Chapter 71

"No need." Ji Tingzhou interrupted the maid's movement. His emerald-green eyes narrowed slightly, his voice laced with sarcasm: "What good could possibly come from someone like you?" The man across from him noticed his displeasure and chuckled softly, not taking offense to the sharpness in his tone. In fact, he seemed to take it as a compliment: "Ah, my dear Ahuai is nothing like me." Then, his expression turned more serious, and he sighed with a hint of admiration: "I thought it was all just rumors. Turns out, you really do care for that child." Ji Tingzhou raised an eyebrow and glanced at him, crossing his long legs as a soft hum escaped his throat. ... Meanwhile, Ji Nian was busy making the outer layer of wax for her incense. She had ordered a lotus-shaped mold, and once the wax solidified and was removed, the incense took on a gradient of emerald green. After finishing, she lit one and took a whiff. "Hmm..." The top notes were a blend of neroli and bitter orange, transitioning into mid-notes of oakmoss, bamboo, and tea leaves. The base notes were Ji Nian's favorite combination of amber and aged sandalwood, exuding a calm, gentle, and luxurious aura. Ji Nian was extremely pleased! After discarding the failed attempts, she followed her previous records and successfully made three more. Once they were removed from the molds, she carefully packaged them and placed them into a wooden box she had prepared earlier. This time, the box wasn’t one she had rummaged from Ji Tingzhou’s collection. Instead, she had commissioned a mother-of-pearl lacquered box and borrowed Wei Yang’s account to keep Ji Tingzhou from finding out. [Good thing I decided on the lotus shape early on, or else the size wouldn’t have matched.] Ji Nian looked at her handiwork with satisfaction, a small smile tugging at her lips as she stretched her sore shoulders. "Now, just waiting for Zhouzhou to come back." The system chimed in: [...You still dare to call him that?] Ji Nian tilted her chin up and let out a soft hum: [I’ll call him whatever I want.] After all, Ji Tingzhou couldn’t hear her. Hehe. Once she was done, Ji Nian tidied up and headed out. On her way back, she ran into Wei Yang, who was brushing his companion, Big Egg. Big Egg, the dog, caught Ji Nian’s scent before Wei Yang did. The usually aloof dog, who had been baring its teeth as if ready to bite Wei Yang if he dared touch it, suddenly turned and dashed toward Ji Nian. Its tail wagged furiously, and its tongue lolled out in excitement. "Big Egg!" The dog was smart enough to know that its size could easily knock over a child, so it skidded to a stop in front of Ji Nian, nuzzling her hand with its wet nose. "Good dog, good dog." Ji Nian patted its head, pinched its ears, and ran her hand along its back. Big Egg, thoroughly enjoying the attention, rolled onto its back, asking for a belly rub. Wei Yang walked over, his voice filled with delight: "Ji Nian! Are you done with your work?" Noticing her displeasure, Wei Yang stopped laughing and cleared his throat. "Let’s get back to the Lu family." "The Lu family isn’t based in our country. Their ancestral roots are in Country O." Ji Nian knew about Country O—she had looked it up online, studying world history and maps. "The master and the head of the Lu family are old acquaintances. The Lu family is involved in both politics and business. The head of the Lu family is Chinese, but his wife... well, she’s a big deal." Completely unaware that he was discussing gossip with a five-year-old, Wei Yang leaned in with a mischievous grin. When Ji Nian leaned closer, he whispered mysteriously: "His wife is—" "A princess. The kind with inheritance rights." Ji Nian’s mouth fell open in exaggerated surprise. Wei Yang wasn’t sure if she understood, but her enthusiastic reaction was enough to satisfy him. "Speaking of which, Old Lu’s son is about your age—maybe a year older?" Ji Nian didn’t pay much attention to that comment. Instead, she blinked and asked: "So why did Dad go to see the head of the Lu family?" Wei Yang, still pondering whether the son was the same age or a year older, replied casually: "Probably to investigate that poison." Ji Nian’s eyes narrowed. Just as she thought. It seemed her gift was perfectly timed. Maybe she could coax some information out of her dad. ... "Vengeance?" Ji Tingzhou raised an eyebrow upon hearing the name from the man across from him. The man nodded, a playful smirk on his face: "Revenge—a rather intriguing name, don’t you think?" "This organization, called ‘Vengeance,’ started rising two years ago. Only a small circle knows about them." "There’s nothing you can’t buy—if you can think of it, they’ve got it." He gestured to a maid standing nearby. The maid, dressed in a knee-length maid uniform, calmly brought over a prepared box. The man motioned for Ji Tingzhou to look inside. In the center of the box lay a pale pink vial. "I have some special connections. After going through quite a few channels, I managed to acquire one at a high price." "They call it ‘L'oubli’—Forgetfulness." "It’s said that if you drink it, you can forget the memories you want to erase—or make someone else forget." ‘Losing memories.’ Ji Tingzhou thought of Shen Qingtang, who had been deceived but remembered nothing. If even someone like Lu Zhi had to pay a hefty price, how could the person who had a grudge against Old Lady Gu’s family afford such a poison?