The Double
Chapter 521 - 158: Giving Gifts_4

Chapter 521: Chapter 158: Giving Gifts_4

But if it’s true, it’s not a big deal. It’s just a poison fang hidden in the Jiang Residence, once pulled out, it’s nothing at all.

...

At the entrance of the Duke Residence, Zhao Ke was squatting in the courtyard, talking to Wen Ji.

He had been out last night on business, and came back to the Duke Residence early this morning to report, thus he had not returned to the Jiang Family.

In the room inside, Situ Jiuyue was busy with her work; whenever she had free time, she would create new poisons. Hai Tang stood by her side, passing the materials she needed from time to time.

Since Hai Tang’s facial injury had healed, she had nothing to do in the Duke Residence but couldn’t find anything to do, so she simply became Situ Jiuyue’s servant. Whenever Situ Jiuyue performed alchemy, Hai Tang assisted.

Zhao Ke, looking at the two people inside the room, shook his head and exclaimed, "What a fine girl, why would she follow Miss Situ?"

Was Situ Jiuyue beautiful? Naturally, she was among the top ten beauties in Yanjing City. However, she was really too fierce, ready to poison someone at the slightest disagreement, which made others dare not get close to her. And Hai Tang, to say nothing else, the guards in the Duke Residence still respected her quite a bit. The method Situ Jiuyue used to treat Hai Tang’s face was the Poisonous Spider’s technique of using poison to combat poison, a method known to be dangerous and painful by the people of the Duke Residence. It was beyond everyone’s expectation that Hai Tang was willing to undergo it, and her ability to endure the procedure was even more unexpected.

For a lady to be so resilient and brave, the guards of the Duke Residence all held her in great esteem. Some were even quite pleased and went to confess their feelings to Hai Tang.

Unfortunately, this girl, who had regained her original beautiful appearance, was very cold at heart and firmly rejected all the guards who showed her affection, simply stating she would not marry in this lifetime. Everyone knew about the matter between Shen Yurong of the Shen family and Princess Yongning, guessing that Hai Tang was disillusioned by the hypocrisy of men and hence refused to marry, cursing Shen Yurong thoroughly behind his back.

Wen Ji said, "Enough idle chatter, go to the entrance and check the time, Miss Jiang the Second will be arriving soon."

Zhao Ke spit out the grass in his mouth, "I am not her subordinate, why should I manage everything, if the Duke really likes her, why doesn’t he just marry her into the residence?"

"Love! Love!" A loud shouting came, scaring Zhao Ke out of his wits. As he looked up, Xiao Hong stood on a branch, staring at him mockingly, its shiny black feathers especially conspicuous, exclaiming, "Love! Love!"

"Madam, please stop calling," Zhao Ke wished he could cover its mouth, "If the master knew what I’m saying behind his back, he would surely skin me, shut up!"

But Xiao Hong called even more vigorously, its voice as loud as Old General Jih.

There was nothing Zhao Ke could do; if he waited any longer for this damn bird to keep calling, he would surely attract the attention of the entire Duke Residence. Imagining Jih Heng’s smiling face asking him what he had said, Zhao Ke shuddered, and said to Wen Ji, "Well, you keep an eye on it, I’ll go welcome Miss Jiang the Second... See you later!" He slipped away.

Wen Ji took a deep breath, glanced at the smug Xiao Hong standing on the tree, then turned and left.

...

Jiang Li’s carriage stopped at the entrance of the Duke Residence.

The servant greeting guests became more enthusiastic with each of Jiang Li’s visits, to the point that she felt the welcome was almost as warm as at Ye Mingyu’s place. She brought a light golden pony with her, and the gatekeeper servant hesitated, saying, "Miss Jiang the Second, this..."

"It is a birthday gift for Old General Jih," said Jiang Li with a slight smile, "Let it accompany me into the residence."

The servant was dumbfounded for a moment, then said, "Oh, alright."

Giving a pony as a birthday gift is out of the ordinary; this gesture from the lady of the Jiang Family was truly uncommon, no wonder the master also treats her specially.

Jiang Li followed the escort into the Duke Residence and, upon passing by the garden, saw a tall figure practicing swordplay on an open space in front of the flower garden. His swordsmanship was excellent; one could only see the glimmer of silver dashing back and forth like a dragon, his movements agile and vigorous. On closer inspection, the person in a plain white garment with a red sash around his waist was none other than Old General Jih himself.

From his sword technique, one could indeed glimpse his former glory. But perhaps he was exerting too much force, as Sword Qi immediately stirred up many petals in the garden, with petals fluttering down all around. If one overlooked the man, Old General Jih, standing amidst this shower of petals dancing the sword, it would indeed be a delightful sight.

However, Jiang Li vaguely remembered that the flowers in this flower garden were transplanted and nurtured with great care and expense by Jih Heng. The Duke Residence was very large, and there was more than just this open space, yet Old General Jih chose precisely this spot for his sword practice, which could be described as quite willful.