Chapter 55 Another Arrogant Fool

The City Lord grabbed Li Mu's hand gratefully and shook it firmly.

"Then young brother, I am counting on you!"

Baili Yanhong helplessly massaged her temples. While this young man was indeed somewhat unruly, the undeniable fact was that he possessed genuine capability. Even the City Lord treated him like a blood brother.

Who else in Yun City dared to stand against him?

"I still have some matters to attend to, so I will take my leave first!"

Li Mu gave a slight nod to the City Lord, opened the private room's door, and turned to walk out.

As he turned, however, a familiar figure caught his eye.

Xu Miaoyun, the eldest daughter of the Xu family?

Why was this woman here, and acting so stealthily?

Following right behind her were a middle-aged couple, who, judging by their attire, appeared to be Xu Miaoyun's parents.

"Li Mu? Why are you here?"

Xu Miaoyun looked surprised the moment she saw Li Mu, not expecting to run into this man twice in a single day.

How utterly disappointing!

"I haven't even asked you yet. What are you doing here?"

The man behind Xu Miaoyun stepped forward first.

"We heard the City Lord was here tasting tea, and we have some business partnerships we'd like to discuss with him. Miaoyun, is this a good friend of yours?"

The middle-aged woman looked Li Mu up and down. This man radiated an aura of shabbiness from head to toe.

Her daughter must not be allowed to get too close to someone like him.

Xu Miaoyun turned to look at her father.

"This is Li Mu, the one we were previously engaged to. Later on, our family went and broke off the engagement!"

The expression on the middle-aged woman's face darkened even further.

"So this is that beggar? No wonder... truly wretched-looking. It's a good thing you broke off the engagement back then, otherwise if the other aristocratic families found out, heaven knows how they'd mock us behind our backs!"

Li Mu was already long accustomed to such misunderstandings.

Faced with these aristocratic families who fawned on the rich and trampled on the poor, he genuinely could not muster a pleasant expression.

"Forget it. Breaking off the engagement back then was indeed our family's fault for lacking integrity. The fact that he was willing to follow Miaoyun proves our daughter's charm. Young man, name your conditions; as long as it's within my capacity, I will agree to them!"

The middle-aged man nodded at Li Mu. After all, the past incident was indeed a breach of trust by the Xu family!

Li Mu glanced at the three people before him, feeling a deep wave of disgust.

Had the aristocratic families of today truly become this bloated and arrogant?

Talking nonsense about him stalking her daughter—ignoring absolute paragons of human beauty like Jiang Wan and Baili Yanhong, only to fixate on this mediocre-looking creature before him?

"You flatter me, Uncle Xu. I have no conditions whatsoever, and I certainly wasn't following you here today!"

Xu Miaoyun's expression shifted.

What did this mean? Was she just flattering herself and reading too much into things?

However, the middle-aged woman behind her wore a look of utter disdain.

"If you weren't following our Miaoyun, how could you possibly be at such a high-end teahouse? Could it be that a beggar like you has expanded your business to luxury teahouses? Or are you going to claim you're here to drink tea with the City Lord?"

"Auntie, let me correct you. It's not that I'm with the City Lord; the City Lord personally invited me!"

Personally invited?

Was this young man dreaming in broad daylight?

A look of helplessness also crossed Xu Miaoyun's face.

"Li Mu, I know you've felt very bitter ever since I broke off our engagement, but you've already manufactured two 'chance encounters' today. Once might be a coincidence, but two together... I know you're a good person!"

Li Mu shook his head helplessly. Was she really handing him a "good guy card"?

"Let me state this again: I really wasn't following you. The City Lord invited me here to drink tea with him. If you don't believe me, we can go in and ask!"

As he spoke, Li Mu turned back to push open the door of the private room.

In the next second, however, Xu Miaoyun intercepted him.

"Snap out of it and face reality! A good man shouldn't spend every day living in his own fantasies!"

Li Mu was thoroughly exasperated!

It seemed that if he didn't push open this private room today, this arrogant family would undoubtedly continue to slander him.

If such talk ever reached Jiang Wan's ears, it would be deeply troublesome!

"I'll let you see for yourselves whether I'm daydreaming or if I was genuinely invited here!"

With that, he shoved open the door to the private room.

The middle-aged woman behind him tried to step forward to stop him, but it was already too late.

The occupants inside the private room instantly came into Xu Miaoyun's view.

To her astonishment, not only was the City Lord of Yun City present, but members of the Baili family as well!

One had to know that while this family was not counted among the traditional aristocratic clans, their background was immensely mysterious.

The reason they weren't part of the major families was simply because the Baili clan disdained to befriend the six great aristocratic families at all.

"City Lord, I am terribly sorry. We didn't mean to disturb you, but this stinking beggar insisted on pushing open the door to your private room!"

With that, she shoved Li Mu forward toward the group once again.

The City Lord furrowed his brows slightly. Seeing the scene unfolding before him, the middle-aged woman trembled all over.

She extended a single finger and jabbed it fiercely against Li Mu's head.

"You stinking beggar, aren't you going to hurry up and apologize?"

Xu Miaoyun, standing off to the side, also began to break out in cold sweat.

"Hurry up and apologize to the City Lord! Perhaps he might spare your life!"

"Why should I apologize? You refused to believe me, so I had to prove my innocence!"

At that moment, the City Lord slammed his hand heavily onto the table.

Hearing the sound, everyone was so terrified they didn't even dare to draw a breath.

"Who on earth are you people? Why have you come to disturb my leisure in drinking tea? And furthermore..."

Seeing this, Xu Miaoyun's father shoved Li Mu out in front.

"It was him! He orchestrated all of this; it has nothing to do with the Xu family!"

When the City Lord saw Li Mu, however, his face instantly blossomed with smiles.

"Mr. Li, didn't you say you had matters to attend to and needed to leave early? Why have you returned?"

Mr. Li?

Was the "Mr. Li" in the City Lord's mouth actually the beggar they had just encountered outside?

Impossible. How could a stinking beggar possibly have connections with the City Lord?

"Mr. Li, could these people behind you perhaps be your friends?"

Li Mu shook his head.

"I don't know these three at all. It's just that on my way here earlier, I had a slight friction on the street with this young lady here, and she stubbornly insisted I was hitting on her."

"Bullshit! A dignified Mr. Li is surrounded by beauties everywhere he goes, how could he possibly take a fancy to someone like you?"

That single remark left Xu Miaoyun's face turning pitch black.

She had never experienced such a profound sense of humiliation; the air felt entirely too thin for her to breathe.

With a helpless, pleading look, she raised her head to gaze at Li Mu.

"Alright, I've already proven my innocence. Eldest Miss, I must trouble the three of you to take your leave."

Xu Miaoyun turned and walked out of the private room, feeling as though the gazes fixed on her from behind were stripping her bare.

The sensation of being backstabbed made her tremble involuntarily.

Baili Yanhong slowly walked up to her grandfather's side.

"Mr. Li, what do you think of my granddaughter? If you don't mind, I can entrust my granddaughter to your care."

Baili Yanhong lowered her head shyly.

Li Mu, however, simply waved his hand.

"I'm already married!"