Chapter 207 Do you come here often?

He was afraid that Jiang Zhi would agree as readily as she had at the dock.

So he interrupted her before she could speak, saying, "Young Master Ye, when will the fleet I mentioned the other day be ready?"

Ye Liangze received no reply from Jiang Zhi, and a look of sadness flashed in his eyes. He then perked up and said, "The arrangements are almost complete. If Brother Lu needs it urgently, it can be used in a couple of days after the contract is signed and the deposit is paid."

Lu Yuan nodded upon hearing this, "However, I have one more request."

"Brother Lu, please speak."

"I cannot let anyone know what I am transporting, and I cannot reveal the recipient, that is, my name."

Ye Liangze's relaxed expression vanished, and his dark green pupils stared at him. "I wonder what Brother Lu wants the canal gang to transport."

Lu Yuan seemed oblivious to his scrutiny, only smiling slightly. "Since it's a secret, naturally we can't tell anyone. Do the shipping guilds really need to know exactly what's being delivered?"

Ye Liangze laughed along, "Not really, there's nothing our canal gang wouldn't dare to transport. But Brother Lu's shipment is confidential, so the price is 50% higher than what I quoted before."

He paused for a moment and then said, "Since you're Zhizhi's friend, I can only charge you 40% more."

Lu Yuan cupped his hands in thanks. “Thank you, Young Master Ye. But may I ask how you kept this a secret? After all, the Kyoto docks are managed by the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau. We need to report the fleet’s route and cargo list in advance, and we also need to go through tax inspection with official documents upon arrival at the docks.”

Many government departments are involved; how do they manage to get through each level?

“Brother Lu, there’s no need to worry about that. We have our own ways. Just wait to receive the goods,” Ye Liangze said.

Lu Yuan knew that this was because he didn't want to say more.

Given that the matter involved confidential information, it was normal for Ye Liangze to be wary of him.

He could follow the fleet northwards and secretly investigate once he reached Kyoto.

“Young Master Ye is right, I was overthinking it.” Lu Yuan stopped prying and said, “Once my goods are ready, we can set off.”

Jiang Zhi then finished applying the medicine to Ye Liangze.

Her hands inevitably got stained with the pungent smell of the medicinal oil, so she went to the cubicle to wash them, as if she knew the way.

Just as he was applying soap and carefully washing the medicated oil off his hands, a familiar body suddenly pressed against his back.

She turned to him and asked, "How did you get in..."

Before she could finish speaking, Lu Yuan grabbed her waist and kissed her without saying a word.

Jiang Zhi's eyes widened. It wasn't that she was against it, but this was the gang leader's mansion, and just across the wall was Ye Liangze, who was still lying on the couch.

Lu Yuan is being far too audacious!

Her hands were covered in soap, so she didn't want to wipe them on him. She tried to push him away with her elbow, but he pulled her arms around her and lowered his head to kiss her lips.

"You're very familiar with this place, do you come here often?" His low, husky voice swept past my ear, tinged with a hint of gritted teeth.

Jiang Zhi felt a tingling sensation on one side of her body, but judging from the unconscious jealousy in his tone, it was clear that he was unhappy because she had helped Ye Liangze apply the medicine earlier.

She nodded. "Yes, to avoid suspicion, I would occasionally come here to discuss matters."

After saying that, he added, "However, we just have a normal working relationship and haven't done anything."

"Is that so?" Lu Yuan turned her around, holding her so that she was facing him.

His dark, deep eyes were filled with emotions that could drown a person, and he just stared at her, his chest rising and falling slightly.

Just being stared at like that made Jiang Zhi's legs go weak, and she involuntarily took a step back.

However, he accidentally bumped into the shelf behind him, and was about to fall when Lu Yuan caught him.

A puzzled voice came from outside, "Zhizhi?"

Jiang Zhi was afraid that he would find out about her relationship with Lu Yuan, so she could only reply, "It's nothing, I just accidentally bumped into the shelf... uh..."

Her voice was swallowed up by Lu Yuan's lips.

His kiss was urgent and deep, tinged with a hint of venting anger, his eyes filled with an intense, dark light that he couldn't hide.

Jiang Zhi felt her scalp tingle.

This wouldn't have been a problem if it were at Lu Yuan's residence, but it happened in Ye Liangze's room.

He just followed her in so openly, wasn't he afraid that Ye Liangze would become suspicious?

If Lu Yuan ruins her and Ye Liangze's spice business...

Thinking of this, her head, which was dizzy from his kisses, instantly calmed down. Ignoring her hands covered in soap, she pushed him away with all her might.

"No, you need to get out of here right now. If Ye Liangze targets you, you can forget about getting your case investigated." She said in a low voice.

Lu Yuan looked at her silently, then kissed her hard on the lips before letting go.

Jiang Zhi washed her hands, wiped the moisture from her lips with her sleeve, glared at him, and said, "Come out later!"

After saying that, she ignored him and stepped out of the cubicle.

Just as she was thinking about how to explain to Ye Liangze, "Lu Zhao, he..."

Ye Liangze smiled at her, "Well, Brother Lu said he had something to do and left first. Why is your face a little red?"

Jiang Zhi was stunned for a moment, then realized that Lu Yuan had pretended to leave first, and then secretly returned to the cubicle.

She was terrified that Ye Liangze would find out.

That's infuriating.

"It was a bit stuffy in the cubicle just now," she casually made up an excuse.

＊

The next day, Shen Ci'an visited the Feng residence again, requesting to see Feng Yuan. He said that his deceased wife had left behind many women's items, and that keeping them would only cause him grief. He wanted to give them to his cousin, Feng Yuan.

Feng Yuan had no impression of Jiang Zhi, so she wasn't interested in the gold and jade ornaments that Shen Ci'an had sent over.

Shen Ci'an had already learned about her personality, and while Madam Feng was taking inventory, he handed her a book.

Feng Yuan took it with a puzzled look.

It turned out to be a sword manual.

Her eyes lit up immediately.

"This... I can't possibly accept this. My cousin-in-law is too kind." She said, while secretly glancing at her mother.

Seeing that she hadn't noticed, he immediately put the sword manual into his sleeve.

“I’m glad you like it, cousin. Although this sword manual is a rare copy, it’s useless to me. Giving it to you is perfect,” Shen Ci’an said with a smile. “But there’s something I want to ask you.”

"Brother-in-law, just tell me." Feng Yuan was already distracted and wanted to go back to her room to look for the items immediately.

"How did your distant cousin, Lord Lu, come to know you?"

Feng Yuan was only thinking about her sword manual and was completely unguarded. "It was at the flower viewing banquet held by Prefect Zhao a couple of days ago. You have no idea how scary that Lord Lu was. He glanced at Cousin Ya Ya and walked straight over to ask her all sorts of questions."

She couldn't help but complain, "Even after we left the Zhao residence, they still followed us into the teahouse."

"Is that so?" Shen Ci'an's tone was unreadable. "What did Lord Lu say to you?"

“Then I don’t know,” Feng Yuan wrinkled her nose. “He just told me to wait downstairs.”

Shen Ci'an's suspicions deepened.

Lu Yuan has never been interested in women, so the mark on his neck seen at the entrance of the Feng residence yesterday was already quite surprising.

Why would he keep pestering a sickly, unmarried woman?

"Could you do me a favor, cousin?" Shen Ci'an coaxed gently. "The sword manual I just gave you was only the first volume. If you can accomplish this, I will gladly present you with the second volume."