The crowd erupted!
Jian Shan and Duan Cui swallowed hard, too. They'd been beaten up, and were getting two thousand taels in medical expenses!
If that was how it worked, getting beaten up once a day didn't seem so bad after all.
And a Hua Jin martial artist had just been crippled by the Qian Family head?
That was a powerhouse comparable to a Dao Master at the second or third level! In any family, he'd be a pillar of strength.
The crowd around them buzzed with discussion.
"What kind of standing does that old man have in the Sword Sect?"
"The Qian Family actually backed down this much?"
"Of course they had to. No matter how powerful the Qian Family is, can it compare to the Sword Sect? I'd say this High Person is at least an ancestor-level figure!"
Li Youde heard the onlookers belittling the Qian Family and furrowed his brow in secret. Then his eyes shifted, and he looked at the four straw bundles bristling with candied hawthorns.
He ventured, "High Person, since this is your business, my Qian Family will buy all the rest. We'll pay double for each skewer! That way, you won't have to toil in the wind and sun. What do you think...?"
Jian Shan and Duan Cui exchanged glances, their eyes seeming to gleam with gold.
Double the price! Those nearly two hundred skewers would fetch five or six thousand taels!
They were rich!
But Chen Xian took a sip of tea without even lifting his eyelids.
"I won't sell them. If I sell them all to you, what will the customers waiting here buy?"
Chen Xian's tone was anything but polite.
The smile on Li Youde's face froze for half a moment, then he hurriedly nodded. "Yes, yes, of course. A High Person's treasured creation should be kept for those destined to have it."
Li Youde had lost face, but the onlookers grew even more fervent.
A dish personally made by a High Person of the Xuanyun Sword Sect!
Even if they weren't sick or suffering, buying a skewer to take home and worship would surely extend their lives!
"Give me five skewers!"
"Ten! I want ten!"
"Damn it, I didn't get any! Who'll sell me some? I'll pay triple!"
In an instant, the crowd surged around the stall, and the remaining candied hawthorns were snatched up in a frenzy.
Jian Shan stared at the Dao Silver and banknotes scattered across the table, too stunned to move.
Were the people of Ask-Dao City all this rich? Some hadn't even gotten their candied hawthorns, and they weren't even asking for their money back!
Though Li Youde had been rebuffed, he showed no sign of anger. Instead, he leaned closer to Chen Xian and lowered his voice, his tone sincere. "High Person, I've reserved the best private room in Ask-Heaven Pavilion for tonight, so I can apologize to you all. What do you say...?"
Chen Xian tapped the tea table lightly with his fingertips and sneered inwardly.
He understood. The Qian Family wanted to win him over, just as they had Deacon Huang.
But this might be an opportunity. If he wanted to investigate where the Qian Family got its Shou'er Tea, he had no choice but to attend the banquet.
"Since the Qian Family head is being so courteous, it would seem petty of me to keep up appearances."
Chen Xian rose and brushed the dust from his clothes. "I'll be there on time tonight."
"Wonderful! I'll hurry back and inform the family head. We'll await your honored presence at the entrance of Ask-Heaven Pavilion at the hour of the Rooster!"
With Chen Xian's agreement, Li Youde finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurried away with his men.
The warriors who had been crippled were dragged off in another direction by several burly men.
As household servants, even if they trained until they became Martial Dao masters, they could still be turned into dead dogs at any moment.
Even the fiercest mastiff raised in a household was still raised by people.
The inner residence, in a private hall of the Qian Mansion.
Li Youde lowered his head and reported everything that had happened in West First Ward, down to the smallest detail.
Behind the desk, Qian Yue, the Qian Family head, held a cup of Shou'er Tea, its color deep as blood. His ruddy, dignified face shifted with the steam rising from it.
"You're saying those candied hawthorns that have taken the ward by storm and can even help martial artists break through barriers were made by that Grand Uncle-Master Chen of the Sword Sect?"
"Hmph. No wonder those useless fools couldn't get the secret recipe from those two. So the old man behind it was him."
Qian Yue set down his teacup and gently rubbed the rim with his fingertips, his eyes turning cold.
A few days ago, this was the man who had come to the Qian Family to break off the engagement, leaving him humiliated. He hadn't expected the old man to show up again.
"Reporting to my lord, it's absolutely true. Those two disciples of the Xuanyun Sword Sect treated him with the utmost respect. There's no mistake!"
Li Youde replied cautiously. "My lord, these Blood Sugar Hawthorns are now hugely popular, and in West First Ward they're starting to threaten our Shou'er Tea. If we let them keep growing, I'm afraid..."
Qian Yue sneered. "They're just medicinal snacks with a little efficacy. They won't shake the Shou'er Tea trade. Those old fossils at the Mortal Elder Pavilion don't like eating children's treats!"
He rose and paced around the hall, a calculating glint joining the menace in his eyes. "Still, those candied hawthorns are a profitable business. If we can get the recipe, it'll help expand the Qian Family's trade."
"Withdraw five hundred thousand taels of Dao Silver from the Qian Family treasury. If we can win the old fool over, we'll take the opportunity to buy the recipe from him."
Li Youde's heart shook violently. Five hundred thousand taels of Dao Silver was nearly a whole quarter's profit from the Qian Family's shops.
He swallowed and asked quietly, "My lord, what if... what if that old fool doesn't know what's good for him and insists on opposing us?"
Qian Yue's steps came to an abrupt halt. He turned around, his gaze as cold as a blade's edge.
"Doesn't know what's good for him?"
Qian Yue slowly spat out the words. His right hand made a chopping motion through the air. "Then find a way to make the old fool disappear from this world for good."
Li Youde's knees nearly buckled, and he almost collapsed. "Family head, Chen Xian is, after all, the Grand Uncle-Master of the Xuanyun Sword Sect, with an extremely senior standing. If he dies in Ask-Dao City and the Xuanyun Sword Sect investigates, I'm afraid we won't be able to cover it up!"
"Fool!"
Qian Yue snorted, his eyes full of contempt. "Do you think I haven't investigated him? That old fool has lost all his cultivation. He's nothing but a cripple with a foundation at the third level of Dao Disciple."
"I reckon that in Lei Qingyang's eyes, the old man is just a living good-luck charm, useful for winning people's hearts."
After all, would Lei Qingyang really treat a useless old Dao Disciple at the third level like an ancestor?
He walked up to Li Youde and patted him on the shoulder, his voice sinister. "Youde, you've been with me for so long. You should know how to handle things cleanly and properly."
Li Youde's back broke out in a cold sweat.
"Go. Make the banquet tonight grand. Don't let our honored guest look down on us."
Qian Yue waved a hand, indicating that Li Youde should leave.
Just then, the red jade token at his waist trembled faintly. He quickly sent everyone away, then returned to the rockery in the private courtyard.
Crack!
A hidden door opened.
Qian Yue slipped inside. This time, the secret chamber held only a mass of blood-red mist twisting above the Blood Pool, its shape faintly coalescing into a human silhouette.
"Greetings, Honored Envoy."
Qian Yue knelt on one knee, his manner utterly respectful.
"Qian Yue, you're taking too long. The Holy Sect has no place for useless people."
A cold, hoarse voice came from within the bloody mist.
Qian Yue was drenched in cold sweat. He hurriedly said, "Forgive me, Honored Envoy. Tonight I've invited Chen Xian, the Grand Uncle-Master of the Xuanyun Sword Sect, to a banquet. Perhaps I can win him over to our side."
"Grand Uncle-Master... Chen Xian?"
The blood-red mist roiled, as if pondering the name. "Hmph. I've never heard of him. I'll have to look into it."
"Qian Yue, the Holy Sect can't wait much longer to descend upon Ask-Dao City. You must hurry!"
With that, the bloody mist dispersed, and its terrifying presence vanished completely.
"Yes! I understand!"
Night fell. Outside Ask-Heaven Pavilion, the busiest place in Ask-Dao City, lanterns and decorations filled the scene.
A line of thirty-six red silk lanterns, each taller than a person, stretched from the street corner to the entrance of the restaurant, lighting up half the street as bright as day.
The Qian Family head, Qian Yue, stood solemnly at the entrance, his brocade robes shimmering in the lamplight.
Many passersby stopped to watch, wondering what sort of great figure could make the Qian Family head put on such a grand display.
Just then, three figures and a "beggar" appeared at the distant street corner, strolling unhurriedly into view.
At the sight of them, Qian Yue's expression instantly shifted to a smile as warm as a spring breeze. He strode forward to greet them.
"Your arrival honors us, High Person. Forgive me for not welcoming you sooner. Please, come right in!"