Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Xu Lingguang took a slow breath, quietly pinched Lan Jian's ear, and whispered, "You're amazing."

Having grasped the lifeline of the Gongyang family, it's no wonder they are so fearless.

Lan Jian's ears twitched, she looked up at him, but didn't respond.

Huaiqing, being very perceptive, had all the signature dishes served, then bid farewell to Huaiyi and left.

Once everyone left, the restless cubs jumped up from Youyu's arms and excitedly climbed to the table to prepare for their meal.

The dishes at Wenxianju looked quite impressive, with more than a dozen dishes laid out in abundance, all appealing in color, aroma, and taste. They were so tempting that even Xu Lingguang, let alone the cub, was starting to feel hungry.

He placed Lan Jian on a cushion beside him, poured himself a glass of wine, then shook the bottle and asked Lan Jian, "Want a drink?"

Lan Jian sat upright and nodded reservedly.

Xu Lingguang poured him a glass of wine, raised his glass to clink with his, and said with a smile, "I'm so glad you were here today."

Otherwise, a fight would be inevitable.

Xu Lingguang still finds it funny when he thinks about Gongyang's bluish-red face.

Lan Jian twitched its tail and said somewhat awkwardly, "It's nothing."

Xu Lingguang finished his wine in one gulp, savored the subtle fruity aroma, then leaned closer and asked Lan Jian mysteriously, "Do you own a lot of businesses?"

Lan Jian, unsure if his sudden question indicated he had sensed something, hesitated before replying, "It's acceptable."

Xu Lingguang's face flushed slightly from the alcohol. He leaned on the table, his eyes fixed on Lan Jian, relentlessly pressing for an answer: "What does Shang Ke mean?"

Lan Jian said vaguely, "Some of the larger cities have them."

Xu Lingguang's eyes widened a little more, and without realizing it, he moved closer to Lan Jian, his eyes sparkling as he looked at him and said, "Sounds impressive. Does that mean I can use your name anywhere from now on?"

He pondered that Chongxue's title of "Master of Qianjin Tower" was so prestigious, and Lanjian had already cooperated with her, so she must have a good reputation outside, right?

He leaned closer, his lips almost touching Lan Jian's ear: "Do you have a nickname that terrifies people just by hearing it?"

Lan Jian: "..."

Yes, it exists, but I can't say.

So he pursed his ears and replied, trying to appear calm, "No, it's all just empty fame."

Xu Lingguang sat up straight with some disappointment, took a sip of wine, and muttered, "There isn't any."

Lan Jian sensed the disappointment in his tone and asked with some confusion, "You care about this a lot?"

His pointed ears twitched slightly. He wondered if Xu Lingguang really cared about it, should he find an opportunity to reveal his identity to him?

Xu Lingguang waved his hand: "No, no, I was just asking casually."

Although he said no, his eyes were not as bright as they had been when he looked at Lan Jian.

Lan Jian glanced at him, wagged her tail, and tried to explain herself: "Too much fame brings a lot of trouble."

In his early years, he established the Thousand Gold Pavilion simply to facilitate his collection of necessary items. It was quite unexpected that he would later leave a notorious reputation in the human realm.

He had not expected that cultivators in the mortal realm would be so weak.

From then on, all sorts of people were openly and secretly investigating his whereabouts, and there were also many men and women who wanted to take the opportunity to befriend him or even throw themselves into his arms. He was extremely annoyed and even went down the Ailao Mountains less often after that.

Lan Jian earnestly defended herself, but as soon as she finished speaking, she saw that Xu Lingguang was not listening at all. He was turning his head and watching with great interest as Yu Rong licked an empty wine glass.

Xu Lingguang forbids the cubs from drinking alcohol, but apart from Youyu and Zhaoling, Yurong, Yunfeng, and Muyun are all incredibly clever and mischievous.

In the short time that Xu Lingguang and Lan Jian were talking, Yu Rong secretly took a sip of wine from the wine pot.

The wine from Wenxianju is different from the fruit wine brewed by Xu Lingguang himself. Although it has a fruity aroma, it has a strong aftereffect.

Yu Rong secretly took a sip, and soon became dizzy. She collapsed onto the cushion, lying on her back with her legs in the air, licking the empty cup.

Xu Lingguang originally wanted to discipline the disobedient little cub, but the drunken furball was just too cute, so he put the discipline out of his mind and occasionally poked Yu Rong's round, soft belly with his finger.

The drunken cub was a bit duller than usual. Xu Lingguang poked him, and it took him a while to react. He turned his head and looked around with a dazed look, muttering, "Who attacked me?"

After looking around for a while and not finding anyone, he turned back to the wine glass in his arms, concentrating on his battle of wits.

Xu Lingguang was charmed by his cuteness and, after watching him for a while, couldn't help but hug Yu Rong and rub him: "You're the one who secretly drank alcohol."

Yu Rong kicked her paws in his arms and babbled, "Delicious!"

Xu Lingguang burst into laughter at his joke.

Completely unaware that Lan Jian was quietly staring at him from the side.

Lan Jian watched for a while, then hummed softly, "Heartless."

*

Huaiyi was right; the Gongyang family soon came to apologize.

The apology didn't even last overnight. Xu Lingguang had just finished eating when Huai Qing came to deliver a message that the Gongyang family was requesting an audience.

Xu Lingguang was actually a bit fed up. He had already vented his anger, so he couldn't be bothered with what happened next. Besides, he still wanted to take the cubs shopping, so he waved his hand and said, "You guys go and handle it."

Seeing this, Huaiqing had no choice but to look at Youyu.

Youyu turned to look at Xu Lingguang.

Xu Lingguang was bending down to hold the dizzy Yu Rong in his arms, while his other hand was still holding Yun Feng. Zhao Ling and Mu Yun were also on his knees. He clearly didn't care about the Gongyang family's affairs.

He then said, "Let's handle it according to the old practice. Second Brother doesn't care about these trivial details."

Having received confirmation, Huaiqing bowed slightly and withdrew.

At this moment, Xu Lingguang had already hung all four cubs on his body and looked at Lan Jian, who was sitting upright to the side, and said, "Let Youyu hold you?"

Lan Jian glanced at the cubs clinging to him so confidently, and could only nod reluctantly.

Seeing that he had no objections, Xu Lingguang, holding the cubs, said enthusiastically, "Let's go, let's go explore Junan City."

As they descended from the top-floor private room, they brushed past the Gongyang family.

Gongyang Songfeng was among them. He stared at Xu Lingguang in disbelief and said, "Didn't you say that the Second Young Master and the Young Master had something to do and were no longer at Wenxian Residence?"

Is the person in front of me a ghost?

Huaiqing clearly doesn't respect the Gongyang family and is blatantly lying.

The other members of the Gongyang family did not recognize Xu Lingguang. Only after hearing Gongyang Songfeng's words did they realize that the young man who had just brushed past them was actually the second young master of Qianjinlou. They all looked at Huaiqing with uncertain expressions.

To everyone's surprise, Huaiqing showed no sign of embarrassment at being exposed. He cupped his hands and said confidently, "The Second Young Master and the Young Master are busy with important matters and truly have no time to entertain you all."

Gongyang Song of the Wind: "..."

With his whole family in tow, if he really had something important to attend to, he'd take his head off and give it to Huaiqing!

This Qianjinlou is really going too far!