"Hey, don't you guys think the junior governor has changed a lot recently though? She's not wearing thick makeup or beating people anymore… it feels like her temper has improved a lot."
Someone snorted right after the guard said that. "Improved? From where I'm standing, she seems even more shameless—she spent a hundred thousand golden leaves to buy someone for a night! All she cares about is indulging herself, and she almost sold off the entire manor because of it."
"Right! The governor scolded her so badly for that. I heard everything; at the time, she didn't even dare say a word, even though the governor kept calling the man names and demanded she bring him in."
Someone sighed. "But it's a hundred thousand golden leaves… you can buy a city with that sort of money. The junior governor is really getting more ridiculous with time."
Their chattering reached Su Qing and Fei Chen's ears, and the latter understood the situation right away. It seemed that the junior governor was the one who had bought his master, and was also the owner of that handkerchief. Fei Chen turned towards his master, noticing then that Su Qing was not angered that he was being insulted. On the contrary, he was calmly listening to them, his fingers stroking the white porcelain bottle he was holding.
She had been scolded by that old man because of him? It seemed that her words were indeed sincere. Some unfathomable thought crossed Su Qing's mind then, and his scarlet lips curled into a smile.
Fei Chen noticed his master's change in expression, and quietly asked, "What about the spirit stone and the mirrod pill, master?" After all, that was the reason they had come here today. Fei Han was supposed to come in with the assassins and take everything once the junior governor returned, but they did not expect their master to switch gears instantly when she did.
Meanwhile, Su Qing was still holding onto the white porcelain bottle, fiddling with it for a while before saying slowly, "There's no rush."
"Yes, master."
With that, master and servant walked away, leaving the governor's manor and heading towards the twilight sun.
***
Su Ye strode towards the back garden once she returned to her manor, sighing lengthily as she walked. She had finally managed to get them to leave… but the plot that was supposed to happen three months later had somehow been brought forward.
Su Ye was so distracted that she did not hear what Xiao Xing was so anxiously talking about, and only regained her senses when she heard barking as she followed her maid to the back garden.
Her wolfdog was still there, along with four smaller wolfdogs of various sizes. Each of them appeared to be wounded with whip marks, and looked utterly fierce as they stood in the shed and barked at Golden Crow ferociously. "Bow-wow-wow! Bow-wow-wow-wow!"
However, that was not the most shocking part. The plant that Su Ye contracted with had bloomed. However…
"Bow-wow-wow! Bow-wow!" The pitch black and thorny morning glory was actually barking like a dog.
Su Ye stumbled back in shock, her eyes wide as she stared at Goldie, who was growing out of the soil in the center of the garden.
Its three tendrils were thrashing back and forth at the wolfdogs. The flower bud seemed to have blossomed into a black morning glory, and was now barking away at the animals. It was just like a loudspeaker playing on a loop—the dog barks were endless. What made it worse was that it was like a high-decibel loudspeaker, aimed straight at the dogs in the shed, as if it was a competition to see who could bark the loudest.