Chapter 208: Guarding Mr. Xu

"This Minglan Sect is also in great misfortune. Not only did they become a burden for others, but they also lost their lives."

Faint laughter was heard in the teahouse and then disappeared. After all, it was one of the three sects, and there was a Heavenly Master in charge, so he had to give them the face they deserved.

Tao Zi sat in the teahouse, sipping tea leisurely. Li Xiu sat beside her and said in a low voice, "Don't you get tired of coming to the teahouse to listen to stories every time?"

She said with a smile, "You can also go to a brothel. There's music all the time, and beautiful women sitting on your lap feeding you grapes."

He immediately sat up straight and remained silent.

The story on the stage was still going on, but she was too lazy to listen anymore and asked, "Let's change to another teahouse?"

Li Xiu took a sip of tea and said contentedly: "This is the best teahouse here, this tea..."

Before she could finish her words, Tao Zi said, "Teahouses in mixed areas will be more lively."

"The tea over there is definitely not better than here."

She said solemnly, "Are we here for tea? We're here to listen to the fun!"

Li Xiu had no choice but to nod and followed her to leave.

He followed her and saw a nice teahouse with many people, so he said, "How about this teahouse?"

"No, go to another one."

Tao Zi walked slowly and without even glancing at the teahouses around her. This made Li Xiu feel that she already had a target in mind, and she couldn't help but shudder.

Tao Zi noticed his abnormality and asked, "What's wrong?"

He said solemnly: "Sister Tao, let me make this clear first. You can't kill people to silence them in the future."

The corners of her mouth twitched, and she asked, "Silencing someone? What do you know?"

Li Xiu immediately understood what she meant and replied, "I don't know anything."

Tao Zi clenched his fists and stopped talking.

Finally, they walked into an ordinary-looking teahouse.

Compared to other teahouses, this one is not very lively, even the waiters are lazy.

Li Xiu called out loudly, "Waiter, would you like some tea?"

"Here I come, don't rush me."

The waiter came over and casually poured two cups of tea, then said, "Our storyteller is not here. If you want to listen to a story, please go somewhere else."

Li Xiu wiped the table herself and said, "I've never seen a teahouse that drives customers away like this."

Tao Zi chuckled twice and asked, "I came here five years ago. It was very lively then. Why is it like this now?"

"Hey, times have changed, things have changed dramatically..." After hearing this, the man muttered for a long time.

She listened patiently for a long time before continuing, "Where's Mr. Shouxu here? He's such a great lecturer! Whenever he comes out to give a lecture, the place is always packed with guests."

The waiter's expression suddenly turned unhappy. He said, "Hey, young lady, you don't know that Mr. Shouxu made a fortune three years ago, bought a house, hired servants, and even kept several concubines. How could he be in this line of work?"

Three years ago...

Tao Zi smiled nonchalantly and continued, "No wonder this place is unpopular."

"It shouldn't have been this bad originally, but the staff at the teahouse kept changing, and they were all laymen. Only a few of the waiters were still there, so how could it be lively anymore?"

The waiter sighed as he spoke, "Our teahouse used to be the most famous here. After what happened, who among our fellow travelers wouldn't laugh at us?"

He complained about a lot of things, and Tao Zi listened patiently and finally gave him a tip before leaving.

Li Xiu asked slowly, "How do you like this story?"

She smiled and said, "It's just so-so, not as good as what Mr. Xu said."

He asked in a hurry, "Are you going to look for someone?"

Tao Zi smiled slightly and said, "No, he will come looking for me."

Not long after, a piece of news spread in Tiancheng - a young lady liked to listen to stories, and she was looking for a storyteller of her choice for a hundred taels of gold.

After Li Xiu paid the deposit at the letter, he looked at her with a toothache and said, "One hundred taels of gold, Sister Tao, you are really generous."

She said modestly: "No, the one who is generous is obviously Brother Xiu."

He touched his chin and the toothache became worse.

The person in the letter office passed the message out, looked at the two people who had been taken advantage of, and said respectfully, "I will compile a list of the suitable candidates who came to me later. I just don't know where to send this list."

Tao Zi lazily said, "No need to send me off. I'll come over when I'm bored."

The two walked out of the letter.

Li Xiu lowered her voice and asked, "Sister Tao, is this credible?"

"The Xin Department is backed by the four great families, so they won't embezzle money."

He frowned, still worried: "What if they find out where we live and something is wrong?"

She smiled and said, "The letter director shouldn't be so nosy. Besides, the one who pays is the master. Who cares whether he rides a horse or a mule?"

Li Xiu thought about it and nodded in agreement: "That makes sense."

The two returned to the inn. Han Yueshan and the others had not returned yet. Xi Jing stayed in the inn with the two foxes, thinking hard about the formation.

Tao Zi pushed the door open and walked in. She greeted happily, "Senior Sister!"

"Well, have you had lunch yet?"

"Not yet." After saying that, Xi Jing quickly added, "Senior brothers said before they left that they would be back at noon. I plan to wait for them together."

Tao Zi and Li Xiu were the first to go out and were not aware of this matter.

Li Xiu suddenly came over and knocked on the door.

"What's wrong?"

He poked his head in: "Senior Brother Hua and Zhao Xue are not here. Where did they go?"

Xi Jing shook her head: "I don't know where she went, but she will be back soon."

As they were talking, those people came upstairs.

Han Yueshan greeted happily, "Brother Li, it's time to eat!"

Li Xiu took the box from him and asked, "Where did you buy it from?"

"Hehe, Tianxianglou."

He laughed and scolded, "This restaurant is famous for being expensive, but you're willing to spend it."

"It's not my money, so why should I be reluctant to spend it?"

Li Xiu looked at Tao Zi inside the door, then looked at Han Yueshan outside the door, and muttered, "Senior sister and brother are the same."

A few people sat together chatting and eating, and Zhao Xue suddenly said, "There are a lot of interesting things on the stalls around here. Xi Jing, if you have time, you can go out and take a look. Don't stay in your room all the time."

Xi Jing gnawed on the duck leg and nodded: "Okay."

Hua Monk glanced at Li Xiu slowly. He suddenly felt uneasy and asked, "Is there anything else you haven't said?"

Han Yueshan smiled and said, "No."

"real?"

He hesitated for a moment and said, "Not really. I heard there's an auction going on lately. It's really lively, with a lot of great items. A lot of people are talking about it. Senior Brother Li, what do you think, should we go and have a look?"

Li Xiu's expression was solemn for three seconds, and then he said, "Is there anything else you haven't said?"

"Um?"

Han Yueshan looked at him blankly. He nodded calmly and said, "That's good. Have a good meal and go to those stalls in the afternoon."

Everyone: ...