Inside the inn.
Fang Xie slowly picked up some food with his chopsticks. Su Xiaoliu sat opposite him, looking at him with her almond-shaped eyes wide open.
After a while, Su Xiaoliu finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Why did you come to the capital?"
Putting down his chopsticks, Fang Xie picked up the teacup beside him with his long-fingered hand and said calmly, "I was driven out."
"Driven out?" Su Xiaoliu widened her eyes in surprise and asked, "Who drove you out?"
His long, fan-like eyelashes fluttered gently. He looked at her quietly with his deep, pool-like eyes and said, "I have nothing to do with that person anymore. He tried to kill me but failed. I dismissed all the servants and fled on my own."
It was a rather thrilling thing, but he described it so calmly.
Su Xiaoliu knew that the person he referred to was the mastermind behind the scenes. She felt worried for him. She forced a smile and said, "So, are you going to keep running away like this?"
Fang Xie pursed his lips and said calmly, "I'll run if I can. If I can't, it's fate."
Su Xiaoliu lowered her eyes. After a while, she looked up at him and asked, "Don't you want to revive the Gu Family?"
Fang Xie raised his eyes and looked at her quietly. "I do, but I can't," he replied.
Su Xiaoliu bit her lip. She put her arms on the table and looked at him. "It's easy to revive the Gu Family. We just need to replace the leader," she said in a low voice, just loud enough for only the two of them to hear.
His long eyelashes fluttered slightly. A look of mild surprise flashed across his beautiful face. He looked at her with his deep eyes and asked, "How?"
Su Xiaoliu was stumped.
Yes, how? It was easier said than done.
Moreover, if she said so, everything would be dragged into the martial world again. To replace the leader, they must find out who the mastermind behind the scenes was, why he did it, what his relationship was with the leader's family twenty years ago, and whether he was the one who committed that bloody massacre...
Thinking of these, Su Xiaoliu felt a headache coming on.
"Some things can't be achieved just by thinking about them," Fang Xie said calmly, lowering his eyes.
Su Xiaoliu was stunned. She pursed her lips and said nothing.
Suddenly, a commotion came from outside the door. Su Xiaoliu and Fang Xie both looked towards the door.
"Get out of the way. We're going to find the master," said two beautiful girls in gorgeous brocade clothes and exquisite eight-treasure ornaments on their heads. One of the girls, as charming as a cat, was holding a bunch of candied haws and making a face at the peddler in cloth clothes opposite them.
The peddler looked at them and was almost on the verge of tears as he tried to explain. "Girls, you have to pay for what you take. You took my candied haws, so you should pay me," he said.
The cold and elegant girl, as pure as a lotus, looked at the peddler and said, "You put the candied haws in the middle of the road. Aren't they meant for others to eat?"
The charming girl immediately leaned in, nodded, and wiped the sugar stain from the corner of her mouth with her slender finger. "That's right," she said. She looked up at the cold and elegant girl and asked, "Have you ever heard that you need to pay for food?"
The cold and elegant girl looked at her and shook her head.
The peddler looked at them, speechless. He stared blankly and said, "Girls, that's my stall in the middle of the road..."
As the three of them bickered back and forth, more and more people stopped to watch.
Su Xiaoliu looked at Fang Xie and found that he was gently pursing his lips. He stood up. His dark red robe embroidered with Chinese flowering crabapples trailed on the ground, and his long black hair cascaded down his back. He walked towards the direction where the argument was taking place.
Seeing this, Su Xiaoliu quickly followed.
"How much? I'll pay," Fang Xie said to the peddler from afar.
The three of them all looked inside. What they saw was a beautiful face. The peddler was stunned, while Bantu and Cailing's eyes lit up.
"Master!" they exclaimed in unison.
The peddler stared at him blankly and stammered, "Th... three copper coins..."
Fang Xie rummaged in his sleeve and then looked down. Seeing this, Su Xiaoliu quickly walked over and gave the peddler three copper coins. "I'll pay. I'll pay," she said.
The peddler took the copper coins blankly, then shook his head in disbelief and turned away.
As he walked away, he muttered in a low voice, "If you don't have money, don't dress so well. How can people be like this these days..."
Fang Xie's head, which was lowered, paused slightly. He looked up and looked at Su Xiaoliu blankly. "Who is he talking about?" he asked.
Su Xiaoliu glanced at Fang Xie and rolled her eyes in her heart. She thought, Who else could it be? She smiled and said perfunctorily, "Me. He's talking about me." She had fainted on the street from hunger. She must have had no money on her. His memory was really bad. He had just insisted on paying.
"Master, please take us with you," Bantu and Cailing suddenly said in unison.
Fang Xie was slightly stunned. He turned to look at them and said calmly, "Where to?"
Bantu and Cailing were both at a loss for words. Bantu looked up at Fang Xie and said, "We have nowhere to go. Please take us with you."
Su Xiaoliu looked at the two girls and felt a bit sympathetic. After all, they were people who had always lived in a large manor and had rarely been out. They didn't even know common knowledge like having to pay for candied haws.
Fang Xie thought for a moment and nodded. "Okay," he said slowly.
The two girls were overjoyed.
"I'm leaving. If there's nothing wrong, I'll return to the Gu Family Manor. If something happens, just consider the Gu Family completely gone," Fang Xie said to Su Xiaoliu, his deep eyes as calm as still water.
Su Xiaoliu stared at him blankly. She watched as the magnificent dark red figure slowly walked out of the inn and gradually disappeared into the crowd with the two beautiful figures.
Was he saying goodbye?
A look of surprise flashed across her almond-shaped eyes. Su Xiaoliu pursed her lips, called the waiter to pay for the meal, and then left the inn.
She walked into the musical instrument store. Zhong Fengyue, in white clothes, greeted her.
"Isn't Boss Qin here?" Zhong Fengyue raised the corners of his mouth and looked at Su Xiaoliu.
Su Xiaoliu was slightly stunned. Then she looked up at him, forced a smile, and nodded. "Yes," she said.
Should she tell him that she had just met Gu Rongxue?
Su Xiaoliu sighed silently in her heart. She walked to the table and sat down.
She looked up at Zhong Fengyue and whispered, "Do you know about Feng Yufei's background?"
Zhong Fengyue was slightly stunned. His jade-like eyes sparkled with amazing light. "The Painting Immortal?" he said. After a moment of silence, he smiled and asked, "Does the Painting Immortal have another identity?"
Su Xiaoliu was stunned. She looked at Zhong Fengyue and thought, Even Situ Qianyue doesn't know. This matter must be well hidden...
She looked up at Zhong Fengyue, carefully considered the plan she had secretly made on the way here, and said, "Situ Qianyue, do you remember the old immortal and Gu Ran?" That old man and that young man still made her feel a bit uneasy whenever she thought about them.