Old Man Yang fell silent for a moment before saying, "Chen Ping'an has started to secretly investigate matters pertaining to bonded porcelains. He's very stealthy, and he hasn't left any clues or traces."1

Li Liu didn't have any thoughts about this. She was roughly aware of some secrets, and this was a matter that involved an extremely complicated scheme in the mountains. The Yang family's medicine shop was naturally involved in this matter, but it had adhered to the rules and hadn't purposely targeted Chen Ping'an. It had simply split the spoils with the Imperial Song Clan of the Great Li Empire.0

In the beginning, the production of bonded porcelains had been a supreme ability of Old Man Yang's, and it could even be claimed that the rise of the Great Li Empire could be attributed to the transaction that had taken place in the Jewel Small World. It was thanks to this that the Great Li Empire had managed to prosper and slowly claw its way to the top. Thus, Old Man Yang's praise of Cui Chan's ability in the Dao of souls was already the greatest acknowledgment in the world. It could be said that apart from Old Man Yang, the only people supremely talented in this Dao were Cui Chan and Cui Dongshan.7

The couple from the Ma Clan who had managed to control the dragon kilns even though they lived in Apricot Blossom Alley — Ma Kuxuan's parents — were deeply involved in the shattering of Chen Ping'an's bonded porcelain. This also pertained to Ma Lanhua, the river guardian of the Dragon Whisker River who had now been promoted to the position of river goddess, yet still had no gold statue, no temple, and naturally no incense offerings. 5

She was Ma Kuxuan's grandmother, and the wicked old woman had only shown a rare hint of conscience regarding this matter. In fact, she had even tried everything in her power to stop her son and her daughter-in-law....2