Chapter 109

Chapter 109: Owes the Zhuangyuan a Favor

A farm courtyard in Baihe County.

Ming stood outside the fence.

In the yard, a woman was scattering bran.

The chickens inside the fence were pecking incessantly.

These chickens looked well taken care of, probably having been raised for a year or two.

Two children, no older than six or seven, were squatting in the yard playing with mud.

Among them, a little girl with a ponytail saw Ming, her eyes lighting up instantly as she ran towards Ming with open arms: “Big Brother Xu~ Big Brother Xu~~~”

The little boy also saw Ming and happily ran over: “Big Brother Xu, why have you come?”

The two children opened the fence and gleefully jumped in front of Ming. Ming patted their heads affectionately: “Of course, I came to see you.”

The grandson of Chancellor Fang is named Wan, and the granddaughter is named Qianqian.

Their names are extremely casual.

Ming even thought that if Chancellor Fang had another grandchild, he would name them Bai.

Because during their travels, Ming often took the siblings along to play, like hunting wild game, so both Wan and Qianqian liked this big brother very much.

“Salutations, Zhuangyuan.”

Lady Fang put down the basin filled with bran, stepped forward, and bowed slightly to Ming.

“The junior one greets Lady Fang.” Ming replied with a bow.

Lady Fang, though fifty or sixty years old, appeared to be only about thirty-something.

Though her looks weren’t breathtakingly beautiful—only above average—the grace bestowed by time gave Lady Fang an air of mature charm.

At first, Ming thought this Lady Fang might be Chancellor Fang’s concubine, but it turned out she was actually his main wife, and Chancellor Fang only had this one wife.

Lady Fang smiled and said, “Is the Zhuangyuan here to find our old man?”

Ming nodded: “There are some things I wish to ask Mr. Fang.”

Lady Fang: “That old man of ours has gone to till the fields. If the Zhuangyuan is in a hurry, Qianqian can take you there.”

“That’s troublesome.” Ming didn’t refuse.

“Big Brother Xu, over here!” Qianqian wiped the mud off her dress onto her skirt and happily held Ming’s hand, walking toward the fields.

Fifteen minutes later, in the fields, Ming saw an old man wearing a straw hat, sleeves and trouser legs rolled up, standing in the rice paddies planting seedlings.

There were also many others around busy with farming work.

Perhaps none of them could imagine that among them was the Chancellor of the Wu Kingdom.

Ming took off his shoes, rolled up his pants, and rolled up his sleeves. He grabbed a handful of seedlings and also entered the field.

Qianqian wanted to join too, but remembering how she messed up planting yesterday and got scolded by her grandfather, she sulkily found a shady spot to sit, observing ants and looking for frogs.

Ling noticed Ming helping him plant seedlings in the field, and seeing how skilled he was, remained silent and continued working.

Half an hour later, Ling sat with Ming by the roadside to rest. After drinking some water, Ling handed the gourd to Ming.

“Thank you.” Ming tilted his head back and drank heartily.

“I didn’t expect the Zhuangyuan to know how to do farm work.” Ling chuckled.

A young man from a noble family probably hadn’t even seen seedlings before, yet here he was doing farm work—something Ling hadn’t anticipated.

“During my time at Blood Floating Pagoda, once on a mission, I helped an old farmer in a village.” Ming replied.

Actually, Ming’s knowledge of farming came from his past life.

“On the contrary, I didn’t expect Mr. Fang to still be doing manual labor at such an advanced age,” Ming observed.

“What’s surprising about that?” Ling drank some water, “I used to read books while farming. Now that I’m back, naturally, I must grow some grain to eat myself.”

Ling wiped his mouth, “Speak your mind. What brings you here? The four powerful clans of Baihe County—are you unsure how to handle them?”

“Yes.” Ming nodded, “Recently, Third Brother found a breakthrough, but…”

“But this breakthrough seems like a dead end?” Ling interjected.

“We’ve uncovered that a scholar whose legs were broken in the past is actually today’s Third Place Scholar.”

Ming explained the situation to Ling.

“I’m wondering why the Third Place Scholar hasn’t told His Majesty about this. Is it because he cherishes his reputation, or does he have something incriminating in the hands of the Li family?

I heard that Mr. Fang previously had some exchanges with the Third Place Scholar?”

Ling looked at the fields, “I’ve chatted with all three of you top scholars. Since you will likely become the key figures in the Wu Kingdom’s court in the future, I needed to understand your personalities and characters.”

Ming: “Then, what does Mr. Fang think of the Third Place Scholar?”

Ling laughed, “After conversing with you, I realized you’re someone who doesn’t respect the emperor. For most people, the emperor is the supreme existence, but you treat the emperor lightly.

After talking with Pengda, he’s like a repairman. In the future, the court will be thrown into chaos by people like Mochi, possibly even into disarray, but Pengda can tidy up after them.

As for Ping’an, he’s a madman… He gives me the impression that whatever he does in the future won’t be excessive. He doesn’t care about his reputation; anything he wants to do, I feel he’d sacrifice himself without hesitation.

People with this kind of character can endure, but they never suffer losses. Even if they die, they’ll make sure to bite off a piece of flesh from the other side.

But, someone has restrained him.

And this person is also his only weakness.

If what you say is true, and Ping’an was indeed the scholar whose legs were broken back then,

Then, the reason the Li family is still alive now is probably due to the girl by Ping’an’s side.”

Near the Hall of Worthies in Wudu, today being his day off, Ping’an sat in the courtyard teaching the little girl a lesson.

At first, the little girl listened attentively, but as time passed, listening became like lullaby music to her.

She began nodding off, like a chick pecking rice.

Her little head bobbed until the little girl finally couldn’t resist and fell asleep on the table.

“This little wretch.” Ping’an chuckled, gently lifting the little girl and placing her back on the bed in her room.

Even being carried, the little girl didn’t wake up.

Looking at the sleeping little girl on the bed, Ping’an tucked her hair behind her ear:

“Rest assured, you will live a good life.

It’s just that your Big Brother Yu will owe that Zhuangyuan another favor.”