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Whether in terms of rank or status, Marquis Xuanping was above all others. After people recognized him, everyone dared not stay huddled under the shelter from the rain and rushed out with umbrellas in hand.
Everyone competed to hold an umbrella for Marquis Xuanping but he simply glanced at the crowd with impatience. He was already having a hard time seeing the road in the heavy rain, and now this group of people went to block his way!
"Move aside!"
With a sharp shout, Marquis Xuanping released an unintentional burst of murderous intent, causing the crowd to shiver in fear and quickly retreat to both sides!
The shelters were connected to one another, forming a continuous line. Marquis Xuanping didn’t know which one was Xiao Liulang's quarters, but he knew it wasn’t the one this group had rushed out of, so he turned to the side.
"It's the wrong way." Xiao Liulang, who was lying on his back, said weakly.
Marquis Xuanping stopped for a moment, then rushed to the other end again. When he arrived at the third house, Xiao Liulang spoke up, "It’s here."
The shelters here were simple and crude, without even a decent table. The beds were made by piecing together stools and wooden boards. If Grand Preceptor Zhuang were here, he would be distressed by the poor living conditions of his grandson.
Marquis Xuanping had spent ten days or even half a month in trenches during the war. He had even eaten bark and grass roots, slept in cow sheds and squatted in stables. He always believed that his son shouldn’t be pampered and should be thrown into the mud to crawl and play.
At the beginning, he couldn’t bear to see Princess Xinyang raise Xiao Heng so delicately, just like a porcelain doll.
Beautiful was beautiful, but he couldn’t stand up to even one of his fingers. He always feared that the slightest touch would hurt his son.
There were two beds inside the shed, one with a mosquito net and one without.
"Where's your bed?" Marquis Xuanping asked.
Xiao Liulang pointed to the one without the mosquito net.
Marquis Xuanping carried him to the bed, then thought for a moment and called out to an official outside, "Bring a chair over here!"
"Yes, yes!"
An assistant minister from the Ministry of Revenue answered and personally went to the shed that served as the lobby office to get a bamboo chair.
When Marquis Xuanping carried the person into the room, the onlookers already had a vague guess about the identity of the person on his back. When Marquis Xuanping placed him on a chair, their suspicion was confirmed.
It was Xiao Liulang.
It was really Xiao Liulang!
It was strange enough that Marquis Xuanping appeared here on a rainy night, but it was even stranger that he brought back Xiao Liulang on his back.
Moreover, looking at Xiao Liulang, he seemed to be injured.
What happened exactly?
Everyone was confused, and except for the official who brought the chair into the room, no one dared to come in recklessly.
The Minister of Revenue and An Junwang walked over.
"Marquis Xiao..."
Before the Minister of Revenue could finish his greeting, Marquis Xuanping interrupted coldly, "Wooden bucket! Hot water!"
The Minister of Revenue gaped his mouth in astonishment, "Yes, this official will get it right away."
Strictly speaking, the Minister of Revenue wasn’t Marquis Xuanping's subordinate, but Marquis Xuanping was a first-rank military Marquis appointed by the Emperor, with a prominent status and noble title that a third-rank Minister of Revenue could not afford to neglect.
The Minister of Revenue had someone bring a brand new, unused wooden bucket and ordered an inspector to boil some water.
They came here for disaster relief and agricultural work, not for vacation and luxury, so they did not bring servants to attend to them. They usually paid for their own meals as well, which were cooked and delivered by the villagers.
The lower-ranked officials took care of the rest.
While waiting for the hot water, Marquis Xuanping began to remove Xiao Liulang's wet clothes.
Seeing Xiao Liulang looking resistant, Marquis Xuanping turned to An Junwang and the officials standing at the door and said, "He is thin-skinned, all of you go out!"
The crowd did not dare to disobey and left sensibly.
An Junwang asked, "Do you need any help?"
"No." Marquis Xuanping refused without hesitation.
Perhaps everyone here would give face to An Junwang, but Marquis Xuanping wouldn't. It wasn’t that he had any grudges against An Junwang, and it was true that he and Grand Preceptor Zhuang had issues with each other, but he still wasn't petty enough to pick a fight with a younger generation.
He just treated An Junwang the same as everyone else.
However, this kind of treatment was viewed by others as a contempt towards An Junwang.
The crowd who had not gone far perked up their ears to hear what was going on, but An Junwang didn't say anything. He just left silently, making sure to close the door behind him.
"An Junwang, what is the relationship between Lord Xiao and Marquis Xuanping? Why does Marquis Xuanping look so familiar with him?"
On their way back, an official from the Ministry of Revenue asked An Junwang.
"I don't know." An Junwang replied. He wasn’t familiar with the official from the Ministry of Revenue and did not want to discuss the relationship between Xiao Liulang and Marquis Xuanping with him.
However, the assistant minister from the Ministry of Revenue who had just helped Marquis Xuanping get a chair spoke up, "A few months ago, there was a rumor in the capital that the current top scorer in the imperial examination looks remarkably similar to the late Little Marquis of Zhao. For this reason, Marquis Xuanping also went to see..."
He realized halfway through his sentence that he had almost made a slip of the tongue. As an official, he should not speak ill of His Majesty in front of his colleagues and Hanlin Academy officials.
He coughed lightly and changed his words from “he went to see the Emperor" to “he went to see him specifically."
He was referring to the day of the palace examination when Marquis Xuanping had arrived early to show support for Xiao Liulang. This incident had caused a great stir, and many people believed that Xiao Liulang's title of top scorer was obtained through Marquis Xuanping's connections rather than his own abilities.
"Oh, so it's because Lord Xiao looks like Marquis Xuanping's deceased son..." The official from the Ministry of Revenue murmured.
The others gossiped in bewilderment but they understood that Marquis Xuanping had come here to visit Xiao Liulang.
"How coincidental that he didn't get injured earlier or later, but exactly at the moment Marquis Xuanping came? And he even had to be carried all the way back..." Another person whispered.
This statement was implying that Xiao Liulang had deliberately injured himself to gain Marquis Xuanping's sympathy.
"I never thought he was this kind of person."
"How could you not have noticed? Have you forgotten how he gained the support of the villagers? His scheming mind, we can't catch up to it even if we ride a horse at full speed!"
"Shh, lower your voice. Don't let Marquis Xuanping hear us, or we'll be in trouble!"
"Let's disperse!"
An Junwang did not participate in the discussion of the few people. He knew that Xiao Liulang had gone to the mountains to collect medicinal herbs, but he had no idea why he was injured and how he encountered Marquis Xuanping.
He went to Wu Yang’s place as he would probably have to squeeze in with Wu Yang tonight.
Inside the room, Marquis Xuanping quickly took off Xiao Liulang's shirt, but when he went to take off his trousers, Xiao Liulang tightly clenched his belt and refused to let him do so.
Marquis Xuanping frowned and said, "What's the matter?"
"You get out too. I can do it myself." Xiao Liulang replied.
Marquis Xuanping looked him up and down, and then let out a chuckle, "You still have the strength to move after getting injured like this?"
If he had the strength, he wouldn’t have let Marquis Xuanping take off his shirt in the first place. Right now, the refusal in his eyes was much stronger than his grip to his belt.
Marquis Xuanping said, "You are my son. What else haven't I seen of you? When you were young, you ran around naked in the courtyard..." He looked at his trousers, "Let me tell you, not only have I seen it, but I have even flicked it!"
".... !!"
Xiao Liulang wished he could use lightning to strike Marquis Xuanping out of the room.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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