Chapter 4625 — A Visitor
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Little Lan'er, stop for a moment," Shangguan Tianxia said suddenly.
"What is it, Grandfather?" Lan'er asked, puzzled. Had the sun risen in the west today—was she to be excused from calligraphy as well?
"Go brew some tea. We'll have a visitor shortly," Shangguan Tianxia said with a faint smile. Apart from her outstanding gift for calligraphy, his granddaughter's talent for the tea ceremony was the finest he had seen in his life. She was good at everything, in fact—only her dislike of cultivation was a little vexing.
"Which one, Wuqing or Xingnü?" Lan'er asked. For someone of Shangguan Tianxia's standing, the spirit tea he served was naturally the finest grade, rarely seen on the market. Yet strictly speaking there were grades even among these: Wuqing was the lesser, generally reserved for the likes of elders of the Three-Tier Pavilion, while Xingnü required at least a pavilion master of that house.
"Bring out some Lujian," Shangguan Tianxia said, still writing.
"What? Who on earth is coming today?" Lan'er was startled on the spot. Lujian was her grandfather's most treasured spirit tea—he had gone to enormous trouble to collect a mere few taels, and ordinarily could not bear to drink it himself. Only when close friends and kin came by, and the talk grew merry, would he grudgingly bring out a tiny bit, wincing at even one mote too much. And today he was willing to break out the Lujian? What wind was blowing?
"This is someone you know, Lan'er," Shangguan Tianxia said, deliberately keeping her guessing.
"I know them?" Lan'er tilted her head and thought. "Could it be Grandpa Hong? No, that can't be—you've always only ever served him Xingnü. Then it must be some great personage from the outer islands?"
In Lan'er's eyes, the only person in all of North Island whose standing might make her grandfather part with something as precious as Lujian was Hong Zhong, his old friend of many years—and even he rated only half a claim. Not even the masters of the other two pavilions enjoyed that privilege. Thinking it over, it could only be some great figure from the outer islands.
Shangguan Tianxia chuckled but offered no explanation, so Lan'er went off to brew the tea, perplexed. Some half an hour later, someone outside triggered the formation's ward. When Lan'er opened the door, full of misgivings, she froze where she stood.
"Little Junior Brother, what are *you* doing here?" Lan'er's eyes went wide with astonishment, and she made no effort to hide her shock.
"Ah?" Wei Zhao was startled in turn by her strange reaction. "What is it? I've come to call on Master Shangguan—is that so odd?"
"Not odd, not odd at all. But Grandfather is very odd," Lan'er said, her expression growing stranger by the moment.
"What do you mean?" Wei Zhao was taken aback.
"Hmm, I don't know either." Lan'er blinked. It occurred to her that the Lujian might not have been meant for Wei Zhao at all—but since he had happened to arrive, she would certainly not let good water flow to an outsider's field. Waste not, want not: she would serve the Lujian to Wei Zhao first, and whatever grand personage from the outer islands showed up afterward could be dealt with when they came.
Lan'er promptly dragged the bewildered Wei Zhao into the study and announced to Shangguan Tianxia, "Grandfather, Little Junior Brother has come to see you. I'll go pour the tea for you both." (To be continued...)
...R640