Chapter 424: Traveling on the Same Journey

After listening to what Zhan Changkong said, it would be a lie if Ren Baqian said that he wasn’t at all tempted.

He was indifferent toward all of them except for one of the teenaged girls. Not only was she beautiful, her eyes were as clear and transparent as a lake. Her eyes had the purity and curiosity of a baby. Wanting to take good care of that purity was a fatal temptation for a man,

However, after thinking about the empress that was still waiting for him to bring food back, Ren Baqian thought about his identity and shook his head. He replied, “Thank you for your concern. I appreciate your kindness.”

“What? Are they all not to your liking?” Zhan Changkong couldn’t help but ask as he was feeling very complex emotions at this moment.

“My purpose for coming this time is to settle matters of the alliance. I’m not in the mood for anything else,” Ren Baqian rejected him again like before.

After he had rejected the offer, he realized that a few of the attendants had heaved sighs of relief. On the other hand, Zhan Changkong wasn’t very happy. This made Ren Baqian harbor suspicions.

Does this Zhan Changkong really enjoy sending the girls out?

Plus, why are those attendants so relieved?

Every word that you spoke just now was to try to prevent me from entering.

Could it be that your close friend is among them?

After the dance had ended, those girls left one after another. Ren Baqian somewhat felt a little regretful as that pair of eyes were indeed unforgettable.

At night, when Ren Baqian went back to rest, Zhan Changkong and Painting Fairy returned to their room.

“Is it really so pressing? Aren’t you afraid of trusting the wrong person?” Painting Fairy asked after entering the room. Previously, she had acted as if she hadn’t heard anything. At present, she immediately voiced out her concerns after returning, and it was clear that her thoughts were disturbed.

“Even though you have brought up this issue before, I never expected you to actually be in such a hurry. You just met him, and without even understanding his nature, you actually wanted to entrust my child to him.”

“Time and tide wait for no man. Qi Zixiao has arrived in Gu City. It’s hard to tell her purpose for coming to Gu City and not being in Lan City.” Zhan Changkong sighed.

“What?” Painting Fairy was shocked when she heard what he said. As for that world renowned lady, there was no one in Tianjing Basin who didn’t dread or hate her.

“Are you serious?”

“I can’t be wrong.” Zhan Changkong replied. “Even though I don’t know him well, there isn’t much that I can do anymore. If there are any unforeseen incidents and we reconsider this matter, it will be too late. Besides…”

Dayao wasn’t fearsome at all.

The scary thing was the infinite number of barbarians within the Sixty Thousand Mountains.

Even after leaving the basin, there was no telling whether it was possible to chase those barbarians back and resist their counterattack. It was also hard to say how many people would perish and how many would be able to survive.

“Besides, Caixian is too pure. If anything happens to us, I’m afraid it’ll be tortuous for her in the future. That being the case, it’ll be better to find a backer. We don’t have the luxury of time and chance to slowly take our pick,” Zhan Changkong added.

During ordinary times, their daughter’s appearance would naturally be the target that countless numbers of people would pursuing.

However, during troubled times, this became her catastrophe.

On top of that, she had a pure nature and didn’t know the affairs of life. It was indeed worrying to think whether or not she would be able to protect herself during these troubled times.

Rather than risking it, would it not be better to find her a backer? Even if that person didn’t have a good nature, how bad could it be?

After listening to what Zhan Changkong said, Painting Fairy had a complex look on her face. Even though she hated to do so, she knew that it was in her daughter’s best interest and spoke no further.

“What should we do now?”

“Someone from the residence will escort him to Mount Tianyun tomorrow. Send Caixian to tag along. Given her looks and nature, no man wouldn’t be aroused after several days of interaction,” Zhan Changkong replied with a face full of complex emotions.

After a long time, Painting Fairy sighed before standing up and leaving the room.

…

The next morning, after Ren Baqian was done washing up, he woke Lin Qiaole up. In order to help her stay awake, he played a little game with her.

He threw a piece of candy toward the left, and like the wind, Lin Qiaole appeared in midair.

Thereafter, Ren Baqian took out another candy and threw it to the right.

After catching about five candies, Lin Qiaole couldn’t help but ask faintly, “Why is it that I somehow feel that something isn’t right.”

“All you do everyday is eat, sleep, then eat again. You will grow fat, and your body will also become stiff. You need to train a little.”

“Cough, cough.” Ling Zekuan eventually coughed upon not knowing how to react after watching this scene from the courtyard for quite some time.

“Mister Ye, breakfast is ready.”

After Ling Zekuan finished talking, a few maids sent their breakfast into the courtyard.

“If there’s anything unsatisfactory, please feel free to let me know.”

“What time are we setting off?” Ren Baqian asked.

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“We can prepare to leave after breakfast.”

After breakfast, Ren Baqian packed his stuff and waited for someone to come get him and Lin Qiaole.

About two hours later, Ling Zekuan finally arrived just as Ren Baqian was starting to get a little impatient.

“Everything is ready Mister Ye. Please come with me.”

Following Ling Zekuan, Ren Baqian walked out and realized that they were heading toward the front gate. When they had almost reached the gate, he saw from afar that there was a big group of people ahead.

“Mister Ye, I’ve already arranged for these people to escort you ahead. There will be people taking charge throughout the journey, so you don’t have to worry.” Seeing that Ren Baqian had arrived, Zhan Changkong turned around and cupped his hands to greet him.

“Thank you.” Ren Baqian cupped his hands.

After that, the crowd separated into two groups. In front, there were six horses and a gorgeous carriage as well as the carriage that Ren Baqian arrived in.

“Mister Ye, I shall not say much. I’m sure we’ll meet again someday. See you again next time, and we shall drink and chat then.” Zhan Changkong cupped his hands.

“Hope to see you again.” Ren Baqian cupped his hands, but in his mind, he was thinking that if they did meet again in future, these people would devour him alive. If that was the case, then it would be better for them not to meet in future.

At the very least, after staying in the Golden Ring Residence for a night, Ren Baqian’s feelings toward this place were not exactly that bad. It was a pity that he was on a different side. The other party was bound to be his enemy, and there was nothing much that could be said anymore.

“Hope to see you again.” Everyone cupped their fists in succession.

After looking at those two carriages at the front, Ren Baqian understood their intention not to escort him up to his carriage. He then turned around and boarded his own carriage.

After that, eight men stood out from the crowd and mounted their horses one after another. Two of them were in charge of driving the carriages. One of the men on the horses was Ling Zekuan, the elder in charge of foreign affairs. As for the other two men from the Nine Blades Sect, it was his first time seeing them since last night.

“If there’s anything that comes up along the way, feel free to let me know, Mister Ye.” Ling Zekuan turned and smiled at Ren Baqian as he sat on his horse.

His smile was complex and difficult to comprehend.

Before entering his carriage, Ren Baqian nodded his head at Zhan Changkong and the rest.

After the entourage had set off, Ren Baqian began to mull over the other carriage at the back. When he saw it initially, he thought that it had been prepared for the two of them. However, that wasn’t the case, which actually made him feel a little puzzled.

Could it be that there was something in that carriage?

Something struck Ren Baqian’s mind. Could it be that those dancers from the day before were on board?

He wondered if that girl was in that carriage.

However, even if she was, he still wouldn’t dare to accept her. If he were to accept her, the empress would definitely rip his skin off and hang him on the city wall to air-dry until he became jerky.

He couldn’t be any clearer about the empress’s temper.

If he were to visit the brothel in Lan City for a drink, as long as he knew his limits, the empress might possibly turn a blind eye to that. Besides, even with the old bast*rd Tong Zhenye present to help him carry the burden, the empress still seemed to be more interested in beating the crap out of Ren Baqian.

If he were to have a magnificent house with which to keep a mistress, then that would probably work out.

After racking his brains for a bit, Ren Baqian didn’t want to think any further. At worst, after arriving at their destination, he would just order Ling Zekuan to send her back.

Whoever loved her could have her. In any case, he didn’t dare to accept her.

They advanced forward throughout the journey before stopping for a break in the afternoon.

Ren Baqian continued to pay attention to the movement of that carriage. Sure enough, when the carriage stopped, an arm stretched out from the curtains and pushed it aside. A lady’s face emerged from behind the curtains.

As expected, it’s her, Ren Baqian thought to himself. It was the same lady from last night who had eyes that were as clear and transparent as a lake and gave others the impression that she wasn’t well versed in affairs of life.

At present, she was wearing a green dress and had her hair bunned up like a little girl. She was looking much more vibrant compared to the day before.

“Mister Ye, my father asked me to take you to Mount Tianyun.” Following what the others did, that little lady cupped her hands toward Ren Baqian and smiled.

How innocent and unaffected.

“Your father? Who is…?” Ren Baqian immediately captured that phrase.

“Third lady.” Ling Zekuan nodded his head at that girl before saying to Ren Baqian, “She is the youngest daughter of the residence chief and is accompanying me to take you to Mount Tianyun.”

As Ren Baqian looked at that girl, he couldn’t seem to figure it out.

Zhan Changkong almost gifted that group of dancers to me yesterday and that included her right?

Or had he misunderstood something?

There should be some sort of misunderstanding. She probably wasn’t included in that group of dancers last night—it was only the rest of them. Then again, however, that offer wouldn’t be meaningful anymore. Those few girls from last night could only be regarded as not bad looking. Ren Baqian hadn’t felt much attraction toward them because he was used to seeing the empress and Li Yuanzhu.

Even compared to the flat-chested girl, Lin Qiaole, their looks were still slightly inferior.

Never had he expected that the master of the Golden Ring Residence would allow his own daughter to come out and dance.

Ren Baqian pondered and felt that last night could be a misunderstanding.

“Yes, my name is Zhan Caixian. You can simply call me Caixian. Mister Ye, your name is Ye Yunxian, right? Both our names have the word xian in it, what a coincidence,” the little girl said with a cheerful voice as she jumped down from the carriage.