```
At dusk, Shopkeeper Liu sent Liu Mang to escort Yang Ge back home.
All the way, Liu Mang kept looking behind him.
Yang Ge asked with curiosity, "What are you looking at?"
Liu Mang replied, "The night patrol soldiers."
Yang Ge smiled and said, "No need to look anymore. If the night patrol soldiers were to come bothering me, Fang Ke could go back to herding sheep."
Liu Mang clicked his tongue and said, "I figure no night patrol soldiers would dare to meddle with you either, but I still want to see for myself. How else do people say it’s good to be an official in the capital? You’ve just come back and haven’t even shown your face, yet someone’s already taken care of everything for you. What a life… Tsk!"
Yang Ge glanced at him and chuckled, "Envious, huh?"
Liu Mang replied, "If I say I’m not, would you believe me?"
Yang Ge asked, "Earned with your life, still envious?"
After thinking it over, Liu Mang nodded and said, "That’s true..."
Yang Ge, leading Erhei and Huang, walked a distance and then said, "Life may have cliffs, but the road is limitless. You could say any choice is right, and yet any could be wrong. But what matters most is to live in the moment, to be content with what one has. One should not always crave what’s in the pot while eating what’s in the bowl, envying the freedom of the jianghu when in court or coveting the eminence of the temple when in the jianghu... Such a person will find it very hard to live their life well."
Liu Mang glanced at him with a smile and teased, "What? A lesson for your brother?"
Yang Ge laughed, "Hardly. If you really want to mingle in the court, I would surely support you. It’s just that everything has its pros and cons. Those in office may look grand and superior from the front, but behind the scenes, they shiver in fear, act subservient, labor like animals, and take the blame. As long as you’ve thought it through, I have no objections."
Liu Mang scratched the back of his head and said in a low voice, "I wasn’t thinking that far. Just suddenly felt like, all through your life, brother, you seem to have let the years slip by without doing anything worth commendation."
Yang Ge pondered for a moment and responded softly, "Actually, that’s not bad. If everyone in this world could live without worries for food and clothing, spending years in peace, there would be no need for anyone to risk their life doing anything... The word ’hero’ sounds pleasant to the ear, but the struggle and the torment behind it are not something you can explain in a few words."
After a pause, he continued in a calm tone, "Take my recent trip to Dongying, for example... Not counting those indirectly killed by my hand, just the pirates directly slain by my sword number in the tens of thousands. They deserved it, and I don’t feel burdened for killing them, but when will this stench of blood on my hands be washed away?"
He spoke as if it were a passing cloud, but Liu Mang’s footsteps still grew heavy, unable to utter another word for a long time.
Some things just cannot withstand too much contemplation or deep thought...
It was not until the two reached Yang Ge’s home that Liu Mang gently patted Yang Ge on the arm and said, "Relax a bit, it’s all in the past. From now on we’ll live our lives honestly and simply. The court is no good thing anyhow. Let those officials worry about these rotten affairs from now on."
Yang Ge nodded and uttered a simple "Okay."
After bidding farewell to Liu Mang, he pushed open the courtyard gate, leading Erhei and Huang inside.
As soon as he stepped over the threshold, he let Huang go. Huang, dragging its leash, joyfully ran in and out of the courtyard, its ears pinned back like airplane wings.
Yang Ge took off the saddle from Erhei, patted its strong limbs, and told it that they were home...
Erhei, wagging its tail leisurely, walked into the courtyard, looking around and sniffing about as if to memorize this place.
Yang Ge stowed away the saddle, rolled up his sleeves, and surveyed the courtyard slowly, suddenly feeling out of place again.
The rockery in the corner of the pond had been replaced. It used to be a weathered stone he had picked up from the Bian River, but now it was replaced with a prized Taihu Lake stone, completely different in shape.
The grape arbor had been rebuilt too, supervised by some fool who had replaced the original cypress poles with square cuts of sandalwood, completely changing the aroma.
The doors and windows had been changed as well, and the carved flowers, clearly from the hands of masters, did not match the simplicity of this courtyard.
Even the two bamboo chairs under the grape arbor had been replaced with two circle-backed armchairs made of Huanghuali wood...
He sighed softly and said without turning, "The door’s not locked!"
"Creak."
The courtyard door opened, and Fang Ke, hesitating and with a guilty smile, saluted towards Yang Ge’s back, saying, "Sir, you’ve returned."
Yang Ge pointed at the courtyard and looked sideways at him, "Did you oversee this work?"
Fang Ke glanced at it, shaking his head repeatedly, "No, no, it was the work of people sent by the royal family. I said we should keep it as it was, but no one listened to me..."
Yang Ge clenched his fists in silence, tightening until the Lengyue sword jutted three inches from its sheath, ringing faintly. Then, as if he had come back to his senses, he unclenched his fists and with an exhale pressed the Lengyue sword back into the sheath, "We’re home now, behave yourself!"
He took off the Lengyue sword, holding it by the scabbard and walked over to sit under the grape arbor, placing it beside him, "Tell me about that Zhao Miao from the inn, what’s his story?"
Fang Ke was startled and his scalp tingled, his heart pounding as if to the beat of a drum.
He knew he couldn’t hide this matter from his master for long, but he really hadn’t expected that as soon as his master returned home, he would see through Princess Lin’an’s disguise.
With his eyelids lowered, not daring to meet Yang Ge’s gaze, he answered as he steeled himself, "Whom did the gentleman mention? This subordinate didn’t quite catch it at the moment..."
Yang Ge interrupted him, "Go on, make up a good story, when you’re done I’ll send you back to the capital to see the doctor with your master Shen!"
Fang Ke immediately replied without hesitation, "Your honor, Zhao Miao is actually the eldest daughter of the official family, the current Princess Lin’an. The matter was personally supervised by Wei from the Western Factory. Originally, Wei wanted to send Princess Lin’an directly to your home, but your humble subordinate, risking his position as a thousand-household official, argued with Wei several times. Eventually, Wei reluctantly agreed to send Princess Lin’an to the inn, to slowly work out the details!"
```
"The Grand Princess?"
Yang Ge’s expression turned cold, "That dog of an Emperor is really willing to spend a fortune!"
Fang Ke carefully observed with his eyes and listened with his ears, one in and one out, not daring to let out even a big breath.
"I don’t care by what means!"
Yang Ge was so annoyed it was as if lice were crawling all over him, unable to settle down at all, "Get rid of her overnight, and if you make me lay eyes on her tomorrow, prepare a coffin for her because she’ll be dead!"
"This..."
Fang Ke wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and tried to soothe with a low and even-voiced plea, "My lord, please calm down. Now that you know the identity of the Grand Princess, there’s no downside for you anymore. If you keep the Grand Princess here, those in the capital will feel less... wary of you. If you send her away now, the capital will have to rack their brains to deal with you again, making it hard for Shen and uneasy for you to live."
"Moreover, the old shopkeeper is very fond of the Grand Princess. If we don’t expose the Grand Princess’s true identity, it might not be easy to send her away, but if we do expose her identity... imagine how distressed the old shopkeeper will be!"
Even though Yang Ge was very irritated, he had to admit that this guy made a lot of sense.
Keeping Zhao Miao was indeed beneficial in every aspect, with no downsides whatsoever.
In contrast, forcefully sending Zhao Miao back could provoke unforeseeable tricks from the court.
Yang Ge was not afraid to go to war with the court.
But he hated the hassle!
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And he genuinely felt it tiresome.
In fact, he had no wrong opinion of Zhao Miao herself... How could he, when he had only just met her today?
It was solely the constant underhanded schemes from the court that disgusted him!
Such incorrigible behavior!
When Yang Ge calmed down and carefully considered the matter, he suddenly realized that aside from these insidious ploys, the court seemed to really have no other way to deal with him.
And if he truly went all out against the court without restraint, it seemed that only the third party would profit, with neither him nor the court benefiting at all.
Not to mention distant concerns, at the very least, an easy life in Luting County would be out of the question...
Forget it, let’s just get by, it can’t get much worse!
Yang Ge took a deep breath, tiredly waved his hand and said, "Go back. From now on, you’re welcome to eat here, but that’s it. I have severed ties with Shen and his commanders for good today. From now on you walk your bright path, and I’ll walk my single-plank bridge. We’ll have only personal ties, no official business!"
Hearing him say this, Fang Ke also suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, as if shedding dozens of pounds, he felt much more relaxed.
He rolled up his sleeves and walked into the courtyard, smiling, "As long as you’re willing to give me a meal, that’s enough... Let me give you a hand and straighten up the yard!"
He confidently picked up a broom and started sweeping the dust in the courtyard, prattling non-stop, "This house needs to be lived in. Without someone to inhabit it, even the best house can’t be lived in after being empty for just a few years..."
"Is this the precious horse Jiang sent you? Truly majestic! You haven’t got the fodder sorted out yet, have you? You can’t feed such a fine horse with the coarse fodder from your inn. There’s some premium fodder left in the office, I’ll buy some and send it over to you."
"Right, do you know how to feed a horse? A good horse can’t just eat fodder; it needs grains, cooked food, and even eggs. Five meals a day, and you can’t be negligent with any..."
Yang Ge, befuddled by his incessant chatter, replied offhandedly, "Erhei doesn’t eat fodder; it eats meat."
Fang Ke, "Eat meat? Good horse, come over and let Uncle Fang take a look... Wow, those really are meat-eating teeth! But even if it likes meat, you can’t just feed it meat. You still need to primarily provide refined fodder. Eating only meat, it won’t be able to poop..."
Erhei, "Neigh..."
Fang Ke, "What’s it saying?"
Yang Ge, "It’s telling you to mind your own business!"
Fang Ke, "Why so temperamental... Still, Huang is more obedient. Come here, Huang, look what Uncle Fang brought for you today? Meat buns!"
He dashed around the courtyard, inside and out, babbling non-stop.
The agitation stirring in Yang Ge’s heart gradually subsided.
He let out a long, turbid breath, his tense body slowly relaxing, gradually slumping into the armchair,
I’m home...
It wasn’t until Fang Ke approached Yang Ge with a cup of hot tea that he realized he was already leaning back in the armchair, snoring softly.
He carefully placed the hot tea beside Yang Ge’s hand and then slipped into the kitchen, lighting the oil lamp.
Soon after, a "sizzle" sound was heard, and the aroma of food mixed with the smoke from the stove wafted out of the kitchen, filling the entire courtyard and dispelling the long-standing chill in the air.