"Ansu," Lu Wen stopped smiling, "please explain clearly."
"I remember it very clearly." An Su's smile was still bright and sunny. "I just left the gold coins with you temporarily. Did you misunderstand something?"
This kid!
He is even better at pretending to be confused than me. He is a master at pretending to be confused!
The old priest suddenly remembered what Ansu said when he came in.
"I'll leave this money to you for safekeeping." This is what An Su said, and he did not mention a word about bribery.
No wonder he wanted to make the payment so open and aboveboard.
"But don't you find it strange?"
The old priest stared into Ansu's eyes and said, "Why do you want me to keep it for you? You're only in for a short while. There's no need to give your money to me for safekeeping."
"Isn't this what you asked for?" An Su asked in surprise.
"When did I ask for it?" Father Danny's mouth twitched slightly.
Danny vaguely realized that he seemed to have fallen into the boy's trap.
"No," Ansu stared at him with a smile. The smile was still sunny, but in the priest's eyes, there was a hint of coldness. "You said exactly what you said."
"'But I just don't want the smell of money to come to the goddess's temple.'"
Ansu repeated Father Danny's words exactly, "So I can't bring the gold coins in. That's why I gave them to you for safekeeping, for fear that they would suffocate the goddess."
What I said was a metaphor!
It means metaphorically!
It means to drive you away!
I'm not asking you to give me the money for safekeeping, and then when I'm done, I'll return it to you!
The old priest cursed in his heart, but soon he realized that the boy was still pretending to be confused on purpose!
At that time, he deliberately guided the atmosphere, deliberately followed the distorted meaning, seized the loopholes in his own words, and deliberately fabricated the illusion to the priest that "he intended to bribe"!
"Could it be that you misunderstood what I meant? What were you thinking at the time?"
Miss Luo Jia also looked at Father Danny with suspicion.
Sweating all over.
Father Danny felt himself sweating.
This guy successfully extricated himself from the relationship of bribery. If the confusion continues, it will be like Danny had something up his sleeve and was greedy for money. He misunderstood the intention of the future saint Ansu and wanted to accept a bribe!
"Father Danny, is what Ansu said true?" Father Lu Wen asked him with a frown.
"I swear to the Goddess of Light that every word I said is true and I have not fabricated it." Before Danny could answer, An Su swore first.
In the religious world, oaths are the most sacred and inviolable.
Breaking the oath would result in divine punishment, so when Ansu swore the oath together, Father Lu Wen knew that this was true.
Because all of Ansu’s words above were not fabricated.
Father Danny was going to admit defeat. If he continued talking, no one would be able to save himself.
He pretended to realize something and said, "I remember now. Lord Ansu did give me a bag. I haven't had time to check it yet, so I don't know."
Unexpectedly, An Su's next words made him tremble with fear.
"Then please return my 120 gold coins to me."
Are you a thief who is robbing other thieves
There are not 120 pieces, there are clearly only 60!
Didn't you swear? Why are you lying again? Danny's eyes widened and he suddenly remembered something.
"I swear to the Goddess of Light that every word I said is true and I have not fabricated anything." He finally understood the meaning of this oath.
This is a fucking dividing line!
I promise that what I said above is true, but what I say below is all nonsense and fabricated!
Now how to do.
Ansu has already sworn an oath, and both Father Lu Wen and His Majesty Luo Jia are convinced. Why should he swear again
That would only make him seem ignorant and insult a quasi-saint of the goddess, and the consequences would be even more serious.
Or, confess that there are only sixty gold coins in your purse
Obviously, he was just responsible for keeping the money bag. He just said that he didn't have time to check it. How could he know the exact amount? After all, Father Danny had been doing this for so many years, so he still had some sense.
An Su's statement was clearly a warning and threat to him, but at the same time, it was also a way for him to save face.
"Give me sixty gold coins, and I'll pretend nothing happened. You didn't take the bribe, you just kept my coins."
Did he swear to fight him? He said that there were only 60 pieces of gold in the box that he hadn't touched? Then An Su would completely break off relations with him and expose the fact that he had accepted bribes - this was a threat in the first place.
"Oh, I remember now," Father Danny said with a kind smile, his gums clenched tightly, "I'll get it for you right away, right away."
He returned to his studio, unlocked the drawer, and counted out sixty gold coins—these were the sums he had saved from working for half a year, and of course, there were also quite a few bribes in there.
He bit his lips, put sixty gold coins into his purse, weighed them, smiled, walked out, and handed the purse to An Su.
Who would have thought that Ansu would hand the heavy purse to Father Lu Wen without even looking at it.
"What are you doing?" Lu Wen looked puzzled.
"This is my personal donation to the church," Ansu explained modestly. "This is not for an individual, it's a tithe. I'll feel more at ease if I give it to you personally."
The Holy See does have tithes.
The faithful donate money to the Vatican, which in turn distributes the money to the poor.
Simply put, it is charity.
"One hundred and twenty gold coins is too much, kid."
The more Lu Wen looked at this young man, the more he liked him. He was modest, peaceful, polite, and well-mannered. He was not like those dandy boys at all.
“It exceeds the maximum amount that a single person can donate.”
One hundred and twenty gold coins is indeed a very large number.
It is the total income of an average family for more than ten years.
"Then give me sixty gold coins," Ansu's words made Danny look even sadder and more painful, "This is my token of my appreciation."
You didn't spend a penny!
Why is the money yours and the reputation yours too!
That's my money!
Those sixty coins were stolen money you got by threatening me!
You give the stolen money to the goddess and say it is a token of your affection. You have a dirty heart!
He is so young, only thirteen or fourteen years old, but his heart is even more corrupt than mine.
They are all corrupt. Why on earth could this guy be favored by the Goddess of Glory
Also given a title!
Just because he is young and handsome, does that mean he is a rich second generation
Like the high priest who believed in the Mother Goddess of Life for thirty years, Danny, the old priest who believed in the Goddess of Light for sixty years, also questioned his faith for the first time.
But he couldn't show his pain. He had to smile and join in the clapping.
"By the way, this gold coin is for you." Ansu took out another gold coin from his purse and placed it in front of the priest with a pure smile, "Consider it a tip for keeping my purse."
The final blow, the ultimate in-your-face taunting.
The old priest felt like his heart was about to spurt out blood from anger, but he could only force a fake smile.
"I'm sorry, we... We are clergy, we cannot accept any personal gifts or tips."
Danny said with a twitch in his mouth, "Not even one gold coin."
He never accepted bribes again.
Father Danny used detection magic to stare at the title above the boy's head. The bright "First Born" was so dazzling.
Newborn!
(End of this chapter)