Chapter 134: Everyone Has Their Place
Huang Xianzhou and Mr. Yao walked back to the small house they were temporarily staying in, one after the other, amidst the scattering crowd.
Sitting by the door of the house, Mr. Yao continuously patted and rubbed his right hand and arm. He looked at Huang Xianzhou and after a moment, chuckled, “Esteemed Master, you were prepared long ago.”
Huang Xianzhou hummed, his eyes narrowed, looking at an unknown point. After a while, he sighed and lowered his voice, “Did you see that little girl beside the Young Lord?”
Mr. Yao was startled and quickly shook his head, “How could I have paid attention? From the moment we saw the Young Lord until we started judging cases, it was one thing after another. My eyes are blurry. Speaking of which, I’m grateful you reminded me this morning to bring an extra thick stack of paper.”
“It’s that little girl from the Li Family,” Huang Xianzhou sighed again.
Mr. Yao raised his eyebrows, “Esteemed Master, are you worried about that girl?”
“Mm, alas.”
“Esteemed Master, really, what is there to worry about with that little girl? Can the Young Lord not protect a mere little girl? Someone like the Young Lord, a little bit of care would be enough for her to live without worry for a lifetime,” Mr. Yao comforted him.
“It’s not about protection or not. I’m just curious, what does the Young Lord see in that little girl? Why is he so good to her?” Huang Xianzhou frowned.
“Someone as noble as the Young Lord can do as he pleases. How can we know? It’s fate.”
Mr. Yao didn’t even have a wife, and he was completely ignorant about anything related to women.
“Is it a bad fate, or a good one?” Huang Xianzhou sighed once more.
“Why is Esteemed Master so concerned about that little girl?” Mr. Yao asked with some bewilderment.
“She gave me some pointers,” Huang Xianzhou said softly.
“She could give you pointers? Then perhaps, she also gave pointers to the Young Lord?”
“What you said!” Huang Xianzhou’s words stopped. He was stunned for a moment, then slowly hummed, “Perhaps, who knows.”
“Esteemed Master, stop worrying about others. Let’s properly discuss our own matters,” Mr. Yao glanced left and right.
………………………………
Gu Yan and his entourage, like a gust of wind, rushed out of Linhai Town. They rode for over ten li before slowing their horses.
It was the busy farming season in July and August. In the paddy fields on both sides of the road, farmers were busy working. Children playing on the ridges of the fields watched their group of elegantly dressed riders with curiosity.
Li Xiaonan looked at the farmlands and the children on the sides, her smile radiant.
“Why are you so happy?” Gu Yan followed Li Xiaonan’s gaze to the children on the field ridges.
“Eldest Uncle said the harvest is good this year, and the rice ears are particularly plump,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
“Mm, then you can harvest an extra three to five dou. No wonder you’re so happy,” Gu Yan’s tone carried a hint of teasing.
“Your harvest today was also quite good,” Li Xiaonan smiled.
Gu Yan’s eyebrows slightly rose. He leaned slightly to the side, looking at Li Xiaonan’s expression, “You’re so happy because my harvest today was good?”
“Mm,” Li Xiaonan nodded affirmatively.
“Then didn’t you think about why I brought you along?” Gu Yan twirled his horse whip.
“You brought me along because you were originally happily bringing a little girl to broaden her horizons. Who knew it would be disrupted by a fight, damaging your pride, so it’s understandable to be a bit angry,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
“You have quite a bit of this little cleverness,” Gu Yan clicked his tongue, turned his head to look at Li Xiaonan, and said seriously, “This is called utilization.”
“Mm, I know. Utilization is utilization.”
“Are you often utilized by others?”
“How could I have that kind of value? It’s more like you are often utilized by others.”
Gu Yan burst out laughing. After laughing for a while, he stopped and said, “You are often with me, that is value.”
“Alas, no one has ever given me a gift. I went to the grocery store at the entrance to buy soy sauce, and I told the shopkeeper: We live on the same street, can you give me a little extra? The shopkeeper said: It’s a small business, I can’t afford to give extra.” Li Xiaonan sighed.
Gu Yan burst out laughing.
………………………………
He Ruiming escorted Gu Yan to the outskirts of town. Watching the group of people ride away, he wiped the sweat from his brow and hurried back.
In the He Family Old Shop, He Chengzhe sat under the corridor, leisurely brewing and drinking tea.
He Ruiming entered, and He Chengzhe looked him over, saying gently, “Go wash up first and change your clothes.”
“Okay.” He Ruiming turned and went to the back. After a short while, he washed up, changed his clothes, and sat opposite He Chengzhe. He took the teapot from He Chengzhe’s hand and brewed tea again.
“From the wharf to outside the town, did the Young Lord say anything else?” He Chengzhe asked slowly.
Everything that happened at the wharf had already been reported to him by the servants as it occurred.
“He didn’t say anything. He seemed very angry,” He Ruiming replied.
“Among the outsiders who fought today, there was A Wu’s brother,” He Chengzhe said with a grave expression.
“Oh? Yes,” He Ruiming sat up straight, looking at his father.
“A Wu came, then left, and then many people arrived. The wharf became chaotic, and then, today’s incident happened,” He Chengzhe said in a low, slow voice.
He Ruiming’s eyes widened, “Father means? There’s a hand behind this? The Young Lord?”
“Who knows,” He Chengzhe lowered his eyelids, picked up his cup, and slowly sipped his tea.
“And that Huang Xianzhou,” He Ruiming added after a moment of stunned silence.
“Mm!” He Chengzhe hummed in approval.
“What does the Young Lord intend to do?” He Ruiming leaned forward, his tone filled with apprehension.
“It’s not clear yet.” He Chengzhe slowly finished his cup of tea, put down the cup, and looked at He Ruiming, saying, “Last year, the Young Lord said he wanted you to be by his side to advise him at any time. Starting tomorrow, you will report for duty at the villa every day.”
He Ruiming was startled, “The Young Lord said I didn’t need to go every day, and he would send for me if he had something.”
“At that time, the Young Lord didn’t say he was going to clean up the Maritime Tax Bureau. Today he did, so you should report for duty,” He Chengzhe took the teapot from his son’s hand and poured himself a cup of tea.
“Okay,” He Ruiming frowned, “Father, is the Young Lord really going to clean up the Maritime Tax Bureau? What does he want to clean up? To what extent?”
“I don’t know. It’s not about how far he wants to clean up the Maritime Tax Bureau, but how far he *can* clean it up,” He Chengzhe narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Then me?” He Ruiming looked at his father and asked vaguely.
“To the best of your knowledge, to the best of your ability,” He Chengzhe said calmly.
“Okay,” He Ruiming breathed a sigh of relief.
With Father saying this, he felt at ease.
He didn’t know why, but when he was by that Young Lord’s side, he dared not be careless. He always felt that the Young Lord seemed to see through everything.
Although the Young Lord was more than ten years younger than him, he felt the Young Lord was much more shrewd than him. In fact, he felt that the Young Lord, like his father, must have countless schemes and secrets hidden away.
