The Task Has Failed

Shen Mingyun's sudden appearance was like a timely rain for the Luo family.

At this time, Luo Shuyu was aggressive and could force their hand at any point. With Shen Mingyun's interference, they could breathe a little easier and think up some countermeasures. From the day that Shen Mingyun started living in the Luo Estate, he often appeared suddenly when various incidents and disputes occurred. He had helped Luo Renshou solve a problem he'd been having at court, helped Liu balance the accounts at home, and had even helped the steward generate profits from his shop. They stopped caring about the details of Shen Mingyun's sudden appearances, and slowly began to feel that it was normal and expected.

Shen Mingyun waved his fan, acting unrestrained, and sauntered into the hall, his posture as crooked as willow branches blown by the wind.

Several of the younger children in the Luo family loved to imitate his every move. They felt that it would make them more fashionable than the other gers and young ladies. In Shen Mingyun's words, they were at the cutting edge of fashion trends. Who could know that Shen Mingyun acted like this, purely because he was a man in the first place. In his world, there were only men and women, there were no gers. He swaggered around with such poor posture, he couldn't even walk straight. How could he be considered a role model? He looked down on Luo Shuyu, but Luo Shuyu didn't even take him seriously in the first place.

Although Luo Shuyǔ was jealous of Luo Shuyu's appearance and 'advanced temperament', he was always the first to join forces with others to attack him.

Before Liu was promoted to the position of the main wife, he was born as the ger of a concubine. No matter how favored Liu was, that fact wouldn't change. Meanwhile, Luo Shuyu was born as the ger of the main wife, and his status was stronger than his brothers. At the time, Luo Shuyǔ hated Luo Shuyu very much. Even after his mother was promoted and his status changed, he still hated him. He felt that Luo Shuyu was born to spite him.

Right now, Luo Shuyǔ was naturally closer to Shen Mingyun: "Cousin, you came at a good time. You are always fair and impartial, help us judge the situation."

Shen Mingyun's bright smile at this time, coupled with his silky winking eyes, only made Luo Shuyu feel dirty.

In the book, Shen Mingyun often said things like 'all men are created equal', 'everyone is independent', 'people have rights and obligations', and so on. In reality, when he looked at others, he degraded them in his heart, calling them 'dirty', 'ancient people', 'brain-dead', 'stupid', 'mentally retarted' and other such indecent words. His generous appearance was only used to complete the tasks and make himself look better. All so that he may have a higher status and a more comfortable life.

Luo Shuyu quietly watched Shen Mingyun's performance.

He obviously already heard what had happened from the System, but he still showed a surprised expression: "What's wrong? Let's discuss things carefully."

Luo Shuyu felt that Shen Mingyun looked a lot like the Aunties that middle to solved neighborhood disputes right now. The more he looked, the more he felt this comparison was justified. Raising his eyes, he asked: "Why? Does my cousin also want to get involved in our Luo family's affairs? Or do you think you have the right to make decisions for my late mother, taking advantage of the dead?"

Shen Mingyun was startled. What was Luo Shuyu saying? "What do you mean, 'taking advantage of the dead'?"

Luo Shuyu hinted putting the blame on him lightly: "I'm discussing my mother's dowry with my father. What do you mean by 'discussing things carefully'? You also want a piece of my mother's dowry?"

Shen Mingyun paused for a moment, quickly glancing at the task panel in his mind. It was in fact about Luo Shuyu's mother's dowry, but the description didn't match up.

[Task Summary: Luo Renshou was asked for the dowry of his deceased wife. The Host is given one hour to assist him and help him get back his late wife's dowry. Upon completion, 50 points will be rewarded.]

The System missions were never wrong, and the mission description was fine, but it was Luo Shuyu who took the dowry? Isn't that wrong? No… The System can't be wrong. It's never wrong.

But isn't Luo Shuyu Luo Renshou's son? Although there's no real way to verify this. Identifying parentage by mixing blood isn't reliable, and it's not like they can do DNA testing.

However, this task was worth a lot of points, so a little thing like a dowry should be easy enough to solve. He has read a lot of novels with family in-fighting before, so he thinks he should be able to handle it. He had already taken on tasks to resolve the struggles between Liu and the other concubines, and didn't he do well enough then?

This was the first time he had received a task related to Luo Shuyu. In his opinion, Luo Shuyu was just a substitute for him to avoid entering the Third Prince's Mansion. It's a pity he had to give up the Third Prince, who had such a nice face. Seriously top-notch character design.

Shen Mingyun said forcefully: "Since my uncle is in charge of the dowry, why are you so concerned? It seems like it should be something for the parents to take care of."

Luo Shuyu faced him head-on for the first time, and his understanding of Shen Mingyun's arrogance and unreasonableness went to a higher level.

There was only one way to deal with this sort of person. Luo Shuyu took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and spoke unhurriedly: "Your surname is Shen, and my surname is Luo. What does our Luo family affairs have to do with you? What right do you have to intervene here, let alone with regards to my mother's dowry. Even an honest and upright official will have difficulty resolving a family dispute. It is not your turn to speak, Cousin. There is no such thing as a place without rules. You might as well look at the laws of Daxia before considering whether or not you want to get involved in this matter."

It was the first time for Shen Mingyun to see Luo Shuyu, that fake scholar, talking at such length. He really didn't understand the laws of Daxia, but so what? He could just change them.

He thought his words held some truth: "Customs are dead, inflexible things, while people are alive. Why must you fight for the dowry? Also, why do you say I don't understand the laws of Daxia?"

Luo Shuyu smiled indifferently: "If you understand, you should shut your mouth now and stop speaking nonsense." He turned his head to look at Luo Renshou: "Father, as Shangshu, you should understand the etiquette of Daxia and know how to deal with a woman's dowry."

Luo Renshou was also shamelessly hoping for Shen Mingyun to mess things up, but he never would have expected him to speak so unscrupulously. If he helped Shen Mingyun here, he wouldn't just be scolded by Luo Shuyu. The Shangshu of the Department of State Affairs doesn't understand etiquette? If this was spread outside by the servants, he would have to cover his face with his sleeves whenever he went out.

As a final bid to save face, Luo Renshou said to Shen Mingyun: "Mingyun, you really should learn. You must not have had a good teacher out in the country before. Let your aunt find you a good one tomorrow. Learn the rules first."

Shen Mingyun looked perplexed: "…Uncle, what did you just tell me to learn?"

Damn! He just came to help Luo Renshou, so why was he telling him to learn how to behave? 'Learn' my b*lls! Why don't you 'learn' my d**k!

Luo Shuyǔ on the side was still relying on Shen Mingyun's fighting power. He didn't expect for him to lose within two rounds. He was choked into silence by Luo Shuyu and was accused of being unlearned and incompetent. For the first time, he felt that Cousin Shen wasn't that impressive.

It was also the first time that Luo Renshou found Shen Mingyun to be a bit stupid. He didn't know how to read people's expressions, so he just shut up at this point.

He looked at Luo Shuyu, who was sitting upright, looked graceful and had good posture. Luo Renshou couldn't help but compare him with Shen Mingyun, who stood slouched over. The etiquette of the Luo family's children was indeed more in line with what's expected for someone in his position.

Shen Mingyun was anxious. What was Luo Renshou planning? If he doesn't cooperate with him, he won't be able to complete the task! What to do? The earlier tasks were completed without a problem, so why is it so difficult today?

No wonder the rewards were only 1-10 points in the past, but changed to 50 points today. It would seem that the difficulty has gone up.

Shen Mingyun spoke with the System in his head: "System, can we set up a task difficulty value?"

System: "Yes."

Shen Mingyun: "Then what would today's task be rated as?"

System: "According to the highest difficulty of five stars, today's task would be ranked as three stars."

Shen Mingyun: "Fuck! Such a simple task is actually worth three stars! How can a simple dowry be worth this much?"

The System did not respond.

Shen Mingyun's intervention didn't go well, and he was instead criticized by Luo Renshou. Liu started to get nervous. Whenever something happened, she would stand behind others and play it by ear. Chen's dowry was really difficult to deal with. Over the years, she had used it a lot. Why did Luo Shuyu have to suddenly think of this?

Luo Shuyu also didn't intend to give Shen Mingyun the opportunity to complete his task. He wanted to see what would happen if he were to fail. Now, watching his face grow more and more stiff, he completely lost the friendly appearance of 'strategizing' he had in the past. Maybe he was even scolding his mother in his heart. He knew that whenever Shen Mingyun encounters something unsatisfactory, he would scold from the heavens to the earth, lashing out with profanities one after the other.

Luo Shuyu looked back to Liu-shi and Luo Renshou: "Father, I was distracted by my cousin just now. Let's get back on topic. Didn't Fourth Brother want evidence about who the jackal was? If so, I really don't mind sharing. The evidence is here." He pointed to Feng-momo beside him: "Momo, please take off the hairpin on Fourth Brother's head and let them see."

Feng-momo moved swiftly, reaching him in just two steps, and pulled Luo Shuyǔ to her vigorously, quickly pulling out the white jade hairpin from Luo Shuyǔ's head in one swift motion.

Luo Shuyǔ listened to Shen Minyun's advice about eating less to maintain his figure. He hadn't eaten enough in the morning, so after he was released by Feng-momo, he swayed slightly and almost fell to the ground. He covered his head, face flushed with anger: "Luo Shuyu! Don't deceive others! Give me back my hairpin!"

Feng-momo used a clean handkerchief to present the white jade hairpin to Luo Shuyu for a look: "Luo young master."

Luo Shuyu said: "This hairpin was given to my fourth brother by Liu-yiniang?"

Luo Shuyǔ replied angrily: "So what? This is just an ordinary hairpin, give it back to me!"

Luo Shuyu observed Liu's increasingly pale face, and smiled lightly: "All of those present are witnesses, Cousin, listen carefully; This white jade hairpin was given to Fourth Brother by Liu-yiniang." He then said to Feng-momo: "Momo, take a look. Is there writing engraved on the hairpin, with the characters for 'Yuxiangji' in it?"

Feng-momo leaned forward and looked at it closely, "Answering Luo young master, there appear to be the three characters for 'Yuxiangji'."

Luo Shuyu didn't even glance at Liu, instead looking at Luo Renshou with a half-smile, deliberately asking him: "Then does Father wish to confirm this?" Luo Renshou, who was sitting in his seat, remained silent. Luo Shuyu continued "I think you also know the rules of Yuxiangji. Every time a jade accessory is sold from their shop, the sale will be registered and recorded in four copies– one for the main store, one for the branch store, one for the boss, and one for the buyer. Is this evidence sufficient? Does Liu's natal family can bring out the purchase copy?. Father, what do you think?"

If he hadn't already been sitting, Luo Renshou would have made a scene where his figure swayed slightly, and then passed out to save himself from this embarrassment.

Luo Renshou was forced to this point, knowing that he could no longer cover up Liu's embezzlement, he slapped the table and stood up angrily: "Liu! How dare you steal from the dowry? Misappropriating Chen's belongings! Come here! Take the Madam back to her courtyard. Without my permission, she can't leave for half a month."

Liu shouted: "Husband!" Her husband intended to place the blame on her head! Did he mean to abandon her to save his own face?

In a panic, her eyes rolled back and she fainted. Luo Shuyue and Luo Shuyǔ quickly supported her, calling out: "Mother!"

Luo Shuyu was too lazy to watch their play, and directly asked Luo Renshou: "Father, can you give me the key to the storage room?"

Luo Renshou wore a sour expression: "Of course."

At the same time, a robotic voice sounded in Shen Mingyun's mind: "The Host has not completed the task of 'Retaining the Dowry'. The task has failed."

Shen Mingyun was very surprised. The task actually failed?!

After getting a satisfactory answer, Luo Shuyu watched the chaotic scene, admiring everyone's expressions, finding it all very interesting. Suddenly, he had the urge to share it with someone.

__________

That night, Li Mingjin received a letter from Luo Shuyu, which was again very brief.

I am very happy today.

– Luo Shuyu

Li Mingjin's gloomy face showed a little more distress. Why is it so short?