HE With the Cold Male Protagonist C53

Chapter 53: Seizing Another’s Nest, the Proprietor of Shanyi Hall

“What, Lord Qingyuan? Did I hear wrong—Lord Qingyuan is here!”

“Lord Qingyuan has appeared!? Heaven truly favors me, to let me come here for a meal today, ahhh!”

“Where is he, who is he, who exactly is Lord Qingyuan?”

In an instant, just along the corridor of the second floor, countless doors of private rooms burst open in excitement. Even those who had no idea what was happening were stirred, flinging open their doors to join the commotion.

Not to mention the guests downstairs, who had already been curious about the private room where Lizhi and the others were seated, wondering what important personage was within. At this moment, hearing the name “Lord Qingyuan,” even those who had never read the widely-circulated storybooks had at least heard of the “Lord Qingyuan” who had recently become famous throughout Xuanhe Prefecture!

It was said that this man was erudite and overflowing with talent. Normally, popular storybooks were dismissed as “heretical works,” meaningless and a waste of time. To many proud literati, they were nothing but empty, ridiculous fantasies filled with pretentious writing, completely detached from reality.

But the works of this author were full of substance and depth, carrying the flavor of serious literature, yet infused with profound storylines. Each reading offered new insight and discovery—whether in life lessons, or in the great moral principles of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith…

In short, he combined the strengths of the hundred schools. Rumor even had it that the upcoming imperial examinations might include questions drawn from his works. This had caused a stir among the academies: books once banned from the hands of students were now not only permitted but even recommended for study. None doubted it, and disciples were urged to read.

Those who once scoffed at such works now all bowed to them, weeping, overwhelmed, and spreading recommendations everywhere like zealots. Not a single reader failed to speak highly of them.

Even the illiterate were driven mad with curiosity, desperate to know what kinds of stories these were.

Ordinary folk marveled at the thrilling adventures, while the discerning and learned perceived the deeper meanings within each tale.

On top of this, Lord Qingyuan was shrouded in mystery. He had once left the enigmatic phrase, “Fated readers will meet,” printed on the prefaces of his books. This had driven countless into infatuation and yearning.

Now, suddenly hearing that Lord Qingyuan was present, the students of Mingli Academy were instantly surrounded!

Even Lu Qinghong, walking at the front, was blocked in by the surging crowd, as people flooded upstairs, eager to glimpse the legendary Lord Qingyuan.

Lu Qinghong’s body went rigid, a touch weak, yet when he saw the throngs of ecstatic, worshipful faces—shouting as though beholding a god—his whole being tightened, his eyes shone.

An immense vanity and sense of fulfillment coursed through him in that moment, intoxicating him, leaving him dizzy with euphoria.

On the other side, a few of the students began to panic, unsure how to respond. After all, Lu Qinghong had never explicitly confirmed it.

Though they had verified it through Yongyuan Bookshop, clearly Lu Qinghong wished to keep up the mystery. Yet their loose tongues, eager to show face, had exposed his identity and caused such chaos. He would surely be displeased!

Lu Qinghong was the legitimate eldest son of a collateral branch of the Jiangyi Lu family, who ran Mingli Academy.

Though collateral, the Jiangyi Lu family was a vast and renowned clan across all of Great Ning, with countless officials and many academies and schools under their name. They had supplied the court with numerous top scholars, successful candidates, and literary masters.

Almost half the literati of Great Ning had ties, great or small, to the Jiangyi Lu clan.

The Mingli Academy of Xuanhe Prefecture was managed by Lu Qinghong’s grandfather. How could anyone dare not to respect or fear him?

Just then, amidst the clamoring and urging, an elderly gentleman in a scholar’s crown and silk robes happened to glance into the private room—and caught sight of Lu Lizhi quietly eating dishes within. At once, he was struck dumb with awe.

“It must be him! Lord Qingyuan must be such a noble and upright man!”

Lizhi was inwardly complaining that the dishes here were not as delicious as those Baiye made, wondering why he had bothered coming out to eat. Suddenly, he felt countless fervent gazes fix upon him.

“……”

What was going on?

Yu Zhijie was equally dumbfounded. How could it be Lu Lizhi!?

Yes, this man had some learning, or Qingsong Academy would not have invited him personally. But compared to Lord Qingyuan, whose works demanded a rich scholarly environment to cultivate such talent—there was an unbridgeable gulf!

Yet the crowd seemed bewitched, convinced Lizhi was Lord Qingyuan. They surged forward, shoving aside the Mingli Academy students without ceremony.

Yu Zhijie even had his foot trodden painfully in the crush, his face contorting in agony.

Then someone gasped, “Why, that’s Scholar Lu—the provincial exam’s top scorer! If he were Lord Qingyuan, it would make perfect sense!”

“Yes! His essay was praised by the Prefectural Academic Commissioner, who even submitted a memorial to the throne to secure his right to take the exams. Clearly, the commissioner’s insight was keen—Scholar Lu did not disappoint his trust!”

Hearing this sudden tide of praise, Lizhi felt a stab of regret at his inadvertent exposure.

He disliked such uproar and adulation, and saw no advantage in revealing himself as Lord Qingyuan at this moment.

It could only bring endless trouble.

As he swiftly pondered how to extricate himself and regain peace, the news of Lord Qingyuan’s appearance sent the crowd on the first floor into madness.

Cries of reverence and admiration rang out as they surged past Lu Qinghong, even shoving him aside.

Lu Qinghong’s face went pale. In a single moment, he felt as though cast from heaven into hell. For but a heartbeat ago, these people had looked to him, believing him to be Lord Qingyuan.

Now, their attention had shifted completely, even cursing him for blocking their way.

As heartless as a man casting off his lawful wife.

For a moment, Lu Qinghong was dazed. As the corridor grew more and more crowded, packed to suffocation, the innkeeper and waiter pressed helplessly against the wall, gasping for breath.

At last, Lu Qinghong schooled his features. “That man is not Lord Qingyuan!”

But the crowd paid no heed, still surging toward Lizhi, who feigned ignorance, neither confirming nor denying. To Lu Qinghong, it was sickening.

This man was clearly not Lord Qingyuan, yet he sought to claim the false glory—taking advantage of Lord Qingyuan’s refusal to reveal himself.

Yu Zhijie and the others were equally nauseated, especially seeing that elderly patron nearly falling to his knees before Lizhi, while Lizhi’s brow did not even twitch, showing no shame at all.

Unmoved by honor or disgrace? Laughable!

Surely when his deception was exposed, he would excuse himself with his muteness.

At that moment, Yu Zhijie heard his name called amidst the chaos. He turned to see Lu Qinghong, his face seething with fury.

Of course he was furious. They had nearly exposed him, and now someone else sought to usurp his name. Anyone would spit blood from rage!

So Yu Zhijie and his fellows shouted at the top of their lungs, casting aside all scholarly decorum.

“Don’t be deceived! He is not Lord Qingyuan! Lord Qingyuan is another—one of us! This man shamelessly refuses to deny it. Do not mistake him, or you’ll sully Lord Qingyuan’s name!”

They cried this three times before silence fell like a stone.

At last, someone realized, “Right—these students were calling out to this room. That means the man inside isn’t Lord Qingyuan!”

“Then… why didn’t Scholar Lu deny it? We were excited for nothing.”

“Have you forgotten? He suffers from muteness. How could he deny it? And besides, everyone surged forward at once—he hadn’t the chance to respond.” Someone spoke in his defense.

“I say he simply chose not to deny. Mute or not, he could have shaken his head! But he sat there calmly!”

As they came to themselves, realizing how crazed they had just behaved, they shoved the blame onto Lizhi.

Lizhi was displeased, yet since events had turned to his advantage, he remained serene, continuing to sit composedly, even calmly lifting food to his lips.

Beside him, Ding Lihui and his father looked dumbstruck, having witnessed this whirlwind of events in half an hour—swept from exaltation to fear, and then back to uneasy calm.

Ding Yue, mindful of how vital Lizhi was to their workshop master, had from the beginning shielded him, ensuring no one reached him in the crush.

But Ding Lihui felt conflicted. At the academy, he had heard rumors: Lu Qinghong often sold storybooks at Yongyuan Bookshop, and students plagued the shop for news. The greatest clue was that Lord Qingyuan bore the surname “Lu”!

And with “Qing” in his name, many suspected him. His evasiveness—neither admitting nor denying—only deepened belief.

Nearly everyone had concluded Lu Qinghong was Lord Qingyuan.

But Lizhi’s reaction just now unsettled him.

Still, perhaps Lizhi too was overwhelmed by the scene. It was, indeed, frightening.

Once the crowd dispersed from their private room, Yu Zhijie and the others stormed up, glaring at Lizhi. “Shameless!”

“The truth will never remain buried!”

“Some men have truly filthy hearts!”

As scholars, they restrained their words in public, but their contempt was plain.

Lizhi, already half full, ignored them entirely.

At last, Lu Qinghong entered, carrying himself with an air of superiority. He looked down at Lizhi and declared, “I do not wish for such an incident ever again.”

Lizhi calmly lifted his gaze, noting the man’s hateful expression, as if robbed of something. With a brief thought, he understood whom Yu Zhijie and the others had meant by “one of us.”

Seeing Lizhi’s lack of guilt or alarm, Lu Qinghong’s disgust deepened. “Otherwise, I will see you severely punished!”

Yu Zhijie and the others clustered around him, escorting him away. The rest, no longer daring to risk claiming falsely, stood aside, murmuring in uncertainty.

The more they pondered, the more convinced they became.

“Could it be that the true Lord Qingyuan is this Young Master Lu?”

“Of course—it’s the Jiangyi Lu clan. It wouldn’t be strange if one of them were Lord Qingyuan!”

“Didn’t you hear him just now? ‘Severely punished’—would anyone but the true author speak thus to an impostor?”

At once, the crowd erupted again, trailing after Lu Qinghong in ecstasy. Some even wept with joy.

“So this is the real Lord Qingyuan!”

Outside, Lu Qinghong mounted a lavish carriage marked with the Lu family crest, surrounded by students.

The curtain fell, leaving only a glimpse of his snow-white scholar’s robe, his severe expression, faintly tinged with anger.

No matter how one looked—it was fitting.

The true identity of Lord Qingyuan had at last surfaced!

“How fortunate I am to have witnessed such a moment!”

“Wait—I must urge him to write more! I can’t endure the wait for the third volume of Wen Fengliu, ahhh, Lord Qingyuan!”

On the street, countless chased Lu Qinghong’s carriage, drawing astonished gazes. The grand spectacle became a sight forever etched in memory.

Meanwhile, Lizhi stood at the window of the private room, watching the Lu family carriage below. His expression hardly changed, like a dust-free immortal.

He was merely recalling: that time, when chased into an alley by Jiang Yueming and Yu Zhijie, Baiye had leapt from a tree and specifically warned him about Mingli Academy.

Back then, he had thought little of it, assuming it pertained to Jiang Yueming. Now, he realized there might be deeper meaning.

His grip tightened on the window frame. Baiye, Baiye—what is truly going on with you?

Lizhi felt as though trapped in fog, with Baiye the guiding hand—gentle, yet impenetrable.

As he wrestled with this sense of strangeness and distance, a low sobbing came from behind.

It was the storyteller.

“Was… was that truly Lord Qingyuan?” The old man’s eyes brimmed with tears, his face flushed. “An unattainable height… I had thought him an elder seasoned by years, or at least a gifted middle-aged man…”

“Yet so young, so dignified!” His voice dripped with inferiority, as he belittled himself to the dirt.

Recalling the insults just flung by those students—“stale stories,” “repeated endlessly,” “only fools find them novel”—the old man’s proud spirit collapsed.

Yes, he was but a performer scraping by.

In despair, ready to abandon his trade to avoid further humiliation, a hand landed on his shoulder.

Lizhi had brought Elder Yi to Yongyuan Bookshop.

Years ago, Elder Yi had been an academy tutor. His passion for storytelling, however, and a slander by former students had ruined his reputation. With wife and children, he left his hometown, wandering until settling in Xuanhe Prefecture, where he lived by telling tales.

His son, however, had succeeded—becoming a licentiate, now a teacher at the prefectural academy. His grandson, too, had passed the exam, studying there.

In truth, he told stories out of love, not need—the family was no longer reliant on his earnings.

After uncovering Elder Yi’s background, Shopkeeper Ning understood his history. Lizhi then wrote down his purpose.

Ning read the upright characters, stunned. “Storytelling? In this way? Wait—this is brilliant!”

If there were books, why not spread them as stories?

It might affect book sales, but the tips Elder Yi would earn, and the influx of patrons to the tavern—his share of that money would be no small sum.

Most importantly, he had learned that nothing could dim these books’ sales. People loved them too deeply—many bought them simply to collect.

But Elder Yi was dumbstruck. “What? Did you say Lord Qingyuan’s books for me to tell? Impossible—how could Lord Qingyuan agree? He…”

Suddenly he grew indignant. “You mean to profit behind Lord Qingyuan’s back? How shameless! He chose your modest shop, brought you such wealth—two more shops, even! And now you would bleed him dry!”

Lizhi’s gentle expression reassured him. He trusted Baiye’s judgment in bringing him here—this man was no real danger.

Shopkeeper Ning was baffled. “What nonsense—you speak as if he’s not here. Lord Qingyuan sits right before you.”

“Utter nonsense! He must have returned to his academy!”

For a moment, both were stunned into confusion.

Until Lizhi silently produced the manuscript of Wen Fengliu, Part Three.

Elder Yi collapsed to the floor.

Shopkeeper Ning, delighted, nearly rushed aside to read. His greatest joy was not money or expanding business, but being the first to read Lord Qingyuan’s works.

If others knew, they would tear his roof off with envy!

But just as his excitement peaked, Lizhi blocked his path, his gaze cold as he wrote swiftly—

You revealed Lord Qingyuan’s identity?

Ning jumped, face flushing after a long pause. “I—I may have slipped once, while drunk. I let out your surname.”

“But a single ‘Lu’—surely they would not link it to you?”

Indeed, they had not. Instead, they mistook it for Lu Qinghong.

At last Elder Yi recovered, furious. “So it was not Scholar Lu who claimed Lord Qingyuan’s name, but Lu Qinghong who impersonated him? And just now he even dared to declare he’d punish you?”

Had Lizhi not been so composed, Elder Yi would have burst with rage. That one so young had such composure was astonishing.

He blustered, “I must tell everyone the truth! That hypocrite—how shameless! And those fools who jeered at you—fools, fools! Worthless of their books!”

Only after hearing the full truth did Shopkeeper Ning recover, laughing in anger. “Shameless, utterly shameless!”

Yet deep worry soon followed. “This Mingli Academy… and Lu Qinghong, backed by the Lu family, are no small matter…”

He shuddered, imagining plots.

Lizhi restrained Elder Yi, urging them to remain silent.

As those students had said, the truth could never be buried.

The more arrogant he was now, the harder he would fall when exposed.

Lizhi’s focus remained on securing money.

Elder Yi still fumed, until Shopkeeper Ning soothed him. “Indeed, it must not be revealed too soon. I know it well—I’ve earned much silver, yet my family and I suffer for it, under immense pressure…”

Lizhi understood this was Ning’s way of boasting of his loyalty and hardships.

At least he was shrewd but tight-lipped, capable of enduring the pressure.

Leaving the matter of storytelling to them, Lizhi signed a contract for a twenty-percent share. Shopkeeper Ning then handed him this round’s royalties—

A full one hundred taels of silver.

Lizhi suddenly felt his money might be easier earned than Baiye’s.

Yet his brows knit—what of Baiye’s side of things…?

Meanwhile, Baiye, following Shopkeeper Zhang hurriedly, thought they were bound for Huichun Hall.

Instead, he was brought straight to the He family, in utmost secrecy, as if wary of spies.

Baiye remained silent, not gawking at the luxurious estate.

Though the elegant gardens and architecture pressed upon his eyes, he had seen modern parks and Suzhou gardens before. He was not so easily impressed.

He merely thought: one day, he would buy a residence too, decorate it to Lizhi’s taste, and make it their bridal home.

But soon his good mood was ruined.

Upon seeing him, He Lin immediately reported ill tidings.

“Sh

anyi Hall’s second proprietor arrived in the prefectural city yesterday. They swiftly acquired a workshop at low price, clearly planning to continue their medicinal business here. And…”

“They’ve brought in many helpers.” Old Master He tapped his pipe. “This is a declaration of war against us.”

“In addition, they seek to buy the rest of Mount Daheng. Because Shanyi Hall of Changlin County recently caused trouble, Prefect Yan is delaying approval. But my sources say they are determined—and they have the means.”

Whether in wealth or influence, Shanyi Hall could easily buy the mountain. The hostility was blatant!

Baiye reacted with calm.

In truth, he had long expected it.

The He father and son had hoped to pressure him with bad news. Seeing him unmoved, they exchanged glances.

But then Baiye asked, “Are you afraid?”

“Afraid?” Old Master He laughed. If earlier he had hesitated over Baiye’s proposal, now that they had been provoked, he made up his mind on the spot.

He was a man who thrived against adversity, never one to bow to suppression.

“If Shanyi Hall won’t relent, then let us wait and see!”