Chapter 150: East Market
Although he still found it emotionally hard to accept Steward Zhang’s conclusion, rationally, Lu Jian already believed that his son had been killed…
“Who did it? Who could be so mad,” Lu Jian collapsed to the ground, his eyes bloodshot and lifeless, muttering to himself. He had to immediately shift his emotions to avenging Lu Feng, or else the grief of losing a son would crush him.
“The murderer must be Lu Xin!” Steward Zhang answered without hesitation.
“Lu Xin?!” Killing intent flashed in Lu Jian’s eyes, but he slowly shook his head and said: “If Feng’er was killed on the day he left, that was exactly the day the Clan Leader held a celebration banquet for Lu Xin. How could he get away?”
“Lu Xin couldn’t have done it personally.” But Steward Zhang said: “However, Master, there are too many ways in this world to take a life without getting blood on one’s hands. Lu Xin could completely borrow another’s hand to kill the Young Master…”
“Even if he wanted to scheme for my steward position, he wouldn’t go so far as to attack Feng’er?” Lu Jian said incredulously.
“He absolutely would, Master!” Steward Zhang finally told the truth: “Before, the Young Master sent people to kidnap Lu Xin’s daughter, which is why there was that incident at the congee kitchen!”
“What?” It was the first time Lu Jian had heard of this, but he still found it hard to believe: “But Feng’er was already driven out of the capital. Would he go so far as to hunt Feng’er down completely?!”
“Moreover, after the Young Master hid in Qing Feng Garden, he also sent Hu San to contact the White Ape Society to assassinate Lu Xin’s family…” Steward Zhang had no choice but to reveal another thing Lu Jian didn’t know.
Lu Jian froze on the spot. After a long while, he stared deathly at Steward Zhang, roaring like he wanted to eat him alive: “Why didn’t you tell me these things earlier?!”
“This lowly one only learned of it afterward, and even if I told Master, it would be of no use,” Steward Zhang said with a mournful face: “It would only make Master angry for nothing…”
“Beast! Beast!” Lu Jian had completely believed Steward Zhang’s judgment—it must be Lu Xin seeking revenge, having someone kill his son! Now he could no longer hold on, tears streaming from his eyes as he said: “Letting you run wild, now you’ve gotten retribution, haven’t you?!”
“Master, no matter what, the Young Master’s revenge must be taken!” Steward Zhang feared Lu Jian would vent his anger on him, so he hurriedly shifted his attention to revenge.
“Of course revenge must be taken!” Sure enough, Lu Jian no longer thought of anything else, his mind filled with only one thought: revenge. “No matter what, I must kill Lu Xin’s entire family to avenge Feng’er!”
It was precisely because he had received the terrible news about Lu Feng early that morning that Lu Jian was the last to arrive at the Small Bamboo Forest. He had to hide the towering killing intent in his heart, showing no clues, before he could appear before everyone. Although when he saw Lu Yun, he still couldn’t hold back his killing intent, no one actually noticed that he had just gone through the grief of losing a son and had become a madman consumed by revenge!
So after leaving the Bamboo Forest, he spared no effort in persuading the Great Elder to agree to hire the White Ape Society to assassinate Lu Yun.
Speaking of which, naturally no method could compare to personally chopping off the enemy’s head for the most satisfying and thorough revenge. But Lu Jian wanted Lu Xin to taste the grief of losing a son—no, more than that? He wanted Lu Xin’s daughter, wife, and old father to all die before Lu Xin’s eyes, letting him taste the flavor of his entire family being wiped out!
So Lu Jian couldn’t strike first; he had to hide himself well, quietly watching Lu Xin’s family members die one by one, then tell him the truth at the end, and personally chop off Lu Xin’s head to pay homage to his own son.
“Immediately contact the White Ape Society,” Lu Jian ordered Steward Zhang through gritted teeth: “Let them name any price!”
“Yes!” Steward Zhang responded in a deep voice, secretly breathing a sigh of relief. It seemed he had escaped disaster.
.
Luojing City followed the old system, implementing the ward-market system. High ward walls strictly divided the city into areas, with common people concentrated in the wards, merchant shops concentrated in the markets, and wards and markets strictly separated for ease of management and surveillance. Although there were some shops and taverns within the wards for the convenience of residents’ occasional needs, under government control, they were insignificant.
Capital City residents wanting to shop or dine had to go to the four major markets—East, West, South, and North, lined with shops—to meet all their needs. Among them, the North Market was a high-end market for the great aristocratic families; ordinary people could hardly even enter, and even if they did, they couldn’t afford anything. They could only seek what they needed in the South Market, East Market, and West Market.
Fortunately, as the capital of Under Heaven, Luojing City was extremely abundant in goods. These three markets had goods from all directions, dazzling arrays, everything imaginable, so anything desired could be bought. Thus, these three markets were the most crowded places in the capital during the day, bustling with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, hectic trading, and deafening voices from dawn to dusk!
The place Lu Yun and Lu Ying were strolling was the East Market. Although the three major markets had everything, each had some emphasis. The South Market mainly sold meat, seafood, fruits, grains, and all kinds of food. The West Market mainly sold livestock and human power. The East Market mainly sold shoes, hats, clothing, daily necessities, cosmetics, jewelry, and dresses, which girls liked most, and it had the most complete selection here.
So as soon as they left Lu Ward, Lu Ying didn’t even think and pulled Lu Yun straight here.
Watching Elder Sister lingering endlessly among the shops selling jewelry and cosmetics, Lu Yun finally realized that for girls, these things were more important than good food. He had thought his own Elder Sister would go to the South Market for food.
Lu Ying would occasionally try on pieces of jewelry, turning back to solicit Lu Yun’s opinion. Lu Yun naturally said they all looked good, but in his heart he was inevitably bored, and unconsciously looked elsewhere. As he looked, he couldn’t help but secretly sigh that the shops in the capital were much more grand than those in Yuhang City—at least from the storefronts, they all hung colorful signboards. Under the signboards, neatly dressed young men and women energetically hawked their wares, and the mix of several voices together was actually quite pleasant.
As he watched, Lu Yun suddenly froze, his gaze fixed in front of an unremarkable shop.
He saw that the shop had an extremely small storefront, no shop assistant hawking outside the door, only an inconspicuous signboard with five words on it: ‘Bai Family General Store’.
“Bai Family General Store?” Lu Yun couldn’t help but think of that shop with the same name in Yuhang City, wondering if it did the same business?
Once he noticed this shop, Lu Yun would glance over from time to time, guessing whether those occasional customers entering and exiting were like him, spending ten taels of gold to buy a White Porcelain Monkey actually worth only a few coppers, then pawning it at a pawnshop called ‘Sihai’, only to get not a single copper but a death warrant for their enemy?
Of course, it might just be a coincidence in name. After all, with so many general stores in the capital, maybe the owner happened to have the surname Bai and chose the same name?
While lost in wild thoughts, Lu Yun accompanied Lu Ying wandering aimlessly on the street. Finally, after buying six or seven hair ornaments, three or four bracelets, and a whole pile of cosmetics, Lu Ying smiled contentedly: “I’m hungry. Let’s find a place nearby to eat.” Although the East Market wasn’t mainly for food, restaurants and food stalls were everywhere.
“I just saw one that has Elder Sister’s favorite dumplings.” Lu Yun, hands full of things, said inexplicably.
“Really?!” Lu Ying immediately perked up and clapped her hands: “I love eating those the most!”
“Then let’s go eat.” Lu Yun smiled and led the way ahead, bringing Lu Ying to a food stall with a signboard saying ‘Soup Dumplings’. The brother and sister sat down in a quiet corner at the waiter’s greeting.
After Lu Yun sat down, his gaze passed over the food stall and landed right on the ‘Bai Family General Store’ signboard.
