“I’ll kill you!” Bai Hehuai stood up, flicking her wrist to grasp a silver needle.

Su Changhe quickly hid behind Su Muyu. “Then you choose—either of us is fine.”

Bai Hehuai slammed her hand on the table in anger, purple smoke emanating from her palm.

“Now, now, let’s talk this through.” Xin Baicao hurriedly pulled out an incense stick from his robes, lit it, and stuck it on the table. “You’re already releasing Purple Qi of the East—this stuff can kill someone in just a quarter-hour!”

Bai Hehuai snorted coldly. “If it can’t be cured, then forget it.”

Su Muyu lowered his head in thought for a moment before responding, “I have an idea. I can blindfold myself with a black cloth and follow Elder’s instructions.”

Xin Baicao nodded. “That’s not a bad solution.”

“What a clever little devil. Then it’s decided.” Seeing that the purple smoke from Bai Hehuai’s palm showed no signs of dissipating, Su Changhe immediately pushed open the door and left.

Outside, Su Zhe was lying in a chair, smoking and basking in the sunset.

Su Changhe smiled. “Uncle Zhe, you seem quite unconcerned about your daughter’s condition.”

“With Medicine King Xin Baicao here, there’s naturally nothing to worry about,” Su Zhe said languidly. “What are we eating tonight? With the Medicine King gracing us with his presence, shouldn’t we go out for something nice?”

“Come on, speak your mind louder,” Su Changhe encouraged.

“I want to eat at Fortune and Changshou Tower—the thirteen-course feast with a bottle of Falling White Wine!” Su Zhe declared.

Su Changhe patted Su Zhe’s shoulder. “Be even more honest!”

Su Zhe took a deep breath and said sincerely, “I don’t want to eat Su Muyu’s cooking anymore.”

“That’s more like it.” Su Changhe turned to Xiao Chaoyan. “Chaoyan, go to Fortune and Changshou Tower, book the best private room, and order the thirteen-course feast for tonight to entertain our Medicine King nephew who’s come from afar!”

“Understood!” Excited at the prospect of not having to eat Su Muyu’s cooking, Xiao Chaoyan almost jumped for joy as she rushed out toward Fortune and Changshou Tower.

Su Changhe turned back with a smile, looking at Su Zhe smoking his pipe, and suddenly said meaningfully, “Uncle Zhe, don’t you think it wouldn’t be bad to settle down here in South Peace City?”

Su Zhe froze. “What about all the people back at Dark River? Are you just going to abandon them?”

“If there’s one South Peace City in the world, there are ten, there are hundred. Just as we found our South Peace City, they can find theirs. With one command, everyone can scatter to the winds and live lives like this. Wouldn’t that be nice?” Su Changhe replied.

Su Zhe slowly blew out a smoke ring. “But not everyone likes this kind of life. We all came from the jianghu—who doesn’t want to be someone who commands the wind and rain? We’ve stood at the heights, but many in Dark River haven’t yet. They still have ambition. If you put them in South Peace City, it would become a battlefield.”

Su Changhe lowered his head and smiled. “I forgot about that.”

Su Zhe put down his pipe. “I can make this choice, Su Muyu can make this choice, but you can’t because you’re the patriarch.”

Su Changhe changed the subject rather than continue that discussion. “By the way, Uncle Zhe, have you ever attended a wedding feast in your life?”

“In our line of work, we attend funerals. As for wedding feasts, I’ve only attended my own.” Su Zhe lifted his head to look at the sunset, lost in memories. “Back then, while fleeing with Hehuai’s mother, we became husband and wife in a ruined temple, bowed to heaven and earth, and drank our last bottle of wine. That was our wedding feast.”

Su Changhe smiled. “How did that wine taste?”

Su Zhe shook his head. “It was sweet.”

“But Uncle Zhe only drinks strong spirits, and I’ve heard only southern fruit wines are sweet,” Su Changhe said, puzzled.

“It was still strong spirits, but that day it tasted sweet. I usually can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, but that day I was intoxicated, and so…” Su Zhe smiled dreamily.

Su Changhe raised an eyebrow. “And so…?”

“And so we had Hehuai,” Su Zhe said slowly.

“So that’s how it was.” Su Changhe turned around and said softly, “I’ve never had wedding wine myself. If there’s a chance, I hope to have a cup before returning to Dark River.”

Su Zhe sat up. “Changhe, those words carry deep meaning.”

“You understand.” Su Changhe shouted toward the room, “We’re going to Fortune and Changshou Tower for the feast!”

Bai Hehuai immediately pushed open the door. “What what what what? We’re eating at Fortune and Changshou Tower today?”

“Yes, my treat.” Su Changhe pointed at himself with his thumb. “The most luxurious thirteen-course feast, the finest Falling White Wine, all you can drink.”

“Great! Even a scoundrel like you has a kind heart. Those ugly mustache whiskers of yours almost look benevolent now. Let’s go, let’s go—I promise I won’t oppose you today.” Bai Hehuai’s face was radiant with joy.

Xin Baicao was quite puzzled. He glanced at Su Muyu and asked, “My junior master-aunt is usually a complete miser, charging the highest fees among us. She’s quite wealthy, and when she used to take me out, we’d stay at the best inns, eat the finest food, and drink the most expensive wine. Has she had a change of heart, or have you been mistreating her?”

Su Muyu’s expression became awkward as he hesitantly replied, “I prepare all the daily meals at Heyu Medicine Manor.”

Xin Baicao suddenly understood. “Your cooking must be terrible, isn’t it?”

Su Muyu’s brow furrowed—a rare sight—and his tone grew angry. “How can you say it’s terrible when you haven’t even tried it?”

Xin Baicao realized his rudeness and clasped his hands. “My apologies, my apologies. Baicao was discourteous.”

“Then try some.” Su Zhe used his pipe to pick up a piece of something from the table and casually tossed it to Xin Baicao. “This is our Brother Muyu’s osmanthus cake. Please, Medicine King, have a taste.”

“Shouldn’t Osmanthus cake be white?” Xin Baicao looked at the slightly greenish cake in his hand. If he hadn’t been well-versed in medicine and able to tell at a glance that it wasn’t poisonous, he might have thrown it away in fear.

Su Muyu explained, “I added some tea powder to the cake. This way it has not only the fragrance of osmanthus but also the aroma of tea.”

“How thoughtful.” Xin Baicao nodded approvingly and took a bite of the cake.

The atmosphere instantly froze.

Su Zhe’s expression showed pity, Su Changhe’s was full of schadenfreude, and Bai Hehuai turned away, unable to bear watching.

Xin Baicao’s face quickly changed color, and without hesitation, he spat out the osmanthus cake. He then threw away the remaining piece and burst out cursing, “Well, I’ll be damned!”