Chapter 511: Attending The Banquet
In the afternoon, the escort Feng Ziqian sent had arrived. This person seemed to be Feng Ziqian’s confidante because when Lin Jin emerged from the house, he quickly approached the appraiser and bowed deeply. He addressed Lin Jin respectfully as ‘Appraiser Lin’. However, he was stunned by the sight of the second person who came out of Peach Blossom House.
‘Third Prince mentioned that besides Appraiser Lin, the other guest should be a divinely charming young woman, so who is this old guy?’
The man was visibly puzzled.
For a moment there, he didn’t know what to do. This task allowed no room for error. If he were to mistakenly escort this old man instead of the third prince’s guest to the palace, he would be committing a grave sin.
Hence, the man immediately bowed at Lin Jin before asking, “Appraiser Lin, Third Prince mentioned that other than you, the other person should be a lady…”
Lin Jin chuckled on the inside. Not wanting to give the man a hard time, he smiled. “That’s the one, alright.”
Having said that, he pointed at Shu Xiaolou in her old man version.
“No mistakes?” That person rubbed his eyes, where tears started to well up. He didn’t think anything was wrong with his eyes so why was Appraiser Lin pointing at a he and calling it a she?
Lin Jin couldn’t really explain the specifics to him so he said, “Don’t worry. We’re the right people you’re looking for. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility.”
Since Lin Jin had put it that way, that person said no more. Prior to his mission, Feng Ziqian had instructed him to respect Lin Jin due to his unique identity. Whatever Appraiser Lin says, goes.
So, he dared not question further.
During the journey, he would steal glances at the old man from time to time and the adjectives His Highness used to describe this person would come to mind. His Highness seemed fairly enthusiastic when he described her beauty, and it seemed like he admired her greatly.
But reality was often a cruel mistress.
Without knowing what strange thoughts entered his mind, the man subconsciously shuddered.
Meanwhile, Lin Jin and Shu Xiaolou were enjoying the scenery outside the window from inside of the carriage. Lin Jin also told Shu Xiaolou a little bit about Feng Ziqian.
Of course, he did so because she asked about the price out of curiosity.
“So this Feng Ziqian is in a terrible situation. Lin Jin, how do you plan to help him?” Shu Xiaolou’s back was straightened. In her old man form, she behaved rather reservedly.
Lin Jin knew that Shu Xiaolou could transform into any of the images inside her painting. Of course, all images were different, and not only were they reflected in her appearance, but also many other aspects as well.
Simply put, they were like her clones.
Each clone had its own value. This old man clone exuded an air of intimidation and was a symbol of authority. Indeed, judging by only his looks, everyone could tell he was no ordinary old geezer, but a highly capable individual.
The green, and later on the red-robed young woman was where Shu Xiaolou’s spiritual intelligence first took form so that was her default form.
She had one more form, which was the image of a young master. Shu Xiaolou rarely used him, but in her words, that young master was number one in terms of combat capability.
Whenever she came across tough adversaries, she would handle them using that clone.
Actually, Lin Jin had many questions for Shu Xiaolou. One of them was about the blood ghost she had previously split up between them.
Lin Jin used his half as a second pet beast and performed a second contract on it so as to strengthen himself and his first pet beast, Xiao Huo.
Shu Xiaolou, on the other hand, simply consumed her portion.
She swallowed it down like a glass of fine wine.
Lin Jin was curious but he didn’t ask on the spot. That was Shu Xiaolou’s secret, and to ask about it directly might risk destroying their relationship.
He had secrets too, but Shu Xiaolou knew her limits and did not probe too much about them.
All in all, Shu Xiaolou was the most unique ‘alien’ Lin Jin had ever met. She wasn’t human, beast, nor a monster. But Lin Jin didn’t actually care for that. Shu Xiaolou was a friend and that was enough.
She came along willingly this time not because she wanted to learn new things, but to help Lin Jin out instead. Lin Jin could tell this much, and it was why he accepted her favor.
Pulling their carriage were a team of Heavenly Spiral’s specialty beast, the black-horned horse. Brawnier than average horses, they were much stronger and resilient.
Although they were the country’s specialty beast, due to the difficulty of taming them and their surprisingly small population, these black-horned horses weren’t available to just anyone. Only dignitaries and aristocrats could afford to have them pull carriages.
The carriage rolled to a stop outside the royal palace.
“Sirs, please disembark here. From here on, we will have to travel on foot,” announced Feng Ziqian’s subordinate respectfully.
Lin Jin pulled the drapes aside and got ready to exit the carriage when suddenly, another carriage came rolling by. Also drawn by black-horned horses, the other carriage moved dangerously close to theirs.
“Make way, make way! Don’t block the path.”
The black-horned horses here were frightened so they neighed and galloped a few steps forward, almost throwing Lin Jin off the carriage.
Lin Jin was obviously irked.
Were those people rushing to their deaths? What gives?
Didn’t they understand the basic principle of first-come, first-served?
Lin Jin may be able to suppress his anger but Feng Ziqian’s subordinate wasn’t as patient. Immediately, he ran over to the other carriage to confront them, only to get slapped across the cheek.
“Wretched servant, do you have the authority to speak here? Why don’t you open your eyes and see whose carriage is this? It’s His Highness, the first prince’s carriage, and do you know who’s inside? If you disturbed Master State Preceptor, you wouldn’t be able to pay with that measly life of yours.”
The coachman was like a dog who bared its fangs at another from being emboldened by its master’s influence. His arrogant expression seemed to be saying ‘So what if I hit you? You deserved it!’.
It was obvious that they were doing it on purpose. They just wanted to use their guest’s renowned status to humiliate the third prince, Feng Ziqian.
After all, the higher-ups couldn’t possibly be bothered to harass a lowly servant.
They just wanted to hurt Feng Ziqian.
All else aside, if news of this incident spread, everyone would assume that Feng Ziqian was a pushover, just like his servant.
Although the subordinate who got slapped was furious, after hearing about the state preceptor’s presence, he knew he had been tricked by the other into suffering this slap with no justice to claim.
Unable to retrieve his dignity, he would probably be punished by the third prince later on too.
Despite his reluctance to do so, he had to swallow his anger.
Because resisting or retorting spitefully would make things worst.
He may be able to endure the humiliation, but Lin Jin couldn’t.
He almost fell out of the carriage earlier so the other party was definitely at fault for forcibly squeezing over. This was practically gangsterism.
Lin Jin was well aware that they were deliberately trying to hurt Feng Ziqian’s reputation.
Since he decided to help Feng Ziqian, they couldn’t back down on this incident.
State preceptor?
That sounded imposing. Though, even if Lin Jin was alone right now, he had nothing to fear. This was especially the case since Shu Xiaolou was still in the carriage. Lin Jin had heard of Sima Qing, the state preceptor before. Apparently, he was a Rank 5 beast appraiser of Heavenly Spiral Kingdom and also a junior of Mr. Zhong.
Indeed, he had a dignified status.
Too bad, Shu Xiaolou was better than him, and the reason for this is relatively simple. Even Mr. Zhong treated her as his senior, and since Sima Qing was Mr. Zhong’s junior, he could never afford to provoke Shu Xiaolou.
Lin Jin felt safe, knowing he had Shu Xiaolou to rely on.