CH 15

“Jing Rou? Who?”

It was the afternoon, and Nie Bufan and the others were drinking afternoon tea in the pavilion, when he heard Zhang Junshi mention a person’s name and he couldn’t help asking curiously.

Zhang Junshi glanced at him: “Jing Rou is the name of the Tian Nu, you didn’t know it for this long?”

Nie Bufan naturally shook his head: “You never told me.”

Zhang Junshi explained: “This Lady Jing Rou is very mysterious. She has been raised by the Mistress of the Divining Heaven Palace for 18 years and has never shown her true face. However, it is said that this woman has the appearance of heavenly goddesses, has a gentle personality, and is very talented. Putting aside the background of coming from Divining Heaven Palace, what man would not be tempted by such a woman?”

“Oh.” Nie Bufan held the teacup, thinking deeply. Jing Rou? Where did he hear this name……

“At present, it seems that no one has discovered the true identity of the Tian Nu.” Zhang Junshi looked at the beautiful Gongzi and ladies walking and chatting by the lake.

“By the way, you two are really not interested in the Tian Nu?” Nie Bufan asked suddenly.

“Fate cannot be forced.” Zhang Junshi smiled lightly.

Li Yi did not even raise his eyebrows.

“You said just now that a woman like the Tian Nu is hard not to be tempted by.” Nie Bufan looked them up and down suspiciously, “You don’t really have that kind of orientation, do you?”

Zhang Junshi twitched the corners of his mouth, looking at Nie Bufan with a weird look, but privately he couldn’t decipher what he felt at the moment. This guy told them so many crooked stories, but now he questioned them? He really didn’t have that tendency himself? Just tell them the stories to play with them? Don’t know who kissed a man in public a few days ago. Was such a thing all inconsequential to him?

Li Yi also gave Nie Bufan a significant look.

“In fact, if you are interested in the Tian Nu, I might be able to help you.” Nie Bufan said again.

“Oh, how can you help?” Zhang Junshi asked curiously.

Nie Bufan looked around, then suddenly lowered his head and said in a low voice, “I think I know who the Tian Nu is.”

Both Zhang and Li were surprised.

“You know?” Zhang Junshi was suspicious.

Nie Bufan let out a few chuckles: “Yes, I’m 80% sure.”

He thought the name “Jing Rou” was familiar, and just now he had recalled where he had heard it.

“Who is it?” Zhang Junshi asked probingly.

“You are not interested, what’s the point of telling you?” Nie Bufan drank tea leisurely.

“To satisfy one’s curiosity is fine!”

“I won’t say it.” Nie Bufan said in self-satisfaction, “If I say it, there will be no suspense. I want to see who can win the beautiful lady in the end.”

Zhang Junshi saw that he won’t be able to pry it from him, so he shrugged.

They didn’t care, but some people took it to heart. The conversation just now was accidentally overheard and as a result, Nie Bufan was kidnapped once again.

Of course, this time the treatment was much better, he was neither tied up nor threatened. But on either side of him, a row of sturdy men stood on each side, filling up a gorgeous room and leaving no vacancy.

The mysterious man who ordered to have him be brought here was hidden behind the curtains, as if too ashamed to be seen.

“Are you Li Xiaoyao?” the person behind the curtain asked, his voice low and a bit imposing.

“It should be.”

The mysterious man said again: “I heard you know the identity of the Tian Nu?”

“How do you know that I know?”

The mysterious man was silent for a while.

Nie Bufan suddenly said with realization: “So when we were in the pavilion yesterday, you eavesdropped.”

The mysterious man continued to be silent.

On the side a big man shouted: “Stop talking nonsense, you should only answer whatever the master asks!”

“Okay, you ask.” Nie Bufan brought a stool and sat down naturally, looking like he would answer all questions.

The mysterious man probably finished mulling over his emotions in the dark before saying: “Who is the Tian Nu?”

“It is said that her name is ‘Jing Rou’.”

“……” There seemed to be a sound of something shattering coming from behind the curtains.

After awhile the person asked in a suppressed voice: “Which one in the Fragrant Illuminating Garden is Jing Rou?”

“What benefit will I get for telling you?”

“……”

Nie Bufan poured himself a cup of tea, and said leisurely: “This is very important information. Whoever finds the Tian Nu wins first.”

“What do you want?”

“Doesn’t it seem like you are too insincere the way you ask?” Nie Bufan picked his ears.

“One thousand silver taels.” The mysterious man said bluntly.

“One thousand taels, it seems not bad.” Nie Bufan smiled, and then said distressedly, “but I am worried that I will not have the life to spend it. For powerful and affluent people like you, you are the best at saying one thing and doing another thing. I can’t take the risk of being silenced with death when I no longer have any value.”

“Impudent! Is our master someone whom you can question?” The previous big man couldn’t help yelling.

“Look, how fierce.” Nie Bufan waved his hand.

“Do you think you can retreat without saying anything?”

“If I don’t say at least it will leave you vexed.”

The big man glared.

“Deng Hong, step down.” The mysterious man first stopped the subordinate who was about to get violent, and then said to Nie Bufan, “Then how will you be willing to say?”

Nie Bufan rubbed his chin: “Seeing that you didn’t use force to intimidate me, then so be it. You sign a contract with me to ensure that after the deal is settled you won’t come back for revenge.”

The mysterious man said coldly: “You want to sign a contract with Ben……me? Do you know who I am?”

“Tsk tsk, just now you act like you won’t threaten with force, now you bring your identity out to intimidate.” Nie Bufan provoked without fear of death, “who do I not know who has participated in the garden party this time, the only one I haven’t met is the legendary Si Chenyu.”

So, what was the point of pretending to be mysterious, he didn’t even have to guess his identity.

The big man wanted to scold again: calling the master by his name is disrespectful!

But, the mysterious man had already gritted his teeth and said: “Since you know, you still dare to talk to me like this?”

“There is no choice, who let it be that the one who has a request is not me?”

“……” This guy was either born without a certain nerve, or he had big balls!

“Well, what is it? My time is precious.”

“……How to sign this contract?” The mysterious man finally compromised. In this extraordinary period, it was better to not add any more trouble. In the future, there will be opportunities to teach this guy a lesson.

The big man brought brush, ink, paper and inkstone to Nie Bufan.

Nie Bufan put on a confident and easy look of a literary man, sweeping his brush across the paper, and in no time the contract was drawn up.

The big man was illiterate and naturally did not know what was written on the paper, so he handed it in respectfully.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )

Then, there was a long silence inside.

Si Chenyu trembled slightly as he held the piece of paper, he had never seen such atrocious handwriting!

And what was written on it?

“I, Si Chenyu, a prince of Yu kingdom, due to receiving Li Xiaoyao’s help, offer a thousand taels of silver to express my gratitude. Afterwards, I must not send someone to kill and seek back the fortune nor deliberately bring false charges against the other party. With the fulfillment on both ends, both will no longer be indebted to each other or connected in anyway.”

At the end, the signatures of the authors and the witness were required respectively.

Just this short dozen words, at least seven or eight were wrong.

It was simply unbearable to look at!

Asking him to sign such a contract was just too undignified!

After struggling internally for a while, he had someone fetch a pen and paper, making a much more accurate and aesthetically pleasing copy of it, and then signed his name in a flamboyant and bold manner.

“Who is the witness?”

“There are so many attendants around you, can’t you just call one?”

Si Chenyu restrained his irritation and coldly called an attendant to sign it.

“So? Are you satisfied?”

Nie Bufan took the agreement and nodded again and again: “Not bad, not bad, worthy of a prince, this handwriting has a fraction of my own spirit.”

“……” How narcissistic are you!

“Okay, I’m done with the contract, what about the silver?”

The big man reluctantly handed over a one thousand taels banknote.

Nie Bufan smiled and picked up the banknote.

“Deal.” He stood up and said, “I will tell you the identity of the Tian Nu when I leave here.”

“Why not say it now?”

“I have to make sure that I am safe! If you kill me in this room as soon as I finish talking, who can I find to avenge me?”

“……”

Si Chenyu suddenly felt that kidnapping this person was the biggest mistake he had made in his life.

Nie Bufan happily walked out of this room, and when he was almost at Zhang Junshi’s restaurant, he whispered the answer to the big man who had been following him.

The big man looked happy and went back to report to his master.

Nie Bufan’s impression of Si Chenyu was not very good, he already possessed wealth, status and handsomeness, and yet he had to enter by the back door (TN: expression that means to gain influence by pull or unofficial channels) in order to get the girl. Disdainful!

After returning, he immediately ordered Tu Beng this and that. The next day, Tu Beng pushed the tea egg stall near Fragrant Illuminating Garden. Seeing a well-dressed man coming out of it, he stepped up and asked in a secretive manner: “This Gongzi, do you want to know the true identity of the Tian Nu? Buy 10 tea eggs and I will gift you this news, it’s top secret, first come first served.”

Eighty percent of the men won’t be able to stand the temptation. Ten tea eggs were only worth that bit. They would rather believe it.

So, the tea eggs were a big seller again, and the identity of the Tian Nu was known to the world the next day……

After hearing this, Si Chenyu was so angry that he vomited blood.

Nie Bufan took the agreement and sighed as he fanned it: “You can’t be merciful when dealing with the rich. Later, make one hundred and eighty copies of this contract, and then hide the original. If that guy wants to go back on his words we will publish this to the world. By the way, this Brother Si actually has a problematic IQ, he didn’t take the contract I wrote, but actually drafted it personally. If there is a pit, one cannot just jump into it!”

If Si Chenyu heard such a view, he might have to vomit up blood again.

And the Tian Nu before she could react, was subjected to many surrounding eyes, and there will be no peace after that. Not only because of the exposure of her identity, but also because of the vast difference between her true image and the rumors. What appearance of heavenly goddess, what gentle and demure, disillusioned, they were all completely disillusioned!

The Tian Nu wanted to cry but she was without tears, she didn’t know how her identity was exposed!

The saddest thing was that she didn’t even have time to cover up.

So, how did Nie Bufan know the identity of the Tian Nu?

The reason was very simple. The last time Jadeite Nineteen set a test for him which was to help her find her missing handkerchief.

Lady Flower not only found the handkerchief, but also a bra……unfortunately, embroidered on the bra was a striking name——Jing Rou.

This matter tells the world, it was best for women not to put any signs that would reveal their identity on their underwear casually, as it would be easy to follow the vine to get to the melon (TN: to track something following clues), to frame and set up……

This Tian Nu husband election was basically destroyed by Nie Bufan to the point it cannot be destroyed anymore……