Chapter Nine, Miss Wan

Li Meimei pulled Chen Qi back to the very restaurant he had just exited. It was evident that she held considerable renown in Poyang Prefecture; as soon as she stepped into the establishment, the owner and several attendants hurriedly came out to greet her, showering her with numerous polite words and addressing her as "Third Madam" with utmost respect. The owner, upon seeing Chen Qi return with Li Meimei, could not help but secretly wipe away a cold sweat, thinking to himself: "Fortunately, I was wise enough not to argue with this young man. Had I known he was someone raised by the Third Madam, I should have flattered him even more."

The several waiters in the restaurant were infuriated; they were in the business of running an establishment, and if they were unkempt, how could they attract customers? They felt a sense of indignation at the insults hurled by the young man in white. However, the restaurant owner, being well-experienced, noticed that Chen Qi seemed to be merely causing trouble, while these two young men appeared to have significant backgrounds. Thus, he quickly signaled to the staff to keep quiet, and even refrained from provoking them himself.

Chen Qi suddenly became furious, startling the attendant who served him. The attendant couldn't help but mutter inwardly, wondering: "Who is so blind as to cause trouble like this? Isn't this going to ruin our tavern's business?"

Li Meimei seemed to have finally set her mind at ease, and her demeanor became increasingly respectful. After a brief discussion among themselves, Li Meimei took Chen Qi and took her leave. Throughout the entire encounter, the three of them paid no attention to him, clearly considering such a minor character as unworthy of even a glance, their attitude was so haughty that it could truly be described as "overbearing".

Li Meimei presented a different demeanor towards these individuals, merely responding lightly before inquiring about the two young people who had just gone upstairs. The tavern keeper dared not conceal the truth and promptly escorted Li Meimei and Chen Qi to the private room upstairs, specifically calling out at the door: "The Third Madam of the Bamboo Branch Gang has arrived." Inside, a clear and melodious voice, slightly immature, exclaimed: "Then let her in, we have been waiting for her for quite some time. What Third Madam, how could she be so arrogant."

With a loud shout, Chen Qi struck with his palm, instantly shattering the well-crafted wooden table into pieces. He had casually executed a move, intending merely to create some noise, but he did not expect his "palm strength" to be this formidable. A fine hardwood table was reduced to splinters, wood chips flying everywhere, and he himself was taken aback, remaining silent for a while.

After all, having committed numerous acts of robbery, Chen Qi is quite experienced and perceptive. Although he only took a fleeting glance, he was able to notice some subtle details. However, since these two young gentlemen had no connection to him, and after failing to provoke a confrontation in the tavern, he was contemplating other avenues and did not dwell on it further.

Li Meimei chuckled softly and said: "The light beauty from the Lingqiao Sect is currently in seclusion at the Chuyin Mountain, which is seven hundred miles south of Poyang Prefecture. As long as we have enough manpower, capturing her should not be difficult. However..."

Chen Qi quietly stood behind Li Meimei. At this moment, he had already realized that the backgrounds of these two individuals were quite significant. Li Meimei referred to "them" as two young ladies. Chen Qi secretly glanced at them a few times, but in his heart, he thought: "Although these two have a hint of makeup, their appearances are not delicate. Could it be that I am mistaken? Are they not two effeminate men, but rather two tomboys?"

Miss Wan shouted: "What qualifications do you have to make any demands, you members of the martial arts sects? However, rest assured, if you can handle this matter well, Lord Wei has promised that you can serve the court and seek positions as military officials elsewhere. You will no longer have to engage in these lowly trades, nor will you need to worry about the Lingqiao Sect coming to seek revenge"

Chen Qi opened his mouth to lie, without a trace of guilt. Li Meimei glanced at him and chuckled, "Well, you are still young and can't stay up late. Just right, sister has some matters to attend to, and... little brother, I need your help." That day, Li Meimei had not paid much attention to this young boy, and at this moment, she surprisingly could not recall Chen Qi's name. After a slight hesitation, she casually called out "little brother." This woman showed no restraint, pulling Chen Qi along as she walked.

Chen Qisan stepped out of the tavern with a few strides, pondering to himself: "These two young masters may seem arrogant, but they will inevitably run into a hard wall someday. However... it is strange that both of them carry a faint fragrance and their demeanor seems somewhat effeminate."

Li Meimei was called out in such a manner, yet she did not feel anger. She smiled gently and walked in confidently. Upon seeing the young man in white and the young man in green robes, she performed a graceful bow, surprisingly placing herself in a subordinate position, and said with a light smile: "Li Meimei sincerely apologizes for making Miss Wan and Miss Qingyu wait for so long. I truly deserve to be punished severely. I hope that both young ladies, considering Meimei's earnest attitude of repentance, can overlook this matter this time."

The young man in white, upon witnessing this scene, could not help but scoff even more. He said to the young man in the blue robe, "Indeed, he is a country bumpkin who has never seen the world; a few copper coins are enough to send him off." After saying this, he did not even glance at Chen Qi and headed straight upstairs with the young man in the blue robe. Then, he casually instructed, "I do not want the food from your restaurant; I only need to borrow your space. Soon, my servants will come to attend to me. The waitstaff in this restaurant carry too strong a scent; they must not come near me."

That fellow was subdued by Chen Qi's authoritative demeanor, no longer daring to argue, and hurriedly went to the back to summon the manager.

Chen Qi wanted to struggle, but the strength coming from Li Meimei's hand was immense. Even though he had an arm strength of three to four hundred pounds, he was still pulled by Li Meimei, unable to resist as he followed her.

Li Meimei smiled charmingly, her allure radiating as she lowered her voice, bringing her cherry lips close to Chen Qi's ear, and said with a chuckle: "You really lack insight. This Miss Wan is the only granddaughter of the Grand Tutor Wan Xiaogu, destined to become a consort of our dynasty. To see her even once is a fortune you have accumulated over eight lifetimes. Although... you are not seeing her true self."

A delicate, almost boneless little hand rested on Chen Qi's shoulder. Without needing to turn around, Chen Qi recognized that the visitor was Li Meimei, the third leader of the Bamboo Branch Gang. He let out a dry laugh and replied without a moment's hesitation: "I must sleep at the appointed time every day; otherwise, I will feel unwell for several days. Brother Lu Er must have seen that I was asleep and didn't call for me."

The innkeeper, upon emerging, immediately saw the shattered table and realized that Chen Qi was skilled in martial arts. Not only did he refrain from mentioning the meal cost, but he also graciously offered a handful of copper coins, his plump face beaming with a charming smile, appearing quite weak and easy to deceive. Although Chen Qi was accustomed to being a mountain bandit, he was not one to bully the weak. After a long moment of awkwardness upon hearing this, he accepted the handful of copper coins and could only utter a single word in response.

Before long, more than ten servants arrived, bringing food boxes, wine, blankets, cushions, and other items, and they ascended the stairs, disregarding the presence of the tavern's patrons. A man who appeared to be the steward, with a very haughty demeanor, approached the tavern's owner and commanded, "This tavern has been reserved by our young master. You must quickly send away the remaining guests and are not to accept any others, lest it become too noisy, which our young master dislikes"

Chen Qi, eager to stir up trouble, immediately took the floor and exclaimed: "If it weren't for the pig feed, these two brothers would have no grievances against me. Why would they mock me so? Ah, I see, you must be taking advantage of my youth, trying to extort me. Go and summon your shopkeeper."

Chen Qi's original plan was to have a free meal without paying, and then stir up some trouble, ideally ending up staying in the yamen to avoid this calamity. Upon hearing someone speak in this manner, without a second thought, he slammed the table and exclaimed: "I say, how can this be right? It turns out that your restaurant is actually a black shop, using pig feed to fool me."

The waiter at the restaurant, seeing that these two young men were quite extraordinary, did not dare to offend them and could only awkwardly smile, saying: "Gentlemen, you jest. Our restaurant is renowned within a hundred miles; how could we possibly serve our guests with pig feed?"

Chen Qi did not mind this matter; he was merely quite interested in the conversation between Miss Wan and Li Meimei. After following Li Meimei out of the restaurant, he could not help but ask, "Third Leader, who is this Miss Wan? Why is she so spirited?"

Isn't this the Seventh Master? Why didn't you come to the residence of the Governor of Poyang with Mr. Lu last night, leaving my sister worried for a long time

Chen Qi received the money from the shopkeeper and turned to leave. A young master with such arrogance must undoubtedly have a significant background. If he had already cultivated the Supreme Transformation Dragon Technique to a very high level, with great skill comes great boldness, and it would be natural for him to have some temper and compete in arrogance with others. However, what he could rely on now was merely the third level of the Iron Bone Skill and a peculiar magical artifact, the Five Yin Bag. Thus, he could only act imperiously without truly having the means to back it up, especially since this was fundamentally unrelated to having even a single copper coin.

The proprietor of this restaurant, having long been aware of the commotion in front, understood the ways of the world after running the establishment for many years. Without inquiring into the reasons behind the incident, he first cupped his hands towards Chen Qi and said, "This young sir, please do not be angry; it is our restaurant's fault. The dishes served this meal were not satisfactory. Here is a small token of apology from our second waiter; I hope you will graciously accept it and not hold it against us."

Chen Qi secretly lamented, thinking: "This woman is certainly not of good origin. What on earth does she want to drag me into? Regardless of what it is, it certainly cannot be anything good... However, her martial arts skills are exceptionally high; I cannot break free at all. No wonder the second-in-command said her skills are not inferior to those of the chief leader."

This fellow turned his head to look, only to see a young man slightly younger than Chen Qi, dressed elegantly in white attire, resembling a young master. His voice was crisp, with red lips and white teeth, and he was quite handsome. Beside him stood a young man around twenty-one or twenty-two years old, clad in a green robe. He had an ordinary appearance and an average build, yet exuded an imposing presence without any display of anger.

Chen Qi was immediately alarmed, thinking to himself: "The Bamboo Branch Gang has connections with the governor of this prefecture, their power is immense. This young man actually does not take them seriously; I wonder what his background is, to be so arrogant."

The young man in white, referred to as Miss Wan by Li Meimei, smiled lightly and said: "Let us dispense with these formalities. Without sufficient justification, I cannot take action against you, Li Meimei. This time, we have split into two groups with Wang Shijun; he is here for both personal and official matters, while we have come solely for official business. Have you gathered any leads on the person you inquired about from the Zhu Zhi Gang?"

Chen Qi exited the tavern, touched his slightly rounded belly that was already full, and was contemplating whether to choose another method or to switch to a different tavern. Suddenly, he heard a delicate and charming voice, as if it were penetrating into a man's very marrow.