An elm tree was planted in the small courtyard.
“Boss, I’ve finally found you! You have no idea, I almost thought I’d never see you again! Boss!”
The burly, rough-looking man began to wail the moment he entered.
The corners of the mouths of the other two men in the room, who had been about to draw their blades, twitched.
At the table, another young man dressed in short clothes, looking like a small merchant, gave the man who had just entered a look of utmost disgust.
“Shut up! Keep your voice down!”
The burly man did not shut up and continued to wail, though he did lower his voice. “Boss, you have no idea what I ran into in the mountains last night. A ghost! No, a fairy! It was terrifying! I almost died…”
“But you’re not dead, are you? What’s with all this wailing and howling? Why don’t you just say there was a female ghost in the mountains who wanted to suck out your vital essence? You’re a grown man, aren’t you ashamed?”
Chu Xiujie’s eyelids twitched violently as he tried to suppress the urge to hit someone. This idiot.
Why had he only considered his brute strength back then? The man didn’t have a single brain cell.
Another man in the room spoke up, holding back a laugh. “Wang Dagang, the boss is already here, but you’re three days late.”
They had already been cooped up in this shabby little town for three days.
They were all brothers who had been through life and death together since childhood, with the sole exception of this Wang Dagang, whom the boss had rescued from the outside a few years ago.
He had a good deal of strength and some skill, and he was loyal enough, but for a grown man, he loved to whine and whimper, always earning a look of utter disgust from the boss.
Kneeling on the ground, Wang Dagang felt even more wronged. “Boss, it’s not my fault. I escaped from Shangjing with my life on the line.”
How many assassins had pursued him along the way? It was a blessing from the heavens that he had even made it to see the boss alive.
“Shut up. Where’s the item?” Chu Xiujie’s eyes ached just looking at him. Why did he have to talk so much nonsense?
“The item, ah?”
Wang Dagang fumbled in his purse, but the item was gone.
Was it really gone?
“Boss, the item is lost.”
Wang Dagang searched all over his body but couldn’t find it. This time, he didn’t dare to cry, merely kneeling on the ground looking as wronged as a new bride.
He had kept it together with the silver he had saved. If the item was gone, the silver was gone too.
Chu Xiujie shot up from his stool, his face green with anger. “Lost? Such an important item, and you just say it’s lost? Why didn’t you lose yourself instead! Where did you lose it?”
“I was chased into the mountains. The item was still there when I went in… No, wait, it was that Male Fairy! Boss, the item must have been taken by that Male Fairy. I had it hidden securely. I was conscious the whole time, except when I passed out in the mountains.”
Wang Dagang’s eyes widened as he suddenly remembered last night. He had heard that Male Fairy say he was going to strip his clothes.
The item must have been lost then.
“Wang Dagang, you…” Chu Xiujie was so angry he almost struck him.
What kind of time was this to be going on about a “Male Fairy”? So what if it was a fairy? Do fairies specialize in stealing things from people?
“Without the item, how are we supposed to get Fang Daru to come with us willingly, you idiot!”
Chu Xiujie was furious. He looked at Wang Dagang, who was like a wild man with the front of his clothes torn and clearly injured. He held back, again and again, and refrained from kicking him.
Chu Jiu, who was beside them, spoke up at the right moment. “Boss, is the information reliable? Is Fang Daru really in this backwater place?”
Chu Xiujie sat down again. “The information is definitely correct. Fang Daru was imprisoned here in Min County back then, so he probably never left. Now the token is lost. How am I going to report back to my superiors!”
Wang Dagang, who had been kneeling on the ground, shot to his feet, his face momentarily paling. “Don’t worry, Boss. Even if I have to climb a mountain of knives or plunge into a cauldron of boiling oil, I will definitely get the item back. I’ll go right now!”
“Chu Shi, take this idiot to get his injuries treated first.”
Chu Xiujie rubbed his temples, a headache coming on. Forget it. They would find the person first.
Even if they had the item, it would be useless if they couldn’t find the man.
Outside the courtyard, Lin An Yuan did not get close, only looking at the elm tree whose branches grew over the courtyard wall.
It was rare to see an elm tree planted inside a courtyard.
Lin An Yuan memorized the location and turned to leave.
Just as he neared the noodle shop from before, he saw the person at the entrance, and a trace of disgust flashed in his eyes.
“Brother Lin, I’ve finally been waiting for you. You’ve been quite hard to find these past two days. Could it be that with a beauty in your arms, you’ve forgotten about me, your Master?”
Master Zhang, with his large belly, stood in the shade of the noodle shop with two lackeys, panting from the heat. His eyes lit up when he saw Lin An Yuan.
“Master Zhang, I was actually coming to find you today,” Lin An Yuan said, skillfully concealing the emotion in his eyes.
Master Zhang smiled, glanced left and right, and moved closer to Lin An Yuan, his eyes fixed on his fair neck. “Can merchants really take the imperial examinations?”
Beautiful, truly too beautiful. How could a man be this beautiful?
Especially with his overall aura. Compared to him, the top courtesans bought for a high price in the brothels were nothing special.
Lin An Yuan subtly moved a little farther away. “Merchants cannot, but Master Zhang is not a merchant, so naturally you can take the examinations.”
Master Zhang’s displeased expression was instantly replaced by excitement. “Good, good, good! If I can pass the provincial exam and then pull some strings to become the parental official of Min County, you will certainly be rewarded. You’ll follow me, eat well, and live lavishly. I guarantee you won’t suffer the slightest grievance…”
“Master Zhang is too kind. I have already prepared what you need for the Poetry Meeting tomorrow.” Lin An Yuan took a slip of paper from his sleeve.
“Master, I have matters to attend to at home, so I will take my leave.”
Lin An Yuan handed the slip of paper to Master Zhang, and left after speaking.
A lackey at the side took the opportunity to speak ill of him. “Master, this Lin An Yuan is truly ungrateful. How dare he compete with you for someone! If not for your compassionate heart last year when he went into the mountains, he would have been beaten to death.”
Master Zhang had just finished reading the poem on the paper and was very satisfied. His displeasure from the past two days had subsided a little. He squinted at the direction Lin An Yuan had left, a smile appearing on his fat face.
“He’s a beautiful and useful thing. What’s wrong with humoring him a little?”
“A good poem, a good poem. Tell me, how can a poor boy like him know how to write poetry? Could it be that some people are just born with it?”
What a stunner.
The lackey spoke fawningly, “No matter how talented he is, he still has to rely on your favor to live well. Otherwise, those money-losing burdens his family is raising would have been dragged off and sold long ago!”
Hearing this, Master Zhang squinted his eyes in satisfaction.
That was right. Forget all of Min County, in this small town, he was the law.
No matter how talented others were, they couldn’t make any waves.
It was said that Fang Daru would be accepting a disciple at Qingfeng Inn tomorrow. Once he became the great scholar’s disciple, passing the provincial exam would be a piece of cake.