Yuan Qi changed into his Taoist robe, slung his small cloth bag over his shoulder, and skipped out the door.
Hongshan and Lüzhu chased after her into the courtyard and blocked her way. Lüzhu anxiously reminded her, "Miss, Wang Mama is going to teach you manners today. Where are you going again?"
Yuan Qi smiled and pointed towards the front door: "The Ninth Master of the Xiangli family is looking for me."
Green Bamboo didn't believe it. When the Ninth Master of the Xiangli family came to visit, the whole mansion would have gone out to greet him as if something major had happened. But now there was no sign of it at all.
Green Bamboo spoke in an accusatory tone from the very beginning, which was not the respectful attitude a servant should have when speaking to his master.
She said somewhat anxiously, "Miss, please don't make a fuss. You just came down from the mountain and don't know any of the rules. In a few days, it will be the Fourth Miss's coming-of-age ceremony. There will be many guests, and it would be embarrassing if you didn't know the proper etiquette. The entire Jiang family would lose face as a result."
Sequoia thought differently from Green Bamboo. She felt that Yuan Qi was quite capable and should not be offended.
Her tone became much more respectful: "Miss, please don't be willful. What Green Bamboo said is true. Our Jiang family is one of the most prestigious families in the capital. You must learn the proper etiquette. Don't try to find any other excuses to escape. It's only a matter of time."
"Look, they're here." Yuan Qi raised his chin, and the gatekeeper at the entrance of Xichun Courtyard ran over here as fast as she could.
The gatekeeper came running up, panting, with an exaggerated expression: "Seventh Miss, the Ninth Master of the Xiangli Manor is looking for you!"
It wasn't that the gatekeeper was particularly attentive to Yuan Qi, but rather that she felt the young master of the Xiangli family absolutely could not be neglected, which was why she ran so fast.
Green Bamboo and Red Fir were both very surprised. How did Seventh Miss know that Ninth Master was looking for her? Did she have precognition?
At the main gate of the Jiang residence, Xiangli Youming, dressed in black, sat in the car without saying a word.
Outside the car window, the gatekeeper of the Jiang residence was fawning over Xiangli Youming: "Young Master Jiu, please wait a moment. I have already sent someone to invite Miss Qi. Miss Qi will definitely come to see you soon. Why don't you come in and have a cup of tea?"
As the saying goes, even a low-ranking official is treated with disdain, just like a prime minister. The gatekeeper of the Jiang residence was also very snobbish. Let alone ordinary people knocking on the door, even if a low-ranking official came here, the gatekeeper would still give them a hard time.
Xiangli Youming was annoyed by what he heard and muttered, "Noisy."
The doorman immediately shut his mouth and walked away sheepishly.
Yuan Qi, dressed in a Taoist robe, walked out from inside. He was unhurried and took small, laborious steps to cross the high threshold.
The gatekeeper saw this and immediately ran over, berating Yuan Qi harshly: "Why is Seventh Miss taking so long? Look how long Young Master Jiu has been waiting! Do you think you can afford to offend Young Master Jiu? Go and apologize to him!"
Yuan Qi stared at the gatekeeper as if he were an idiot. She was not favored, but it was not up to a gatekeeper to reprimand her, was it?
Yuan Qi was very unhappy.
She curved her lips into a smile and beckoned to the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper bent down.
"Smack!"
The slap was crisp and loud, and Yuan Qi felt better this time.
Just as the gatekeeper was about to lash out, a dark figure appeared beside him. He turned his head and saw that Xiangli Youming had actually gotten off the carriage and was taking Yuan Qi's hand.
The doorman was so shocked he almost lost his front teeth.
The Ninth Master actually held the Seventh Miss's hand! Could it be that he's taken a liking to her? This is outrageous! This matter must be reported to the Marquis immediately.
Although Yuan Qi is young, he has lived three lifetimes. To be held by a man... Xiang Li Youming is only twelve years old. What kind of man is he! He's just a bean sprout!
Thinking of this, Yuan Qi no longer felt it was inappropriate for Xiangli Youming to pull him along; no one would misunderstand that such young children holding hands meant any romantic feelings between them.
Yuan Qi obediently got into the car with Xiang Li Youming.
"Is there something you need?" Yuan Qi naturally withdrew his hand.
Xiangli Youming said, "I haven't thanked you for what happened that day. I'll treat you to dinner."
Yuan Qi blinked his big eyes: "Oh, so that's what it is. It's nothing. Your father has already paid the incense money. We're even, so you don't need to thank me."
After saying that, she got off the bus. She still needed to earn money to buy Kunlun jade, and the quantity was far from enough. It was a long and arduous task ahead.
Xiangli Youming peered at her through the car window: "Where are you going? I'll give you a ride."
“Alright.” Yuan Qi got back into the car and gave an address in a good mood: “I want to go to the big locust tree on Tianshui Street, where I often set up my stall.”
Xiangli Youming opened a drawer on the small table beside him, took out a small box, and handed it to Yuan Qi: "That day when I invited you into the manor, you helped me a lot. My father said he would ask Master Huineng of Wuxiang Temple to help me break the curse, but I have a feeling that Master Huineng cannot break the curse on me. Take this first as a deposit. If Master Huineng is unable to do it, I will ask you to break it. At that time, don't hold it against my father and don't refuse to come out of spite."
Yuan Qi took the box without any burden and opened it in front of him. There was a thick stack of silver notes, each worth one hundred taels, which was at least five thousand taels.
No one should try to take this job from her; she'll fight anyone who tries.
"This curse of yours is really hard to break in a short time. Even if the old man Huineng came, he couldn't do it. Don't worry, in the end it will still fall on my head. You should prepare the final payment... no, you should secretly investigate who put the curse on you."
She looked like a little miser, greedily putting the small box into her small cloth bag. The bag should have been bulging, but it wasn't; it was flat.
Xiangli Youming was very curious and stared at the small cloth bag for a long time, his eyes clearly saying: "I want it."
Yuan Qi took out a jade talisman from his cloth bag and handed it to him: "Drip two drops of blood into it, carry it with you, and see more people when you have nothing to do. When the person who cast the curse appears near you, the jade talisman will heat up."
Xiangli Youming was still staring at the cloth bag, looking as if he was reluctant to part with the silver notes.
Yuan Qi protectively held the cloth bag: "You won't regret giving me the silver notes, will you?"
Xiangli Youming hurriedly explained, "No, no, no, your bag is so small and my box is so big, how come it's like it wasn't even put in?" As he spoke, he gestured with his hands.
Yuan Qi relaxed, as long as he didn't regret paying.
"I put storage talismans inside, so it can hold a lot of things."
Xiangli Youming let out a long "Oh": I've learned something new. What do you want to do?
Before long, we arrived at the place where we would set up our stall.
Yuan Qi jumped off the carriage and skillfully set up his stall. Xiang Li Youming thought that Yuan Qi's fortune-telling stall was good in every way, except that it was missing a table.
Let's go find a table.
He hadn't been gone long when Bai Youhui rode up on horseback, looking extremely anxious: "Quick, come with me, something's happened to Feng Zhaolin."
Yuan Qi quickly packed up his stall, reached out his hand, and was pulled onto the horse's back.
"This Feng Zhaolin is really unlucky. Before he was even born, his own father arranged a marriage between him and the Fu family. Who knew that the Fu family's daughter was born with a large red birthmark on her face. The Fu family is not kind. They kept this a secret and didn't even let their daughter show her face."
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