Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Qingcheng calmly said, “It’s really alright. You can just take it. We’ll stay here for a while.” After she said that, the old man felt bad refusing her again. He thanked her profusely before slowly walking back downstairs to prepare the food.
After about half an hour, the wine and meat were ready. However, because the old man had trouble walking, he couldn’t carry too much at one time, and he moved very slowly. So, he had to split the items over a few trips.
But Tealwood took the initiative to help bring the food up. “Boss, let me help you. Otherwise, you’d have to make several trips.”
The old man politely refused his offer, saying, “It’s alright, it’s no problem. I’ll just need to take two more trips. You’re a customer, so how could I make you serve yourself? Please just take a seat.” The old man felt that since Tealwood was the customer, he couldn’t possibly make Tealwood do such menial work.
But Qingcheng agreed with Tealwood, saying, “It’s alright, let him help you. You just need to sit here and tell him where the kitchen is.”
The old man moved his lips to say something but eventually nodded. “Alright, then. Exit through the back door of the first story, and the kitchen is on the right. All the food is ready and waiting to be served.” His voice carried some gratitude because he knew that these two customers were being kind to him.
Tealwood disappeared in a flash and, before the old man could snap out of his daze, Qingcheng’s pleasant voice rang out, saying, “Boss, do take a seat. We can chat for a while. I’ve just come to this city from elsewhere, so I’m not very familiar with this place and would like to ask you about a few things.” She needed to know some information about the city.
The old man snapped out of his daze when he heard her voice. “Oh no, I don’t need to sit. What would you like to know? I’ll try to tell you everything I can.”
Since the other party was friendly, the old man relaxed a little inside.
“No worries, just have a seat. I hope you don’t mind sitting with the two of us,” said Qingcheng in a gentler voice. She looked at the old man with a gaze that showed she clearly wanted him to sit with them.
Since she had put it like that, the old man felt bad about not sitting down, but he said he had to go and close the main door of the restaurant. Just then, Tealwood came back from getting the food. He brought up three meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and soup.
So, Qingcheng said to him, “Tealwood, go downstairs and close the main door.” Within seconds, Tealwood was back at his seat.
The old man was so amazed by this sight and exclaimed in his heart, “This fellow moves way too quickly…”
The old man sat down at their table and Qingcheng asked him to eat with them, but he simply refused to do so, so she gave up. But after pouring him wine and having Tealwood accompany him in drinking, he didn’t reject the offer.
The three of them started chatting like this. However, Tealwood was basically spending most of the time eating, while Qingcheng was asking all the questions, and the old man was answering her.
Qingcheng ate some food, then spoke slowly as she said, “Did anything happen in Weiyang Nation recently? Or any rumors going around?” Her tone of voice was calm and steady and seemed rather unconcerned.
The old man went into deep thought for a while, probably in an attempt to remember, then he started speaking. “There are a few matters. I’m not sure if they count. The first one is that the crown prince of Weiyang Nation annulled his long-time engagement to the Second Young Mistress of the Feng family, Feng Qingcheng, not too long ago. He announced his engagement to the Eldest Young Mistress of the Feng family, Feng Qingling.
“Everyone out there is talking about this. The Second Young Mistress of the Feng family was repudiated because she has the face of a demon and is of poor character, so the engagement was officially called off by the palace. Two days later, news came from the Feng house that the Second Miss Feng couldn’t accept it and ran away from home by herself.
“The Feng family started searching for her everywhere and finally discovered her remains in the outer area of Langya Magical Beast Forest after she had been mostly eaten by Magical Beasts. And because of this, the Eldest Miss Feng was so upset that she fainted for three days,” the old man said.
He paused for a while to take a mouthful of wine before continuing. “The second matter is that around nine days ago, there was a huge uproar among the Magical Beasts in the eastern part of the Magical Beast Forest of Star Continent. Also, the sky above the continent was initially sunny, but it suddenly turned dark, and there was a great flash of lightning and thunder. Many people said that a rare treasure must have appeared in the forest.
“Eventually, the commotion was traced to Langya Magical Beast Forest. I heard from some witnesses that a huge bolt of purple lightning struck the forest that day, then everything went back to normal after that.” If the old man had been paying attention to his two customers, he would have noticed that there was something different about their expressions now.
After Tealwood finished listening to these two matters, a fire started burning inside his heart, and he felt an urge to kill off all the members of the Feng family immediately.
Qingcheng’s expression wasn’t as obvious. Part of her felt disdain for the shameless and pretentious behavior of the Feng family, and part of her was surprised by the commotion that happened on the day she transmigrated here.
“The third matter started going around just today. There’s a rumor that a Sacred Beast has appeared within Langya Magical Beast Forest. It’s been a few centuries since anyone last heard of a Sacred Beast. Its appearance even caused a huge earthquake within the forest, and there was a huge and chaotic wave of Magical Beasts,” the old man explained.
There was a look of surprise on his face as he said these things. It was really rare to see a Sacred Beast.
Tealwood was a little shy about this and looked somewhat awkward. Qingcheng was much calmer about the whole thing, and she always kept a fairly emotionless look on her face anyway.
Qingcheng continued to ask, “How much do you know about the monarchy of Weiyang Nation? Do you know anything about the structure of the powers within Weiyang Nation?”
The old man looked puzzledly at her, so Qingcheng explained, “Don’t worry, I’m just trying to understand more about the country’s workings so that I don’t end up accidentally offending someone I shouldn’t.” After she said that, she casually glanced at the old man and took note of his expression.
When the old man heard her question, a hidden fury flashed in his eyes for a moment, but it soon turned to pain before completely disappearing.
He kept away his unnatural expression and drank down another mouthful of wine.
Then he slowly said, “The current royal family of Weiyang Nation consists of four princes and two princesses. The crown prince, Dongfang Moqi, is exceptionally handsome looking, and even though he is only twenty years old, his cultivation is already at Spirit Mentor Sixth Tier. He’s known as the top genius among Weiyang Nation’s younger generation.”
“PFFT… COUGH! COUGH! I’m so sorry. I drank the wine too quickly… COUGH! I choked… go on; please go on.” Tealwood lowered his head and didn’t dare to meet the glare that was suddenly focused on him. His master was really scary at times…
But Tealwood’s gaze was filled with mockery for that so-called crown prince. Top genius? His master was waaaay ahead of the crown prince! Tsk tsk! And he dared to humiliate her? Thank goodness the engagement was annulled. This crown prince wasn’t worthy of his master at all!
Qingcheng didn’t bother herself with Tealwood’s reaction. She knew that he was definitely mocking the crown prince, so she let the old man continue speaking.
The old man didn’t think too much about Tealwood’s behavior and continued talking, saying, “The crown prince is the son of the empress, and the empress is from the family of an advisor to the emperor, the Shi family. Her name is Shi Limin.
“The eldest prince is Prince Chen, and his name is Dongfang Haochen. He’s 25 years old this year. But he wears a mask over his face all the time, his movements are kept a secret, and he rarely makes any appearances, so nobody has ever seen his face, and nobody knows what cultivation level he’s at, either.
“This eldest prince has a rather special story. Usually, the eldest prince of the country ought to be the crown prince, but the same year the crown prince was born, the emperor left the country for a period of time. When he returned, he brought back a woman and a six-year-old child. That child was Prince Chen, while the woman was his mother, Consort Mei. Her name is Mei Xiangxue.
“The emperor said that he got to know Consort Mei while he was still the crown prince, and Prince Chen was a result of that relationship. The emperor was powerful enough to suppress any dissent about this, so this mother and son became part of the royal family.
“Prince Chen is also the most mysterious and low profile of all the children the emperor has. Rumor has it that he’s a very cold and aloof man who doesn’t like women. All women have to stay three feet from him wherever he goes, and that’s why he still hasn’t gotten married yet and isn’t even engaged.”