Chapter 44: Offering Devotion in Peace (First Update)

  Xu Baihu hesitated for a moment before slowly opening his mouth to speak:

  "Immediately send a message to the factory master, saying it's Yang Shangshu, and ask Zhang Shilang to take care of it. Old Fei is getting old and not as capable as before. Seal the letter and pass it on, go quickly."

  The knight on the side took out a square cardboard from his bosom, wrote it down with a brush, bowed and saluted, turned around to leave, but was suddenly called back by someone behind him. He heard the person behind him say:

  "Jiang Feng, keep an eye on that little fellow, don't let him slip away, and don't hurt him."

  The knight was perplexed, still staring, unable to hurt, what kind of rule is this? However, since the superior's order has come down, he also had no right to question, and hurriedly responded, turned around and rode out quickly. The guards in the East Factory had already started hanging up the white gauze lanterns one by one.

  Xu Baihu narrowed his eyes and gazed at the lanterns that were lighting up one by one, a smile spreading across his face as he whispered to himself:

  "It's interesting, really interesting..."

  After finishing a set of punches, Zhang Liang was beaten until his nose was blue and his face was swollen. However, Jiang Feng could feel that Zhang Liang had made some progress in the past two nights, despite being beaten every night. He seemed to have slightly improved his defensive skills. But Jiang Feng didn't praise him, instead he told Zhang Liang to stand aside and demonstrated a set of Pi Gua, one of the basic stances of Bajiquan. After finishing, he instructed Zhang Liang to practice more every day, then ignored him and ran back home.

  Since the morning's honey-like sweet smile, Su Guanxue had been smiling with her eyes open. When she came back in the evening, Su Guanxue, who used to pout and ignore Jiang Feng, now twisted and turned, coming over to him. Jiang Feng was covered in cold air all over his body, and the charcoal fire in his hand warmer had already burned out.

  There, he poured charcoal, but saw Su Guanxue beside him with a red face, wide eyes staring at him, her small face as red as a big apple, and on top of that, she was wearing the new clothes made by Su Guan Yue outside, a pink underskirt. Looking at it was truly adorable to the extreme.

  Jiang Feng was taken aback, only feeling his heart skip a few beats, and silently exclaimed, "My god, no wonder in modern times, looking at that male accountant who is always into lolita complex, it turns out he has a liking for little girls."

  Moreover, Su Guanxue gave him such a good face that Jiang Feng even had a sense of being favored, and hurriedly squeezed out a smile to ask:

  "What's going on with you looking for your sister's husband?"

  Anyway, first of all, let's get the word "brother-in-law" straightened out. Su Guanxue lowered her head and rubbed her own hem, saying in a low voice:

  "Sister... brother-in-law, can you make some more of that thing we had for breakfast? My sister really likes to eat it."

  Jiang Feng secretly smiled to himself, this little girl was indeed clever and tactful. Although she herself wanted to eat it, she still said that her sister loved eating it. However, after Su Guan Yue ate the morning's honey-glazed cha siu bao, she also praised it.

  "Alright, I'll show you my skills tonight, brother-in-law."

  This evening was naturally harmonious and joyful, everyone was delighted. Su Guanxue, who usually had a bit of a temper, surprisingly took the initiative to help clean up the bowls and chopsticks, truly having the appearance of being part of a family.

  The next morning, if calculated according to the modern calendar, it should be November 3rd, 1525. However, Jiang Feng had completely lost his modern concept of time and only knew that today was October 16th. On his way to Liu Xueshi's mansion, he suddenly thought that five days later would be the day he planned to start.

  According to He Zhāo Xiù Cái, it should be October 21st, but which day is that in modern times? After racking his brains for half a day, he suddenly realized that since coming here, he had completely lost the concept of time. In Jiang Feng's straightforward and linear thinking, a thread of inexplicable sadness also arose.

  This shows that he is becoming more and more integrated into the Ming Dynasty era, becoming more and more like a Jin Yiwei officer of the Ming Dynasty.

  As he thought about it, Jiang Feng had already arrived at Liu Xueshi's residence. Although someone opened the door yesterday, out of habit, he still stood by the wall and was just about to throw in the things in his hand when a voice came from the direction of the gate:

  "General, general, this way, please, this way, please."

  Jiang Feng was startled, and when he turned his head to look, he was somewhat surprised. It was Liu Guanjia, who had never been very friendly towards him, now beaming with an unusual smile on his face, respectfully greeting him at the door step. As soon as Jiang Feng turned around, Liu quickly stepped down from the step and hurried over, repeatedly calling out to him:

  "General, it's so cold outside, come in and have a cup of tea."

  As they spoke, his arm had already been pulled over and was being led by Jiang Feng towards the inside. Although they had met three times, it was never without cold eyes and harsh words. Today, however, he was all smiles, with a flattering expression that could be used as a standard annotation for the idiom "arrogant at first but polite later". Jiang Feng was even more bewildered, being half-supported and half-pulled by the old man into the doorway.

  As he entered, Jiang Feng suddenly felt a movement in his heart, feeling as if someone was staring at him on the empty street. He nodded towards the enthusiastic old man beside him, turned back to take a glance, but saw nothing, and secretly laughed at himself for being too sensitive.

  Jiang Feng actually wanted to see what was going on with Liu Guan's sudden change in attitude, and whether there was something fishy going on inside, so he decided to go in and get to the bottom of it.

  They dragged and pulled into the yard, walking towards the main house that they had never been to before. Jiang Feng noticed that although the houses around them were quite large in scale, they were all overgrown with weeds like the front yard, giving off a faintly eerie feeling, and some of the houses were even locked up.

  It was clear that no one had lived there, and Jiang Feng couldn't help but look at Liu Guanjia with a puzzled expression. Liu Guanjia followed his gaze and looked over, although he still had a smile on his face, but in his eyes, a hint of desolation emerged, and his complexion gradually became solemn. At this time, they were about to enter the main hall.

  Liu Guan's family sighed and said:

  "Master, can't you see that this big compound is in such disrepair? It's so run down and nobody seems to be taking care of it."

  Jiang Feng, who had been seen through his thoughts, nodded slightly, but at this time he had already reached the front door. The old steward's hand made a "please" gesture, nodding and smiling as he opened his mouth to speak:

  "I went to pour tea for Jun Ye, and Jun Ye told me to go in first, there are people waiting inside."

  Then he walked away with his head down, muttering to himself as he went.

  "Traveling thousands of miles to be an official is all for wealth, but I don't know if it's worth it..."

  Monday's first update, guaranteed three updates