Chapter 4029 — Clever Ning Xuefei
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Bursting into a strange woman's boudoir and then plunging headlong into her bath—and, what was worse, at the very moment she happened to be bathing—was a thought that alone made Wei Zhao's conscience squirm.
Just as Wei Zhao was wondering how on earth to begin, a dense clatter of footsteps came again from beyond the door, disciplined and well-drilled—the Town-North Guard, surely.
"It was right here just now—I told you there was something wrong with this place!" The first voice to ring out was rather familiar; it was none other than Pockmark, the Town-North Guard who had come knocking the night before.
Wei Zhao's heart lurched. The Assembly Hall was on high alert now, and it was no surprise at all that the fluctuations in heaven-and-earth spiritual energy stirred up by his breakthrough should have drawn these Town-North Guards over.
Still, if he were simply caught like this, it would be a real mess.
The Town-North Guard were elite troops, after all. They had already been frightened off once the night before by Ning Xuefei's background, but now that their suspicions had been roused again—and with such a major incident on their hands—it was simply unrealistic to think he could send them packing with a single sentence a second time.
Ning Xuefei, however, shot Wei Zhao a look and motioned for him to hide in a corner, while she herself rose to open the door. Faced with a pack of doubtful Town-North Guards, she gave them no chance to ask a single question and launched straight into a torrent of complaint.
"And what exactly do you think you're doing? Yesterday I had just bought two top-grade Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pills at auction, and I was at the crucial juncture of breaking through when you lot interrupted me—and now look, the breakthrough failed, all my effort wasted. Is this how the Far North Island treats its guests?" Ning Xuefei pouted, her face the very picture of grievance.
"Er—Miss Ning..." The Town-North Guards exchanged glances, at a loss. Given Ning Xuefei's standing, this black pot she had clapped on their heads was not one that just any of them could afford to bear.
"You came bothering me again last night, and now before the sky is even light, here you are causing trouble again. Is this how the Far North Island treats its guests? Hmph, you tell Steward Song to come tomorrow and pay me back for my pills!" Ning Xuefei scolded furiously, then turned and instructed the little maid who had come running over from next door at the commotion: "Xiaoling, go fetch the clerk from the Hong Clan Merchant Guild. I want to ask whether he has any more top-grade pills. How vexing—they've all been wasted!"
"Ah—yes." Xiaoling shrank back her head and hurried off with tiny, quick steps.
At the sight, the Town-North Guards dared not linger either, and one by one they bobbed and bowed to Ning Xuefei in apology, then scattered in frantic haste.
The time it took to burn a stick of incense later, Xiaoling returned and reported, "Miss, I couldn't find that clerk from the Hong Clan Merchant Guild. Shall I go and ask again once it's fully light?"
Ning Xuefei waved a hand. "No need. I've already had someone else bring him over. You're not needed here—you may withdraw."
"Yes." Xiaoling obediently withdrew at once, and within the room there remained only Ning Xuefei and Wei Zhao once more.
Ning Xuefei blinked her big eyes and puckered her lips at Wei Zhao as though angling for credit: "Hey, you're all right now, aren't you? Don't I look terribly clever?"
"I'm fine now. Thank you for your help, Miss Ning!" Wei Zhao nodded gratefully. Her handling of the situation had not only smoothly fobbed off the Town-North Guards, but also given him a perfectly legitimate excuse for leaving later on. He had not expected that beneath her seemingly careless exterior she was so full of schemes.