Fifteen, I have noble guests

  "True... everyone really is dead?"

  Looking at the corpses all over the ground, Yu Yiqin still couldn't quite believe it - these bandits had been killed just like that.

  "Fought with the water bandits, couldn't stop, and accidentally killed them all." Yu Guozhen said: "On the surface, it's just like that, but in private, we say it's our Yu family taking revenge for the Fourth House."

  Yu Yiqin suddenly understood, nodding repeatedly: "Right, right, our Yu family avenged the Fourth House, and also preserved the reputation of the Fourth House. Humph, but this way, Guo Zhen, you suffered injustice."

  "Hmm." Yu Guozhen responded with just one word, then loudly said: "All of them!"

  Eighteen young men, mostly silent, had lost the excitement they had at the beginning, because today, they saw Yu Guozhen's ruthless side. At the same time, everyone saw blood in their hands and truly understood that Yu Guozhen was training them, not just for show.

  Yu Yiqin was overjoyed, even if there wasn't a single survivor, but presenting the corpses would still earn him credit at the government office. If Guo Zhen's words were true, then he might also be able to obtain an official position!

  Thinking of this, his heart was on fire, and riding a donkey felt especially easy. Seeing the cart carrying the corpse moving slowly, he urged the donkey to run ahead, feeling mighty and majestic, like a great general.

  The reeds where the bandits were struck are relatively remote, so it wasn't until now that someone saw the smoke and came to investigate. When they saw the bandit corpses placed on the small cart, some were frightened to the point of weakness, while others gathered their courage to poke at them with sticks, and most just crowded around to watch the commotion.

  Gao wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled: "Everyone, please make way. These are the water bandits killed by our Yu family guards, twenty-eight in total, not one escaped. The leaders were Xiao Shilang and Li Jinbao. As for Li Jinbao being the main culprit, let's not mention that. But as for Xiao Shilang, everyone must have heard of him?"

  Wu Wei was on the shore of Chaohu Lake, and Xiang An also had a west river leading to Chaohu Lake. Therefore, many people who knew about the water bandits of Chaohu Lake heard that it was Xiao Shilang, and someone said: "I know, I know, he and his brother are both water bandits of Chaohu Lake... They have been notorious for many years, and the government has been trying to catch them for over a decade but still hasn't succeeded!"

  "The government couldn't catch him, but now he's been caught by our young master!" Gao Bu Biao stretched out his hand and grabbed Xiao Shilang's hair knot, revealing his face to the crowd: "Those who have seen the wanted poster, take a look, is this not Xiao Shilang?"

  "It's... Madam Ma, Madam Ma, come quickly, your husband's great enemy has been avenged!"

  She was called Ma Jia's wife, a widow who struggled to raise a son. Her husband had been a boatman but was killed by the Xiao brothers on the Anhui waterway. When she heard the news from her neighbors, she rushed over crying and wailing. Gao Biao stopped the cart carrying the body in front of the town, and she hobbled along with difficulty, tripping several times along the way.

  She repeatedly asked which one was Xiao Shilang, and after someone pointed him out to her, she took off her bow shoes, undaunted, and while using the sole of her shoe to slap Xiao Shilang's face, she burst into loud wailing.

  The whole town was in an uproar, and Yu Yixuan, who was in the study, heard the commotion and was about to send someone out to investigate when Yu Shou came in to report: "Second Master has arrived."

  Because of whether to admit defeat to Yu Guozhen, the two brothers have been in a bad mood for the past two days. They had an argument this morning and now Yu Yiqin has come again. Yu Yixuan is thinking about what might be going on while inviting his brother in. With a flushed face, Yu Yiqin appears before him and scares him with her first words.

  Li Jinbao is dead.

  "Which Li Jinbao...the one from the fourth house?"

  "It's true, they colluded with the water bandits and tried to come after our Yu family again for revenge, but were ambushed and killed by Guo Zhen and me."

  When mentioning "assassination", Yu Yiqin deliberately emphasized his tone, with a pleased expression on his face.

  "What!" Yu Yixuan's eyes widened: "He really colluded with the water thief?"

  "We wronged Guo Zhen, Li Jinbao really colluded with the water thieves. Lao Wu, Guo Zhen is our Yu family's thousand-mile horse, I am determined to help him with all my might!"

  Yu Yiqin's nonsensical words made Yu Yixuan want to get angry, he looked at his second brother deeply: "You've changed quickly."

  "Lao Wu, if you were there at the time, you would have been even faster than me. Guo Zhen brought 19 people, plus I made it 20, and we killed all 28 of those bandits from Nanchang Lake in the blink of an eye." Yu Yiqin lowered his voice: "Lao Wu, don't be displeased, but I personally saw that except for Gao Bu Pang, they were all young whippersnappers, yet they slaughtered 28 bandits without giving them a chance to fight back, and only two of their own men were injured!"

  "I think Second Brother has drunk his soul-confusing soup, and is wasting his energy speaking good words for him." Yu Yixuan said with a sarcastic tone: "He's just lucky... next time, he might not be so lucky!"

  Yu Yiqin looked at his brother in disappointment, knowing that he couldn't be persuaded. He shook his head and left without saying goodbye.

  Yu Yixuan walked around the study twice and returned to his desk, picked up his pen and wrote a few words, but his fingers trembled and the words became distorted.

  Just now, when the second brother was here, he did not show his shock and worry. Now that he is alone, he can no longer control himself. Although he has written six "be cautious" on paper, his heart still beats rapidly.

  Afraid, fearful, Mencius said that mighty power cannot be bent, Wen Tianxiang said the heaven and earth have a righteous air...... But why can't one's own heart calm down?

  Yu Yixuan would not have thought that his second brother had really drunk some kind of soul-stirring soup, even if what he said had a boastful component to it. The overall situation wouldn't be wrong, after all - his fifteen-year-old nephew, along with a group of boys the same age as him, had killed off a group of water bandits that outnumbered them!

  Second brother can immediately turn around, wagging his tail to show kindness to Guo Zhen, himself... doing the same?

  Yu Yixuan recalled every detail of his interactions with Yu Guozhen in his memory, confirming that he had not offended this nephew to death, and even protected him at times, which made him slightly relieved.

  Then he began to worry again, for a long time, he was the only pillar of the Yu family, the identity of the holder, the strategist of his peers, he liked this feeling, which made him sometimes feel like he was the Zhuge Liang of the Yu family.

  But now he has a powerful competitor, isn't it Zhuge Liang, but rather Zhou Yu who was suffocated by Zhuge Liang?

  Just as he was in a state of utmost perplexity, Yu Shou suddenly walked in with an odd expression.

  "What's going on? Didn't you tell me to focus on reading alone?" Yu Yixuan looked displeased.

  "Wu Lao Ye, Zhen Ge Er has sent someone with a message saying... he invites you to keep the guest company."

  "Don't go, let his people come back. What kind of decent guests does he have that I need to accompany?!" Yu Yixuan burst into rage: "He thinks that just because he's momentarily pleased with himself after killing those unguarded pirates, he can order me around? I'm a holder of the imperial examination degree, I have an official title..."

  Yu Yixuan, having vented her anger, saw that Yu Shou had not returned yet and said impatiently, "What else is there?"

  "The man sent by Brother Zhen said that this guest is Fang Mi from the Fang family of Tongcheng, I remember Old Master Wu mentioning this name before."

  "Tong City Fang... Fang Mi?" Upon hearing this name, Yu Yixuan took a cold breath and straightened his body: "Fang Yizhi has arrived?"

  Fang Yizhi did indeed arrive in Xiangyang, later than Yu Guozhen had imagined, but just in time for the big show.

  At this time, Fang Yizhi was only 22 years old, but his reputation had already spread far and wide. On the one hand, he came from a family with a rich cultural heritage, and on the other hand, he himself had extensive social connections, so among the scholars of the Yangtze River basin, those who had some social interactions had all heard of this name.

  "Ah, I see! Younger brother is indeed extraordinary!" Fang Yizhi, although famous in the literary world, was not a weak and feeble scholar. He had a robust body and fair skin, bearing some resemblance to Fang Ziyi, whom Yu Guozhen had met before. Just now, after hearing Yu Guozhen's account of the attack on the water bandits, he couldn't help but be excited, stamping his foot and exclaiming: "What a pity! What a pity that I arrived late! If only I had come a day earlier, I would have certainly fought alongside Brother Guozhen!"

  "Hehe, I invited Mi Zhi Brother a long time ago, but he dragged it out until now. Who's to blame?"

  "Of course it's because of that traitor Ruan Dacheng and his eunuch party remnants. If not for trying to persuade Qian Yingguang not to be used by the eunuch party remnants, how would it have dragged on until now!"

  Although the two had never met before, they had exchanged many letters over this period of time. Both were still young, Fang Yizhi being only twenty-two years old and Yu Guozhen merely sixteen by Chinese reckoning, so their conversation was not constrained in any way.

  Fang Yizhi's words were directed at Qian Yingguang, another young and famous scholar from Tongcheng, Qian Cheng. Yu Guozhen was not very interested in this person, smiled and shook his head, declining to comment on the matter.

  "I have read the letter from Guo Zhen, my younger brother, and I am indeed puzzled. Why do all things hang in the air and then fall down? Please, Guo Zhen, enlighten me!"

  This was just one of the many questions Yu Guozhen had for Fang Yizhi, and it might even have been the simplest one, but Fang Yizhi pondered over it at home for a long time, although he came up with several hypotheses, none of them could be verified.

  "It's because the earth has gravity." Yu Guozhen replied without hesitation.

  "Suction? Magnet?"

  "Some are similar, but magnets only attract iron, while the earth attracts everything. We see the moon orbiting the earth, why doesn't it go further and further away, but instead revolves around it repeatedly, precisely because of this attractive force."

  At this time, Fang Yizhi had already accepted the theory of a round earth, so it was not difficult for him to accept that the moon revolves around the earth. As for the fact that the earth has gravity, he had also guessed it, and in Yu Guozhen's case, he just wanted to get an answer that corresponded with his own guess.

  "Okay, I have another question..."

  Yu Guozhen knew that he liked some knowledge from the West, so when communicating with him, he consciously transformed some natural science knowledge and wrote it to him. In his letters, some questions had proof reasoning processes, while others only had results without processes. Such a letter was like a gourmet smelling food, a money lover hearing coins clinking, not getting the result would make him sleepless and anxious.

  Just then, Gao Bupo walked in: "The Fifth Master has arrived, he's just outside the courtyard."

  Yu Guozhen smiled slightly, and now it's time to reap what he had sown.