CH 25

Business at Huicheng Tower was as good as ever, and the lobby was full of people and guests.

The private room on the second floor was very quiet.

When they were walking just now, Zhao Yelan came to the restaurant quietly without saying a word, sitting down to eat in silence. However, this silent attitude made people suspect that they had guessed correctly!

Everyone looked at Yan Mingting cautiously, then looked up at the top of his head, feeling that the General was missing a colorful hat.[1]

Yan Mingting was crestfallen, picking at the food on his plate once in a while without picking it up.

“Can you still eat well?” Zhao Yelan asked coldly.

Yan Mingting took a deep breath, picked up his chopsticks, and then just sighed listlessly.

Zhao Yelan kicked him on the calf and said impatiently: “Fine, there’s no end to this, he’s only my favorite……”

“Favorite?!”

“Pawn.”

“Oh……” Yan Mingting worriedly ate a mouthful of food. “What do you like about him?”

Zhao Yelan glanced at him a few times: “It seems that he has a big appetite and eats quickly.”

“You joke, who can have a better appetite and eat faster than me?” Yan Mingting picked up the bowl and chopsticks and started to shovel down food.

All of the subordinates were dumbfounded, not expecting the General to be so easy to coax. Several people buried their heads and ate. As long as they pretended not to see, the General was still the most upstanding man in their hearts!

At the end of the meal, only Zhao Yelan was still eating slowly, so Yan Mingting asked the others to go back first and stayed to wait quietly.

Zhao Yelan put down his chopsticks, wiped the corners of his mouth, and got up to leave, walking in a certain direction.

After Yan Mingting paid the bill, he seemed to know where he was going and caught up with him within a few steps.

In a short while, the two returned to Bao Lun’s house again. He had brought his subordinates just now to facilitate the search for clues, but it was inconvenient for them to participate in the details. Even though Yan Mingting trusted them, the fewer people who knew about it, the better.

It was very strange. Even though he had been unwilling to reveal more to his subordinates for many years, he chose to trust Zhao Yelan unconditionally, which was simply unimaginable.

He looked at Zhao Yelan, who was standing by the window with his head lowered in thought, and asked in a low voice: “Did you see something?”

Zhao Yelan bowed his head, sniffed the window sill for a moment, and said: “This smell……is a bit terrible.”

“How can it not smell? The wood is rotten,” Yan Mingting said.

“It’s not the smell of rot, but……the smell of herbs,” Zhao Yelan said.

“Herbal medicine? Maybe he drank medicine all year round, then poured the dregs out the window?”

Zhao Yelan nodded: “That’s right, if you drink medicine all year round, you’re either in poor health, sick, or poisoned. Check the nearby doctors to see if any of them have treated him.”

“Okay, I’ll send someone to do it.”

The two searched around again, but couldn’t find anything else for the time being, so they left the place.

As soon as Zhao Yelan got into the sedan chair, he heard Yan Mingting ask: “What about your body?”

Zhao Yelan was taken aback: “What?”

“Is it really just because of your poor foundation that you have been taking medicine for a long time? Or……” Yan Mingting looked at him hesitantly, and even began to go through who might poison him one by one in his mind.

He put them all in a line and was startled by how long it was. It seemed as if everyone would like to poison him.

The corner of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched: “Who knows.”

“Unacceptable. Don’t eat outside in the future, and don’t give anyone a chance.” Yan Mingting said sternly: “There is no need to recruit servants for the mansion, who knows if there are people with evil intentions.”

Zhao Yenal gave him a cryptic look.

Yan Mingting paused slightly, raised his chin, and turned his head to look elsewhere: “It’s better to be careful. I’m……still waiting for you to help me find out the truth.”

Zhao Yelan gave a laugh: “All right, then Zhao Yelan’s life will be in the hands of General Yan.”

General Yan didn’t answer, but just tightened his hand on his scabbard, as if in silent promise.

“The exercising must continue.” Yan Mingting suggested again, “Let’s do it step by step, and do lower-intensity exercises first.”

“Stop the sedan chair.”

“Hey, why are you stopping the chair?” Yan Mingting thought he was tired of listening to him, and only after chasing him out did he realize that he was going to a tailor shop.

As soon as the shopkeeper saw them coming, he showed them the custom-made clothes: “Zhao-daren, please look and see if this meets your requirements. The inside is specially made silk trousers, and the outside is the favorite style of pleated skirt for ladies and young misses.”

These were women’s clothes after all, and Zhao Yelan didn’t have the time to examine them carefully, so he nodded after taking a look: “En.”

The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief: “My lord, it’s like this. Because this small shop has never received such a request, I didn’t dare to finish up using all the materials, and only made this one for you to have a look at first. If you are satisfied and can give me a few days grace, I will hurry and do the remaining two.”

Zhao Yelan nodded in agreement.

“Only, the price……you know, the silk of these trousers is not cheap……” The shopkeeper said cautiously.

Zhao Yelan took out a purse and threw it to him: “Take a look for yourself.”

The shopkeeper was delighted beyond measure, but didn’t dare to take too much. He wrapped up the dress with a smile and sent the people and their belongings out the door together.

Zhao Yelan stared at the clothes in his hands, frowned, and handed them to Yan Mingting like a hot potato: “You take them to her.”

Yan Mingting laughed: “You’re not going? We should go together and let her know how much money you spent on her.”

“I’m not here for her.”

“Then you are……” Yan Mingting recalled, “Because of her mother?”

Zhao Yelan frowned slightly, stopped answering, and went straight into the sedan chair.

After Yan Mingting sent him back to the mansion, he went to the Zhong residence with the things. Before he left, Zhao Yelan called to him: “Don’t say what you shouldn’t say.”

“Rest assured, ba.”

When he returned, Yan Mingting brought back a big piece of pork, shouting when he entered the mansion: “Zhao Yelan, come and see the big gift Yuehong’s mother gave  you.”

Zhao Yelan could hear his spirited voice from the study. He took a scroll and went to the front courtyard to have a look, seeing him hand the pork to the cook and walk towards him with a smile.

Zhao Yelan hurriedly took a few steps back: “Have you washed your hands yet?”

“Oh, right.” Yan Mingting turned to fetch water, and said while washing the oil from his hands, “Yuehong’s mother never told Yuehong in order to surprise her. When I handed over the dress to her just now, tears almost fell from her eyes. I couldn’t handle that kind of situation, so I ran away quickly.”

Zhao Yelan smiled silently. Glancing at him inadvertently, he saw him take out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his hands. It was embroidered with spring peach blossoms. This was the same piece that he had wiped his sweat with before and asked Yan Mingting to throw away, yet the other party still carried it with him.

“I don’t know if Yuehong will like it, what if she doesn’t like it and hurts her mother’s heart? Do you think I should talk to Yuehong in advance?” Yan Mingting asked, pouring the water out and turning around.

“Do as you wish.” Zhao Yelan picked up the scroll, then turned and walked to the study.

Yan Mingting chased after him and rolled his sleeves back down: “It shouldn’t be necessary, I think she’ll like it.”

“Why?” Zhao Yelan looked sideways at him.

Yan Mingting stopped and looked him up and down appreciatively: “Although the prices at that shop are outrageously expensive, the clothes made are all very good-looking. I have seen a lot of them, after all, and no one would dislike them.”

Zhao Yelan stared at him for a moment, then turned his head away.

“You smiled again.”

“I did not.”

“The corner of your mouth was curved a little.”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

Zhao Yelan strode forward and Yan Mingting insisted on following him. Housekeeper Qin saw the two chattering in the corridor, turning around to say to the servant next to him: “See that? They are now more affectionate than the old general and the old lady.”

“I never saw how the old general and his wife loved each other. Can you tell me about it?” The servant said.

“Just……in any case, they were not as loving as these two are now. Oh, I have to go burn incense to the old general and tell him that everything is fine in the mansion.” Housekeeper Qin happily went to the ancestral hall, completely forgetting how many times he cried here when Zhao Yelan first entered the mansion.

Now more than a month had passed, and the people in the mansion had gotten used to this picky and difficult master. Not to mention his generosity, his relationship with the General was getting better and better!

“Have you sent someone to look into the doctors?” Zhao Yelan asked as he walked into the study.

“En, I found a few reliable people to check. Ai, I knew I should have brought those two guys back together, but it’s a pity that they didn’t want to come to the capital,” Yan Mingting said with emotion.

“Which two guys?”

“You don’t know them, the little think tank and the troublemaker in the military camp.” Yan Mingting sighed. “The old military advisor also passed away at the end of last year, ai.”

“Little think tank? I think I would like to meet him if I have the chance.” Zhao Yelan sat down leisurely and continued to read.

“There will be a chance, if you’re willing to go to the military camp,” Yan Mingting said with a smile.

“Why is it so difficult to see them?” Zhao Yelan scoffed. “Not seeing them is also fine.”

Yan Mingting laughed loudly.

After a while, one of them was lying on the couch flipping through a book, and the other was sitting on the threshold polishing his sword. Neither spoke, and they were so quiet that only the sound of pages turning and the sharp sound of a weapon being wiped could be heard.

Zhao Yelan didn’t think it was noisy, and when he occasionally heard the sound of walking over there, he knew that he was going to get another sword to clean.

He turned his head to look out the window. Everything was calm, and the flowers in the yard were in bloom, but there were too few varieties and some elegance was missing from the view.

He called Xiao Gao out the window, and he appeared quickly: “My lord, what are your orders?”

“Make preparations to go view flowers tomorrow.”

“Okay, should we still prepare as before?”

“En.” He remembered something and turned to look at the person at the door. Who knew that Yan Mingting had turned to look at him at some point with eyes full of anticipation, like a big dog hoping to be taken away by its master. He asked, “Are you going……”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Yan Mingting quickly interrupted him, raising his sword and walking in. “What do you need to prepare? Do you need my help?”

“Keep your sword away from me.” Zhao Yelan pointed to the sharp, dangling sword.

Yan Mingting immediately inserted it into the scabbard.

Zhao Yelan turned his head and told Gao Tan: “Just prepare more food, this pig has a big appetite.”

Yan Mingting: “ ? ”

“Okay.” Gao Tan covered his mouth and ran away with a smile.

The spring day was beautiful, the breeze fragrant with flowers and plants.

In order to enjoy the flowers every spring season, Zhao Yelan would make a special trip out on the mountain outside the city to drink spring tea, look at the clouds in the sky, and view the flowers on the mountain, stealing half a day of leisure.

As they set off, Yan Mingting thought it was just a simple viewing of flowers, but unexpectedly, the sedan chair was almost full. He wondered: “Why are you bringing these things?”

Zhao Yelan replied, “Naturally, in order to use them.”

The sedan chair stopped at the foot of the mountain, and the servants carried things to climb up. Zhao Yelan ascended the stairs, and after walking a few steps, began to wipe his sweat.

Gao Tan habitually went to help him continue walking, but he was lightly pushed aside, his place taken by another.

“Xiao Gao, go ahead and lead the way, they don’t know where they’re climbing to,” Yan Mingting said.

“Oh……” Seeing that he was supporting Zhao Yelan, Gao Tan smiled sincerely. “Okay, I’ll go find them.”

Zhao Yelan looked sideways at Yan Mingting: “You can help people?”

“Sure I can, ah.”

“Then why are you grabbing me? My arm hurts!” Zhao Yelan said sharply.

“Oh, oh, excuse me” Yan Mingting quickly rubbed him and helped him climb up with care, taking advantage of this opportunity to exercise. However, after climbing for a while, they saw a pavilion where Gao Tan had already ordered people to put down all the things.

“That’s it?” Yan Mingting asked.

“Otherwise, did you think we would climb to heaven?” Zhao Yelan shot him a sidelong glance, walked slowly to the pavilion, and sat down on the padded stone bench.

In an instant, the table was covered with pastries and candied fruit, and tea was brewed.

Yan Mingting: “……” What extreme enjoyment, ah.

“All right, you go and amuse yourself.” Zhao Yelan didn’t like being disturbed, so after dismissing the servants, only Gao Tan and Yan Mingting were left by his side.

He could see the joy in Gao Tan’s eyes. This kid had been protecting his safety for so many years. Now that Yan Mingting was by his side, he could go play with peace of mind.

Gao Tan was as happy as a monkey, scurrying back and forth between the trees.

Yan Mingting sat down beside him and picked up a piece of fruit. Stuffing it into his mouth, he said out of boredom: “I thought you scholars would do something special when appreciating flowers. Are you really just going to look at them, ah? What’s so good about these flowers?”

“Boor.” Zhao Yelan gave him a blank look. “No matter how good the scenery is, it will be spoiled when it enters your eyes. Why did you have to come here?”

“I wanted to see how you enjoy flowers.” Yan Mingting raised his chin with a smile, staring intently at his side profile.

After watching for a long time, the center of his vision gradually only accommodated one person. The colorful spring flowers outside the pavilion became embellishments, red, yellow, blue, and purple, all of which were not as good-looking as the white skin, red lips, and black hair of the person in front of him.

Noticing the other’s progressively serious gaze, Zhao Yelan’s hand holding the tea paused slightly. He didn’t look back, not wanting to delve into it, but lowered his head to drink the tea.

It was unclear if he was too lazy to answer, or attempting to evade.

After sitting for a while, Zhao Yelan was at last willing to stand up. He looked around and took in the beautiful scenery around him.

There was a peach grove not far away. Yan Mingting noticed that Gao Tan was playing with the fallen petals. Thinking that it looked interesting, he raised his sword and leaped over, exchanging pointers with Gao Tan in the grove.

Gao Tan was baffled and returned a few moves. Feeling that he could not win, and afraid of hurting the master, he simply slipped away with qinggong.

Yan Mingting had just warmed up. Looking at the flowers and vegetation around him, he finally felt the pleasure of understanding the people who appreciated flowers. It seemed as if he was the only one left in the world, one with nature, and this naturally lifted his mood.

He raised his sword and brandished it between the trees, treating every falling petal as an enemy, and the grove was filled with a rustling sound. His figure was agile and vigorous, like a phantom in the wind, forming an excellent picture along with the spring scenery.

With a slash of the sharp sword, he happened to catch a flower. He stopped, took the flower casually, and walked out of the grove to find that Zhao Yelan was painting in the pavilion, his movements smooth and flowing.

Just at this moment, Zhao Yelan raised his head and gazed at him.

For some reason, Yan Mingting looked at the nearby person as if he was in a painting. His heart moved at will, and he subconsciously threw the petals through the air. They directly landed in Zhao Yelan’s hair, forming an interesting contrast.

“……” Zhao Yelan raised his hand to brush them off, but two drops of ink splashed from his brush onto his sleeve, and he hurried to wipe it away.

“What are you drawing?” Yan Mingting walked into the pavilion with a smile, looked at the rice paper on the table, and saw that the other party had nearly finished drawing the mountain scenery.

Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow, pointed to the peach grove in the painting with a smile and said: “You drew me in, why didn’t you tell me in advance?”

There was only one figure in the entire painting, and those few strokes outlined the brisk, easy movements of the person as he danced with his sword.

Zhao Yelan picked up the brush and dipped it anew in the paint, turning his head to look at him: “Who let you barge into my painting?”