Chapter 15: The Unpredictable Hu Yanping

  The weather in Tokyo is really terrible, it only cleared up for one day and then it's been pouring rain for several days in a row, getting heavier and heavier without any sign of stopping. This made Zhao Yan worry again about the Yellow River embankment not far away, if the embankment was really breached, the entire city of Kaifeng would probably be destroyed, and he might have to cross over once more.

  Fortunately, the dignitaries in Kaifeng also worried about this issue. It is said that even Zhao Yan's father, who was ill, dragged his sick body to court and specially dispatched several ministers to inspect the river embankment. Many civilians were also mobilized from the south bank of the Yellow River to guard the embankment and prepare for repairs at any time. After hearing this news, Zhao Yan finally put her mind at ease slightly.

  Zhao Yan actually quite likes rainy days, especially at night, listening to the sound of rain outside always makes him fall asleep easily. During the day, he occasionally feels bored, but with Xiaodouya accompanying him for a chat or teasing Xiaoroutou, time passes quickly. Moreover, since last time drawing a picture for Xiaodouya, Zhao Yan decided to pick up his painting skills from his previous life, so every afternoon he would take out two hours to paint in the study room. Now on Zhao Yan's desk is already piled up with a thick stack of paintings.

  This afternoon, Zhao Yan was still painting in the study. Compared to the simple conditions when he painted for Xiaodouya before, the charcoal sticks he used now were specially made, neither soft nor hard. There was also a delicate small knife, and on the plate on the desk, there was a steamed bun, which was not for eating, but for erasing mistakes in the painting. Although most people use breadcrumbs later, using steamed buns is also the same, and the used steamed bun crumbs cannot be thrown away casually, they must be placed in another plate next to it. Xiaodouya said that wasting food would bring heavenly punishment, so she wanted to use them to feed the fish in the pond.

  This time, Zhao Yan spent two hours painting a beautiful woman from the future, the kind of original painting used for game promotion. The beauty in the painting wore an extremely cool ancient costume, revealing half of her chest and two long legs, surrounded by ribbons and hair, looking both elegant and charming.

  After finishing the painting, Zhao Yan looked at his work with satisfaction and nodded. After several days of dedicated practice, he had recovered most of his skills from his previous life. Especially when he incorporated some 3D drawing techniques into his sketching, his paintings all had a three-dimensional feel to them. In the Northern Song Dynasty, this would be the unique mark of his paintings, something that others couldn't learn even if they tried.

  Just then, the door of the study was suddenly opened and Xiao Douya walked in quickly to report: "Prince, Cao Yingnei and Huyan Yingnei have come to visit. Fourth sister is bringing them to the study room now, please prepare yourself!"

  "What are Cao Ying and Huyan doing here?" Zhao Yan was confused, normally he wouldn't be allowed to see ordinary guests while recovering from his illness. Even if he had to meet someone, it would usually be in the front hall, with male guests being received by Zhao Yan and female guests by Cao Ying. But now, two men had come to visit, and not only did Cao Ying personally receive them, but she also brought them to the inner courtyard's study, which seemed quite unreasonable.

  "Last time, Zhao Yan already said that he was injured and couldn't remember some things, so Xiaodou didn't find it strange. He explained: 'The inner servant Cao is actually named Cao Song, he's the paternal cousin of the fourth sister. The inner servant Huyan is actually named Huyan Ping, he's the husband of the third sister. Calculating their relationship to the Duke, they are still in-laws. They were all the closest friends of the Duke before, and they're not outsiders either, so that's why the third sister brought them in.'"

  Zhao Yan nodded after hearing Xiao Douya's words, but soon he felt that the names Cao Song and Hu Yanping were very familiar. After thinking for half a day, he suddenly remembered that among the IOUs Cao Ying had taken out that day, there were indeed these two people's names. It seems that these two men must have been Zhao Yan's old buddies in the past.

  Since it was a friend visiting, Zhao Yan naturally couldn't just stay in the room, so he walked to the door to greet her. A moment later, Cao Ying appeared from the corridor, and behind her were two young men, one tall and one short.

  Among them, the shorter boy was handsome, but there was nothing special about him. However, the tall boy next to him had a particularly unusual appearance. This wasn't because of his looks, as Zhao Yan hadn't even noticed what he looked like, due to the fact that his face was covered in tattoos - not just on his forehead, but also on his cheeks. It wasn't until they drew closer that Zhao Yan could see clearly: the tall boy had the words "Red Heart Kills Bandits" tattooed on his forehead, and on either side of his cheeks were rows of small characters that extended from behind his ears to his face. The letters were quite small, so he couldn't make them out for the time being.

  "Khuyan Ping" Zhao Yan looked at the tattoo on the tall boy's face and suddenly thought of a name, but apart from this name, there was no other information, which made Zhao Yan somewhat disappointed. He didn't expect to meet such an "avant-garde" young man 1,000 years ago, could it be that this Khuyan Ping is the legendary killer of the Northern Song Dynasty?

  That short young man should be Cao Song. He saw Zhao Yan standing at the door and immediately walked a few steps with a smile, grabbed Zhao Yan's arm and smiled: "Third brother, are you all right? We haven't seen each other for a long time, we almost missed you to death!"

  "Uh, that...". Zhao Yan didn't know how to address the other party and could only smile vaguely, "Hehe, my body has almost recovered, but it's made all of you brothers worry!"

  "This is true, Third Brother isn't here, and going to the brothel feels like a chore." Hu Yanping's words revealed his lack of tact, something that anyone with half a brain wouldn't say in front of someone else's wife.

  "Hmph!" As expected, Cao Ying let out a cold hum beside him, glaring fiercely at Huyan Ping before turning to Cao Xiong with a burst of anger. "Ninth brother, you and Third Brother-in-law had best keep your mouths shut! If I hear anything else that shouldn't be said or if you lead the Duke somewhere he shouldn't go, beware that I'll report it to Auntie and Third Sister!"

  Cao Ying finished speaking and left with a few maids, including Miao Xue. It wasn't until she was far away that Cao Cheng, standing beside Zhao Yan, leaned in and whispered: "Third Brother, when you asked our grandmother for her permission to marry, I advised against it. Any of the sisters can marry whoever they want, but not Fourth Sister. You didn't listen then, now look what's happened."

  "At first, I also advised Third Brother, my wife's sharp tongue is notorious, but even so, she said that among the sisters at home, the one she fears most is Fourth Sister. Unfortunately, Third Brother was blinded by beauty back then and insisted on marrying Fourth Sister." At this point, Hu Yanping beside him also chimed in to help, it seems that as friends, they are still righteous and haven't shown favoritism just because Cao Ying is a relative.

  "It's too late to say these things now, and Cao Ying isn't as overbearing as you two said. At least she cares about my body a lot, and thanks to her care, I was able to recover so quickly! As a man, no matter how much he loses face in front of his wife, he must still maintain his dignity in front of friends, otherwise he will lose all face in the future."

  Cao Song and Huyan Ping were apparently not too convinced by Zhao Yan's words, but they didn't expose him either. Zhao Yan hastily invited them into the study room, and after the three of them sat down, Cao Song spoke up again: "Third Brother, I heard that on your wedding night you were struck by lightning. How are you now? Is there nothing wrong with your body?"

  Nothing major, my body has mostly recovered, it's just that I've forgotten some things from before, like when I saw the two of you earlier, I had to think for a while to remember your names! Zhao Yan decided to spread the news of her memory loss after being struck by lightning as soon as possible, especially among her friends, so that people familiar with her could be mentally prepared. The two in front of her, Cao Song and Hu Yanping, were undoubtedly the best candidates.

  Originally, ordinary people would comfort each other when they couldn't recall past events, but Huyan Ping burst out laughing: "Haha~ isn't this strange? Last time we fought with the Crown Prince's son, that kid was beaten so badly he didn't even recognize his own mother! We were all scolded by our families for it, and as for me, when I was a kid, I fell from a tree and nothing happened to my body, except..."

  Just as Huyan Ping was getting excited, he suddenly slammed on the brakes and stopped there motionless. His facial expression also froze, his mouth agape, his eyes fixedly staring at Zhao Yan, looking like he had been cast with a petrification spell.

  Zhao Yan was startled at first, thinking that Huyan Ping had seen something, but after following his gaze a few times, he didn't find anything, which made Zhao Yan very puzzled: "This... Brother Huyan, what's wrong?"

  Cao Song, who was sitting there, seemed calm and composed. He said with a sigh, "Third Brother, it seems you've really forgotten many things. You've even forgotten Third Sister's husband's old habit."

  Cao Song said, and only then did he explain Huyan Ping's old problem. It turned out that when Huyan Ping was a child, he was mischievous and climbed trees. He fell from the tree and hurt his head. Apart from being a bit absent-minded in daily life, he would often pause when speaking or doing things. The whole person would be like this, stopping there motionless for a while before recovering on his own.

  Zhao Yan also found it astonishing to hear this, the world is indeed full of wonders. In his opinion, Huyan Ping's condition should be due to brain nerve damage, and from time to time, he would have problems like a computer crash. This problem was serious but not serious, ordinary people need to work and eat, encountering such problems will definitely be affected, but Huyan Ping, as a spoiled rich kid, is fed and clothed by others, so the impact of this condition on him is not significant.

  Just as he was saying that, Huyan Ping finally came to from his daze and continued with what he had been saying: "It's just that my brain has some problems, it stops working every now and then, but it's nothing serious. Third Brother, you've just forgotten a few things, which is even less of an issue. Anyway, we brothers all know what you used to do, so when we have time later, I'll tell you about it again!"