However, Shui Yixuan gave Jiang Xue the best care, placing a charcoal stove in her carriage. His meticulous care for her was evident to everyone in the manor, and some things naturally remained unspoken.

At night, they lodged at the nearest town to the manor. In their group, ten tall horses walked ahead and behind the two carriages. Shui Yixuan didn’t bring anyone else, only his twelve guards, two drivers, and arranged for a maid for Jiang Xue. A total of fifteen people, which was a considerable entourage.

In this town, there was only one inn. While the innkeeper was preparing the meal, Shui Yixuan said something.

"Mu Yuan has just received a task. The other party is offering thirty thousand gold coins to buy the head of Murong Han, the Sixth Prince of Blue Moon!"

The siblings, Jiang Xue and Han, have names containing the same characters as in "Fishing Alone in the Cold River Snow," suggesting her name, Jiang Xue, has special significance.

Murong Han’s name was all too clear to Jiang Xue. The other party crossed borders to find an assassination organization and reached Shui Yixuan, indicating the business scope of the Holy Water Manor is quite extensive?

"Who is the other party?" Jiang Xue didn’t seem too surprised and calmly looked at Shui Yixuan.

"Noble Princess Consort Hua’s family, the Lanyue Bai Family." Although he already knew the answer, Shui Yixuan still felt a little displeased when he mentioned it.

"But rest assured, your brother is not simple. He actually studied under the Tianshan Taoist. His martial arts are unfathomable, and he has accomplished a lot at a young age. If he were useless, he would have been ambushed long ago, how could he still be alive today?"

In the original text, they spent two million taels of silver to buy the brother’s life, how come in this lifetime it’s only thirty thousand gold coins? Quite a difference indeed.

"How are you going to deal with the Bai Family?"

"Naturally, we’ll play along with them. So stingy, even a prince’s life fetches only thirty thousand gold coins; it’s an insult!"

When Jiang Xue saw Shui Yixuan’s expression, she couldn’t help but laugh, "So, that’s just their asking price, you’ll still need to negotiate, right?"

"Of course, any business that comes knocking, we won’t be polite, especially since they’re dealing with our famous miser, Mu Yuan. Once Mu Yuan starts talking, he can directly scare them away. However, given our strength here, if they are sincere, they should at least be able to bring out one million silver notes."

Jiang Xue showed an understanding expression and raised a finger, "One million taels?"

Shui Yixuan shook his head and said two words quietly, "Gold!"

Jiang Xue chuckled, "Looks like this task was accepted by that miser Mu Yuan? Fits his bold style, but you’re not really going to assassinate my brother, are you?"

In the next instant, Jiang Xue’s smile was gone because Mu Yuan just happened to hear this sentence and was staring at her coldly.

"They’ve already paid a deposit of 500,000 gold taels, and there’s no reason not to do the job, of course, we have to execute the task!"

Eh??? Jiang Xue, beads of sweat forming on her forehead, looked at Mu Yuan in disbelief, but Mu Yuan didn’t give her a glance and went on his way.

Jiang Xue anxiously tugged at Shui Yixuan’s sleeve, "Hey, you’re not really going to kill my brother, are you?"

"I’m afraid it’s not just us. The other party is so ruthless, they must have reached out to several factions to completely target him, likely approaching it with a one-hit kill mentality. As for who among them is the strongest, whether it’s our Holy Water Manor, it’s still hard to say."

Shui Yixuan is a businessman, and his people prioritize silver as their primary consideration. Mu Yuan asked for one million gold taels, but the other side was not deterred, indicating their determination. Businessmen love dealing with such determined clients, having received 500,000 gold taels, why wouldn’t they take action?

Jiang Xue knew she had no right to interfere with their internal arrangements, and despite feeling uncomfortable hearing it, she didn’t dare to mention more, only wanting to rush to Lanyue to help her brother through this crisis. Shui Yixuan watched her hesitate, and couldn’t help but sigh.

In the end, she still considered him an outsider!

The fastest way to Lanyue is by water. Since this trip was a sudden decision, and they wanted to keep a low profile, they didn’t take the manor’s big ship but rented a merchant ship instead. At the dock, Shui Yixuan saw a familiar group of people, and not only did he notice them, but Jiang Xue clearly saw them too.