Hu Xiaotian thought, There certainly isn't any Grand Preceptor Zhou here. Zhou Ruiyuan has already been dismissed by the emperor. He's just a commoner now-what official title could he possibly have? He hastily said, "Auntie... may I ask whether Mr. Zhou Ruiyuan lives here?" Being scrupulously polite always helped make a good impression.
The woman turned her gaze back to Hu Xiaotian, her formerly kindly eyes now brimming with suspicion.
"We were entrusted with bringing Miss Qiqi to your residence," Hu Xiaotian said. As he spoke, he could not help looking toward Qiqi. How frustrating. They had already reached their destination, so why had this crafty, treacherous little girl fallen silent again?
"Give me the jade pendant?" Qiqi said.
Hu Xiaotian paused, then remembered that An Dequan had given him a Coiled Dragon Jade Pendant before they parted. Could that pendant be a token of identification? Only then did he take it from his waist and open his left hand to show it to the woman.
The woman glanced at the pendant and naturally noticed that Hu Xiaotian's left hand had turned the color of a braised pig's trotter. Her delicate brows knitted slightly. Extending a slender, fair hand, she carefully picked up the pendant, examined it several times, then nodded. "This pendant does indeed belong to my elder brother."
Hu Xiaotian now understood everything. The pendant belonged to Zhou Ruiyuan, and the woman before him was Zhou Ruiyuan's younger sister. That old eunuch An Dequan was truly devious. He had claimed to be giving Hu Xiaotian the pendant, but it had turned out to be yet another roundabout scheme against him. Dealing with people like that required playing dirty. Unfortunately, he was not ruthless enough. In the end, he had been outplayed by a single move and fallen victim