This lady speaks more fluently than before, but her words have become even more vicious.
How can anyone speak like this!
And what’s more, she’s a woman!
But so what if she’s a woman? This lady can kill people without a second thought…
Zhou Liu-lang clenched his fists—if she were a man, he would have punched her to death!
“Feels good to be his friend, doesn’t it?” Cheng Jiao-niang said, looking at Young Master Qin again.
Young Master Qin’s expression had already returned to normal. Upon hearing this, he even let out a hearty laugh, while Zhou Liu-lang bared his teeth and glared.
“Cheng Jiao-niang, don’t go too far. I know you’re formidable, and now you’ve even got this Tai Ping Residence backing you…” He stepped forward and said through gritted teeth.
Before he could finish, Young Master Qin cut in with a loud interjection.
“The food at Tai Ping Residence isn’t anything special—we’ll just find another place,” he said, picking up the thread.
At this moment, the roadside was bustling with people. Being close to a restaurant, there was a constant stream of guests. Though their group standing there and talking wasn’t particularly eye-catching, Zhou Liu-lang’s two loud outbursts drew curious looks from passersby.
Young Master Qin quickly hushed Zhou Liu-lang. Cheng Jiao-niang cast him a glance, and her maid had already set down a small stool and was helping her into the carriage. The curtain was lowered, and the carriage rocked away down the street.
“You’re still trying to protect her? That vicious woman…” Zhou Liu-lang sneered.
“What’s the point of arguing over words?” Young Master Qin said with a smile, giving Zhou Liu-lang a look that urged him on. “Come on, let’s go—eating is more important.”
Zhou Liu-lang glanced around and saw many people watching him. This Tai Ping Residence must now be under both open and hidden scrutiny…
He said nothing more and stepped inside.
While Zhou Liu-lang and Young Master Qin entered Tai Ping Residence, nearby, a young man who had been resting beside a pushcart at the entrance—perhaps waiting for a table—stood up. He looked into Tai Ping Residence, then toward Cheng Jiao-niang’s departing carriage, his expression tinged with confusion.
“Who was that? Where have I seen her before? Now she has this Tai Ping Residence? What does that mean…” he murmured to himself.
In the bustling marketplace of the prosperous capital, the Immortal’s Abode appeared desolate.
A few idle attendants lounged at the entrance, chatting lazily. In the rear courtyard wing, Dou Qi sat with clear impatience as he stared at the servant kneeling before him.
“Enough!” he barked abruptly.
The servant, startled, fell silent at once and lowered his head, glancing toward the shopkeeper beside him.
“If you’ve got time, use it to figure out how to fix our business!” Dou Qi snapped, tapping the manager with his folded fan. His voice was sharp and shrill. “What’s the point of telling me every day how thriving Tai Ping Residence is? Are you trying to slap me in the face?”
“No, Master,” the manager quickly replied. “I only meant to investigate who the real owner behind Tai Ping Residence is.”
Tai Ping Residence had publicly shot and killed five thugs and walked away unscathed, shaking the entire capital. Everyone was speculating about the powerful backer behind it. The rumors grew increasingly mysterious—and the more mysterious, the more fear and unease it inspired. Not just common troublemakers, but even constables hadn’t dared to cause trouble.
Without identifying the true owner behind it, there was no way to make a move.
Dou Qi had been investigating for days. Through Secretariat Editor Liu, he had learned that the one who dropped a hint at Puxiu Temple in front of the old monk Minghai that day was Old Master Chen. But upon further inquiry, it was confirmed that the Chen family could not possibly be the real backer of Tai Ping Residence.
Yet anyone capable of getting the Chen family to step in on their behalf surely wasn’t ordinary.
Unfortunately, the trail had gone cold from there.
“I thought, as the owner, he must’ve left some trace in Tai Ping Residence—there has to be some clue to follow,” the manager said. “That’s why I had them keep watch over the place, to see if they could find anything.”
Dou Qi threw his folding fan to the ground.
“Did they find anything?” he asked sharply.
The manager looked to the servant.
The servant awkwardly shook his head.
Dou Qi spat in disgust.
“The chef I asked you to hire—have you found one yet?” he asked the manager. “He needs to be able to cook real dishes, not like the current one who can’t do anything but slice meat. And even that, someone else had to teach him…”
At that moment, the servant who had been sitting with his head down suddenly looked up.
“I remember now!” he shouted.
The shouting startled Dou Qi, who had been speaking.
“What the hell are you yelling for?!” he cursed.
“Manager, Master, I remember now—it was those two people!” the servant said urgently.
“What two people?” the manager asked.
“Those two!” the servant replied, gesturing with his hands. “The ones who taught our cook how to slice meat back then! That one—the Passing Immortals!”
Passing Immortals?
The manager and Dou Qi both looked at the servant.
“From the Zhou family?” Dou Qi asked.
The servant quickly nodded.
“Yes, a young man and a young woman. They were the ones who said they made the Passing Immortals.”
Dou Qi had paid attention to those two before. But when they stopped appearing, he had stopped caring.
“They were just there to eat, right?” Dou Qi said, narrowing his eyes as he leaned on the armrest.
With Tai Ping Residence being so famous, going there to dine wasn’t exactly unusual.
“They were there to eat,” the servant replied.
Dou Qi spat in disgust.
“They were just eating—what’s there to talk about!” he snapped, raising his hand as if to strike.
The servant shielded his head and dodged.
“But—but I heard the young man say, now you have this Tai Ping Residence…” he blurted out.
Dou Qi froze mid-swing.
“What did you say?” he asked.
The manager also stared wide-eyed at the servant.
“I was sitting nearby at the time and heard the young man say that to the young woman,” the servant said, somewhat uneasy. “But before he could finish, someone else interrupted them. It was because I heard him say that line that I looked over—and that’s when I thought they looked familiar. Just now, it suddenly came back to me—it was definitely those two.”
Dou Qi slowly sat back down, his expression shifting between dark and uncertain.
“Repeat exactly what they said back then—every single word. Don’t leave anything out,” he ordered.
At this moment in Jiang-zhou, in the Cheng household, Master Zhou opened the letter sent by Madam Zhou and his expression turned complicated after reading it.
“After all the twists and turns, it still came to this…” he muttered. “If it had been a few months earlier, it wouldn’t have needed to be so troublesome.”
Outside, a servant came rushing in.
“Master, I’ve found out!” he said, a trace of excitement in his voice.
Master Zhou set the letter down.
“Well?” he asked.
“It’s a son from a collateral branch of the Peng family—definitely from a scholarly household,” the servant said, beaming. “But, he fell ill at the end of last year.”
People who eat grains and drink water can’t avoid illness.
“What illness?” Master Zhou asked casually.
“Master, it’s…syphilis,” the servant said in a low voice, making exaggerated facial expressions.
Syphilis?!
Master Zhou’s eyes widened instantly. He slapped the table with a loud bang.
“Outrageous!” he roared, grabbing the sword hanging on the wall and charging out. “Cheng Dong! I’m going to kill you!”
The letter was left discarded on the ground, trampled underfoot.
With such a shameless father, there was no reason to make his son suffer any longer.
The commotion naturally reached First Madam Cheng as well.
“Quick, go take a look. That Zhou family man is a martial type—so fierce. We can’t afford for something to go wrong,” she said, standing under the corridor eaves.
The maids in the courtyard responded and hurried off.
First Madam Cheng stood under the eaves, looking out and murmuring a Buddhist prayer with her hands clasped.
“Aunt, this is just too funny. How is it that your family keeps getting beaten and shouted at by outsiders?”
Inside the room, the Seventeenth Young Master was speaking with a laugh as a little maid massaged his shoulders and legs.
“You don’t understand,” First Madam Cheng replied, turning around. “They brought this upon themselves—can’t blame anyone else.”
As she spoke, she came inside and sat down.
“No wonder Master Zhou is shouting and threatening violence. They actually proposed someone to Jiao-niang who has an incurable disease. If it were me, I wouldn’t agree either,” she said, letting out a sigh.
The Seventeenth Young Master suddenly sat up.
“Aunt, seriously?!” he exclaimed. “That beauty? They actually wanted to marry her off to someone who’s dying?”
“What beauty!” First Madam Cheng snapped, her eyebrows shooting up. “Burn that painting you have!”
The Seventeenth Young Master chuckled, clearly not taking her words seriously.
“Well, this settles it. That couple can forget about meddling in Jiao-niang’s marriage ever again,” First Madam Cheng said to the maid beside her.
“What’s left to meddle in? Just divorcing her would be best,” the maid said with a quiet laugh. “Earlier, she was crying to the old madam all pitifully, saying it wasn’t syphilis, just a rash, and she didn’t know how the rumor got started…”
First Madam Cheng waved her fan.
“Whatever she says, it’s too late. That son of hers had kept a courtesan from a brothel,” she said coolly. “She handed them the leverage herself—she has no one to blame but herself.”
If she hadn’t been so greedy and overreaching, things wouldn’t have come to this.
She found someone from her own family to marry off that fool—don’t let good water flow to outsiders. If you don’t treat the Chengs as your own people, why should I treat you like family?
The maid smiled as she poured tea.
“Madam, since the Second Master can no longer be involved in Jiao-niang’s marriage, it will all fall to you and the master,” she said.
First Madam Cheng picked up her cup of tea.
“This is a thankless and troublesome task,” she said. “With her condition, how are we going to find a suitable family?”
At this point, the Seventeenth Young Master waved the maid away and stepped forward with a playful grin.
“Aunt, I’m willing to relieve your worries. I know a suitable family,” he said.
First Madam Cheng glanced at him.
“Ah, you’ve grown up and now know how to help me. Do tell, which suitable family do you have in mind?” she said with a smile, taking a sip of tea.
The Seventeenth Young Master grinned, taking two more steps forward, and sat down in front of First Madam Cheng.
“Aunt, me…” he said, pointing at himself.
First Madam Cheng immediately spat out her tea.
