Jiang Chen had got that alchemist’s panaceas before. If he were in the Sacred Zone, his hands would have been broken for having delivered panaceas with such bad quality. Jiang Chen didn’t wait and went directly to the door out of his contempt for the alchemist, and happened to hear the conversation inside.
“Lady, I have another proposal. If you agree, I would like to refine panaceas for free.” The alchemist sounded very young.
“What’s that?” Gao Yue’s voice sounded almost joyful.
Father wasn’t here. His mother was still too naïve to run the affairs of the east courtyard. He could guess that the alchemist’s proposal must be excessive.
Although he already had prepared himself, he still got very angry after hearing it.
“The Windblade is gone. I could imagine how lonely you are, Lady. I would like to do you this favor…” The alchemist was speaking in a very indecent way. Instead of finishing his words, he started a dirty laugh. Windblade was his father’s alias.
“You bastard!”
Before Gao Yue had any reaction, Jiang Chen had already broken into the room. He didn’t want his mother to move even a finger to deal with such a despicable man. He saw the alchemist as soon as he got into the room. That was a young man about twenty years old, ordinary looking, well-dressed, but for lack of elegance, he looked neither fish nor flesh, especially with that ugly smile on his face.
“Who are you?” He was angry when he saw Jiang Chen had broken in.
“Son…” Gao Yue said worriedly.
“Uncle Fan, hit him!”
“Yes, Young Lord!” Fan Tu approached from behind.
“Don’t be stupid! I am the alchemist.” The youngster got scared and made haste to identify himself.
“So?”
Although he was an alchemist, he was only in the Cloud Nine of the Condensing Qi State.
“You know the consequences of offending an alchemist? Not only will the east courtyard not get any panaceas, but the whole Jiang Mansion won’t get any!” The youngster was afraid that Jiang Chen would give him a beating just because he didn’t understand the situation, so he hurried up to explain. Then he raised his chin, expecting Jiang Chen to apologize to him.
“Don’t flatter yourself. You insulted my mother. No one can save you. Uncle Fan, go ahead.”
No matter what the alchemist said, Fan Tu wouldn’t stop.
“Son, calm down.” Gao Yue walked to him, afraid that he would do something stupid.
“Mother, I know.”
“How dare you insult my Lady? You are still wet behind the ears.” Fan Tu, with a horrifying smile, grasped the alchemist’s shoulder with one hand, and slapped the young man’s face fiercely. The force of a Gathering Yuan State was unbearable to a Condensing Qi State. His face got swollen in just one second.
“You are doomed. The Jiang Mansion is doomed!” The shocked young man was still bluffing.
“You should worry about yourself.”
“What do you going to do?” The alchemist got scared. Could Jiang Chen do something worse to him?
“You insulted my mother in my home. You think this will end easily? Uncle Fan, break his arms and throw him out.”
“How dare you!” The alchemist shouted.
“Why not?” Jiang Chen answered his question with a question. When Fan Tu was about to act, Jiang Chen said unexpectedly, “Wait.” The young man looked relieved and thought Jiang Chen had regretted.
“Take him out. Don’t make my mother unpleasant.”
“Sure.”
Fan Tu carried the young man out, as if he were a chicken. Soon a gut-wrenching shout along with the sound of bones fracturing was heard.
“Young Lord, that bastard fell into a dead faint.” Fan Tu returned to the room.
“Throw him out. Let him stew in his own juice.”
“All right.”
Gao Yue was angry as well, but she was worried about the consequences. She said, “Jiang Chen, his master is a panacea master. If he is unwilling to let this go, it will be bad for us.”
“Take it easy. I am here. Mother, please take a good rest and get ready for the new year.” Jiang Chen comforted her.
“But…” Gao Yue was unable to rest assured. Even if she let this thing go, the current situation of the east courtyard remained bad. “It would be fine without this batch of panaceas if it were in the past. But now, the east courtyard already doesn’t have any other revenue.”
The East courtyard had earned a lot during those years, but most of the income had to be handed to the Jiang Mansion. They didn’t have many savings. This was one of the consequences of levying a low tax.
“Mother, we have the medicinal materials and we only need an alchemist. Is that right?”
Gao Yue suddenly lit up. “Does the old man with the white beard know how to refine panaceas?”
Jiang Chen smiled brilliantly.
…
Five days later.
The Whitewater City was a powerful existence in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, no worse than the Jiang Mansion in the Southwind Ridge. However, the city was composed of various forces that were unable to be united. So in this sense, it was far worse than the Jiang Mansion.
At the moment, two people in this city were angry with Jiang Chen. One of them was Cao Chenghua, a master level alchemist, who was renowned in the whole Hundred Thousand Mountains. His apprentice Xiao Hai was kneeling in front of him, crying, with two arms hanging down powerlessly, looking sullen.
“Master, please seek justice for me. The child of the Jiang Mansion is a bully. He beat me hard just for a slight disagreement! I woke up in snow. If I had woken up just a little bit later, I would have frozen to death.”
Cao Chenghua kept silent for a while and finally asked, “He really beat you for nothing? There was nothing wrong with the refinement of the panaceas?”
“Absolutely not. My success rate of refining Gathering Qi Pill is 100%. The whole Jiang Mansion knows that.”
“You were not being bossy?” Cao Chenghua asked again.
“Master!” Xiao Hai cried, “I could only be bossy if the Jiang Mansion really feared the alchemist. Before the Jiang’s child beat me, I told him I was the alchemist. But he sent someone to slap me in the face. I said that if they beat me it would bring trouble to the Jiang Mansion. But he sent someone to break my arms. How was it possible for me to be bossy?”
“The Jiang Mansion is too arrogant,” Cao Chenghua snorted. He didn’t care about what had happened to Xiao Hai, but was angry to hear that others had ignored alchemists and turned their noses up at him to such an extent.
“It will be the spring festival soon. We will go to the Jiang Mansion to wish them Happy New Year then,” Cao Chenghua said.
“Thank you, Master.”
Cao Chenghua knew what that meant and got excited. How he wished the spring festival was coming up. Cao Chenghua said, “Your arms are not disabled. They can be recovered if we plaster balms on them. But you won’t be able to work for the next three months.”
“Master, I would like the Jiang Mansion to pay for these three months’ loss.”
“Certainly.”
…
The other ones who were angry with Jiang Chen were the Su’s from the Whitewater City. As soon as Su Qian finished her seclusion, she asked about her engagement with Jiang Chen, anxious to know whether he had signed the disengagement agreement. The answer made her burst into anger.
Certificate of divorce? To divorce me? With the excuse that I am foolish and immoral and I disrespect the elders? Pah! Jiang Chen, how great you are! How dare you act so arrogant with your current situation? The Windblade is imprisoned under the Black Dragon Pool. No one in the Jiang Mansion could protect you anymore! Wait, Jiang Chen. I’ll teach you a good lesson during the spring festival!
It was impossible for Su Qian to visit the Jiang Mansion during the spring festival, but she could ask her friend to get her revenge for her.
When I’ve got a renowned master, I’ll make you regret it, Jiang Mansion!
Su Qian tore the certificate of divorce written by Jiang Chen to pieces.