Chapter 620: - Reading Faces

The banquet was ready.

As usual, Marquis Zheng, representing the man’s family, sat in the seat of honor, with Granny opposite him. Xue San sat beside Hu Bamei, while Fourth Lady sat at Marquis Zheng’s side.

Outside the hall, Fan Li and the monk called A’da had set up a cooking pot.

Fan Li had originally planned to boil meat, but A’da refused. Instead, the monk dumped in a great many potatoes and prepared to make an enormous pot of mashed potatoes.

Fan Li turned to look at the banquet inside the hall, then looked at the huge pot of bubbling potatoes in front of him and frowned. In the end, he glanced at A’da and remained seated where he was, though he began adding salt to the pot.

Seeing two empty seats still left at the banquet table, Granny could not help asking, “Are there still family members who haven’t arrived?”

Her wording had already changed. She had implicitly accepted that the two sides were now one family.

That was only natural.

Prince of Jingnan had once told the Sword Saint that the jianghu, in the end, was something that could never truly make it onto the grand stage.

And that was indeed the truth.

Pythons and flood dragons might emerge from the jianghu, but the true Pixiu of Great Yan’s court were, quite literally, mounts.

Some people were born in the jianghu and possessed a skill or two to rely upon. They might appear free and unfettered, but when truly compared against...

Well, just look at the Marquis of Pingxi Residence before her now.

Its stature was right there for anyone to see.

After her initial posturing, Granny had immediately and sensibly settled into the position she ought to occupy.

Of course, that was also because Marquis Zheng, as the “elder” of the man’s family, had granted her dignity for Xue San’s sake.

Otherwise, Granny would not be sitting at a banquet table right now. She would be sitting on a torture platform, with the Blind Man interrogating her.

And Fan Li would not be sitting outside cooking mashed potatoes with A’da either.

More likely, A’da would have been hoisted up by Fan Li and tossed into an iron cage to be toyed with. He did not look like someone who knew any major secrets or possessed any particular value, so there would have been no harm in handing him over to Fan Li for entertainment.

Zheng Fan picked up his spoon, took a sip from the small bowl of chicken soup before him, and asked Fourth Lady beside him, “Did you call them?”

Since this was a family banquet, the women of the rear household ought to attend. It was a matter of respect.

“I did, Master.”

Just then, laughter sounded from outside.

“Hehehe, we’re late. We’re late.”

The Princess and Liu Ruqing entered, each carrying a tray. Phoenix hairpins, ruyi ornaments, and other treasures rested upon them, all exquisite and precious without appearing vulgar.

Before the campaign against Chu, Jing Renli had already sent over some of the palace articles intended for a princess. After the campaign, he came again, this time bringing items meant for a princess’s marriage, effectively a dowry.

So the Princess truly lacked none of these things. Any few items she casually picked out could be called “worth a city.”

“Come, good little sister. Try this on.”

The Princess personally placed a hairpin in Bamei’s hair, then slipped a bracelet over her wrist.

“Third Master is getting married. We don’t need some grand spectacle. Neither our Marquis nor Third Master enjoys that sort of commotion. But the substance of it cannot be careless. If anything is lacking there, then we women would be the ones at fault.”

With that, the Princess walked over to Granny.

“We absolutely cannot be careless with the things that should accompany an engagement. Look, this is for you. Please don’t stand on ceremony. As the elder of the bride’s family, this is what you ought to receive.”

What the Princess gave Granny was a jade box, crystalline from end to end and perfectly suited for raising small spirit insects.

Granny’s breathing hitched the instant she saw it. Gold and silver would not have impressed her much, but this was genuinely good stuff.

Great Chu had its Beast-Taming Directorate, and the Chu imperial clan’s skill at raising demonic beasts had never been any secret.

Ying Capital might have been destroyed, but the vast State of Chu still stood. Its foundations were deep enough to survive abuse.

“Then I truly must thank Your Highness.”

Granny prepared to rise and offer thanks, but the Princess affectionately placed a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

“Now that the families are joined, we’re all one household. There’s no need to be so distant with one another. The Marquis Residence may look large, but in truth, we don’t have many family members. In the future, why not simply stay here permanently? You can keep Little Sister company and enjoy some peace and comfort here yourself. Consider it a place to spend your later years.”

At those words, Granny’s instinctive reaction was to look first toward Marquis Zheng in the seat of honor.

Truthfully, for someone of the jianghu, entering a Marquis Residence as a guest retainer was almost like a wild pheasant turning into a phoenix.

Enjoyment was secondary.

The important thing was that whether you wanted to cultivate or accomplish some other task, a Marquis Residence possessed enormous resources you could draw upon.

Most important of all, you would be safe here.

Great Yan’s military might now shook all beneath Heaven, and this Marquis of Pingxi was a terrifying new figure on the rise.

Give him another ten or twenty years, and perhaps another true Marquis of Zhenbei Residence would stand here.

Who would not want a patron like that?

Marquis Zheng smiled and nodded.

“Let’s eat. This Marquis is actually a little hungry.”

He had gone hunting that morning, returned, and spent quite a while talking afterward. He genuinely had not gotten around to eating.

The Princess and Liu Ruqing took their seats. Only after Marquis Zheng lifted his chopsticks for the first bite did everyone else begin eating.

Zheng Fan was good at social niceties, yet disliked them.

In truth, anyone genuinely good at social niceties tended to dislike the work itself. Put Marquis Zheng at a table with the Prince of Zhenbei, the Prince of Jingnan, the Emperor of Yan, and those great figures of court, and he would naturally speak up and keep the atmosphere lively.

But in his own home?

There was no need.

Fourth Lady ate quietly as well.

Naturally, the Princess took charge of the table.

She continually drew Bamei and Granny into conversation, discussing how the wedding should be handled.

Third Master might usually possess a somewhat cynical, playful air, but now that the matter had fallen upon his own head and concerned his own marriage, the occasional look he gave the Princess carried a trace of warmth.

Eating another person’s food softened the mouth. Taking another person’s gifts softened the hand. That principle had never changed.

“This shrimp paste is good.”

Fourth Lady placed one piece into Marquis Zheng’s bowl.

“He Chunlai’s cooking is getting better and better. I wonder when he’ll finally train an apprentice capable of taking over for him.”

“There’s no hurry,” Zheng Fan said with a smile. “I told him that this Marquis’s three daily meals are the most important thing. Give him that goal to chase, and he’ll keep making better food.”

Liu Ruqing ate quietly.

She was a concubine.

Strictly speaking, at a formal occasion like this, she would not normally have had the right to sit at the table.

But the Marquis Residence had never cared much for rules like that. Besides, deliberately leaving her out for no reason would be rather cruel. If they made her gloomy and melancholy, then the next time she called him “Uncle,” it would lose the proper flavor.

A ripe peach needed to be kept moist with mist if it was to remain plump.

Afterward, the Princess began discussing the raising of demonic beasts with Granny.

Granny herself kept several small insects, so the two immediately found a common subject.

The meal passed in a pleasant atmosphere.

Afterward, Marquis Zheng pointed at Xue San.

“You get the day off. Take them around the residence and the city. Let them have a look.”

Xue San nodded.

Then Third Master led Bamei and Granny out, while Fan Li took A’da along with him.

Third Master hated trouble more than almost anyone, but in a situation like this, he had no choice but to go through the motions.

Even when a man had plenty of “capital,” plenty of capital brought its own difficulties. Finding a perfectly compatible match was not easy.

Simply forcing the issue would also be too crude and boring. Proper feelings and other things between the two sides made for much better lubrication.

Inside the hall, Liu Ruqing brewed tea while Xiong Liqing served it.

“Husband.”

“Elder Sister.”

“Mr. Bei.”

Holding his teacup, the Blind Man asked, “How long does Master intend to wait?”

Zheng Fan took a sip of tea.

“If she has any sense, she’ll come looking for you herself in a couple of days. What you did last time cannot be called wrong, but from now on, we don’t need to handle things quite so extremely.”

“Yes. This subordinate understands his mistake.”

“It wasn’t a mistake. I already said that under those circumstances, we really did need to know more. But now we can use a better method.”

Brutal extraction was indeed simple and quick.

But it was like slash-and-burn farming. Too crude, with a poor rate of return.

Intensive cultivation, if nothing else, was more pleasant to look at.

Subordinates generally fell into several categories.

Ordinary subordinates could be summoned or dismissed at will.

One step higher were people like He Chunlai, who possessed value worth cultivating and shaping, and were worth investing some personal feeling in.

Someone like Jin Shuke stood higher still, at the level where you occasionally needed to pat him on the shoulder.

At the very top was someone like the Sword Saint.

As for Granny, for Xue San’s sake, she could be placed somewhere between He Chunlai and Jin Shuke.

The things Xiong Liqing had said at the banquet came precisely because she had understood her man’s intention. He wanted to bring Granny into the residence and put her abilities to use.

“Follow up on this matter. See whether we can gain anything else from it. San’er will have the awareness himself. If he needs help, he’ll come to you. Once you’ve handled it, give me a summary.”

“Yes, Master.”

The Blind Man set down his teacup.

“Actually, that old woman really is somewhat extraordinary. At minimum, she possesses genuine skill. For example, when she read San’er’s face earlier, she did see something.”

Zheng Fan was not surprised.

“We people are almost like souls returning to the mortal world in borrowed corpses.”

Anyone genuinely capable of wielding a demon-revealing mirror would inevitably be startled by what he saw.

Put simply, the fate patterns of these Demon Kings were all exceedingly strange. Whatever their present identities and conduct might be, those things did not truly match what lay beneath.

It was almost like celestial immortals who had fallen into the mortal world, with the roots of what they once were still remaining.

“The old woman pissed herself from fright after reading San’er’s face.”

Which meant the Blind Man had been listening the whole time.

“Heh.” Zheng Fan laughed. “Then it seems she really does have some ability.”

Seeing a few clues was one thing.

Seeing enough to piss yourself in terror was something else entirely.

“How about this? In a couple of days... Forget it. Tonight.”

When Marquis Zheng wanted to do something, he disliked waiting.

“Once San’er and the others return, have that old woman read another face.”

Fourth Lady said, “Hasn’t she already read Master’s fortune? She said there’s nowhere left for your four-clawed python to go except growing a fifth claw.”

As for reading anyone else?

That would amount to little more than making Granny piss herself several more times.

Zheng Fan shook his head.

“I want her to read Tian Tian.”

[End of Chapter 620]