I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

#586 - Goodbye, Old Friend (Additional chapter for the leader Bamboo Leaf Seed Cake)

Chapter 583: Seeing an Old Friend Again (Bonus chapter for Alliance Master Bamboo Leaf Crisps)

The days seemed to have calmed down. Since meeting the Old Madam that day, Zhang Chen's family had settled down in Lychee Garden.

Since that day, Zhang Chen had never seen the Old Madam again, nor had he seen Shen Zhen, the head of the Shen family.

Inside the small courtyard,

the stove emitted scorching heat, boiling the tea. Madam Zhang picked up the teapot, filled Zhang Chen's cup, and then tentatively opened her mouth, saying something seemingly out of nowhere: "Have you noticed it?"

"Noticed what?" Zhang Chen's gaze shifted from the tea to Madam Zhang across from him.

"You are the Old Madam's own grandson, but since that day you met the Old Madam, half a month has passed, and you haven't had the chance to see the Old Madam again. The meaning behind this is thought-provoking," Madam Zhang said, afraid that Zhang Chen was too young to understand the ways of the world, so she was giving him a hint:

"As the Old Madam's direct grandson, you've come from thousands of miles away. Even if she doesn't summon you every day, she should at least call you over every few days, right? Now, not only can't you see the Old Madam, but you can't even see Master Shen. Except for that Shen Xu who comes to visit every few days, the entire Shen mansion seems to have forgotten about us," Madam Zhang said, looking at Zhang Chen with a serious expression.

"I know what you mean. Compared to the Old Madam's own son, I'm just an outsider after all. When my mother was alive, she might have been loved by the Old Madam, and even by the entire Shen family, but after all, people change. The Old Madam has different degrees of intimacy in her heart," Zhang Chen said, "You don't need to tell me, I know everything."

Madam Zhang took a deep breath upon hearing this, but didn't say anything more.

Cheng Yu was sitting in the sunlight practicing Qi, while the two little ones were tempering their bones and polishing the Qi and blood in their bodies.

Just as the family was in a harmonious atmosphere, there was a knock on the door, and then a familiar figure appeared outside the gate: "Older cousin, Jiang Nan is here to visit."

At this time, Jiang Nan was dressed in black, looking more solemn and imposing than before.

"Miss Jiang Nan, why are you here?" Madam Zhang stood up quickly after seeing Jiang Nan's arrival, her face full of enthusiasm as she greeted her.

"I have a good relationship with my older cousin, so I came to visit, and brought some household items along the way." Behind Jiang Nan, the little maid Mi Gao was carrying two large packages on her back, following behind with a worried look.

Zhang Chen quickly stepped forward, took the packages, and placed them on the ground, then looked at Jiang Nan: "Miss Jiang, please have a seat."

"I call you older cousin, but you call me Miss Jiang, that's too distant," Jiang Nan muttered dissatisfied.

Zhang Chen quickly changed his words upon hearing this: "Cousin Jiang Nan, please have a seat."

"That's more like it." Jiang Nan smiled upon hearing this, and then bowed to Madam Zhang before taking a seat.

Madam Zhang retreated, leaving only Zhang Chen and Jiang Nan sitting in the courtyard. Zhang Chen poured tea for Jiang Nan: "How are you living in the Shen family?"

Jiang Nan picked up the teacup and took a sip upon hearing this: "Although I'm still comfortable, it's not as comfortable as being at home after all. The food, clothing, and expenses are much better than at home, but it doesn't have the taste of home."

Zhang Chen didn't laugh upon hearing this, but asked: "How is Guangji Prefecture now?"

"No news." Jiang Nan's expression was a little serious.

Zhang Chen fell silent upon hearing this. This matter involved the struggle between the Salt Gang and the Shen family. Especially behind the Salt Gang, there was also the Canal Gang. The Canal Gang was the big trouble. They were targeting the Shen family. Even within the Canal Gang, there were shadows of the White Lotus Sect and the Yellow Turban Taoists.

Guangji Prefecture was the last port leading to the Northern Territory, one of the most important ports in the world. If the Salt Gang took Guangji Prefecture, it would be like biting off a huge piece of fat from the Shen family.

Jiang Nan's father, Jiang Zehai, was the Shen family's son-in-law, absolutely trusted by the Shen family, so he was placed in such a key position.

Zhang Chen glanced at Jiang Nan upon hearing this. He couldn't interfere with or change this kind of power struggle. He had even foreseen Jiang Zehai's fate. I'm afraid Jiang Zehai won't have a good end. If Jiang Zehai's identity wasn't unusual, and he was a confidant personally promoted by the Great Victory Emperor, I'm afraid that Shen Min, not Jiang Zehai, would have had his head chopped off last time.

But even so, if those big salt smugglers were really forced into a dead end, I'm afraid they would also kill Jiang Zehai.

Jiang Nan took a sip of tea at this time and said: "Guangji Prefecture is the last water transportation node connecting Jiangnan to the Northern Territory and the demon race. It is of great importance. Especially, I heard that inland private salt is rampant recently. Many salt traffickers transport private salt through Guangji Prefecture. My father strictly cracked down on private salt and confiscated hundreds of thousands of tons of private salt, which touched the interests of many people and caused the Salt Gang to suffer heavy losses."

Hearing Jiang Nan's words, a hint of murderous intent appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes. When he passed through the customs seven days ago, Xiao Douding was ambushed by that group of Salt Gang bandits. He still had a blood debt to settle with the Salt Gang.

"I wonder if there are people from the Salt Gang in Jinling City." Zhang Chen had a thought in his mind, and then shook his head secretly: "Jinling is the Shen family's base camp, how could they allow the Salt Gang's tentacles to extend over?"

"By the way, what's going on with the Shen family and the Salt Gang? The Shen family occupies 70% of the canal transportation in the world, how could the head of the direct daughter be beheaded by the salt smugglers?" Zhang Chen's heart was full of confusion, how dare the Salt Gang do this?

"There is no evidence to prove that the Salt Gang did it. Behind the Salt Gang is the Canal Gang. The Canal Gang has received support from unknown forces and wants to compete with the Shen family for control of the world's rivers, so the situation is so complicated."

Zhang Chen fell silent, and then Jiang Nan put down the teacup and looked at Zhang Chen: "What about you? What are your plans for the future?"

Zhang Chen was silent for a long time before saying: "Go with the flow."

Jiang Nan was stunned upon hearing this. Just as she was about to say something more, a voice came from outside the door. Three servants came to the courtyard carrying food boxes and said lazily to Zhang Chen and his party: "It's time to eat!"

The other party's figure was loose, and the whole person looked lazy and very impolite.

Jiang Nan frowned upon seeing this, but she was an outsider and didn't want to scold them. And Zhang Chen also didn't want to scold them, after all, he was also an outsider.

The three servants opened the boxes, revealing the food inside, which turned out to be a few coarse grain buns and two plates of stir-fried green vegetables. As for meat dishes, there were none.

When Zhang Chen saw the food, his expression suddenly changed. His blood puppet had possessed Lai San, so he naturally knew the rules of the mansion clearly. The food in front of him was the food of the Shen family's second-class steward.

What is a steward? It's a servant!

Moreover, above you stewards, there are first-class stewards. First-class stewards have a meat dish for each meal, and above that is the level of the chief steward Lai Changrong.

When his party came to the Shen family, they were considered guests of the Shen family, this food was definitely not for entertaining guests!

Jiang Nan naturally knew the things that Zhang Chen knew even more clearly, so she frowned and looked at the servants: "You guys wait a minute, did you bring the wrong food?"

"Reporting to Miss, this food was specially ordered by the steward above. We servants will never bring the wrong food," the servant replied respectfully, immediately putting away his lazy attitude in the face of Jiang Nan's inquiry.

"Which steward ordered this? It's simply against the rules! Take this food away and bring new food," Jiang Nan scolded with an ugly expression.

The servants looked at each other, and finally could only helplessly pack up the plates, but at this moment, a red figure appeared outside the door: "Older cousin, don't blame us. When the servants in the mansion bought meat and vegetables today, they bought a little less, which led to not enough meat and vegetables today, so we can only wrong our older cousin and ask our older cousin to eat some vegetarian dishes."

Shen Ling's voice was full of smugness, obviously all of this was her doing.

Jiang Nan frowned, and was about to say something more, but was stopped by Zhang Chen. Then Zhang Chen turned his head and glanced at Shen Ling: "It's just some coarse grains, we have eaten grass roots and bark on the way to escape, let alone these coarse grain cornbread?"

"Moreover, there are also carefully cooked green vegetables, which are indeed rare delicacies."

As Zhang Chen spoke, he picked up a cornbread and beckoned his younger brothers and sisters to come over and eat.

Zhang Chen ate easily and naturally, not feeling that the coarse grains were unpalatable at all, and Madam Zhang and others were not fools. They had already realized that the other party wanted to deliberately cause trouble. In order not to cause trouble for Zhang Chen, they each picked up a cornbread and put it to their mouths to eat in small bites.

"Hmph! From now on, it will be cornbread and pickles every day, and the green vegetables will also be removed. Since our older cousin likes green vegetables, then we will let him not even have green vegetables to eat, let him eat pickles," Shen Ling's voice was full of sarcasm, and she said to Jiang Nan: "Cousin, why are you with this bumpkin? Let's go quickly, lest we be stained with the bumpkin's earthiness."

As she spoke, she pulled Jiang Nan up and walked towards the door.

Jiang Nan smiled bitterly, looked at Zhang Chen apologetically, and then could only follow Shen Ling towards the door.

"He is also the Old Madam's grandson after all. Is it a little too much for you to ask him to eat the food of servants? If it reaches the Old Madam's ears, wouldn't you be punished?" Jiang Nan advised Shen Ling.

Shen Ling didn't think so upon hearing this: "Who would care about them? How could this kind of news reach the Old Madam's ears? Who would be nosy?"

"This group of criminals want to rely on my Shen family to suck blood and put my Shen family in danger. It's already good enough for me to give him coarse grains to eat. You must know that once their identities are exposed, I'm afraid the imperial court will be furious, and the Shen family will also be implicated," Shen Ling's voice was full of disdain: "If it were up to me, I would just drive them out, why waste food?"

"He is also your fiancé after all. How should you two get along in the future after you marry over?" Jiang Nan advised.

"I will not marry him! I would rather die!" Shen Ling's voice was firm: "I will only marry Brother Zhang Gaoqiu!"

Speaking of this, Shen Ling turned her head and looked at Jiang Nan with a suspicious face: "Why are you there? When did you have contact with him?"

ps: Bonus chapter for the Alliance Master "Bamboo Leaf Crisps", second chapter.