{"id":3506,"date":"2026-05-22T21:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T21:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/pursuit-of-jade-18\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T21:02:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T21:02:25","slug":"pursuit-of-jade-18","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ko\/chapter\/pursuit-of-jade-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Pursuit Of Jade 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sun had risen high, and droplets of melted water dripped steadily from the icicles beneath the eaves.

Seven or eight burly men with vicious-looking faces shoved aside peddlers and passersby as they strode aggressively toward Fan Changyu\u2019s butcher shop.

The leader had a square face, a short beard, and a fierce appearance\u2014but he limped badly as he walked.

It was none other than Master Jin, the gambling den thug leader who had repeatedly caused trouble at Fan Changyu\u2019s home.

\u201cI wanna see which gutsy bastard dares do business on this street without paying respect to\u2014\u201d

The second he spotted Fan Changyu standing outside the shop with her arms folded, the rest of his sentence died in his throat.

The small fry behind him\u2014each one previously beaten senseless by Fan Changyu\u2014also changed expressions instantly.

Even their uninjured legs began aching sympathetically.

That husband and wife pair hit harder than the other. Was the remaining good leg about to be broken today too?

Several lackeys unconsciously dragged their lame legs backward half a step.

The neighboring butchers all broke into cold sweats for Fan Changyu seeing the thugs outnumber her, especially since she was only a young woman.

Only Butcher Guo across the street still wore an expression of blatant schadenfreude.

Master Jin painfully squeezed out a flattering smile.

\u201cFa-Fan Miss Fan? This shop is yours?\u201d

The surrounding crowd was utterly dumbfounded.

This development\u2026 did not seem right at all.

Fan Changyu casually picked up the long staff resting behind her door.

The entire group of street thugs immediately turned pale in terror and retreated several steps at once.

Master Jin waved both hands frantically.

\u201cMisunderstanding! Miss Fan, it\u2019s all a misunderstanding! If we\u2019d known this was your shop, how would we dare offend you?\u201d

Across the street, Butcher Guo\u2019s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He clearly never expected these local hooligans to fear Fan Changyu so much.

Fan Changyu stared coldly at Master Jin and pointed her staff toward the smashed brick stove outside her shop.

\u201cYou people did this?\u201d

Despite the freezing weather, sweat burst across Master Jin\u2019s forehead. He wiped it off wildly with his sleeve.

\u201cWe only took money to do a job! We\u2019ll fix it for you! We\u2019ll fix it right away!\u201d

As he spoke, he hurriedly shot frantic signals toward the lackeys behind him.

The moment they saw the stick in Fan Changyu\u2019s hand, the gangsters nearly cried. None of them wished to relive the experience of being beaten until they vomited food scraps.

Trembling, they rushed forward to rebuild the stove.

Fan Changyu herself was slightly stunned.

She originally assumed these people truly came to collect protection fees. She had not expected another layer to the matter.

She asked directly,

\u201cWho told you to come wreck my shop?\u201d

\u201cMiss Fan, this\u2026\u201d Master Jin wore a troubled expression. Since they took money to do jobs, they naturally had rules about keeping quiet.

Fan Changyu suddenly reversed the staff in her grip and swung it upward.

The tip stopped directly at Master Jin\u2019s throat.

He had not even reacted before the stick nearly pierced his neck. Cold sweat instantly poured down his temples in beads.

Forget professional ethics\u2014he spilled everything immediately.

\u201cI-It was the owner of Wang Family Braised Meats on Main Street!\u201d

Fan Changyu frowned slightly.

She and the Wang shop owner had never met. Their shops were separated by several streets and did not compete directly. Her braised meat business had only operated a few days; it should not have provoked such viciousness.

She barked sharply,

\u201cNonsense! I\u2019ve got no grudge against the Wang shop owner. Why would he send people to smash my store?\u201d

Master Jin hurriedly replied,

\u201cI\u2019m telling the truth! Yesterday one of Wang Family\u2019s clerks personally brought us the money!\u201d

Fan Changyu\u2019s brows furrowed deeper.

By now the lackeys had already rebuilt the stove with fresh clay, while the surrounding crowd continued growing larger.

Since business could not be delayed regardless, she lowered the staff.

Master Jin had barely breathed in relief before she immediately started ordering him around.

\u201cYou\u2014light the fire and dry the stove first. The rest of you, go fetch several buckets of water from the well at the street entrance.\u201d

She normally needed water prepared for braising meat outside the shop anyway, but the smashed stove delayed everything this morning and she had not yet had time to fetch water herself.

At this point, doing everything alone would waste too much time.

She might as well use the ready-made labor force that had already wasted her morning.

The little hooligans themselves looked shocked.

Never in their lives had they imagined being ordered around by someone else.

But the moment Fan Changyu swept them with a glare, none dared hesitate. They hurried off carrying buckets toward the well.

Once the gangsters scattered, the curious bystanders surrounding the shop assumed the matter had been settled and gradually dispersed.

Only the neighboring merchants remained staring at Fan Changyu in utter disbelief.

Watching her casually command a gang of local thugs around made them feel as though they were looking at some kind of monster.

Fan Changyu herself noticed nothing strange.

Seeing Master Jin still lingering near her storefront scaring customers away, she immediately drove him aside.

\u201cStand over there. Don\u2019t block my shop and ruin my business. Once I finish selling today\u2019s meat, you\u2019re coming with me to Wang Family so I can demand an explanation. And if you\u2019ve lied to me\u2026\u201d

Her gaze swept toward his remaining healthy leg.

\u201cI\u2019ll break that one too.\u201d

Master Jin recalled the cold, sinister look from that man the other day and the vicious crack of the crutch striking his leg.

His half-healed injury instantly throbbed with phantom pain.

His face turned white.

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t dare lie to you, Miss Fan! I swear it!\u201d

Watching him tremble so badly, Fan Changyu maintained her fierce expression but inwardly could not help wondering\u2014

Just how brutally had that fellow beaten these people?

Simply threatening to break another leg scared this man witless.

Soon the lackeys returned carrying water.

Concerned they might have tampered with it, Fan Changyu handed them a dipper and forced each of them to drink from their own bucket before she finally used the water to wash the pork for braising.

As for cooking water, she still had yesterday\u2019s leftover supply in the shop.

The moment the giant pot was set over the fire again, rich braised fragrance once more drifted throughout the entire street.

Those who had queued yesterday only to miss out on buying braised meat had intentionally come extra early today and finally succeeded.

However, most customers still hesitated after seeing Master Jin and his men squatting nearby with miserable expressions.

Even miserable, their faces remained naturally ferocious.

Fan Changyu noticed this too.

Since the first batch of freshly braised meat was nearly sold out anyway, she purchased six additional pig heads and three barrels of offal from neighboring butcher shops.

Then she handed each gangster a pig head and ordered them to pluck the remaining bristles clean.

The rest were forced to wash intestines under her supervision.

Once they lowered their heads to work, customers naturally stopped noticing their vicious faces.

While chopping meat and slicing braised dishes for customers, Fan Changyu simultaneously acted as foreman.

Whenever someone tried slacking or failed to clean something properly, she jabbed them with her stick.

\u201cThere\u2019s still pig hair here! Rub the intestines with ash first, then scrub the whole thing with straw!\u201d

She looked three times more tyrannical than actual bullies.

The entire group of gangsters trembled miserably, silently regretting how catastrophically unlucky they were to offend this terrifying woman again.

Yet Fan Changyu seemed to read their minds.

\u201cIf you do wrong, you deserve punishment. Otherwise what\u2019s the law even for?\u201d

The group shrank like quails and nodded frantically.

Satisfied with their repentant attitude, she casually asked during a lull,

\u201cAren\u2019t you all supposed to work for the gambling den? Why are you involved in everything?\u201d

At that, the gangsters all looked awkward.

Jin Laosan muttered,

\u201cWe don\u2019t work there anymore.\u201d

Fan Changyu looked surprised and asked why.

One thug muttered while clutching a pig head,

\u201cWe followed Third Brother into gambling den work just to survive. This time we failed to collect the debt. If we\u2019d actually chopped off Fan Da\u2019s hand and brought it back, the gambling den still wouldn\u2019t have been satisfied. Besides, after years of debt collection, we\u2019d never truly crippled anyone before\u2026\u201d

He paused awkwardly.

\u201cThen we got our legs broken\u2026 and got kicked out.\u201d

Fan Changyu frowned.

\u201cBut aren\u2019t you still collecting protection fees all over town?\u201d

Jin Laosan sighed heavily.

\u201cThe money we collect isn\u2019t ours to keep.\u201d

Seeing she still did not understand, he explained more bluntly:

\u201cIf we can openly extort merchants like this, it\u2019s because officials turn a blind eye. Someone higher up protects us and handles any trouble. Naturally the majority of collected money goes toward honoring those officials.\u201d

Fan Changyu\u2019s expression darkened.

After a long silence, Jin Laosan quickly added:

\u201cBut nobody ever collected protection fees on this street before! If we\u2019d known your family\u2019s shop was here, we never would\u2019ve dared come!\u201d

A fog seemed to settle over Fan Changyu\u2019s thoughts.

She suddenly asked,

\u201cWhen did they start collecting fees on this street?\u201d

Jin Laosan thought briefly.

\u201cLast month.\u201d

Her brows tightened instantly.

Her parents had also died last month to mountain bandits.

Could there be some connection?

But after only a moment\u2019s thought, she dismissed the idea herself.

Her father had roamed the jianghu for years and possessed formidable martial skills. Surely no one would suddenly target him after he\u2019d lived peacefully in Lin\u2019an Town for over a decade.

Suppressing her thoughts, she continued glaring at the gangsters fiercely.

\u201cYou\u2019re all full-grown men. Why not do honest work instead of acting like street vermin?\u201d

\u201cWe\u2019ll change! We\u2019ll change! We\u2019ll become good people!\u201d

The moment she showed anger, the group once again trembled like frightened quails.

Only then did Fan Changyu finally calm down.

With all the rough labor handled by others today, she actually found herself unusually free.

The reputation of Fan Family Braised Meats had fully spread by now. Business today was even better than yesterday\u2019s.

Before noon arrived, every single batch of braised meat\u2014both what she brought from home and what she cooked fresh today\u2014had sold out completely.

Even the braised eggs sold clean.

She even sent one thug to buy another basket of eggs, and most of those sold too.

After all, three copper coins for two braised eggs was irresistibly cheap.

Fan Changyu roughly calculated today\u2019s profits.

More than four taels.

The neighboring butchers naturally envied her business fiercely.

But after witnessing Jin Laosan and his men bowing and scraping around her, none dared voice even a single sarcastic comment.

Earning silver put Fan Changyu in an excellent mood.

Looking again at Jin Laosan\u2019s group, they suddenly seemed far more agreeable.

Since they had worked for her all morning and shown sincere remorse, she even handed each of them a braised egg.

The gangsters, who had been ordered around miserably the entire morning, looked utterly stunned receiving hot braised eggs.

Still maintaining her fierce expression, Fan Changyu barked,

\u201cEat quickly. Then come with me to Wang Family for confrontation!\u201d

After smelling braised meat all morning, the thugs\u2019 stomachs had long since gone mad with hunger.

At this point they practically wanted to swallow the eggshells too.

Once finished, they still looked reluctant.

One carefully asked,

\u201cM-Miss Fan\u2026 can we work at your shop in the future?\u201d

Fan Changyu immediately thought\u2014

Absolutely not.

These men were all enormous and broad-shouldered. Feeding them alone would bankrupt her.

Thus she rejected them mercilessly.

\u201cNo.\u201d

The gangsters immediately drooped in disappointment and fell silent, trailing behind her toward Wang Family.

Though because of their naturally vicious appearances, none of them actually looked pitiful.

Pedestrians along the street all hurried aside at the sight.

The scene resembled nothing less than a female tyrant leading her gang of thugs to cause trouble.

\u2014

Inside a restaurant overlooking the street, a richly dressed man personally rose to pour tea for the person seated opposite him.

White steam curled upward, blurring the embroidered patterns along his broad sleeves.

\u201cThe Huizhou situation still hasn\u2019t stabilized. While Your Lordship hides here, your trusted subordinates cannot openly approach. But Zhao is merely a businessman. The Wei family\u2019s hounds won\u2019t investigate me.\u201d

He lowered his voice respectfully.

\u201cIf Your Lordship trusts me, Zhao would gladly go through fire and water for you.\u201d

The window beside them stood half open.

The man seated opposite had a profile carved like white jade, elegant brows and eyes, and long fingers marked faintly with healing scars.

His fingertips tapped lazily against the table, casual yet carrying an overwhelming authority that pressed upon the room without anger.

His narrow eyes half-lidded as he gazed out the window, appearing at first glance to admire the snowy street scene.

Seeing he still did not answer, the richly dressed man followed his line of sight.

Only then did he realize\u2014

Xie Zheng was not watching the snow.

He was watching the young woman walking down the street surrounded by over a dozen gangsters.

The man glanced once more at Xie Zheng, eyes shifting slightly, before smiling.

\u201cSo\u2026 that must be the new wife Your Lordship married?\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"novel":[],"class_list":["post-3506","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3507,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3506\/revisions\/3507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=3506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}