Three, Bullshit Old Man

  Yu Guozhen was very clear about the origin of Li Jinbao, the manager of the third house. He was not originally a servant of the Yu family. After Yu Yixuan's rise to power, he brought his whole family to join him, relying on a younger sister who had been promoted to be a concubine by Yu Yigong, the fourth uncle. As a result, Li Jinbao also became the external manager of the third house of the Yu family. Looking at Mrs. Li's status, the Yu family treated him with courtesy and did not regard him as an ordinary servant.

  "The dog has gone mad and is talking nonsense, he's already been taught a lesson. Please, Brother Zhen, for the sake of my humble face, spare him this time. I'll apologize to you on his behalf." Li Jinbao said, bowing deeply again.

  He knew that today's matter couldn't be made public, so although he had never had much respect for Yu Guozhen, now he was being extremely polite. At the same time, he thought to himself that as long as he got through today, there would naturally be ways to deal with this fatherless and motherless fool Yu.

  "...where did you get such a big gift for Uncle..."

  Yu Guozhen did not dodge the other's long bow, and Li Jinbao had just stood up and was about to laugh it off when he heard Yu Guozhen's light and airy sentence flying over. When he heard this in his ear, Li Jinbao didn't feel a bit happy in his heart, on the contrary, his gaze suddenly contracted, and the smile on his face turned into bitterness.

  He also wanted to look for trouble with Yu Guozhen later, but now Yu Guozhen is going to find trouble with him!

  Yu Guo's eyes widened instantly: "Old Five, don't talk nonsense! This guy is just an outsider who manages the house, and that's still because Father promoted him. What kind of uncle is he?"

  Li Jinbao almost hated to glance at Yu Guofu, this stupid thing, Yu Guozhen's sentence "Shu Lao Ye", was it not meant to lure him out, but this stupid thing actually jumped up!

  Yu Guozhen smiled slightly: "It wasn't Uncle Lao, that's strange. Seventh brother, since he isn't Uncle Lao, how did he take charge of the four houses in front of you?"

  This is obviously a provocation, but Yu Guofu still fell for it. The reason is that Li Yiniang had given birth to a son with Yu Yigong, who was only four years old this year. To Yu Guofu, Yu Yizhen represented the interests of 80 mu of land, while his younger brother might take away much more than 80 mu of land from him. Although he was somewhat confused, someone had repeatedly told him this logic in his ear!

  Then he rushed to Li Jinbao's side like a ignited firecracker, raised his palm and slapped him. Li Jinbao also had face in the third house, where he was willing to be beaten in front of so many people, dodged and wanted to escape, but was held by two powerful arms of Kong Wu, unable to move at all.

  Then he could only watch as Yu Guofu, who was even more furious because of the first punch, came at him with a flurry of punches. Just one punch and his eye turned black and blue. Although he was a servant, he had always been pampered and had a pale face, so this bruise stood out particularly clearly. At that moment, the flower dog raised by the Fourth House ran over, barking wildly, and everyone saw that the dog's eye had a black circle almost identical to Li Jinbao's. Some people couldn't help but snicker.

  "Plum Blossom and Dog!"

  "Normally they put on a good show, but now their true nature is revealed. It turns out that the flower dog of the fourth house and he are actually two brothers!"

  "Wrong, wrong, wrong! Clearly they are three brothers: Li Dogzi, Hua Dogzi, and Yu Dogzi..."

  Also, Li Jinbao often had a proud and arrogant attitude in his daily life, which made many people resentful. At this time, it was natural that there were not lacking cold ridicule and hot sarcasm. Li Jinbao was both humiliated and furious, but he was not as reckless with his words as Yu Gou'er, knowing that the more he spoke, the more problems would arise. He could only bury his hatred in his heart and cry to Yu Guofu for mercy: "Brother Fu, I was wrong, it's all my fault, I won't dare again..."

  Yu Guozhen gave him a glance, this guy was indeed capable of adapting to situations, and compared to Yu Gouer that fool and Yu Guofu that good-for-nothing, he was much harder to deal with.

  When Li Jinbao begged for mercy, Yu Guofu didn't want to throw another punch, but just then, Yu Guozhen added fuel to the fire: "Seventh brother, stop hitting him, if you hit him again, it won't be easy to explain to Old Tenth..."

  Lao Shi was indeed the younger brother born to Li Yiniang, the concubine of Yu Guofu. Since ancient times, it's not unheard of for a wife and concubine not to fight over favor or for a legitimate older brother and illegitimate younger brother not to clash, but such things never happened in the four households of the Yu family. So when Yu Guofu thought about it, he saw an opportunity to deal with Li Jinbao and used this as an excuse. Beating him was like slapping Li Yiniang in the face, which also served to avenge his mother. In the heat of the fight, how could he possibly hold back?

  Yu Guozhen signaled to Gao Dazhu with his eyes, and Gao Dazhu let go of Li Jinbao, who covered his face and ran away. Yu Guofu was not satisfied with the beating and chased after him. The two of them caused a commotion in front of the fourth house's courtyard. Yu Guozhen shook his head and sighed: "This is getting out of hand... I'd better go invite Fourth Uncle over."

  Yu Guofu heard his words, and his hands and feet moved even faster, wanting to get in a few more blows before his father was carried out. Meanwhile, Li Jinbao also couldn't care about the bigger picture, hastily shouting: "Zhen-ge'r, quickly go invite Fourth Master——"

  The shout was heard by Yu Guofu, and it was Li Jinbao who wanted to use his father's power to suppress him. The 15-year-old boy originally had a strong rebellious mentality, so he fought back even more fiercely. Yu Guozhen shook his head, saying "What kind of behavior is this" as he walked into the courtyard of the fourth house.

  Yu Guozhen walked through the courtyard and directly entered the inner yard, where he ran into Yu Yigou. He bowed and said, "Fourth Uncle is well."

  Yu Yigong saw him coming and was taken aback for a moment: "Why did you come now, what's going on outside?"

  Yu Guozhen said calmly: "My young nephew heard Yu Gou'er say at home..."

  He started talking from Yu Gou'er's arrogance in his home, and when he talked about Yu Guofu fighting Li Jinbao outside, it was already nearly ten minutes later. Yu Yigou's face suddenly changed, and he couldn't even bother to maintain his dignity in front of his nephew, rushing out quickly.

  Yu Guozhen followed him out, slowly walking to the door. Yu Yigou had already stopped Yu Guofu, while Li Jinbao was hugging his leg and wailing loudly. Yu Guofu was still angrily scolding, and when he saw Yu Guozhen come out, he grabbed him: "Fifth brother, you tell me, wasn't this guy just pretending to be our uncle? My mother's family name is Chen, but he has the surname Li, how dare he pretend to be my uncle in front of me?"

  Yu Guozhen's expression was hesitant, and after a while, he cupped his hands and said: "Fourth Uncle, this is Fourth Uncle's family matter, and I am somewhat inconvenient to be here. Since there is something going on in Fourth Uncle's household today, I will come another day to listen to your teachings."

  Yu Yigou originally wanted to call him over for a scolding, saying he was "idle and not diligent in his work", looking for an excuse to take over the more than 80 acres of good land. Now that things have turned out like this at home, where is the face to scold him? He waved his hand and directly sent Yu Guozhen away, then called two house servants to drag Yu Gouer into his own courtyard, slamming the gate shut and isolating all those curious onlookers outside.

  The servants of each family sighed regretfully, the good show was not finished, and it was really a bit unbearable.

  Yu Guozhen didn't rush home, instead he strolled to the newest and most luxurious mansion in the alley, which was left by his father but now empty, with only the second house storing some miscellaneous items. Yu Guozhen didn't stop at the gate of this mansion, but went straight to the gate of a neighboring mansion and lightly knocked on the door ring.

  The gate creaked open with a groan, and the old servant who opened it saw him and smiled as he bowed slightly: "So it's Brother Zhen."

  "Is Uncle Shoubo and Fifth Uncle at home?"

  "Recently, Wu Lao Ye has been muttering to himself, saying that Zhen Ge's mourning period is about to pass, and wondering if he will move back in to continue his studies."

  The gatekeeper, Yu Shou, was also a servant of the Yu family, but his attitude towards Yu Guozhen was much better. He led Yu Guozhen in, and the two of them walked past the screen wall, through the artificial hill and small pond, to the west wing of the courtyard. This was Yu Yixuan's study, also known as "Yiran Zhai". It was tidy and clean, with a few clumps of bamboo planted outside, looking fresh and lovely.

  "Old Master Wu, Zhen Ge has arrived." Yu Shou stopped in front of the study door and said in a low voice.

  "Oh... let him in."

  Yu Shou pushed open the door and made a gesture to Yu Guozhen, who adjusted his clothes and then walked in with big strides.

  As soon as he stepped across the threshold, Yu Guozhen saw his fifth uncle, Yu Yixuan, sitting by the window, slowly grinding ink. Yu Guozhen cupped his hands and bowed: "Nephew Guozhen pays his respects to Fifth Uncle."

  "It's been a while since we last met, how is your body?" Yu Yixuan is already 46 years old this year, with a dignified appearance. After passing the imperial examination, he participated in the palace exam twice, but neither time was successful. Seeing that he is about to turn 50, he has also given up his ambitions in this regard.

  "Thanks to Uncle Wu's blessing, everything is fine with me."

  "Since you're so good, why don't you read some books? All day long, I hear that you're idle and lazy. Either you're leading the servants to act recklessly or you're catching fish and turtles in the river ditch. What kind of behavior is this?" Yu Yixuan scolded sternly.

  "My nephew has been reading some books lately." Yu Guozhen replied respectfully.

  "Oh?" This response made Yu Yixuan a bit surprised, he knew that his nephew was not very good at reading books, nominally in the town outside to guard filial piety, but actually leaving their uncle's control. He hesitated for a moment, then asked: "What book are you reading?"

  "It is 'A Collection of Song Dynasty Poetry'."

  It was said that he didn't read the classics, but instead books like "Song Poetry Collection". Yu Yixuan felt a bit displeased in her heart, but thinking that this nephew of hers wasn't going to make a name for himself through imperial examinations anyway, she brushed off her displeasure and asked: "What insights have you gained?"

  "I like Su Shi's poetry the most, especially 'Yu Qian Seng Lv Yun Xuan'."

  "Come and listen." When Yu Guozhen heard that his favorite was the same as his own, a smile finally floated on Yu Yixuan's face.

  "It is better to eat no meat than to live without bamboo. No meat makes one thin, but no bamboo makes one common. A person can become fat again, but a scholar's vulgarity cannot be cured. Others laugh at these words, seeming lofty yet foolish. If you still devour them greatly, where in the world is the Yangzhou crane?"

  He listened to him reciting with a rise and fall, obviously really liking it. Yu Yixuan nodded slightly: "Why do you like this poem?"

  "As soon as I thought of this poem, I remembered the clump of bamboo in front of my fifth uncle's window, and so I think it's good." Yu Guozhen smiled: "If you really want to say where the poem is good, I'm afraid I won't be able to say!"

  "You're so ignorant!" Yu Yixuan scolded with her words, but her gaze became even softer.