Chapter 60 (1/2)

Unable to hide himself any further, Bai Chenyi pulled back the cloak covering his head and walked forward. He then cupped both hand to salute the young female. “Tangjie,” he greeted. “It has been a while.”

“En. You look well. That is good or else, your father would roll around his grave in disappointment. Why are you here though? Are you not supposed to stay close to the Emperor?”

“I am under His Majesty’s order to be the personal guards of Lord Lin,” Bai Chenyi replied.

“Lord Lin?”

Bai Chenyi didn’t vocally reply and instead, simply gestured towards Lin Xiao. The woman, who turns out to be Bai Chenyi’s cousin, eyed Lin Xiao even more carefully now.

“I see. For His Majesty to place you as his personal guards, His Majesty must think highly of you, Lord Lin,” though the words were full of praise, but her tone was filled with playfulness.

“Tangjie, don’t cause trouble,” Bai Chenyi said in a warning tone.

His cousin glanced over at him, and seeing his serious expression, she merely scoffed. “I am not that rash. Now, where is my manner. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am called Sun Chengmei,” she introduced herself.

For politeness’ sake, Lin Xiao also introduced himself and even helped Long Yinlian with his introduction. Xia Yushen also introduced himself with an excited tone. His excitements were mostly because he is eager to see the duan jian that will soon be his. Only after the introduction did they took a seat by the table.

Not long after, a servant came over with a tray with few small cups and a teapot on top. Steams could still be seen coming out of the teapot’s mouth, showing that the tea was freshly made. The servant carefully placed the cup onto the table and gently poured the tea.

“Honoured guests, please help yourself,” the servant addressed them as soon as he finished his task.

Lin Xiao grabbed a cup and carefully handed it to Long Yinlian. “Be careful, it’s still hot,” Lin Xiao gently warned his master.

“You’re really treating your master like your ancestor,” Sun Chengmei couldn’t help but comment at Lin Xiao’s behaviour.

“Shizun isn’t simply just a master. Shizun is also my benefactor, and a father,” Lin Xiao replied.

At this time, the Shop Owner Mo whom Lin Xiao had forgotten his existence, spoke up. “That… Xiao Mei, how are you related to General Bai?” he asked in a nervous tone.

“Hmm? My mother and the late patriarch of Bai family are brother and sister,” Sun Chengmei replied. Then, she noticed that the shop owner’s expression turned pale with fear. Worried that it might be something wrong with the tea, she quickly asked: “Mo daren, are you alright? Is there something wrong with the tea?”

“No! No… nothing is wrong with the tea! Hahaha…”

At the nervous laugh, Lin Xiao couldn’t help but turn his face to the other. He discovered that the shop owner’s face was filled with nervousness. ‘Is there something wrong with being related to General Bai’s family?’ Lin Xiao wondered. ‘Did this man gave up in his pursue just because she’s related to General Bai?’

“Xiao Mei, thank you for the tea! I’ll take my leave now. If there are anymore customers that is in need of your shop’s specialty, I’ll send them over to you,” Shop Owner Mo says before he finished the tea in one gulp, then quickly rushed out of the door.

Seeing his disappearing figure, Sun Chengmei couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh. It was so heavy that even Xia Yushen, the young boy, could sense the disappointment within it.

“Big Sister, what’s wrong?” Xia Yushen asked.

“Your big sister here has lost another suitor. I don’t know how many that makes now,” she replied before letting out another sigh.

Then, she looked over at Bai Chenyi with a wronged expression. “Biaodi, ah! Do you think I won’t ever get married in this life-time?” Sun Chengmei asked. “No matter who it is, as long as they hear that I am related to you, they all ran. Chenyi biaodi, you must take responsibility for this!”

“If they ran away after hearing your background, then they are not worthy. Tangjie, you are still young. Why are you in such a hurry to get married?”

“Aiya, biaodi, ah! You don’t understand. Although it was only recently that women have more freedom, in the end we’re still less than a son when it comes to worth. So if I don’t find someone to marry before the age of 25, father will definitely arranged a marriage for me!”

“There are still five years. The right one for you will come as long as fate wills it,” Bai Chenyi replied.

Sun Chengmei only huffed before she crossed her arm. “If father is going to force me to marry some stranger, I might as well take a wife of my own! Then let’s see if he would dare to go against the Emperor’s decree!”

Both Long Yinlian and Lin Xiao was confused as to why the Emperor was brought up in this conversation. Lin Xiao was the most curious, but before he could bring it up, another servant of Sun Chengmei arrived.

This servant has a larger built compared to the one that brought tea before. On both his arms, he carried a boxed crate that is around 2 chi long. He carefully placed it on the table then quietly excused himself.

Seeing that the goods has arrived, Xia Yushen’s eyes shone in excitement. He quickly tugged on Lin Xiao’s sleeves, urging him to hurry and ask for the weapons.

Understanding the younger boy’s intention, Lin Xiao just let out a small chuckle and turned to Sun Chengmei. “Sister Sun, my shidi is already excited. Can you please show us the item?” Lin Xiao asked in a polite tone.