Liu Yi, Fang Ziyi

  Fang Ziyi stopped writing and blew warm air onto his numb fingers.

  Tomorrow is the birthday of the clan's elder, and her gift has been prepared long ago, ready to be sent to the elder. However, a sudden burst of gong sounds came from outside, and someone in the house passed on the message that all rooms should be tightly closed and no one was allowed to move around freely.

  This left Fang Ziyi somewhat perplexed, but she was someone who had experienced the pain of losing a loved one and was stronger and more composed than the average girl.

  He Shaomo prayed for a while, then turned his head and glanced at Fang Zini, with a hint of worry in his eyes.

  She herself was fearless, her only worry being her younger sister.

  When parents are dying, they will leave their sister with her. If something unexpected happens here too, how can she be accountable to her parents?

  The little girl sat on the chair, twisting and turning, not because she couldn't sit still, usually when she was studying or doing needlework, she was very ladylike, but today was different, what had happened outside that made her heart feel like a kitten scratching and feeling curious and sad.

  If it weren't for Zi Yi watching her, she would have slipped out to gather information long ago.

  Outside came the sound of rapid footsteps, Fang Ziyi put down his pen and lightly placed his hand on the needle box beside him, which hid a very sharp pair of scissors.

  But the footsteps stopped in front of her door, and then she heard a familiar voice.

  "Zi Yi, Zi Ning, was I just scaring you?"

  "Brother Mi, you're teasing me and Zi Ning again." Fang Zi Yi lightly scolded, opening the door to see Fang Yi Zhi standing at the entrance with a smile on his face.

  Fang Zini jumped down from the chair and ran quickly towards Fang Yizhi, then thought of something and stopped, walking slowly over to him and bowing lightly: "Zini has seen Brother Mizi."

  Fang Yizhi burst out laughing and reached out to grab her arm, this little sister of his was the most mischievous and lovable.

  "Xiao Zi Ning, are you okay? Now that everything is fine, you can go out and play... Oh, right, the young master you said was going to take a test has arrived. Are your questions ready?"

  "Really?" Fang Zi Ning's round eyes widened: "I'm ready, Mi Zhi Gege, wait a minute."

  She finished speaking and ran back to her own room. Fang Yizhi looked at Fang Ziyi, seeing the worry in her eyes had not dissipated, he smiled hoarsely: "Ziyi, don't worry."

  "Just now I seemed to have heard... the sound of slaughter." Fang Ziyi lowered his eyelids: "Brother, if there's something going on, don't hide it from me."

  "Yes, there was a fight. Guo Zhen and we had planned to lure out Wang Haoxian, the leader of the Huanxiang Sect, and capture him at the dock." Fang Yizhi tried to make his tone sound casual, just like Yu Guozhen said he would hand over Wang Haoxian to him afterwards.

  Unfortunately, he didn't learn his lesson. Under Fang Ziyi's clear and piercing gaze, he couldn't help but burst out laughing: "That's right! Wang Haoxian, the leader of the Xiangxiang Sect who has been wreaking havoc in Northern Zhili, Shandong, and Henan for decades, has finally fallen into our net!"

  "How many casualties?" Fang Ziyi did not share his excitement, but instead spoke in a low voice, with a hint of worry still etched on his face.

  The casualties should all be civilians, often with elderly and young people at home, who are the pillars of a family. When they encounter an accident, a whole family is shattered.

  Fang Yizhi scratched his head, with a look of embarrassment on his face.

  Killed more than 30 people from the Xiangxiang Sect, captured nearly a hundred people, and over ten people are still fleeing. Our side also suffered casualties of over thirty people, including seven servants from the Fang family who were brought along, and the rest were village militiamen.

  Yu Guozhen brought people, only Shi Jingyan, Qi Niu and a few others were injured, not to mention anyone was seriously injured or killed.

  This result made Fang Yizhi very ashamed, he claimed to be knowledgeable about military affairs, and the servants in his family had not been trained less, but when they really went to war, no one was useful. Including himself, the harvest was zero, but Sun Lin, who came with him, shot and killed six people, which can be considered a small test of his skills.

  He didn't hesitate to tell Fang Ziyi about it, and when he heard the shocking parts, he couldn't help but cover his mouth in surprise. Xiao Zi Ning, on the other hand, listened with relish, her eyes shining with admiration.

  "How about it, isn't your brother amazing?" Seeing Xiao Zi's gaze, Fang Yizhi said with some pride.

  "Hmph, it's clear that Young Master is the strongest, followed by Brother-in-law Ke, and then Brother Mi...". The young servant curled up his lip, saw Fang Mi's face turn sour, and only then said somewhat reluctantly: "I suppose he's third strongest, about as strong as Old Man Zhang!"

  Fang Yizhi couldn't help but burst out laughing again. After composing himself, he said to Ziyi, "Oh, right, Ziyi, among the gifts Guo Zhen brought back, there must be some that you'll like. For example, this manuscript of his - take a look first."

  Fang Ziyu's cheeks flushed slightly as she took over the manuscript from Fang Yizhi.

  She took a glance at the cover, which was very simple, with only four words written on it: "Bié Yuàn Cóng Tán".

  "What is meant by 'another courtyard' is roughly the place where one takes shelter from the rain, but when I went there myself, there was no such courtyard." Fang Ziyi's beautiful eyes slightly lifted, looking at Fang Yizhi: "This other courtyard... what does it mean?"

  "Haha, speaking of which, there's another anecdote." Fang Yizhi laughed again: "Last time I went to his place with Ke Xiang, his residence had already been surrounded by a large courtyard, and the young men under him didn't let us pass, doing things in a military-like manner. So when I left, I gave that other courtyard a name - 'Fine Willow Courtyard' - Zi Yi should know what anecdote it is."

  "Zhou Yafu is a refined and elegant person." Fang Ziyi said in a low voice, "Brother Mi thinks highly of this young man."

  Fang Yizhi smiled and didn't say anything else. After sending the book, he left Fang Ziyi's small courtyard. Fang Ziyi grasped "Bi yuan cong tan" tightly in his hand, which suddenly clenched.

  She was clever and naturally understood that Fang Yi sent this book to her with ulterior motives. She is now fourteen, and in a few months she will be fifteen. At this age, she should have been betrothed to someone already!

  But she really didn't want to get married, first of all, she couldn't let go of Zi Ning. If she got married, Zi Ning would still think about her, although there was Tang Bo taking care of him, but after all, they were separated by a generation.

  Secondly... she was a bit worried, even if the Fang family had good intentions, would Yu Guozhen be willing? From Fang Yizhi's words, it was not difficult to hear that Yu Guozhen was a rare young hero, and according to her own understanding, although Yu Guozhen was not proficient in Confucianism, he was a master-level figure in miscellaneous studies. Could such a person look up to her?

  What's more, she has big feet...

  Thinking of this, Fang Zi Yi let out a soft sigh, and beside her, Zi Ning stared at her with wide eyes, her dark pupils rolling lightly.

  Leaving Fang Ziyi's small courtyard, Fang Yizhi felt his footsteps were particularly light.

  Fang Ziyi's guess was not bad, Fang Yizhi indeed felt that Yu Guozhen was the best candidate for his brother-in-law. His own sister had married Sun Lin, and this cousin had been raised in his family after losing her relatives, and was no different from her own sister.

  "What is an adult doing here?"

  Upon entering the inner courtyard, he saw his father standing with his back to him, gazing at a pool of cold water. Fang Yizhi was shocked and asked.

  His father, Fang Kongzhao, was a handsome man with bright eyes and eyebrows. At that time, he was only 43 years old, in the prime of his life. He had been a local official governing a state, and also served as an attendant gentleman in the central government, running errands and doing chores. Now he was at home mourning his father's death. For the past two years, he had been staying in their ancestral home to observe the mourning period, rarely coming to Fang Yizhi's place.

  "You've accomplished such a great feat, how can your father not be proud?" Fang Kongzhi looked at his son with eyes that held both admiration and worry, as well as a hint of something indescribable.

  "The son is acting recklessly and doesn't want to disturb the adults."

  "Tell me what happened," said Fang Kongzhi.

  Fang Yi's heart was not at ease, and thinking back on it, he had indeed been reckless to the extreme! However, since his father asked, he didn't dare hide anything and told him everything from start to finish.

  Just as he had finished speaking, Fang Kongzhao let out a startled exclamation, but made no comment. When he heard about the dangers of the battle, where Fang Zhi had taken only over twenty servants to launch a surprise attack, he snorted coldly. Upon hearing that Sun Lin had leapt out and shot dead several people in succession, despite being exposed to enemy arrows, Fang Kongzhao's face suddenly turned extremely unsightly: "A brave warrior like you, if you don't change your ways, your sister will suffer greatly from now on!"

  Fang Yizhi secretly wiped away his sweat, but in his heart he thought it was a lucky escape, and pushed Sun Lin out to be the scapegoat, thinking that his father would scold him less.

  He continued to say that Yu Guozhen's juvenile home guard killed, eighty people rushed and scattered the Xiangxiangjiao followers. Fang Kongzhao nodded and showed a satisfied expression in his eyes: "Although younger than you, but more careful and cautious than you."

  After telling the story of Wang Haoxian's narrow escape from being shot by Shi Jingyan and his eventual capture, Fang Kongzhao closed his eyes for a moment before suddenly asking, "Where did you just go?"

  "The child went to Zi Yi's place and handed over a manuscript of Guo Zhen Xian's younger brother, who also liked miscellaneous studies. Guo Zhen Xian's younger brother was an expert in miscellaneous studies, proficient in Western learning..."

  When he said this, Fang Yizhi was a bit hesitant. His careful consideration, of course, did not escape the notice of his father, Fang Kongzhao.

  Fang Kongzhi hesitated for a while before speaking: "Ke Xiang, why haven't you come to see me?"

  "He got drunk on wine and hasn't woken up yet." Fang Yizhi was secretly delighted in his heart, if Sun Lin hadn't gotten drunk, he wouldn't have been able to so unscrupulously shift the blame onto him.

  "Hum." Fang Kongzhi said: "Nonsense!"

  "Yes, yes."

  "You and Ke Xian are both being reckless! Such a big matter, you didn't even discuss it with your father, but instead acted on your own!"

  "Yes, yes."

  "You also claim to have read many military books and strategies, why are you still so reckless in your actions? As a son of a wealthy family, you should be more cautious. Why don't you think about the consequences for your family before acting?"

  Fang Yizhi was scolded to the point of only nodding and responding with "yes, yes", but in his heart he still had some resentment. His father hadn't seen Yu Guozhen, who personally chased down Wang Haoxian and killed at least two Xiangxiang Sect disciples!

  "However, this friend of yours is quite good, quite good." Fang Kongzhi scolded for a while and then turned back to Yu Guozhen: "Do you know what impressed me the most about him?"

  "What is it about him that has caught your eye, sir?"

  "It was he who handed Wang Haoxian over to you, and then you handed him over to Qian Muzhai!" Fang Konggui's eyes suddenly flashed a cold light: "That is a hot potato, he did not take credit for himself, handing it over to Qian Muzhai... clear progress, knowing the overall situation, good, good... let him come see me tomorrow."

  Fang Yizhi was overjoyed, and his father's words meant that he agreed with his idea. He had in mind to betroth his niece Fang Ziyi to Yu Guozhen, and now all that remained was to take a look at Yu Guozhen's appearance.

  I am grateful

  Thank you for the rewards from Terror Wolf, WHM1221, Wooden Stick and Depression is Dead. Thank you for your support, Jianghu Not Old Guest. It's already 197,000 words now. In order to stay on the new book chart for another day, there will only be one update today, sorry for the inconvenience, please forgive me~~