While Mrs. Zhuang went to make a phone call, Lu Chukong instantly dropped his pretentious and shrewd act. He hurriedly scooted next to Zhaozhao and asked curiously, "What are you guys up to? It seems like you're about to make a big move!" As he spoke, he rubbed his hands excitedly, with an eager look on his face that clearly said, "Can I join you guys?"
True to their understanding from working together in live - streaming, Zhaozhao knew exactly what he meant. She leaned over and whispered, "You're already in."
Lu Chukong looked utterly confused and immediately exclaimed anxiously, "If I'm in, you have to tell me what you're planning! I don't like being kept in the dark like this..."
When he got excited, he couldn't control his voice well, which made the nanny in the kitchen keep peeking out at them. Zhaozhao tugged at his sleeve, signaling him to be quiet. Lu Chukong covered his mouth and his eyes kept darting around.
"Just cooperate with me for now. I'll tell you when we get back," Zhaozhao said, trying to placate Lu Chukong's insatiable curiosity.
Not long after, Mrs. Zhuang should have finished her phone call with Zhuang Ming's father. No one knew what Zhuang Ming's father had said to her, but Mrs. Zhuang, who had seemed arrogant and lazy at first, now had a bright smile. She walked towards them warmly.
"My husband will be home soon. He repeatedly told me to invite all of you to stay for dinner. Since we have business to discuss, could you all please wait a bit longer?"
This was exactly what Zhaozhao wanted. She gave Lu Chukong a look, and he naturally agreed with a smile.
Mrs. Zhuang then told the nanny to serve several kinds of fruits and snacks and warmly invited Zhaozhao and the others to taste them. But Zhaozhao had other things on her mind. She proposed to take a tour of the Zhuang family's villa, thinking that she might find some clues there.
Mrs. Zhuang stopped pouring tea and looked up at Zhaozhao. She didn't say yes or no to the tour. Instead, she asked an unrelated question, "This young lady seems quite young. Do you understand this field?"
Zhaozhao met Mrs. Zhuang's calculating and scrutinizing gaze and nodded, "When I was young, I had the chance to train with a master who lived in seclusion in the mountains. So I know a little bit about it."
As soon as she said this, the first ones to be shocked were not Mrs. Zhuang but Lu Chukong and Cheng Sang. After all, in their eyes, Zhaozhao didn't seem like the kind of person who could say such "profound" words. Lu Chukong was secretly amazed. He sighed that society was indeed a big melting pot. Look, the innocent and naive girl before had now learned to lie calmly to others. And her words were so subtle and implicit. She had really learned well.
"I see. I underestimated you, girl. Since that's the case, if you want to take a tour, go ahead. How about I show you around?" Mrs. Zhuang folded her hands gracefully on her knees and looked at Zhaozhao with a smile.
"Then we'll trouble you, madam."
After saying that, they got up and left the living room. Mrs. Zhuang led them to start the tour from the top floor of the Zhuang family's villa.
Zhaozhao carefully observed the furnishings and decorations in the rooms all the way, trying to find something wrong and connect it with the matter of Zhuang Ming being used as a formation eye. But she didn't find anything abnormal.
"What do you masters think of the feng shui of our house?" When they reached the bedroom of Zhuang Ming's father, Mrs. Zhuang leaned against a dark - wood carved wardrobe and looked at Zhaozhao curiously.
After just a few words, she no longer regarded Lu Chukong as the most capable one. Instead, she thought this calm and reserved girl might be more skilled.
"Good," Zhaozhao gave a two - word evaluation concisely. Mrs. Zhuang was first stunned, then covered her mouth and laughed, "Young master, you're so young but have the demeanor of a great master."
People usually respected capable Taoist priests as "masters". It seemed that Mrs. Zhuang regarded Zhaozhao as such a person, so she called her "young master". But she didn't know that Zhaozhao wasn't showing the demeanor of a great master. It was just that because of Zhuang Ming's matter, she didn't have a good impression of this family and even felt disgusted, so she just perfunctorily answered.
After touring all the internal structures of the Zhuang family's villa, Zhaozhao still didn't find anything wrong. She frowned in confusion.
It couldn't be... The Zhuang family used Zhuang Ming as a formation eye to plunder his fortune, but there should be some traces left. What was going on?
Cheng Sang seemed to have noticed his junior sister's confusion. He spoke for the first time since entering the Zhuang family, "Besides the interior of the villa, are there other places we can visit?"
"Why are you all so interested in our family?" The shrewd Mrs. Zhuang seemed to sense something wrong. She looked up at Cheng Sang, with a scrutinizing look in her eyes.
"Hey," Lu Chukong came out to smooth things over, "Madam, you may not know that for things like gathering good fortune and changing luck, we naturally need to choose a feng shui treasure land. Since we haven't found a suitable place inside the villa. I see that your family seems to have a small garden. Could you let us go in and take a look? Maybe the place is suitable, and we don't have to waste time looking for another place."
His words were flawless, putting the thing that Mrs. Zhuang cared most about in front of her. Naturally, she had no reason to refuse. So they headed towards the Zhuang family's small garden.
The small garden was nothing special. In this season, most of the flowers in the garden had withered. Only a few plants remained ever - green, looking lush.
Zhaozhao looked around. A wood carving next to a swing in the garden caught her attention.
"What's this?" She quickly walked to the wood carving and gently touched the patterns on it with her hand.
The wood carving seemed lifeless, but it emitted a "living" aura. Because of the dead branch incident, Zhaozhao now paid extraordinary attention to all kinds of trees. She always felt that there must be something special about this wood carving.
Mrs. Zhuang saw Zhaozhao's action and her eyelids twitched. She quickly ran over and pulled Zhaozhao away.
"Madam looks so cautious. This wood carving must be very precious," Lu Chukong said teasingly with a half - smile.
"Ah..." Mrs. Zhuang was startled when she met Lu Chukong's eyes. She tried her best to stay calm, "This wood carving has been passed down from the ancestors of the Zhuang family. We've always treated it with great care." She then turned to Zhaozhao and said, "So I was a bit hasty just now when I pulled you away. I'm sorry, young master."
Just as Zhaozhao was about to say something, Nanny Wang from the Zhuang family walked over and whispered, "Madam, sir is back."
Mrs. Zhuang looked relieved. She quickly greeted Zhaozhao and the others, "Three masters, my husband is back. Didn't you say you had business to discuss? Let's go in and talk while having dinner. Come on."