Peerless ( Meng Xi Shi )

"You are such a strange man. This isn't your home, and you are not involved in the conversation. Is there no law and order if I cannot even speak in a public place like this?"

Feng Xiao did not even turn his head to glare at the man. He insisted on putting the piece of meat in his chopsticks into Cui Buqu's bowl. Cui Buqu extended his hands to pull his bowl away, but as if those chopsticks had eyes, it flew into the same direction and still placed the meat into the bowl.

Cui Buqu glared at that piece of meat as if he was looking for any traces of Feng Xiao's saliva on it. He did not even feel like touching the bowl right now.

But it was far from over. Feng Xiao picked up a plate of green beans from the table and brought it towards him.

"You dislike the taste of chives? No matter, there are still cooked beans. Come, I'll remove the skins for you. They are white and tender. Quick, take a bite, or would you prefer if I fed you?"

Cui Buqu: …

His hands looked attractive; therefore, it looked like he was picking flowers when he peeled the beans. In the blink of an eye, a bunch of cleanly peeled beans appeared in front of Cui Buqu's plate, lined up neatly in several rows.

Pei Jingzhe: …

Feng Xiao, "Eat."

Cui Buqu knew that there was a motive behind his actions, but he still twitched the corner of his lips, turning his head to look outside the window, only to see that there was no one.

The one who was annoyed was someone else.

"You!"

Su Xing's face had become incredibly red. He wanted to stand up and argue with him, but was stopped by the woman next to him.

"Cousin brother, let it slide!" The young woman's voice was soft and low. Her expression looked embarrassed. "I know that Master Daoist Cui, the one next to him is surely his friend."

"It is he who provoked me first. I have to give him a piece of my mind!"

Su Xing's face was full of irritation. He turned to Feng Xiao and spat, "Such a shame you look like a gentleman, yet you act like a simpleton who doesn't think before he talks. Utterly disgraceful!"

The young woman walked towards Cui Buqu and curtsied, "Good to see you, Master Cui."

Cui Buqu, of course, recognized her, "May blessings come your way1, Young Mistress Lu, how is your mother faring?"

The young woman smiled at him, "It is thanks to your medical aid that my mother has healed much from her illness."

Cui Buqu nodded, "My method can only ease her condition a little bit, but it does not suffice to heal her completely. The Lu family still needs to look for better physicians for her."

The young woman gave him a nod of acknowledgement.At that moment, Su Xing also said, "So the one who helped heal aunt is this Master Daoist Cui. My aunt's health has truly improved these days; please accept my gratitude."

He turned towards Cui Buqu; put his hands together and bowed before changing the topic, "Forgive me, but this friend of yours is really unreasonable and unmannerly. Master Daoist Cui, you have a good reputation; you should not acquaint yourself with such a man."

Cui Buqu replied flatly, "You have misunderstood. He is not my friend, and I do not know him either."

Su Xing stared at Feng Xiao with a questionable look, his face evidently betraying the fact that he did not believe a single word.

Feng Xiao laughed, "What are you looking at me for? Although I am handsome, powerful, and strong, that isn't something you can level with. You can't afford to envy me, young man."

Cui Buqu: …

The colour of Su Xing's face switched from blue to white, then white to blue again, as if he was poisoned from what he had just eaten a while ago.

With Cui Buqu and Little Maiden Lu present, Su Xing could not punch Feng Xiao even if he wanted to, so he simply walked away.

Feng Xiao watched both of them leave — a flippant look on his face, divulging a shadow of deep thought.

"There is something wrong with this Su Xing; you purposely did that to introduce them to me?"

Cui Buqu, "Lu Ti has no sons. After Su Xing fled to his house, Lu Ti treated him as though he was his son. Although Su Xing enjoyed studying, his talents were only average. Instead, he followed Lu Ti out on job trips and showed some talent there instead. This made Lu Ti very happy, at this present moment; two shops are now under Su Xing's supervision."That is indeed very suspicious." Feng Xiao said, "As a businessman who converses with many different sorts of people, he should be charismatic and smooth, yet why did he get provoked so easily just because I was mimicking him?"

Cui Buqu laughed coldly, "Perhaps it is because Lord Feng, your face is one that everyone wishes to beat up when they see you. No matter where you tread, everyone is annoyed."

Feng Xiao laughed, "How can that be? Just now, you should have looked at the way Little Maiden Lu gazed at me. She was incredibly envious."

Cui Buqu had met many narcissistic people before, but for one to be so narcissistic to this sort of level was his very first experience. Taking a look back, he also saw that Feng Xiao's expression had a vague look of disbelief.

"Lord Feng, are you often so self-contained, praising yourself so in your own lonely shadow?"

Not 'often'. He has always been like this. Pei Jingzhe answered in his heart.

Feng Xiao wriggled his eyebrows, "Is that not the truth?"

Cui Buqu snorted. He was too lazy to continue bantering with him, so he resumed the topic from a while ago, "The only possibility is that he acts differently towards the Lu family."

"The Lu family loves certain specific attitudes, so he acts accordingly in front of them. Lu Ti liked intelligent people, so when Lu Ti is close, Su Xing appears to be an intelligent, crafty young man that is eager to learn. How interesting is this!"Feng Xiao changed the topic suddenly, "QuQu, you were only in the City of Six Crafts for two months, yet you have done the background search of practically everyone here. You did not spare even the female members of the Lu family. Ah, to think that those who only knew your identity of a Daoist surely would think you are plotting something shady!"

Cui Buqu coughed twice and faked a laugh, "Even if that is the case, have I not fallen into the hands of you, the Second Commander of the Jiejian Bureau's evil hands?"

Feng Xiao replied, "Of course not. The Jiejian Bureau acts under the orders of the Emperor. Are you not criticizing our present Emperor with your words? I am a very vengeful person."

Relax; I am even more vengeful than you are. Cui Buqu answered in his heart and coughed again, intending to spare his strength.

After they had their lunch, the three of them went to the Linlang Guild's shop.

What Feng Xiao and Pei Jingzhe were unaware of was that, after they had left, two people—a man and a woman—stepped into the VIP area.

"Just now, I saw that the Commander did not look too well. I don't even know if he fell ill again!"

The woman who spoke had a voice clear like ice. She was utterly beautiful. Both features of hers blended well on her body.

The man did not speak. He simply walked towards the table that Cui Buqu and the rest had sat a moment ago; lowered his head to take a look, and suddenly spread the beans apart.

"What did the Commander leave behind?" The woman approached him.

"Plum Blossom." The man answered.

The woman looked at him, questioningly.

"The Commander wants us to investigate plum blossoms?"

The man's words were brief and curt, "Khotan murder case."

He loved words like gold and spoke as sparingly as he could. Thankfully, the woman had worked with him for many years; she followed his words and picked up several hints.

"These plum blossoms are related to the Khotan murder case, but if it was that easy to investigate, then the Jiejian Bureau would have already investigated them. The Commander would not have left it behind for us. Regardless, we should go to the perfume stall to inquire."

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[1] 福生无量天尊 originally from the Daoist Pantheon. It sort of just means 'May you be blessed with endless luck and goodness that even you wouldn't have imagined yourself.'