Chapter 125: The Third Prince’s Manor

Jun Huang didn’t expect Nan Xun to give her an answer so readily. The next day, she told Ji Bo to wait on the south street. She and Nan Xun would stay in a tea house nearby, watching from one of the booths on the second floor.

The minister did show up. Behind him were a group of servants. He walked the street like a fox flaunting its master’s power. The bystanders avoided him like the plague. Clearly the minister had been terrorizing the locals.

Ji Bo spotted the minister immediately. With a smile, he ran onto the street and knocked into the minister. Nan Xun and Jun Huang could tell from their vantage point that he had done it on purpose. Both Ji Bo and the minister staggered back after the collision.

Before the minister could curse Ji Bo out, a piece of blood jade fell out of Ji Bo’s clothes and tumbled to the minister’s feet.

With a panicked expression, Ji Bo ran to pick up the jade, but the minister beat him to it, turning the jade over in his hand appreciatively.

The jade was indeed a rare treasure. Its appearance had a translucent quality to it. Crimson red crawled along the jade as if there was blood pulsing under the surface. The name blood jade couldn’t have been more fitting.

Among the officials who weren’t rich enough to afford such jade, the minister happened to be the one who understood jade the most. As Ji Bo and Jun Huang expected, the minister’s eyes were glued to the jade the moment he laid eyes on it. He wanted to make it his.

“This is the only thing supporting my family and myself, sir!” Ji Bo said when the minister was about to leave. “You can’t just take it away!” He ran up to stop the minister from leaving.

The minister’s expression changed faster than one could turn a book page. He threw Ji Bo a cold glance and said, “This is

Nan Xun nodded. He finished the last of his tea before taking Jun Huang’s cup and chucking the remaining liquid. He was studiously implementing the doctor’s order to stop her from consuming too much tea. Jun Huang huffed out a laugh.

“Since we have done what we are here for, we should both return home,” said Nan Xun as he fixed his sleeves.

Jun Huang nodded. She glanced at the street before getting to her feet and smoothing over her wrinkled robe. She then followed Nan Xun downstairs.

Jun Huang turned down Nan Xun’s offer to walk her back, but Nan Xun insisted. Resigned, she let Nan Xun escort her.

The third prince took Ji Bo back to his manor. Even though the prince had said a few words in support of Ji Bo in front of the minister, Ji Bo knew that the prince wanted the jade for himself as well. Ji Bo didn’t say anything. He wanted the prince to be the one to initiate the conversation.

Call him stubborn, but Ji Bo was sure the prince would ask him for the jade of his own volition.

Nan Xun kept thinking about what had happened earlier as he walked Jun Huang back. He stared at the ground with his brows furrowed. Jun Huang had noticed his troubled expression when they left the tea house. She had kept quiet about it.

Finally, Jun Huang came to a stop and turned to Nan Xun. “I know you have a lot of questions. You can just ask me. Don’t keep it in until you worry yourself sick.”

Since Jun Huang was so open about it, there was no reason for Nan Xun to dwell on the question on his own. He asked, “Are you confident that this plan will work?”