Chapter 14 To put it bluntly, I am Li Langfeng, and this is my cousin Wang Qing...

Yes, after Li Changling's constant urging, she still came.

"This is the closest ship; if we miss it, we'll have to wait a few more days."

But she neither wrote poetry nor had any special skills, so how could she catch the eye of the Zhu family? This was actually what Wang Yan was more worried about.

Li Changling strode ahead and suggested, "Don't you have the Falling Flower Sword Technique? That's enough, that's enough."

Wang Yan chased after him and tried to kick him, but failed. "Mocking my Falling Flower Sword Technique? Don't underestimate it. It's more than enough to fool these spoiled brats..."

The two were led onto the boat by a servant boy. Upon entering, they saw a man with a face as white as powder, dressed in brocade robes and a jade belt, holding a folding fan, sitting lazily on the mat, his voice also languid.

Li Changling glanced at the folding fan in the man's hand and pretended to guess, "Young master, this folding fan is very exquisite. The painting on the fan, 'Sunset Glow and Lone Wild Geese Flying Together,' is superbly painted and seems to be the work of the master painter Zhao Jicun."

"Good eye!"

The man made no attempt to hide his arrogance. It would be a waste of money not to show off the paintings he'd bought at great expense.

Li Changling continued, before finishing his sentence, "Unfortunately, this work is actually a forgery."

The man's face darkened instantly. "This has been authenticated by an expert; how could it be fake?"

Li Changling put his hands on his hips and waved his hand, "Then you must be careful of this man, young master. Who knows if the works he authenticates are genuine?"

The man walked up to Li Changling and sneered, "You'd better be able to give me a reason."

Li Changling remained calm and slowly explained.

"I'm sure you've heard that Zhao Jicun only painted one painting, 'Sunset Glow and Lone Wild Geese Flying Together,' which someone offered a thousand taels of silver for, but he refused to sell it and later gifted it to a friend he met by chance. Unless that friend resells it to you, there is no other painting like 'Sunset Glow and Lone Wild Geese Flying Together' in this world. Even the most skilled painter himself could not paint the exact same one."

Wang Yan nodded in agreement, thinking to himself that his senior brother was about to demonstrate his best skill again: turning black into white.

The man turned his folding fan around and asked, "How do you know this wasn't sold to me by that friend?"

"There should be an ink dot on the seal of this painting."

The man slapped the fan in front of Li Changling's eyes and pointed arrogantly at the spot where the mark had been made.

Li Changling glanced at it only once, then confidently said, "Everyone thinks it was an accidental drop of ink after he stamped the seal, but they don't know that the ink drop was on the seal itself. You must know the difference between a drop of ink and an ink stamp, young master?"

The man turned his folding fan back to examine it carefully, then looked up at Li Changling suspiciously, "How do I know you didn't make this up to deceive me?"

Li Changling picked at his ear. “Why would I need to deceive you, young master? I won’t take a single penny of the painting, whether it’s the original or the money from the purchase. I’m just rudimentary in the art of appreciating paintings, so I’m offering a few pointers. If you believe me, I’ll benefit from a free ride; if you don’t, I’ll simply miss out on a chance to hitch a ride, nothing more.”

The man thought it made sense, closed his folding fan, and said angrily, "That old fox Shi Shi! I will go back and re-examine the painting. If it is really as you say, I will not let him off." He then clasped his hands in a gesture of respect and said, "I am Zhu Yao."

Li Changling returned the greeting, "My name is Li Langfeng, and this is my cousin, Wang Qingyue."

"A clear breeze and a bright moon are free," Zhu Yao raised his right eyebrow and smiled meaningfully. "Your names are quite interesting. Lady Wang?"

Wang Yan had intended to brush it off casually, but now that Li Changling had learned to appraise paintings, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and use her Falling Flower Sword technique.

Reaching the peach trees on the riverbank, Wang Yan casually drew a guard's sword, said "Excuse me," and then began to wield it. The sword's energy scattered peach blossoms, and her flowing skirt swirled with their fragrance. As she finished her dance, the last petal landed steadily on the blade. The Falling Flower Sword Technique lived up to its name.

Wang Yan sheathed his sword, and Zhu Yao clapped his hands and exclaimed, "What a fine sword dance!"

The sword dance attracted a lot of attention, including many martial arts practitioners.

Someone thought to themselves, "Isn't this the Flowing Frost Sword Technique?!"

"The Frost Flowing Sword Technique? Li Changling's Frost Flowing Sword Technique?! Impossible, Li Changling has never taken on any disciples..." Zhu Yao stared at the two of them in astonishment, "Was what you just performed really the Frost Flowing Sword Technique?"

Wang Yan quickly waved his hand, "My sword technique is called Falling Flowers, it's just somewhat similar to the Flowing Frost Sword Technique."

Zhu Yao praised her without reservation, "Young lady's skill in making fakes look so real complements Brother Li's skill in distinguishing the real from the fake, and they are quite remarkable."

Li Changling laughed heartily, "We two make a living with these trivial skills, but we never expected that Brother Zhu would see them today."

"It is my good fortune. We will depart this afternoon. If you two have nothing else to do, you may board the ship now."

They arrived in Yangzhou three days later. After thanking Zhu Yao, the two went straight to the prefectural government office as soon as they disembarked.

"Lord Xiaohe!"

Wang Yan entered the hall with practiced ease and called out loudly.

He Fan hurried out to greet her, "Yan'er! Look at it!"

Li Changling did not greet him warmly, but looked him over and said, “He Yangzhou, you are all smiles.”

He Fan couldn't help but cough, "I've recently taken on another role... father."

"Oh, congratulations!" Wang Yan was acquainted with He Fan because of Li Changling, but he didn't have much contact with his wife.

"Well, you've got to treat us to a drink now that the office's closed, right?" Li Changling wasn't about to pass up this golden opportunity to get a drink. He grabbed He Fan and kept saying, "You have no idea how much I missed Linjiangxian's pork tenderloin and vegetarian noodles while I was in the capital..."

As evening approached, the lanterns and candles glowed brightly in the Linjiangxian style. Through wind, frost, rain, snow, heat, cold, day, and night, this place was always filled with the sounds of drums and music. Manager Fu led the three of them to a private riverside room on the second floor.

As He Fan ascended the steps, he sighed, "With your ancestral business acumen, you can get a share of the wealth from all corners of the world."

Linjiangxian is a restaurant specializing in dishes from the Zhejiang and Jiangsu regions. Yangzhou, with its extremely convenient water and land transportation, was a thriving trading hub, attracting merchants from all over the country. Northerners prefer sweet flavors, while southerners crave salty ones, so the chefs chosen were locals with a deep understanding of culinary flavors. With beautiful riverside scenery, melodious music, and charming women, making a fortune was no problem.

On his second trip to Yangzhou, Wang Zhen purchased this building and opened a restaurant in the bustling city near the water. Although Wang Yan was only twelve at the time, she insisted on participating in the restaurant's management. Initially, the shares were split 70/30, but later it became 50/50. After Wang Yan turned 18 last year, Wang Zhen had already transferred the management to her, but she hadn't told anyone about it, and no one else knew.

As soon as Manager Fu left, Wang Yan stretched and yawned. "Yangzhou is still the best. The air here smells so much fresher."

He Fan laughed and said, "The feng shui of Yangzhou is very nurturing. Compared to your rigid and proper life in the capital, it's naturally more carefree and comfortable."

Wang Yan hurriedly said, "Alas, this is not my capital, sir. Please be careful with your words. If it weren't for your effective governance, how could we all live in peace and prosperity?"

He Fan and Li Changling praised, "Look, Yan'er's words are still so sweet."

Li Changling leisurely sipped his tea. "You know perfectly well that when she gets aggressive, you'll want to avoid her from three miles away."

Wang Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, "Tell me properly, when have I ever been aggressive?"

"Wrong, wrong. It is to respect ghosts and gods but keep them at a distance, so as not to be tainted by our mundane nature."

Li Changling whispered in He Fan's ear, "Whenever the Prince Wei talks to her, he acts as if he's facing a formidable enemy."

He Fan looked at Wang Yan in surprise, "Is it that Prince Wei?"

Wang Yan said very calmly, "If I do not face a formidable enemy, and he really gets entangled in this mess, it will be too late to regret it."

Li Changling nodded in agreement, “That makes sense—that’s why he even wore that jade pendant to the play; he really knows how to make the most of it.”

Wang Yan snorted, "I'm wearing it now, okay? It would be a pity not to wear such a beautiful jade." Although she knew his intentions weren't sincere, when had she ever been sincere to him?

The two were bickering, but He Fan was completely confused. Li Changling swirled his teacup and joked, "Our A-Ying has hooked up with Fu Jizheng's little apprentice again."

Wang Yan rolled her eyes at him. "Flirting? My relationship with him is completely innocent."

“Oh—” Li Changling turned to He Fan and said, “So she didn’t mean it that way. That kid is good-looking and smart, and his father is both rich and powerful.”

He Fan asked curiously, "Whose young master is he? Hasn't he entered the court yet?"

Li Changling said mysteriously, "Guess."

"Duke of Dingguo." Wang Yan ended this tedious guessing game.

"The Duke of Dingguo?! So he's the son of the Duke of Dingguo..." He Fan was still surprised, then sighed, "However, with that recent scandal, the situation in the capital may change drastically."

“The news spread so fast,” Li Changling said helplessly. “Yes, we’ve been dragged into this too.”

He Fan asked in surprise, "Why?"

Li Changling briefly recounted the matter of calming the mind, explaining that their purpose in coming here was to find the monk. Wang Yan had already drifted off into thought.

"That monk is actually here?" He Fan said readily. "Don't worry, I'll send someone to look for him tomorrow. Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

When Li Changling pleaded for help with a stern expression, He Fan knew that this matter was of utmost importance.

"This person left Beijing before the Lunar New Year, and it has been more than four months since then. He is most likely no longer in Yangzhou."

He suddenly stopped talking, and only after the waiter had served all the dishes and left did Li Changling bring the topic back to Jingxin.

"He came to Yangzhou to perform a religious ceremony for someone; we need to find that family."

He Fan couldn't help but look troubled. "Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural order of things. There are many families who hold religious ceremonies every month, and not every deceased person can be registered in time. Yangzhou is so big, I'm afraid it will be difficult to find one."

Wang Yan snapped out of his reverie and said, "The cost of having a Jingxin perform a ritual is not low, and they value their reputation highly. The ritual might be conducted secretly. Such a family should have records."

He Fan agreed and would lead the two of them to the storehouse for verification the next day. Wang Yan still looked worried, and Li Changling knew she must have something on her mind.

"What's wrong?"

After much hesitation, Wang Yan voiced her dilemma: "If Shen Minghuai also came to Yangzhou... would we cooperate?"

Li Changling seemed to have considered this matter beforehand, and her words implied a willingness to cooperate with him.

"How can we tell outsiders about the mental cultivation method?" Wang Yan felt this was inappropriate.

"Sometimes being overly sincere can be a form of coercion. Whether it's in cooperation or friendship, you should always leave some room for the other party."

Wang Yan carefully remembered Li Changling's words. He had his reasons he couldn't reveal, and I had my secrets I had to keep. It was simply a matter of each getting what they needed.