If you die, I will be able to inherit your cultivation.

With that punch, the power surged from his dantian, flowing down his arm and into his fist, like an iron pestle piercing through a thin layer of paper.

Manager Zhang's stomach was nothing more than a thin sheet of paper in the face of that punch.

The fist pierced through his abdomen.

After delivering that punch, warm blood splattered on Zhu Zi's face, and he suddenly realized what he had done.

Manager Zhang stared wide-eyed at the hole in his stomach, made a hoarse sound in his throat, and collapsed like a wall.

Zhu Zi looked at his blood-stained fists and completely broke down.

He squatted on the ground, holding his head, pulling at his hair, and saying over and over again, "I really didn't mean it."

This wasn't something he was saying to others; it was something he was saying to himself.

Standing at the back of the crowd, Zhou Ming quickly went through all this information in his mind and came to a conclusion that sent chills down his spine:

Now, the "Scripture of Crossing the World" can no longer be hidden.

The head cook of the Marquis's mansion died. The murderer was a third-class servant who couldn't even lift a bucket of water. He punched the man through the stomach with one punch.

This kind of thing can't be hidden or covered up.

The masters of the Marquis's mansion are not fools, and the stewards are not idle.

They will investigate where the pillar's power comes from, search his house, and interrogate him.

Zhu Zi, with his honest and simple mind, would spill everything after just a few questions.

Fang Yuan will be dragged into this, his story of spreading the scriptures will be brought up, and that book, "The Scripture of Crossing the World," will be unearthed.

Then the Marquis's mansion will find out that someone in the mansion is secretly spreading a martial arts technique that can enable ordinary people to develop martial arts skills in a short period of time.

As Zhou Ming walked towards his room, he reached into his coat.

He also had a book in his arms, which he brought with him yesterday when he went to Xishan to prepare for the arrangement of opportunities.

I originally planned to find another opportunity at night to slip into the cracks between the bricks in that alley.

But now that the pillar incident has happened, the Marquis's mansion will definitely have to double its security measures, and everyone will be screened.

If this scripture is found on him, he's finished.

It's obviously too late to take him out of the mansion and hide him now. It's almost time for roll call, and if he's late without a reason, it will only attract more attention.

He went back inside, quickly tidied himself up, washed his face, straightened his hair, and straightened his clothes.

He pushed open the door and went out, heading towards the Begonia Garden.

As he passed the alley he had traversed countless times, Zhou Ming suddenly stopped.

Zhou Ming glanced around.

no one.

The stewards and guards were preoccupied with the pillar's matter, and it wasn't time for the night patrol to change shifts yet.

Without further hesitation, he crouched down and crawled out through the dog hole.

The only sounds in the empty alley were a few distant barks of dogs.

Zhou Ming stood up, took out the book from his pocket, took a deep breath, and raised his arm.

The book flipped through a few pages in the air, arced through the air, flew over the wall on the other side of the alley, and landed in the courtyard with a thud.

On the other side of the wall was another courtyard. Zhou Ming knew it was a two-section courtyard, not very big, and it didn't look like the home of any prominent family.

As for who the owner of the courtyard was, he didn't know and didn't want to know.

He just wants to get as far away from this scripture as possible.

After the book landed, he didn't wait. He turned around, crawled back through the dog hole, and climbed out of the alley from this end.

He stood up, patted the dirt off his knees, pulled up his shirt to cover the muddy cuffs, and walked briskly toward the Begonia Garden with his head down.

Zhou Ming arrived at the outer courtyard of Haitang Garden, stood in his place, lowered his head, and waited quietly, just like every morning.

The people from the outer courtyard had gradually arrived, with attendants and guards standing in rows.

Chunlan, the head steward, had not yet returned from the pillar's place. Compared to the past, the outer courtyard was less solemn and more filled with whispers.

Zhou Ming didn't even need to strain his ears to hear people whispering about the pillar behind him.

They said that Steward Zhang died before he could be carried to the clinic, and that Zhu Zi had been taken to the dungeon.

He was not involved.

At times like these, saying even one more word only adds to the trouble.

He lowered his head, intently studying the moss growing in the cracks of the stone slabs at his feet.

Before long, the gate to the inner courtyard opened.

Su Mingyue walked out surrounded by a group of maids and servants.

Today she changed into a plain navy blue jacket, without any embroidery, except for a very fine silver-gray trim around the neckline.

Her entire being was pure white from head to toe, as if she had deliberately concealed all her sharpness, but the things in her phoenix eyes could not be hidden.

The murderous aura from yesterday's events on West Mountain hadn't completely faded from her eyes; it lingered there, causing everyone who met her gaze to instinctively lower their heads.

She paused for a moment when she walked to Zhou Ming's side.

Zhou Ming sensed it.

I didn't see it.

He kept his head down, his gaze fixed obediently on the ground, but he could feel the boots pause for a beat beside him.

Then a voice came over, clear and gentle, just like Su Mingyue's usual tone when instructing the housekeeper to move a few pots of flowers.

"Zhou Ming, from today onwards, the kitchen is your responsibility."

The voice paused for a moment.

"Dongmei, give him a good workout."

Zhou Ming was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening.

This is the voice of Miss Su Mingyue.

The kitchen was handed over to him?

Wouldn't that mean he was promoted directly from a second-class attendant to a steward?

Although the head of the kitchen at Haitang Garden was nobody in the grand scheme of things in the entire Marquis's mansion.

However, he held real power over the distribution of food and managed several cooks and helpers.

It was a truly lucrative position, a post reserved for first-class servants.

How did he, a lowly servant who had only been in this world for less than half a month, rise to such heights in one step?

But before he could even feel happy, the second half of the sentence made him break out in a cold sweat.

"Let Dongmei train him properly."

"Yes, Miss, I will definitely train him well."

Dongmei's voice came from behind Su Mingyue, light and cheerful, with an undisguised schadenfreude.

Zhou Ming quietly raised his eyelids and glanced at it.

Dongmei stood in the line of four head maids, looking in his direction.

The corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and no matter how you looked at it, there was a hint of malice in that smile.

Yesterday on West Mountain, she used her short sword to block many knives for Su Mingyue.

The chilling murderous aura on his face hadn't completely dissipated, but now he was smiling like a wildcat eyeing a field mouse.

Zhou Ming's heart tightened, then relaxed.

He roughly guessed what the young lady was thinking.

The kitchen manager must have credited him for what happened in the cave yesterday.

He pointed out the easily defensible cave and led everyone to a safe haven. This achievement, though not huge, was not insignificant.

Su Mingyue didn't say it aloud, but she remembered it all.

Promoting him to kitchen manager is a reward for his achievements.

As for letting Dongmei train him.

Zhou Ming recalled how he had stood at the entrance of the cave yesterday, clutching that broken plank, and a bitter smile crept across his face.

The young lady saw it too.

He was standing at the entrance of the cave, with one foot inside and one foot outside.

Huddled timidly, clutching a piece of broken wood as a shield, it looked exactly like a frightened quail.

The young lady's lips curled up slightly at the time, but looking back now, she probably didn't think he was cute, but rather that he was too cowardly.