Chapter 145: Making a Move

“Incense Ember Joy” became famous as soon as it opened.

Built upon the Bai family’s incense workshop and master craftsmen, one of the four great incense-making houses, the line of women’s fragrances was launched by the first female Grand Incense Master of the Heavenly Radiance Dynasty. It was novel, yet guaranteed in quality.

With the emperor’s own inscription on its signboard, the Noble Consort’s personal appearance in support, and the wives and families of every high-ranking official in attendance, even those who cared nothing for the quality of the fragrances had to show their loyalty to His Majesty and the Noble Consort. On its opening day, “Incense Ember Joy” received orders worth more than ten thousand taels.

Bai Huan’s prestige soared to unprecedented heights. The great houses—

A-Xing said with utter seriousness, “As long as there are people here to watch, no matter how many, the performance must go on as usual!”

Seeing how serious she was, the staff had no choice but to follow her instructions and send word to the troupe to begin.

Only after Vivian’s butler forcibly separated the two with the help of his guards, and sent Vivian back to her room ahead of time, did the matter finally seem to reach some sort of conclusion.

That man truly was worried about the old master. After all, the old man was his own father—how could he not care?

Unfortunately, against someone as thick-skinned as Lin Ying, Wu You’s efforts were doomed to be wasted. Sure enough, when they crossed paths, she gave Lin Ying a reserved little nod, putting on a thousand graceful airs. Lin Ying acted as though she had not seen her at all and swept past her like a gust of wind.

By contrast, seeing the brothers bicker and fool around with Lin Ying, living such a lively and affectionate life, left him feeling sour inside. He found Sheng Yu’s smug expression especially unbearable.

Once you had eaten someone else’s food and accepted what they gave you, it would be difficult to refuse when you later had a favor to ask.

“How miraculous. When the child is born, you must tell me at once. I want to come back and see it,” Bai Bing said.

In this world, the only crime more serious than murdering one’s father and usurping the throne was murdering the emperor and seizing the throne. Even if the rumors were exaggerated to the heavens, that was the furthest they could go.

The latter stages of the project proceeded smoothly. When the two-week period of isolation ended, Xia Yi was finally able to return home. After being apart from Lan Lingwu for only two weeks, she already missed her terribly.

“No… How could I?” Min Junchen tried agitatedly to explain himself to Meng Anran, but in truth, he had no idea how to explain himself either.

Those two fellows, recently bitten by dogs, were so idle that they had actually filed a report under their real names, taking on both the livestock farm and the fishery.

“Get lost! The smoke reeks. And don’t tell outsiders this was my idea. You’re not to harm even the grass roots, and you absolutely must not sell the water directly.”

He had to remind them of this from time to time. Otherwise, they might sell the man to Li Ruolin without even realizing it. Still, such a perfect match between a fresh flower and a pile of cow dung was rare indeed—he wondered how many people’s jaws would drop.

“Yes, Young Master! We will immediately arrange for men to leave for Beijing!” the Tiger Guard replied respectfully.

In the brief span of half a quarter of an hour, at least a dozen dazzling sword rays descended from Stop-and-Contemplate Peak. In the blink of an eye, they skimmed over dozens of mountain peaks and arrived here.

Li Changfeng lay sprawled on the ground, struggling desperately. He tried to stand, but could not rise no matter how hard he fought. Whenever his body arched upward, an invisible yet tremendous pressure seemed to crush down upon him, rendering every struggle futile.

For the slaves, there was no road of retreat left. No one was willing to set foot in the lava, so their only choice was to charge forward.

On the stretch from the city wall to the Spider Cult Academy alone, the demons had already killed no fewer than seven or eight thousand drow and slaves of other races, including goblins and gray dwarves. Even the slave soldiers within the city suddenly rebelled at that moment, following the demons as they slaughtered their way forward.

The Wildcat was still dressed in light combat gear, though she had added a set of liquid body armor. Two alloy folding knives were secured along her arms, and she carried three days of individual rations on her back. Of the four, only the Wildcat needed food and water to sustain prolonged movement.

Yuan Zhenxia could not help looking toward her, only to see that she had already turned away. Even from her back, he could sense how disappointed she was. Yuan Zhenxia rose and came to stand behind her, reaching out to rest a hand lightly on her shoulder.