CHAPTER 71: CHAPTER 69 JOY

Li You rode his horse and brought Chen Zigeng back to Chen Family Village.

Looking at the person on horseback, Li You couldn’t help but feel a little dazed. Mr. Dongli had accepted Chen Zigeng, so from now on, this child would be his junior brother?

It was truly unexpected; he had merely taken Chen Zigeng to have a chat with Mr. Dongli, never imagining this outcome. Mr. Dongli’s thoughts were indeed unpredictable; the Emperor invited him back to the capital, but he refused, yet now he accepted a disciple in Chen Family Village...

What would the Emperor think upon learning this?

"Hei Dan."

Chen Zigeng waved to Hei Dan from across the small bridge before the village.

Hei Dan and the others paused and turned to look at Chen Zigeng, finding him seated upright on horseback. A few children put down the bamboo baskets they carried on their backs and ran over.

"This is Lord Li You." Chen Zigeng introduced everyone to Li You as they paid their respects.

Li You could see that the children in the village, who were around the same age as Chen Zigeng, all listened to him.

"Go back," Li You said to Chen Zigeng, "I will visit the village another day."

Seeing the villagers also approaching, Li You placed Chen Zigeng down from the horse. It was already so late that he decided not to enter the village to avoid causing a stir.

Chen Zigeng paid his respects to Li You and watched him leave before leading Hei Dan and a few others into the village.

Chen Zigeng asked Hei Dan what they had done today, and upon learning that everything went smoothly without any incident, he finally felt reassured and returned home.

Old Mrs. Chen and Xie Liangchen were waiting for Chen Zigeng in the courtyard.

"Grandmother, Sister." Once Chen Zigeng reached his home, he no longer had the excessive maturity for his age; instead, like a child, he couldn’t wait to take off the cloth bag he carried on his back.

Xie Liangchen watched as Chen Zigeng opened the cloth bag, revealing the books inside.

"Grandmother, Sister," Chen Zigeng’s eyes sparkled with brilliant light, "I am going to have a mentor."

The three returned to the house, and Old Mrs. Chen was baffled, while Xie Liangchen had guessed the general situation. Previously, she had asked Chang Yue to help investigate the identity of that old lady, and Chang Yue had informed her of Mr. Dongli’s connection to Li You.

Clearly, this was Song Xian’s instruction, indicating that Mr. Dongli was not simple.

Now that Mr. Dongli was willing to be a mentor for her younger brother, her emotions were mixed. Initially joyful, for meeting such a mentor was her brother’s fortune, but she was also somewhat worried, as she did not know much about Mr. Dongli or what kind of person he was.

As Chen Zigeng recounted the day’s events, Old Mrs. Chen was utterly shocked. How did he return with a mentor after just one outing with Lord Li You?

Moreover, Lord Li You also addressed Mr. Dongli as "mentor."

Chen Zigeng said, "I could tell Lord Li You held great respect for that mentor. On the way back, he also advised me to learn well from him."

Li You was a good official, and what he said must be right. Old Mrs. Chen finally realized that her grandson had met a noble.

Old Mrs. Chen instinctively reached out her hand to pay respects to the Kitchen God. Ever since her granddaughter returned, their lives had improved immensely.

Chen Zigeng said, "Lord Li You told me not to mention this to others. Mr. Dongli said I should go every day for two hours, and I don’t need to bring food; I will dine with him at noon."

Thinking about the gift, Chen Zigeng was once again a little troubled, unsure of how much to gift.

Xie Liangchen said, "First, we must prepare the proper gift."

According to the customs of this dynasty, six gifts should be prepared when formally accepting a mentor, and afterwards, silver coins should be given to the mentor monthly. Xie Liangchen looked outside; it was getting late, and there was not enough time to buy things at the market, so they would have to use items from home.

Xie Liangchen said, "The cloth sent by the Tian Family, the Huang Jing we prepared at home, toad oil, the He Shouwu I collected days ago, borrow two chickens from Second Uncle’s house, and a jar of wild mint tea I made."

Xie Liangchen carefully calculated; although the six gifts were makeshift now, she planned to make other offerings to honor the mentor later.

While Xie Liangchen was scheming, Chen Zigeng’s eyes were already red with tears: "Sister, you’ve brought out the best things from home."

Xie Liangchen returned to her senses and, seeing Chen Zigeng’s demeanor, reached out to pat his head: "That’s the mentor who will teach our brother knowledge, so we must bring out the best things from home. Unfortunately, these are all we have for now."

Chen Zigeng lowered his eyes: "I should protect Sister, not let her always work hard for me. I’ve been a burden to her."

"What nonsense," Xie Liangchen held Chen Zigeng’s hand, "You need to learn skills so you can protect us in the future."

Old Mrs. Chen’s eyes were already moist as she looked at Chen Zigeng: "Then it’s settled. Listen to your sister. Grandmother will remember these things you use, and if you treat your sister poorly in the future, Grandmother will demand these silver coins from you, double in return."

Chen Zigeng wiped away his tears, his expression solemn: "I will certainly learn well from our mentor."

After the three had eaten, Xie Liangchen prepared the six gifts, and Old Mrs. Chen used old cloth to sew a pouch for Chen Zigeng to conveniently carry paper, pens, and books.

While Grandmother and Brother were not paying attention, Xie Liangchen wrote a letter to Song Xian. It was too late for her to go into the city to see Song Xian, but she had to report the events that took place today in detail.

One was the identity of the fur merchant Jia Wangjian, and the other was Zigeng’s apprenticeship with Mr. Dongli.

After writing clearly, Xie Liangchen handed it over to Chang Yue.

...

Song Xian opened the news from the scout to take a look.

Cheng Yanzhao said, "How is it? Is there movement from Liao?"

Song Xian nodded: "Xiao Xingzong appeared at the pass of the new city."

Xiao Xingzong’s real name was Zhao Xingzong. After being captured by Liao, he betrayed Daqi and served under Liao people, always helping Liao to spy on Daqi’s news.

Liao’s new city is very close to Daqi’s Rong City. By Xiao Xingzong’s habits, this behavior is convenient for instructing his spies left in Daqi to work for him.

Cheng Yanzhao said, "You say Li You came to Zhenzhou because someone slandered that the Song Family was in contact with Liao people? Now Xiao Xingzong appeared in Rong City, so do you suspect this matter is related to Xiao Xingzong?"

Song Xian’s black pupils were deep. In a previous life, Xiao Xingzong took advantage of the chaos in the Northwest, leading Liao to break through Yizhou. Although he later quickly returned to drive the Liao people back outside the Juma River, the North suffered another blow.

This time he would take action first and kill Xiao Xingzong, and uproot anyone colluding with him.

"Sir," Chang An entered to report, "Miss Xie has sent a letter."

Upon hearing Miss Xie’s name, Cheng Yanzhao’s eyes lit up, but knowing that she hadn’t come, his whole face immediately dropped.

Cheng Yanzhao said, "Why hasn’t she come? Chen Family Village isn’t far from here, why write a letter?"

Song Xian looked out the window; it was already dark, and the slight irritation in his heart vanished.

Upon opening the letter, the graceful handwriting caught his eye.

Song Xian knew Chen Zigeng was taken by Li You, but Li You’s prowess made it difficult for Chang Yue’s people to get too close, and they hadn’t heard everything Chen Zigeng and Mr. Dongli discussed.

Now the letter stated Mr. Dongli intended to accept Chen Zigeng as a disciple.

Although somewhat surprised, Song Xian remained composed outwardly. His gaze returned to the letter. She was quite delighted, as the words were full of joy.

Having lived for twelve more years, their siblings were living increasingly well.