Chapter 21: Returning with Honor (II)

The sea breeze blew on Fan Xian’s face, snapping him out of his contemplation. Sitting in silence on top of this cliff, he went over all the stories he had been told since he was reborn inside his own head, not only because of the thought of Uncle Five Bamboo, but also because this familiar cliff top made him feel something.

A number of years ago, it was on this cliff that Fan Xian, who was still a tiny teenager, made his three great wishes in front of Five Bamboos.

To have many children.

To write many books.

To live a good, good life.

And Uncle Wuzhu summarized it as: Fan Xian needs many women, many gunmen, many servants, so he needs a lot of money, that is, power, so the two of them went to Kyoto.

To this day, Fan Xian’s second life has had many of the opposite sex pass through, although not many stay, just not yet children, but he is not in a hurry, gunmen he did not invite, but the Dream of Red Mansions is also almost written to the end of the break, the temple in front of the copy of the poem, meet the beauty of the copy of the poem, there is no doubt that his own growth into the world’s largest gunmen.

As for money and power, Fan Xian has also gained many, many, many, many, but …… a very, very good life?

He frowned and shook his head, people always don’t know enough.

Recalling and summarizing didn’t take him too much time, after confirming that Uncle Wuzhu wasn’t on top of the cliff, he rolled up his pants leg very crisply and swept down like a bird along that familiar stone path between the cliffs.

The reason why he had returned to Tanyuzhou and came to the cliff instead of rushing to see his grandmother was because Fan Xian had been worried about Five Bamboos. Although in the past six months, he hadn’t shown a trace of anxiety in front of or behind people – of course, not many people knew about the existence of the Five Bamboos – deep down, he was very worried.

One day before he left Kyoto, in front of that small pool in the Supervisory Academy that was frozen like a mirror, Chen Pingping told him the news that Five Bamboos had been injured.

The number of people in this world who could injure Five Bamboo could be counted on one hand. The battle with Bitter Lotus that no one knew about last summer, Uncle Five Bamboo and Bitter Lotus each recuperated from their injuries for several months, and this time …… how long Uncle Five Bamboo will have to recuperate from his injuries again.

Originally, Fan Xian had already gotten used to Uncle Blind’s godly presence, but when he thought about this time when Five Bamboo was strangely injured, his heart still couldn’t stop worrying, and he always felt that things weren’t that simple. The half year’s absence of news made him even more annoyed, so as soon as he returned to Tanyuzhou, he tried to find out where the Five Bamboo was.

But Uncle Wuzhu was not there, and he did not know how his injuries were.

Taking advantage of the twilight, Fan Xian walked peacefully and quietly alone into the city of Tanyuzhou, the place where he had grown up since he was a young boy, breathing in the slightly salty and humid air somewhat greedily, his mood cheered up and not salted up.

Walking through the city gates, past the cloth store, past the wine shop, the sky was a bit cloudy, no one noticed that this young man was the Chinaman Lord that the people of Tantu were waiting for with great anticipation.

Walking along the way until he reached the grocery store, Fan Xian closed his eyes and listened, then turned to the side alley, stepped on the moss imprinted by the long time absence of footsteps, touched the iron key from the dusty door, opened the back door, and flashed in.

The front and back rooms of the grocery store were all dusty, and the goods on the shelves had probably been moved out by the thieves long ago; only the chopping board at the back was still there, and the thin knife marks on it seemed to be telling the story of a young boy who had been slicing carrots and radishes.

Fan Xian laughed and went forward to pick up the chopper next to the board, gesturing twice, this chopper is the five bamboo uncle “offering” to himself, five bamboo uncle cut radish never leave a mark on the chopping board, and he himself later reluctantly did.

The taste of sorghum under the radish is really good.

When Fan Xian arrived at the door of his count’s residence, the sun had not yet set behind the mountains, and the warm light was still reflecting on the inside and outside of the bustling count’s residence.

Today was a big day for the Lord of Qin to return to his hometown to save his family, so the servants in the Earl’s Mansion were all busy, excited, and proud, and everyone’s faces, like the two big red lanterns hanging in front of the Mansion, were red and full of vigor and energy.

The officials of the state city had been invited away politely, and those who walked through the door of the mansion at this time were all the subordinates and housekeepers of the mansion.

Fan Xian stood at the entrance of the mansion with a smile on his face, looking at the familiar faces, and not knowing what he was thinking in his heart, there were a few unfamiliar faces that should have been called into the mansion only in the past few years.

“This young man’s family, don’t stand at the entrance of the mansion.” A steward looked at this young man in white and frowned and said, only his tone was not very vicious, the Earl’s Mansion, under the old ancestor’s care, has always been extremely strict in its doorways, and there were few things that bullied the good and suppressed the good.

Fan Xian bitterly smiled and opened his mouth, but before he had the chance to say anything, he heard a figure in the mansion that was walking through scream.

“Ah! ……”

The person who screamed was a little maid, only to see her face reddened, her eyes glowing as she stared at Fan Xian outside the door, running out with small, broken steps, nearly tripping over the high threshold, bluffing Fan Xian to hurry and hold her up.

The little maid took off Fan Xian’s hand as if she was electrocuted, wringing her hands together and looking at Fan Xian, but she was too excited to speak. The stewards outside the door were curious, and a few old men finally saw Fan Xian’s appearance in the dusky twilight and let out an ah.

The little maid finally woke up, her face flushed red, and screamed shrilly into the courtyard, “Young Master is back!”

“What?”

“Young master has returned! Quickly go inform Old Madam!”

“Young Master!”

As the news spread, the Earl’s Mansion, which was already in an atmosphere of joy, exploded, and a burst of footsteps moved this way, making it seem as though an unknown number of people were coming to welcome Fan Xian home.

At that moment, Fan Xian had already walked into the mansion under the leadership of the little maid, accompanied by the small intentions of all the stewards in the door. Fan Xian looked at the terrified men behind him and laughed and scolded, “I still don’t know what’s going on with the roads? You guys go back.”

The men let out a cry and retreated somewhat unwillingly.

Fan Xian looked at the little maid beside him and realized that she looked familiar, but she couldn’t match her name and couldn’t help but ask with a smile, “What’s your name? Are Xiao Qing and Xiao Ya okay now?”

The little maid was suddenly sad, thinking that the young master had been out for less than two years, how could he have forgotten his own name? Hearing her sisters say that the young master had been a good master who cherished his maids since childhood, and was most gentle and courteous, she couldn’t help but glance at Fan Xian with a grudging glance and said, “Young master, sister Xiaoqing has already gotten married, and sister Xiaoya is still in the mansion …… slave girl, slave girl is Xiaohong.”

“Xiao Hong?” Fan Xian had already been looked at unfavorably by this little girl’s sultry eye waves, at this time hearing the other party’s name clearly, he was even more shocked and nearly fell, he stared at this little girl’s clear face and looked at it, always in disbelief, and couldn’t help but sigh, “It’s only been two years of hard work, how did you grow up to be so big?”

As the saying goes, a girl grows big, when Fan Xian left Tanyuzhou, Xiao Hong was still just a twelve year old tea maid, but now she has already grown into a big girl, her figure has been revealed and her features have opened up, so it’s no wonder that Fan Xian didn’t recognize her initially.

Not waiting for the master and servant to exchange feelings, then heard a piece of noise in the west to meet over, chattering, like countless birds swooped over like.

Fan Xian’s eyes were sharp, and from afar he saw that his tiger guards and Hong Changqing and a few others were actually at the back of the line, which showed how eager the women in front of the line were.

A fragrant wind came, and the maids in the count’s residence stopped not far in front of Fan Xian, looking at him with joyful faces, and then bowed down: “Greetings to the young master!”

The faces of the maids were mostly filled with joy and excitement, with occasional hints of sadness from the two years of separation.

At this time, the stewards and servants of the Earl’s Mansion also rushed over from the back and knelt down to bow to Fan Xian.

For a time, the garden was densely packed with more than twenty people kneeling, and Xiaohong, the maid who stood by Fan Xian’s side not knowing how to handle herself, finally came back to her senses and knelt down as well.

Unexpectedly, Fan Xian tugged her arm, and laughed and scolded at those maids who had been together since childhood, “Get up for me! When I was at home, I was not excited about this, how come I have been gone for two years …… you all dare to disobey me?”

The maids laughed, stood up, and surrounded Fan Xian’s side, there were those who greeted him warmly, those who served him tea and water, those who fanned themselves with fans, and those who took advantage of arranging his clothes to mooch off him in order to satisfy the emptiness of two years of not having been close to the world’s most beautiful and beautiful man, and each of them was all in all, and they were all in all.

In this way, Fan Xian entered the back garden with his arms around him.

Fan Xian looked at the service in the road beside the tiger guards and Hong Changqing with a strange face, glared at him, thinking that the master since childhood is to grow up in the powder pile, or this kind of day to live comfortably, what do you big men look at look at?

Just into the back garden, who knows will hear a sentence.

“What a scandal!”

Fan Xian’s maids who were holding him up laughed and loosened their hands, and Fan Xian, who was reveling in his long-lost relaxation, piled up the most sincere smile on his face and looked up the steps.

Only to see a noble old lady is coldly looking at himself, and Wan’er is full of full smile holding the old lady’s left hand, His Royal Highness the Third Prince is carefully holding the old lady’s right hand, Si Si is holding a big bushel of umbrellas, hiding behind the old lady, seemingly smiling and not smiling, looking at Fan Xian, seemingly telling him …… you’re done for today! .

The old lady who can have this kind of status, of course, can only be the nursemaid of His Majesty the Emperor of Qing, who brought out an emperor, a prince, a minister, and taught a tisan, the old ancestor of Tanyu State, and Fan’s grandmother as well.

Fan Xian looked at the old lady’s face with a portion of calmness amidst her kindness, his heart was thrilled, and with a strange cry, he pounced on her.

Who knew that while he was traveling, the old lady had already shouted in a cold voice: “Stop!”

Fan Xian was greatly shocked and stood dumbfounded, looking at his grandmother, wondering what mistake he had made again.

The old madam slowly surveyed her grandson, who had not returned for two years after a single trip, her gaze gradually moving downward from Fan Xian’s face, confirming that the little fellow had all his limbs and had not broken his face, before she nodded in satisfaction, but when her gaze fell under Fan Xian’s legs, her gaze remained cold.

“Go wash your feet, such a big man, not a bit of good manners.” The old lady sternly reprimanded.

Fan Xian lowered his head and looked at his feet that were covered in sludge, then he remembered that when he climbed the mountain, his shoes had been thrown away long ago, so he couldn’t help but raise his head and said with a bitter, pitiful face, “Grandma ……”

“Wash first.”

As soon as the words fell, those maids already laughed, giving Fan Xian end chairs end chairs, going to hit hot water to hit hot water, serving Fan Xian to wash his feet, another big maid entered the house to fetch the shoes that Fan Xian wore a few years ago, inclined her head and said with a cheeky grin, “Young master, I don’t know if your feet have grown yet.”

Fan Xian bitterly allowed the crowd to clean up, looking at Wan’er beside his grandmother as she revealed a look of forbearance, and couldn’t help but glare. Wan’er stuck out her tongue and laughed adorably, and Wan’er was also curious in her heart, this husband of his own family was a character who was not afraid of anything, how come once he returned to Tanyuzhou, he was afraid of this old madam, but he was afraid of this?

After washing his feet and putting on his shoes, Fan Xian leaned towards the steps with a furtive look.

The old lady took a look at this kid’s expression, and knew that he didn’t have a good idea, and suddenly thought of the crazy behavior that this kid did on the day he left Tanyuzhou, and couldn’t help but be startled, and reprimanded with a calm face, “…… What is this monkey going to do again?”

Monkey? Lin Wan’er and the Third Prince couldn’t help but laugh again from the sidelines.

The back garden prohibited the general male population from entering, so those housekeepers and servants as well as the tiger guards and Hong Changqing were all outside watching the fun, and the onlookers listening to this would just think of Fan Xian climbing around on the wigwam rooftop of the Earl’s Mansion many years ago, while Hong Changqing was trying to get on top of the white-sailed big ship, the Tisch Lord’s jumping up and down, and couldn’t help but nod his head and think that the old madam’s description was really not far off.

Fan Xian playfully approached the steps, hearing his grandmother’s somewhat colorful and aggressive steps.

The old madam panicked and pointed at Fan Xian, “Just stand there, just stand there, don’t come any closer.”

As soon as the words fell, Fan Xian was already jumping over, the body of a ninth grade expert was really not a rare food, only to see him hugging the old madam, then he kissed the old madam’s face fiercely, booing out loud.

There was a joyful laughter inside and outside the garden.

“Grandma, you’ve missed me.” Fan Xian said sincerely, thinking that he had realized that the wrinkles on his grandmother’s face were deeper than two years ago, and that she was getting thinner and thinner, and a faint feeling of sadness somehow welled up in his heart.

He helped his grandmother into the house, let her sit down on the chair, and only then kneeled on the ground, formally met the salute again, and kowtowed three times.

“I heard that you still have a girl in Suzhou?”

After the grandparents and grandchildren spoke affectionately for a while, the old lady suddenly changed her mind, catching Fan Xian off guard.

Fan Xian raised his head in shock, only to see Wan’er looking puzzled, thinking that she didn’t understand why the old lady suddenly talked there, as for Si Si, she was even more innocent, stating that she definitely didn’t say anything to the old lady herself.