Unsheathed

For the next two days, Chen Ping'an brought Pei Qian and Zhu Lian with him as he wandered around and visited the shops in the capital. Meanwhile, Shi Rou stayed back in the inn to look after their rooms and belongings.

The streets were indeed bustling, and because of the grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism, the capital of the Azure Phoenix Nation was filled with all kinds of people from the three teachings and hundred schools of thought. Some sought fame, while others sought material benefit. Of course, there were also people like Chen Ping'an who were purely here to enjoy the scenery and also purchase some local specialties of the Azure Phoenix Nation.

Perhaps due to their familiarity with Chen Ping'an, neither Pei Qian nor Zhu Lian found it strange that Chen Ping'an liked to visit and wander around bookshops. However, the extremely perceptive Shi Rou noticed some clues. When wandering around the bookshops of various sizes, Chen Ping'an almost never touched those new books with high-quality prints. He showed little interest in the classics of the hundred schools of thought as well.

Rather, Chen Ping'an would almost always flick through the unofficial history records of minor officials as well as the Local County Chronicles of various nations and other similar types of miscellaneous books. In addition to these, he would also read over the clan genealogy books that were often tucked away in the corners. However, Chen Ping'an never purchased these books after flicking through them.

This had caused many bookshop owners to roll their eyes at him.

Fortunately, they were accompanied by Zhu Lian who liked to spend carelessly whenever he had money. Thanks to his help, they weren't scolded by the shopkeepers and kicked out of the bookshops.

As for Pei Qian, she was most likely considering the fact that Chen Ping'an had bought the most renowned and expensive Xuan paper in the Azure Phoenix Nation for himself, following which he had bought a pair of imperial green glazed Go stone containers for Zhu Lian and a small gourd for her. He had spent an exorbitant amount of money, far more than what he would usually spend.

Thus, even if Pei Qian saw some items that she genuinely liked, she would only steal a few glances at them and not ask her master to purchase them for her. In any case, the treasure box that Yao Jinzhi had given her was truly full to the brim already, and it would be impossible for her to put anything else inside. Perhaps she should ask her master for a brand-new treasure box? Pei Qian mulled over this for a moment, but she eventually decided against doing so. Even though her master had earned some grain rain coins in the Lion Garden, he had already purchased several items for her and the others. That being the case, she would ask about a new treasure box the next time her master earned some money.

At the end of the day, this was simply because they were poor.

Pei Qian felt slightly sad, not knowing when she would be able to collect a large number of treasure boxes that were all filled to the brim with treasures. Old Cook Zhu Lian had once told her that there was something even bigger and better than treasure boxes—the treasure shelves owned by those wealthy clans. Only by filling such treasure shelves up could one truly possess a dazzling array of treasures. Indeed, people's jaws would drop to the ground when they saw such a magnificent display of rare and expensive treasures.

While wandering around the streets and shops these past few days, they had heard some small pieces of news that were just barely relevant to them.