Embroidered Uniform Guard: I Can Plunder Talents

That’s how it is.

Honestly, it’s not that hard to understand.

"I..."

As soon as Ye Liuyun said that, the seriousness on Shi Sheng’s face cracked instantly.

His face flushed bright red.

He really wanted to explain himself, but for a moment, he had no idea what to say.

After all, Shi Sheng knew his own body best—lately, he honestly had been feeling aches and pains.

"Pfft!"

As Shi Sheng’s friend,

the moment Si Nan heard this, he didn’t even try to hold it back—he just burst out laughing.

"Hahahahaha!"

And he only laughed harder, without an ounce of restraint.

"You’re weak! Shi Sheng, you’ve actually gotten soft! Hahaha!"

Jiang Jing and Feng Feiyi, standing off to the side, weren’t as exaggerated as Si Nan,

but they couldn’t help themselves—the corners of their mouths twitched, barely suppressing their laughter.

"Get lost, you!"

He could tolerate being teased by anyone—

except by Si Nan.

He couldn’t stand it for even a second, so he swung his fist at Si Nan, but unfortunately, Si Nan dodged nimbly.

Watching Shi Sheng flailing his fists,

the amusement in Si Nan’s eyes only grew stronger.

"Even your punches are slower now, Shi Sheng. You really have turned soft!"

If this was the old Shi Sheng,

there’s no way he could’ve dodged those punches.

But now, it was a whole new story.

With how slow those swings were, Si Nan could dodge as he pleased.

"..."

Shi Sheng said nothing, just adjusted his breathing, working hard to calm his aura again.

This won’t do.

From now on, I seriously need to double down on my training.

Otherwise, the next time I see Chai Hong, I’m afraid I won’t even be able to walk the road.

"Just wait till I break into the Innate Realm!"

"Even if you make it to the Innate Realm, it won’t change the fact you’re a limp noodle now!"

Si Nan teased him with a grin.

"..."

When it came to banter, Shi Sheng couldn’t keep up with Si Nan—so in the end, he could only glare at Si Nan fiercely.

Ye Liuyun watched all of this with a relaxed smile.

The way his men messed around—

as long as things didn’t get dangerous, Ye Liuyun barely ever stepped in.

Men’s friendships are straightforward; this messing about doesn’t damage their relationships, if anything, it strengthens them.

"Alright, that’s enough, it’s about time. Head back, all of you!"

Chai Hong and the others had disappeared ages ago.

Seeing as it was getting late, there was no need to hang around here.

Ye Liuyun didn’t have them report back to the Embroidered Uniform Guard—just told everyone to go their separate ways.

For Yan Shuzhu’s birthday before this—

the entire Embroidered Uniform Guard had been running flat out. No one complained, but of course, inside, everyone was at least a bit worn out.

Perfect timing.

Now that the birthday banquet was over, they all deserved some proper rest.

"Yes, Sir!"

...

"Damn! Damn it!"

Things on Ye Liuyun’s side were peaceful and smooth—

but with some others, things weren’t nearly that comfortable.

Several days had passed since Yan Shuzhu’s birthday banquet.

Lately, Marquis Rong’gong had been working hard to patch up his social connections—and his whole solution was just to throw money at it.

After all, those connections were built with money in the first place.

If he paid to fix things now, it should make sense, shouldn’t it?

But,

things didn’t go as smoothly as Marquis Rong’gong hoped.

A lot of money had been sent out,

but unfortunately, some of it was sent straight back. Others took the cash but didn’t lift a finger—when Marquis Rong’gong sent people to check, he was chased out immediately.

They even claimed they’d never gotten a cent.

Told Marquis Rong’gong not to spread false rumors!

"Dammit!"

No wonder Marquis Rong’gong was furious.

His businesses, whether it was gambling houses or brothels, had only run smoothly because of the connections he had in the government.

But now,

since those connections disappeared,

problems started cropping up in all his businesses. For now, they were just little things.

But Marquis Rong’gong knew full well—

if he didn’t sort out the little things now, they’d turn into big ones in no time.

By then,

he really wouldn’t know how to deal with it at all.

"Are Grandmasters really that intimidating?"

When did people start returning my gifts?

Marquis Rong’gong thought it over—it all started when he sent a gift to Prime Minister Fu Zhengqing and got it returned. That was like a signal.

Soon after, everyone else started keeping their distance.

They were all just following Fu Zhengqing’s lead.

Thinking Fu Zhengqing didn’t like him, so the rest just went along and kept their distance.

At that,

Marquis Rong’gong’s fists tightened involuntarily.

He couldn’t understand at all—

what had he done to offend Fu Zhengqing? He’d never done anything! He’d sent gifts before, and even if it didn’t make them closer, Fu Zhengqing always took the money.

Why send it back this time?

And just like that,

Marquis Rong’gong couldn’t help doubting himself.

He couldn’t make sense of it.

Where had he possibly offended Fu Zhengqing? How did things end up like this?