Watching the two interact, a lump formed in Xiu Jiming’s chest.
He flashed forward, positioning himself directly in front of Lin Ling and forcibly interrupting their conversation.
Shielding her behind his back, he said, “Lord… Lord Shen, you seem to have overstepped. This is an employee of our Inspection and Prayer Division, not of the Linxiu Guard.”
Shen Zaixin glanced at Xiu Jiming, lightly tapping his folded fan against his palm.
Suddenly, he burst out laughing.
“Old Xiu, don’t be so nervous. I’m just looking to buy a piece of jade from your little friend.”
Lin Ling looked at the two men, who seemed to be at each other’s throats, and suddenly felt like she was missing a bag of melon seeds.
[Although this feels very exciting, can someone tell me what’s going on? Why are they acting like this?]
“You’re being a bit overprotective. You should know, Ling’er is still young,” Shen Zaixin said with a smile, appearing perfectly composed on the surface.
Xiu Jiming countered, “Lord Shen, you should just get lost. My Yun Prefecture is a bitter, cold place in the northwest, not a place for a wealthy man like you to stay.”
“You fellow, aren’t we friends? Can’t I rest here for a while? Besides, I’m here to buy jade.”
Shen Zaixin smiled, then looked past Xiu Jiming toward Lin Ling behind him.
“Ling’er, is the jade pendant still for sale?”
Lin Ling, who had no idea what the situation was and was just focused on enjoying the drama, finally snapped out of it.
She looked up at Xiu Jiming.
The corner of Xiu Jiming’s mouth curled into an extremely faint arc.
He pulled Lin Ling back a few steps and said, “Don’t sell it to him.”
With a sharp clack, Shen Zaixin snapped his fan shut.
His smile froze as he said, “Old Xiu.”
“This jade is mine,” Xiu Jiming interrupted him.
He gently took Lin Ling’s hand and retrieved the jade pendant from her.
Lin Ling frowned, feeling that Xiu Jiming was acting very strange.
The commotion the three were making at the entrance caught the attention of the three women inside the Inspection and Prayer Division.
They poked their heads out from behind the dilapidated wooden door, pretending to wipe it with rags while enjoying the show.
They were so engrossed that they scrubbed the same spot on the door panel over fifty times, nearly rubbing off a layer of wood.
Lin Ling suddenly spoke up, “Xiu… Shen.”
She paused, feeling that speaking was a bit difficult, so she simply took out some paper and wrote: “Wait a moment, both of you. Xiao Ming (crossed out) Xiao Ming-zi, we are short on money, and Lord Shen is rich. Wouldn’t it be better to ask him for funding? The pawnshop is quite far away.”
Seeing the difference in the two forms of address, both Xiu Jiming and Shen Zaixin’s expressions turned a bit odd.
Shen Zaixin coughed and laughed.
“Ling’er has a point, doesn’t she? Do you really have the heart to make her run so far?”
Hearing this, Xiu Jiming felt he had lost a bit of ground.
He sneered, “She is a cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Awakening Realm, not a cripple. You’re underestimating her quite a bit.”
To this, Lin Ling expressed her protest!
[Dammit, Classmate Xiao Ming, that’s not cool. If I can avoid walking, of course I won’t walk. Haven’t you heard that only a fool chooses to suffer for nothing?]
Lin Ling stood with her hands on her hips.
Since it was quite unsightly for two grown men to stand at the entrance glaring at each other, Lin Ling led the two of them straight into the Inspection and Prayer Division.
Shen Zaixin looked at the dilapidated office and then turned his gaze toward Xiu Jiming.
Xiu Jiming wore a look of utter indifference.
Lin Ling wrote with an excited face: “How much does Lord Shen intend to sponsor? As you can see, many of our things are very old.”
Shen Zaixin remained silent, silently calculating in his head how much it would cost to repair these things.
Then he heard Xiu Jiming say, “Lord Shen is very wealthy. I’m sure he won’t be stingy, right Ling’er?”
Hearing this, Lin Ling looked at Shen Zaixin with an expectant gaze.
Looking into her expectant red eyes, Shen Zaixin gritted his teeth and said, “Fine, how much do you want?”
He couldn’t lose face in front of this little girl, could he?
Seeing this, Lin Ling lowered her head and began to calculate the accounts.
Xiu Jiming said with a smile, “Lord Shen, five thousand taels of silver should be the minimum.”
“What?!”
Shen Zaixin tilted his head to look at him in disbelief.
Lin Ling’s gaze shifted between Xiu Jiming and Shen Zaixin.
[What’s with this Shen guy’s look? Could it be that he’s compromising because of me? Hmm, it must be because I’m so good-looking that he’s distracted.]
Thinking of this, she proudly puffed out her small chest, then immediately felt the thought was a bit shameless.
She quickly lowered her head and continued to “seriously” calculate her accounts—which never seemed to add up correctly.
Xiu Jiming began to rattle off costs with great familiarity.
“Look, the demolition of the old office and the removal of waste. That will cost quite a bit. Then, raising and reinforcing the brick walls, a black-lacquered main gate with copper studs, and remaking the gold-plated plaque for the ‘Heavenly Inspection and Prayer Division.’ That should be about two or three hundred taels.”
“Not to mention the money needed for those formations; that’s a massive expense. Those require spirit stones. I know you’re short on spirit stones, so I won’t ask you for them—don’t glare at me like that. Or do you want to pay in spirit stones as well? That would be absolutely no problem,” Xiu Jiming said with a faint smile.
Shen Zaixin’s hand holding the fan began to tremble.
Xiu Jiming continued, “When the Linxiu Guard and the Inspection and Prayer Division personnel come down for official business, they need a place to sit and pens to use, right? We can’t have people saying we have to rely on corruption even for paper and pens.”
Xiu Jiming said with a smile, “Ling’er doesn’t like to speak, and it’s inconvenient for her to write normally. I plan to buy the finest paper, pens, and blank books so it’s convenient for Ling’er to carry them. There’s no problem with that, right?”
[Good brother! Classmate Xiao Ming, you’re so kind!]
Lin Ling looked at Xiu Jiming with a grin.
“Ling’er has only just awakened her spirit and needs to stabilize her realm. When the other brothers return from a case, they also need a place to regulate their breathing.”
“This broken office of yours only has five people including you!”
Shen Zaixin suddenly slammed his hand on the table, roaring in anger.
With his strike, the table collapsed.
For a moment, the six people present were speechless.
Xiu Jiming immediately seized the opportunity.
“Look at this table…”
“Enough, enough! Tomorrow I’ll have the Board of Revenue allocate the silver to you. Stop nagging. If you can’t fix this place after the money arrives, I’ll hold you responsible,” Shen Zaixin said, his heart aching for the money.
He flicked his sleeves, then walked over to Lin Ling, pulled a bracelet from his robe, and placed it in her arms.
Lin Ling looked at him with some confusion.
Shen Zaixin smiled and said, “This is an apology for my rudeness yesterday. Ling’er, please accept it.”
Before Lin Ling could react, Shen Zaixin hurriedly turned and left, practically fleeing from the Inspection and Prayer Division as if afraid Xiu Jiming would nag him for more money.
Thinking about going back and giving away five thousand taels of silver for nothing, those old fellows would probably nag him for a long time.
Cold sweat broke out on Shen Zaixin’s forehead.
Xiu Jiming smiled triumphantly.
Just as he was about to come over and see what good thing Shen Zaixin had given Lin Ling, she casually tossed the bracelet to him and wrote: “Take this and sell it for money.”
“Ling’er, this is top-quality jade. You don’t like it?”
Xiu Jiming was stunned, not expecting Lin Ling to have this attitude.
Lin Ling bit the tip of her brush, pointed to the red ribbon bows on her clothes, then pointed to the small bell on her neck and wrote: “Don’t you think this thing doesn’t match my style?”
“Ling’er has a point.”
The three women sighed repeatedly; the good show was over.
It seemed their boss had the upper hand.
Lin Ling walked forward.
Hearing them whispering, she asked in confusion, “What upper hand?”
“Nothing, nothing! Big Sister, let’s start working. We’ll organize your favorite archive room first!”
Bai Yunyun cheered, quickly changing the subject.
That day, the Inspection and Prayer Division was incredibly peaceful.