Martial Arts Crossover: My master tricked Huang Rong into becoming my wife!

"Don't be lazy, I'm going to take a nap first."

Chen Yanzhou glanced at her and said with a smile.

He stretched and lay back down. When he opened his eyes again, the sun was already high in the sky, and sunlight dappled through the cracks in the window, casting dappled patterns on the private room on the second floor of Changqing Tower.

Chen Yanzhou slept very soundly, without even a dream. He stretched out a big yawn, and his joints cracked and popped.

Chen Yanzhou rubbed his sleepy eyes, propped himself up halfway and looked over there, almost bursting out laughing.

Huang Rong was slumped over the table, the tip of her calligraphy brush almost worn down. Her once pretty face, though smeared with ash, now looked like it had been dyed, with patches of ink everywhere. Her eyes, in particular, were swollen like two ripe peaches, clearly from crying and calculating all night, leaving them swollen.

Hearing Chen Yanzhou's movements, Huang Rong didn't even raise her head. She just fiddled with the abacus faster. The "clattering" sound didn't sound like she was doing accounting. It sounded more like she was venting her anger, as if she wanted to crush the abacus beads one by one.

"Hey, good morning." Chen Yanzhou got out of bed, shuffled to the table in his slippers, and casually picked up a recently closed account book and flipped through it.

The handwriting is neat and the logic is clear.

Even the most utterly rubbish accounts were meticulously categorized by her; what needed to be discarded was discarded, and what needed to be recalculated was recalculated, with every single entry clearly documented.

Chen Yanzhou nodded in satisfaction, then casually tossed the account book back into the box with a thud.

How much is left?

Huang Rong sniffed, her voice muffled and gruff, carrying a hint of fierceness: "The last one."

"Okay, that's efficient." Chen Yanzhou walked to the door, opened it, and called out, "Waiter!"

The waiter had been waiting at the top of the stairs. Hearing the call, he immediately came running over, carrying a basin of hot water: "Sir, you're awake? The water is ready for you."

"You have a good eye." Chen Yanzhou took the cloth and wiped his face haphazardly, then casually tossed over a small piece of silver. "Go, bring out your shop's signature dishes, like braised pork slices, stir-fried mutton with scallions, and four-happiness meatballs, and also that... yeah, bring out another one of that eight-treasure duck that this young man was craving yesterday. Also, go and call Li Tieniu and the others up here."

The waiter caught the silver, grinning from ear to ear: "Alright! Please wait a moment, sir, I'll go arrange it right away!"

The door closed again.

Only the final clinking of the abacus beads remained in the room.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea has passed.

"Snapped!"

Huang Rong slammed the brush down heavily on the brush mountain, her spine seemingly removed, and she slumped into the chair.

"I'm done calculating."

She let out a long breath, turned to look at Chen Yanzhou, her eyes showing both relief and a hidden glint of daggers about to fly out.

"The total deficit is three thousand two hundred and forty taels and seven mace. Two thousand taels of that was the initial road-building expenses for the Yiyun Division. The rest..." Huang Rong gritted her teeth and pushed the ledger in front of Chen Yanzhou. "The rest is all here. Take a look for yourself!"

Chen Yanzhou didn't even glance at it, but simply tapped the cover lightly twice with his finger: "No need to look, I believe you."

Huang Rong was stunned for a moment, then so angry that she almost couldn't catch her breath.

Just then, heavy footsteps came from the stairwell.

Li Tieniu, accompanied by several trusted disciples, ran up, panting heavily.

Upon entering, Li Tieniu saw the four sealed boxes and then looked at Huang Rong, who was slumped in a chair as if drained of her life force by a demon. His dark face was filled with shock.

"Chief...Chief, is that all?" Li Tieniu's eyes widened in disbelief as he pointed at the account books. "These are two years' worth of messy accounts from our branch!"

"What, you doubt my judgment?" Chen Yanzhou glanced at him sideways.

"No, no!" Li Tieniu hurriedly waved his hands, his gaze towards Huang Rong instantly changing to one of awe for a powerful figure. "This young brother... is a miracle worker!"

Huang Rong snorted coldly, turned her head away, and couldn't be bothered to pay any attention to these stinking beggars.

Chen Yanzhou pointed to the four boxes: "Tie Niu, find a few sturdy vehicles and transport these four boxes back to Xiangyang intact, and personally hand them over to Elder Lu."

Li Tieniu was taken aback: "Shouldn't we keep a copy ourselves?"

"No need." Chen Yanzhou walked to the window, looked at the bustling street below, and said calmly, "Tell Elder Lu that I've already had the accounts sorted out. Have him take these account books and have a good talk with those elders in the gang who only know how to take advantage of others. Tell them that the money of the Righteous Transport Division is earned by our brothers with their lives, and if anyone dares to plunder the public accounts again, I'll chop off their claws."

These words were spoken casually, but Li Tieniu felt a chill run down his spine.

"Yes! I'll take care of it right away!" Li Tieniu didn't dare to delay. With a wave of his hand, several disciples stepped forward, lifted the box, and hurriedly retreated.

The room returned to silence.

As the four large, oppressive boxes, which resembled coffins, were moved away, Huang Rong felt as if the heavy stone pressing on her chest had finally been removed.

She held onto the edge of the table and stood up unsteadily.

My legs are numb from sitting for so long, and my butt is burning with pain.

"The score is settled, we're even." Huang Rong gritted her teeth, each word seemingly squeezed out from between them. "Though the mountains remain green and the waters flow on, we... it's best if we never see each other again!"

After saying that, she limped toward the door.

"Wait a minute."

Chen Yanzhou's lazy voice came from behind.

Huang Rong froze, whirled around like a cat with its fur standing on end, and stared at him warily: "What else do you want? I've already paid off the debt of one hundred taels of silver! If you dare to do it again..."

She instinctively covered her buttocks, clearly still traumatized by the beating she received the night before.

Chen Yanzhou couldn't help but chuckle at her frightened appearance.

"Don't be nervous." Chen Yanzhou stopped, a cryptic smile on his face. "I'm a man of integrity in business. Now that the debt is settled, I naturally won't make things difficult for you. However..."

"But what?" Huang Rong swallowed nervously.

"But you've helped me so much, if I let you leave on an empty stomach, wouldn't it make the Beggars' Sect seem like we don't know any manners?" Chen Yanzhou turned to the side and pointed to the bowls and chopsticks that had just been set on the table. "Have a simple meal as a token of my gratitude. After you've finished eating, you can go wherever you want; I won't stop you."

Huang Rong looked at him suspiciously, then glanced at the dishes that had just been served on the table.

The aroma is tangy.

That was authentic Eight Treasure Duck, and the aroma of cumin from the stir-fried mutton with scallions made her stomach rumble instantly.

"Gurgle..."

A very loud rumbling sound rang out in the quiet room.

Huang Rong's face instantly turned bright red, and she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.

"I won't eat it!" she stubbornly insisted, clinging to her last shred of defiance. "Who knows what other dirty tricks you might come up with to scheme against me?"

Chen Yanzhou raised an eyebrow. "If I wanted to scheme against you, would I be inviting you to dinner?"

As he spoke, he flicked his wrist, and the dog-beating stick drew a green afterimage in the air.

Huang Rong shrank her neck.

Indeed, this bastard is highly skilled in martial arts, especially his ability to identify and strike acupoints, which is virtually impossible to defend against.

"Are you really letting me leave after I finish eating?" Huang Rong asked tentatively.

A gentleman's word is his bond.

"What kind of gentleman are you?" Huang Rong muttered, but she didn't move her feet, her eyes still involuntarily glancing at the table.

She was so hungry. She had only eaten one meal yesterday and had stayed up all night. She felt like she could swallow a whole cow.

"Alright." Chen Yanzhou saw through her thoughts and extended his palm. "Let's make a pact with a high five. After this meal, you can leave if you want. If I stop you again, may I never be able to eat beggar's chicken again in my life."

This oath was extremely vicious for people of Hong Qigong's lineage.

Huang Rong rolled her eyes, thinking that although this man was a scoundrel, he seemed to keep his word.

"Okay! Let's high-five to seal the deal!"

She stretched out her dirty little hand and slapped Chen Yanzhou's palm three times.

The vow has been made.

Huang Rong stopped being so formal and strode over to the table to sit down.

Looking at the table full of delicious food, her hand holding the chopsticks froze in mid-air, hesitant to put them down.

Those big eyes darted around, glancing at the food and then at Chen Yanzhou, clearly still shaken.

Chen Yanzhou shook his head helplessly at her cowardly expression, looking like she wanted to eat but didn't dare.

He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of the fattest duck meat, put it in his mouth, chewed it slowly, and looked very satisfied.

"Hmm, the chef at Changqinglou is indeed lacking in skill, but the duck is well-chosen, fatty yet not greasy."

He poured himself another glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp.

"Are you relieved now?" Chen Yanzhou put down his wine glass and looked at her with a half-smile.

Seeing that he was fine after eating, Huang Rong finally let her guard down completely.

"snort!"

Before she finished speaking, the chopsticks in her hand had already become a blur, precisely piercing into a four-happiness meatball.

When people are extremely hungry, it's hard for them to eat elegantly. But Huang Rong, with her family's rich cultural heritage, still managed to dine with an undeniable liveliness even while wolfing down her food.

Her cheeks were bulging, like a little hamster eating, and she mumbled her evaluation as she ate:

"This mutton is too tough...this meatball has too much starch...only this duck is barely edible..."

They may be picky with their words, but they're quick with their actions.

Upon seeing this, Chen Yanzhou smiled and spoke up.

"Brother, I'd like to ask you for a favor..."

Before she could finish speaking, Huang Rong suddenly looked up, quickly spat the food in her mouth back into the bowl, stood up, pointed at Chen Yanzhou, and cursed.

"I knew you were up to no good, trying to trick me again? No way!"