes, young master, I'm strong enough, I'll carry this girl." Another small follower with his nose up in the air also chimed in. What a joke! As the son of Lin Shennan, the commander of the Imperial Guard, he was of such noble status that even in the capital city, he was someone to be reckoned with. Now, he's actually going to personally carry a village girl from the mountains? If this gets out, how embarrassing would it be for him?

  "Hey, Lin Pingzhi, don't you know that men and women should not be intimate? I'm already making a big concession by letting you carry me on your back. Don't even think about having your servant touch me." Yueshan said to Lin Pingzhi.

  Lin Pingzi turned his head and gave Yue Lingshan a reassuring look, then said to the two little followers: "It's okay, I'll take care of it."

  Having said that, he ignored the two people whose faces had changed color and walked forward with big strides, carrying Yue Lingxuan on his back.

  A moment later, a figure in white clothes jumped down from a large tree not far away and said softly towards the direction where several people had left: "This Lin kid is still quite sensible. If you dare to let your little follower carry my little sister, I will slap you so hard that your mother won't recognize you."

  Half an hour later, Lin Pingzhi carried Yue Lingshan on his back and arrived at the small teahouse with two little followers.

  Lauder saw the bloodstains on Yuelingshan's feet and his face changed instantly. He hastily dropped his guests, supported Yuelingshan to a seat and inquired about her situation, feeling heartache. His beloved little junior sister of Mount Hua had been injured under his very eyes; this was unforgivable.

  "Thank you, Master Lin, for escorting my daughter back home. I'm deeply grateful. Please sit down for a while and have a cup of tea before leaving." Lord Lao warmly invited Lin Pingzhi to stay, who was about to bid farewell, and poured him a large bowl of coarse tea.

  Lin Ping's enthusiasm was hard to refuse, and it seemed that he didn't want to leave either. He had developed a vague affection for this pearl-picking girl he had just met. Of course, he didn't have the intention of taking her back like other spoiled sons would, to make her his concubine or something. He simply wanted to spend more time with her.

  Lin Pingzhi savored the coarse tea he had never tasted before, enjoying the admiration of Luo Danno. With a pleased expression, he began to tell Yuelingshan about his experiences teaching arrogant bullies a lesson in Kyoto. Under Yuelingshan's admiring gaze, Lin Pingzhi's tongue was completely loosened, and he couldn't stop talking.

  Just as the three of them were chatting and laughing, a discordant voice suddenly rang out beside their ears: "Hey, I didn't expect to find such a beautiful and charming little girl in this poor and remote place. Person Hao, why don't you invite her over to keep me company and have a drink?"