Teapot

Such a simple form of address.

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It seemed to say nothing.

Yet it also seemed to say everything.

"How could that be..."

"How could it be?"

Watching Jiang Jingnian walk past her, Qu Lanlan's little face first flushed crimson, then turned pale and green by turns, like a great dye vat coloring silk.

Then, the girl who had been baring her fangs and brandishing her claws like a kitten with its fur standing on end was overwhelmed by an indescribable shame and indignation, and toppled stiffly backward.

Had Su Wanzhi and Lu Zhishuang not reacted swiftly, Qu Lanlan might truly have suffered a serious injury.

As for Jiang Jingnian, his expression remained indifferent from beginning to end. Apart from that casually spoken polite remark earlier, he did not even glance at Qu Lanlan again.

"Th-this... Sister Qingyin, Yunyi seems to have fainted. Could she have suffered internal injuries just now? What should we do?"

Lu Zhishuang supported Qu Lanlan's petite body, her face full of worry and panic.

Su Wanzhi held Qu Lanlan by the shoulders, reached out to feel her breath, then checked the pulse at her wrist. Her breathing was steady and her pulse strong; she did not seem to have suffered internal injuries.

Thinking back to that baffling exchange between Qu Lanlan and Jiang Jingnian—

It seemed there was something between the two of them.

Yet Su Wanzhi did not say anything on the surface. "Yunyi simply fainted. Let us help her inside to rest first."

Then the two women helped Qu Lanlan inside.

When Su Wanzhi ran back out, she brought several servant women who had previously been too afraid to leave the shop, instructing them to take the injured clerks and guards to the nearest clinic for treatment.

"You lot, go lend a hand as well."

Seeing this, Jiang Jingnian instructed the apprentices behind him to help carry the wounded to a nearby clinic.

"Yes, Escort Master Jiang!"

The young apprentices had no strange thoughts toward the boy their own age. They all bowed and saluted him with utmost respect before going to help the Su Family's servants.

After bustling about and briefly handling the matters in the shop, Su Wanzhi finally found the time to thank Jiang Jingnian.

There was a touch of embarrassment on her pretty face. "There was too much going on just now, and I neglected you. Please come inside for tea, Brother Jiang, along with the rest of you ladies and gentlemen."

She had helped the suddenly unconscious Qu Lanlan indoors, called people out to assist, and hurriedly come to receive Jiang Jingnian and the others. After running back and forth, a layer of fine sweat had formed on her forehead.

Because the gang had blocked the entrance earlier—

The spacious shop was completely empty, without a single customer.

Aside from a few female attendants watching the shop, there was no one else inside. The male clerks and guards had all been carried off for treatment.

"Brother Jiang, there is a quiet sitting room upstairs. Please follow me."

Su Wanzhi smiled faintly and pointed toward the staircase on the other side.

"No need. Here is fine."

Jiang Jingnian waved his hand. "The people from Garden Celebration Hall probably will not come again these next few days. We will sit wherever, and we still have other matters to handle later."

He glanced at the long benches and square tables in the corner of the main hall, then called Chai Li and the others over to sit.

"Th-then... all right."

Seeing Jiang Jingnian's unconstrained manner, Su Wanzhi could only turn and give a few instructions to the female attendants beside her, telling them to quickly prepare tea.

Su Wanzhi then took a seat as well, sitting in the chair opposite Jiang Jingnian.

Before long—

A female attendant came over carrying a teapot and tea bowls.

Su Wanzhi rose and personally poured tea for them. After finishing, she glanced at the attendant beside her. "Where is the shopkeeper?"

She had noticed earlier that the shopkeeper was absent, but there had been too much happening for her to ask about it in detail.

"Miss, when the shopkeeper saw that things were going badly, he went out through the back door to fetch reinforcements. He still hasn't returned!"

At Miss Su's question, the female attendant's face grew somewhat tense as she answered.

"All right, I understand."

Su Wanzhi's gaze flickered. She nodded without saying anything more, merely telling the attendant to continue with her work.

Jiang Jingnian and the others silently drank their tea without uttering a word.

Su Wanzhi also held her tea bowl and took a light sip before looking at the white-clothed youth across from her. "Brother Jiang, you and Yunyi... Lanlan, that is, know each other, right?"

He had once been only a rickshaw puller.

How could he know an Aristocratic Clan girl like Yunyi?

And Yunyi had called Brother Jiang... what?

Second Dog?

Though she knew that girls from Aristocratic Clans were mostly pampered, was that not far too rude and vulgar?

"You could say we know each other."

Jiang Jingnian answered neither warmly nor coldly, offering no explanation.

At most, Su Wanzhi was an outsider. In the past, she had been a customer of his rickshaw; now, she was a customer of the escort agency. They merely had a cooperative relationship, nothing more.

Seeing how his somewhat cold expression did not match at all with the honest, simple-minded image he once had, Su Wanzhi found herself strangely speechless.

It had only been some time ago that, whenever she sat in his carriage and asked him anything, he would answer it. It could be said that he knew everything and said everything; even when he did not know, he would grin foolishly and agree with her a few times.

How was he anything like this now?

He only sat there drinking tea, not even sparing her a proper glance.

The sense of disparity was simply too great.

Had I been too rushed just now to tidy up my appearance?

Su Wanzhi silently pondered this, then curbed her overflowing curiosity and shifted the topic to Garden Celebration Hall. "Brother Jiang, that black-clothed young man just now was no ordinary person. Do you know him?"

"I do not. I only heard those gang thugs shouting something about a Young Hall Master."

Jiang Jingnian took a sip of hot tea, feeling its warmth slide down his throat before slowly shaking his head.

Had he not held back and used Mirror Reflection Insight to precisely control his strength—

That blow just now would have killed that soft, flimsy fellow on the spot.

When he rammed into him, it felt like striking a marshmallow. Let alone compared to his master's hard iron-like body, even Huo Qi and that Lotus Intent Sect maid were who knew how many times tougher than that black-clothed youth.

The difference was like that between an egg and a stone.

He had not the slightest curiosity about such an insignificant thing.

"That was Cui Budong, the Young Hall Master of Garden Celebration Hall."

A solemn expression appeared on Su Wanzhi's face.

Cui Budong was no ordinary martial artist, and he held a considerable position within Garden Celebration Hall.

That was why, despite his frequent harassment of the shop and his demand to marry her, her parents neither wished to agree to such a request nor dared refuse him too forcefully. They could only keep stalling and politely declining.

"Oh?" Jiang Jingnian set down his tea bowl and gave a soft sound of surprise. "Does he have a powerful background?"

"He is one of the Hall Master's three adopted sons, and he also has an uncle who serves as a Vice Hall Master. That Vice Hall Master is an expert at the Marrow Tempering Stage!"

As she mentioned this information, a trace of worry appeared on Su Wanzhi's pretty face.

A Vice Hall Master at the Marrow Tempering Stage?

Jiang Jingnian silently committed it to memory, though he did not take it too seriously.

As for the Hall Master of Garden Celebration Hall, he was a great expert of the Inner Qi Realm and indeed could not be underestimated.

However, his master had long told him that the Hall Master would not personally interfere in this matter, much less bully the young with his seniority and personally deal with an ordinary escort master.

After all, Tongda Escort Agency had more than one great expert of the Inner Qi Realm.

Still, this was something they had to guard against.

"I understand."

Jiang Jingnian nodded, then looked at the teapot by Su Wanzhi's hand and smiled faintly. "Miss Su, I wonder... could you bear the pain of parting with this teapot?"

Though he appeared to have been lowering his head to drink tea, he had actually been secretly studying the teapot for quite some time.

[Purple Clay Goldline Pot: When Su Family elder Su Ze was young, he once kept a Demon Wraith named the Red-Gauze Spiral Maiden. The Spiral Maiden mingled with humans, feeding on their blood and flesh. It possessed intelligence and could move valuables. During one failed Advancement Ritual, the Spiral Maiden's blood soaked into part of the furniture. The most heavily contaminated object was the gold-thread carvings on this teapot. For some unknown reason, the two reacted with one another, giving rise to a trace of Metal Nature that could be devoured and fused.]

Hearing Jiang Jingnian's question, Su Wanzhi, who had been wearing a grave expression, suddenly froze. Her face became somewhat confused, as if she suspected she had misheard him.

Was he serious?

She had just been discussing matters concerning Garden Celebration Hall, not tea tasting and refinement, had she not?

And whether it was the tea leaves or the utensils in the shop, they were all exceedingly ordinary household styles. How could they have drawn Brother Jiang's attention?