"Beiran, did you finally come to see me because you've thought it through? Believe me, with your intelligence and talent, you'll definitely... Hm? Beiran?"
Just as Yu Manwen spoke with a gratified expression, offering words of encouragement, she realized that Jiang Beiran's mind had long since drifted elsewhere, as though he had fallen into deep thought.
"Jiang Beiran, did you hear what I said?"
Hearing Yu Manwen raise her voice slightly, Jiang Beiran finally came back to his senses. He hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "This disciple knows his mistake. I merely caught the scent of an unusual fragrance just now and lost focus for a moment."
Seeing how sincerely Jiang Beiran admitted his mistake, Yu Manwen did not blame him too harshly. "There are countless plants and flowers in this Mirror Garden. You can distinguish a particular scent among them?"
Jiang Beiran nodded and answered, "This disciple tends to flowers and plants in his spare time as well, so I can barely identify them."
"Oh? You truly have quite a few hobbies. I heard Hall Master Zhang say that you've also dabbled in calligraphy and painting. Is that so?"
Damn... he sold me out way too fast.
To do Zhang Heqing a few "small favors," Jiang Beiran had indeed displayed a few talents besides Chess Skill before this Hall Master. Yet all these years, those "trifling tricks" had remained a little secret between the two of them.
But now, Jiang Beiran suspected that Protector Yu had not even needed to ask before the Hall Master voluntarily offered up his secrets.
Still, at least he didn't sell me out completely. He only mentioned a few harmless talents.
Though Jiang Beiran found it hard to believe that Zhang Heqing could hold firm to his bottom line before Yu Manwen, at