Chapter 317 - 249: The Fall of Huangpu

Chapter 317: Chapter 249: The Fall of Huangpu

Flower Square, Jufu Pavilion.

After all this time, Jufu Pavilion had become one of the few high-end restaurants in Huangpu Guard. To say its business was booming would be an understatement; describing it as raking in a fortune every day was no exaggeration.

This wasn’t just because Jufu Pavilion had an elegant atmosphere and a chef with astonishing skills. More importantly, it was backed by the great tree that was Flower Square.

In the Huangpu Guard of today, you could disrespect the provincial inspector—after all, Great Yan was finished, so the inspector was worthless now. But the one person you could not afford to disrespect was Third Brother.

That wasn’t to say Third Brother was all that remarkable herself.

The key was that no one could afford to provoke that young master.

This was especially true after all sorts of rumors from the north arrived with traveling merchants, turning Flower Square into a place no one dared to cross.

After all... he was a Martial Arts Grandmaster, the genuine article!

At this moment, Third Brother stood by the window watching the bustling crowd outside, but there was little joy on her face.

"What’s the date today?" she asked suddenly.

Ninyun, standing behind her, immediately replied, "Third Brother, it’s the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month."

"The eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month..." Third Brother tilted her head back and exhaled, murmuring, "Xiaowu has been gone for two or three months now, hasn’t he?"

"Today is the seventy-seventh day!" Ninyun stated.

Ever since becoming the Shopkeeper of Jufu Pavilion, this young woman, Ninyun, had developed a strange obsession with numbers.

"It’s been so long, and not even a single letter. That Xiaowu is really... always making me worry," Third Brother said softly. It sounded like a complaint, but it was filled with concern.

Although she had heard that Wu Liangchen had become a Grandmaster and made a great name for himself in Kyoto, she couldn’t shake the worry in her heart.

Moreover, she had keenly sensed that something was amiss.

Recently, the number of East Sea people in Huangpu Guard had suddenly increased. The figures of ronin in wooden geta could be seen on every street and alley.

These people didn’t seem like much usually, but once drunk, they showed their true colors. They would shout, pick fights, and stir up trouble—they were capable of anything.

Because of this, Flower Square had had to deal with these drunken ronin more than a few times lately.

The emergence of this situation put Third Brother, who had fought her way up from the bottom of the jianghu since childhood, on high alert.

Although she didn’t know what these East Sea people were planning, it definitely wasn’t anything good.

So, for the past few days, she hadn’t gone anywhere, choosing instead to hold down the fort at Jufu Pavilion. She had also ordered all her subordinates to be on their toes and not let their guard down for a moment.

And as if on cue, just as Third Brother was observing the situation below, a large crowd suddenly formed less than a hundred meters from Jufu Pavilion. The sounds of a heated argument drifted up.

Mixed in with the noise was a lot of jabbering.

The East Sea language!

A cold glint flashed in Third Brother’s eyes. She immediately stood up and hurried downstairs.

Although the argument wasn’t happening inside Jufu Pavilion, it worried Third Brother more than if it had been.

Because the dispute was taking place right where old Uncle Bai had his wonton stall.

’If Uncle Bai gets bullied by these East Sea people, I’ll have no way to explain it to Wu Liangchen.’

Fortunately, everyone in Flower Square worked for Third Brother. They all naturally recognized the old man with the stall next to Jufu Pavilion and knew he was Brother Xiaowu’s father-in-law, so by the time Third Brother arrived, the dispute was already over.

At the scene, two glass panels on the wonton cart were smashed, but Uncle Bai himself was unharmed.

The East Sea troublemakers, on the other hand, were in a miserable state.

Each of them was bruised and swollen, and the leader even had a broken arm.

But even so, their faces were full of defiance, and they stubbornly refused to back down.

"Uncle Bai, what happened here?" Third Brother asked.

The still-shaken Uncle Bai finally explained, "I was selling wontons when these guys came up and cut in line. They were pushing and shoving the other customers, shouting and yelling, so I said a few words to them. Who would’ve thought they’d just start smashing things..."

Wen Yunlong, who was standing nearby, added to Uncle Bai’s explanation.

"Third Brother, what Uncle Bai said is true. If the brothers hadn’t been nearby and jumped in when they saw things going south, these guys would have completely smashed his wonton cart."

Wen Yunlong’s tone was very hostile as he spoke.

This was because, over time, Uncle Bai’s wonton cart had become a fixture of Flower Square’s night market.

The younger brothers, in particular, were especially fond of Uncle Bai’s wontons.

It wasn’t hard to understand why.

With business at Flower Square booming, they had to stay busy late into the night before they could rest.

And just when they were exhausted in body and mind, Uncle Bai would always be there to offer them a bowl of piping hot wontons.

A single sip of the hot broth was enough to drive away the chill and fatigue of the winter night.

On top of that, Uncle Bai was a friendly man. Once they got to know him, he would even exchange a few harmless jokes with the younger brothers.

All of this had made the wonton cart a totem in the hearts of many of the younger brothers.

If the night market were without his presence, it would always feel like something was missing.

So one can only imagine how furious they were when they saw the respected Uncle Bai being bullied by a few ronin from the East Sea.

This was evident from the bruised and swollen faces of the East Sea ronin.

You could say that every younger brother in the vicinity had gotten involved.

If Third Brother had arrived any later, those ronin probably wouldn’t have even been able to stand.

Hearing this, Third Brother also seethed with anger.