44 Gifts and Favors - 13.2

Looking at the long sword admiringly, Fan Zhu Xia let out a sigh in appreciation as she stared at the undeniably high level of craftsmanship. Truly the sword not only has a great amount of destructive power and benefits but also exuded an aura of elegance with its dark green blade that gleamed subtly as if mimicking the small shafts of light that peeks through the leaves of dense trees in a forest.

"Hey, do you two think Big Brother Li Jie would like it?"

Surprised at the sudded question, Min Sheng was the first one to recover to reply.

"The eldest young master would surely like it. Young Miss may not know this but your gift is actually perfect for the Eldest Young Master since he specializes in wielding long swords."

"That's right Young Miss! Eldest Young Master would definitely appreciate your gift, especially since you put so much effort on acquiring it!" Chun Hua also added enthusiastically while giving Fan Zhu Xia a smile of assurance.

"Really? That's great then! Now all I need is to look fo-" stopping mid-sentence, Fan Zhu Xia glanced at the door a second before a loud knocking was heard before the door slid open to reveal a young man who had extremely familiar features open his mouth before suddenly freezing at the sight of the people inside the room.

An unusual atmosphere enveloped all of them with only the sound of the attendant apologizing to Fan Zhu Xia which was the only thing preventing the room from descending to complete silence.

Confused, Fan Zhu Xia's brows unconsciously furrowed as she waved a hand to dismiss the attendant who uttered one last apology before hurriedly making her way out while sparing a glance to the young man who was still rooted in his place.

Just as Fan Zhu Xia was about to ask the newcomer his identity, both Min Sheng and the young man suddenly exclaimed out in shock at the same time.

"Min Sheng, what under heaven's name are you doing here?!"

"Second Young Master! Where were you? Senior Guo ha been looking for you since yesterday!"

"What? Grandpa Guo is looking for me? What for?" the young man asked in surprise, completely not noticing Fan Zhu Xia who was sitting just a few feet behind Min Sheng with Chun Hua just beside her.

Her curiousity piqued, Fan Zhu Xia leaned towards Chun Hua and asked in a whisper, "Chun Hua, that young man over there is the second young master of the Fan Family? Is he Yong Rui? Father did mention him to me before we got here but I didn't get to meet him yesterday."

"Yes Young Miss, that's definitely the Second Young Master. Senior Guo Ji was actually looking for him yesterday since there was supposed to be a family dinner arranged to introduce the young miss to everyone but the second young master couldn't be found and an uninvited guest also arrived so the patriarch decided to just reschedule everything."

"So that's why he looks so familiar! He looks so similar to Big Brother Li Jie and Brother Xian." Fan Zhu Xia mused quietly. Just as she was about to ask Chun Hua if she knew who the guest was that unexpectedly came last night, Fan Yong Rui finally remembered why he came here in the first place and he hurriedly scanned the room until his eyes landed on Fan Zhu Xia who was also gazing at him with a pondering look in her eyes.

Looking straight at her, a flash of bloodlust was felt by Fan Zhu Xia before it quickly disappeared that even Min Sheng didn't pick it up before Fan Yong Rui suddenly spoke in a cold voice, "Uncle doesn't have a daughter and he never even mentioned an existence of one, so who the f*ck are you and why are you pretending to be Uncle Hui Zhong's daughter?"

"I'm not pretending, I am his daughter!" Fan Zhu Xia declared defiantly as she returned Fan Yong Rui's frosty gaze, annoyed.

"Bullsh*t!"

Momentarily stunned at Fan Yong Rui's unexpectedly hostile words and demeanor, Min Sheng wasn't able to react in time to stop the second young master of the Fan family from suddenly rushing towards Fan Zhu Xia with intense coldness in his eyes.

As he opened his mouth to warn Fan Yong Rui that everything was a misunderstanding, he was horror-stricken when he saw the young miss quickly yet fluidly stand up from the sofa and meeting Fan Yong Rui halfway and raise her dainty snow-white hands as if to meet Fan Yong Rui's incoming fist.

Seeing her move, Fan Yong Rui let a cold, amused smile grace his lips. Almost everyone here at the capital knew that even though he was a well-known silk pants due to his leaner, pretty boy looks making him look somewhat less masculine than his two brothers and his notorious playboy and laid-back demeanor, among the three young masters of the Fan Family, he, Fan Yong Rui was the strongest and most dangerous when it comes to close combat quarters and Fan Zhu Xia's decision of meeting him head on just assured him of his favorable outcome.

Just as Fan Yong Rui's fist was about to reach Fan Zhu Xia, her soft lily-white hand moved quickly in a waving pattern before bypassing his fist and landing at the back of his wrist with her fingers closing to wrap tightly around it while her other hand landed on his elbow as she twisted her body and dodged until they were standing side by side yet she kept taking steps back in a a circular pattern while pulling his wrist and adding pressure to his elbow in a downward fashion making him lose his balance as the force of his attack was suddenly used against him.

With eyes wide in shock, Fan Yong Rui felt his body land on the ground while his elbow was painfully twisted to his back before a heavy pressure landed on his prone form, making him realize that aside from deflecting his blow, the damned girl actually sat on him!

It wasn't that big of a deal to him since he could still easily overpower her, after all, Fan Yong Rui severely underestimated the young lady sitting on his back which was why he was caught completely unprepared yet he did have to commend the speed with which she executed her moves.

The moment he was about to take action, he felt a slight prick at the back of his neck before his whole world became dark.

All of this happened in a few mere minutes and both Min Sheng and Chun Hua stared slack-jawed at their young miss who was sitting comfortably on top of their knocked-out second young master as if everything she did was nothing out of the ordinary when in fact that's the complete opposite!

Fan Yong Rui had a fearsome reputation when it comes to his fighting skills and destructive power, even greater than Fan Li Jie if it was purely hand to hand combat and yet their fragile-looking young miss was actually able to counter him and render him unconscious!

Poking Fan Yong Rui's cheek, Fan Zhu Xia frowned slightly before muttering, "I may have used too much..."

Too much?

The mere recollection of what she did earlier was enough to blow Min Sheng's mind while Chun Hua could do nothing but stare wide-eyed.

Chun Hua an Chun Tao were maids that were especially chosen to serve Fan Zhu Xia since they had decent cultivation and good martial skills that they could use to protect their new young miss and yet from what they saw, Fan Zhu Xia could very well be way better than them in that aspect as well!

Finally, Min Sheng snapped to his senses and quickly went over and helped Fan Zhu Xia stand up before turning to the incapacitated Fan Yong Rui.

"Young Miss, what should I do with the Second Young Master?"

"Just lay him down on one of the sofas. Make sure his comfortable." Fan Zhu Xia replied with furrowed brows as her gaze followed Min Sheng who immediately executed her instructions.

After settling down Fan Yong Rui, Min Sheng turned to Fan Zhu Xia before shooting her a hesitant look, making her sigh.

"Just go ahead and ask, no need to worry." Fan Zhu Xia said with an encouraging look.

Gathering his courage, Min Sheng opened his mouth and asked, "How did the young miss know the second young master out? We didn't see you hit his head or anything."

"I shot him an ice needle made out of knock-out medicine at the back of his neck the moment I pinned him down." Fan Zhu Xia replied matter-of-factly.

"Then when will the second young master wake up?"

Hearing his question, a troubled look came over Fan Zhu Xia's face which made Min Sheng and Chun Hua feel as if something bad just happened and this made them sweat in nervousness.

"I don't know when he'll wake up. I think I misread his power and physique and may have used a higher dose than I should have."

And there is the source of their bad feelings. Now how where they going to explain that the young miss was actually the one who knocked out their young master?

Before they could even think of a solution, Fan Zhu Xia spoke again in a worried voice yet her words left them more dumbfouded than before.

"Does this mean I owe him another one aside from the one I owe since he let me have the sword?"

Seriously, this was the thing she wa worried about? Not the fact that she just knocked her cousin out?

Just as Chun Hua opened her mouth to ask something, Min Sheng came to a realization just by hearing Fan Zhu Xia's words and suddenly exclaimed.

"Wait, the one bidding against Young Miss was actually the second young master?!"

Looking at the shocked faces of Min Sheng and Chun Hua, Fan Zhu Xia sighed and explained in a somewhat impatient tone.

"Of course it's him! After all I only told the attendant to tell my identity to the one I was bidding against earlier. How else could he have found out that I was here and who I was?"