Chapter 29

"Hey, hey!" Zhu Zijin slammed his folding fan shut, slapped it against his palm, and said with a beaming smile, "You must be Madam Zhuang, right? I've heard so much about you!"

The muscular coachman and attendant standing next to Zhu Zijin turned their heads sharply and looked at him with the kind of concern one would show to someone with a mental disability.

"It's alright that there was a car accident, and compensation is no problem either." Zhu Zijin looked at Zhuang Yan with what he thought was a friendly smile, trying to befriend her. "I just want to make friends with Madam Zhuang."

The atmosphere, which had just nearly escalated into a violent confrontation, suddenly turned eerie. Zhuang Yan silently took a step back, retreating to a safe distance.

Before Zhu Zijin's smile had faded, he noticed the tense expressions on Zhuang Yan and her maid's faces and wondered if they had misunderstood something.

"No need."

Zhuang Yan paused for a moment. Today she was supposed to go out of the city to Guangfu Temple to burn incense and pray to Buddha, but now she had already been delayed for a long time.

She then whispered to the maid beside her, "The Wen residence is the closest to here. Go to the Wen residence first and find Fourth Miss. Ask her to borrow ten strings of cash to settle this matter first."

The maid understood and quickly went to the Wen residence to find Fourth Miss.

Because their carriages were damaged, Zhu Zijin and Zhuang Yan's two groups could only go to a teahouse near the city gate to drink tea and wait for others.

Without the maidservant who used to accompany Zhuang Yan, the coachman remained silent after this ordeal. At this moment, Zhuang Yan had no choice but to calm herself down and deal with the matter first.

The girl, who usually preferred to hide in the backyard, had little experience facing men alone, especially since the boy opposite her was, in name, her "creditor."

There seemed to be a layer of grease on the low wooden table that hadn't been wiped clean. On the table were two cups of coarse tea and two plates of dried fruit.

The large tea leaves, gleaming with a deep luster, steeped in the clear, gray tea water. Zhuang Yan stared at the tea water, lost in thought, her back ramrod straight. She could only gently compose her disordered breathing, feeling awkward being with a completely unfamiliar boy.

The tea shop owner curiously sized up the strikingly handsome young man and woman, wondering to himself, "Are young couples these days pretending to be strangers in public?"

Zhu Zijin had just reflected on his behavior. Anyang was not like Jijing. The women here were gentle and graceful. He had just bluntly said that he wanted to make friends. He was afraid that the girl in front of him had already taken him as a lecherous man with ulterior motives.

"cough..."

Zhu Zijin, wanting to salvage his image, picked up the large teacup in front of him, took a sip, and casually inquired, "The prefect of Anyang Prefecture is Master Wen. Does the young lady know that there have been unfamiliar faces appearing in the Wen family recently?"

...

Zhuang Yan's maid returned quickly, along with the little-known fourth daughter of the Wen family.

"cough!!"

A man and a woman alighted from the carriage of the Wen family. Zhu Zijin nearly choked on the tea in his mouth. He turned his head and coughed for a while. Suddenly, he opened his folding fan and 'inadvertently' shielded his face.

Has anyone told him why his uncle came with Wen Si Niangzi?!

He had barely entered Anyang City when Pei Lingjun caught him red-handed.

Extremely bizarre.

Wen Shu got off the carriage and walked quickly to Zhuang Yan. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Zhuang Yan looked unharmed. "Your maid came to the manor to find me. I rushed over as soon as I heard about the carriage collision. It's good that everyone is alright."

Pei Lingjun followed behind Wen Shu, his dark eyes flickering as he subtly swept over the two people standing next to Zhu Zijin. He then tilted his head back, his dark pupils lowering in a habitual, top-down scrutinizing gaze.