Chapter 31

Chapter 31

This small Bronze Tripod was indeed authentic, and its value was quite impressive.

Originally, Fang Yuan had intended to use this Bronze Tripod to set a trap for me. Now, even if Fang Yuan isn’t dead, he likely won’t survive for much longer. Even if he had ten times the courage, he wouldn’t dare come back to ask for the tripod.

I had suffered through an ordeal, but in exchange, I gained such a treasure. It was a profit.

I sent a message to my Senior Sister, asking: “Is there something special about this Bronze Tripod? Why would the black market price be inflated so much?”

She seemed to have been waiting for my reply.

Meng Po Gives a Bowl of Soy Milk: “Didn’t you see the seal at the bottom of the tripod?”

A seal?

I quickly took out the Bronze Tripod and held it up against the light to take a look.

There was indeed a seal on the bottom of the Bronze Tripod. Looking closely, I could make out four characters in small seal script: ‘Qingquan Renxin’.

On the other side, WeChat kept pinging as several messages came through in quick succession.

‘This Bronze Tripod comes from the Qingquan Taoist Temple.’

‘Although the Qingquan Taoist Temple has declined now, it was a legendary presence during the transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties. At that time, the Temple Master, Master Renxin, was an honored guest of the imperial family.’

‘And the small tripod in your hand was crafted by Master Renxin himself.’

‘…’

The notifications kept chiming. My Senior Sister was advising me to sell it quickly while the price was good.

However, my thoughts were no longer on my phone.

Qingquan Taoist Temple… wasn’t that the temple where the Taoist I met when I delivered paper offerings to the village belonged?

What was that Taoist’s name again?

Oh, right, it was Hui Quan.

Back then, he had asked for my Birth Date and Time, wanting to calculate my fate, but I had flatly refused him.

I didn’t expect him to have such a significant background!

I sent a message back: “Senior Sister, do you know the current Temple Master of the Qingquan Taoist Temple, Master Hui Quan?”

Meng Po Gives a Bowl of Soy Milk: “Of all the generations the Qingquan Taoist Temple has passed through until now, only this Master Hui Quan has some real skill. Do you know him?”

I felt a bit guilty: “We’ve met once.”

Meng Po Gives a Bowl of Soy Milk: “So, are you selling?”

I refused without hesitation: “Not selling!”

I only wanted to confirm whether the Bronze Tripod was genuine; I had no intention of flipping it for profit.

I didn’t know many people in this field, and after thinking it over, I could only think of Tang Tang.

Tang Tang was a senior in my department, a fourth-year student who had already been recommended for postgraduate studies.

On the day of freshman registration, she and several sophomores had come to welcome the new students, and she happened to sit next to me.

We talked the whole way and exchanged contact information. We met a few more times after that, and our relationship was quite harmonious.

Mainly, Tang Tang had a great personality and was very talkative; I had a very good impression of her.

Jiang University’s Cultural Heritage and Museology major was among the best in the country. The fact that Tang Tang could be recommended for postgraduate studies was proof enough of her excellence.

Furthermore, she had connections.

While I was thinking about this, a video call started ringing incessantly.

As soon as I picked up, Tang Tang’s elegant, beautiful face filled the screen: “Junior Sister, why won’t you sell? Is it because the price didn’t meet your expectations? I can help you negotiate. With me involved, it’s not impossible to get another twenty or thirty thousand on top of the current price…”

I quickly said, “It’s not a matter of price. I have another use for the Bronze Tripod.”

Tang Tang frowned. “Another use? You have your own channels?”

It wasn’t easy for me to explain. I couldn’t exactly say that this Bronze Tripod was an item of Pure Yang that I needed to offer to Liu Junyan, could I?

My relationship with Tang Tang wasn’t deep enough for that yet.

But since I wasn’t talking, Tang Tang clearly didn’t intend to let me off the hook so easily.

After thinking for a moment, I got out of bed with my phone and walked toward the Southern Study.

As I walked, I said, “Senior Sister, I really do have another use for the Bronze Tripod, but I have several other antiques. Could I ask you to help me sell those instead?”

On the Antique Shelf in the Southern Study, there were several Pawned Items that had long since passed their Pawn Period. Running a Pawnshop required liquid capital; selling a few items would help relieve my financial pressure.

After all, the better the item, the higher the price could be.

The phone camera swept over the Antique Shelf, focusing on those few Pawned Items.
Before I could even make a sound, Tang Tang was already screaming on the other end. “Oh my god, oh my god! What am I looking at?!”

“If I’m not mistaken, the dozens of items on that Antique Shelf are all genuine antiques, aren’t they?”

“Even that Antique Shelf itself looks like an old piece.”

“Move the camera back. Yeah, right there, aim it at the counter… What on earth… those Four Treasures of the Study on the counter… are they from the Tang Dynasty?”

Uh…

I really hadn’t paid much attention to those. So much had happened lately that my energy was completely drained.

Furthermore, this Southern Study had existed for at least a hundred years, and the items used within it were at least a century old as well.

I hadn’t focused on them, partly because my expertise wasn’t deep enough, and partly because I had already assumed they were old.

However, Tang Tang’s words still gave me a shock.

I picked up the brush I had used several times and looked at it. Tang Dynasty?

Tang Tang continued to chatter away. “I went to your dorm to find you a few days ago, and your roommates said your family had some trouble and you’d taken a leave of absence. I was actually worried about you, but it turns out you went home to inherit the family business! Tongtong, not bad at all! You’re actually a secret little rich girl!”

After Granny brought me back to the Pawnshop, my household registration had been transferred here, but my official name on the registry was still Jiang Wantong.

That was why I was only called Xiao Jiu in Wufu Town.

I scratched my head, unsure how to explain things to Tang Tang for a moment. “Senior Sister, things might be a bit different from what you’re imagining, but it’s really a long story.”

“If it’s a long story, don’t tell it yet. I’m sleepy,” Tang Tang said with an exaggerated yawn. “Give me your address. The National Day Holiday is coming up soon. I’ll spend it at your place this year and take the chance to properly admire your family’s collection.”

With that, she hung up the video call.

Immediately after, a WeChat message popped up.

Meng Po Gives a Bowl of Soy Milk: Hurry up and give me the address.

Feeling helpless and thinking that Tang Tang had done me a huge favor, I sent the address over.

Then, I dropped a subtle hint, mentioning that my family ran a Pawnshop but that things were a bit… unsettled there.

Tang Tang didn’t care at all.

Meng Po Gives a Bowl of Soy Milk: It’s only fun if it’s unsettled! Junior Sister, wait for me!

I turned off my phone. It was almost dawn, so I crashed and fell fast asleep.

When I got up the next morning, I found the small Bronze Tripod and the Lingchi Blade, taking them both to the Main Hall to place them on the Altar Table as offerings.

The Bronze Tripod was an offering for Liu Junyan.

However, the Lingchi Blade wasn’t an offering for those Dirty Things.

This Lingchi Blade was too important; it was the leverage to balance the Five Immortals and Zhao Zixun.

Although the Pawnshop wasn’t a place just anyone could enter-and I knew those animals were at least somewhat wary of it-it still wasn’t safe to keep the blade in my room.

Placing it on the Altar Table in the Main Hall was actually safer.

If the Dirty Things in the Main Hall dared to touch this Lingchi Blade, then things would truly be terrifying.

After breakfast, I was practicing with my bow in the courtyard when Li Qingying walked over and whispered, “Xiao Jiu, something happened.”

I was startled. “What?”

“Fang Yuan is dead,” Qingying said. “His body was fished out of the Zhu Pan River this morning. His flesh was all rotted; he was unrecognizable.”

My heart skipped a beat.

Although I knew Fang Yuan would die sooner or later and that the Bai Family wouldn’t let him off, I hadn’t expected him to die such a gruesome death.

I opened my mouth to say something, but a clear male voice came from outside. “Excuse me, is Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu in?”

Li Qingying and I walked out together and saw a young man dressed in white casual clothes standing at the entrance of the Southern Study.

The man had red lips and white teeth, with skin so thin it seemed translucent in the sunlight. Though he had a buzz cut, he lacked any masculine grit. He had a pair of deep, affectionate eyes that could make even a gaze at a dog seem full of love, and his entire being exuded an indescribable… feminine aura.

Li Qingying whispered a warning in my ear. “Xiao Jiu, he’s one of the Bai Family members…”