Liang Shujun’s lips twitched slightly, "How can she think of such beautiful things? He’s a married man!"
Of course, he did indeed have a way, but whether Young Master Li could accept this "way" was another matter.
Liang Shujun had someone prepare ink and brush, and after a short while, he painted a portrait. The ink was not yet dry, but a man already sprang to life upon the canvas, his face marred by burn scars. The portrait was exceedingly lifelike, particularly the finishing touch: the man’s dark, deep-set eyes that perfectly captured his aloof and stoic character.
Young Master Li was standing beside him with a dumbfounded look, "Third Brother Liang, who is this?"
He blinked incredulously; the painting still there, and the person in the painting still there, but seemingly about to step out of the canvas.
When the two of them met, Third Brother Liang was in a dire state, disheveled and bedraggled. After being brought back to the Li Mansion and cleaned up, he had been astounded by Third Brother Liang’s face, deeming it heavenly.
Even though Third Brother Liang was too tall and his physique not as frail and delicate as that of a typical man, Third Brother Liang was exceedingly beautiful, especially the cinnabar mark between his eyebrows, which even as a man himself, he couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat.
But now, he was beginning to realize that he had underestimated Third Brother Liang.
This man not only possessed beauty and could sing operas that touched the soul, but he was also skilled in The Art of Painting?
However, Liang Shujun was not quite satisfied with his painting. He said with a clap, "If Big Brother’s right hand hadn’t been disabled and Second Brother wasn’t always sickly, my skills in painting would be nothing compared to theirs. At most, I could only make a fool of myself in front of strangers."
Afterward, Young Master Li sent someone to take the painting and began making inquiries everywhere.
Liang Shujun had assumed that with the Li family’s connections and influence, it wouldn’t take long to hear news of Liang Haoming. But time passed, and Liang Haoming’s whereabouts remained unknown, as if he had left Pingchang Prefecture or something, and not a single trace of him was found.
Liang Shujun pondered for a long time, thinking that since he had been caught by the Yamen, Haoming definitely couldn’t have left him alone and fled, but Haoming’s continued absence suggested that he must have encountered some trouble, and with this thought, he grew even more anxious.
A year earlier, He Su’s incident made him realize that no matter how talented he was, without a strong backing, even if he opened a shop and business was good, just any significant figure could oppress him and take away everything he had worked hard to create.
And now, a year later, in Pingchang Prefecture, he was arrested by a government officer for breaking curfew and spent several days in jail, which made him understand another lesson.
Despite being a man in a Dayuan Dynasty where women were held in higher regard than men, if he had sufficient manpower, wealth, and influence, he wouldn’t have ended up in such a desperate and humiliating situation.
But amassing wealth and power was surely no easy task?
His eyes flickered, and a vague idea took shape in his mind.
Second Brother’s illness required a lot of money, and he was tired of always living in hardship; he wanted to rise to wealth and refinement, and this path to riches was essential!
It’s good to take shelter beneath a large tree. It seemed he had to find a backer soon so that, should something happen in the future, he would have an escape route...
Liang Shujun’s guess was not wrong; Liang Haoming indeed had encountered trouble, but to say so was not entirely accurate. The one who truly faced trouble was not Liang Haoming but Dong Huiying.
As for Liang Haoming and Liang Yuening, they were simply caught in the crossfire.