That's not just simple, it's absolutely amazing!
Hua Cai stared at her current cheap father with starry eyes, watching the gold and silver that Yue Chen was talking about. She unconsciously straightened her back, and a silly smile would occasionally appear on her lips.
"Then it's settled. I've booked a room next door. Mr. Jin, you can rest here for the night. We'll set off for the capital early tomorrow morning."
After several rounds of tea, Yue Chen bowed and saw Jin, Yin, and the other two out.
"Master, is there a problem with that golden pearl?" After Jin Yin and his group walked away, Yue Chen and his two companions returned to the private room. One of the two old men who had not spoken from beginning to end behind Yue Chen suddenly spoke up.
From the very first day they met, they sensed something was off.
The young lady from the Jin family stared intently at the Third Prince the moment they met. The two elders, who had been by Yue Chen's side for many years, had seen this many times before.
She thought she was just another woman who had been fooled by Yue Chen's appearance, but to her surprise, during the two-hour conversation that followed, the Jin family's young lady simply sat quietly to the side drinking tea, without even glancing at Yue Chen once, and it didn't seem like she was deliberately pretending.
On the contrary, when the Third Prince was talking with Old Master Jin, his eyes kept turning to Jin Baozhu, as if he was suppressing something.
“Wei Tuo, you’ve noticed it too, Master. You haven’t taken a fancy to that golden pearl, have you?” The other person frowned in strong disapproval.
Even if Jin Baozhu is good-looking and, as the only daughter of Jin Yin, has a decent status, she has been married before, and to the emperor of Li Kingdom. Just based on that alone, she is not worthy of their master at all.
"Jin Baozhu—" Yue Chen murmured the name, his fingertips caressing the delicate teacup. Suddenly, he exerted force, and the cup shattered, instantly soaking the table and the hem of his clothes with tea.
"I almost couldn't resist killing her."
A faint voice escaped from Yue Chen's lips, causing the two elders' expressions to change. They quickly went out and thoroughly checked the area around the private room.
My little darling, how can you say such things so casually?
"Baozhu, do you know that Third Prince?" Jin Yin called Hua Cai into the room, poured her a cup of tea, and handed it to her.
Ever since she met the Second Prince, her precious daughter had been acting as if she were in a trance, making Jin Yin unable to help but think in that direction.
Jin Yin understands her daughter; Jin Baozhu isn't the kind of person who can't resist a handsome man.
Although Li Zheng was handsome and dashing, Jin Baozhu, despite being born into a wealthy merchant family like the Jin family, was beautiful and otherworldly, with an ethereal appearance. In addition, given Jin Yin's status, two years before Jin Baozhu came of age, matchmakers had already worn down the threshold of the Jin family. There were many young men who were better looking than Li Zheng, but Jin Baozhu never gave them a second glance.
But without that, he really couldn't think of anything else.
Jin Baozhu likes whoever she wants, and as long as she's happy, Jin Yin will wholeheartedly support her. However, he truly doesn't want his precious daughter to step into another treacherous pit right after leaving the Li Kingdom's palace.
"But then I suddenly remembered someone I've met before." Hua Cai took the teacup from Jin Yin. She had been drinking tea for two hours and wasn't thirsty at all. She just held it in her hand and looked at Jin Yin: "Father, do we really want to cooperate with the Yue Kingdom?"
The state of Yue, Yue Chen.
She still felt very awkward looking at that face.
Jin Yin sighed and sat down opposite Hua Cai: "Li Zheng will not let us go. Only by becoming strong again can we make him wary. Li is powerful now. If it were any of the other two countries, they might not dare to challenge Li head-on. Only Yue, which is second only to Li, is worth a try."
Hua Cai looked up at Jin Yin and saw pressure and inexplicable heaviness in Jin Yin's eyes for the first time. Even when the Jin family was burned down and they fled the capital, Jin Yin only smiled faintly.
“Baozhu, don’t be fooled by what Yue Chen said today. If I don’t offer something that can help Yue catch up with or even surpass Li, this so-called cooperation will fall apart just like that.”
Jin Yin was a businessman who saw through the business world better than anyone else. He didn't care, but he had a daughter by his side. What would happen to Baozhu if something happened to him?
"I understand." Hua Cai finished her tea in one gulp, stood up, and said, "Father, it's getting late. You should rest early. I'll head back now."
Hua Cai bid farewell to Jin Yin. Given how much Jin Yin cherished Jin Baozhu, she only gave a faint "hmm" and then frowned as she continued to think about her own things.
The situation seems even less optimistic than Hua Cai had anticipated.
With no one around, and the entire second floor reserved by Yue Chen, Hua Cai went into her room and closed the door.
"Baozi, read the 'Wumu's Legacy' to me." Hua Cai took off her shoes and sat against the headboard, looking at the floating ball of light beside her.
"Huh? Host, you're not practicing the Nine Yin Manual tonight?" the system asked in surprise.
From the moment Jin and Yin left the capital, Hua Cai rarely chatted with the system except when necessary. Whenever she had free time, she would cultivate the Nine Yin Manual alone.
Knowing her pressure, the system had been quietly focusing on its own affairs, but it was surprised to see her bring up the "Martial Arts Manual" today, which was contrary to her usual behavior.
"Perhaps we'll need it soon." Hua Cai gazed wistfully at the exquisite embroidery on the bed curtains, her eyes drifting into the distance.
The next morning, everyone gathered at the city gate on time. Hua Cai refused Yue Chen's suggestion to prepare a carriage for her. Under the astonished gazes of Yue Chen and the other two, she mounted her horse and the group rode openly on the official road. In just six days, they arrived in Yue Du.
Hua Cai had a slightly higher opinion of the Third Prince, who had the face of Wu Mu.
Taking the official road openly and honestly was clearly going to expose their whereabouts, but ironically, they only encountered one assassination attempt along the way, which was easily repelled by the two experts behind Yue Chen, much to Hua Cai's surprise.
She was already prepared to ambush and fight her way back.
That evening, Jin Yin and his entourage stayed at the Third Prince's residence for a temporary rest, and the next morning they went to the palace with him.
In the study of the Third Prince's residence, two men in black stood behind Yue Chen. They were Yue Chen's two top experts, Wei Tuo and Ling He Guang.
"Your Majesty, you are being too reckless. This will seriously affect the Emperor's plans and may even push the Jin family to the opposite side of the country."
"Yes, Master, if it weren't for Lao Ling and me reacting in time, all the men you sent to assassinate Jin Baozhu would have been killed there. The thirty-odd men following the Jin father and daughter were all skilled fighters. If you insisted on killing Jin Baozhu, we don't know how many of our men would have been lost. Those were all prepared for important missions."
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