Chapter 96 Taicheng - 10 Lunch continues, by...

Lunch continued, and since Lu Yi was not used to using chopsticks, a servant brought him a knife and fork.

Pei Zhishu quieted down. His two children were still eating while watching Tang Bufan. The younger one wasn't eating well, taking a bite and playing with the meat in his bowl with his fingers, making Tang Bufan want to feed him.

Just as Lu Yi was pondering whether to say now that they were only staying for three days, Guo Wen suddenly spoke up: "How is Hans doing lately?"

“…Ankang.” Lu Yi was somewhat surprised by his statement: “The head of state knows my father?”

Guo Wen smiled faintly: "Your father came here when he was young, and we even went out to explore together for half a year."

Lu Yi was even more surprised, as he did not know that his father had also been here before.

“Qingzhu Xiaoxuan is the courtyard where your father lived back then.” Guo Wen revealed more: “He came here to escape your grandfather’s pressure to get married. He stayed in our eastern region for almost a year. After returning, he met your mother.”

“...Is that so?” Lu Yi’s heart was filled with mixed feelings. He hadn’t expected that his father had also fled the Federation, just like him now.

Tang Bufan listened from the side, continuing to stare at Pei Zhishu's youngest son, when Guo Wen asked again:

Are you two planning to get married after you go back?

Since it concerned him, Tang Bufan immediately looked at Guo Wen, who was sitting in the main seat. He saw the middle-aged man with a deep aura looking at him with dark eyes, which made Tang Bufan feel a chill.

Why did he feel this inexplicable discomfort...? Tang Bufan thought and thought, and suddenly he understood.

Guo Wen looked at him like Wolverine, but more reserved and profound.

Thinking of Wolfman, Tang Bufan's expression subtly worsened. His left hand, which wasn't holding cutlery, unconsciously touched the back of his neck, and the disgust he felt from Wolfman's stolen kiss came back.

Lu Yi, sitting to Tang Bufan's left, subtly sensed that Guo Wen's gaze towards Tang Bufan was somewhat strange. So he turned to look at Tang Bufan, and the man immediately lowered his hand from the back of his neck and gave him a gentle smile.

Tang Bufan didn't want Lu Yi to worry about his own unfounded speculations about Guo Wen.

His smile reassured Lu Yi somewhat, and Lu Yi then responded to Guo Wen in a gentle and polite manner: "Yes, we will hold our wedding in the Western Federation, but due to the appearance of the mutated poison people, we may not be able to get married so soon."

In fact, Lu Yi didn't care about the wedding. In his opinion, it was fine for him and Tang Bufan to get married in the ruins, just the two of them, which would be very romantic.

But Tang Bufan stubbornly insisted on waiting until he turned 20.

“If we want to deal with the mutated poisoners before getting married, it will probably take a long time.” Guo Wen’s voice was deep and gentle. He looked like an elder who cared for his younger relatives. “Since you two are already adults, I suggest that you get married sooner rather than later.”

"Okay." Lu Yi couldn't help but smile, then looked at Tang Bufan beside him: "We'll consider it."

"..." Tang Bufan felt extremely strange. He picked up the spoon, lowered his eyes, and drank the soup.

Pei Zhishu remained silent, watching everything unfold. His dark eyes looked at Lu Yi, then at Guo Wen, and finally followed Guo Wen's gaze to Tang Bufan.

The slender man sat directly opposite him, wearing a well-fitting navy blue long gown with a conservative Chinese-style stand-up collar around his neck. The silver cloud patterns on his shoulders complemented his fair skin, while the loose white robe he wore over it made him look even more ancient. He was young, beautiful, gentle, and refined, just like someone from a painting or calligraphy.

"..." Pei Zhishu looked behind him again and saw that the walls of the restaurant were covered with many classical calligraphy and paintings collected by Guo Wen, all of which were beautiful Chinese artifacts from a thousand years ago.

"Mom, I'm full." The youngest son's call drew Pei Zhishu's attention back. The man in the suit turned his head indifferently and called over the nanny who was standing by the wall.

"Aunt Chen, why don't you take him back to his room for a nap?"

"Yes, Mr. Pei."

The meal lasted about forty minutes. The two children were taken away by the nanny one after another. Then the butler came in and reported to Guo Wen that General Lan had come to visit. Guo Wen got up and left. After he left, the atmosphere in the restaurant became more relaxed. Tang Bufan used chopsticks to put several pieces of meat on Lu Yi's plate and told him to cut them with a knife and fork.

Pei Zhishu stayed with the two of them until they had filled their stomachs, then he got up and escorted them back to Qingzhu Xiaoxuan.

Behind the three were He Xing and Pei Zhishu's female assistants, and the group walked slowly together in the garden.

"Mr. Pei, is the President free this afternoon?" Lu Yi asked Pei Zhishu, thinking of talking to Guo Wen.

Pei Zhishu raised his hand to look at his bracelet. It was just past 12 o'clock, so he said to him, "How about 3 pm?"

After saying that, he instructed He Xing: "He Xing, take Mr. Louis to the Führer's study at three o'clock this afternoon."

"Yes, Mr. Pei," He Xing replied meekly.

Tang Bufan was itching to go along, and he could clearly feel himself being excluded.

Should he bring it up himself? Tang Bufan was torn.

Pei Zhishu then looked at him, his tone slightly meaningful: "Madam Tang looks very beautiful in this outfit. Do you like Tang suits?"

He knew the tailor had sent Tang Bufan a suit and wanted to know why he was wearing a Tang suit.

"It's my first time wearing it, and I find it interesting," Tang Bufan replied truthfully.

"I asked the teacher to wear it, and I like it." Lu Yi couldn't hide his liking for Tang Bufan the moment his gaze fell on him.

"..." Pei Zhishu looked at Lu Yi, who was like a puppy next to Tang Bufan, and immediately stopped testing Tang Bufan.

Tang Bufan turned the question back to him and asked, "Why isn't Mr. Pei wearing one? I see everyone in your family wearing Tang suits."

Even Guo Wen was wearing an antique-style Zhongshan suit.

“I’m used to wearing suits, and my frame is bigger than Mrs. Tang’s, so they don’t suit me as well as they do.” Pei Zhishu said calmly, and then suddenly stepped in front of Tang Bufan.

Tang Bufan was startled and stopped in his tracks, while Pei Zhishu reached out and smoothed Tang Bufan's hair under everyone's gaze.

“Madam Tang is missing a hairpin.” Pei Zhishu used his hand to gather Tang Bufan’s long hair and adjusted it slightly. “You look good with your hair up. I’ll have the servants bring you a few later.”

"Need not……"

"Take it." Pei Zhishu interrupted Tang Bufan, gave him a smile, and then gently let down his hair.

The group had arrived at the entrance of Qingzhu Xiaoxuan. Pei Zhishu then bid farewell to the two and left with his female assistant.

"..." Tang Bufan stared at his back, completely baffled as to what he was thinking or what he meant.

Lu Yi suddenly leaned over, and Tang Bufan turned his head. The young orc was clearly a head taller than him, but he still insisted on resting his head on Tang Bufan's shoulder.

"Teacher... was he flirting with you just now?" Lu Yi looked up at him, her eyes filled with grievance. Tang Bufan was clearly his wife.

"...Get lost." Tang Bufan laughed in exasperation, rendered speechless by his words.

He Xing, standing to the side, looked at the two of them. First, she looked at the glamorous Tang Bufan with envy, and then she looked at the tall and handsome Lu Yi with admiration in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Pei Zhishu, with his female assistant, took a detour and completely disappeared from the three people's sight.

"Chen Lu, go find Butler Wang and tell him to pick out a few antique hairpins from the Treasure Pavilion to give to Madam Tang," Pei Zhishu said to his female assistant, stopping beside a koi pond.

"Yes, Mr. Pei." The female assistant then bowed slightly to Pei Zhishu and turned to leave.

Not far away, a servant dressed in a Tang suit was tending to the fish pond. Pei Zhishu waved to him, and the servant obediently left.

Pei Zhishu was suddenly the only one left in the tranquil fishpond.

Pei Zhishu then took off his suit jacket and draped it over the railing. It was not yet spring, and many plants around the fishpond were still covered with snow, but Pei Zhishu did not feel cold.

He has been a subhuman beastman for 13 years, and because he exercises regularly, he is not afraid of the cold.

Suddenly, a voice came from the bracelet on his wrist.

"convenient?"

Pei Zhishu leaned against the snow-covered railing, looking down at the beautiful koi. His handsome face was reflected in the water, and a smile appeared on his lips, his expression softening.

"convenient."

"How is he?" the man asked, his voice specially processed to be very neutral, making it impossible to tell if he was male or female.

"Like me, he's become a subhuman, but he's better off than me; Louis Smith listens to him."

"Has anyone become suspicious of him?"

“He’s smart and a good actor. He performed very well in the interrogation room yesterday, and with A77’s cooperation, the beastmen believed him. But…” Pei Zhishu sighed softly, thinking of how Tang Bufan recognized the seal script at a glance yesterday: “He’s not from our time after all. No matter how much he pretends, he’ll still be exposed. So I just exposed him to Guo Wen.”

No amount of cover-up could help, as Tang Bufan wasn't a professional undercover agent. It would be difficult for him to hide completely, so Pei Zhishu chose to expose him to avoid being implicated.

"Sigh, even if I say that, Guo Wen will still find out about his transmigrator identity..." The person on the other end sighed, "I wasted my time frantically creating fake information for him yesterday."

"It didn't take much effort; Yu Fen submitted your fake documents." Pei Zhishu smiled as he looked at the koi fish at the bottom of the water. "Guo Wen will be angry with him."

"That works too." The person on the other end laughed immediately upon hearing this.

Thinking of the way Guo Wen looked at Tang Bufan at the dinner table, Pei Zhishu fell silent. The person on the other end, sensing this, asked:

"how?"

“I suspect…” Pei Zhishu looked around. The garden was quiet, and A77 hadn’t sounded any alarms. He continued, “Guo Wen might like Tang Bufan.”

"Huh?" The person on the other end was taken aback and asked in surprise, "Isn't Guo Wen supposed to be celibate?"

Guo Wen has been widowed for over thirty years and has not remarried.

“Perhaps it’s not that he’s indifferent to women.” Pei Zhishu recalled Tang Bufan’s gentle figure in Tang suit, blending harmoniously among Guo Wen’s collection of calligraphy and paintings. He said in a deep voice, “...it’s just that I’ve never met Tang Bufan.”

"...No way."

“I’ll have the steward send an antique hairpin to Tang Bufan. There’s a bunch of Guo Wen’s collection in the Treasure Pavilion, and the steward will definitely report to him,” Pei Zhishu said. “Guo Wen is a generous man. I’ll know what kind of things are being sent to Tang Bufan once I see them.”

Whether someone loves you or not, the gifts they give will be worlds apart.

"If Guo Wen really likes him... do you think this will have a big impact on us?" the person on the other end then asked Pei Zhishu.

“…Perhaps Guo Wen is unwilling to let him be a pawn.” Pei Zhishu stood up from the railing, picked up his suit jacket, and said with a headache, “We still need him to find Zero.”

The man put on his coat and left the koi pond, regaining his calm and indifferent demeanor. The voice that was neither clearly male nor female never sounded again.