The shop assistant's words made the face of Lu Bugong, a towering nine-foot man, flush scarlet in an instant.
Back in his hometown, he had been a respectable man, whatever else might be said of him. When had anyone ever looked down on him like this?
Yet Lu Bugong had no way to refute the guard's words.
In truth, on this street, it was not just the Pearl Relic House. Most shops were no longer willing to receive a gambler who had wagered his own wife.
"Your Pearl Relic House is open for business. What right do you have to keep me out?"
His face crimson, Lu Bugong stepped forward and retorted.
"You're not allowed in, and that's final. Go on, go on. Don't get in the way of our business."
A junior shopkeeper of the Pearl Relic House came out just then and waved Lu Bugong away, displeasure written all over his face.
"How am I getting in the way of your..."
"Brother Lu."
Lu Bugong wanted to keep arguing with the junior shopkeeper, but Xu Taiping stopped him.
Xu Taiping had just been exchanging messages with Mu Yun and had not noticed Lu Bugong's argument with the guard.
"Shopkeeper, Mu Yun, the young master of the Guangling Pavilion, invited me to meet your master. Please inform him."
Xu Taiping stepped forward and explained calmly to the junior shopkeeper.
The junior shopkeeper carefully looked Xu Taiping up and down, then held out a hand.
"Your written authorization."
Had Xu Taiping come alone, the junior shopkeeper might have considered whether to notify his master. But with Lu Bugong beside Xu Taiping, he could not even be bothered to consider it.
Xu Taiping frowned at this.
Still, he did not argue. He merely stepped back, turned around, and took a Jade