Brocade Robe Unparalleled

Chapter 26 Gift
As Lin Xuan left Ningxiangzhai, she carried a heavy cloth bag filled with cosmetics such as rouge, face powder, and lip balm.

These items cost him nearly fifty taels of silver.

Although he could buy cheaper ones, these things could be life-saving in a critical moment, so there's no need to save money.

Lin Xuan had just stepped down from the shop steps, preparing to merge into the crowd on the street, when someone walked towards him.

It was a woman with a beautiful face and a shapely figure; she also seemed to be there to buy things at Ningxiangzhai.

Lin Xuan glanced at the woman once, then immediately looked away.

Tian Qingluan subconsciously looked up and saw a woman walking out of Ningxiangzhai.

A hint of amazement flashed in her eyes at first, but as she passed the woman, she seemed to sense something, suddenly turned around, looked at the woman, and asked in confusion, "Miss, haven't we met somewhere before?"

The woman looked at her with a confused expression and shook her head, saying, "Miss, you must have mistaken me for someone else. I am new to Sizhou and have never seen you before."

Tian Qingluan looked puzzled. The face in front of her was indeed unfamiliar, yet it also gave her a strange sense of familiarity.

However, since the other party denied it so readily, she didn't press the matter further. Instead, she gave an apologetic smile and said, "I'm sorry, I was wrong."

The woman nodded slightly, said no more, and turned to walk into the crowd on the street.

Only after her figure disappeared did Tian Qingluan turn around, the familiar feeling still lingering in her heart.

Just then, a pretty young girl came out of the shop to greet them, affectionately taking Tian Qingluan's arm and saying with a smile, "Sister Qingluan, it's been so long since you've been to Ningxiangzhai! The shop recently received a new batch of fine rouge, and the shopkeeper specially instructed that one of each be reserved for you..."

At a street corner, Lin Xuan looked back and thought to himself, "That was close."

He was almost recognized by Tian Qingluan just now. It seems that there is still a lot of room for improvement in his disguise skills.

Just as he was about to go home to continue practicing, Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow, glanced behind him out of the corner of his eye, and took another step forward.

But he didn't go in the direction of home.

After passing through several sparsely populated alleys, Lin Xuan finally entered a quiet, deserted dead-end alley.

When he turned around again, three shirtless men blocked the alley entrance, leering at him.

"Hehe, little lady, don't be in such a hurry to leave!" The scarred man at the head of the group rubbed his hands together and approached step by step. "Aren't you tired carrying so much stuff? Do you want your brothers to help you carry some?"

"Exactly, it's so lonely being alone. Why not hang out with a few brothers and have some fun?"

"Tsk tsk, what a lovely face..."

"It's just that her chest is a bit flat..."

"It'll do alright, it'll be fine..."

A skinny thug, leering, walked up to Lin Xuan, reached out and touched his face, saying, "Come on, let your brother give you a kiss..."

But the next moment, the lewd smile on his face turned into pain, his features contorted as he screamed, "It hurts! Let go!"

Lin Xuan released his grip, and the rogue's wrist had turned purple and blue. He clutched his wrist, curled up on the ground in pain, and wailed, "My...my hand is broken!"

Seeing this, Scarface sneered, stepped forward, and tried to put his hand on Lin Xuan's shoulder, laughing, "San Gou, you used all your energy on women last night, didn't you? You can't even handle a little girl like this, you're a disgrace to me..."

Without a word, before the scarred man could even touch him, Lin Xuan's fist, carrying a sharp gust of wind, slammed into the scarred man's still lewdly grinning face.

"boom!"

A dull thud sounded, and Scarface only managed to utter half a scream before he was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the wall before sliding down softly, his face covered in blood, his fate unknown.

The other two were terrified when they saw this.

What kind of young lady is this? She sent Brother Dao flying with just one punch!

Lin Xuan looked at the only rascal still standing. Upon seeing this, the rascal suddenly drew a dagger from his waist, waved it wildly in front of him, and said in a trembling voice, "You, you stay away!"

Lin Xuan slowly walked towards him.

The rogue gritted his teeth, a ruthless glint appearing in his eyes, and suddenly stabbed the dagger into Lin Xuan's abdomen.

Lin Xuan gently raised his hand and casually grasped the sharp blade of the dagger.

At the same time, his right knee suddenly rose and slammed into the opponent's abdomen!
The rogue's eyes bulged out, bile mixed with blood gushed from his mouth, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Lin Xuan threw away the dagger; his hand was unharmed, but the dagger was slightly chipped.

The skinny rascal was terrified. Ignoring the pain in his wrist, he scrambled to his feet and turned to run. Lin Xuan flicked his toe, lifting half a brick from the ground, and delivered a powerful, mid-air kick!
The blue bricks blurred into afterimages and landed precisely on the ruffian's back!

"puff!"

The ruffian spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsed to the ground, and fell silent.

In just a few breaths, three fierce-looking hooligans lay sprawled in the filthy alley like tattered sacks.

Lin Xuan patted off non-existent dust from the corner of his clothes, walked to the three of them, took the bulging money pouches from their waists, weighed them in his hand, and placed them in the cloth bag.

He then quickly tidied his slightly disheveled clothes and hair, his face regaining its gentle and harmless expression, and calmly merged into the noisy crowd outside...

……

In Lin Xuan's small courtyard.

A Luo was squatting by the well in the yard washing vegetables when she turned around and looked at Lin Xuan, asking, "Brother Lin, isn't today a day off? What were you doing this morning? I came looking for you but you weren't home..."

"I went out to take care of some things this morning." Lin Xuan didn't explain in detail, and asked, "Did you need something from me?"

A Luo shook the water droplets off her hands and smiled, "It's nothing, I just wanted to ask what you wanted to eat today. Since you weren't here, I decided to make the decision myself."

Lin Xuan suddenly remembered something and asked, "Where do you usually sell your pastries?"

A'Luo asked, "What happened over on East Street?"

"East Street?"

Lin Xuan thought for a moment and said, "East Street is far from home, why would you want to set up a stall there?"

A Luo tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and said, "The market on East Street is the biggest and most bustling, and business is the best there, so I set up my stall there..."

Recalling today's experience, Lin Xuan said, "The security in Sizhou City isn't very good. You're a young lady, and so beautiful, so it's easy for you to run into danger. It would be better to find a place closer to home."

A Luo's cheeks flushed slightly, and she lowered her head shyly, whispering, "I'm not that pretty..."

Aro clearly lacks a proper understanding of her own beauty.

Lin Xuan has personally experienced today what kind of trouble 'beauty' can bring.

He didn't say anything more and planned to visit her stall the next day.

The local chieftains, large and small, in Sizhou might not take the Jingbian Division seriously, but as a banner officer, he was more than capable of intimidating the local ruffians, hooligans, and bullies.

Remembering something, Lin Xuan went into the room and came out a moment later, handing A Luo a small, exquisitely carved sandalwood box, saying, "This is a gift from someone when we escorted the caravan last time. I don't need it, so you can take it."

Aro asked in surprise, "What is this?"

Lin Xuan said, "A box of rouge."

A'Luo didn't refuse. She reached out and took it, saying with a smile, "Thank you, Brother Lin. This is the first time someone has ever given me rouge..."

Seeing Zhang Hu appear at the courtyard gate out of the corner of his eye, Lin Xuan casually remarked, "That caravan deals in cosmetics..."

To avoid her misunderstanding, Lin Xuan had no choice but to say that.

The truth is, when he tried on makeup at Ningxiang Pavilion today, he felt that this rouge was very suitable for A Luo, so he bought it on a whim.

She not only buys groceries and helps with the cooking every day, but also takes on the dirty work of washing dishes and pots. Lin Xuan wanted to give her a small gift to express his gratitude.

These days, the man in the black robe comes over every night.

Although his attitude towards Lin Xuan has improved a lot compared to before, Lin Xuan still feels a lot of pressure every time he faces him.

This pressure is effectively released when spending time with A-Luo.

Even though the time I spend with her each day is short, it is still very meaningful.

Zhang Hu walked up to the two of them, glanced at the small box in A Luo's hand, and said in surprise, "Isn't this the 'Jade Cream' that Ningxiangzhai just launched? This little box costs six taels of silver. My wife has been pestering me for days for it. Sister A Luo, it seems you make quite a bit of money selling pastries, you can afford such rouge..."

A Luo put away the rouge, stuck out her tongue, and said, "I can't afford something this expensive. It was a gift from Brother Lin."

Zhang Hu raised an eyebrow and looked at Lin Xuan in surprise. Had this guy finally figured it out?

He chuckled and said, "No wonder. Six taels of silver is nothing to you, Brother Lin. He's a favorite of Commander Wu right now, and countless people in the Jingbian Division are eager to curry favor with him. I wonder which lucky girl will be able to marry him in the future..."

(End of this chapter)