For twenty days straight, Jia Huan had left the office early.
One evening, the ladies were cooling off in the courtyard, chatting about everyday household matters.
Freed from the constraints of her engagement, Xue Baochai had returned to her usual smiling, cheerful self, though she still occasionally bickered with Lin Daiyu.
"Where is Third Master Huan?"
The Rongguo Mansion gatekeeper came to the courtyard entrance.
"What is it?"
"Someone outside is asking for him."
Qingwen set down her honey-pear pastry and went to the warm chamber to pass on the message.
"All right!" Jia Huan had an inkling of what this was about and immediately left the mansion.
At the spice shop on Ningrong Street, the Hunchbacked Old Man from the Misty Rain Tower's Capital branch had been waiting for some time.
"Lord Jia, we have news!" He went straight to the point.
Jia Huan leaned forward to listen.
The Hunchbacked Old Man spoke briefly and decisively:
"We traded away four top-tier Demonic Cultivation Art manuals. There were three buyers. Two were great figures of the demonic path who operated alone. They paid with both banknotes and jewelry, and even sold internal cultivation methods on the spot to make up the balance."
"The last buyer was a faction from Ze Mountain in Tang County. They bought two and paid without hesitation, bringing a small chest of gold ingots."
After speaking, he brought two chests over to Jia Huan.
One held rows of gold ingots; the other contained banknotes and pearl jewelry.
Jia Huan asked gravely:
"Tell me about Ze Mountain in Tang County."
As the White Lotus Cult's hidden financier, Partridge Sky had no shortage of gold or silver. Those around him were obsessed with Demonic Cultivation Art, so naturally they would spend lavishly to obtain what they wanted.
And