Red Flower House

When a commotion broke out at the entrance to the Far-Reaching Escort Agency, someone on the second floor of a nearby cloth shop noticed. A beautiful woman rose from behind her desk and came to the window to look.

She wore a waist-high skirt with a dark red, cross-collared blouse that wrapped around her ample bosom. A sash cinched her waist just so, with green beads hanging from it to weigh down the pale white pleated skirt. Her eyes were almond-shaped, her lips touched with vermilion rouge. Together with her cultivated bearing, her beauty retained a steady, mature grace.

At the sight of Ye Jingtang coming to stir up trouble, the woman showed no anger. Instead, her naturally alluring almond eyes brightened.

"A frame of weight, a spirit cold-a vessel fit for heaven's temple; wild yet chivalrous, and gentle too... what handsome features."

The maid behind her stood on tiptoe to look into the distance. "Yes, he's really handsome. Just doesn't seem very bright, challenging them without checking who's behind them. Should we say something, so Chen Biao doesn't hit him too hard..."

Thump-

After a soft impact, Chen Biao was pinned down. The street fell silent, leaving both women speechless as well.

"My father, Pei Yuanfeng..."

As that clear voice reached her, the beautiful woman's gaze instantly changed from the casual appreciation of a handsome man to serious attention, then burned with the fervor of parched earth welcoming sweet rain.

This reaction, however, did not mean she had developed improper designs on Ye Jingtang.

Known as Third Lady Pei, the woman's real name was Pei Xiangjun. Judging by her attire, she looked like a woman from an ordinary merchant household. Beneath that beautiful, gentle exterior, however, lay another identity-the current leader of Red Flower House, a mighty house of the martial world!

The Great Wei Dynasty had been founded only sixty years ago. Now an Empress ruled the court, powerful enemies eyed it like tigers from the north, and princes within harbored unfathomable designs. This turbulent state of affairs had nurtured a martial world of unprecedented prosperity.

Those who could command an entire region in the martial world were called grandmasters. At the pinnacle of those grandmasters stood the One Immortal, Two Saints, Eight Chiefs-the eleven strongest people under heaven, whom even the imperial court had to treat with caution.

Pei Cang, the previous leader of Red Flower House, had been the Spear Chief among the Eight Great Beauties, ranked Seventh Under Heaven. That alone showed Red Flower House's standing in the martial world.

The Spear Chief, Pei Cang, had been Pei Xiangjun's master and Pei Yuanfeng's father, making him Ye Jingtang's adoptive grandfather as well.

Pei Yuanfeng had been the Pei family's second son, possessed of astonishing talent since childhood. But after a dispute with his family, he had run away, swearing never to return unless his name became known throughout the land.

The outcome spoke for itself. Pei Yuanfeng had died without gaining much renown. He had not withheld true martial arts from Ye Jingtang because he was unwilling to teach him, but because he did not want Ye Jingtang to tread the same disastrous path.

Pei Yuanfeng's instruction that Ye Jingtang relinquish everything and enter the capital after his death had not been a test of his character. It had been a "calling card" for the family.

No ordinary person would value affection and keep his word to the extent of obeying a dead man, abandoning his family property to become a homeless wanderer.

But Pei Yuanfeng had known Ye Jingtang would. He had done this only to let his family see that quality, so that Ye Jingtang could enter Red Flower House and become its next leader and the next Spear Chief. That was the true inheritance Pei Yuanfeng had left his son.

Yet Pei Yuanfeng might never have imagined that the Pei family was now faring little better than he had.

Pei Cang had died many years earlier. His eldest son had inherited his position, only to die at an enemy's hands. The title of Spear Chief had passed to someone else, leaving his youngest disciple, Pei Xiangjun, to take over Red Flower House.

Pei Xiangjun was a woman. Her martial skills were far from poor, but they fell well short of the Eight Great Beauties. She simply could not bear the weight of a house at the very summit of the martial world. With its ruler young and its realm uncertain, Red Flower House's prestige had plummeted.

Outside forces swallowed up its sources of income, while its hall masters fought for power within. Pei Xiangjun's position had long since become precarious. She had even secretly sent people to search for the "Second Master," hoping he could return and hold things together.

Pei Yuanfeng's burial was clearly grievous news for the Pei family. Yet Ye Jingtang's "homecoming" had already brought a thread of hope to the tottering household. The Pei family desperately needed a brilliantly gifted young master to serve as the divine pillar that steadied the seas, holding down Red Flower House's troubles both within and without!

That was why Pei Xiangjun had shown such a hungry, thirsty expression after discovering Ye Jingtang's considerable skill and learning who he was.

Seeing that Ye Jingtang was about to leave without a farewell and was passing beneath her window, Pei Xiangjun pushed open the street-facing casement. With a light touch of her delicate hand, she knocked its prop down.

Clatter, clatter, clatter~~~

Leading his horse along the street, Ye Jingtang looked up. The beauty leaning at the window was reflected in his eyes, but he showed none of the dazzled admiration an ordinary man would have.

"Miss, how could you be so careless?"

Pei Xiangjun was exceptionally beautiful, and very few men could remain unmoved as a mountain upon seeing her. She silently nodded in approval, then feigned displeasure.

"Such poor manners. My name is Pei Xiangjun. I'm your adoptive father's junior martial sister, and everyone in the family calls me Third Madam. You're my second brother's son. Now that you're home, why leave without even saying hello?"

My adoptive father's junior martial sister...

My martial aunt?

From his adoptive father's letter, Ye Jingtang had learned only that his family lived in the Capital City. He knew nothing else.

His adoptive father had told him to give all their property to the Pei family. As a full-grown man, once he had handed over the family estate, he certainly would not live under someone else's roof and sponge off them.

But being kept by her looks so tempting...

All the more reason not to!

After learning who Pei Xiangjun was, Ye Jingtang raised his hands in salute.

"Greetings, Martial Aunt. My adoptive father asked me to deliver these things. Now that it's done, I still need to visit the government office to exchange my Registry Token. Once I've settled in the capital, I'll come pay my respects at your residence."

This was clearly a polite refusal. He did not wish to visit.

The large white bird perched on Ye Jingtang's shoulder, however, was nowhere near as polite.

Upon hearing that she was family, Niao Niao flew up to the second-floor window with easy familiarity. It landed on Pei Xiangjun's sizable bosom and opened its beak.

"Chirp~"

This snow-white bird was Ye Jingtang's hunting bird, named the White Prince-meaning the king of freeloaders. In theory, it was a bird, but it had grown into a ball.

Ye Jingtang did not know exactly what species it was, either. When he had been younger, drying grain at home, the bird had come to mooch food and drink. He had caught it and kept it.

At first, he had thought it might be some auspicious beast of mountain and marsh. But after raising it for so many years, he had found that this big, fat chicken had no special qualities beyond eating, sleeping, and acting cute. Sometimes, it even liked to make a fool of itself.

Now, for instance, it had flown up to beg for food without permission. Landing on a woman's chest was bad enough, but its little claws sank slightly into the soft fabric. Apparently pleased with the feel beneath its feet, it even padded back and forth twice, then turned its sparkling eyes toward Ye Jingtang.

"Chirp~"

It probably meant-So soft~

This brought a blush to Pei Xiangjun's face, and she hurriedly lifted the mischievous Niao Niao away.

"Oh~ what an affectionate bird~"

Embarrassment showed in Ye Jingtang's eyes as he scolded it.

"Come back."

"Chirp..."

Only then did Niao Niao obediently fly down from the second floor and land on Ye Jingtang's shoulder.

Pei Xiangjun straightened her blouse and continued.

"Just call me Third Madam. Martial Aunt makes me sound old. Honestly, my second brother-taking you as his adoptive son, then making you deliver the family property here. If the Pei family accepted it, the neighbors would jab fingers at our backs. Since you've come, we're family. There's no need to be so distant. Take the silver back. From now on, you're the young master of our Pei family. I'll hand that escort agency outside over to you to run. How does that sound?"

Ye Jingtang had sold the escort agency in the small border town for over a thousand taels of silver. It might not have sounded like much, but in purchasing power, it was roughly equivalent to over a million in his previous life-certainly no small sum to an ordinary person. An escort agency in the Capital City would cost at least ten times as much.

A true man would not eat food tossed to him with a contemptuous summons. Ye Jingtang flatly declined such a gift.

"Thank you for your kindness, Third Madam, but these were my adoptive father's arrangements in his will, and I won't go against them. His family and friends are mine as well. If you need anything in the future, please have Escort Chief Yang let me know. Those escorts all served our family for years. I hope you'll treat them well. I'll take my leave."

Seeing that Ye Jingtang honored his word and upheld his obligations, unwilling to accept rewards he had not earned, Pei Xiangjun grew even more impressed. She did not insist that he stay. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, she watched him leave.

Soon, a man, a horse, and a bird merged into the crowds on the street and vanished at the corner.

Only after Ye Jingtang disappeared from view did Pei Xiangjun's smile slowly fade into contemplation.

Her maid Xiuhe had been standing behind her. Only now did she poke her head out and speak softly.

"House Mistress, has the Second Master sent us back a precious treasure? Young Master Ye is so handsome. He glanced at me just now, and my legs went weak..."

Pei Xiangjun narrowed her eyes, looking slightly displeased, but soon nodded.

"I really never imagined my second brother would adopt such a handsome son. Even looking at him sent my heart swinging like a monkey and my thoughts galloping like a horse... never mind his martial skills and character. With those looks alone, he could stir up wind and water in the Capital City."

Xiuhe giggled. "How talented is Young Master Ye? Did you get a sense of his abilities, House Mistress?"

Pei Xiangjun considered it seriously. "His breathing was tangled as wild vines, yet he possessed tremendous internal power. His punches and kicks had no method at all, yet his sinews and bones rivaled dragons and tigers. My second brother must have only laid his foundations without teaching him true martial arts. To have reached this level at just eighteen makes him a heaven-gifted prodigy. If someone is willing to teach him real skills, making a name for himself in the martial world within a few short years is entirely possible."

A hint of gravity appeared in Xiuhe's eyes. "Then what do we do now? Find a chance to tell Young Master Ye about the house, teach him spear techniques, and groom him as our young master?"

Pei Xiangjun shook her head slightly. "Following a will and bringing the family property a thousand miles makes his character seem excellent. But knowing a man's face doesn't mean knowing his heart. Martial arts are skills for killing, not something to pass on lightly. Red Flower House is too vast an undertaking, and I can't choose its future leader on my word alone. We still need to observe him for a while."

"But Young Master Ye seems very stubborn. He won't live under someone else's roof at the Pei Family residence. How can we observe him?"

"Young men just entering the martial world are always hard. I'll go persuade him tonight, and he'll soften..."

"House Mistress."

"Hmm?"

"That sounds a little strange..."

"?"