Yu Qing retorted, “Is it wrong to want all the good things?”
Forget it, Mu Aotie decided not to say anything more. He would not bother arguing with him.
Yu Qing had no desire to continue the topic either. Speaking of it was just frustrating. All the fine girls belonged to others. Given his status and position, he could never hope to win them over. Families of the Wen’s standing would never look his way. Unless he pretended to be A Shiheng. But what kind of logic was it to impersonate another man just to find himself a woman?
The woman attracted in such a way would actually be fond of another man. Was that not deeply frustrating?
How he wished he were a sect leader or a disciple of a prestigious grand sect. He would have wealth at will, cultivation resources to buy freely, and status to match. He could visit any family and be considered a perfect match.
Yet there was no help for it. This was his birth. Unless he were to be reincarnated, his sect lacked the means to give him more. When strength and desires did not match, he, as a sect leader, could only serve as a menial alongside his two senior brothers here.
If he did not wish to struggle, he could simply hide in the mountains and endure it like the previous generation did. It was actually quite safe.
Just thinking about it was annoying. He waved at Nan Zhu and said, “Why are we talking about women when things are fine? Let us drop this subject and discuss the actual situation.”
Nan Zhu nodded. “Based on the descriptions from some servants, we can draw one conclusion. The trials for Mount Qinglian disciples are mostly arranged by leveraging the Wen family’s secular influence. In other words, the core force guarding the Wen estate consists of Mount Qinglian cultivators. There are quite a few of them stationed here. Sneaking into the Wenshu Pavilion unnoticed will likely be rather troublesome.”
Yu Qing replied, “I could have guessed that much. What is the difference between saying it and not saying it?”
Nan Zhu immediately asked, “Then what intelligence have you gathered?”
Asked this, Yu Qing felt somewhat puzzled. After managing to get assigned to this storeroom, he had initially thought he had landed a good spot.
Relatively speaking, it was indeed a good place. But for the task he needed to accomplish, it was absolutely not ideal. He was isolated, unable to move about freely, hardly saw anyone, and would struggle to even find someone to chat with. Gathering any useful information would be very difficult.
“I have nothing so far,” he said dismissively.
He brushed past it with a single sentence and asked Mu Aotie, “What about your side? Any developments?”
Mu Aotie replied, “I carried some goods inside and memorised a few internal routes and layouts. It can be used to draft a map.”
Yu Qing stroked his moustache, nodded thoughtfully, and said, “Fine. We will pursue both approaches simultaneously. First, secretly look for suitable candidates who can enter the Wenshu Pavilion. Second, map out the Wen estate terrain and draft a map to prepare for our own infiltration. I will handle the map here, as I have the conditions for it. You two bring back the terrain details bit by bit, and we will fill it in and refine it gradually.”
Seventh Brother and Ninth Brother both nodded. There were no better options at present, so they could only proceed with these preparations for now and see how things unfolded.
Shortly after the two left, dusk had nearly fallen.
Just as Yu Qing had slid the door bolt shut and was preparing to return to his room for meditation and cultivation, the door was pushed slightly, followed by a knock.
Yu Qing immediately went to open it. Liu Gui was standing outside. He quickly stepped aside and politely greeted him, “Head Liu.”
Liu Gui did not wander around in the dark. He walked straight into Yu Qing’s room.
He glanced around the room, walked over to the desk, and flipped through the registration ledger under the lamplight. Seeing that it had been done quite well, he nodded in satisfaction, closed the ledger, and turned to say, “The estate is short-staffed, and I have too many areas to oversee. I do not have the time to teach you slowly. You must be careful and attentive. If you do not understand something, come find me.”
Yu Qing replied, “Understood.”
“Good, I will go check the other areas,” Liu Gui said, dropping the words and walking away with his hands clasped behind his back. Reaching the doorway, he paused and looked back. “If nothing unexpected happens and there are no delays on the road, the Fifth Young Master will return by tomorrow noon. The clan leader has ordered that everyone may rest from their duties at that time. You can all go to the main gate to watch the commotion.”
“Understood,” Yu Qing agreed, but could not help asking, “Head Liu, who is the Fifth Young Master?”
“You do not even know…” Liu Gui’s words cut off halfway. Realising it, he remembered that this was a newcomer who would not know yet. He immediately said proudly, “The Fifth Young Master’s name is Wen Yan’an. He is the son of the Eldest Master, ranking fifth among the clan leader’s grandsons. Last year, he passed the new imperial examinations and made the golden roll, achieving the rank of a second-class metropolitan graduate. He is returning home by imperial decree to visit his family.
Returning home by the decree of His Majesty the Emperor to see his family. Do you understand? It is a spectacle many will never see in their entire lives. Not just any family gets to experience this. The clan leader is being generous, allowing you to broaden your horizons. You should quietly count your blessings.”
Wen Yan’an? Was there anyone by that name on last year’s golden roll? Yu Qing muttered internally. He had absolutely no impression of him.
Those who ranked at the top only compared themselves with those above. Very few paid attention to those who ranked below them.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Yu Qing replied politely.
“This is the seventeenth metropolitan graduate our Wen family has produced. Trying to find a lineage like this across the entire Jin Kingdom would be a rare feat,” Liu Gui said, walking away smugly with his hands behind his back. Though he was merely a servant, he shared in the pride.
After closing the door, Yu Qing gave a soft scoff. “What is there to be so boastful about being a second-class graduate?”
Dismissive, he returned to his room to feed Datou and continued his cultivation. As for this Wen Yan’an, he was not worried at all. Setting aside whether his current appearance was easily recognisable, he might not even go to watch the spectacle. And even if he did, he would simply hide in the crowd so that nobody would spot him.
He blew out the lamp, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.
The night passed quietly.
When the sky began to brighten slightly, Yu Qing’s ears twitched during his meditation. He faintly heard something scratching at the main gate outside. Listening more carefully, the sound vanished.
He assumed it was a rat or something. Just as he was about to resume cultivation, a clear commotion suddenly erupted in the courtyard outside. He immediately halted his practice, rose, and quickly opened the door to step out. Behind one of the storeroom pillars, a small puppy was munching away noisily.
What it was eating was the food the three brothers had thrown away yesterday. He had wrapped it in greaseproof paper and casually left it under a corridor pillar, intending to secretly mix it with the rubbish and dispose of it when he went out sweeping later that day.
The eating puppy looked familiar. He bent down to look closely. The little pup actually turned its head to look at him, wagging its tail behind its plump bottom in a friendly manner. After shaking its head and wagging its tail for a while, as if greeting him or something, it buried its head again and continued to gobble down the food noisily.
Apart from that so-called Purple Cloud Hou spirit beast, there was nothing else.
Yu Qing stroked his moustache, his face filled with astonishment and suspicion. How could it enjoy overnight leftovers so much? Was this really a spirit beast? Looking at its behaviour, it was clearly just a common mongrel.
Wait, how did it get inside again?
He turned to look back, then immediately ran to the doorway and pulled on it. Yes, the door was securely closed.
He soon discovered the issue. He crouched by the drainage ditch under the eaves and peered out. It was unblocked. Was this not a natural dog hole?
Yu Qing went back, reached out, and grabbed the little pup by the scruff of its neck. Lifting it up to examine it, he seriously wondered if the person raising the spirit beast was too careless. Had they starved the little creature? Otherwise, how could a dignified spirit beast fall to the point of treating overnight leftovers as a delicacy?
The little pup licked the food crumbs from its lips with its tongue. Its big eyes stared at him pitifully, and its tail wagged even more vigorously.
Yu Qing carried it to the drainage outlet, crouched down, and told it, “Little thing, it is not that I refuse to feed you. This leftover rice smells sour to me. If you get a stomachache from eating it, and someone comes knocking, I fear I cannot bear the responsibility.” Saying that, he pushed it into the hole and gave it a shove before standing up.
Stuck at the opening, the little creature wiggled its bottom and actually began shuffling backwards inch by inch. From its behaviour, it clearly had no intention of leaving and wanted to retreat back inside.
Yu Qing immediately braced himself against the wall, extended his foot into the ditch, and gave the little creature’s bottom a kick. A loud splash was instantly heard from outside as it fell.
Just as he lifted his foot and crouched to peek out, he immediately saw the little creature climb back up and try to squeeze inside again. Yu Qing instantly kicked out, planting his sole firmly over the drainage opening, absolutely refusing to let it enter.
Not to mention that he looked down upon the one or two silver tael reward. The real reason he would not let it back in was, as he himself stated, that the little creature had eaten sour overnight food and might get diarrhoea. Fearing he would be held accountable, he had to firmly draw a line and distance himself from it.
Unable to push or dig its way through, the little creature whined twice in frustration, stepped back, and fell down again with another splash.
After waiting a moment with no further reaction, Yu Qing thought it had given up. Just as he was about to move a floor tile to block the drain, his peripheral vision caught movement on the other side. Turning his head, he saw, good heavens, the little puppy had actually squeezed in through the drainage opening under the eaves on the other side.
As soon as it got inside, it frolicked happily and trotted straight back towards the overnight leftovers, charging at them to gobble them down noisily once more.
“Hey!” Yu Qing chuckled. Striving with all its might just for a bite of food. It was truly no different from those famine refugees.
But it was the same as before. The puppy had eaten spoiled food, and he needed to distance himself. So he rose to catch it.
After gnawing frantically for a while, the little creature looked back, seemed to realise something, and immediately scampered away, darting straight into the storeroom.
Yu Qing followed it into the storeroom, only to find it somewhat troublesome. A pile of cluttered items, such as tables and chairs, blocked the way. He crouched down to search, but the lighting was poor, and he could not tell where the little creature had hidden itself.
“Do not refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Get out quickly, do not bring trouble upon me,” Yu Qing said, grabbing a wooden stick at random and banging it loudly against the table to intimidate it.
Just then, a knock sounded from outside again.
He immediately stepped out, hastily hid the unfinished sour rice, and then urgently asked, “Who is it?”
“It is me,” came Nan Zhu’s voice.
Yu Qing relaxed, walked over quickly, and opened the door. Seeing only Nan Zhu, he asked in confusion, “What are you doing out so early?”
Nan Zhu sighed. “Alas, so early in the morning, who would have thought. The Third Young Lady’s spirit pet has run off again. They have asked everyone to help look for it. I thought, could it have come to your place again? So I specifically came over to ask you.”
Hardly had these words been spoken when Mu Aotie’s figure appeared as well.
There was no need to ask. It was definitely for the same purpose. Yu Qing immediately let them both inside, glancing left and right outside the door before ducking back in and closing it.
Nan Zhu asked in a low voice, “Did it really come to your place again?”
Yu Qing said, “Cut the chatter. It is so annoying. Catch it and get it out of here quickly.” He waved his hand, signalling the two to follow him.
Upon reaching the storeroom, he first casually lit the oil lamp placed nearby. Then, with a light step, he leapt onto a pile of clutter, holding up the lamp to illuminate the area as he searched back and forth.
He found it in no time.
Seeing it had been discovered, the little creature immediately crouched and scrambled into an overturned wooden barrel.
A pile of items weighed down the top, making it difficult to grab. Yu Qing had no choice but to call the two over to help.
Nan Zhu held the lamp above to provide light. Yu Qing and Mu Aotie moved the items from above and below. The things in the corner had not been moved in who knows how long, stirring up clouds of flying dust.
Soon, the little creature hiding in the barrel was caught.
Yu Qing handed the little creature up to Mu Aotie. However, he himself remained crouched there, motionless for a long time. Staring at the swirling dust, he finally reached out and tapped the ground with his knuckles, listening to the sound.