Zui Qingshan dared to guarantee with his head on the line that the handsome young man standing outside the neighboring fenced courtyard was none other than Mu Xiaochen, the son of the mighty Prince of Zifu County and a cultivation genius blessed with extraordinary talent.
Why had he appeared here? Could he also know Ye Tong? Had matters even reached the point where he needed to humble himself and pay a visit? Zui Qingshan suddenly felt that his observations of Ye Tong had overlooked something.
"Come straight up." Ye Tong's voice came from the window of the neighboring pavilion.
Mu Xiaochen raised his head and looked at Ye Tong in the second-floor window. He laughed helplessly. "Whenever I visit someone, they can't wait to welcome me all the way outside the gates of my prince's residence. But you? You're just casually letting me come in."
Ye Tong said irritably, "Had I known you cared about such trivialities, I would've spent money to hire an eight-man sedan chair to carry you over from the prince's residence."
An eight-man sedan chair? I'm not some young bride about to be married off!
Mu Xiaochen grumbled inwardly, then stepped into the courtyard with a disgruntled expression and quickly made his way to the second-floor room.
"Take it!" A verdant jade pendant was tossed directly toward Mu Xiaochen.
Mu Xiaochen caught it with quick hands and sharp eyes. After examining it for a few moments, he praised, "Exquisite carving craftsmanship. The design is elegant and distinctive, the workmanship meticulous. Especially that ferocious beast on this side—it is lifelike and vividly rendered, as though it could spring to life at any moment. Not bad, truly not bad."
Ye Tong said with utter disdain, "You're like a woman—long hair, short sight. That's a defensive talisman."
"A defensive