Not A Cultivator

Tao Zhen became restless as the senior disciples showed the evidence to everyone. The cat fur stuck on the five men's sleeves were clear and distinguished, it was hard to argue it does not belong to a cat.

When Tao Zhen's follower took the cat to the centre of the group, he was not alone. Along with four other people, they passed it along one by one to not arouse any suspicion. They were very careful to make sure no one noticed them, but who would have thought about cat fur in that kind of situation.

The situation has been turned around, now Tao Zhen and his followers were the guilty party. Feng Ao Xiu slightly smiled as he enjoyed watching Tao Zhen's predicament.

"Young Master Tao, this people are your men, right? What do you have to say for this?" asked Elder Zhou to Tao Zhen.

Elder Zhou was a wicked man. Before, Young Master Feng was the primary suspect, so he did everything he could to make him guilty. Now, that all evidence pointed to Tao Zhen, he will do the same to him.

"That's right, these five are part of my group." Tao Zhen did not deny it. It would be useless to deny what everyone has already known. "Let me explain, these were..."

"I knew it, you're to blame for all of this!" Elder Zhou quickly interrupted Tao Zhen before he could finish his sentences. Then, Elder Zhou quickly ordered, "Quick, send a message to the Tao Clan, their young master is making a ruckus at Cloud Moon Palace, and ask them for repayment. From now on, no one with the surname Tao shall be allowed into Cloud Moon Palace."

"Elder, I'm innocent. Please let me explain first!" Tao Zhen quickly said loudly for everyone to hear.

"Everything is already clear. What's there to be explained about?" Elder Zhou replied indifferently as if the matter was already resolved.

Tao Zhen gritted his teeth at Elder Zhou's words, before he quickly turned to Scholar Jin. "Great Scholar Jin, please help me! They want to accuse me before I could explain for myself. You couldn't possibly just defend Young Master Feng but not me, right? That would be favouritism!"

It turns out, despite his looks, Tao Zhen was quite smart. He actually used Scholar Jin's own word against himself. At first, Scholar Jin interfered to defend his benefactor, but he used the reason that they could not accuse a person without a solid proof.

Tao Zhen's situation currently was exactly the same. Since, Scholar Jin has a reputation to maintain, and he also did not want to be accused of playing favouritism, so he had no choice but to speak up for Tao Zhen. He said to Elder Zhao, "Let's hear what the young man has to say, first."

Elder Zhao glanced at Scholar Jin, and were disappointed that he interfered again. But, he still has to give Scholar Jin some face, so he obeyed. Elder Zhou said to Tao Zhen, "Quickly, what do you have to say?"

Without any delay, Tao Zhen quickly explained, "These five maybe a part of my group. But, I did not know any of this. I also did not order them to do it. These five must have done it on their own accord!"

"Young Master Tao, You're..."

Before they could deny, Tao Zhen interrupt, and quickly said, "I'm disappointed in all of you! What would your father, mother, brother and sister thought if they knew all of this. What should I say when I visit them? Should I say, your son has done an unforgivable mistake. You guys should repent for your sins and confessed your crime. But, brothers, don't worry, the Tao Clan will definitely take care of your parents in your absence."

The five men opened their eyes in disbelief. Young Master Tao's words may seem harmless, but he was threatening them with their family.

"Elder, please forgive us, it is all our fault!"

"We're guilty! We planned for all of this because we don't like Young Master Feng."

Then, Tao Zhen said, "Elder, these five were like family to me, please don't kill them. The Tao clan is willing to pay the penalty fee for them." .

Elder Zhou, who was old and had some experience, knew that all of this was just a ruse. But, he was too tired handling this and didn't want to investigate anymore. So, he accepted Tao Zhen's offer and kicked the five men out of Cloud Moon Palace.

Tao Zhen's frown has turned upside down as his most difficult problem was over. But, when Young Master Feng's figure appeared in his eyes, anger was the only thing he felt. No wonder Young Master Feng's words seemed so easy to pick, it turns out there's an underlying trap within.

"Young Master, just forget about him. If it isn't for Scholar Jin, he wouldn't survive."

"He only took advantage of Scholar Jin protecting him and killed Ah Duo."

"That's right, let bygones be bygones. We should just move on and quickly forget about him. We can't do anything with Scholar Jin around."

The other followers quickly fanned down their young master's anger. Young Master Tao couldn't care any less about them, but he couldn't help but notice that the words "Scholar Jin" were being used a lot.

While, the others were trying to get closer to him to get more benefit. Young Master Tao noticed that there's still one of his follower that was not trying to flatter him. In fact, he indifferently yawned, as if nothing interesting happened. Tao Zhen quickly became interested in him and approached. That person was Qian Hui.

Qian Hui yawned. [Ah... So sleepy. I want to sleep. Where's a good place to sleep around here?]

Suddenly, Tao Zhen appeared in front of him and asked, "You're not actually allergic to cat, right?"

"What is young master saying? I'm really allergic to cat! I'm so allergic that I'd rather die than touch a cat!" said Qian Hui. [I can't let him know that it's only an excuse to not work!]

"Stop pretending!" said Tao Zhen, "I know you're not allergic to cat. You did not want to touch the cat because you know it can be used against you. Am I right?"

[That's what you thought it was?!] Since his lie was not caught, Qian Hui decided to go along with it. "That's right... Young Master Tao, please forgive my impulsiveness."

Tao Zhen was not angry at all. In fact, Qian Hui has just become useful in front of him. He asked, "If you know this is going to happen. Why did you not prevent this plan from happening?"

[How would I know?! I'm not that smart!] Qian Hui calmly replied, "If I tell young master, would you believe me?"

Tao Zhen though about it for a moment. If Qian Hui told him to abandon the plan, he would not believe any of it, especially because Qian Hui was the newest guy. Now, it was different. After he saw Qian Hui's capability, he knew he could trust him.

Tao Zhen asked, "Scholar Jin always protects your old master. How do you think we should get rid of him?"

Qian Hui quickly makes a gesture with his hands asking for money.

"I already hired you, and you still asked for money?"

"Is this a problem for Young Master Tao? Isn't money your strongest ally?" Qian Hui asked back. "Young master should know it better than me. A problem that can be solved by money is not a problem at all. But, things like Scholar Jin that can't be swayed by money is the real problem."

Tao Zhen pondered over Qian Hui's words. Thinking about the implication behind the action by listening to Qian Hui.

If it was concerning the matter about money, Qian Hui could go on all day long. He will try his best, so Young Master Tao would hand him some money, "Young Master Tao not convinced? Perhaps. Young master thinks that I could betray young master after I received some money? Then, young master only needs to think if the opponent has more money than the Tao Clan. In fact, young master should watch out for those who helped young master without asking for any reward, who knows what they want?"

The more Qian Hui talked, the more Tao Zhen became convinced. He could not beat Young Master Feng in wits, nor he could beat Scholar Jin in terms of strength, so he should use his strongest suit, money.

There's also three of his follower who were loyal and never asked for anything. But, because of Qian Hui's advice, they became really suspicious. Isn't there a saying "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer". Could they be a spy waiting to stab in the back? Young Master Tao decided to distance himself from them.

Tao Zhen has decided to trust Qian Hui, so he told one of his follower who held the money to give Qian Hui another gold tael.

Meanwhile, the other followers were looking at Qian Hui with envy.

[How come the new guy got two gold tales so easily? I already followed him for half a year and did not even get a gold tael.]

"There, you got your money. So, what's your plan for Scholar Jin?" Tao Zhen asked.

Qian Hui, "..."

[F*ck! I have not thought about it yet!]