Chapter 71: Strategic Movements
Kian let go of Mia with a reluctant sigh and raised his hands in mock defeat. "Fine, fine. I wouldn’t want to risk getting poisoned by my own mother-in-law."
Feimei didn’t reply, merely setting down a massive, steaming clay pot of braised pork belly and soft-boiled eggs with a sharp, elegant swish of her sleeves.
"Humph!"
The rich, savory aroma immediately filled the room, sending Jia and Jiao Yin into a frenzy of grabbing chopsticks. Which, Mia soon followed up with a giggle of her own.
"Mom, Kian listens to you at least," Mia said, grinning.
"Of course he does."
Feimei nodded.
Kian rolled his eyes and sat on the table. "Jia knows I do, right, Lil Jia?"
Jia bumped his side. "I sure do."
Meanwhile, back in the Jinguan Sect.
After sitting around mopping for a while, the Uncle and Nephew were both feeling quite sympathetic of each other.
"We are like dried leaves caught in a storm, Wu’er," Zhang Baole muttered, his knuckles white as he stared at the floor. "The sect master wants to appease that monster Su Chen. Our family’s centuries of service mean nothing to them now."
Zhang Wu let out a heavy, wheezing sigh that rattled his fat chest. "So, Uncle, do we just sit here and wait for him to cut our throats? There must be something we can use."
The uncle shook his head, his voice hollow. "We are done for, there is nothing we can do! Nothing."
Zhang Wu sneered inwardly at this idiotic uncle of his. But outwardly, he said: "What about his household? Even a genius has a blind spot. Right?"
"What?"
"What about his servants?" Zhang Wu asked, his voice dropping into a flat, rhythmic drone that made the butler beside him shiver. "He has a maid, doesn’t he? A girl named Xiao Cui."
"You are right." Zhang Baole glanced at his nephew, a flicker of desperate hope cutting through his grief. "Xiao Cui? Yes, she’s a mortal girl from the outer docks. I heard someone talk about her when talking about Su Chen. So are we going to threaten Su Chen by kidnapping her?"
How brutal.
"Ew, no. That’s like a third rate villain, Uncle. I have other plans. Butler, do you have any information on Xiao Cui?"
"I do. I do."
"Go on."
"Xiao Cui is that pretty young lass we often see when we went to harass Su Chen. You remember the girl who often cries, right?"
"Oh, that girl."
The butler nodded. "Indeed. She was a servant that Su Chen’s late father brought to the sect. When everyone learned that Su Chen is a waste without talent, all of us ignored and even looked down on Su Chen, right?"
"Yeah. And?"
"She never looked down on him. She always treated him fairly and kindly. You cannot say that even about Su Chen’s sister. Even she became a bit cold to him."
The fatty rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
The butler added: "Su Chen was always an ungrateful chimp. He never really appreciated Xiao Cui. But recently, that seems to have a slight change. He is kind to her nowadays."
Zhang Wu chuckled.
Reincarnation truly had its unique flavor!
"And do you know where we can see her alone?" Zhang Wu asked, his voice flat and steady.
The butler hesitated, rubbing his chin as he looked at the floor. "That, young master, I do not know off the top of my head. But give me an hour, and I will have the gossip girls in the outer quarters singing like autumn cicadas."
Zhang Baole waved a dismissive hand, his spirit still mostly crushed by the demotion. "Go, go. Find out whatever you can. If we can squeeze that arrogant brat through his maid, it is better than sitting here waiting for the executioner’s sword."
The butler bowed low and hurried out of the study.
He returned just as the afternoon shadows began to stretch across the desk, breathing slightly harder but carrying a triumphant gleam in his eyes.
"I have it, young master!" the butler wheezed, wiping his brow. "Every evening at sundown, Xiao Cui leaves the Jinguan Sect gates alone. She walks down to the lower market to purchase fresh white lotuses from a small stall near the canal. If we move at that time, we will find her completely unguarded."
Zhang Baole said: "Eh, isn’t it evening already?"
"Yes, should we go now?" The butler asked.
Zhang Wu, the fat nephew, shook his head. "No. Sit still."
Back in his own home, Kian raised his head. Currently, he was sitting in the garden watching Mia water the plants again.
"You know what? If we keep at it, I am sure we will have butterflies soon. Maybe in a couple of weeks."
Kian stood up, nodded to Mia, and walked out of the area.
She asked: "Where are you going? Should I come?"
"No, no. I’ll be back in a while."
In the Jinguan Sect, the butler and Zhang Baole looked confused.
"What do you mean sit still? Are we not attacking?"
Zhang Wu shook his head. "Don’t worry. Just tell me how Xiao Cui looks."
The butler frowned, but nevertheless continued speaking: "Xiao Cui is a cute girl. She has really round eyes, fair skin, and is really short. More than anything, though, she has a really striking hair."
"What do you mean striking hair?"
Back in the lower market, Kian was walking near the canal when he noticed a girl walking towards a flower shop.
She was really short, about as tall as his lower chest region, and she had a really fair face.
The girl looked as if she were dozing off even while walking, and from his first glance, Kian had an instinctual understanding of her.
A classic air head.
Kian watched as she stepped out like a sleep walker from the shadow of an awning into the brilliant, dusty path of the afternoon sun.
The moment the sunlight hit her, the pale, straw-blonde strands of her hair rippled and darkened, shifting in a smooth wave from the roots down to her shoulders until they became a deep, glossy black that absorbed the light like wet coal.
It was a bizarre, mesmerizing spectacle.
One moment, she had blonde hair. Next, she had black hair.
Intrigued, Kian stepped forward as she drifted back into the shade of a willow tree, watching the black fade right back into a soft, golden blonde.
"What a peculiar little maid," he murmured to himself.
In the sunlight, she had black hair. In shade, she had blond hair.
He checked his system, confirming that this was indeed Xiao Cui, the first of Su Chen’s close people on his list.