Chapter 74: Chapter 62, The Reunion of the Bumpkin and the Unlucky Guy_l
Looking at the desolate and outdated small courtyard before him, Yan Zhigao couldn’t maintain the forced smile on his face any longer.
The servant leading the way also looked somewhat embarrassed, he chuckled sheepishly, “Well… Lord County Magistrate, please rest well, I’ll take my leave!” With that, he ran off in a hurry.
“This is too much bullying!”
Yan Wenxiu, still in his teens, could not suppress his anger as well as Yan Zhigao and Teacher Xiao, not to mention the literati pride of preferring death to humiliation, which made him tremble with rage at this moment.
Daohua, seeing his face turn red, feared he might get sick from anger and quickly stepped forward to console him, “Big brother, we shouldn’t bother with these fair-weather flatterers. Once you pass the imperial examinations, no one will dare to treat us like this again.”
Yan Zhigao stepped forward and patted his eldest son on the shoulder, sighing, “Your sister is right. Only those with achievements are respected. Rather than getting upset over a posthouse manager here, it’s better to think about how to study well.”
“As long as you can achieve the rank of imperial scholar, our family will have two imperial scholars, which can barely be considered a Scholar Family. By then, everyone will look up to us.”
Daohua saw Yan Wenxiu’s eyes firm up upon hearing these words but was worried about the pressure he was putting on himself and immediately said, “Big brother, don’t be too anxious. You’re still young, just focus on your studies for now, and leave the rest to father!”
Upon hearing this, Yan Zhigao shot Daohua a glare. Only now was she thinking of him as a father—why didn’t she remember that when she was talking back to him earlier?
Teacher Xiao observed Daohua with a smile and saw that Yan Wenxiu’s expression relaxed a bit after hearing her words. His eyes twinkled a few times. Looks like Miss Yan is not all about charging ahead recklessly!
“Let’s go, let’s tidy up inside, we still have to sleep tonight!”
With the matter of changing courtyards, everyone’s mood was not great, and after entering the courtyard, their faces grew even gloomier.
“It was bad enough that it’s shabby, but it’s so small as well—there’s not enough room for us!” Yan Wenkai grumbled discontentedly.
Daohua tugged at him, signaling him not to fuel the fire. Had he not noticed how stormy their foster father’s face was already?
In the courtyard, there were only five rooms: one for Yan Zhigao, one for Teacher Xiao, one for Daohua, the three brothers, Yan Wenxiu, crammed into one, and the last room was given to the several lads who came along.
“Oh dear, these quilts are all moldy, how are we going to sleep tonight?” Yan Wenkai’s dissatisfied voice rang out again.
After hearing this, Daohua looked at the sky and saw that there were still a couple of hours until nightfall. After some thought, she took her brothers to set up a long rope in the courtyard and took all the quilts from each of the rooms to air them out.
“Although there isn’t much sun, airing out the musty smell is good too.” It was still January, with little sunshine during the day, but since the fifteenth day of the month, there had been no more snow.
That evening, all the young ones, including Daohua, had a poor night’s sleep, tossing and turning. One reason was the moldy and damp quilts which were uncomfortable, and the other was the impact of changing courtyards during the day.
Daohua lay in bed, staring blankly at the top of the canopy.
In this ancient era, power was too important. Those without power couldn’t even hope to retain any dignity. If Yan Zhigao, as the head of a county, could be treated with such disregard and contempt, not to mention the common folk.
Alas…
The next morning, Daohua and the others appeared at the breakfast table with dark circles under their eyes.
Yan Zhigao and Teacher Xiao also didn’t look well-rested, clearly having had a bad night.
When breakfast was nearly finished, Yan Zhigao said, “Later on, I need to meet some officials. You youngsters stay put in the posthouse and don’t run around. Once I finish my affairs, I will take you to the Li Residence to visit your uncle.”
Yan Wenxiu put down his eating utensils and said earnestly, “Father, go ahead with your business. I will take care of my younger siblings.”
Yan Zhigao nodded, confident in his steady eldest son.
After breakfast, Yan Zhigao left. Not long after his departure, Teacher Xiao also went out to visit friends, leaving only Daohua and her young siblings in the courtyard.
Yan Wenkai was the first to grow restless, “Are we just going to stay in the courtyard all the time?”
Wentao responded, “Uncle told us not to run around. I think we should just stay put!”
Yan Wenxiu also gave Yan Wenkai a stern look, “Father is here for an official report. We can’t be of much help, but we shouldn’t add to his troubles, either.”
Seeing that both his brothers disagreed with going out, a dejected Yan Wenkai went to find Daohua.
At the moment, Daohua was in the courtyard, busy arranging potted plants to give to their uncles.
Each potted plant was bursting with vivid and lush blooms, and although there were no particularly precious flowers or plants, they were beautiful in their flourishing splendor.
Seeing the colorful potted plants lifted Yan Wenkai’s spirits quite a bit, and he squatted down to help Daohua tend to them.
“Bang!”
Suddenly, a cuju ball fell from the sky and smashed a potted begonia to pieces.
The unexpected change startled Daohua and Yan Wenkai, while Yan Wenxiu and Yan Wentao, hearing the noise, also ran out of the room.
As soon as they came out, they saw a brocade-clad youth running into their courtyard, surrounded by a group of servants.
Yan Wenxiu knitted his brows, “Who are you? Why have you intruded upon our yard without cause?”
The brocade-clad youth looked at Yan Wenxiu disdainfully, ignoring him and boldly surveying everything in the courtyard.
Seeing this, the faces of Yan Wenxiu and his companions darkened.
Soon, a lackey behind the brocade-clad youth stepped forward, “Our young master’s cuju ball entered your yard, hand it over quickly!”
Yan Wenkai said angrily, “So, it was you who destroyed our potted plants, and you dare to barge into our yard with such arrogance. Have you no sense of propriety?”
The brocade-clad youth sneered, “Propriety?” He looked Yan Wenkai and the others up and down, scoffing, “Judging by this shabby yard you live in, you couldn’t be anyone of importance, and you dare speak to me of propriety?”
The brocade-clad youth’s lackey spoke arrogantly, “Which noble’s servants are you? Why aren’t you coming over to pay your respects to the Prefectural Governor’s son?”
Daohua’s brows were tightly furrowed as she forcibly held back the about-to-explode Yan Wenkai, then kicked the cuju ball away with her foot, “This is your ball, take it and leave quickly!”
The opponent’s official rank was higher than their cheap father’s—it was bad to conflict with them!
Although Daohua chose to keep the peace, the Prefectural Governor’s son seemed unwilling to let them off so easily, especially after seeing the flourishing potted plants in the courtyard.
“These potted plants aren’t bad. Come on, take them for me. Let it be their apology to me!”
With such blatant robbery, not just Yan Wenkai, but Daohua, Yan Wenxiu, and Yan Wentao, too, could not help but get angry.
Seeing the Prefectural Governor’s son’s lackeys rush forward to move the potted plants, the four of them didn’t think twice and rushed over to stop them.
The Prefectural Governor’s son had brought seven or eight lackeys. Four people like Daohua could not stop them; Yan Wentao and Yan Wenkai even took a few hits.
In the struggle, the Prefectural Governor’s son, holding the most vibrant Red Plum Potted Plant, took the lead and walked out of the yard.
“My potted plant!”
Daohua, frantic with anger, chased after him, with Yan Wenkai and Yan Wentao close behind.
Yan Wenxiu, too, could not contain his fury. Being older, he had heard of the dark dealings in officialdom but never imagined anyone to be so brazen and reckless. Seeing his siblings follow suit, both anxious and angry, he quickly summoned a servant, “Quick, go find my father and Teacher Xiao.”
After giving the order, he hurried after them.
“Return the potted plant to me!”
Daohua was fast and cut in front, blocking the way of the Prefectural Governor’s son, “Even if your father is the Prefectural Governor, you cannot bully others and snatch their belongings. If you don’t return the potted plant to me today, I will lodge a complaint with the Provincial Governor’s office.”
Hearing this, the Prefectural Governor’s son was not the least bit afraid.
Instead, he sneered, “Go ahead and complain, I’d like to see if you can bring my father down. And whether I will be punished or not.”
With that, he waved his hand, signaling his servants to pull away Daohua who was blocking the way.
Daohua certainly wouldn’t let herself be pulled away easily, and with Yan Wenkai and Yan Wentao arriving, they instantly got into a scuffle with the group.
Meanwhile, not far away on the verandah, a group of people approached, the leader of whom was young but exuded an air of nobility that made everyone who saw him instinctively bow down.
“What’s going on over there, causing such a commotion?”
The youth’s mood didn’t seem too good, and upon hearing the noise, his brows knitted into knots.
A brocade-clad gentleman following the youth immediately stepped forward respectfully, carefully saying, “My Lord, don’t be upset, I’ll have someone disperse them at once.”
The youth appeared indifferent and continued walking forward. However, just as they were about to turn the corner of the verandah, he suddenly heard a familiar voice and immediately turned to look in the direction of the commotion.
Then, under the shocked gaze of those behind him, he sprinted towards the scene.
“Stop!”
As a stick the Prefectural Governor’s son had found somewhere was about to hit her, Daohua covered her head and closed her eyes, but after a moment, the expected pain didn’t come.
Daohua slowly opened her eyes and then saw a hand firmly gripping the stick that the Prefectural Governor’s son had swung down.
As her gaze followed to the owner of the hand, and the moment she recognized who it was, her eyes suddenly blazed with amazement, “Bad Luck!”
Xiao Yeyang furrowed his brows but, seeing the undisguised joy in Daohua’s eyes, he suppressed his annoyance with the name-calling and replied irritably, “Country Bumpkin!”