Is that a Wisp?

It was evening when the meeting had concluded as Krune accompanied Feng Bolin to send off all the guests.

Feng Bolin walked at the front while Krune walked a couple of steps behind him, holding a tray in his hands. Placed on it were some gifts that Feng Bolin took from time to time and gave to the guests before sending them off.

Eventually, once everyone left, Feng Bolin continued to stare at the road spanning beyond the Feng Family mansion for a bit, asking with a curt tone, "Shi Jiang, what was up with you earlier?"

The man had used a casual tone, but the Shi Jiang within Krune shuddered at that. However, Krune didn't fret, having already thought up a plan, bowing as he cupped his fists, saying, "My Lord, your servant was unable to react when a certain thought hit me while pouring tea."

He then cupped his wish, putting on a solemn tone of voice, bowing a tad lower as he continued, "I wish to convey everything to my Lord in a place where the walls don't have ears."

Of course, he meant a place without any prying eyes.

Due to his experience and having seen Shi Jiang for all these years, Feng Bolin knew that his servant wasn't the type to run his mouth. Moreover, he had been a careful person, never going beyond what a servant ought to be. That's the reason he had survived so long and had become the oldest servant in the household.

All the servants that started before or along him had either been executed, whipped to death, or thrown into the streets to beg because they ran off their mouth. There were also cases where they were implicated because the master they followed did something foolish and used them as scapegoats.

Even though a servant never had to worry about food or decent living space, their lives were always at risk. With that, they had to be careful. Though, as they constantly worked about, gossiping was their only pastime.

Moreover, they were working in the Feng Family, an influential family. So, a lot of distinguished guests arrived from time to time. Just that alone was gossip-worthy material. Because of that, gossiping had become a thing that was frequent among the servants.

Most of them whispered to one another, only gossiping with those they trusted. But sometimes, they lost control of their bearings in their enthusiasm and blurted out things, which somehow reached the ears of those from the Feng Family.

If they were controversial enough, the servant was executed. There was no one that would ask them anyway. After all, the servants adopted by the Feng Family were always orphans. Once taken into the servant quarters, they were divided between the various houses there, taken care of by older generation servants that served those from Feng Bolin's previous generation.

After that, as the servants grew and learned of their ways, they were also married off within the servant quarters to make a family. After all, there were never enough servants. If the ones within the servant quarters were enough, the Feng Family wouldn't adopt any more orphans.

In the end, Shi Jiang had lived as long as he had for a reason. So, Feng Bolin intended to listen to what he had to say at least. Even though Shi Jiang's early blunder displeased him, he had already redeemed himself after that.

It was also because of the fact that there weren't any capable servants to replace Shi Jiang and were to his liking, so he didn't wish to be that hard on the sole competent servant he had.

Had a normal servant paused while pouring tea like Shi Jiang before, then they would have been executed.

Arriving at his study, Feng Bolin sat at his seat as Krune calmly poured him his favorite tea, one that helped to soothe his nerves.

Only after he had finished drinking a full cup did Krune begin speaking, refilling the cup as he told him, "My Lord, this is something this servant can only feel instinctively. However, please hear me out."

"Go ahead." Feng Bolin nodded.

Taking in a deep breath, Krune spoke, having gone through the related memories a couple of times already. "Three months ago, a beggar had sold off his family heirloom, a jade handle with a mysterious inscription. Seven months ago, when our guards chased off a drunken old man, they accidentally killed him. While searching his body, they found an amethyst plate. Similarly, last week, Young Master had found a pearl ring in the stomach of a tiger he had killed in the forest."

"They all did happen." Feng Bolin stared at Krune, motioning for him to speak further.

Clearing his voice once, Krune stated his claim, "Though, I feel like the Biao Family is related to all these three items. Even though I have a great memory, I am unable to recall them. However, I have definitely seen them being worn by members of the Biao Family. Either it's a scheme by the Biao Family, or someone is using this to develop a feud between us and the Biao Family."

"The auction is the key to everything. Weren't we planning to put up all three items there?" Krune finished.

"Hm, there is no concrete evidence to your claim. It's not enough to begin a probe against the Biao Family or the others," Feng Bolin frowned as he replied.

"I understand, My Lord." Krune cupped his hands before continuing, "It's just, as the servant that managed to avoid death all this time, I am strangely sensitive to such things. At present, it feels like a noose is tightening around my neck. When I was pouring you tea, this sensation felt stronger, which was why I blanked out."

"I'll consider it." Feng Bolin nodded. After some time, he began to busy himself with other matters of the household. As for Krune, his task was to accompany Feng Bolin through everything. As Feng Bolin's personal servant, there were a lot of things that he had to do.

Eventually, late into the night, he sighed in exhaustion, massaging his aching forehead as he made his way towards the servant quarters, soon arriving at his home. As one of the oldest servants other than the ones serving the previous generation, he had made enough contributions to have his own house and even a personal courtyard.

Sighing, he opened the door when a familiar scent pounced upon him.