Chapter 309: Chapter 309: Deeply Poisoned
Qi Yue nodded in satisfaction.
Zhao Xiyan had not spoken wrongly; the Black Feather Order indeed possessed an extraordinary deterrent power and could be of help to her.
The doorman respectfully invited her inside, and soon, a man resembling a shopkeeper with a short mustache hurried over.
Upon seeing the Black Feather Order that Qi Yue had placed to the side, he immediately knelt on the ground.
“Zhao Chong has seen the master.”
“Stand up. Is Song Gensheng here?”
...
“Yes, yes…” Zhao Chong hurriedly replied. “Does the master wish to see him now? I’ll call for him right away.”
“Yes, now, and also, find me a place to stay.”
“The Marquis had already instructed us. Please follow me, master.”
Zhao Chong personally led the way, and they soon arrived upstairs in the back courtyard.
Everything had indeed been arranged in advance; the room was well furnished, entirely according to her preferences, with no discrepancies.
Only, the room was filled with many decorative items—gold and silver artifacts, precious stones, and all sorts of rarities and artworks.
“Shopkeeper, why are there so many things in this room?”
Zhao Chong stepped forward with a bow, his reserved face revealing a pleased smile.
“The Marquis said the master likes these things, so he instructed us to collect them. All of these were found from various places, does the master find them to her liking?”
Qi Yue looked at the plethora of treasures filling the tabletops and shelves, unconsciously curling the corners of her lips.
Indeed, each item was exquisite; they must have taken a lot of effort and time to collect.
“When did this start?”
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“It seems to have been last year. I remember it was almost autumn,” Zhao Chong pondered a moment. “It was soon after the Marquis defeated Donggao and resigned from his post as Great General and regent soon after.”
That early?
Qi Yue was taken aback and suddenly recalled the scene when she had emptied Hu Chengxuan’s warehouse, a slow smile spreading across her face.
No wonder she always felt she was being watched and seemed to faintly hear Zhao Xiyan calling her.
She had thought at the time that it was a hallucination caused by excessive longing. Now it seemed that fellow had seen her actions long ago and had mistaken her liking for those items, thus instructing his men to collect them!
This man, doing all this in silence, why didn’t he say a word?
Zhao Chong, standing by, was closely observing her expression. Seeing Qi Yue suddenly smile, he was startled, his soul scattering in fear, and he hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to look again.
When he first saw Qi Yue, he had inwardly applauded the Marquis for his excellent taste, but he felt regretful that Qi Yue’s temperament seemed somewhat cold.
He was thinking that both their personalities seemed rather cold and wondered if they would have nothing to say if they spent a long time together, but Qi Yue’s smile instantly dispelled that thought.
It was a perfect blend of her cool arrogance and graceful charm; the Marquis probably couldn’t get enough of her, how could there be nothing to say!
Qi Yue looked over all the items with a smile, seemingly satisfied with everything she saw.
Zhao Chong stepped forward eagerly, “If the master likes them, we will search for even more.”
Upon hearing this, Qi Yue withdrew her hand from a purple coral tree she was touching.
“No need. These items are already plentiful. Given the current chaos, the Marquis and I have more important things for you to do.”
“Yes, thank you, master, for the promotion.” Zhao Chong hesitated before adding, “Master, in a few days there will be a shipment from Nanyue in the underground market, different from these. Would you like to have a look?”
“Are you talking about the black market?”
“Indeed, the black market. The worse the situation, the better the business there, as many valuable items need to be converted into money. If the master likes, we can keep them all.”
Qi Yue was puzzled. What did he mean by this?
It sounded as if the black market was hers?
To keep them all, how much silver would Rishengchang have to spend to acquire them?
Before, when she was unaware, it didn’t matter, but now that she was the owner of Rishengchang, how could she spend money so recklessly?
Thinking this, she waved her hand.
“No need. These things are of no use in excess; do not waste silver frivolously anymore. We will have many uses for silver in the times ahead.”
Zhao Chong looked puzzled.
“Master, the black market operates on a separate ledger, and silver has already been spent. If master likes it, keep it; otherwise, I’ll inform Shopkeeper Ma with a message, and he can sell it at a high price….”
“Hold on…” Qi Yue slowly started to catch on, “You mean the black market is also one of the Marquis’s assets…..”
Zhao Chong nodded in surprise.
“Yes, master doesn’t know? The black market also follows the commands of the Black Feather Order.”
“…” Qi Yue swallowed, at a loss for words for a moment.
So Zhao Xiyan was really generous, entrusting her with his entire wealth?
The key is that he did it without boasting, truly a silent contribution.
No wonder that when she did business with the black market, they desperately sent her gold and silver.
Once, Shopkeeper Ma from the black market even sent her several nice things, but unfortunately, at that time she thought someone had ill intentions and actually refused them.
Ah, she really suffered a big loss there.
And she really liked those things too!
Ah, this Zhao Xiyan, just say it’s a nice thing, she’s not the type to refuse!
Qi Yue thought about this and that, her face brimming with smiles.
“Since that’s the case, keep the good stuff, but there’s no need to intentionally seek it out.”
“Yes, master.”
Just then, someone outside reported that Song Gensheng had arrived.
Qi Yue was about to have someone invite him in when Song Gensheng dashed in like the wind.
“Sister Yueyue, Sister Yueyue!”
Following the hurried footsteps, Song Gensheng’s round head appeared before Qi Yue.
“You’ve grown a bit!” Qi Yue happily patted Song Gensheng on the head.
To her surprise, Song Gensheng stepped back shyly.
“Big brother said that from now on, Sister Yueyue is going to be our sister-in-law, and I mustn’t act as informally as I used to.”
These terms of ‘big brother’ and ‘sister-in-law’ left Qi Yue initially confused, but upon thinking it over, she realized that Zhao Xiyan must have acknowledged Song Gensheng as his brother. During the days when he secretly followed them, he must have discovered their close relationship and got jealous!
This man really does have ideas about a teenager.
Thinking of Zhao Xiyan seriously telling Song Gensheng not to be informal, Qi Yue immediately laughed.
“Gensheng, my younger brother, you’ve been tricked. You recognized me as your sister a long time ago, so by that count, you should call Zhao Xiyan your brother-in-law. How did he become big brother?”
Song Gensheng scratched his head shyly and chuckled.
“Calling him big brother means I am the Marquis’s brother. If I call him brother-in-law, wouldn’t that create a distance?”
Qi Yue stiffened instantly.
This guy was quite good at calculating, understanding the nuances of closeness.
“And calling your sister ‘sister-in-law’ doesn’t feel like it’s making you more distant?”
Song Gensheng chuckled, his mouth full of white teeth.
“Big brother said that a sister-in-law is as dear as a mother, so calling you ‘sister-in-law’ is even closer!”
Good lord, how much did Zhao Xiyan dislike her closeness to Song Gensheng that he raised her status so forcefully!?
Qi Yue opened her mouth, wanting to say something but feeling like there was nothing to say.
Forget it, just assume Song Gensheng was too deeply poisoned and beyond saving!
Since Zhao Xiyan was not an outsider, and since he had gone to such lengths to please her, she might as well satisfy him.
However, she and Zhao Xiyan didn’t know when they would be able to marry, and being called such names could easily become a laughingstock.
So she told Song Gensheng to keep calling each other by their previous titles for now, to avoid suddenly having a ‘sister-in-law’ popping up.
Song Gensheng happily agreed.
After some casual talk, they finally shifted the conversation to more serious matters.
“Gensheng, my younger brother, I have an extremely urgent matter to ask of you this time. Can you make a trip to Nanling for me?”