Chapter 788: Surprisingly Well-Behaved

「In the carriage.」

Ye Qianning sat at the very back, Sang Zhi sat on the left, while Qian Fanji and Gu Shuo sat on the right. Fortunately, the carriage was large enough, or they wouldn’t have all fit.

Ever since they got into the carriage, the atmosphere inside had been a little strange.

Qian Fanji was the first to speak. "Eighth Prince, you and my daughter are no longer children. You must be mindful of propriety when you interact."

"Don’t worry, Uncle Qian. I know my manners," Sang Zhi replied obediently.

Hearing this, Ye Qianning and Gu Shuo both glanced at Sang Zhi, a hint of surprise in their eyes.

At that moment, Sang Zhi sat quietly, a faint smile on his face, and even his red eyes seemed a bit gentler.

Hmm...

’He certainly does look well-behaved like this...’

Qian Fanji sized him up for a few moments. "As long as you know."

The rest of the journey was silent. No one spoke again.

Ye Qianning felt that Sang Zhi always seemed to treat her father with respect. Back when they were children, she knew he was quite respectful of her father, but she hadn’t expected him to be so respectful toward Mr. Qian and Gu Shuo as well.

Her father had said Sang Zhi was bloodthirsty by nature, but she still found it hard to believe.

Right now, the quiet Sang Zhi didn’t seem much different from when he was a child. The only thing that had changed was his aura, but it was normal for a martial artist’s aura to change.

’Mad...’

She had taken his pulse. Although his body had some issues, they weren’t severe enough to cause madness.

By the time they returned to the Immortal Sea Building, it was already noon. Zhan Chi had been summoned by Li Mu to the Yangchun Inn; apparently, an imperial edict had arrived from the Capital City.

Gu Shuo was also called away by some people from the chamber of commerce. The Four-Nations Commerce Convention was only a few days away, and they probably wanted to sound him out.

Qian Fanji stayed in the restaurant for a while before he, too, was called out to discuss business.

He owned several mining veins. For one of them, a coal mine, the coal had always been sold to Nanyuan at a low price. The entire mine hadn’t turned a profit in ten years.

Given the current situation, it was naturally impossible to keep selling the coal at rock-bottom prices.

When Ye Qianning learned that Qian Fanji had been selling coal at cost for ten years, she was truly impressed. After all, the annual profit from a single mine was no less than the revenue from the aquatic trade.

If the coal and aquatic products could offset each other, it meant he basically wasn’t making any money off Nanyuan.

Nanyuan was truly insatiable.

Ye Qianning had lunch with her master. She was just about to go upstairs to find Sang Zhi when she saw them. Before she had even reached the stairs, Luo Wen, Luo Xuan, and Du Ying entered, leading several dozen people from the Xianyue Sect.

"Young Miss."

The three of them knelt in greeting.

"What is all this?" Ye Qianning asked, puzzled.

Luo Wen stood up, stepped aside, and gestured to the people behind him. "This is your Sect Leader."

The dozens of people from the Xianyue Sect knelt in unison. "Greetings, Sect Leader."

Their resonant voices were deafening.

The diners downstairs were all startled, their heads turning in unison to look upstairs.

"There’s no need for this. Please, rise."

Ye Qianning was just a figurehead. She hadn’t contributed in the slightest for ten years, so she felt unworthy of this grand gesture.

"Young Miss, you are the head of the Xianyue Sect. This is as it should be," Luo Xuan said.

Ye Qianning looked at Luo Wen and the others. Ten years had passed. The young lads from back then had weathered many storms and matured into steady, reliable men.

’It was all because of her back then...’

’She couldn’t shake the feeling that she had screwed them all over...’

’She had proposed so many things, but in the end, she hadn’t done a single one. She’d just washed her hands of it all and left.’

’She’d left them to foolishly hold onto the hopes she had given them, to pursue them as a dream, step by step. The bitterness and hardship they must have faced...’

"As long as we knew the Young Miss would return, no amount of hardship mattered," Luo Wen said, his voice thick with emotion as his eyes reddened.