When he emerged from the Palace of Longevity, the moon hung high in the sky.

Jiang Wuqi ordered a sedan chair prepared to send him back to his residence, but he politely declined.

Coming here was one thing, but returning in a sedan chair from the Palace of Longevity would surely invite speculation.

However, the eunuch surnamed Gao, who attended Jiang Wuqi, still escorted him to the palace gates.

“Qingyangzi…”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.” Eunuch Gao said courteously, “Please take your time.”

Jiang Wang didn’t say much, cupped his hands, and left.

Before the spar, Jiang Wuqi had said that the battle was only for mutual verification, and the outcome should not be spread.

Therefore, the only ones who knew the result of this spar, besides him and Jiang Wuqi, were this Eunuch Gao who had been guarding outside the hall.

Jiang Wuqi… was indeed extraordinary.

Leaving the Palace of Longevity, Jiang Wang walked home alone, reviewing the battle as he went.

Yes…

He had a “home” in Linzi now.

If An An could come and live here permanently, how wonderful that would be.

On such a night, even though he, Jiang Qingyang, was renowned throughout Linzi, few people on the road recognized him.

Walking into the clean and wide streets of Yaoguang Quarter, Jiang Wang suddenly heard a voice—

“It’s alright, let him go first.”

The voice was still distant, but his hearing was excellent, allowing him to hear it clearly.

Interestingly, it was Xie Baoshu’s voice.

He had just been thinking how unlikely it was to run into him, and yet they had encountered each other so quickly.

It seemed there was still some fate at play.

Jiang Wang walked a bit further, turned a street corner, and saw a large sedan chair stopped in the middle of a narrow alley. Not far ahead of the sedan chair, a frail old man was slowly making his way with a walking stick.

This alley was a shortcut to the main street ahead, Zhengyang Street. It seemed the Xie residence’s sedan chair, taking the shortcut, had instead gotten stuck here.

Combining this with the scene before him, it seemed the Xie residence’s servants had intended to hurry the old man along, but Xie Baoshu inside the sedan chair had stopped them.

It was surprising to see this side of Xie Baoshu, who was usually so annoying.

He wasn’t always asking for a beating, was he!

Jiang Wang shook his head and smiled. The Chinese character for “person,” formed by a single stroke and a single hook, was more complex than anything in the world. The more people he met, the more aspects of human nature he saw, the more he felt that single sword strike of “Person” was still far from encompassing.

The Jiang residence bestowed by the Emperor was also accessed from Zhengyang Street.

Jiang Wang walked past the large sedan chair with a relaxed air. Although the alley was small, it wasn’t so narrow as to block pedestrians.

However, just as he walked past, the sedan chair window was sharply pulled down.

A voice, neither loud nor soft, came from inside the sedan chair: “A petty person who’s gotten his way!”

Jiang Wang’s teeth immediately began to ache. Sure enough, he had misunderstood! This was the real Xie Baoshu!

He immediately turned around, sword at his waist, and stood before the Xie residence’s large sedan chair.

He called out, “You, come out!”

The sedan bearers of the Xie family wouldn’t fail to recognize Jiang Wang, and their expressions were all a little tense.

And Xie Baoshu suddenly lifted the sedan chair curtain, leaned out halfway, belligerent and glaring at Jiang Wang: “What do you want!”

He would never forget how, after the Grandmaster’s Ceremony, Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng, those two rotten eggs, had specifically gone to the Imperial Hospital to taunt him. It had angered him so much he had almost suffocated. If only he hadn’t been injured at the time, he would have fought those two desperately.

Now, this Jiang Wang went to the Yellow River Assembly and came back to live in Yaoguang Quarter, becoming his neighbor!

He had been bothered by it for a long time, but because his uncle was strict, he hadn’t caused any trouble.

But today, returning home, he had been blocked in this small alley for half a day, and this person surnamed Jiang had just swaggered past. Wasn’t that mockery?

Of course, he, Xie Baoshu, couldn’t tolerate it!

So what if he was the number one Inner Mansion? Wasn’t he still just an Inner Mansion?

And his Outer Mansion, Xie Baoshu’s, was not just an empty frame!

It would be better to fight now, to show the world why the Outer Mansion came after the Inner Mansion!

At this moment, in this small alley.

Four sedan bearers stood silently, the large sedan chair suspended in the air. The handsome Xie Baoshu, with one hand pressing the sedan chair curtain against the door, leaned out halfway, glaring down fiercely at Jiang Wang.

And Jiang Wang stood tall, sword held, looking back. Behind him, gradually receding, was an old man who seemed a little hard of hearing, limping forward.

A moon hung in the sky, and the ground was covered with white moonlight.

What a picture of confrontation in a small alley!

Jiang Wang grinned: “So obedient!”

He turned around and swaggered away, shattering the atmosphere.

Xie Baoshu still stood there, his forehead veins throbbing with anger.

What was that supposed to be?

Are you a three-year-old child?!

He wanted to curse, but his vocabulary of profanities was seriously lacking.

He only cursed bitterly: “Let’s see how long your luck lasts!”

“Ah, speaking of luck…”

Jiang Wang, who had already walked away, turned back leisurely, smiling at Xie Baoshu, making clicking sounds with his tongue: “You’re the lucky one! Otherwise, with your strength, if you had gone to the River Observation Platform…”

He looked Xie Baoshu up and down twice, shook his head with a look of regret, and turned around to walk away.

He didn’t say anything more, but there was no need to.

As the saying goes, you hit a person where it hurts and expose their weaknesses when you curse them.

Being three-on-one at the Grandmaster’s Ceremony and being knocked unconscious by Chongxuan Zun was a humiliation that Xie Baoshu was ashamed to mention.

At this moment, he was so angry he couldn’t speak for a long time.

At the end of this small alley, the path branched. To the left was Zhengyang Street, and to the right was out of Yaoguang Quarter.

Jiang Wang walked quickly to the left.

With his current status as a third-rank official, he was the only one who could strike first. If he didn’t make a move, even with ten times Xie Baoshu’s courage, he wouldn’t dare attack him in the street.

Of course, he wouldn’t fight Xie Baoshu in the street. There was no benefit in winning, and he would lose if he lost.

Just bullying him like this was quite enjoyable.

He would be living in Yaoguang Quarter for a long time in the future. It seemed this could be considered a long-term leisure activity.

In a place where neither Jiang Wang nor Xie Baoshu could see, the old man who had been walking slowly with a stick had already walked out of Yaoguang Quarter to the right.

His walking stick was gone, and his hunched back had straightened. A glimmer of cold light flickered between his fingers several times before finally disappearing. Then he pulled on a cloak and vanished into the night.

Xie Baoshu was truly very lucky.

Unfortunately, he himself didn’t know it.

When Jiang Wang returned to his residence, the butler stepped forward to greet him: “Lord, you have an invitation.”

The servants at the residence were all arranged by Chongxuan Sheng. Among the several candidates for butler recommended by Chongxuan Sheng, Jiang Wang had chosen the most low-key and humble one. His name was Xie Ping, he had a wife but no children, and his background was clean and clear.

“Who sent it?” Jiang Wang asked casually as he walked in.

“It’s from the Crown Prince’s residence,” the butler said.

Today was truly unusual.

He had just seen the Eleventh Prince, and now the Crown Prince was looking for him.

Did he also want to see if his number one Inner Mansion could defeat an Outer Mansion?

Jiang Wang took the invitation, glanced at the time—it was for him to enter the palace tomorrow morning—and handed it back, saying, “Keep it. I’ll go tomorrow.”

“Yes.” The butler carefully put away the invitation. He would go to the Palace of Perpetual Joy later to deliver a reply, informing the other party that Qingyangzi had agreed to visit.

Jiang Wang then asked, “Is Young Master Chongxuan at the residence?”

Since he had moved to his new residence, Chongxuan Sheng had also shamelessly come and occupied a courtyard. He said his own separate residence was too remote, and he was unwilling to live in the Marquis of Bowang’s residence.

The butler said, “He went out at noon and hasn’t returned yet.”

“Alright, got it.”

He had nothing to worry about regarding Chongxuan Sheng. That fatty wouldn’t be at a disadvantage no matter who he dealt with.

He nodded and walked inside.

After the Grand Ceremony, Jiang Wang clearly felt that his influence within the entire Qi state was rapidly increasing.

Many people and many things needed a certain reaction time. And the feedback to Jiang Wang himself was like a continuous wave.

He was truly at the center of attention.

Why would the Crown Prince, with whom he had never had private contact before, send an invitation to meet him?