Chapter 80: Tales of Lu Ruoxi

Su Rong let out a soft, amused laugh, her bright eyes twinkling under the warm room light. "Sit, sit. Dismiss the formalities. I’ve kept you waiting for half an hour, so the least I can do is invite you for a proper cup of tea and apologise for my absence. I didn’t know you would come so early."

Lu Feng took his seat across from her at the polished wooden tea table, watching as Su Rong skillfully poured two cups of steaming, amber-colored tea.

"I must thank you for the hospitality downstairs," Lu Feng remarked, taking a small sip. "Your staff treated me as if I were a visiting guild master."

"You are a guest of mine, Lu Feng," Su Rong replied, setting the porcelain teapot down. "And to be frank, I have been looking forward to this conversation since the moment I heard your name yesterday."

Lu Feng set his cup down, his gaze sharpening slightly. "Because of my resemblance to Aunt Ruoxi?"

Su Rong leaned back against her silk cushion, her expression softening into a mixture of fondness and subtle sorrow. "Yes. The resemblance is undeniable. But it isn’t just your face, Lu Feng. It is the way you carry yourself, the quiet sharpness in your eyes, and the underlying stubbornness. You bear the exact same mark of the Lu family—and more specifically, the mark of someone who has been cast out by them."

Lu Feng’s eyes narrowed slightly, though his posture remained composed. "You knew I was exiled?"

"I didn’t need a spy network to figure that out," Su Rong said with a gentle sigh. "The Lu family’s known for exiling their failures. When Ruoxi was exiled all those years ago, she looked at the world with the same quiet defiance I see in you right now. I suspected you were going through the exact same ordeal the moment you stepped into Crimson Vale City."

Lu Feng let out a low, breathy laugh, shaking his head. "There is no point in denying it then. Yes, I was exiled. Since I’m from the main clan, they decided my presence was no longer required."

"Idiots, the lot of them," Su Rong stated plainly, her tone laced with disdain. "They throw away genuine talent and keep the bloated, arrogant fools who flatter the elders." She paused, her eyes wandering toward the window as if looking decades into the past. "Ruoxi and I... we were sworn sisters, you know. Back when we were both young, wild, and utterly broke."

"Sworn sisters?" Lu Feng repeated, leaning forward with genuine curiosity. "Aunt Ruoxi rarely spoke about her younger years in detail. She always glossed over her time in the commercial districts."

"That doesn’t surprise me," Su Rong chuckled softly. "We were inseparable back then. When I was starting out in the merchant trade and Ruoxi was trying to establish her own footing after being cast off by her family, we shared everything. We ate from the same cheap bowls, slept in the same drafty attic rooms, and swore an oath under the full moon to rise to the top of Crimson Vale City together."

Su Rong’s smile slowly faded, replaced by a darker, more somber look. "But as we grew older, the city grew harsher. It was a time of immense political and economic strife across the region. Every faction, every merchant guild, and every rising clan was aggressively building businesses, grabbing territory, and trying to carve out a name for themselves."

"And Aunt Ruoxi got caught in the crossfire?" Lu Feng asked softly.

"She did," Su Rong said quietly. "Ruoxi was brilliant—far too brilliant for her own good. Her trade strategies were sharp, and her talent drew the attention of the bigger merchant conglomerates. They pressured her incessantly to join them, to hand over her trade routes, or to sell out her independent network. But she refused to bow to them. And because she was my sworn sister, and because I was rapidly becoming one of the most powerful women in the city’s commercial sector, her association with me made her a prime target."

"A prime target?" Lu Feng frowned. "Targeted by whom?"

"By my rivals," Su Rong answered, her voice dropping into a cold register. "They couldn’t break me directly because the Grand Crimson Pavilion had already granted me protection. So, they targeted Ruoxi instead. She began receiving anonymous threats. Her supply wagons were raided. Shady figures started trailing her every step. It reached a point where staying in the open city meant constant danger for her life. The pressure became unbearable, and eventually... she was forced to abandon her businesses and go into hiding completely."

Lu Feng remained silent for a long moment, processing the weight of her words. He had known his aunt lived a quiet, secluded life, but he had never fully understood the web of greed and power that had pushed her into the shadows.

"I tried to find her, of course," Su Rong added softly, looking at Lu Feng with a faint glint of regret. "I used every contact I had in the pavilion, but Ruoxi was always meticulous. When she chose to vanish, she erased her tracks completely. Until you walked in yesterday, I had no idea where she had gone or if she was even still alive."

Lu Feng offered a small, reassuring nod. "She lived peacefully and she probably is still doing so, Senior Sister Su. Away from the schemes and the city’s noise."

"That... brings me more comfort than you know," Su Rong murmured, exhaling deeply before shaking her head, a sudden spark of nostalgic humor returning to her eyes. "Ah, but listen to me getting all somber. Ruoxi would slap my shoulder if she saw me looking this pitiful! We had plenty of good times too, you know. Chaotic times."

Lu Feng raised an eyebrow, a faint smile touching his lips. "Chaotic times?"

"Oh, absolutely," Su Rong laughed, a rich, genuine sound that filled the quiet tea room. "Do you want to know what kind of woman your aunt really was behind that proper facade? Let me tell you about the time we robbed Boss Fang."

"Boss Fang?" Lu Feng asked.

"A fat, perverted small-time merchant who ran a silk shop in the Lower District," Su Rong grinned, leaning her elbows on the table. "He thought he was a big shot because he had two low-level bodyguards. One evening, he invited Ruoxi and me to his private dining room under the pretense of discussing a major silk contract. But the moment we sat down, he locked the doors, poured poisoned wine, and started making disgusting, explicit demands, telling us we wouldn’t leave the room unless we surrendered ourselves to him for the night."

Lu Feng’s eyes flashed with a sudden coldness. "What happened?"