Xu Yunzhong originally came to find someone to drink with, but he found himself a job instead. However, he had nothing to do recently, so he poured wine while lazily saying, "It's easy. You just need to keep saying you're sick and can't leave the doctor for a moment."
"That's what I thought at first." Zhu Yanyin propped his cheeks with both hands, looking worried. "But Dr. Jiang just came to see me and said that he had talked to Uncle Zhang a few days ago. I just need to rest from now on, and it doesn't matter if I have a doctor or not."
"No one can tell for sure about the condition. You can pretend to be seriously ill again."
"What if my uncle sees that the situation is not good and invites the imperial physician from the palace with great fanfare? Besides, he looks very shrewd and it is not easy to deceive him."
"Then you can say that Chi Tian's kung fu is extremely high, and he has set his sights on the Zhu Mansion. Only Palace Master Li can protect you in the world."
"Then my uncle will just transfer more troops from the Northeast garrison."
Xu Yunzhong was speechless for a moment. It turned out that having great power also has its troubles, which is that life is too carefree, and it is difficult to artificially create some false twists and turns.
Zhu Yanyin lay on the table with a sullen look: "Alas."
Xu Yunzhong suggested again: "Then just tell the truth."
Zhu Yanyin raised his eyelids and looked at him. What does that mean
"You just said that you are worried about Palace Master Li and want to follow him forever, so what?" Xu Yunzhong answered frankly, "Even if it is not convenient for me to confess my admiration for the time being, it is also a good thing for people to meet a close friend who can go through life and death together. Why should I hide it like a thief? It will only make me feel boring."
Zhu Yanyin sat up and thought about it carefully. That was right. Even if he didn't have any high-sounding reasons that could convince his uncle, as long as he insisted on going to Snow City, he should be able to make the trip - just like when he was unreasonable and insisted on building an alchemy furnace at home. Although the whole family was worried about it, didn't he build it in the end
Although it is not appropriate to take advantage of your family's indulgence to do whatever you want, the situation is special now and you can't care too much. You can just apologize to your uncle in the future.
Xu Yunzhong asked: "How?"
Zhu Yanyin slammed the table and did it.
He originally wanted to go find his uncle immediately, but it was already late at night, the village was dark and quiet, and the military station was also heavily guarded.
"What are you looking at?"
A question suddenly came from behind him, and Zhu Yanyin was startled. His heart was pounding as he asked, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
"I guessed you weren't asleep either." Li Sui stepped forward and took off his cloak to wrap him up. "It's snowing heavily outside. Don't catch a cold."
The cloak still had the other person's body temperature. Zhu Yanyin was wrapped in such warmth, and immediately felt a bit of soft affection. His heart felt sweet and sour, and he didn't want to leave even more.
As a result, the next moment, Li Sui asked: "Tell me, what excuse did you come up with with Xu Yunzhong so that you can continue to stay with me?"
Zhu Yanyin: “…”
I'm leaving!
Li Sui smiled and pulled his sleeve. It was a dark night with a strong wind. It was pitch black all around. Zhu Yanyin then secretly moved his hand upwards and interlocked his fingers with his. He said stubbornly, "Who said I want to follow you?"
"So you're going to live in Frostskin?"
"Do you want me to stay?"
"I don't want to." Li Sui said, "I felt that the Zhu Mansion guards alone could not protect you. It would be better for you to stay with me, and I would feel more at ease."
"What about now? Now that I have the army to protect me, are you relieved?"
"I feel relieved, but I can't bear to let you go." Li Sui tightened his fingers, "In fact, I should have left you in Frostskin City."
"I am me, not your thing. You can keep me just because you say so?" Zhu Yanyin rubbed his nose and had his own ideas. "I have already thought about it. My uncle has already borrowed the army from the court. I will take the army with me to Xuecheng. This way, I will have someone to protect me and not distract you. It may also be able to help you at a critical moment."
Li Sui smiled: "Okay, you decide."
The snow was fluffy and thick, and it made a crunching sound when you stepped on it. It was quiet and peaceful.
The two did not return to their residence, but continued to walk aimlessly into the distance side by side, occasionally saying a few meaningless but interesting words. The warmth in their palms was transmitted to each other, and they did not feel cold even in the cold winter night.
…
The next morning, as soon as the uncle got up, his big, snow-white nephew came to his door.
"Xiaoyin, you got up so early." Lan Xishan greeted with a smile, "Have you had breakfast?"
Zhu Yanyin responded obediently: "Yes, I have used it." Not only that, he had also walked back and forth in the yard with his hands behind his back for seven or eight times, and finally waited until there was some movement in the house. You middle-aged people can really sleep well, aren't you afraid of getting up late early
Lan Xishan held his hand and looked at him carefully for a long time, sighing repeatedly that it was a good thing that he was not thin from hunger and his face did not show much fatigue from the bumpy journey, otherwise your mother would not know how distressed she would be.
Zhu Yanyin said, "Uncle Zhang and Xiaosui take good care of me." Then he added, "Palace Master Li also takes good care of me. I am very happy every day when I am with him and don't want to be separated from him for a moment."
Lan Xishan doted on his nephew and said generously, "This is easy. When the Wulin League settles its feud with the Snow City Demon Cult, I will invite all the people you like to the royal city. I will accompany you to eat, drink and have fun every day. How do you think?"
Mr. Zhu: “…”
The elders were so considerate, but he took advantage of his favor and acted unreasonably... But if he didn't make a fuss, he couldn't go to Snow City. Just when he was in a dilemma, Lan Xishan had already ordered the servants to bring out a large golden nanmu box: "This is what your cousin asked me to bring to you. Because the number of various files was huge and they couldn't be borrowed, he had to find more than ten people to copy them. This is about it."
So Zhu Yanyin temporarily stopped making trouble and rushed over to take a look. When he was hiding in Hecheng, he had paid special attention to the local chronicles of Jincheng, but those books mostly described farmland and water conservancy, and there were very few records of mining and metallurgy, so he thought of writing a letter to his cousin who worked in the Ministry of Industry, hoping that he would find relevant records from several years ago.
Lan Xishan asked: "Did Palace Master Li ask you to find it?"
Zhu Yanyin immediately felt guilty: "What Palace Master Li?"
"You have nothing to do with Jincheng, and among your friends in the martial arts world, only Palace Master Li is from Jincheng."
"… Yeah, but he didn't ask me to do it. I wanted to check some things that happened back then myself."
Zhu Yanyin sat back at the table: "The Li family was once prominent in the northwest. They mined salt and iron mines under the order of the imperial court. Later, due to a mining accident, the entire family collapsed."
Lan Xishan guessed what he meant: "Do you suspect there is something else behind the mining accident?"
Zhu Yanyin said, "The local official in Jincheng at that time was named Pang Dahai. He was later imprisoned for corruption and bribery. Not long after that, he died of illness. Uncle, do you have any impression of this man?"
"There are some, but bribery has existed in every dynasty, and he was not a monstrous corrupt official, so I don't have a deep impression of him."
"The Li family fell into ruin because of the mining disaster, but Pang Dahai made a fortune because of it. Not long after, he took over the mine for official use. Even the writers were impressed, saying that he was very decisive in this matter, which was completely different from his usual laziness and procrastination."
Lan Xishan poured tea: "It is indeed a suspicious point, but it is far from enough to be used as evidence. Do you have any other clues?"
"The book also records that after the government took over the mine, many seafood shops, red cherry wine shops, and fish, shrimp, porridge and noodle shops opened in Jincheng. These shops, which were originally only found on the southeast coast, were once prosperous, but later disappeared with the court's order to 'temporarily close the mine.'"
Then the most reasonable explanation is that these wine shops and noodle restaurants are all related to the mines. They are either opened to cater to the workers' tastes, or they are run by the workers' family members brought here.
Zhu Yanyin continued, "The distance from the southeast to the northwest is long. Even if Pang Dahai immediately sent people to the coast to recruit people after the mine disaster, it would be too late. So I suspect that he had already made preparations to take over the mine before the disaster."
Of course, there is also a possibility that this group of people from the southeast happened to appear near Jincheng with their families at that time, and happened to be spotted by Pang Dahai. So Zhu Yanyin wanted to find more detailed records to find out the truth as soon as possible.
Lan Xishan nodded: "Then it seems that your relationship with this Palace Master Li is really good."
It's not just good. What we are going to do in the future may shock your beard. Zhu Yanyin seized the opportunity and asked sensibly and innocently, "Can I go to Snow City with him?"
Lan Xishan refused outright: "What are you thinking? Of course not."
"Uncle—" Zhu Yanyin said in a long tone, "I am worried about him."
"Palace Master Li's kung fu is the best in the world, why should you worry about him?" Lan Xishan patted his nephew's head. "You like to watch people wielding swords and guns. I'll let A Yan show you swordsmanship every day. He is the emperor's personal guard, and he's here with us this time. He's very skilled."
"I don't want to see A Yan." Zhu Yanyin sat on the chair, "I just want Palace Master Li."
Lan Xishan was kind and patient: "You want Palace Master Li, but Palace Master Li may not want you. The Wulin Alliance is here to exorcise demons. You are just a scholar who can only read books, why are you joining in the fun?"
"Who said that!" Zhu Yanyin said righteously, "Palace Master Li is willing to have me. He likes me so much."
Lan Xishan didn't realize the hidden meaning of his nephew's words in time: "Your uncle likes you very much. When you were a child, he fed you and helped you pee. Why can't you just listen to him now?"
"… "
Zhu Yanyin: "Anyway, I'm going to Xuecheng. If you and Uncle Zhang don't agree, I'll join the Wanren Palace team!"
Lan Xishan: "Then you can try it for two days."
Zhu Yanyin: “?”
So straightforward
The uncle's calculations were actually very good. He was certain that his pampered nephew would not be able to stand the hardships of the world. The reason why he was noisy and willful was because he had not yet experienced the hardships of living alone. If he really had to do everything by himself, he would definitely come back crying in two days.
Zhu Yanyin couldn't believe that there was such a gift package that fell from the sky, so he asked again: "Really? You won't regret it?"
Lan Xishan: “No regrets.”
"Write it down!"
"… Can I still blame you, little brat?"
No matter what, Zhu Yanyin found a pen and paper, forced him to write a letter of guarantee, and then ran to find Li Sui happily.
What does it mean when all is said and done
Thank you, uncle! Goodbye, uncle!
Lan Xishan looked at his jumping back and stroked his beard, thinking he was very shrewd.
Young people who are not very experienced in the world...