Although she had only met that person once before, Chu Lian knew she would never forget his face.
Back when she had returned to her maiden family for a visit, Chu Lian had served him tea together with He Changdi as a rite of respect. His attitude had been cool and indifferent as he received the cup of tea and returned to them a red envelope, just as if he were merely conducting some routine business transaction. Then, when she had been led away by the womenfolk of the family, he hadn’t given a single word of advice to her, his own daughter. She didn’t know if the biological father of her current body was happy with his new son-in-law, He Changdi, or whether or not they had bonded together over some wine.
Chu Qizheng was dressed in an elaborately embroidered grey brocade robe. He stood before the entrance to an estate with some manservants by his side.
He was pacing back and forth, seemingly anxious and impatient.
In actual fact, this Second Master of House Ying wasn’t considered that old. He was only thirty-five. He didn’t keep a beard or moustache, and he had a jade crown on his head. Coupled with his slender figure, he looked about six or seven years younger than his actual age.
Chu Lian’s almond-shaped eyes slightly narrowed. She looked up at the signboard above the residence he was standing in front of, which read ‘Pan Estate’.
As she watched, a servant who had been guarding the doors quickly ran into the estate. Shortly after, two strongly built retainers carrying swords came out together with the servant who had gone in. The servant pointed in the direction of Chu Qizheng and his party.
The two retainers strode over to Chu Qizheng in a few steps. One of the retainers pushed Chu Qizheng forcefully. If not for Chu Qizheng’s personal manservant reacting quickly and catching him, he might have been completely pushed onto the ground and lost all his face.
Immediately after that, Chu Qizheng’s expression contorted and he started arguing with the retainers. His personal manservants could tell that the Pan Estate’s retainers had some martial arts skill, so they shielded Chu Qizheng behind them.
The two retainers were annoyed by Chu Qizheng’s scolding. Their rage showed clearly on their faces and their hands shifted towards the swords they carried at their waists, as if they might draw them at any moment.
Chu Lian knocked on the carriage wall and ordered the driver to slow down a little. She lifted the curtain a little and continued watching the entrance of the Pan Estate, but she did nothing else.
She wasn’t the original ‘Chu Lian’, after all. Upon receiving such cold treatment from this father of hers during the tea ceremony, she already understood that she wasn’t loved by him. Chu Lian didn’t care much for that. She was someone who would give as much as she got. Since Chu Qizheng didn’t care for her, she wouldn’t bother going out of her way for him.
Wasn’t it more fun to simply sit back and watch the drama?
When Wenqing noticed Third Young Madam’s instructions to the driver, she peeked out of the window as well. When she noticed the signboard on top of the estate’s entrance, she gasped quietly and exclaimed, “The Pan Estate!”
Wenlan saw that Chu Lian seemed to be intently watching the show, so she secretly pushed Wenqing a little. Wenqing quickly covered her mouth, and her eyes blinked in apology.
Chu Lian didn’t have the mood to care about what Wenqing had been surprised about. Her eyes were fixed on the drama unfolding in front of the Pan Estate’s entrance.
Just as the two retainers were about to use force, a carriage came out from the alley next to the Pan Estate’s entrance. The carriage quickly stopped in front of the entrance. The manservant guarding the doors ran to the carriage and eagerly lifted the curtain doors before helping a white-haired, bearded old man who looked to be about fifty or sixty off the carriage.
At this distance, Chu Lian couldn’t hear what they were saying at all.
The white-haired man was about to enter the estate immediately, but he seemed to have heard something that Chu Qizheng had shouted while being restrained by the retainers. He abruptly turned around and sent a shocked and dangerous-looking gaze towards Chu Qizheng. The bearded old man stopped outside the Pan Estate’s mahogany doors with his hands behind his back and looked at Chu Qizheng, as if trying to bore a hole through him with his gaze alone.
Time seemed to slow from the intensity of this man’s gaze. Finally, the man waved away the two retainers. Chu Qizheng’s originally nervous expression finally relaxed; he even seemed to be a little pleased with himself. A hint of evil shone in his eyes.
Chu Qizheng forcefully pushed away the two retainers who had been holding him back. After doing so, he seemed to feel relieved of his frustration from before. He even kicked at them twice.
After releasing his previous frustration, Chu Qizheng smoothed out his clothing, which had turned to disarray from the scuffle. He placed his hands behind his back and strode into the Pan Estate with his manservants.
It wasn’t until Chu Qizheng’s figure had disappeared past the first wall of the Pan Estate that Chu Lian let down the curtain. A few expressions flitted across her face. Her original desire to go shopping in the capital had been completely erased by witnessing this strange incident.
Chu Lian lowered her head in thought. Wenqing and Wenlan didn’t dare to disturb her, so they sat in silence by her side.
After a long moment, Chu Lian finally lifted her head and turned to Wenqing. “Wenqing, which official in the capital occupies the Pan Estate?”
She remembered that Wenqing had gasped in surprise just now, so the owner of the Pan Estate must be someone important in the ranks of the court.
Wenqing replied honestly, “Third Young Madam, the Pan Estate of Pingkang Lane is owned by Pan Gelao.”
At the moment, there were five ministers in the cabinet. Amongst these five, they were also ranked differently. This Pan Gelao was the man who had the highest status amongst the cabinet. He was only one rank below the Imperial Scribe, a real first-ranked official!
Chu Lian didn’t care much about the court matters of the Great Wu Dynasty. In the portion of the original novel that she had read, there was no mention of this high and mighty Lord Pan, so she wouldn’t know anything about him.
Chu Lian nodded. “I understand now.”
Although Wenqing seemed to be curious about the identity of the middle-aged man Third Young Madam had been staring at, since Third Young Madam didn’t seem to want to speak about it, she held back her questions.
The servants who had accompanied her today were all from House Jing’an, so none of them had recognised Chu Qizheng as her father.
When Chu Lian heard Wenqing’s reply, she slipped back into deep thought.
Judging by that situation just now, Lord Pan hadn’t wanted to see her father at all. What changed his mind was something that her father had said at the last minute.
Back then, Lord Pan’s expression had looked very complicated, with a bunch of emotions all mixed together. It could send shivers down anyone’s spine.
In the slowly declining House Ying, Chu Qizheng wasn’t the eldest son, nor someone who was very smart. He clung onto the protection of his family to survive. Up until now, he hadn’t managed to get even a low-ranked slack official position in court. He was essentially useless.
This kind of noble would normally keep meeting the same small number of friends to pass the time. They wouldn’t interact with officials who held actual power in court.
Lord Pan hadn’t even glanced at Chu Qizheng when he first arrived at the estate. However, after Chu Qizheng said something, Lord Pan had not only looked at him, he had even invited him into his estate. It was clear that they were going to be discussing something related to business.
Could her father have found something to use against Lord Pan?
But Chu Lian found this thought too ridiculous; she shook her head and snorted.
How could that be possible!
How could someone in a high position of power like Lord Pan be an average person? Those with power had to have the charisma, ambition, and cunning to get them there in the first place. Even if Lord Pan didn’t have all of those traits, he likely had one or two at the very least.
The very notion that an idle noble like her father, who played around all day, could somehow outplay Lord Pan, who held actual authority in his hands, was laughable. Even the thought of Chu Qizheng holding some sort of weakness of Lord Pan’s was absurd. Perhaps not even a child would believe that!
Furthermore, House Ying had never been connected with the Pan Estate. The two men had probably never even met before, so the chances of such a thing decreased even further.
Chu Lian frowned and tried to recall the events of the book. However, she couldn’t think of any details relevant to the current situation as it was now. In the end, she could only give up.
She would cross that bridge when she came to it. Even if her father was plotting something, it was none of her business now. Married daughters were like water; once thrown out, they were no longer connected to their original family. She was now a member of House Jing’an as He Sanlang’s wife.
After reassuring herself, Chu Lian finally relaxed.
When Wenqing saw that Chu Lian’s expression had relaxed, she spoke up and asked, “Third Young Madam, would you still like to shop around?”
By this time, they had already left Pingkang Lane and were driving along Zhuque Avenue.
Chu Lian had already lost her initial anticipation after witnessing that scene. She was about to order them to return home directly, but she suddenly remembered that it would be Countess Jing’an’s birthday in a few days. She didn’t have a suitable gift for her mother-in-law yet. Thus, she held back her words.
“Let’s look for a few stores to shop in. Mother’s birthday is coming.”
Although she didn’t have to buy something extremely valuable for her mother-in-law’s birthday and Countess Jing’an wasn’t one to mind, the entire estate knew that she had received a nice sum of money from Imperial Concubine Wei, thanks to Imperial Princess Leyao’s golden qilin. When she had been given the title of Honoured Lady, she had also received an award of one hundred gold taels. If she didn’t spend a good amount of money on Countess Jing’an’s gift, she might draw the gossip of certain jealous people.
Chu Lian inwardly sighed. That sister-in-law of hers, Madam Zou, was waiting for her to make a mistake! How could she let Madam Zou have any chance of reprimanding her or punishing her?
It didn’t matter what gift she picked this time. It just had to be suitably expensive. She could have claimed that she didn’t have any money in the past, but she couldn’t do that now.
Chu Lian pouted, feeling a little angry inside. It was just two measly awards, but the people around her were already jealous. How annoying! She was better off hiding whatever money she made in the future. Her husband wasn’t by her side, so there was a real chance that someone else might try to take the money from her using all sorts of reasons!
Wenqing lifted up the curtains a little and pointed at the stores on both sides of Zhuque Avenue. She introduced them to Chu Lian one by one. “Third Young Madam, that’s Hengsheng Medicine Hall, Luohe Calligraphy, Lanqiao Clothing, and oh, that one over there is Jinshi Pavilion. These are all famous stores in the capital. Many high-ranked nobles and young ladies like to shop here.”
Chu Lian nodded. Since she hadn’t thought of what she wanted to buy, she decided to look around each of them.
Wenqing told the driver to stop and she helped Chu Lian off the carriage together with Wenlan.
There were many people walking on Zhuque Avenue. Some richly dressed men and women would also pass by from time to time.
Chu Lian looked around her. Her impression of the Great Wu Dynasty increased a notch. This dynasty wasn’t as restrictive towards the freedom of its women, unlike the old Song and Ming dynasties. The openness of this dynasty seemed more like the early Tang.
Most of the ladies out here didn’t even cover their heads while they were out. There were even women studying at the capital’s Imperial College.
It was normal for noble ladies to be out shopping as well.
Chu Lian entered Hengsheng Medicine Hall first. For the sake of her incognito visit today, she had dressed plainly. Her clothes were made of ordinary fabric. With two young maids like Wenqing and Wenlan by her side, she looked like the newlywed wife of a minor official.
When she entered the medicine hall, none of the staff came up to greet her. Chu Lian didn’t mind this at all. She slowly looked around the store with Wenqing and Wenlan.