Chapter 23 I Have a Secret

  Yang Fan has been here several times, and after reviewing many official documents from the second year of Yongshou, he still hasn't found any useful clues. However, he did learn a lot of other information that is not well-known to the public, such as some data about the Imperial Guard, which was obtained from here.

  Here were stored all the old official documents, and normally nobody came upstairs. The bookshelves and documents were all covered with a thick layer of dust. Yang Fan felt around in the corner of the wall for the candles and flint he had left behind before, went over to the bookshelves, struck the flint, lit the candle, and placed it on the document rack.

  The dim light was blocked by layer upon layer of bookshelves, unnoticed from the outside.

  Yang Fan found the place where he had made a mark last time, pulled out an official letter and looked at it carefully.

  "In the second year of Yongchun, **Gu Chuo Lu rebuilt the Khanate. As soon as the Khanate was established, it disturbed Dingzhou, and King Huo Li Yuanji repelled them..."

  Focusing on the entire text, Yang Fan gently shook his head and put it back, then took out the next one: "Bone chills and disturbs Miaozhou, surrounds the single Yu Du Hu Fu, kills General Zhang Xingshi. Shengzhou Governor Wang Liben and Xiazhou Governor Li Chongyi divide their troops to rescue him..."

  "Bone pierced Luoyang, killed Governor Li Sizhen of Weizhou, captured Commander-in-Chief Cui Zhongyan of Fengzhou..."

  "Bone-chilling winds swept across Lanzhou, and Yang Xuanji was defeated and forced to flee..."

  This year, the Turkic king Bone Chorlu was an important protagonist. So many military documents were all about him. Yang Fan's eyebrows were tightly locked, but he didn't dare to jump up and down to check them hastily. What he was doing required patience and meticulousness, not allowing any sloppiness. How could he know that under this topic, there wasn't a clue related to what he wanted to find?

  He finished reading one and took out another, which was about the death of the famous Tang general Xue Rengui and the Ministry of War's petition for posthumous honors. After carefully reading it, he put it back and took out another one. Yang Fan read each one seriously, without knowing how many more there were. When he took out another one, it was about Empress Wu demoting Crown Prince Li Xian to a remote area in Bashan. He browsed through it carefully, and a striking line of words suddenly caught his eye:

  "Zhēng Lóng Wǔ Jūn pài bīng yā sòng."

  Translation: "The Dragon Warrior Army dispatches troops to escort."

  Yang Fan's heart skipped a beat, so far he had reviewed no less than three hundred official documents, and this was the only one that mentioned the news of Long Wu Jun leaving Beijing. But Ba State was in Shu, and the group of people he wanted to investigate appeared in Lingnan Shaoguan, which was indeed south of the Yangtze River and north of the Yellow River, would there be any connection between these two?

  Yang Fan furrowed his brow in thought for a long time, carefully tore out this page of documents and tucked it into his bosom. The sky was already too late, he could only check up to here tonight, otherwise when the sky brightened, he would not be able to leave safely.

  Yang Fan put away the official documents one by one, blew out the candles, and returned them to their original hiding place, quietly leaving the Ministry of War's warehouse.

  ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

  At dawn, the back door creaked open and Tian Aini walked in with a big smile on her face. Yang Fan was already up and about, and the two of them looked at each other. Yang Fan's clothes were still rumpled, while Tian Aini's were neat and tidy, not even a single wrinkle or crease out of place.

  Yang Fan absolutely didn't believe that she, who only had one set of clothes, would dare to sleep naked at night, so he was extremely curious about how she managed to keep her clothes so neat.

  "Morning, want to brush your teeth?"

  This was the only thing Yang Fan could use to entertain his guests, Tian Ai Nu thought of that hairbrush that Yang Fan had praised excessively, and a hint of amusement flashed in her eyes.

  "Go!"

  Yang Fan handed over a brand new toothbrush, and the two of them still walked into the courtyard, under the morning glow, amidst the sound of bells and drums, brushing their teeth with a "psst" sound. This feeling of being together was quite wonderful, but Yang Fan couldn't put it into words what kind of feeling it was.

  After they finished brushing their teeth, the toothbrush was also worn out. The bristles were a bit rough and caused some bleeding of the gums. Yang Fan rinsed his mouth and smiled, showing off his pearly white teeth: "I'll go open the shop door, and I'll bring you back a bowl of noodles."

  "Hmm!"

  Yang Fan nodded and turned around to walk outside.

  "Hey!"

  Yang Fan turned around and saw Tian Ai Nu standing under the sunlight with a sly smile, saying "Did you win last night?"

  "Huh? Oh! Uh..."

  Yang Fan burst out laughing, Tian Ai Nu shook her head, raised her hand and threw something out. A golden light flashed through the air in an arc shape, Yang Fan stretched out his hand to catch it, and surprisingly, it was a gold hairpin. He looked up again at Tian Ai Nu, but she had already floated back into the house. Yang Fan let out a breath, opened the courtyard door, and strode away.

  "Ah~~ Ah~~~~ Ah~~~~"

  Yang Fan and Ma Qiao yawned with their mouths wide open at the same time, and as soon as the gate opened, they were rushed by people eager to leave the compound, stumbling around. After the two stood still, looked at each other, and said in unison: "You look like you haven't woken up yet?" Then they yawned again at the same time, and said in unison: "It was cool last night, didn't sleep well."

  The two of them were taken aback at the same time, and Yang Fan said with a guilty conscience: "I'm going to eat noodles, want to come together?"

  Ma Qiao hesitantly said: "No, I'd better go home and have dinner with Mother."

  The two of them each took three steps forward and then stopped at the same time, wanting to speak but hesitating.

  Yang Fan said: "Qiao Ge, I'm going out this afternoon. If there's any business in the village, can you help take care of it?"

  Ma Qiao asked: "Where are you going?"

  Yang Fan said: "The quilts at home are all bitten by moths and full of holes. I'm thinking of buying a new set."

  Ma Qiao said, "Unfortunately, I also need to go out. The other day, my aunt made some toothbrushes and asked the owners of several grocery stores in Nanshi to help sell them. Today, I'll go take a look at how they're selling and collect the payment."

  Ma Qiao rubbed his head and said, "Since that's the case, let's go together. Anyway, there's usually nothing big going on in the village, I'll tell Feng Wu Hou to help take care of things."

  "It's fine this way."

  Yang Fan gritted his teeth and agreed, but he was hesitant in his heart. As a bachelor, he suddenly started buying fabric, firewood, and rice, which would inevitably lead to Ma Qiao asking for the reason. However, he couldn't refuse his colleague, so he could only play along.

  When they arrived at the noodle stall, Yang Fan ordered two more bowls of noodles. Jiang Xuan Ning said in surprise, "Xiao Fan, how come you've been eating so much these past two days?"

  Yang Fan feared she would be suspicious, so he quickly repeated the lie he had told Su Fang yesterday, saying that Ma Qiao had a cold stomach and needed to eat some warm noodles to warm his belly. Jiang Xuan Ning said worriedly: "He's such a big person now, how can he still not know how to take care of himself? Is it serious? Should we invite a doctor to take a look, don't let any illness be delayed?"

  "Hey, don't worry about it. With his physique, he's as strong as an ox. This afternoon he still wants to go shopping with me in Nanshi, what could possibly happen to him?"

  "Are you going to Nanshi this afternoon?"

  Mianpian'er exclaimed with joy: "Great, I was just thinking of going to Nanshi this afternoon to take a look and buy some jewelry and hair accessories. Let's go together then."

  Yang Fan couldn't help but cry out in distress, it's really true that when you tell a lie, you have to use countless lies to cover it up. Jiang Xuan Ning and Ma Liu Er grew up together as childhood friends, if they went together, they would inevitably ask about Ma Qiao's stomach illness on the way, and couldn't help but go to Ma Qiao's house first to remind him, lest he let slip in front of Ning Jie.

  Yang Fan finished his breakfast and brought another bowl of noodles back home to Tian Ai Nu, then hastily rushed to Ma Qiao's house. Ma Qiao's wife had already finished her breakfast, but Ma Qiao was a big eater and had already refilled his third bowl of porridge, still slurping away nonstop.

  "Old Mrs. Liu is up early."

  Yang Fan put on a good boy's face as soon as he saw Ma Qiao's daughter and politely asked her how she was doing.

  Mrs. Liu quite likes Yang Fan, this kid looks pleasing to the eye, and at a glance, he is a well-behaved and decent one. Of course, a friend who can play with her own son must have good character.

  Liu Dàniáng smiled and said: "Early early early, haven't eaten breakfast yet? If not, let's eat with Qiao'er together."

  "Thank you, Auntie, I've eaten already, you're busy, I'll just chat with Ma Liu."

  "Two big-not-small kids, what else can be said behind people's backs?"

  Liu Dàniáng scolded and said, carrying a bamboo dustpan with pig bristles into the courtyard, suddenly stopped and asked: "By the way, Xiaofan, was that toothbrush I gave you useful?"

  Yang Fan accompanied with a smile: "Good use, good use, since I used the toothbrush made by my wife, the loofah in our house has disappeared without knowing where it was thrown."

  Liu Dàniáng happily smiled and said: "That's good, you all chat."

  She saw her leave, Yang Fan quickly moved to Ma Qiao's side, sat down with his knees crossed, and said in a low voice: "Brother Qiao, aren't we going to South City together this afternoon?"

  Ma Liu was crunching on a piece of salted dried radish, blinking his eyes and saying: "What's up?"

  It's like this...

  Yang Fan coughed twice and rubbed his nose, saying: "I've been buying two bowls of noodles from Ning's sister for the past two days."

  "Two bowls? That's not a lot, I eat at least three bowls in one meal, what's wrong?"

  Yang Fan dryly said: "I'm probably growing taller, my appetite suddenly increased, it's all because I was too embarrassed to say it was me eating, so I told Ning Jie that you had a bit of stomach cold, and needed to drink some noodle soup to warm your belly. This afternoon she wants to go with us to Nan Shi, don't mention this in front of her."

  Ma Qiao was gnawing on a piece of dried radish, his eyes flashing with a hint of suspicion: "No way, we've been buddies for so long, you must be hiding something from me. Tell the truth, what's going on?"

  Yang Fan said: "I deceived you for nothing, it's really like this, you're not allowed to tell anyone."

  Ma Qiao snorted a mouthful of porridge, "Hmph" and said: "Stop messing with me, do you think I'm stupid? Honestly confess, what's going on?"

  At this time, Ma Qiao's daughter spoke in the courtyard: "Xiaofan, you and Qiaoer played cards until midnight yesterday. It's too late. This month it's your turn to be on duty, and you have to go open the shop door early every day. Sleeping too late is not good. Playing cards is okay, but I'm not against you having fun, just don't stay up all night..."

  "Hmm? Play cards?"

  Yang Fan looked at Ma Qiao with a puzzled expression, his eyebrows slowly rising.

  Ma Qiao choked for a moment, then puffed out his chest and said: "We brothers are just like real brothers from the same mother. What's this friendship if I can't take care of things for you? It's not like I'm suffering from stomach cold and bought some noodles to eat or something. Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it at Xiao Ning's place."

  Yang Fan looked at Ma Qiao with a playful expression and chuckled twice.

  Ma Qiao let out two awkward "hums" and nervously raised his large bowl: "Gulp gulp gulp..."

  He buried his big face in the bowl like a pig eating from a trough. P: Sincerely seeking recommendations, login and click!