The meaning of the last sentence was clearly also a reminder to Yu Qing that he should think about what would remain for him in three months’ time.
Yu Qing was speechless. He could not explain to the other party that his identity as a Tanhua could not be exposed, or he would face no small amount of trouble, and might even be hunted down. However, getting this head servant to relent was no longer very likely.
He thought about collapsing on the spot and pretending to be ill, but it was too rushed, he had not prepared, and he could not pull it off. Any random cultivator who came to examine him would see through it.
“Forget it,” he thought. He would just pretend he had never come. He cupped his hands to thank the other for his kindness, then turned and left.
Liu Gui chased him to the door and shouted, “Brother Niu, remember, do not run around randomly. Prepare yourself in the courtyard, and remember to clean the courtyard thoroughly.”
Yu Qing waved his hand with his back to him, unwilling to face him any longer, feeling dejected.
He took his rice bowl straight to the dining hall. Getting food was secondary; what mattered was finding people. He swept his gaze across the crowd seated in the dining hall a few times and found Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie. The two were not sitting together, but their builds were easy to recognise.
When getting his food, the cook actually gave him an extra steamed bun and even nodded and smiled at Yu Qing. The meaning of goodwill was very obvious; everyone knew that Yu Qing’s relationship with Liu Gui was quite good.
Yu Qing had no choice but to return a silly smile.
Afterwards, he took a detour around the dining tables, deliberately passing in front of Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie before leaving, without saying a word.
The two naturally knew that this one would not look for them for no reason. This meant he definitely had something to ask of them, so they also got up and left one after another.
Once again, it was one following another as they arrived at the miscellaneous courtyard.
The door closed. The three fellow disciples met in the bedroom. Nan Zhu asked, “Something’s up?”
Yu Qing, who had just put down his rice bowl on the table, sighed. “Something’s happened. This time, I’m afraid one of you two will have to be sacrificed.”
The two senior brothers looked at each other. Nan Zhu said, “Sacrificed? What on earth is going on? Don’t scare us.”
Yu Qing said, “Wen Xin is bringing Wen Yan’an to see the spirit pet. Wen Yan’an and I are fellow graduates of the same imperial examination. The chances of him recognising me are very high. Once we meet, I’ll be exposed immediately…” He rattled off the serious consequences and relationships at rapid speed.
After the two senior brothers finished listening, they exchanged a glance. Nan Zhu asked, “What does this have to do with us? What do you mean by making one of us be sacrificed?”
Yu Qing said, “This is the plan. One of you will cause a disturbance, deliberately bumping into Wen Yan’an. If something happens that prevents Wen Yan’an from coming, that’ll do it. So… who is willing to take the risk? At worst, you’ll be expelled from the Wen residence. I’ll give you one thousand taels of silver.”
Nan Zhu spat, “What a rotten idea. Only you could come up with something like this. Bumping into Wen Yan’an in the Wen residence, aren’t you afraid the two of us will be beaten crippled? Can one thousand taels of silver make up for that? Once they discover the two of us are cultivators who infiltrated the place, who knows if we’ll even be able to escape.”
Mu Aotie, however, was decisive. “You run away quickly. Once you’re gone, there’ll be no problem.”
Nan Zhu said, “Ah, right, you run quickly. The two of us will slowly think of a way to handle things here.”
Why would they need to remind him? The moment he sensed something was wrong, Yu Qing’s first thought was to run. Anyway, he had already mastered the entrances and exits of the Wen Clan’s two secret passages, so he could infiltrate the Wen Clan at any time. But if he ran off just like that, it would be very difficult to see Wen Xin again, let alone speak with her again…
After a period of silence, he shook his head and said, “No good. With just the two of you here, I’m not very at ease.”
Nan Zhu glared. “Old Fifteen, are you out of your mind? What do you mean you’re not at ease with the two of us here? So if the two of us step forward and get beaten crippled or killed, you’ll be at ease? What are you thinking? Run quickly. The two of us will be careful with the rest.”
Yu Qing had no intention of running. After a moment of silence, he clenched his fist in front of his own eyes, hesitating. Several times he wanted to bring it towards his own face, but he could not quite bring himself to do it so ruthlessly.
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie both stared at him blankly, roughly understanding his meaning.
Seeing him hesitate and unable to be ruthless, Nan Zhu tentatively said, “That is indeed a method. Do you want the two of us to help you?”
Yu Qing’s cold eyes lifted. “Help me? What kind of good intentions you have, I know very well?”
Nan Zhu was amused. “Do it yourself then. But you’ll still need to find a mirror. Otherwise, you’ll have suffered for nothing and might not be able to conceal your true appearance.”
“…” Yu Qing looked around. It was true; he did not even have a mirror here.
“This fellow thinks of one thing after another. Young people haven’t settled their natures yet. Old Nine, let’s go. No time to waste arguing with him.” Nan Zhu waved his hand in summons. Mu Aotie turned and followed him out.
Yu Qing then walked out from the bedroom and gave a sentence, “If you two take the chance to vent your anger on me, don’t blame me for being impolite later.”
Hearing these words, that settled it. Nan Zhu temporarily handed his rice bowl to Mu Aotie, then turned back to Yu Qing and said, “Close your eyes with confidence.”
Yu Qing took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
Nan Zhu did not stand on ceremony. Bang! He swung his fist and smashed it into his face.
Pressing forward, it was a barrage of fists raining down on Yu Qing’s face, executed with such clean efficiency.
Seeing Yu Qing staggering towards him, Mu Aotie, who was holding two rice bowls, suddenly spun around and lashed out with a whip kick to Yu Qing’s face.
Smack! Yu Qing fell to the ground with a flip. He urgently raised his hand to stop. “Enou…”
Nan Zhu rushed over with a fat fist, knocking the sound out of him.
Mu Aotie put down the two bowls and also rushed over. The two fellow disciples joined forces. Bam, bam, bam. It was a good round of punches and kicks, forcibly creating the momentum of a group beating. Who knew how long they had been holding back their anger, taking the chance to vent it.
Big Head had already flown off in fright, landing on the eaves to watch.
The little puppy sleeping under the eaves was also startled awake. Seeing Yu Qing being beaten, it charged over, baring its teeth and letting out two “woof woof” sounds with a fierce yet adorable appearance. But no one paid it any attention, and it did not dare to approach any closer.
“I told you to hit my face, not my body, you bastards, how dare you…” Yu Qing on the ground howled and went on a rampage, retaliating like an enraged dragon.
Bam, bam. Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie were kicked flying.
The three on the ground almost simultaneously climbed up.
Yu Qing held his face with both hands, swinging his jaw left and right. His face was numb with pain, and he felt like his jaw was almost dislocated. He touched his nose and mouth; his hand was stained with bright red blood. He immediately cursed the two of them, “You two like to settle personal scores under the guise of public duty, do you? Fine, just you wait. We’ll settle this account slowly!”
Nan Zhu, rubbing his stomach as he stood up, hummed, “Old Nine, you see? This is what they mean by no good deed goes unpunished. We helped him, and he kicked us in return, and even speaks to us with vicious words.”
Mu Aotie patted the footprint on his waist. “A face-turner!”
“Let’s go.” Nan Zhu called out, and the two each went to pick up their rice bowls and left.
Yu Qing, whose face was already bruised and swollen beyond recognition, pointed at his own face and asked, “How is it?”
The two senior brothers looked back. Nan Zhu said, “We’re not what you think. We held back when striking. Don’t worry, they definitely won’t recognise you. The swelling will be even worse in a while, and it’ll be even harder to recognise.”
Mu Aotie also gave a sentence, “Definitely won’t recognise.”
Yu Qing said, “Scram!”
Nan Zhu shook his head and said with a straight face, “Don’t be angry. We really did it for your own good. One punch at a time, slowly, would be even more agonising. This way, with a quick flurry, you see how fast it was. It’ll be fine in the blink of an eye.”
Mu Aotie said, “Better a short pain than a long one!”
Nan Zhu patted him on the chest with the back of his hand. “Well said. That’s exactly the principle.”
Yu Qing waved his hand towards the courtyard exit. “Scram!”
The two senior brothers shook their heads and left. They had already gone out the door when Nan Zhu turned back and gave another sentence, “If you want the swelling to conceal your appearance for longer, don’t circulate your qi to disperse the blood stasis.”
Mu Aotie also offered a word of advice, “If the swelling goes down too quickly, it’ll easily arouse suspicion.”
Bang! The courtyard gate closed. The person in the courtyard did not want to hear their nonsense.
The two senior brothers looked around, carrying their rice bowls and swaggering off. Even though they had both taken a kick, they both had an obvious sense of physical and mental relief.
Nan Zhu, with a face full of contentment, said, “What a pity Old Two isn’t here.”
Mu Aotie said, “Mm. He missed it.”
Nan Zhu said, “This is the first time I’ve seen Old Fifteen willing to voluntarily suffer such a big loss. Did he take the wrong medicine or something? Why do I feel something is a bit off?”
“It is a bit abnormal.”
In the courtyard, Yu Qing repeatedly felt his numb face. He looked at the blood on his hand, then went to the well to draw water. He needed to wash up.
There were still many footprints on his body. He would have to change his clothes later, or he would not be able to explain it.
The little puppy was no longer sleeping. It squatted quietly by the well, tilting its head as it watched the unrecognisable Yu Qing wash up. Occasionally it let out a soft “woof” towards him, not knowing what it wanted to say…
At Jade Garden, Wen Yan’an arrived on schedule with his attendant servants.
Wen Xin had long been waiting at the garden entrance. Seeing the person arrive, she said happily, “Fifth Brother.”
Feng Changdian, Steward Feng, beside her was a bit stunned. He had thought the honoured guest was someone else, so he had run over ahead of time to greet and accompany them. Who would have known it was actually the Wen family’s new graduate?
That was a bit strange. Why had they refused to tell him who the honoured guest was when he asked earlier?
His heart was full of doubts, but he still obediently performed the salutation. “Fifth Young Master.”
Little did he know that Wen Xin had concealed it from him for another purpose. If the person in the miscellaneous courtyard was indeed the one she suspected and guessed, revealing that Wen Yan’an was coming might cause the other party, who was deliberately hiding his identity, to be unwilling to meet her, and she was afraid some accident might occur that would cause them to miss the meeting.
The reason she had sent someone early in the morning to notify the West Miscellaneous Courtyard that she was coming over, and even specified that that particular person must be present, was also because Wen Yan’an’s time was tight. It was impossible for him to linger in the miscellaneous courtyard waiting for a servant. Once they missed this chance, it would not be appropriate to invite Wen Yan’an over again. He really was too busy. What would it look like if he kept going to the miscellaneous courtyard for amusement? She was not so lacking in understanding, nor was she so thick-skinned as to keep inviting him again.
Therefore, she had made arrangements and preparations beforehand to guard against the unexpected.
Some of these habits in handling matters were also something her grandfather had trained and cultivated in her since she was young.
Wen Yan’an strode over with a smile. “Xin’er, I am still a man of my word, am I not?” After speaking, he also nodded slightly to Steward Feng in greeting.
Wen Xin said happily, “Lord Wen naturally would not go back on his word.”
Wen Yan’an helplessly pointed at her. “You, you. I can’t do anything with you. Let’s go.”
The group then set off.
The Wen residence was indeed large, and it took some time to walk to the miscellaneous courtyard.
At the entrance of the miscellaneous courtyard, Liu Gui was already standing there waiting. He had come personally to check first.
Yu Qing was also standing at the entrance to greet them, but his face was covered with a makeshift cloth mask.
Liu Gui glanced at him from time to time. To have something happen at the last moment, he was truly speechless.
However, there was nothing to be done. Yu Qing said it was because he had listened to him and been actively cleaning, but he had knocked over things in the storehouse and been smashed into this state like this.
It had already come to this, and it seemed he had still been implicated by him. What could Liu Gui say? He could only blame Yu Qing for being careless himself.