APSIL -Chapter 52 Better Not to Know

The flesh on Lu Sanlang’s chubby face twitched, and his tiny eyes quivered. Beneath his perfectly serious expression, however, he was desperately suppressing laughter.

He had actually seen it.

He had witnessed Zhang Shou heroically throwing himself at Zhu Ying to save her—only to discover afterward that he had been the real target.

Compared to him, Zhang Chen, who had only just escaped a brush with death, had come out a moment later and hadn’t really seen Zhang Shou’s awkward “heroic rescue.” He still looked somewhat dazed.

As far as Zhang Shou was concerned, Zhang Chen was suddenly far more agreeable than Lu Sanlang.

Lu Sanlang, you brat. Laughing at me, are you? You think mathematics is so fascinating that it’s worth devoting your whole life to? Fine. One day I’ll organize trigonometric functions and inverse trigonometric functions for you. If you can digest those, I’ll move on to complex numbers. After that, I’ll throw calculus at you, then linear algebra, complex analysis, integral transforms, mathematical analysis… Let’s see if you don’t end up crying for mercy!

While grumbling inwardly, Zhang Shou tried his best to compose himself. Yet when he noticed Zhu Ying chatting with Hua Qi while secretly glancing at him, her eyes dancing with barely concealed amusement, he had no choice but to avert his gaze.

Instead, he turned it into a dagger aimed at the assassin lying on the ground beside Ding Hai, bound hand and foot like a trussed animal.

It’s all your fault, you blind idiot of an assassin! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself like this!

But after venting his frustration through murderous glares, Zhang Shou also understood that the assassin hadn’t simply mistaken his target.

He had almost certainly been aiming for him.

Just as Zhang Shou was gloomily lamenting that his peaceful life was probably over, Zhu Ying suddenly called out cheerfully,

“A-Shou!”

He looked up listlessly.

Besides Zhu Ying smiling brightly at him, Hua Qi—the broad-shouldered man with wild, unkempt hair whose exact age was impossible to guess—was also staring at him with bright, piercing eyes.

The next moment, the man burst into hearty laughter.

“Young Master Shou, I’ve been watching you from the shadows for several days. Today is finally our first meeting, and you truly didn’t disappoint me! You know, if you hadn’t thrown yourself at Yingying without hesitation just now, the unlucky one would’ve been you. So although your rescue looks rather comical in hindsight, the result is that while you didn’t save Yingying… you did save yourself.”

Zhang Shou blinked.

Only then did it occur to him that if he hadn’t rushed to protect Zhu Ying, he probably would have taken that arrow himself.

But just as that realization dawned on him, A-Liu snorted from behind.

“I’d already knocked the arrow aside with my spear.”

“Hey, hey! Kid, are you trying to embarrass me the moment we meet?” Hua Qi protested. “If I hadn’t used that assassin’s fake rescue arrow to pinpoint his location, then deliberately waited until he attacked again before capturing him, you’d have been dealing with far more than one arrow! Don’t get cocky just because you’ve got a little skill. Learn to respect your elders!”

“Oh. Old Madman.”

“You little brat, you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? Don’t forget who taught you everything you know! Is this how you speak to your master?”

“I’m not Little Madman.”

When Zhang Shou first heard A-Liu reveal that he’d already intercepted the arrow, he instantly realized Hua Qi had been pulling his leg.

But as A-Liu and Hua Qi continued bickering across the distance, he began picking up on something more interesting and promptly forgot about his own embarrassment, listening with growing amusement.

So these two are master and disciple?

When he accidentally met Zhu Ying’s gaze, she winked at him as if to say, I’m enjoying the show too.

He was more than happy to sit back and watch.

He’d seen A-Liu quarrel with Old Liu before. Usually the old man would ramble through three or four sentences before A-Liu replied with just a few words.

Yet those few words were always enough to leave Old Liu fuming.

Now he realized the exact same principle applied to Hua Qi and A-Liu’s remarkably childish argument.

Sure enough, upon hearing “I’m not Little Madman,” Hua Qi raised an eyebrow.

“Then who taught you all those martial skills?”

“I was born with them,” A-Liu answered expressionlessly.

Then he added, “Just like Young Master’s talent for mathematics.”

Zhang Shou nearly collapsed laughing.

When he glanced back and caught the usually expressionless youth actually curling the corner of his mouth into a faint smile, he almost burst out laughing.

Turning back quickly, he avoided looking at Hua Qi’s thoroughly exasperated face and instead bowed sincerely toward Zhu Ying.

“I’m sorry. I acted on impulse earlier and almost made things worse. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Zhu Ying was far too clever not to understand that Zhang Shou was deliberately changing the subject. She assumed he simply didn’t know how to handle such an independent servant.

Since she herself spoiled her two maids constantly, she found his predicament completely understandable.

Although her waist still ached from the collision and she was certain she’d bruised herself during the fall, she had no intention of making a fuss.

Without hesitation, she shook her head.

“I’m not that delicate! By the way, I wonder how things are in the village. Shall we go take a look? If anyone managed to escape and is still running loose, that could be troublesome.”

“Exactly!” Lu Sanlang immediately chimed in, finally finding a chance to speak after enjoying the spectacle. “We have to wipe them out completely. Besides, capturing a dozen rebels and capturing the entire rebel force are two very different achievements!”

Seeing Zhu Ying glare at him angrily, Lu Sanlang remembered the arrow he’d completely missed and hurriedly laughed awkwardly.

“The old ministers in the capital all think only their own sons, nephews, and students are talented. That’s why they kept sending people to make trouble for Little Teacher. Once they learn that Little Teacher devised this plan and we wiped out the entire rebel force, let’s see how they’ll have the face to keep criticizing him!”

His words worked immediately.

Not only did Zhu Ying’s anger melt into delight, even Hua Qi stopped glaring at A-Liu and began sizing up the plump young master from Minister Lu’s family with interest—the one rumored to be Young Master Lu’s preferred candidate as Zhu Ying’s future husband.

After hesitating briefly, Zhang Chen also spoke.

“Lu Sanlang is right. Tonight’s results are enough to silence quite a few people in court. But we should still check the other bamboo houses. The fighting just now was loud. If anyone wakes after the sleeping medicine wears off, panics, and insists on returning to the capital, that’ll be troublesome.”

Watching quietly, Zhang Shou noticed that Hua Qi showed absolutely no reaction upon hearing the words “sleeping medicine.”

That confirmed it.

The man had arrived long ago and had probably witnessed Zhu Ying drugging everyone unconscious, yet had remained hidden the entire time.

If Zhang Shou’s guess was correct, then had he not consistently conducted himself like a proper gentleman, Hua Qi probably wouldn’t be smiling and joking with him now.

He’d have quietly killed him already.

Thinking that, Zhang Shou calmly continued from Zhang Chen’s words.

“Then let’s split into two groups. Zhang Chen and Lu Sanlang, take your guards and inspect the bamboo houses. Yingying and I will check on the village. If everything’s fine, have the attendants carry everyone back to bed afterward.”

He paused before casually adding, “Oh, and let the guards know that Master Hua Qi has arrived.”

The final remark was purely a test.

Sure enough, the instant he spoke, both Zhang Chen and Lu Sanlang looked toward Hua Qi almost simultaneously before nodding repeatedly like pecking chickens.

The ever-slick Lu Sanlang immediately plastered a grin across his face.

“With Master Hua Qi here, what is there to worry about? Everyone knows even the greatest warrior of the Northern Barbarians died by your hand!”

“What ‘Master Hua Qi’? Most people just call me Mad Hua.” Hua Qi waved dismissively. “Don’t flatter me. I kicked your backside when you were little—come kick mine back if you’ve got the guts! As for you, Zhang Chen… your grandfather possessed unmatched strategy, your father unmatched literary talent, and you inherited almost none of it. But at least you still know how to stand up for what’s right. You’ve got some backbone worthy of the Zhang family. In any case, don’t worry about the rebels anymore.”

Although they’d won a spectacular victory with barely any casualties—

If the two guards who’d had their clothes sliced open and suffered only superficial cuts counted as casualties, then perhaps Zhang Shou’s and Zhu Ying’s bruises were actually worse—there was no way Lu Sanlang and Zhang Chen weren’t still shaken by the night’s events.

With Hua Qi’s reassurance, both of them genuinely breathed sighs of relief. They quickly acknowledged his words, bowed respectfully to Zhang Shou, then hurried off as fast as they could.

Watching the pair flee so quickly, leaving him behind, Zhang Shou noticed Hua Qi studying him with an amused smile.

He simply stood up calmly and said directly to Zhu Ying, “Yingying, shall we go now?”

“Of course!” Zhu Ying sprang to her feet without hesitation. “With Uncle Hua and A-Liu with us, we could fight our way across an entire battlefield, let alone a little village! Oh, right… after midnight, it’ll be both of our birthdays.”

She smiled brightly.

“Honestly, it’d be perfect if another group of blind rebels came charging in. Then this birthday would truly be unforgettable!”

Zhang Shou was utterly speechless at the young lady’s train of thought.

She actually wished for another wave of rebels just so her birthday would be more memorable?

His nerves were nowhere near that resilient. He sincerely hoped he would never encounter anything like this again.

Yet at that very moment, A-Liu suddenly asked from behind, “Young Master… aren’t we interrogating the assassin?”

Seeing Hua Qi watching him with an enigmatic smile, Zhang Shou pondered for a moment before replying without turning around, “A-Liu, there’s a saying with profound wisdom.”

“It’s called…”

“Sometimes, it’s better not to know.”

Rather than wasting time extracting a pile of lies…

He’d rather remain deliberately ignorant.