Chapter 429: Chapter 404: Smart Teaching_1
Upon returning to the manor, Yan Zhigao immediately went to the front courtyard to dispatch the government officials to search for people. Daohua exchanged a few words with Elder Madam Yan, Madam Li, and others before finding an excuse to return to her own courtyard.
“Manman, go tell Brother Xiaoliu to pay extra attention to the front courtyard. If there is any news, he must come to inform me immediately.”
By nightfall, Yan Wentao and Yan Wenkai had still not returned. There was no news from Qin Wu or the Yan Family’s Protectors either, although the government officials had returned, they had found nothing.
During dinner, both Yan Wenxiu and Daohua seemed somewhat distracted, drawing several looks from Elder Madam Yan and Madam Li.
Yan Zhigao was also anxious, but years of being an official had trained him to never let his emotions show. Seeing his eldest son and daughter unsettled by the situation, he took them aside after dinner for a talk.
“Look at the two of you, looking all disconsolate. Are you afraid that your grandmother and the others don’t know about Wentao and Wenkai?”
“In the face of trouble, you must be stable and calm. Don’t become flustered over every little thing.”
“If your mind gets flustered, it’s easy to make the wrong decision.”
“Especially you, Wenxiu. In the future, you will be expected to uphold the family name. If you panic, your wife and children, your elders, they all will panic. If everyone panics, won’t that be chaos?”
“As for Daohua, even though you are not expected to move about in the outside world like men, as a future wife, you have the responsibility of stabilizing the household. How will you manage the household if you get flustered at the first sign of trouble?”
“Right now, we don’t even know the situation with Wenkai and Wentao, yet you two are already like this. What if your grandmother and mother found something out? Wouldn’t that just add to the confusion?”
Seeing the two with their heads lowered, listening humbly, Yan Zhigao softened his tone a bit: “Don’t worry too much. Wenkai and Wentao are skilled in martial arts. One is sharp and agile, the other is stable and meticulous. They should be fine.”
This scene was witnessed by Yan Wenbin and Yan Yishuang from the side, their eyes filled with a touch of sadness.
Their father had not personally taught them for a long time, yet he seemed to value their elder brother and sister more and more.
Meanwhile, Elder Madam Yan and Madam Li were happy to see this, and were glad for the father and his two children to bond more closely.
At the same time, in a small farmhouse outside of Ningmen Prefecture, a broad and chubby farmer with a beaming face was speaking to the male homeowner, “Thank you, big brother, for letting us stay, and I would like to trouble you to prepare some food for us as well.” Saying this, he took out a small piece of fragmented silver from his bosom.
The dark-skinned middle-aged man, upon seeing the silver, immediately grinned, “Sure thing, sure thing.” Saying that, he bellowed towards the kitchen, “Old lady, hurry up and make some noodles for the brothers… Oh, and add a large egg to each bowl.”
House Steward An’s cheeks twitched from the forceful shouting, and once the homeowner turned back to face him, he spoke again, “Do you have any hot water? We’d like to wash our faces.”
The homeowner frowned in disapproval, “Big brother, we’re all farmers who live off the sky’s grace. Why have you become so delicate, needing hot water just to wash your face? Isn’t that a waste of firewood? It’s not even the depths of winter. It’s truly unthrifty. Use cold water, I’ll fetch some for you.”
As the homeowner briskly turned away, House Steward An wiped his face, erasing the spittle that had sprayed onto it, and then quickly followed.
Taking the basin from the homeowner and seeing its darkened edge, House Steward An’s eyelids began to twitch.
“What are you dawdling for? Go fetch the water! Luckily, my eldest boy filled the house with water before going off to work today, or else I’d have to go to the village well to fetch water for you.”
Watching House Steward An scoop the water and rinse the basin three times over, the homeowner couldn’t help but speak up, “My basin is clean, you’re wasting water.”
Looking at the still murky water in the basin, House Steward An inhaled deeply and through a forced smile said, “This is the last wash, big brother, almost done.”
The homeowner mumbled reluctantly, “Why such fastidiousness? No matter how clean it gets, after one trip to the fields, it will just get dirty again.”
House Steward An ignored him, skillfully cleaned the basin, and then scooped a full basin of water, rushing it towards the innermost mud hut in the courtyard.
“Lord Qin, here is the water.”
The small room was dimly lit, with five or six people either sitting or standing.
As House Steward An placed the basin on the table, he looked with self-reproach at the middle-aged man seated at the edge of the table, “Lord Qin, I wasn’t able to get hot water…”
The man addressed as Lord Qin raised his hand to stop House Steward An’s words, for they had heard the conversation outside: “When we are away from home, we must make do with less.” Saying that, he stood up and quickly cleaned himself.
The others waited for Lord Qin to finish, then, without caring whether the water was clean or not, quickly freshened up as well.
Soon, the male host came over with several bowls of steaming noodle soup.
“Big Brother, let me do it!” Eunuch An hurried to receive the bowls and chopsticks.
The male host enthusiastically helped set the bowls properly and, seeing that the fifth master and the others hadn’t started eating, he couldn’t help but say, “Fellows, eat up, these noodles need to be eaten hot to be chewy. My wife makes delicious noodles. Look, she even put eggs in for you.”
As he spoke, he stared at the eggs and swallowed his saliva.
Seeing this, the others felt reluctant to start eating, and Eunuch An hastily said, “Big Brother, we’ll eat right away. You go ahead with your work.”
The male host glanced at the steaming noodles, hesitated for a while, then turned and left.
Once the man was gone, Eunuch An immediately took out a silver needle from his bosom, intending to test for poison.
The fifth master stopped him with his hand, “No need, everyone sit down and eat.” With that, he picked up his chopsticks and began eating.
Only two sat down to eat, while the rest, including Eunuch An, held their bowls and squatted to the side to eat.
A refined middle-aged man with a long beard nodded as he ate, “Well, I have to say, although the noodles don’t look like much, the taste is pretty good.”
On the other side, a rugged middle-aged man commented, “I’m starving. I’ve only had two dry buns since this morning.”
The refined middle-aged man laughed, “Sounds like as if we ate something else.” With that, he looked at the fifth master with a smile, “It’s been a few years since we last met, Little Prince. We haven’t been in Zhongzhou for a few days and already twice, we nearly got discovered by him.”
The fifth master smiled and nodded with a look of satisfaction and pride on his face, “Leaving Yangyang in Zhongzhou was the right decision.”
The refined middle-aged man laughed again, “That girl we met earlier had really sharp eyes. Our disguises were convincing enough, and no one noticed anything odd all the way here, but she spotted us.”
The rugged middle-aged man said, “Those two young men were also pretty alert, I wonder if Chief Wei managed to shake them off?”
The refined middle-aged man smiled, “If he did shake them off, Chief Wei should have returned by now.”
A cunning look flashed in the rugged man’s eyes, “Chief Wei is the lead of the Imperial Guards. Those two young men must have had some skills to deal with Zhou Xuan.”
The refined middle-aged man smiled, “What, does Governor Wu have his eye on those two youngsters?”
Wu Jingyi was forthright, “It’s rare to come across good talents. If they could really be turned to our side, wouldn’t it be helping the fifth master with his worries?”
The fifth master glanced sideways at Wu Jingyi, “Don’t drag me into everything.”
As they spoke, a burly middle-aged man walked in.
Wu Jingyi’s eyes brightened upon seeing the man, “Chief Wei, you’re back. What about those two youngsters?”
Wei Qi first saluted the fifth master before speaking, “Those two youngsters are quite skilled. I’ve left a couple of Imperial Guards to lead them around the mountain for a bit.”
Wu Jingyi raised his eyebrows, “Why go through all that trouble?”
Wei Qi looked at the fifth master, “Fifth master, I’ve done some investigating. Those two are the son and nephew of Magistrate Yan Zhigao of Ningmen Prefecture. To avoid drawing attention, we had people lead them on.”
The fifth master’s eyes flickered, “Yan Zhigao? It turns out to be his family.” He paused for a moment, “The daughter is wise, and the son and nephew are also quite capable, seems like a job well done in raising them.”
At that, Wu Jingyi and the refined middle-aged man exchanged quick glances.
The refined middle-aged man smiled, “Magistrate Yan’s eldest son also did well in the provincial exams this year, I heard his ranking was quite good.”
Wu Jingyi laughed, “The Grand Secretary really seems to care about scholars.”
Yang Chenghua smiled faintly, “Governor Wu favors the martial types; as for me, I like those who pursue knowledge.”