Chapter 200: Face to Face

Lian Cheng paused for a moment. His face showed a brief flicker of disbelief before he let out a laugh.

“Hahahaha! Lady Mo is quite good at jesting. Of course I know. People are all talking about Lady Mo’s fiancé. They say he is someone from a hidden ancient force.”

Mo Xingyao smiled. She noticed the subtle awkwardness in his sentence, an attempt to make things sound lighthearted.

This man acknowledged that she already had a fiancé, yet showed no intention of restraining whatever thoughts he had in mind.

“But… in all honesty,” Lian Cheng paused, sipping the tea and enjoying its fresh and lightly sweet taste, “I never thought you would like this kind of tea. I thought you preferred something lighter, something… from this humble one’s homeland, such as jade bamboo tea,” Lian Cheng said with a smile.

Mo Xingyao’s eyes sharpened.

Before she had tasted Earl Grey, yes, she did like jade bamboo tea. She liked its bamboo fragrance and its light balance of bitterness and sweetness. But that was only because her mother liked it. When she drank it, she felt as if her mother was still with her.

It was a brief and harmless moment of reminiscence, bordering on self-delusion. But she knew she could only enjoy the tea. It was impossible for her to find her mother again.

“Oh? Why do you think so?” Mo Xingyao smiled, though it was not truly a smile. She looked directly at the artificer, who was beginning to annoy her for some reason.

“This humble one was merely guessing, Lady Mo. Please do not mind the thoughts of this humble one,” Lian Cheng said, cupping his fist in apology before continuing.

“As an apology, I will treat this Earl Grey as wine and punish myself with two cups.”

With that, Lian Cheng quickly drank two cups of the tea.

Seeing this, Mo Xingyao no longer wanted to continue any conversation unrelated to business. Otherwise, it would lead nowhere. So she decided to drop the formalities.

“Mr. Lian, according to the report from my people, you are a genius artificer. The artifacts I had the chance to examine, as well as what my friend Ximen Hao mentioned, all indicate that your creations have great business potential,” Mo Xingyao said, occasionally glancing at the report on her desk.

Lian Cheng smiled.

{Here it comes.}

He knew from his previous life that Mo Xingyao liked to use sweet words as bait when she saw someone with skills beneficial to the Thousand Treasure Pavilion or the Sky-Severing Demon Sect.

She would do her best to keep such people by her side.

He remembered that in his previous life, she had continued to pay him even when he had done nothing for months.

She paid him simply to keep him around for future use.

And of course, in his previous life, he had used those resources to cultivate himself, paving the way to become the Heaven Forging Lord whose name thundered the Immortal Realm.

He expected things would not be different this time.

“I also know about your studies. So how about this? The Thousand Treasure Pavilion will sponsor your training. In return, you will sign a contract with us. After you finish your studies, you will work for us as a chief artificer.”

“If, after one hundred years, you have not completed your studies, you will still return and work for us under a subcontract arrangement until you complete your training and join us full time as a chief artificer,” Mo Xingyao said as she took out a contract from the drawer and slid it toward Lian Cheng.

“Huh?” Lian Cheng was confused.

Why was she not trying to entice him to stay immediately?

Lian Cheng was stunned. This was not what he had expected from Mo Xingyao, his beloved.

Was there someone better than him? Or had this girl finally learned to be patient? But… waiting one hundred years for him to finish his studies? Was that not a bit too long?

Even though the excuse of “continuing his studies” was something he had casually used to refuse Ximen Hao’s invitation.

Wait… more importantly…

Did she just say “friends”?

From what he remembered in his previous life, Mo Xingyao’s social circle was very small. As the daughter of a demonic path sect leader, she did not have many people she could trust.

The only person she could truly call a friend was Yin Lan, the bodyguard who had grown up with her.

And he was certain that Mo Xingyao’s circle did not include anyone wealthy enough to purchase his artifacts at auction. How could a bodyguard possibly have enough money to bid in an auction house?

Something was not right.

Was this woman truly his Mo Xingyao?

Unknown to Mo Xingyao, her normal recruitment approach was being met with paranoia and scrutiny from Lian Cheng. As for the reason why she did not try to keep Lian Cheng here?

That was simple.

In his previous life, Lian Cheng’s skills were something the Thousand Treasure Pavilion and even the Sky-Severing Demon Valley desperately needed. Even then, Lian Cheng in the past was not as capable as he was now.

Also, in this life, Mo Xingyao had Wei Chen, someone who could easily find priceless artifacts and give them away as if they were mere candy to her father. For example, that mysterious sword shard.

Could Lian Cheng find something like that?

She doubted it.

So, in this life, Lian Cheng was someone she could live without. And since she already had a fiancé, she did not want the men she personally recruited to stay too close or develop the impression that she gave them special treatment.

As Mo Xingyao waited for Lian Cheng’s response, a servant entered the room.

“Lady Mo, Lord Wei has returned. We have followed your instructions and are currently stalling him in the dining room,” the servant reported.

“Oh, very good. Let him stew there for a while,” Mo Xingyao said with a smile. She had no intention of meeting him or Dream Butterfly until they seemed to have forgotten and forgiven what she had done.

“Also, Lady Mo, there is a message from Lord Wei,” the servant added, stepping forward to hand her a small letter.

Mo Xingyao took the letter and opened it. Inside, there was only one sentence.

“Scaredy cat who is only good at talking.”

The handwriting looked like a dying earthworm struggling on the page. It was undoubtedly written by Wei Chen.

Then, inside the same envelope, she noticed another letter and opened it as well.

“Mo Xingyao, my dear sister, you boast like a warrior, but before a true reckoner, you flee like a slither.”

This one was written in a poetic style, and the calligraphy was elegant, like that of a true scholar.

“Dream Butterfly… you dare… grrrrr” Mo Xingyao gritted her teeth.

Wei Chen’s insult stung a little.

But Dream Butterfly’s words felt different. It was like a scholar pouring their thoughts into an insult and presenting it as a piece of art.

And that annoyed her… Very much.

Lian Cheng watched as Mo Xingyao crumpled the paper. He did not know what was written on it, but the name Dream Butterfly was enough for him to guess.

Is she… angry at that concubine? Has Wei Chen already grown tired of the old and fallen for the new? That would be even better. If so, he would not need to waste his energy setting up a deadly trap.

Honestly, Mo Xingyao not trying to keep him here had already disrupted one of his plans to create a trap to kill Wei Chen. The thought alone was giving him a headache.

“Ah! You cannot come in, Lord Wei, Lady Dream Butterfly!” The voice of the servant guarding the door leaked into the room.

The door opened, and two figures walked in.

The first was a man with a smirk and a face that looked extremely punchable whenever he smiled like that. The second was a woman whose beauty could topple empires.

They were none other than Wei Chen and Dream Butterfly.

“Yo, scaredy cat. How long are you planning to avoid us?” Wei Chen asked in a teasing tone, causing Mo Xingyao to grit her teeth in frustration and annoyance.

Even though she was not afraid of what had happened that day, the fact remained that she had fled. And this man was very good at rubbing salt into that wound.

The two continued teasing, and Wei Chen’s annoying smile was getting on Mo Xingyao’s nerves.

But in Lian Cheng’s eyes, Wei Chen had brought a newly favored concubine here just to insult his beloved Mo Xingyao.

He could not let this guy get away with it.

Lian Cheng stood up and moved in front of Mo Xingyao, facing Wei Chen as if trying to shield her from this man’s cruelty.

He cupped his fist in greeting toward Wei Chen, but his eyes were devoid of any respect.

“You must be the renowned Lord Wei. I must thank you for opening my eyes and widening my horizons,” Lian Cheng began, his gaze sharp as daggers directed at Wei Chen.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep