Yu Qing felt a bit confused about abandoning literature for martial arts.
When it came to the path of literature, Nan Zhu and Mu Ao Tie had some doubts. Both knew that Yu Qing had impersonated A Shi Heng to take the exam, but they could not imagine how Yu Qing could achieve such good results.
Of course, neither of them had much literary talent, so they could not judge the depth of Yu Qing’s abilities. Back when everyone was at the temple, no one had thought much about it. They only knew that when their master was alive, he had always forced this junior brother to do things different from others, such as practicing calligraphy, the kind of things scholars did.
Exactly how he passed the imperial examinations to become the top scholar and the third place, their master uncle had not told them the truth, especially while they still had unresolved conflicts with Yu Qing.
One thing they had heard was that the final palace examination was conducted face to face by the emperor himself, so there was no possibility of cheating.
Because of this, the attitude of the martial brothers towards Yu Qing had already softened somewhat. They had not expected their junior brother to be like this. He was someone who had walked in the golden palace and met the emperor in person, and who had dared to throw down his official hat and leave the capital. How could he fear them?
“Is it not good to cultivate both literature and martial arts?” Tie Miao Qing asked with a hint of pleading in her tone. In her view, a scholar famous throughout the world was someone countless people envied. Why would he abandon it like an old shoe? She could not understand.
Yu Qing sighed and said, “Boss lady, to tell you the truth, too many people ask me to write poems and compose verses. I cannot cope with them all, and I have already refused too many. If I agree to yours, would I not offend many others? I really cannot do this.”
The hope in Tie Miao Qing’s eyes turned to disappointment.
Sun Ping suddenly said, “In the capital’s Xi Yue Fang, there is a restaurant called Xiao Xian Lou. I heard you wrote an inscription for that place?”
Yu Qing blinked in surprise, not expecting even that small matter to have spread here. He said, “Yes, there is such a thing.”
Sun Ping continued, “You inscribed the three words ‘Human World Good’ for that restaurant, which elevated it to the heavens and made its name known across the world. Now it is said to be thriving, and there are no seats without booking a month in advance. Since you refuse to write poems or verses, surely you can inscribe some words for our Miao Qing Hall?”
Sure enough, Yu Qing felt tired and helpless. He had casually written those three words back then, never expecting them to be praised like a flower, just as inexplicably as passing the top scholar exam.
He was not foolish. He knew he could not always have such good luck, and doing more would only lead to embarrassment.
Before experiencing the court’s pursuit capabilities, he might not have been so restrained. After experiencing it, he became even less willing to let the matter of impersonating A Shi Heng for the exam leak out.
Therefore he firmly refused. “I have sworn to abandon literature for martial arts and have cut off all matters of writing and painting. How can I go back on my word? Since this has made everyone unhappy, it was my rudeness. Farewell!” With that, he stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, gave his two senior brothers a look, and immediately turned to leave.
He could not help them here, and they could not help him. Staying would make people think he was watching them die without saving them, which would also be awkward. Why stay?
“Third Place Scholar!”
“A Shi Heng!”
Tie Miao Qing stood up and called out urgently. Sun Ping also shouted and chased after them.
After all, they had known each other and shared hardships. Even if they could not help each other, they should not lose basic courtesy as hosts, especially since he was the famous third place scholar.
Yet Yu Qing felt like a startled bird whenever he heard about writing poems or verses. He ran extremely fast, ignoring all the calls behind him and not even turning his head.
Everyone has weaknesses, and being repeatedly stabbed in those soft spots really felt unpleasant.
Forget it. He was determined to draw a clear line with Miao Qing Hall.
He ran all the way to the street outside. Mu Ao Tie, who was following, suddenly shouted, “Old Seven did not come out.”
“Huh?” Yu Qing looked back and saw it was true. Only he and Old Nine had come out. What happened to Old Seven? Had he been detained? If so, then this Miao Qing Hall was rather dishonest.
He recalled the unpleasant experience of being detained by people from Miao Qing Hall in the ancient tomb wasteland to catch fire crickets. Could they be doing it again? He suddenly felt angry about settling both old and new scores.
Sun Ping, who had chased out, wanted to ask them to stay. She found that they had already stopped, so she did not need to speak. Seeing their reactions, she looked back and realised something was wrong. She noticed that one person had not come out and felt slightly alarmed. Had the inner residence become a place for a man and woman to be alone?
Nan Zhu had indeed not come out. He had not been detained but stood calmly in place with his arms crossed over his fat belly.
Tie Miao Qing, standing at the entrance of the pavilion, sighed softly. She did not know if Sun Ping could bring them back. Even if he was unwilling to help, they could at least be friends.
She really did not want to make friends with ordinary members of the opposite sex, but she was quite willing to befriend such a talented scholar. Even if she stopped running Miao Qing Hall in the future, having such a talented friend would still be good.
As she sighed and turned around, her gaze accidentally spotted someone still inside the pavilion, which nearly gave her a big fright.
The ones who ran, the ones who chased, and the ones who stayed had all failed to notice that Nan Zhu had remained there without moving.
One man and one woman, one fat and one thin, one greasy and one beautiful, stared at each other with wide eyes.
Nan Zhu suddenly spoke proactively, “My words, Old Fifteen will still listen to some extent. Boss lady, rest assured. As long as I am here, he will not leave. May I ask how to address the boss lady?”
“…” Tie Miao Qing was momentarily unable to process it. After tasting the meaning in his words, she tentatively asked, “Old Fifteen refers to…”
Nan Zhu replied, “The one you call the third place scholar.”
“Oh!” Tie Miao Qing understood and immediately bowed slightly. “This humble one is Tie Miao Qing.”
Nan Zhu, with a serious face, also said “Oh” and continued, “So the sign of Miao Qing Hall is taken from the lady’s name. I have gained knowledge. May I ask, Lady Tie, how did you come to know Old Fifteen?”
How to explain this? Tie Miao Qing hesitated for a moment and could only summarise briefly. She omitted some unpleasant parts and simplified it to Yu Qing helping them find fire crickets, and them helping Yu Qing leave the demon realm.
Nan Zhu nodded with a serious thinking expression. “Since you are friends, there is no reason not to help when a friend is in trouble. Lady Tie, rest assured. I will reprimand Old Fifteen later. I will do my best to speak for you. Whether he listens or not, I will certainly try my utmost.”
From the implications in his words, it was clear that this person held significant weight in front of the third place scholar. Previously she had thought he was the third place scholar’s subordinate and had been truly negligent. While Tie Miao Qing secretly blamed herself, she also felt delighted. She quickly bowed and said, “Thank you, sir. May I ask for your honourable name?”
Nan Zhu spoke with elegance mixed with seriousness, “Bamboo in the south, heavy on integrity and keeping promises. This humble one is Nan Zhu.”
Tie Miao Qing realised that he was indeed someone by the third place scholar’s side. Even a big fat man spoke with refinement, so she bowed again. “So it is Mr Nan.”
At this time, Sun Ping and Mu Ao Tie ran back one after another. Seeing Tie Miao Qing and Nan Zhu chatting happily, they were both stunned.
Sun Ping did not know why her lady was chatting so happily with this stranger.
Mu Ao Tie did not know why such a great beauty would talk and laugh with such a big fat man.
Yu Qing had not come in because he worried about being wiped out by Miao Qing Hall in one go. He had to leave someone outside on guard. If anything unusual happened, they could appeal to You Ya’s side and not be quietly dealt with.
Seeing that Seventh Senior Brother was fine, Mu Ao Tie breathed a sigh of relief and walked over quickly. “Old Seven, let’s go. We are waiting for you outside.”
Nan Zhu apologised briefly to Tie Miao Qing, walked down the steps, and called to Mu Ao Tie, “Come, Old Nine, come over. I have something to say to you.”
He had the complete air of an elder brother.
There was nothing Mu Ao Tie could do. He did have to respect him as a senior brother, so he followed with a puzzled face.
In the corner, Mu Ao Tie asked strangely, “You do not even know her. How did you start chatting with her?”
Nan Zhu did not answer that. He put an arm around his shoulder and whispered, “Old Nine, Old Fifteen did not handle this matter properly.”
Mu Ao Tie asked suspiciously, “What do you mean?”
“I just learned about how she and Old Fifteen met. On the way to the capital, Old Fifteen was attacked and accidentally entered the demon realm in the ancient tomb wasteland. It was her who saved him and sent him out of the demon realm…” Nan Zhu relayed the summary that Tie Miao Qing had given.
Mu Ao Tie frowned slightly. “What are you trying to say?”
Nan Zhu continued, “She saved Old Fifteen’s life! You heard and saw it earlier too. She faced temptation without yielding and has kept her chastity for her late husband. She is clearly a good woman and a pitiful one. Once she can no longer settle in You Jiao Bu, with her appearance she will surely become a plaything. Can you tolerate that? What kind of person Old Fifteen is, we both know clearly. He is a turncoat. He can ignore a life-saving grace. As his senior brothers, how can we sit by and watch such an unrighteous and ungrateful thing happen? How can we not correct it…”
The two women inside the pavilion did not know what the two men were whispering about. In the end, after Mu Ao Tie nodded repeatedly, the two came back over.
Nan Zhu greeted them and said, “Lady Tie, wait for my news for now. Old Nine and I will go persuade him.”
Tie Miao Qing was overjoyed. “Thank you both. May I ask this gentleman’s honourable name?”
Nan Zhu smiled and said, “Old Nine and Lady Tie are fated. Your names both have the character ‘Tie’. The ‘Mu’ of herding and guarding a region, the ‘Ao’ of proud and outstanding, Mu Ao Tie!”
“So it is Mr Mu. Nice to meet you.” Tie Miao Qing cupped her hands in greeting again.
Mu Ao Tie nodded with a proud and aloof expression before being pulled away by his senior brother.
After the two disappeared, Sun Ping asked doubtfully, “Can they persuade that third place scholar?”
Tie Miao Qing replied, “Mr Nan said the two of them are A Shi Heng’s sworn brothers. When elder brothers speak, they should carry some weight!”
“Ah, earlier A Shi Heng said the two of them were his subordinates.”
“Uh, no way? From the looks of it, Mr Nan’s words seem more believable.”
“True. We saw it back in the ancient tomb wasteland. That third place scholar has a bit of a feeling of talking nonsense. Only later did we discover he had tricked us all. Miss, wait a moment. I will go take a look.” Sun Ping threw down the words and ran off again.
Seeing his two senior brothers come out safely, Yu Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief. If something had really happened, he truly did not know how to explain it to his little master uncle.
After the two sides met up, Yu Qing asked, “What happened? They did not make things difficult for you, right?”
Nan Zhu shook his head, then casually took Yu Qing’s arm and led the puzzled Yu Qing to a quiet spot nearby.