Song Jingchen nodded and changed the topic. “Previously, my grandfather and I suspected that someone in the imperial court was working with the Wu Kingdom, so we arranged for you to come here to investigate. I didn’t expect you to be exposed.”
Qingping Town was the only way from Great Xia to Wu Country. Shopkeeper Wang placed his gaze on the merchants coming and going, but he missed what was happening right under his nose.
“It’s my fault.” Shopkeeper Wang lowered his head in shame.
Song Jingchen had no intention of blaming him. He only said, “It has nothing to do with us now. It’s a good thing that we didn’t help the higher-ups remove this malignant tumor.”
He wanted Great Xia to be in chaos. The more chaotic it was, the better.
Shopkeeper Wang understood the meaning behind Song Jingchen’s words. He lowered his eyes and didn’t dare to answer. What could he have said anyway? That he didn’t do a good job because he had anticipated this? Absolutely not.
He naturally had to take revenge for the Old Master and the Duke.
Emperor Chong’an was muddle-headed and incompetent. Although Great Xia looked prosperous on the surface, it was actually rotten to the core.
Something had to be destroyed before one could rebuild it. That was Song Jingchen’s intention.
There were many such shops. Other than gathering information, they also provided funding for the private army and existed independently.
If they did not take out their tokens as evidence, the individual shop owners would not know each other.
Song Jingchen had just finished instructing when Madam Du returned with Shen Yijia.
Looking at Shen Yijia again, Shopkeeper Wang sighed at the wonders of fate. He no longer dared to treat her as a junior.
“How is it? Are you satisfied?” Seeing the excitement in Shen Yijia’s eyes, Song Jingchen already had an idea, but he still wanted to hear her say it.
Shen Yijia leaned over and held Song Jingchen’s hand. She nodded happily. “I’m satisfied. I’m too satisfied. I don’t even need to change it. I can directly start a business.”
Seeing that she was happy, Song Jingchen was in a good mood.
Due to Song Jingchen’s reminder, Shopkeeper Wang didn’t dare to offer a low price, but he didn’t dare to set a price that was too high, either.
In the end, Shen Yijia bought the shop for 180 taels of silver.
Madam Du even tactfully said that if Shen Yijia did not have a suitable shopkeeper for the time being, she could help.
Shen Yijia naturally had no reason to refuse. Shen Yijia didn’t know how to manage a shop. She couldn’t possibly ask Madam Li to do it, right?
Madam Li also needed to take care of the workshop.
The two of them left the Full Fortune Restaurant. Shen Yijia was about to carry Song Jingchen into the carriage.
An unbelievable and surprised voice came from behind. “Brother Chen!”
The voice calling him Brother Chen sounded very affectionate.
Shen Yijia stopped what she was doing and had goosebumps all over her body. She tilted her head and looked at Song Jingchen. She called out tentatively, “Brother Chen?”
Song Jingchen was speechless. He wanted to say that the person was referring to someone else.
A delicate girl had already run up to them. She ignored Shen Yijia and stared at Song Jingchen.
Those who didn’t know better would think that she was staring at a piece of meat.
The girl was wearing a scarlet riding suit, and her black hair was held up by a jade hairpin.
She looked at him for a long time before her eyes suddenly turned teary. She said aggrievedly, “Brother Chen, I finally found you.”
Shen Yijia widened her eyes and clenched her fists.
She first glanced at Song Jingchen, who shook his head to indicate that he didn’t know her.
Song Jingchen didn’t seem like someone who would lie about something like this.
Shen Yijia took two steps forward and opened her hands to block Song Jingchen from the girl’s view. She said angrily, “Who are you? My husband said he doesn’t know you.”
The girl stopped sobbing and looked at the woman who had appeared out of nowhere with her big watery eyes. She looked confused.
Shen Yijia was speechless.
“Good lord, I’ve been standing here for so long. You must only have eyes for your Brother Chen, right?” Shen Yijia thought.
That was her husband. Shen Yijia gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.
She took two steps forward and prepared to kick this person away.
Another breathless voice interrupted her. “Please show mercy.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the man had already arrived in front of them. Perhaps because he had run too quickly, his face was slightly red. Even though he tried his best to restrain himself, Shen Yijia could still clearly hear his heavy breathing.
Shen Yijia raised her eyebrows. Wasn’t this Fan Mingyuan, the one she had thrown out of the Song family last time?
Fan Mingyuan pulled Xiao Ruoshui behind him and stabilized his breathing. Then, he cupped his hands at Shen Yijia and introduced, “This is General Xiao’s beloved daughter, Xiao Ruoshui. She’s an old friend of the Eldest Young Master. Please show mercy, Young Madam.”
After saying that, he looked at Song Jingchen, hoping that he could say something.
Shen Yijia had really left a deep impression on him. This was someone who could attack at the slightest disagreement.
Song Jingchen frowned and searched his memory for a long time before remembering such a person. He said coldly, “It’s his old friend, not mine.”
General Xiao and the Bulwark Duke’s residence were both military families, and the two families had many dealings.
On the other hand, Xiao Ruoshui often followed her father into the Bulwark Duke’s residence and loved to follow him and Fan Mingyuan around. However, only Fan Mingyuan would pay attention to her.
Shen Yijia was in a better mood because of Song Jingchen’s explanation, but the expressions of the two people opposite her froze.
Xiao Ruoshui pushed Fan Mingyuan away and looked at Song Jingchen accusingly. “Brother Chen, how can you say that? Do you know that I secretly ran out of the house because of you?”
“Do you know how many dangers I encountered along the way? I almost… I almost didn’t see you again.”
Song Jingchen was afraid that Shen Yijia would misunderstand, so he glanced at Xiao Ruoshui and said impatiently, “I missed the part where that’s my problem.”
“But I did it for you.” Xiao Ruoshui stomped her feet in anger.
She only repeated this sentence. She didn’t seem to be surprised by Song Jingchen’s attitude. It could be seen that Song Jingchen had also been rude to her in the past.
“Let’s go home.” Song Jingchen ignored her and gently squeezed Shen Yijia’s hand.
Xiao Ruoshui’s eyes widened. Her Brother Chen was tugging at a woman in public, and she did not want to believe what she was seeing. She blinked a few times.
Then, she screamed. “Ah, you bad woman, let go of my Brother Chen.”
After saying that, she took out a soft whip from her waist and swung it at Shen Yijia. The tip of the whip was sharp and it tore through the air.
Fan Mingyuan wanted to stop her, but it was too late. He could only watch as Xiao Ruoshui courted death.
Shen Yijia raised her eyebrows and pushed Song Jingchen towards the door of the Full Fortune Restaurant. She spun around to avoid the whip and pulled out the soft whip from her waist.
Xiao Ruoshui did not expect Shen Yijia to be so fast and dodge it. She gritted her teeth in anger and raised her hand to whip Shen Yijia again.
This time, Shen Yijia did not dodge. She also swung her whip to block.
The two soft whips collided in the air with a bang. When the surrounding pedestrians saw this scene, they avoided it.
Xiao Ruoshui’s arm went numb from the shock. She looked at Shen Yijia in disbelief and saw the woman smile at her provocatively.
Xiao Ruoshui, who had been pampered since she was young, could not stand this. Without thinking, she waved her whip again.