The Second Brother is Foolish but Wealthy
The two exchanged glances upon hearing these words.
There were definitely more details to this matter.
It was unclear whether the white porcelain Guanyin was intentionally prepared for the Old Lady or merely by accident.
Xie Beihan glanced at the two and asked, “What happened?”
“Well… I accidentally broke this Guanyin statue, please don’t mention it to anyone,” Chu Shuo said half-truthfully.
“By the way, the jade pendant we bought together earlier, can you show it to my sixth sister?”
Xie Beihan complied with the request.
Nanli took a glance and said, “Your jade pendant is fine, but you are trapped in a deadly formation. Today is the seventh day, and you will meet your demise before midnight.”
Xie Beihan was stunned.
Being told that he would die today made him angry.
He stood up abruptly and exclaimed, “I helped you investigate this matter, and you curse me to die?!”
Nanli, having encountered many people like him, remained calm.
People often only wanted to hear good things.
“Heir Zhenbei, you have a black mark on your forehead that you cannot see, but I can see it clearly,” she extended her hand, “Five hundred taels of silver. I only charge you at a friendly price, and I will resolve it for you.”
Xie Beihan widened his eyes in anger, “Brother Chu Shuo, your sister is crazy. Why don’t you find a doctor to examine her?”
Chu Shuo furrowed his brows, “Beihan, what my sixth sister said is true. How could I harm you, my dear friend?”
Even if they were close friends, he couldn’t let anyone speak ill of his sister.
“Hmph, she’s just a little girl who doesn’t know any better, and you’re the only one who believes her nonsense,” Xie Beihan took his jade pendant and angrily left.
It was ridiculous to say that he would die tomorrow.
The Great Master Zhi Guang said he would have no disasters, a long life, and even marry a beautiful woman in the future!
Although Chu Shuo was somewhat frustrated, he couldn’t ignore his longtime brother.
He chased after him but returned moments later, seemingly unable to convince Xie Beihan.
“Sixth sister, he is straightforward and impulsive; don’t mind him,”
Chu Shuo pleaded, “But please find a way to save him.”
“Didn’t you give him a talisman for protection? He won’t die for now,” Nanli said and then took a pastry to eat.
Chu Shuo was surprised, “You know about that too?”
He had discreetly placed the talisman in Xie Beihan’s clothes when he tried to persuade him earlier.
“The talisman I gave to the Chu family is not the ordinary ones, and I can sense its location,” Nanli didn’t explain further.
“Sixth sister, I can give you a thousand taels if you help him resolve this matter, how about it?” Chu Shuo pleaded.
“Why? Did he save you in a past life?”
Chu Shuo said, “I don’t know if he saved me in a past life, but he did save me in this life.”
One year during the autumn hunt, he accidentally strayed beyond the hunting range and was mistaken for prey by a black bear.
It was Xie Beihan who led the bear away at a critical moment, saving his life.
After hearing his story, Nanli understood and said, “Rest assured, he has accumulated merits in his past and present lives. It’s not so easy for him to die, otherwise he wouldn’t have encountered me today.”
Fate is truly indescribable.
“It seems that he has many beauties in this life, thanks to his accumulated virtues,” Chu Shuo muttered.
“You could say that,” Nanli agreed.
It seems that in his past life, Xie Beihan saved the lives of those concubines.
However, what puzzled Nanli was though having so many concubines, he destined to have only one son.
Could it be that in the future, he would marry a jealous woman and sell off all the concubines?
But ultimately, this was someone else’s business, as everyone had their own destined fate. If one forcefully changed their destiny, they must pay a heavy price.
“To save him, there are something that I need to buy, and you shall pay for them today,” Nanli said again.
Before she descended the mountain, everything was taken away by Qing Xu.
Stuff like talismans wasn’t much left.
“I have already ordered everything for you, from talisman paper and cinnabar to peach wood swords and various other magical tools,” Chu Shuo said with a smile.
He stood tall, raised his chin, and waited for Nanli to praise him, saying that she liked him the most among his brothers.
Nanli looked at his smiling face and already had a bad premonition in her heart.
Upon returning to the An'yang Marquis Mansion, she happened to see a slightly plump woman directing servants to move goods into the warehouse.
This was Chu Shuo’s birth mother, Madam Qian.
As her name suggested, money was the last thing that she lacked.
Her maiden family was the wealthiest merchant family in Luoyang, earning millions of taels of silver annually and employing thousands of workers.
Yesterday, Chu Shuo told Madam Qian about the danger with the jade pendant, and Madam Qian, feeling grateful, not only sent Taoist items but also brought various golden and luxurious fabrics from her own shop.
“Sixth Miss!” Madam Qian herself was also adorned with gold and silver, but she paid attention to propriety and her attire was not vulgar, but rather had a unique charm.
“These are…” Nanli looked at the filled warehouse, somewhat puzzled.
“You helped Chu Shuo, and these are just small tokens of appreciation from us. If you don’t like these styles, I can have someone bring others,” Madam Qian said.
Chu Shuo casually opened a box and exclaimed, “Aunt, the things you choose are both elegant and luxurious; they are splendid!”
Nanli stumbled, astonished by Chu Shuo’s literary talent.
Looking at the praised jewelry, it turned out to be a red-gold necklace adorned with various gemstones, shimmering brilliantly in the sunlight, almost blinding her eyes.
“Miss, try it on. With your fair and beautiful complexion, it will surely look stunning on you,” Madam Qian eagerly suggested.
Just the thought of the weight of these accessories made Nanli's scalp tingle, and she quickly waved her hand, saying, “No need, they are better left in the warehouse.”
Hearing this, both of them knew that Nanli didn’t like these styles and began considering whether to have craftsmen customize them to her liking.
Nanli couldn’t stop them and had Yuanbao and Chunbao help move the yellow paper and other materials out.
She needed to prepare for drawing talismans.
However, as soon as she looked, her face darkened.
The yellow paper was of poor quality, the cinnabar was subpar, and even the peach wood sword was made of ordinary wood.
“Where did you buy these things?” Nanli asked.
Who deceived her second brother? Do they want to die?
“It’s from the largest store on West Street called Duofu Shop. I heard that it’s opened by a Taoist with profound knowledge of Taoism. People from the capital go there to buy talismans,” Chu Shuo said, taking a look. Being an outsider, he naturally couldn’t see through any tricks.
“You don’t understand. They sold you either subpar or fake goods,” Nanli said.
Her second brother truly embodied the phrase “foolish and wealthy.”
Madam Qian, furious, put her hands on her hips and said, “Is this because Chu Shuo is young that they dare to treat him like a fool? This is forgivable! Go, find some thugs, I want to personally return the goods.”
“Madam Qian, wait. I will go there with second brother,” Nanli said.
It took nearly half an hour to ride a carriage to Duofu Shop in the western part of the city. It was nearing noon, and the sun in May wasn’t too scorching. People were coming and going on the street.
As expected, many commoners were purchasing talismans from Duofu Shop.
Different talismans had different prices. A most basic one cost fifty taels of silver.
After getting off the carriage, Chu Shuo ordered someone to bring up the boxes, and he angrily shouted, “Shopkeeper, these things you sold me are either subpar or fake. How dare you sell them to customers? Return the goods and refund the money, or else I’ll smash your store!”
The shouting attracted many onlookers, and the customers in the store stopped shopping and gathering at the entrance.
The shopkeeper hurried over, wearing a smile and said, “Young master, there must be some misunderstanding.”
“My sister knows this kind of stuff; there’s no misunderstanding about this!” Chu Shuo said with great momentum.
The shopkeeper turned his head and caught sight of a young girl beside Chu Shuo.
She appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen years old, with a slightly chubby face carrying a hint of childishness. But her eyes were indifferent, and people couldn't figure out what she was thinking.
He sneered, thinking that what could a young girl like her know about goods.