Su Yuqing called Zhao Qing'er, Wei Haoran, and Chen Tie. She told them to conceal the news of her arrival in Qingwu County and to temporarily reside in Xie An's home.
If anything happened, they could secretly go to Xie An's residence to find her.
This news greatly surprised Chen Tie and the others.
The dignified Grand Princess of Daqian was going to stay at Xie An's house?
Zhao Qing'er had even specially bought a large house in the county town, preparing it for the Grand Princess to stay in… She was about to say this, but Chen Tie stopped her, "This move by the Grand Princess is very appropriate."
Zhao Qing'er glared at Chen Tie, but ultimately swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
Su Yuqing seemed to see through Zhao Qing'er's thoughts and said softly, "If you are free, you can also come to Xie's residence for a visit. It's not very far."
Zhao Qing'er's mood improved greatly upon hearing this, "I will visit the Grand Princess when I have time."
After finalizing the plan, Xie An and Yu He welcomed the Grand Princess back to Xie's residence together.
After all, she was the Grand Princess, so Xie An suggested that Su Yuqing stay in the central courtyard, but she refused and chose the backyard.
This made Xie An a little embarrassed, but he couldn't persuade her, so he asked Yu He to tidy up the backyard.
Although the stable was connected to the backyard, it was next to the back door on the east side. Because of the two archways, there would be no odor.
Moreover, the stable was currently empty and not housing any horses.
After properly arranging Su Yuqing, it was already late at night. Xie An returned to the central courtyard and lay down on the Drunken Weng chair in the courtyard. Because Yu He was still in the backyard talking to Su Yuqing, Xie An moved the stove, kettle, and tea set himself.
He boiled the well water and then took out the tea canister that Su Yuqing had given him.
The conditions at home were temporarily simple. There were no tweezers for taking tea leaves, and the Six Gentlemen of Tea Ceremony were not fully prepared. Xie An grabbed a handful of purple bamboo leaves with his hand, threw them into the tea bowl, and then poured in boiling water to brew.
As the tea fragrance spread, Xie An took a long breath of the tea fragrance and immediately felt refreshed all over.
Then he picked up the tea bowl, blew it slightly to cool it down, and gently took a sip.
The fragrance lingered in his mouth and teeth, and his internal organs felt comfortable.
"Although the tea set is simple, the tea fragrance is not diminished at all. This purple bamboo leaf is not an ordinary purple bamboo. It should have undergone special cultivation. Drinking it is very nourishing to qi and blood. I'm afraid this kind of precious tea cannot be bought on the market even with money."
With Xie An's five senses of the Eighteen Section Bright Jade Skill, he could naturally distinguish that this purple bamboo leaf was extraordinary.
Drinking more of it could nourish the body, a rare and precious tea.
With the Grand Princess here, Xie An no longer had to worry about Chen Xi being unfavorable to him, and he felt much more comfortable. He also relaxed and had the mood to brew tea and enjoy the moon.
After drinking several brews of tea in a row, Xie An felt heat in his internal organs and his muscles and bones were active. His body was full of vitality and he felt more and more comfortable.
"If an elderly person were to drink it, it might cure all diseases and prolong life."
While thinking, Xie An thought of Madam Li in Wutong Town.
She was said to be seriously ill and would not live long.
He had always wanted to visit her, but he was delayed by the Giant Whale Gang's Jin Xiaotang and other matters, which made Xie An feel uneasy.
Now that the Grand Princess was in charge here, Xie An completely relaxed.
"I will go to Wutong Town to see Madam Li another day, and send this purple bamboo tea to Madam Li to drink. Maybe she can live a few more days and suffer less."
Thinking of this, Xie An closed the tea canister.
Madam Li was about the same age as Xie An. Xie An was already fifty-eight, and Madam Li was about sixty. For ordinary people, this was already the age when they were about to die.
Madam Li had been managing the affairs of the Li Mansion for many years, and she was even more of a workaholic. It seemed that she had reached the point where her life was coming to an end.
But eight years had passed, and Xie An had not forgotten Madam Li's kindness that day.
Giving charcoal in the snow is always more memorable than adding flowers to the brocade.
"Tomorrow, I will pick up He Chunli and go to Wutong Town."
When he left the Demon Suppression Division's main building, Xie An had privately asked Chen Tie about He Chunli's matter. The Grand Princess allowed He Chunli's merits and demerits to offset each other, and he was released without guilt.
But it still needed to be recorded in documents, and the case files needed to be archived. It needed to go through a process. It could probably be released tomorrow.
With the Grand Princess coming forward, of course, special matters could be handled specially, but Su Yuqing intended to conceal her whereabouts, so naturally, it had to be done according to the process.
Everything was getting better.
Before long, Yu He walked out of the backyard. Seeing Xie An leisurely drinking tea, she approached and smiled, "Master, you seem to be in a good mood today."
When Xie An saw Yu He, he was very happy. He opened the tea canister, opened a brand new tea bowl, and brewed tea leaves, "Yu He, come and taste the purple bamboo leaves given by the princess."
"I'll brew it, Master, you lie down."
… …
The next morning.
Xie An got up early, dressed neatly, and went out.
The county town was much more prosperous than Shuideng Town. Early in the morning, the shops on both sides of the street had already opened for business, and there was a constant stream of people. Especially some shops selling breakfast were even more popular.
The people who could live in the county town were in good condition. It was common for them to come out early in the morning to eat a cage of buns and drink a bowl of soy milk.
Xie An packed two cages of big meat buns and fried dough sticks. Then he rushed to the gate of the prison at the time when the Demon Suppression Division was signing in.
Xie An did not use his personal power to demand early release. It was good to follow the process.
As the sun rose, a faint sound of footsteps came. Xie An looked back and saw He Chunli, wearing short clothes, slowly walking out of the prison gate.
This was thanks to Chen Tie and the others who had people prepare new clothes for He Chunli to change into early in the morning.
He Chunli walked out of the prison, looked up at the long-lost red sun in the eastern sky, and couldn't help but feel a sourness in his nose, and his eyes were also wet. At that moment, he heard a sound of footsteps coming, followed by a long shadow covering him.
He Chunli slowly raised his head and saw a familiar figure slowly approaching. The man was holding hot buns and fried dough sticks wrapped in mulberry paper in his hand.
The man said, "You have suffered in there. Eat a hot bun to fill your stomach."
He Chunli held the hot buns that were handed over and swallowed hard.
"Eat slowly, there's more."
Hearing this familiar voice, He Chunli suddenly burst into tears. But he didn't say anything, but continued to gobble it up. In a few moments, he stuffed two cages of meat buns and two fried dough sticks into his stomach.
The man said, "Remember in the future, don't be so impulsive when doing things. Even if you decide to do something, you must consider the least risky plan. For example, when you stabbed Li Huwei to death, couldn't you have done it secretly?"
Thump!
He Chunli knelt on the ground with a thud, "Thank you for your great kindness, Master. Disciple will remember Master's teachings."
Xie An sighed softly and helped He Chunli up, "Get up, go home."
Hearing the words "go home", He Chunli could no longer hold back the emotions that had been suppressed for a long time and prostrated himself on the ground and cried loudly.
Xie An knew that He Chunli's emotions needed to be released, so he waited for a moment until He Chunli finished crying and his emotions calmed down before taking He Chunli out of the Demon Suppression Division.
Along the way, the morning sun shone obliquely, warm as jade.
When they arrived at Xie's residence, Yu He had already boiled water and prepared new clothes for He Chunli. This made He Chunli very grateful.
Xie An patted He Chunli on the shoulder, "Go take a bath and change into new clothes. From now on, it will be a new beginning."
"Thank you, Master, thank you, Miss Yu He."
He Chunli cupped his hands and bowed to Xie An and the two of them before turning to take a bath.
Xie An looked at the receding figure and felt very emotional.
Yu He said from the side: "Master, your disciple's temperament has obviously become much more stable after this incident."
Xie An nodded in agreement.
Master and disciple are together, but fate will eventually come to an end.
Now they are only in Qingwu County, but Xie An is very clear that as his strength improves, he will eventually leave this place and go to a larger world outside.
When the time comes, they will part ways and it will be difficult to see each other again in this life.
The future path still needs to be walked by He Chunli himself.
That impulsive personality will not go far.
This time, Xie An helped him, but next time… no one will think of him like this.
Before long, He Chunli had changed into a new robe. Although there were still some scars on his face, they were no longer very conspicuous. He walked up to Xie An and bowed deeply.
His demeanor and behavior were obviously much more mature and stable than before.
Xie An saw it all, "Seeing that you are much more stable, a fall into the pit, a gain in your wit, this is also a good thing. Go see Chunlan if you want to. I will also go to Li Mansion to see Madam Li and Chunlan later. Don't forget to ask for leave from Weisheng Martial Arts Hall. Han Li has been guarding Li Mansion these days, remember to bring some food over."
"Yes, I will go to see Chunlan, and then rush back to cook dinner for Master." He Chunli cupped his hands and left, but when he was halfway there, he remembered something, turned back, and stammered, unable to speak.
Xie An said, "You are already in your twenties, what else is there to be embarrassed about?"
He Chunli gritted his teeth and said, "Disciple… wants… wants…"
He said the word "want" several times, but then stopped.
Xie An shouted, "Speak!"
He Chunli was startled, and suddenly knelt down in front of Xie An, "Disciple wants to marry Chunlan. But Disciple has no family, and wants to ask Master to make the decision for Disciple."
Xie An was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh.
In the Great Qian Dynasty, a teacher was like a father.
If one had no family, the teacher could fill the role of a father.
This was a common occurrence.
Xie An had long regarded these two disciples as half-sons, so he naturally wasn't opposed to the idea of proposing marriage.
Moreover, Xie An was truly happy to see his disciple getting married.
Those who have been fathers can deeply understand how gratifying it is to watch the younger generation establish their own families.
Seeing that Xie An didn't answer, He Chunli thought that Xie An had reservations, and immediately stated, "Master, don't worry. Chunlan and I will be your children from now on. My sons and grandsons will take care of you in your old age and see you to your final rest for generations to come."
Xie An's face was full of smiles.
With his longevity destiny, He Chunli probably wouldn't outlive him.
But he was indeed overjoyed, "Don't think so far ahead. You've also reached the age to start a family. You should go to Wuqiao Town first. I will go to propose marriage later."
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Hearing this, He Chunli was overjoyed, repeatedly kowtowing, and tears involuntarily streamed down his face, "Thank you, Master. I will be your ox and horse in the next life to repay your kindness."
He knew that without his master, he would still be a servant, struggling to make a living. As for getting married and starting a family, he wouldn't even dare to dream of it.
He could never repay his master's kindness in this lifetime.
"Get up. You will have a family of your own from now on, so you don't need to kneel at every turn, and you don't need to say 'be your ox and horse' all the time. Take good care of Chunlan and manage your household well, and that will be the best way to repay me."
Xie An personally bent down to help He Chunli up, and then said to Yu He, "Yu He, go and get two ingots of precious silver."
"Alright!"
Hearing about the great news of proposing marriage, Yu He was in a great mood and ran to the room to take out two ingots of precious silver.
Each large silver ingot weighed fifty taels, heavy and substantial.
Xie An took the silver ingots and handed them to He Chunli, "Take this to buy some clothes and gifts. Also, see what Chunlan likes and buy her some gifts. And Madam Li, especially buy some gifts and tonics for her."
He Chunli took the silver ingots, feeling that the gifts were too heavy, and was speechless for a moment, with tears welling up in his eyes.
Xie An didn't want to be too sentimental, so he patted him on the shoulder, "Back then, when I was bedridden from a stroke, you took care of me diligently. When I was trapped in the Dayin Mountain for four years, you and Han Li raised money and gifts everywhere, running around for help. You even personally went to dig the mountain. What is this little bit of silver? Take it, don't be so coy."
Only then did He Chunli heavily say "Okay," and then turned and left.
Yu He instructed from behind, "You're going to be a groom soon, you must buy a festive outfit and look good."
"Got it."
He Chunli was already far away, but he didn't forget to respond.
Yu He and Xie An stood side by side, watching He Chunli's departing figure, both with smiles on their faces.
Yu He said, "Master, when Chunlan marries in, this mansion will be lively. But… after Xiao He gets married, he can't continue to live in the front row of the side rooms."
Xie An wasn't opposed to the liveliness.
As far as life was concerned, Xie An liked liveliness, but also liked peace and quiet. The best thing was to find tranquility in the midst of noise.
"Let's make do for now. If it doesn't work, let them live in the east wing of the middle courtyard. If that's still not convenient, then we'll change to a bigger mansion. Or they can buy their own mansion."
"There's no silver."
Xie An: "…"
Thinking of this, Xie An took out the remaining four First Level Inner Strength Pills that Tang Zhengyang had given him, handed one to Yu He, "Take this outside and find a martial arts school to sell it. Exchange it for silver, so you can hold a grand wedding for Xiao He, make it festive."
Yu He didn't act coy, accepted the Inner Strength Pill, "Master is really good to his own disciples. But don't worry, Master is now a Fifth Rank Chief, when the wedding comes, there will be so many officials and gentry coming to give gifts, the gift money alone will be more than a thousand taels."
Xie An was stunned, and couldn't help but recall the celebration banquet he held when he first took office as the incense master at the Black Market in Blood Ridge. One celebration banquet alone brought in more than a thousand taels of gift money.
Now that he was a Fifth Rank Chief, holding a wedding for his disciple… the gift money he would receive… what kind of number would that be?
Hiss.
Xie An was a little expectant.
Being an official, there were so many ways to make money.
But thinking of the incense master… Xie An missed his former subordinates.
He didn't know how they were doing now.
"Then Yu He, you go ahead and take care of it, I'll go to the Demon Suppression Division."
…
The Demon Suppression Division was some distance from Xie An's residence, spanning more than half of the county town. By the time he arrived at the Demon Suppression Division, the sun was already high in the sky.
The Demon Suppression Division was already in operation, and the martial arts field was bustling with activity.
Xie An still saw Chen Xi instructing the Demon Suppression Guards to practice martial arts on the martial arts field.
This Immortal Queen seemed to enjoy instructing others in martial arts. However, when Xie An saw this woman again, he no longer felt guilty at all.
As usual, after exchanging greetings, Xie An went to the seventh floor.
Zhao Qing'er, Wei Haoran, and Chen Tie were surrounding the tea table drinking tea. When they saw Xie An coming, they all revealed envious gazes.
Zhao Qing'er said sourly, "Chief Xie is really capable, you snatched away the Eldest Princess as soon as she arrived."
Xie An: "…"
Chen Tie came out to smooth things over, "Zhao Qing'er and the Eldest Princess are both members of the imperial family, and have been close since childhood. This time, knowing that the Eldest Princess was coming, Zhao Qing'er bought a mansion herself, planning to have the Eldest Princess stay there. Unexpectedly…"
After a pause, Chen Tie continued, "Zhao Qing'er speaks frankly, Chief Xie doesn't need to take it to heart, please take a seat."
Xie An took the chief seat, drank tea and chatted for a while, and finally changed the subject, "Vice Chief Chen, the matter of the Giant Whale Gang still needs to be finished."
Chen Tie didn't find it surprising at all, "It should be so. After multiple verifications, the Giant Whale Gang is heinous. It should be uprooted. Last night, when the Eldest Princess just arrived, we discussed it together. Annihilating the Giant Whale Gang is a small merit. Just now, Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran were still fighting to take this credit. I don't know who to send, it's just right that Chief Adult is here to decide."
Zhao Qing'er said straightforwardly, "Chief Xie, you've already snatched away the Eldest Princess. This small merit must be given to me. Wei Haoran is reckless, he can't do it."
"Bullshit!" Wei Haoran, who had been holding his breath for a long time, vented it at this moment, "This small merit must be mine."
Zhao Qing'er didn't give in, "Wei Haoran, you're just a Sixth Rank Deputy Chief, why are you fighting with me?"
"Just because I have a sincere heart for the Eldest Princess, just because I am selfless, wholeheartedly serving the court, wholeheartedly eliminating harm for the people!"
"I'm not wholeheartedly eliminating harm for the people?"
"Who knows."
"Wei Haoran! You want to try this county princess's Great River Sword Technique, right?"
"Try it, then try it."
As they spoke, the two people became red-faced, one drawing a gun, the other brandishing a sword, about to fight.
Chen Tie lowered his head to drink tea speechlessly, Xie An supported his forehead, "How about this, the two of you each take a step back. I will reluctantly take this small merit."
Swish!
Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er, who were arguing, suddenly stopped, turned their heads to look at Xie An, their faces full of disbelief.
They hadn't expected Xie An, a Fifth Rank Chief, to come down to snatch credit.
They wanted to refute, but it wasn't easy to open their mouths.
Chen Tie then spoke loudly, "With Chief Adult personally taking action, it will definitely be foolproof. I think this matter is settled. I will immediately dispatch a hundred elite Demon Suppression Guards to sneak into Shuideng Town, to listen to Chief Adult's orders."
When he said this, Chen Tie breathed a sigh of relief.
Otherwise, Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er would have fought until the end of time.
Wei Haoran: "…"
Zhao Qing'er: "…"
"Sorry to trouble Vice Chief Chen, I'll take my leave first." Xie An didn't give Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er a chance to refute, and directly left first.
These two aristocratic family children were really a headache when they argued.
Slip away, slip away.
As soon as Xie An left, Zhao Qing'er said, "Senior Brother Chen, according to Master Ye, Xie An only went to receive the Third Level Inner Strength Pill a few days ago, and his strength may not have reached the Third Level Inner Strength. Going to destroy the Giant Whale Gang may be dangerous."
Chen Tie said, "Therefore, I trouble you to assist from the side."
The two people reluctantly agreed, still pushing and blaming each other when they went out.
"Wei Haoran, it's all you. If you hadn't been arguing with me all the time, this small merit would have been mine. Now you've made this county princess go and do free labor."
"Didn't you harm me? If you had given up earlier, there wouldn't have been so much trouble."
"Okay, okay, okay, you wait for me. After destroying the Giant Whale Gang, this county princess will come back and destroy you first."
"Oh, so you really can destroy me."
"…"
…
Xie An returned to the Southeast Courtyard, changed into his official robe, put on his token, and took the Demon Suppression Blade. In addition, he packed the Purple Bamboo Leaves, and went to the stable to lead a precious horse, heading straight for the Blood Ridge Market in Shuideng Town.
"I heard a long time ago that the Blood Ridge Black Market has been upgraded to the Blood Ridge Market, and the person in charge of the Blood Ridge Market is a big shot from the Giant Whale Gang, who also has an official position. I don't know how Big Brother Lin and Wang Xiang and the others are doing…"
