Chapter 171 Chapter 171 "It's up to you." ...

By the time Jiu Zhao had finished eating the wontons, he gradually put aside the discomfort of the snake-like meat filling and tasted the unique flavor of the Burning Sea.

After a simple but local flavor dinner, the three of them left the Jiulan Night Market while it was still early and took a walk along the city river to digest their food.

The river flows slowly, and the lights on both sides of the river shine brightly, making the river surface sparkle even more.

There was a faint singing voice floating in the air, gentle and graceful, with lyrics and music that were gorgeous and had a kind of beauty that made people's hearts wander.

Jiu Zhao stopped and looked intently, and saw the shimmering silhouette of a boat sailing out from under the distant arch bridge.

Closer and closer.

Above the three-story narrow flower boat, handsome men and women dressed in gauze and with slender waists gradually came into Jiu Zhao's sight.

Someone with sharp eyes noticed these three good-looking passersby and pursed his lips and threw them a coquettish glance.

Jiu Zhao pointed at the flower boat and asked, "What is that?"

Lan Qi glanced at her and then said, "I forgot. Sanqingtian strictly forbids this. No wonder you didn't know."

He paused briefly, his gaze turning back to the prostitute still trying to lure them aboard. He explained calmly, "Those boats that ply the city's river are called brothels. They're involved in the prostitution trade, taking in men and women of all ages. Many attractive women, unable to protect themselves, make a living from this."

There are so many eye-opening things tonight.

But no matter what, it is not as impactful as the food that is put into your mouth.

Jiu Zhao listened to Lan Qi's narration and walked closer to take a look.

After receiving another gentle glance from above, she raised the corners of her lips and smiled friendly at the man and woman leaning on the railing.

This smile has nothing to do with love or desire, it is just an appreciation of the beautiful scenery.

This made one of the particularly outstanding women stunned for a moment, and she even wanted to fly down to invite him.

The commotion happened within a short moment, and several masked men dressed in uniform, wearing black robes and holding silver swords appeared. They knocked on the board with their scabbards, warning them not to go out of line.

So the woman raised her hand reluctantly and shook it at Jiu Zhao.

During the delay, no passengers boarded the boat, and the singing and dancing boat cut through the waves again and sailed away.

…

In front of Jiu Zhao, the woman's charming smile dissipated like a beautiful dream approaching in the morning.

On the contrary, the images of those tall masked men are still vivid in my mind.

She turned her head and looked at the young man who was obviously not interested in the show:

"The jade pendants those people were wearing were clearly engraved with the Jiwu Palace logo—so, did you hire someone to run these flower boats?"

Lan Qi looked back at her and didn't say anything for a moment.

There was some emotion in his eyes, as if saying, "What are you thinking about all day long?"

Zhu Yan, who was standing next to him, took over the conversation at the right moment: "Those were indeed sent by the Jiwu Palace, but they were not the operators of Fengyuefang. They were there to oversee the distribution of money and to protect the personal safety of the singing girls, so that even if they were stuck in the mud, they could try their best to survive.

"So, Zhao, you misunderstood."

Jiu Zhao said nothing more.

From the perspective of social status, geishas are undoubtedly inferior people, perhaps even worse than the immortal slaves of the Three Pure Ones Heaven.

But compared to the immortal slaves who are regarded as the objects of their masters and will not be punished if they are beaten or killed at will, Lan Qi is trying every means to provide protection for them.

Put aside the hatred and prejudice between them.

As a monarch, Lan Qi is indeed competent.

Jiu Zhao gained much more from this trip than from the classes taught by his teachers.

…

The royal capital has a curfew, and Lan Qi has to attend court tomorrow morning.

After walking along the riverbank in the city to the end and buying some small things, they set off on their return journey.

This time, Jiu Zhao didn't deliberately make things difficult for them and told them to carry it with both hands.

On the royal capital's main road leading to the Silence Palace, teams of eight demon soldiers were patrolling everywhere, urging shops to close.

When they were less than a hundred feet away from the outermost palace gate, Jiu Zhao's attention was attracted by an exotic pet shop that had not yet closed. Hanging on a wooden shelf near the door was an exquisite gold-woven carved cage, and curled up inside was not a bird, but a snow-white fox about the size of two palms.

If Zhu Yan was beaten back to his original form.

Will it be like this?

Thoughts kept running through his mind, and Jiu Zhao had already dragged Lan Qi inside.

"Boss, is it for sale too?"

Jiu Zhao pointed at the little fox with one hand. The short and fat boss, who was busy cleaning up, rolled his eyes around when he heard that.

"Ah, yes, it sells it too."

He came out from behind the counter with his hands behind his back. After taking in the three people's clothes and the expression on Jiu Zhao's face, he smiled and said, "You distinguished guests have really good taste. You all know that light-colored things are rare in our Burning Sea. This little thing is a one-in-a-million snow fox.

"Look at its fur, it's pure white, without a single spot of color!"

The boss took off the carved cage and carried it in front of the three people.

Jiu Zhao thought he wanted her to take it for a closer look, so she tried to take it, but the boss dodged her move with a flick of his arm. "Hey, dear customer, I can't give it to you until you buy it. Otherwise, if you accidentally drop or bump it, it's such an expensive pet, and then no one will be able to explain it."

"Just tell me the price and I'll buy it."

Curfew is approaching and Jiu Zhao doesn't want to waste any more time.

While asking the boss, he winked at Lan Qi and asked him to take out his wallet.

For some reason, ever since he saw the white fox, Lan Qi's calm expression has always been shrouded in a faint black aura.

He pretended not to notice the look Jiu Zhao was giving him. After the boss beamed and named the price, he took Jiu Zhao's hand, stepped back, and said indifferently, "This fox looks listless, and it's so expensive. We don't have enough money. Why don't we look at the rabbits and flying squirrels in that cage over there?"

What a joke! The entire Burning Sea belongs to Lan Qi.

Does he not have enough money?

Even if he goes out now and reveals his identity as Ye Zun to the demon soldiers, he can collect enough money in the blink of an eye!

Jiu Zhao continued to express his attitude unconvinced: "But it's white, I really like it!"

Lan Qi half-raised his head, his expression calm and his heart steady: "There are so many things you like in this world, but if you don't have money, you can't buy everything."

"Give me your purse, and let me open it and count it—"

"No--"

"Okay, okay."

Zhu Yan interrupted their argument.

He casually took off the purse from his waist and placed it in Jiu Zhao's palm, smiling faintly, "I have money here, absolutely enough, you can take it first."

"That's more like it."

Jiu Zhao waved her hand, and the purse that had just passed through her hands for a breath was thrown into the boss's arms in an arc shape.

Holding Lan Qi's fingers tightly together, she couldn't let go. After telling the boss to pay himself, she excitedly went to take the carved cage.

Maybe he understood that his future destiny had changed.

The white fox, which was originally lying down with its eyes closed and pretending to sleep, opened its eyes silently after being dragged out of the store by Jiu Zhao.

Its two front paws were clinging to the cage bars, and its slender animal eyes were staring at Jiu Zhao without blinking.

"Hey, are you awake?"

The white fox's body is small and delicate, and it seems to be a cub that has just been weaned.

The childish face that appears when looking up is much cuter than the furry ball seen from behind.

"You're white and you're still a baby, so why not just call you Olaf?"

Jiu Zhao made a "slurping, slurping" sound, and Zhu Yan dug out a piece of dried meat from the bags in his storage ring and handed it to him.

The objects in their hands were exchanged instantly.

Zhu Yan picked up the cage, and Jiu Zhao whispered to himself, "He looks so listless, he must be hungry," and moved closer with the dried meat.

Unexpectedly, as soon as his fingertips approached the gap in the cage, the dried meat was pulled in with a violent force.

The crisp sound of a hard object hitting the bottom of the cage reached the ears of the three people. The white fox didn't even look at the dried meat that fell in the corner, but opened its mouth and bit Jiu Zhao's fingertips.

"hiss--"

Without the protection of immortal power, the sharp animal fangs like blades bit the fingers and made them bleed in the blink of an eye.

"court death!"

Seeing Jiu Zhao injured, a deep murderous look flashed in Lan Qi's eyes. With the devilish energy in his palm, he raised his hand and was about to chop at the carved cage.

Realizing that it was about to die, the white fox, which had been extremely ferocious just a few breaths ago, curled up into a ball, whimpering and trembling.

"never mind."

Jiu Zhao escaped from Zhu Yan's healing range and stretched out his hand to block the cage, forcing Lan Qi to abruptly change the trajectory of the spell and strike it towards an empty corner. "It looks like it was captured by force. It's pitiful that it lost its mother at such a young age. Please spare its life."

The anger that had been accumulating because of the white fox suddenly erupted, and Lan Qi said angrily: "When did you become so easy to talk to? Wasn't that Pegasus back then -"

"Then was then, and now is now."

Jiu Zhao signaled Zhu Yan to protect Xue Bao and said slowly, "Don't you see that a lot of things have changed?"

This is a very common sentence.

But when these words came from the mouth of the once high-spirited goddess, it was like a basin of snow water pouring down, extinguishing the burning flames.

“…”

Lan Qi suddenly fell silent.

He didn't understand that he was angry at Jiu Zhao's brief disobedience—

It was through the white fox, whose original form was extremely similar to Zhu Yan, that he saw the past they shared, in which he had no part.

"How about you give me the cage first?"

Zhu Yan tried to smooth things over, "Xuebai and I are from the same fox clan. I'll just spend a few days training it and it will be fine."

Lan Qi had a cold face and remained silent.

He remained silent and quickened his pace.

After walking a hundred feet, he brought Jiu Zhao into the first outer palace gate, then shook her hand off and said,

"It's up to you."