Chapter 273: Chapter 209: Dispelling the Clouds to See the Sky
So she said haltingly, "I hear that for the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, North City is going to be even more lively."
"There are lantern riddles, couplet contests, and... and you can float flower lanterns on the Quchi River to make a wish..."
Chen Yi understood what she was getting at and teased with a smile, "Do you want to go?"
Xiaodie nodded eagerly, then immediately shook her head vigorously, the two buns of her hair wobbling back and forth.
"Young Master, you decide. I’ll do whatever you say."
"Whatever I say? In that case, we’re not going anywhere."
"Ah..."
"Just kidding, haha."
"We’ll wait for the Mistress to return and ask her where she wants to go. Or, if she doesn’t come back, we’ll see if the Eldest Miss wants to go float lanterns."
The disappointment on Xiaodie’s face vanished in a flash, replaced by delight. She said she would go find Juan’er and Cui’er later to ask around.
Chen Yi, for his part, didn’t say anything more.
’Thinking about it, I’ve been here for so long, but I’ve never really had a good look around.’
’Let alone gone out just for fun.’
’Most of the time, I only leave the house on business, so my mood is never that relaxed.’
’If the opportunity is right, I wouldn’t mind going out to have some fun.’
After a bit of idle chat, Chen Yi tossed aside his empty fishing rod and prepared to return to his room to rest.
Just then, Wang Lixing walked in from outside the garden, bowed, and said, "Second Young Master-in-law, there are people at the gate asking to see you."
Chen Yi paused, surprised. "Who is it?"
"Assistant Governor of the Governor’s Office Chen Yunfan, and Advisor Li Huai’gu. They say they have urgent business to discuss with you."
"...The two of them?"
If it were only Li Huai’gu, Chen Yi might have believed it.
But with Chen Yunfan added to the mix, he didn’t believe for a second that those two could have any "urgent business."
"Show them in."
As he spoke, Chen Yi instructed Xiaodie to take Xiao Wuge back to his room for a nap while he himself started boiling water to brew tea.
「Not long after.」
Chen Yunfan and Li Huai’gu arrived together, both dressed in casual clothes.
Spotting Chen Yi’s figure from a distance, Chen Yunfan bowed with a smile on his face.
"This humble junior, Chen Yunfan, greets Mr. Qingzhou."
Li Huai’gu paused, hesitating whether he should follow suit, when he heard Chen Yi, who was standing outside the pavilion, laugh and retort good-naturedly:
"Brother, you didn’t come here just to make things awkward for me, did you?"
Chen Yunfan winked, then straightened up and pulled the dazed Li Huai’gu forward.
"These past couple of days, your great name has spread throughout Shu State. It puts your brother to shame."
"It can’t compare to your title as the number one scholar, Brother."
"Not at all, not at all. This brother of yours got his title by a fluke. Barely scraped by as number one in this year’s exams..."
Watching the familiar way the two "brothers" interacted, how could Li Huai’gu not understand that Chen Yunfan had been joking earlier?
He couldn’t help but relax as well. "If Brother Yunfan became number one by a fluke, then my own third-place title must have been improperly obtained."
Chen Yunfan glanced sideways at him and feigned surprise. "Oh? So Brother Huai’gu previously thought he had genuine talent?"
"...I did not."
Seeing the honest Li Huai’gu rendered speechless by a single sentence, Chen Yi shook his head. "My brother is always joking."
With that, he invited the two to sit down.
As they drank tea, he asked them the purpose of their visit.
"Is the Governor’s Office so idle today that they let you both leave at the same time?"
Chen Yunfan took a sip of his tea and grimaced. "Those two old codgers are naturally not that kind."
"Then you..."
"I snuck out."
Chen Yi couldn’t help but laugh. ’That really is something Chen Yunfan would do,’ he thought.
Then he looked at Li Huai’gu. "Brother Huai’gu?"
Li Huai’gu shook his head. "I just got back to Shu State last night. This morning, I went to the Office to report the situation to Lord Yang and was granted leave to rest."
He couldn’t approve of Chen Yunfan’s cavalier attitude toward the Governor’s Office.
But since the two of them worked in the same Government Office and saw each other all the time, he couldn’t very well say much.
Chen Yi, however, was blunt. "Brother, you should learn from Brother Huai’gu."
Chen Yunfan glanced at Li Huai’gu and said, "It’s too tiring to be like him. I can’t do it."
"Brother Yunfan, you..."
"Am I wrong? You took on a hot potato like the summer grain tax for the Three Towns. Isn’t that exhausting for both body and mind?"
Li Huai’gu was powerless to refute it. "Well, it is a little."
Then his gaze fell on Chen Yi, and he said with a hint of gratitude, "But thanks to Brother Qingzhou’s advice, I managed to escape a disaster."
Chen Yunfan was taken aback. He also looked at Chen Yi and asked, "The fact that he dawdled for over ten days without reaching Iron Wall Town—was that your idea?"
Chen Yi was about to nod, but then it hit him. "Over ten days and he still hadn’t reached Iron Wall Town?"
That speed was indeed beyond his expectations.
After all, that night when he had led a band of the Evil Demonic Dao to Iron Wall Town, they had spurred their horses on and it had only taken them four hours.
For such a short distance, Li Huai’gu had actually taken more than ten days and still hadn’t arrived...
Tsk, tsk. This man was a bit too straightforward.
Facing their strange looks, Li Huai’gu gave a wry smile. "Lord Liu sent a letter every three days."
"One time he said the tax was one-tenth, the next it was two-tenths. Then he said to leave nothing behind, until the most recent letter said it was all waived."
"It was honestly making my head spin, so I simply slowed my journey..."
Hearing this, before Chen Yi could say anything, Chen Yunfan at his side was already cursing, "He’s obviously just bullying an honest man."
"That Liu Hong is so shameless! Even policies that change overnight aren’t as fast as him."
"Brother Yunfan, watch your words."
"What’s there to be afraid of? There are no outsiders here."
Chen Yunfan looked at Chen Yi. "Right, Brother Yi?"
Chen Yi said with a half-smile, "Brother, if you’re so dissatisfied with the Governor’s Office, why don’t you just toss away your Official Seal?"
"I’ve actually had that thought..."
After a few more jokes and laughs, Chen Yunfan couldn’t help but have some thoughts bubble up.
’I originally thought Li Huai’gu was dragging his feet because Mr. Yue Ming gave him a tip. I never expected it was Chen Yi’s idea.’
’But that was more than half a month ago.’
’Tsk, Brother Yi is still Brother Yi, after all.’
’Even without leaving his home, he could deduce from a few clues that the Liu Family would back down.’
’But apparently, he didn’t expect that all my previous reminders were a waste of breath...’
