GTB Chapter 7
by VolareInside a private room on the second floor of Mo Feng Pavilion, Shí Yan was casually holding Grand Master Hongyi’s travelogue, his slender fingers flipping through it idly.
The exquisite qin music from downstairs made him slightly raise his handsome, phoenix-like eyes. However, upon seeing the face of the woman downstairs, his eyes paused, and he stopped the movements of his hand.
The woman’s expression gave him a sense of déjà vu, involuntarily drawing him into childhood memories.
He couldn’t quite recall the exact appearance of his late mother, but he always remembered her gentle and elegant eyes.
After a moment, he put down the travelogue and instructed the guard beside him, “Go tell the owner of Mo Feng Pavilion to cancel the auction for that girl. This prince wants her.”
“Yes,” the guard, Mu Feng, responded and retreated.
The Eighth Prince, Shí Yuanchen, looked at Shí Yan with surprise, “Seventh Brother, are you interested in this girl?”
Shí Yan picked up the travelogue again, turned to a page, and said faintly, “The residence simply lacks a qin player.”
Shí Yuanchen pouted upon hearing this and turned to look at the woman playing the qin downstairs, thinking, “So, his Seventh Brother likes this type.”
But why not just go through the auction process? It’s not like they lack that bit of silver. Why go to the trouble of finding the owner?
“Seventh Brother, isn’t it more convenient to bid directly?”
“Not inclined,” Shí Yan said, then continued to raise the book and read.
Shí Yuanchen pouted and turned back to look downstairs.
In the innermost private room on the third floor, across from the main hall, Song Fuge, dressed in an ink-blue narrow-sleeved outfit, sat by the tea table near the window. He listened to the report from the person who came, while fiddling with the Xuan Iron Bracer on his left wrist.
His thin lips curved slightly, and on his angular and handsome face, his deep eyes held the shallow smile he often wore during external affairs, but beneath that smile, there was an untouchable depth hidden.
“Tell the Seventh Prince, there is no need for gold or silver. It is Mo Feng Pavilion’s blessing that Yu Qin has caught his eye. We will certainly send her to the Seventh Prince’s residence tomorrow.”
Mu Feng, who had been following his master for many years, seemed to have expected this and retreated without much surprise.
He knew that if Mo Feng Pavilion didn’t want silver, then they wanted a favor.
But his master’s favors weren’t so easy to come by. Whether or not he granted one depended entirely on his master’s mood.
In the main hall, the music ended, the lingering sound slowly fading away. However, the crowd did not hear the words “begin the auction” from the host, as they had hoped, but instead, the auction was canceled.
In an instant, whispers arose below the stage.
Just then, Jiang Jiuchu, who had been whispering with Ji Shutíng, suddenly felt a slight force on her waist.
She initially thought it was just someone accidentally brushing against her as they passed by. However, when she instinctively reached for her waist, she felt nothing.
“Not good.”
Jiang Jiuchu exclaimed and immediately stood up, looking in the direction the person had passed.
She saw a thin, short man walking quickly towards the door with his head lowered.
She immediately pointed at the man and shouted, “Stop him, he’s a thief!”
The woman’s anxious and clear voice caused everyone to look at her, and the hall fell silent for a moment. After everyone reacted, they lowered their heads to check their own purses.
The doormen also reacted quickly. After hearing someone shout “thief,” they immediately locked onto the target. Three of them immediately went to catch him.
However, the thief seemed to be a seasoned criminal. He was extremely agile. Seeing that something was wrong, he immediately pulled out a dagger and ran towards the stairs behind the auction stage.
The people who originally wanted to step forward and stop him, upon seeing the dagger in the thief’s hand, exclaimed in alarm and immediately dodged to the side.
Jiang Jiuchu wanted to chase after him, but after thinking about it, she sat down. Since the man was being chased upstairs, he certainly wouldn’t be able to escape. She should just wait here obediently!
Gu Changxuan, who had been sitting under the stage with a frown, saw this situation, his eyes flashed, and he immediately got up and ran towards the opposite stairs.
Ji Shutíng, watching Gu Changxuan’s retreating figure, said with admiration, “That Gu Changxuan isn’t afraid of the knife in the thief’s hand and even helped chase after him. I didn’t expect him to not only be knowledgeable but also righteous. I’ll have to thank him properly for you later.”
Jiang Jiuchu smiled, “Okay, then I’ll trouble you later.”
Although she felt that Gu Changxuan didn’t need to chase after him, since he was doing it out of kindness, she should thank him.
“Yo! Are the girls in Kyoto all dressing up as men to have fun these days?”
Shí Yuanchen looked at Jiang Jiuchu downstairs, amazement revealed in his eyes. “Look at how pretty that little face is. If she put on women’s clothes, how beautiful would she be!”
He rested his hand on his temple, looking thoughtful, and said, “Looking at her men’s clothing, it doesn’t look ordinary. It should be a young lady from some family. But how come I’ve never seen such a girl in our Kyoto?”
After saying this, he looked at Shí Yan, “Seventh Brother, do you know her?”
Shí Yan seemed to be engrossed in the content of the book and didn’t hear his question at all. He didn’t even raise his eyelids.
Shí Yuanchen was already used to his Seventh Brother’s aloofness and didn’t care at all, continuing to ask:
“How about I go help her snatch the silver back and play the hero? What do you think?”
Shí Yan glanced at Shí Yuanchen indifferently, with the disdain of looking at an idiot, “Are you sure you can still make it in time if you chase after him now?”
Upon hearing this, Shí Yuanchen gave up his previous idea. Yes! If he chased after him now, the yellow flowers would have turned cold.
The little episode didn’t seem to affect the pace of the auction. The auctioneer held up a painting, “Snow Scene Picture,” and presented it to the crowd.
“This is Yun You Gong Zi’s painting, everyone look…”
As Jiang Jiuchu was looking attentively at the painting on the stage, a doorman ran up to her, “Young master, were you the one whose purse was stolen just now?”
“Yes, did you catch the thief?” Jiang Jiuchu looked at the doorman’s hand but didn’t see her purse.
Seeing this, the doorman immediately replied, “Oh, the purse is with our owner. I’ll take you over to claim it!”
“With your owner?” Jiang Jiuchu was a little puzzled. Shouldn’t her purse be returned directly to her? Why would it be handed over to their owner?
Upon hearing this, the doorman quickly explained, “The thief was subdued by our owner. It’s estimated that he had scouted the place in advance, knowing that we have a north window on the third floor and wanted to climb out through the old locust tree outside the window.”
“Fortunately, that room belongs to our owner, otherwise, he really would have escaped through that window.”
Jiang Jiuchu nodded, “Then can you trouble me to bring it down? I still want to watch the auction!”
“It’s better for the young master to personally go and claim it from the owner! The main thing is that there are two purses, and we don’t know which one is yours?”
“Two?” Jiang Jiuchu was a little surprised. Could it be that someone else had lost silver besides her? She looked around and didn’t see anyone making a sound!
The doorman continued to reply, “Yes, maybe he stole them from elsewhere, or maybe it’s his own? I’m not too sure.”
He really wasn’t too sure. What he wasn’t sure about was why the owner insisted on adding a purse himself and having this young master personally go up to claim it?
Jiang Jiuchu thought for a moment, then said goodbye to Ji Shutíng and followed the doorman upstairs.
In the stairwell, two doormen were carrying the groaning thief down.
Jiang Jiuchu quickly dodged to the side and let them pass. She saw the thief’s legs shaking strangely, as if they were broken.
She involuntarily swallowed and continued to walk upstairs.