Chapter Ninety-Two: First Encounter (I)

Tao Ming had no choice but to obediently change back into her dress and sat in the main hall waiting for the meal to be brought. Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long before she heard a man at the courtyard gate call out, “Lunch!”

Just as Tao Ming was about to go out and fetch the food, Su Nanxing came out of the bathroom holding the hands of the two little ones and said, “I’ll get it.”

The young servant waiting at the gate with the meal was startled to see Su Nanxing come out personally and quickly bowed, exclaiming, “How can we trouble the Seventeenth Young Master to do this himself?”

Su Nanxing, wishing to make his attitude clear, raised his voice and said, “Da Ya and Xiao Ya were disrespectful to the young lady and have been expelled from the residence. If anyone else dares to be so blind in the future, don’t blame me for being merciless.”

The servant stammered, “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare.”

As Su Nanxing returned through the gate, those who had been hiding nearby to observe quickly dispersed to report what they had seen.

Carrying the food box back into the hall, Su Nanxing watched as the two little ones chattered away at the table and sighed, “This is the first time the four of us have sat down to a meal together as a family.”

The servant hurried back to the main kitchen and repeated Su Nanxing’s words with great animation.

A scullion asked, “They say the Seventeenth Young Master is especially handsome. Did you see him?”

The food servant, still lingering in fear, replied, “He didn’t even let me step into the courtyard, so of course I didn’t see him. You should have seen the expression on his face. If I’d said a single wrong word, I might never have come back!”

Everyone chimed in, “The Seventeenth Young Master is usually known for his gentle manner.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve never seen him angry.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Embarrassed, the food servant retorted, “Da Ya and Xiao Ya—you all know they were personally sent to the Star-Picking Courtyard by the lady, and now they’ve been driven out. Do you really think you’re more important than they were?”

With that, within less than an hour, every servant in the Su household knew: it was better to offend the Seventeenth Young Master than the Seventeenth Young Lady.

Tao Ming, of course, had no idea that her reputation had already spread throughout the Su household. At this moment, she was sitting in a carriage, following Su Nanxing to conduct a site visit at the northeast corner of the imperial city.

Su Nanxing was driving the carriage himself. Inside, Tao Ming held one child in each arm, the three of them gazing out the window.

Compared to Yunxian City, which she had seen before, Tiansheng Imperial City was far more bustling. Shops lined the broad streets, most of them four or five stories tall. Just the restaurants they passed numbered no less than twenty or thirty.

There were also shops selling pastries, fabrics, jewelry, furniture, daily necessities, and even flowers. Tao Ming couldn’t help but marvel at how well the residents of the imperial city knew how to enjoy life!

Ruanruan and Nuonuo, naturally, had eyes only for food. Every time they saw a snack shop, they asked Tao Ming what was being sold and begged to try it. Tao Ming had to promise they would stop on the way back.

It was just after noon, and the sun was bright. There weren’t many pedestrians on the street, but plenty of carriages went back and forth.

After about half an hour, the carriage stopped. Su Nanxing climbed into the compartment and handed Tao Ming a white gauze veil, instructing gently, “Darling, cover your face.”

Tao Ming put on the veil and pulled out three sun hats—one large, two small. One could never be too careful with sun protection!

After getting out, Su Nanxing stored the carriage away. Tao Ming asked curiously, “You have a treasure pouch that can store living things too?”

Su Nanxing looked at her in surprise. “I am a young master of the Su family, after all. Is that so strange?”

Tao Ming hurried to flatter him, “Not strange at all, perfectly natural.”

Looking around, Tao Ming saw that they stood at the corner of a crossroads, facing a street.

The street was not very wide—at most ten meters across—with rows of uniform three-story buildings on either side. The place bustled with people. Tao Ming remarked, “This feels a bit like strolling through an old town on Earth.”

Carrying the two children, Su Nanxing walked on and explained, “This is the main street in the area I told you about. If we go straight for another fifteen minutes, we’ll reach the northeast gate.”

Tao Ming acknowledged him and followed, looking all around.

After a few steps, Su Nanxing asked, “Is there anything in particular you’d like to see?”

Ruanruan pointed across the street. “There seems to be something tasty over there.”

Tao Ming didn’t mind; after all, they were here to investigate, and it couldn’t hurt to look around.

The four of them walked to the shop Ruanruan had pointed out. The signboard read “Liu’s Pastries”—it really was a pastry shop. Tao Ming wondered how Ruanruan knew that, since she couldn’t even read yet!

Ruanruan, excited, leaned forward to go inside. Su Nanxing smiled and went in, with Tao Ming close behind.

The shop was spacious, easily over a hundred square meters, with shelves along the walls displaying a dazzling array of exquisite pastries—far more varied and refined than those Tao Ming had seen in Xin Feng Town.

There were four customers inside—two men and two women, seemingly a group. One of the women wore a veiled hat.

Only one shop assistant was present, busy serving the customers.

Noticing Tao Ming’s group entering, the assistant greeted them, “Please wait a moment.”

Su Nanxing nodded and, following Ruanruan’s directions, began to examine the shelves one by one.

One of the four customers, hearing Ruanruan’s voice, turned around and, recognizing Su Nanxing, called out, “Is that the Seventeenth Young Master of the Su family?”

Su Nanxing turned and, seeing who it was, responded, “Brother Chen, it’s been a long time.”

He leaned closer to Tao Ming and said in a low voice, “That’s Chen Cheng, the sixth young master of the Chen family from the west of the city. The Chen family is among the top ten in the imperial city.”

Chen Cheng came over, glanced at Tao Ming’s face, then smiled at Su Nanxing. “I never expected to see you accompanying a beautiful lady on a shopping trip.”

Su Nanxing smiled back, “It’s only right to accompany one’s wife. Aren’t you doing the same, Brother Chen?”

Tao Ming wondered to herself—do people here also use the term ‘shopping’?

Chen Cheng extended an invitation, “Since fate has brought us together today, why not go upstairs to a private room and chat for a while?”

Su Nanxing wished to help Tao Ming integrate into the city’s social circle and asked her in a low voice, “Would you like to? I hear Chen Cheng’s wife is straightforward; you two might get along.”

Tao Ming hesitated briefly, then nodded her agreement. There was no avoiding it—sooner or later, she would have to interact with these people. Who knows, they might become important clients in the future.

Seeing Tao Ming agree, Chen Cheng instructed the assistant, “Bring a plate each of your best-selling pastries to a room upstairs.”

The assistant acknowledged and went to pack the pastries.

Chen Cheng called his companions to go upstairs. Su Nanxing followed, but Ruanruan pouted, “Daddy, we haven’t bought the snacks yet!”

Su Nanxing went to the assistant and said, “Pack a box of each kind for takeaway.”

The assistant beamed with joy and agreed repeatedly.

Tao Ming asked, “May I ask, why is such a large shop staffed by only you today?”

The assistant was a bit puzzled but answered, “There are usually six of us. The others have gone to deliver pre-ordered pastries to various households and will be back soon.”

So, this shop offered home delivery service.

Tao Ming thanked him, which startled the assistant into a flustered, “You’re too kind, too kind.”

Tao Ming decided to keep quiet to avoid frightening the assistant further.

Following Su Nanxing up to the second floor, they saw a young attendant standing by the second door on the right. On seeing Su Nanxing’s party, he announced, “Young Master Su, my young master is waiting for you inside.”

Su Nanxing nodded and stepped inside.

Tao Ming, a step behind, noticed that the door bore no sign, then withdrew her gaze and followed.

Upon entering, she saw two women near the door, one sitting and one standing. The seated woman greeted her, “Young Lady Su.”