Chapter 126 (1/2)

Chapter 126: Greed

”It will work,” said Jun Huang. ”You know that I never fight a battle I can't win.”

Her chilly gaze made Nan Xun feel exposed. He turned away and cleared his throat. ”Mister Ji Bo is talented, but most talented men are power hungry. Aren't you worried that Ji Bo will turn to the third prince's side for real?”

”He's only putting on an act.”

”You know what I mean,” Nan Xun said in a rush. It concerned him that Jun Huang didn't even think about the possibility.

Jun Huang could tell he was worried. She let out a soundless laugh. ”We can talk back at my place.” She turned to leave. Nan Xun was right behind her.

Back in her place, Jun Huang told the page boy to shut the door; she wasn't taking any more guests today. The page boy nodded in understanding and closed the door, separating the inside from the outside world.

Jun Huang led Nan Xun to the garden. The robe she wore today was a little too long. It covered the back of her feet and dragged over the ground, bringing up dust into the air when she walked down the stairs. Nan Xun could see particles flying under the sun.

His mind was elsewhere, but his footsteps remained steady. They soon reached the garden.

Since the arrival of spring, sometimes there would be a couple sparrows perching on the fake mountain. They seemed at home there. Even a pa.s.sersby wouldn't scare them away.

There were wet patches over the stone table. It was clear that the servants had only just finished cleaning. Jun Huang didn't care much. She was fine as long as the stools were dry.

Hearing that Jun Huang had returned, Little Girl hurriedly brewed a pot of medicinal tea and brought it to the garden. She wiped the table dry with her handkerchief before laying the tea set down and pouring a cup of tea.

Jun Huang was mesmerized by the dancing smoke coming from the teapot. The combined scent of medicine and tea was pleasant to her senses.

Nan Xun had frowned at Little Girl when she first came in, thinking that she had brought Jun Huang tea. He relaxed when he realized that it was medicine.

Good thing it's not tea, he thought to himself, or I would have to throw the teapot away.

He snorted silently, oblivious to the fact that Jun Huang had taken in all the changes in his expression. She simply decided to not comment on it.

”Can you tell me why you trust Ji Bo so much?” Nan Xun intended it as a simple question, but the hint of jealousy was clear in his tone. He didn't realize it himself. He didn't know he had become so attached to Jun Huang that he was unwilling to see her smile at another man. Subconsciously, he saw Ji Bo as a rival.

It was possible that Jun Huang preferred someone who was as smart as she was. Intelligent people often ended up matching up. Rich men normally marry women from rich families. There was some merit to the idea of finding a partner from a similar background.

Jun Huang was clever, but she could be slow sometimes in matters of the heart. She didn't realize that Nan Xun was jealous. She drank some of the medicinal tea and said, ”My master is an old friend of Ji Bo's master.”

”Oh?”

Jun Huang's master Ole Cragfiend was the complete opposite of Ji Bo's master Guigu1. No one could even imagine them knowing each other.

Guigu was a well-respected man. Many were eager to befriend him. At the same time there were people who were jealous of Guigu's knowledge and talent. There had been many attempts to take Guigu's life.

In theory, those petty villains shouldn't have been capable of hurting a smart man like Guigu.

However, Guigu knew nothing about poison and concealed weapons. He was a man of integrity. He refused to fight people through such lowly means.

It didn't mean that someone else wouldn't use foul tricks to get to him. Once, when Guigu was traveling the mundane world, a group of men spotted him. Guigu had noticed his tails, but he decided to wait and see what they intended to do. He got careless.

Hit by a concealed weapon, Guigu was on the brink of his death when Ole Cragfiend happened to pa.s.s by. He took Guigu back to his house and cleanse the poison.

At the time, Ole Cragfiend hadn't known that the stray he picked up was the famous Guigu. The potent poison was what attracted his attention. Fascinated, he did multiple experiments and produced a cure without intended to. Ole Gragfiend only realized who his patient was when Guigu woke up.