Ambush II

Today was Sunday.

Su Wanzhi did not need to attend the church girls' school. Early in the morning, she was already at her family's shop.

Her friend Lu Zhishuang was there with her.

The afternoon sun poured warmly through the skylight, bathing the neat interior in brilliant light.

The air carried the scent of scorching summer.

Su Wanzhi wore a plain white short qipao that revealed her long, fair arms. Holding a book, she sat on the lounge sofa and quietly read its contents.

Lu Zhishuang, meanwhile, leaned against the window.

She had pushed one corner of the window open and was looking eagerly down at the street below. This bustling road was the only route leading to the silk shop's front entrance.

"Stop looking. He's probably still at my eldest uncle's shop!"

Watching the young girl crane her neck about, Su Wanzhi waved helplessly. "Come sit properly beside me. I went through a great deal of trouble to dig this book out of the Grand Library. It tells the story of how the Kingdom of Migallon established a parliamentary monarchy after Glorious Night."

The book described events from five hundred years ago. Back then, among the nations across the ocean, the Kingdom of Migallon had merely been a middling country.

It suffered barbarian invasions from the north all year round, while also being jointly suppressed by the Karls Empire and the Sun Theocracy. The nation had teetered on the brink, struggling to survive in the cracks.

Later, the reformists led by Grand Duke Edward and Viscount Barlo launched the North-South War, overthrowing the Kort Dynasty that had endured for centuries. They supported a new monarch's ascension and established an entirely new system of constitutional monarchy.

In just a hundred short years afterward, the Kingdom of Migallon developed into a hegemonic power. It successively defeated the barbarians, the empire, and the theocracy, eventually conquering half the ocean.

Su Wanzhi placed the book on her lap, her expression contemplative. "If our Chen State had managed the same back then, would we not have fallen into our present predicament?"

Two hundred years ago, the Kingdom of Migallon led a coalition of many nations on an expedition against Chen State, shattering the Dragon Vein that had continued for over a thousand years.

Without its Dragon Vein, Chen State became impoverished and weak. Beacon fires rose everywhere, and refugees covered the land.

"Qingyin, I don't care about such grand affairs!"

Without turning her head, Lu Zhishuang continued looking out the window. "That's what princes, dukes, and nobles should worry about. What does it have to do with little women like us? We might as well think more about which restaurant to eat at tonight~"

Chen State's humiliating history over the past one or two centuries.

To many wealthy local households, it was merely something recorded in books, a story told by schoolteachers. A layer of invisible, untouchable skin separated it from their pain and itch.

Su Wanzhi was first taken aback, then nodded. "You're right. But that young Brother Jiang won't be having dinner with you."

Over the past few days, she had often invited the people from the escort agency out for meals, but every invitation had been declined.

Jiang Jingnian seemed only to observe the duties within his charge. Let alone anything extra, he was unwilling even to chat with her for a few extra sentences.

He gave off the air of someone exceedingly difficult to approach.

He was utterly unlike the person who had once driven her carriage.

"What do you mean, having dinner with me?!"

Teased by Su Wanzhi, the thin-skinned Lu Zhishuang flushed bright red. Turning her head, she stiffened her fair neck and repeatedly waved her little hands. "I never mentioned Brother Jiang just now! Qingyin, don't talk nonsense!"

"Oh? Whatever you say, I..."

Seeing that even Lu Zhishuang's earlobes had turned crimson, Su Wanzhi's eyes held a trace of teasing amusement. She was about to say something more.

When Lu Zhishuang suddenly cried out, "Ah! I see them! Brother Jiang is coming this way with someone!"

Before Su Wanzhi could speak, she heard the door close, followed by the sound of little boots clattering down the stairs.

The young girl who had just been standing by the window, waving her hands and insisting that she had "never mentioned Brother Jiang," had long since vanished. Only a waft of fragrance lingered nearby.

"Uh, this girl..."

Su Wanzhi shook her head with a soft sigh. She then closed her book, rose to her feet, and opened the door to head downstairs.

Jiang Jingnian led Chai Li across the street. Before they even reached the silk shop's entrance, a young girl ran out from inside. "Brother Jiang!"

Before leaving home today, Lu Zhishuang had specially dressed herself up.

She wore a pale yellow lace maxi dress, its fitted waist accentuating her curvaceous and delicate figure. On her feet were a pair of black little boots imported from the Western Ocean. She skipped along as she walked, displaying all the lively spirit and nimbleness of a young girl.

"Miss Lu, good afternoon."

Jiang Jingnian casually nodded at Lu Zhishuang as she ran over.

Then he walked straight around the girl and entered the shop without a pause.

Chai Li, following behind him, paused in place for a few seconds. First she looked at Escort Master Jiang's retreating back, then at the wealthy young lady whose pretty face could not hide her feelings, her eager joy instantly collapsing into a crestfallen expression.

"A young genius like Escort Master Jiang must be wholly devoted to martial arts. Under normal circumstances, there is no way he would spare his thoughts for romance between men and women."

"This young girl from a wealthy household has truly cast flirtatious glances at the wrong target."

She pursed her lips helplessly, then shrugged and quickened her steps into the shop as well.

Customers came and went within the store. Business was far better than it had been when Garden Celebration Hall had caused trouble.

Some old customers selecting goods also saw Jiang Jingnian enter and cast him looks tinged with respect.

A few days ago, they had seen this white-clad youth standing alone at the entrance, forcing those gang members to retreat.

Such a young martial expert had immediately become a popular topic of conversation among the nearby residents over tea and meals.

They all knew that the Su Family's two shops had recently acquired a white-clad escort master to stand guard, frightening the gang thugs who had previously come to stir up trouble so badly that they no longer dared show their faces.

Jiang Jingnian ignored the many varying looks from passersby. He merely picked up the daily newspaper the shop had prepared for him, then sat in the corner chair with the commanding posture of one straddling a great horse and wielding a broad blade, and began reading.

He was now truly no longer the same as before. Not only had his status and position undergone an enormous change, but he was no longer the illiterate man who had known not a single character when he first transmigrated.

After studying diligently these past days, he had essentially learned all of Chen State's writing apart from a few rare characters.

"Many nations across the ocean have already fallen into chaotic warfare. The situation is complicated, and it seems likely to affect Chen State in the future as well."

"The Stone Demon still hasn't been eliminated, but for now, it has been surrounded deep within Baobai Mountain by foreign religious orders and local martial arts experts. The trade routes near that area have yet to reopen."

"There is no news about the Tao Family for now."

"Next month, the Dou'a Sect will set up an altar in the Stockade to perform rites for the souls of refugee dead?"

Seeing these reports, Jiang Jingnian's gaze became somewhat grave.

Most of the news in these papers seemed very distant from him, yet he keenly caught the scent of something unusual.

Great changes had taken place in the international situation.

A powerful Demon Wraith threatened the north of Peace City.

And several inexplicable religious sects had taken up residence in the Stockade.

If this information were separated and considered individually, none of it would amount to much.

But gathered together, it was like a powder keg steadily being packed fuller and fuller. Once a fuse appeared, it would immediately trigger a chain reaction in a concession like Peace City.

"The waters of Peace City run quite deep."

"But the outside world is an even greater mess. The Northern Lands stretch red for thousands of miles, corpses lying everywhere. Those great warlords in the south seem about to reach the counties around Cloud Harmony City, and more and more refugees are flooding into Peace City."

"Yet the embassies of the various nations within the concession do not seem to be making any moves. Of course, the foreigners' internal information might not be publicly reported."

Jiang Jingnian flipped through the newspaper in his hands, extracting the core beneath the details of various reports.

"Young Brother Jiang, Miss Chai, you've both worked hard again today."

As he read intently, Su Wanzhi approached carrying a tea tray. The teapot atop it still sent steam curling lazily into the air.

"Hello, Miss Su."

Jiang Jingnian raised his head to greet her, then lowered it and continued reading.

"Miss Su, be careful, it's hot. Let me do it."

Chai Li rose and accepted the tea tray. Lifting the teapot, she began pouring tea for Jiang Jingnian.

"Alright, then I'll go get back to work."

Su Wanzhi nodded without saying anything further, turning to handle the shop's affairs.

As for Lu Zhishuang, she had somehow sidled over again and sat beside Jiang Jingnian. "Brother Jiang, do you have a courtesy name? Then I'll know how to address you normally~"

She blinked her large eyes and tilted her head to look at Jiang Jingnian's profile. Courtesy names were used for peers and friends to address one another.

"...I'm only a martial man. I never chose a courtesy name, so you may address me however you wish."

Jiang Jingnian picked up his teacup and lightly took a sip. His brows furrowed slightly, then slowly relaxed.

Had Miss Su changed his tea leaves to a more expensive kind?

Lu Zhishuang gave an "oh," and a trace of disappointment appeared on her little face. She might have been somewhat naive, but she was not foolish.

Brother Jiang beside her was clearly not interested in her at all. She had so carefully dressed herself up, yet he had not even given her a second glance.

It was as though that newspaper covered in words was far more attractive than she was.

"This was probably the maiden's feelings running deep, while the gentleman remained heartless..."

Watching from the side, Chai Li, being a woman herself, showed a trace of sympathy for the situation.

The escort agency's people still did not have dinner with the Su Family's young lady. Instead, they went to a local restaurant elsewhere. As the leading escort master, Jiang Jingnian treated the runners and apprentices to a meal, rewarding them for their recent work backing others in fights.

The group ate for over an hour before parting at the restaurant entrance.

As usual, Jiang Jingnian intended to stroll through some nearby shops after dinner. The others, meanwhile, returned to the escort agency with Chai Li.

But after passing through several alleys and heading toward the eastern district, he began to feel that something was wrong. He abruptly stopped in his tracks.

"...Your Excellency has followed me for so long. Isn't it time to come out?"

Jiang Jingnian turned around, his deep eyes slowly sweeping toward the corner within the alley.

Under the night sky, that place appeared pitch-black, as though no one was there.