Chapter 39 Encounter

  Min An could only leave the inn under the pretext of searching for Bi Shi, and he still had to follow Li Qun, the number one attendant of the Crown Prince's mansion. Li Qun was born with an extraordinary appearance, wearing a long robe with arrow sleeves, a precious sword hanging from his waist, and standing at the entrance of the guest house, attracting passersby to glance at him repeatedly.

  In the courtyard of the Stone Inn, Wu Ren replaced General Shang with good medicine. He was shaking his arm to practice its flapping action. Next to him, Hua Cui tightly grasped the small horse's cloak, fearing that it would suddenly get out of control and rush up to fight with General again.

  Hua Cui received a message from Min An and wanted to bring Yu Mi to Qingquan County, but Bi Si did not allow him to take leave. After delaying for three days, Bi Si still had not returned to the Huangshi Prefecture government office, so Hua Cui packed his bags and rushed to Wu Ren's place, asking Wu Ren about Min An's recent situation.

  Wu Ren rolled his eyes and said, "How can this stinky kid be alright? He's always getting punished by the young master, sometimes kneeling, sometimes being beaten. His back still hurts from the last flogging, and now he's gone out on official business and gotten a hole in the back of his head! Originally, he was already an idiot, if I stop giving him medicine and he gets hit again, who knows how much more effort it'll take to make him understand? The illness can't be delayed, we must keep his mind clear at all times, which things can be done and which can't, like the matter with Bao'er..."

  Wu Ren had been harboring resentment, and taking advantage of Hua Cui's inquiry, he vented his anger from Li Peinan to Xiao Bao'er. Hua Cui knew her father's temper was like a storm on a rainy day, it would pass and there would be no further danger, so she stood by silently listening. The more she heard, the more she understood that Crown Prince Li Peinan's attitude towards Min An was more about discipline than support, and he had never shown any leniency, which made her feel indignant as well.

  Hua Cui walked to the gate of the imperial palace with a heart full of resentment, stood with her hands on her hips and looked at the two rows of majestic guards standing on either side. She had intended to casually call out one of them to reason with him, but just as she was about to make her move, the two rows of guards simultaneously drew their gleaming military blades, making a loud clanging sound that scared her off before she could even utter a word.

  After that, Hua Cui stayed in the inn with Wu Ren and waited for Min An to arrive.

  On the third day, Min An used finding Bi Si as an excuse to go out and visit his master in private. When he saw Hua Cui and Yu Mi were also there, he was overjoyed and ran forward to play with them for a while, his behavior was very intimate. Li Qun coughed and pulled back the foot that had just stepped inside, then stood outside the door.

  The extremely delicate and charming Huā Cuì turned her head to take a glance, pouting as she said: "Anzi, why did you bring this mountain big-head?" In the dialect of Chu Prefecture, 'mountain big-head' referred to martial artists who looked robust but were actually useless in a fight.

  Min An waved his hand: "It's better than bringing a leopard with me, or I wouldn't be able to get out the door."

  Hua Cuizhe pulled on Min An's ear and leaned in: "Do you like him following you?"

  "I don't like it."

  "Then let's think of a way to get rid of him."

  In Hua Cu's eyes, Lüe Qun was as steady as a mountain, no matter where Hua Cu dragged Min An to, he always followed slowly behind. In the end, Hua Cu gritted her teeth and brought out her trump card, taking Min An on a trip to the fabric store, asking the owner's embroidery maid to rush and make two belly wraps, and waving that piece of cloth in front of Lüe Qun, saying: "What does the general think of this pattern?"

  Lü Qún, who had seen through Huā Cuì's thoughts, gave a slight bow and stood outside the door without saying a word. Huā Cuì took advantage of the opportunity to grab Mǐn ān and walk through the central hall to the small back door, shaking off Lü Qún.

  Min An walked unsteadily with a small bamboo basket on his back, worried that the corn in the basket would be shaken awake. He hastily reached out to grab Huā Cuì and turned the tables on her, leading her to the nearby main street. As they walked, he asked: "That lotus-belly apron, how did you manage to make large, medium, and small sizes all different?"

  Hua Cui smiled and said: "The middle one is for you."

  Min An scowled in anger: "How could I possibly use it?"

  Hua Cui still smiled: "If you don't let go of that white mantou, it will really grow into two eggs."

  Min An furrowed his brow and turned away, not looking at Hua Cui. He pursed his lips to show his displeasure. Hua Cui understood Min An's thoughts, knowing he insisted on being a man, but she had been entrusted by Wu Ren's father to guide him patiently. So, she grasped his wrist and stood in the winding path of bluestone, saying: "All these years, I've followed your heart and done things for you, helping you dress up and treating you like a young master. But your thoughts have become increasingly muddled, wanting to marry Bao'er as your wife. Marrying Bao'er isn't a big deal, but living together without having children, what's the point? You also said you want to clear the Min family's name and continue their legacy, making future generations proud. You made a poisonous vow in front of Confucius' statue, vowing not to return until the Min family's reputation is restored. Not mentioning other things, just the phrase 'the three unfilial acts, with no offspring being the greatest' makes you unable to lift your head in front of the Master."

  Min An leaned against the stone wall, his head knocking gently against it as he thought deeply. Hua Cui knew him well and had been with him for many years, like a sibling to him; her words of caution were the most effective on him.

  Min An thought for a moment before responding: "Bao'er likes me, I also like her. Moreover, since it was I who first proposed to marry her, going back on my word now would be unfair to her."

  Hua Cuigou burst out laughing: "I thought you were frowning and not speaking for half a day, thinking you were considering something important and I was putting you in a difficult position. It turned out to be this place. As for Bao'er's side, I'll go help you talk to her, guaranteed to coax her into a good mood, she won't turn around and blame you."

  Min An was still hesitant. Hua Cui put away her smile, using her slender fingers to tap on his forehead: "Still can't figure it out? Then I'll ask you, do you like me too? Have you ever thought of taking me home as your wife?" Min An shook his head, and Hua Cui asked why. He thought for a moment before answering truthfully: "I can see you every day, even if we're apart, I know we'll be together again later."

  "What a silly child, when you like someone or something, you want to keep it close and protect it tightly, just like Yu Mi and Ah Hua's stubbornness. If you find a good man to marry, have children, and move next to Bao Er's house, won't you be able to see her every day and resolve your heart knot?"

  Min An's eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face. Hua Cui saw the silly look on his face and knew that her words had taken effect, letting out a long sigh of relief. Min An excitedly pulled Hua Cui's hand as they continued walking down the street, suddenly asking: "Can we have kids without getting married?"

  Hua Cui's footsteps paused: "You often sneak to Hua Street to drink frozen milk wine, and you must have heard those young ladies talk about things. Can't you even figure this out without me teaching you?"

  Min An's face turned red as he scratched his forehead: "I've heard of it, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes. It always feels strange to me. The young ladies often say that they cry out loudly at night. If accompanying guests to drink flower wine is so painful, why do they still fight to throw handkerchiefs to invite guests?"

  Hua Cuilian's face turned red with anger and she coughed: "This matter, I'll let you know later."

  Min An muttered as he walked ahead: "Am I not already a young master? Do you still want to find another master?"

  Hua Cui grasped Min An's hand and whispered, "Don't think about all sorts of nonsense, just listen to your sister's advice: find a clever man with a normal brain to marry, then the kids won't be like you, running around causing trouble with a muddled head."

  The alley was deep and long, and by the time Ming An walked out, he had been successfully persuaded by Hua Cui. He untied the knot in his heart, knowing that he couldn't marry Xiao Bao'er, and also knew the importance of marrying a clever person. As for him wanting to continue pretending to be a man, Hua Cui didn't try to dissuade him much, after all, having a male identity was more convenient when entering officialdom and seeking promotion.

  Min An recalled the past and told Hua Cui that he had once been engaged to a girl from the Zhu family. Hua Cui was amazed and urged Min An to tell her everything in detail. Min An picked up the case of the Zhu family and told her about it, but asked her not to reveal it to anyone else. He explained that he didn't know much about the Zhu family either, as the engagement had been arranged by his grandfather and father, and he had never interacted with them until he met Zhu Mu in county school.

  Hua Cui's eyes sparkled: "Is Zhu Muzi good-looking?"

  He is fat.

  "Is he clever at reading books?"

  Min An couldn't help but nod: "The master has always been full of praise for him, calling him the second top talent in the Great Xia Dynasty, with no one comparable to him."

  "Who was the first one?"

  "Zhu Mu's father, Zhu Youcheng, was the only one who passed the 'Book Judge Outstanding Class' imperial examination."

  "Father is an official, he should have accumulated many connections. Xiaobai's fiancé is well-read and intelligent, his future in the imperial court is bright. Go investigate, if the fiancé didn't participate in Father's case, why not kidnap him and marry him off? It can be considered as saving him from the fire pit!"

  Min An's brain was often muddled, and he didn't quite understand what the difference between being a man or a woman had to do with anything important. However, when it came to official business, he still had his own opinions. The case involving the Zhu family was complicated, involving the Peng Ma Party, with intricate relationships and connections. Whether or not to pull Zhu Mu Si into the partnership was indeed difficult to predict. The most crucial point was that the Crown Prince was currently investigating this group of people, with swift and severe methods. He belonged to the Crown Prince's camp, and if he made even a slight mistake, the consequences would be unthinkable.

  Min An recalled that day in the study, Li Peinan grabbed his hair and pulled him forward, saying: No matter if you're a man or a woman, you can't ruin my plans. Those icy eyes with a hint of life and death still lingered in his mind.

  Min An shivered as he carried the bamboo basket, and Yu Mi woke up with a start, grabbing his hat and chirping. Min An reached out to hold down Yu Mi and said to Hua Cui: "There's a famous food shop on this street that makes a unique-tasting Liangguo melon basket, all the girls love to eat it, I'll buy some for you to try." As he spoke, he took Hua Cui into the same store that Wu Mei had visited yesterday.

  Hua Cui was delighted after hearing this, her waist shaking with a gentle tremble. "Wow, for the usually stingy An Zi to spend money buying things, it's really a rare occurrence. With this kind of heart, sister is already satisfied, no need to trouble you to spend more."

  Min An's face turned red as he said, "My silver was all taken away by my old man. Otherwise, I would have bought more things for you." He reached into his waist bag, grasped the fragmented silver coins from the five taels of reward tightly, and handed them over to the shopkeeper with a resolute determination like that of a brave warrior cutting off his own wrist.

  The mistress, however, refused to accept it, waving her hand and saying, "I'm busy, the price of melons is going up today, you can put that silver away for now." She walked straight into the central hall, carefully examining something. It was only then that Min An noticed a young man sitting beside the Eight Immortals table, wearing a light blue robe with a white undergarment, and a ray of sunlight filtering through the skylight above, casting a warm glow on him, making him look like a delicate jade bamboo shoot, quietly growing in a corner of the ancient, rustic world.

  A young man was carving a wooden figurine with a small knife, while the landlady stood with her back to the door, completely absorbed in watching him and ignoring the customers who had just entered.

  Hua Cui saw that she couldn't bear such treatment, and coldly smiled, preparing to explode. Min An grabbed her and said: "Don't shout, from the moment we entered, our voices have been a bit loud, it's us who were rude first, if we continue to quarrel, it will delay Young Master Ke Hua's needlework."

  Min An walked towards the octagonal table, and with the light from the skylight, he examined the young man very clearly. The first thing he noticed was that the young man had a pair of clean and stable hands, with long fingers, and his movements when holding the small knife were very gentle, as if he were polishing a piece of jade. The tender yellow grapefruit in his hand slowly moved, and after being carved by the knife tip, several orchid leaf patterns had already appeared on its skin. His knife seemed to be able to produce flowers, one after another falling onto the green silk sleeve, setting off his pale skin tone extremely beautifully.

  Min An looked up and was drawn in by a pair of soft, bright eyes that seemed to hold a clear spring within. As his gaze flowed, it brought out the luster of his obsidian pupils. Without needing to look back, he made Min An feel a quiet strength.

  Min An stood aside and quietly waited for the young man to finish his work.

  Young people carved the flower pattern, cut open the grapefruit, and lightly picked up some dried tangerine peel, hawthorn, and honey orange jam with a small knife, applied it to the pulp, and then handed it over to the boss. He said slowly: "First dry the pulp, then pad a layer of honey, maltose skin, brush the fruit sauce, after three times can be inserted into the dried flower bud, seal the top mouth to make a flower bowl. Take out the flower bowl, match with other licorice and tuckahoe cake, put it in the fragrant gourd, you can complete the stomach-soothing and crisp-mouthed cool fruit basket."

  The boss's wife happily accepted the melon, thanked him repeatedly, and praised the young man's craftsmanship as extraordinary. She took out a large silver ingot from the money box and handed it over to him. However, the young man refused to accept it, using his fan to separate his hand from the boss's wife. He smiled and said: "Boss, please make a mold of my carved melon skin, so it will be convenient for you to take it out later. I don't need any reward, but if you want to repay me, you can send a basket of cool fruit to this young gentleman."

  Hua Cui, who was skilled in cooking, heard that someone had a unique skill and couldn't help but feel itchy. She went over to take a look. As soon as she smelled the sweet and sour taste of the grapefruit, she curled her lip and said, "It's really not bad."

  Min An still stood there dazed and asked: "Have I met you before? Why did you accept the gift?"

  The young man raised his hand in a gesture of farewell to the landlady and then smiled slightly at Min An: "I've always heard Wu Mei mention you."

  Min An looked carefully at the young man's gentle eyebrows and eyes, furrowed his brow for a moment, and couldn't figure it out. The young man suddenly raised his sleeve to cover his mouth and nose, didn't say anything, but revealed a pair of smiling and kind eyes. Min An suddenly came to his senses: "You're the dentist who filled my tooth that day!"

  The young man bowed and said: "I am but a humble person, I dare not sully the two characters 'great master', you may call me by my courtesy name Xuanshu."

  Min An murmured: "Xuan Xu... Xuan Xu... Could it be that the young master was also born in winter?" Just like his younger brother Xuan Ying, he had an air of winter chill about him.

  Young Master Xuan smiled and nodded. The boss's wife stood aside, patiently waiting for them to finish their pleasantries before handing the basket of melons to Min An. Min An declined: "I've received your gifts twice without doing anything in return, it's hard to repay you, there should be give-and-take in our relationship, I shouldn't take things again this time." He refused to accept the basket no matter what. Behind him, Yu Mi couldn't bear to watch and flipped over Min An's shoulder, slipping smoothly into the basket, licking his favorite maltose candy skin with his tongue, refusing to leave even when Min An scolded him.

  The boss's wife smiled and said, "This little monkey is so clever, why don't we give it to him?" Min An had no choice but to accept the fruit basket. After the boss's wife had pleased the guest of honor, she turned around and asked for the recipe for licorice and yam cake. However, Xuan Xu proposed a condition: if Min An came to the shop again in the future, the boss's wife would have to give him a free fruit basket without taking any money, with two times as an example within ten days. The boss's wife naturally agreed in order to obtain the secret recipe.

  Corn lay in the fruit basket, licking the maltose sugar skin, and then grabbed a crispy melon to gnaw on, eating with great relish. Xuanshu was talking to the boss's wife with a warm smile, but his hands were holding out a piece of maltose sugar to Corn, who tasted the familiar flavor, threw away the fruit, and licked it clean with its tongue. It looked up at Xuanshu with eager eyes, Xuanshu still maintained a polite demeanor without looking down, yet understood its thoughts, moved his wrist in his sleeve, and used his fingertips to hold a bag of roasted sugar-coated corn kernels, placing them in the palm of its outstretched hand.

  Corn is grabbed over and eaten hastily.

  Hua Cui looked at everything in the main house, pulled Min An to one side and whispered: "Why is he treating you so well? Not related by blood or marriage, hurry up and think carefully about it!"

  Min An shook his head: "I don't know either. Speaking of which, I still owe him a return gift." The lotus-shaped incense ball made by Ding Cuo was still quietly placed in his waist bag, emitting a faint scent of green plum, accompanying him through the quiet long night. He was grateful for this thoughtful gesture, but had no money to repay it.

  Min Anxin's heart sank as he searched his sleeves, intending to retrieve the intricately painted folding fan he had made last time to give back, but it was nowhere to be found. He stood there for a moment, still unable to recall where he had lost the fan.

  Xuan Xu walked over to Hua Cui, who was secretly sizing him up, and bowed, saying: "I haven't had the pleasure of learning your name yet, miss." His smile was as bright as an autumn moon, paired with a warm and gentle gaze that made one feel refreshed. Hua Cui hastily curtsied and replied: "I'm Hua Cui from Cuilu Manor, younger sister of Min An. Thank you, young master, for taking care of Min An."

  Xuan Xu smiled slightly: "I didn't intentionally come to take care of Young Master, it's just that Young Master has a good heart and has helped Wu Mei several times. Wu Mei is grateful and asked me to repay this kindness." After speaking, he bowed again to Min An and walked calmly towards the autumn sun, his back figure steady, with a dignified air of a gentleman.

  Hua Cui withdrew her gaze, and Min An let out a soft sigh: "Another extraordinary person." She thought of that elusive Fei Yi, who was also clever and could dispel outsiders' suspicions with just a few short sentences.

  Min An lowered his head and pinched the ears of the corn, saying in a low voice: "Even the little ones have been bought by him, it's true what Wu Mei said, the young master of their family is highly educated, skilled in many crafts, and even includes the difficult-to-learn animal language."

  So Min'an inferred that this gentle and unique young master must be the one whom Wu Mei had been enthusiastically recommending. Looking at the various snacks and art pieces he carried with him, it was clear that he often traveled outside and was a well-prepared connoisseur.

  Corn gazed out at the street, unable to move her eyes away, scratched her ear and let out a squeak. Hua Cui smiled and said, "Indeed, she's taken the little one's heart with her."

  Author's note: Apology: Due to daytime work, updates will be moved to after 9 pm, please forgive me (*^__^*) Sometimes the chapter title and content title do not match, it is because I handed in a draft with different chapter names to the editor, but the content is complete, no missing words, don't worry!

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  Thank you, years are like arrows, beautiful women are like paintings (2), Yung Yung (2), Rong Qing, Zachs, jjfish, Pig Ears (2), 2315229, Qīng Qīng, Xiao Bai, Yuan Yuan Xiangbao, and several other beautiful ladies' landmines (*^__^*)

  Special thanks to old reader sisters who have been following me all the way from Wu Fang and the depths of the abyss. You don't need to speak, I can feel your positive energy and aura, bowing in gratitude (*^__^*) l3l4