Chapter Thirty: Cooperation

  After traveling on the street for half a time, the horse carriage finally stopped. The four people got off the car and saw two big characters "Xu Fu" on the door plaque, looking at the two stone lions in front of the door, everyone couldn't help but think that it was indeed the mansion of the city master! This momentum is not comparable to ordinary families.

  The doorman reported, and the four of them stood outside the door. A moment later, a voice came from inside, "Senior has arrived at my humble abode, I, Xu, have failed to welcome you from afar!" As he spoke, the city master, Xu Zijian, came out.

  "Mr. Xu is too polite, let's all go in!" Sima Chengfeng said with a smile.

  Everyone followed Mr. Xu into the hall, and after Mr. Xu sat down in the main seat, the eldest sister came forward to pay her respects: "Xin Ya has seen Uncle Xu."

  "Oh, it's Xinye! I've been mentioning you a lot these past few days." said Mr. Xu with a smile.

  "Is Nangong today at home?" asked the young lady.

  "She went to the academy early in the morning and hasn't returned yet. I wonder what this girl is busy with?" Mr. Xu said.

  When Mu Sheng heard that the host was not at home, and the young lady did not ask further questions, he stepped forward to pay his respects: "Junior Mu Sheng has seen Lord Xu." Mu Sheng bowed slightly, raised his head to see Lord Xu sizing him up. This close-up look made Mu Sheng feel a bit embarrassed, so he couldn't help but scratch his head, but because he was wearing a hat, he didn't actually touch his hair.

  "Are you the one who defeated that young master from the Song family at the last birthday banquet?"

  "It is indeed Junior," Murong Sheng said respectfully.

  "Hmm, not bad, at such a young age, you already have such accomplishments, it's really not bad." Lord Xu praised.

  Musheng stepped down and sat on the left guest seat, while Sima Chengfeng spoke up: "Xu old brother, today I came mainly to discuss with you about Wuxiang Sect and Wu Fu Chamber of Commerce. Musheng, tell Xu Daren about it."

  "Yes, Uncle Sima", then Mu Sheng told everything about how the Chamber of Commerce merged the business numbers and what the black-clothed man said in the forest that day. After listening to Mu Sheng's words, Lord Xu fell into deep thought. After a while, Lord Xu said: "Brother Sima, what do you think about this matter?"

  Simachen said slowly: "The Chamber of Commerce's merger of business numbers is clearly intended to monopolize the commerce of the five capitals, so they will get the greatest profit. As for who they are doing it for and what their ultimate purpose is, we can't know that for now, but there must be some connection between the Chamber of Commerce and the Wuxiang Sect."

  "What Sima said is not wrong, they have been accumulating wealth with such careful consideration, their purpose is not simple, and we are still under the surveillance of the Wu Xiang sect, this can't help but make one think deeply!" Lord Xu said with some worry.

  "Xu younger brother, Mu Sheng put forward a suggestion." Then Sima Chengfeng told the cooperation between the official family and the Zhao family. Upon hearing about the cooperation, the elder sister looked at Mu Sheng for a moment, then listened carefully.

  Mr. Xu said after hearing: "Musheng's suggestion is feasible, in my opinion, the Chamber of Commerce must have someone supporting it in the court, at least Mr. Xu Qing from Qingzhou Prefecture should be their person. Now we can only adopt Musheng's method." When Miss heard that Mr. Xu agreed to cooperate, she was very happy and her dissatisfaction with Musheng on the carriage disappeared, and she looked at Musheng again unconsciously.

  Mo Sheng was sitting there, feeling fine, when he suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at him. He turned to look and saw the eldest sister hastily dodging her gaze. He thought to himself, "What's wrong with the eldest sister? Is there something on my face? Why is she staring at me like that? I really don't understand women."

  Everyone fell silent for a while, and then Mr. Xu spoke up: "Brother Sima, since you've come to our humble abode today, you must stay for dinner before leaving; let me fulfill my duty as host."

  "Then I won't be polite either, haha!" Sima Chengfeng said: "Musheng and Yaotou, you two go out and play for a while, I'll have a good chat with Brother Xu."

  "That's all for today, let's take our leave." The young mistress and Mu Sheng said in unison. Under the guidance of the maid from the Xu family, the young mistress and Mu Sheng arrived at the rear garden of the Xu family. As expected of a city lord's residence, this rear garden had artificial hills and forests, and its pond was much larger than that of the Zhao family. The green lotus leaves had already unfolded many green leaves. In the pavilion by the pond, the young mistress and Mu Sheng sat down, and soon the maids brought over some fruit. As they ate the fruit, they admired the fish swimming in the water.

  Under the lonely wind, the big sister secretly took a glance at Mu Sheng and saw that he was staring at the lake without moving. It seemed like he didn't have any intention of speaking up, so she had no choice but to speak up first: "Mu Sheng, what do you think of this backyard?"

  Upon hearing the young lady's question, Mu Sheng turned around, picked up an apple and took a bite, saying: "It's really good. The scenery is elegant and refreshing, with a fragrance that is pleasing to people. If we came here in the morning, when the mist is surrounding us, it would be like being in a fairyland."

  "Hey, Mu Sheng, you said we should merge the back gardens of our two families and renovate them together. What do you think?" The young lady asked directly, staring at Mu Sheng.

  "That's good, but wouldn't we become a family then?" Musheng said without thinking.

  When Meisheng said that, the older sister thought to herself, "Can't you just get along with me?" Damn Meisheng, I'm not going to talk to him anymore. So the older sister fell silent, only focusing on eating her fruit with her head down. Meisheng found it strange now - she was fine just a moment ago, but suddenly she's not speaking again? It seems like I didn't say anything wrong! But for now, it's better to stay silent; my mouth isn't very good at talking, and if I offend her again, the rest of our days will be difficult.

  After a while, the young lady saw that Mu Sheng was also silent, and she thought to herself: "This is ridiculous! He's even dumber than a goose, no, he's just a brainless pig!" The young lady was furious at this point, her body shaking involuntarily. Mu Sheng was eating fruit when he suddenly saw the young lady's body trembling uncontrollably, and quickly walked over to her side, placing his hands on her shoulders and anxiously asking: "Xin Ya, are you having a cramp? Do you want me to help you massage it?"

  The young lady almost got angry to death when she heard this sentence. This silly goose, alas! The young lady couldn't help but sigh, but thinking that Mu Sheng was worried about her, her heart warmed up, he still cares about me, feeling Mu Sheng's big hands on her shoulders, the young lady's face felt a little hot, and she thought to herself why he didn't remove his hands yet.

  At this time, Mu Sheng leaned in close to Xiaojie's ear and asked, "Xin Ya, are you feeling unwell somewhere?" A wave of heat came over, and Xiaojie felt her body go a bit soft, just as she was about to lean into Mu Sheng's arms. But then from not far away, they heard, "Xin Ya, when did you arrive?" Recognizing the voice, Xiaojie knew it was Qingfeng who had come over. In order to avoid an awkward situation being seen by Qingfeng, Xiaojie took a deep breath and said, "Mu Sheng, I'm fine, go back to the stone bench!"

  "Oh!" Mu Sheng saw the eldest sister say so, and didn't think much before returning to her seat. Seeing Mu Sheng return to the stone bench, the eldest sister patted her chest, let out a breath, and fortunately wasn't seen. But Qing Jing had already arrived at the pavilion, seeing the eldest sister patting her chest, Qing Jing couldn't help but ask: "Xin Ya, what's wrong with you? Why are you patting your chest?"

  "Oh, I'm a bit hot." The young lady said with some embarrassment.

  "It's hot", Qiang said something strange, the weather is not hot at all! I really don't know what's wrong with her. Seeing Mosheng sitting opposite, Qiang greeted: "Mr. Mu has also arrived!"

  "Ah, I came with Mr. Sima and the others." Murong Sheng said: "Miss Xu, your family's fruit flavor is really good."

  "If it's delicious, then have some more." Qingshuang said with a smile.

  "Ah, I won't be polite." As he spoke, Mu Sheng took another apple and stuffed it into his mouth. His teeth made a "crunching" sound as he bit down on a piece of the fruit. Mu Sheng's eating manner was so amusing that Qing Jing couldn't help but want to laugh, but she managed to hold it in.

  Next, Qianqian also sat down and started chatting with the big sister, but Qianqian always felt that the big sister was a bit distracted today, while Mosheng was eating fruit absent-mindedly.

  It seemed that the young lady was not feeling well, so Qingshu said to Mosheng: "Mosheng, why don't we play a duet today?" Having eaten the host's fruit, Mosheng couldn't refuse now, so he agreed. Qingshu then asked Yuhuan to bring her zither and took a piece of bamboo leaf from the bamboo forest, which she handed to Mosheng.

  After receiving the bamboo leaf, Shuoye asked: "I don't know what piece Miss Xu wants to play together".

  Qing thought for a moment and said, "It was the tune you played in the bamboo forest on my birthday." Qing then turned to Da Xiaojie and asked, "Xin Ya, would you like to dance a segment?"

  "This is unnecessary!" said the young lady.

  "Xin Ya, why don't you dance a segment? It's not like we have anything else to do right now."

  "Right! Xinye, we're good sisters, you can't refuse!" Qingsheng said with a smile.

  The young lady looked at Mu Sheng with a blaming gaze, then nodded in agreement. Next, Mu Sheng and Qing Jing made their preparations, and the young lady walked to an open area in the pavilion. At this time, Mu Sheng and Qing Jing's music began, the young lady's skirt flew up, her beautiful dance moves fluttered in mid-air, her soft hair swaying back and forth without stopping. Mu Sheng played "The Emperor's Daughter" on his flute while watching the young lady dance, this enjoyment was not ordinary! Meanwhile, Qing Jing's piano melody harmonized with Mu Sheng's flute playing, in the clear and elegant music, the young lady was like a fairy, dancing freely.

  The music stopped, and the young lady's dance also came to an end. She gently wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, smoothed out a few strands of silk hair, and then slowly walked over to sit down on a stone bench. Perhaps due to having sweated a bit, she seemed somewhat parched, so she picked up a piece of fruit and took small bites. Noticing that it was quiet around her, the young lady looked up to find Mu Sheng and Cui Qing staring at her. The young lady felt a little shy for some reason and said: "What are you two looking at me for?"

  "Xin Ya, your dance is too good." said Qi Jing.

  Then Mu Sheng continued: "Just like a fairy".

  When she heard the praise, the big sister blushed and said: "How can it be as good as you said? Your songs are also very good!", but in her heart, she was still quite happy to hear the praise from Mu Sheng and Cai Qing. Especially when Mu Sheng said that she looked like a fairy, suddenly, the big sister found that this guy was not stupid after all.