Preparations (4)

Although Su Dai appeared aggrieved with her lips quivering, she did not say anything in the end. An indeterminable light filled her eyes.

A minute passed in silence before she sighed heavily, her sleeves scraping the wood surface of the table. "I see," she said emotionlessly as she stood up. "Then I won't disturb you anymore. My junior martial brother will be accompanying you during the banquet two days from now."

Jiang Shiqin kept his composure, still smiling gently, as he followed suit and stood up as well. "Sister Dai, I'll see you off."

They walked side-by-side to the gate, shades of green spotted with vivid crimson on either side painting a picturesque scene. Su Dai kept her sight straight ahead at the emerging figure of the manor's elegant mahogany gate.

Jiang Shiqin halted one step away from the gate, while Su Dai continued her steps after throwing a quick glance filled with sorrow and a hint of disgruntlement at him. As her proud figure disappeared into the distance, Jiang Shiqin quietly retreated backwards, a glacial light flashing across his eyes.

It was certainly out of his predictions that Sect Master Su would have shared his message with his daughter. Their argument just now had completely destroyed any prospect of having an intimate relationship with her again, which meant one of his personal connections had been cut off. Even though Xu Jingming's relations reached far and wide across the land and the oceans, and as his direct subordinate Jiang Shiqin was also allowed to use these points of contact, a personal connection was undoubtedly more secure, for both him and the prince. Furthermore, the amount of influence he currently wielded was horribly limited, especially because the Distant Lands was so far away from the capital where the Jiang family once held some power. Lastly, Su Dai was a unique character - she was neither involved in the struggle between the sects nor was she a participant in the political turmoil for the dragon's throne, and yet she could be considered one of the notable figures in this generation's worth of cultivators. Such a different yet contextual perspective would have been of great use.

Jiang Shiqin closed his eyes, which had been exhibiting a trace of darkening and slight annoyance, and lightly let a breath out. In fact, he could have acted much more sympathetic and genteel to Su Dai's confession, and they would have at least remained as friends. Nonetheless, he had a vague realization that such an inadequate response of leaving things blurry would have angered Sect Master Su, whose care for his daughter exceeded his expectations. In terms of importance, the leader of an ally sect was still worth more than a mere daughter without any tangible power.

Well, it appeared that he would have to pick out the attire for the banquet by himself.

Without a companion in hand, he had to visit Autumn Pavillion's clothing store by himself. They say that enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road - there, he met a familiar face.

Holding a snowy white fan and dressed in a bright crimson robe, a beautiful lady leaning into his chest, one of the customers inside was talking to the manager with an obnoxious, almost commanding tone. When Jiang Shiqin entered the building, he merely glanced at him briefly before continuing his complaints about a one of his previous purchases that was apparently out of fashion within the aristocratic circle in the city. In fact, it was the lady with willow eyebrows and deep hazel eyes who studied Jiang Shiqin for a few moments with interest. She then gave him an intrigued smile before resuming her delicate pose.

Jiang Shiqin patiently waited for the conversation to stop before approaching that man with a smile.

"Young master Lei, we meet again."

Young master Lei narrowed his eyes, then suddenly widened them in recognition. "Ah, yes, you're that Jiang guy who kept pestering Sister Dai. Has she gotten bored of you yet?"

Jiang Shiqin grimaced and looked down slightly. "Indeed. She told me that there are many gifted men in this Distant Lands."

"Ha!" Young master Lei clapped his hands, a look of arrogance on his face. "I told you so! Sister Dai is everyone's goddess, she won't favor any single person. Even that snobby-faced Zhou Yun Cheng was refused when he wanted to ask her out." Zhou Yun Cheng was one of Harmony Sect's disciples and ranked 7th in the Martial Arts Tournament. Young master Lei looked at Jiang Shiqin with pity, but that utterly conceited expression made it seem as if he was looking at a pig which had stupidly fallen into a pit of mud instead.

Jiang Shiqin, on the other hand, felt that this expression was as refreshing as a spring breeze. Frankly, aside from being slightly pompous, young master Lei was neither small-minded nor a vicious person. Intelligence provided stated that young master Lei had a relatively unblemished history; his twenty-something years of life had been spent in wine, women and clothing, and there was no mentioning of violence against the vulnerable or exploitation of his underlings. Of course, this could be attributed to the fact that his life had been going so smoothly as a second-generation son that he needed not dirty his hands, but solely the lack of any particular atrocity was much better than some other rich heirs already.

In other words, this person was an honest fool.

"Young master Lei," Jiang Shiqin sighed loudly. "Your words were truly as valuable as gold. Now that Sister Dai no longer finds my presence desirable, I feel that I have nothing to live for anymore."

At these words, young masted Lei's gorgeous companion gleamed with humor, her message as clear as daylight - what fancy nonsense you had spoken, and winked. A distance away, the manager was staring at Jiang Shiqin with an indescribable expression even as he wrote something on the parchment. Young master Lei remained oblivious, however, and actually seemed slightly touched.

Jiang Shiqin almost twitched his face at that reaction. His evaluation of this prodigal son went from an honest fool to a sentimental honest fool.