The second floor of the inn.
Li Qing and Yan Bufan, the pair of old friends, had just left when Yang Ge and Shen Fa, another pair of old friends, came up.
Yang Ge stood by the railing, gazing down at Luting County, which had not only become prosperous but also began to be colorful and lively, and said with some sentimentality, "I never thought you’d dare come to see me..."
Shen Fa took a sip of coarse tea and said with a calm smile, "We can’t... really never see each other again, can we?"
Just as Yang Ge was about to speak, Zhao Cha came upstairs anxiously carrying a tray of food.
Seeing her, Shen Fa quickly got up to meet her and said, "How could I let Your Highness serve dishes to a servant like myself? Is there no other server in the inn?"
When Zhao Cha heard him bluntly revealing her identity, her heart became even more panicked, and her eyes timidly turned toward Yang Ge, who was standing with his back to her at the railing... She remembered clearly, when Shen Fa and Wei Heng took her to Lai Lu Ting, they emphasized again and again not to expose her identity or her life would be at risk. For this reason, they even arranged for her to live outside the palace in the capital for a while to adapt to civilian life. Although her destination changed from Yang Ge’s house to Yuelai Inn, she had never forgotten their admonitions.
Seeing her reaction, Shen Fa reassured her with a smile, "Your Highness need not worry; this fellow has always known of your identity. Since he hasn’t made things difficult for you, it means he accepts your presence in the inn. You don’t need to worry about the emperor summoning you back to the palace either. The emperor is very pleased with your performance at the inn, and last month he even sent three thousand silver coins and various necessities from the palace to the noble consort’s mother."
"Ah?"
Hearing this, Zhao Cha turned pale, her eyes welling up with mist.
Yang Ge, frowning, turned his face and scolded, "Have you forgotten the pain once the wounds have healed? Who are you to lecture the staff of my Yuelai Inn? Who do you think you are?"
Despite the scolding, Shen Fa still smiled and gave Zhao Cha a reassuring look by gesturing with his lips toward Yang Ge’s back.
Upon hearing his scolding, Zhao Cha’s heart suddenly calmed down a lot, not as panicked as before.
Seeing her tear-filled eyes, Yang Ge’s frown grew tighter, and he scolded again, "What are you standing around for? Didn’t you see the store manager is right here? Go make me a cup of tea... and if you dare to spit in my cup or mix in sand, you’re as good as dead!"
"Pfft."
Laughter escaped from Zhao Cha as tears fell from her eyes.
She happily bowed to Yang Ge’s back, "Store Manager, please wait a moment, I will go and make your tea right away."
Having said that, she happily skipped downstairs.
Shen Fa sat back at the table by the railing with the plate of food, served himself, and muttered with a smile, "You, with your sharp tongue and soft heart, you better restrain that rampant conscience and kindness of yours, or you’ll be in a lot of trouble in the future."
Yang Ge couldn’t help but laugh at his shameless words, "Anyone else, I would have killed them eight times over!"
Shen Fa’s smile grew wider, "Looking at how you’re getting along with the princess... it seems pretty good?"
Yang Ge turned back and replied indifferently, "Don’t try to test me, I just treat her like a pet cat or dog."
Hearing this, Shen Fa felt momentarily lost in thought, inexplicably remembering the first time he saw this toad, lying on the old desk, mumbling with lackluster energy, "I don’t have any relatives left; I can’t let it lose its relatives too."
He couldn’t help but nod, "That’s pretty good too..."
Yang Ge pursed his lips and sighed in his heart, but still said, "Now that we’ve come to this point, I’ll say one more thing... even if Zhao Miao is just a pet cat or dog, she’s still Yuelai Inn’s cat or dog. You better not try anything with her, otherwise, I’ll take it as a provocation against me!"
After a pause, he turned his head to look at Shen Fa, speaking seriously, "You’re sensible, I don’t mince words. Ever since I returned from Dongying, I’ve been really struggling to hold back, always wanting to hack all these damn, filthy people to pieces... You better not test my patience. There’s no good outcome for you."
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Meeting his gaze, Shen Fa’s eyelids twitched, and he managed a strained smile, "You’re too wary. What good would it do us to go against someone like you?"
Yang Ge silently smirked with a hint of mockery in his eyes.
Shen Fa’s smile slowly turned into a forced grin.
"Enough, don’t grind your teeth at me anymore."
Yang Ge looked away, "If you have something to say, just say it. You, Grandmaster Shen, surely didn’t come all this way just to eat this coarse tea and plain meal, did you?"
"There’s nothing of real importance."
Shen Fa let out a relieved sigh, picked up a piece of pork head with his chopsticks, chewed it slowly... As expected, it was very rough: "I just came by to tell you, there’s been progress with your stolen money."
Yang Ge took an interest, "What do you mean?"
Shen Fa put down his chopsticks, speaking slowly, "The ones who robbed your silver coin were a group of rats hidden in the lowest mud of the Jianghu. Our men caught their trail in Jiangzhe, but unfortunately, as soon as we reported, they severed the trail... quite a few people died."
Yang Ge slowly furrowed his brows, "Are you sure they are rats, not tigers?"
Shen Fa looked at him, "You’re the tiger."
Yang Ge scoffed, "But I don’t eat people."
Shen Fa, "That’s why they are merely rats."
Yang Ge, "What does that have to do with me?"
Shen Fa, "They robbed your money, how does it not concern you?"
Yang Ge, "Now that you mention it, it does concern me..."