Chapter 284: Following Kuang Cheng
Kuang Cheng and Ji You had returned home together quite a few times, from Feng Province, from the Northern Borders. Each time, he would alight first, and then Ji You would continue on with the carriage to Tianshu Academy.
Only this time, Ji You waited motionlessly at the door.
"Brother Ji?"
"Get in the carriage."
It was freezing cold outside, with a biting wind, so Kuang Cheng got into the carriage without further ado. "Brother Ji, why are you waiting for me here?"
Ji You reached out and tossed a blanket to him. "It's too cold. You're a scholar with no strength, and walking back alone would probably make you sick. I don't have anything important to do back in the capital, so I waited. Where are you going later?"
"After being away for so long, I want to go back to my courtyard and tidy up first."
"You know you've been away from the capital for so long, so why don't you go see Miss Wei first?"
Kuang Cheng looked up at the sound. "I should see her, but she's a woman and can't leave her residence freely, so most of the time she chooses a suitable time to come find me."
Ji You didn't say much and then followed Kuang Cheng back to his courtyard.
When they left the capital, it was the peak of the snowfall. The courtyard was now covered in deep snow, enough to reach one's knees with a single step.
So Kuang Cheng borrowed an iron shovel from the next courtyard and began shoveling snow, glancing at Ji You from time to time.
Li You was lighting a fire in his main hall, then put a kettle of water on to boil. Next, he started rummaging through his reddish-brown cabinet for tea leaves, seemingly with no intention of leaving.
After much thought, Kuang Cheng took out his money pouch from his 懷裡. "Brother Ji, my monthly salary hasn't been issued yet, but I still have some savings—"
Ji You's eyes lit up when he saw the silver, and he reached out to take it. "You truly are a good brother."
"Last time, Lord Qiu from next door also gave me a piece of cured meat. Do you want to take it back with you?"
"Who said I was going back?"
Kuang Cheng was stunned for a moment. "Brother Ji, you're not going back after taking the money?"
Ji You tucked the silver into his chest and put the tea leaves into the teacup. "Cao Instructor is in seclusion, and Senior Sister Wen and the others are also in seclusion. Staying here, at least I'll have someone to talk to."
"So that's how it is."
"Does Miss Rui'er know you're back? How about I write a letter for you to inform her?"
Ji You picked up the paper and brush Kuang Cheng commonly used from the table and waved them at him twice.
Kuang Cheng stopped shoveling at the sight. "The gate guards have people from the Wei Residence. Before, I never needed to send a letter when I returned."
"You're so straightforward, you don't even know that a Young Miss wants to know you're back, but also wants to receive a letter from you."
"Is that so?"
Ji You couldn't help but shake his head, thinking to himself that this student was beyond teaching. Then he ground the ink and filled the brush, and his strokes fell.
After a flourish of literary talent, he held up the letter paper, and after the ink dried, handed it to Kuang Cheng.
Kuang Cheng took the letter and glanced at it, seeing phrases like 'sleepless spring nights' and 'thoughts burning like a fierce fire,' and his face flushed.
And then sentences like 'missing your beauty, missing your smile, missing your white socks' made Kuang Shusheng exclaim, 'See no evil!'
"How is it?"
"If this letter were sent out, I'm afraid I'd be arrested by the Wei Residence and drowned."
Ji You's mouth twitched, thinking to himself, if he couldn't even handle words, how would he handle the real thing later?
Just then, a knock suddenly came from outside the door. A young servant pushed the door open, then handed over a letter. The letter carried a faint scent of perfume.
After reading it carefully, Kuang Cheng's gaze suddenly became serious. "Brother Ji, the Immortal Supervisor has something for me, I need to go there immediately." Ji You had just finished brewing the tea and looked up at him. "You just went there, and now they're calling you again. What's so urgent?"
"Uh, just a small matter, not worth Brother Ji's concern. Brother Ji can just wait for me in the courtyard. I'll buy some wine and dishes on my way back, and we can get drunk together."
"Leaving now?"
"It's urgent, I'm afraid it can't wait."
Ji You looked at him for a long time, then got up from the main hall. "Then I'll go back first too, tidy up my courtyard, and come find you at Shenshi."
Kuang Cheng saw him to the door. "Then I'll try to be back before Shenshi."
"It's cold and windy, go back."
Ji You waved goodbye to him, walked a few steps towards the east, then suddenly stopped, and then lightly leaped up, landing on the roof of the house opposite.
Kuang Cheng had already half-closed the courtyard gate and continued clearing the snow in the courtyard. After clearing a path, he entered the house.
When he came out again, Kuang Cheng had changed into a scholar's robe embroidered with silver threads, and then walked out of the courtyard.
"This scholar, he's quite a closet pervert."
Ji You muttered, then quietly got up and followed, only to see Kuang Cheng turn left and right until he arrived at a separate courtyard.
This courtyard was adjacent to the Wei Residence, a detached property of the Wei Sect, and was also covered in snow. The copper bells under the eaves were frozen with ice crystals,
silent in the wind.
Ji You stopped at the street, and saw Kuang Cheng push open the vermilion lacquered gate carved with intertwining branches, and step inside.
So he concealed his aura, relying purely on the strength of his Physical Body, he lifted his Qi and lightly leaped, landing on the hip-and-gable roof of the neighboring courtyard.
Looking down, there was a pond in the courtyard, frozen like black jade, and next to it was a tea pavilion with a hanging crimson gauze palace lantern. Inside the pavilion, a brazier's iron walls were glowing red.
Beside the brazier were four women: one with a serene face, slender waist, and graceful curves, who was none other than Miss Wei Rui of the Wei Residence. Upon seeing Kuang Cheng enter the courtyard, she couldn't help but stand up.
The two women who were already standing held their swords, and upon seeing Kuang Cheng arrive, they cupped their hands slightly in greeting.
The most striking was the last woman. She wore a fiery red winter robe, making her skin appear as white as snow. Her exquisite face seemed devoid of emotion. She nodded slightly after Kuang Cheng bowed to her.
Then Kuang Cheng came to the right side of the pavilion and sat down next to Wei Rui.
"How is the disaster in Qingyun Five Provinces?"
"It has stabilized. This is all thanks to Brother Ji's decisive action, stopping the transportation of demon stones and ordering the relief grain to be transported."
Wei Rui blinked at this. "What about the disaster victims?"
Kuang Cheng nodded. "Brother Ji searched the mountains with his Divine Thought. Most of those who could be saved have been saved."
Upon hearing this, the previously unperturbed Fairy suddenly narrowed her eyes, a hint of pride showing in her beautiful gaze, and a corner of her floor-length winter robe suddenly began to sway gently.
Seeing this, Ji You couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.
He had suspected from the beginning that borrowing the courtyard of a Southern family and contacting the Dan Sect for medicine couldn't have been Wei Rui's doing.
Now he saw that it was indeed the case.
The tsundere had come to Shengjing, and all those things were done under Wei Rui's name.
He had initially thought Kuang Cheng was also unaware of the truth, but when he saw Kuang Cheng receive a letter from Wei Rui yet lie that the Immortal Supervisor had summoned him, he knew that Kuang Buqi was also a double-crosser, completely ruining his good name.
That's why he played along, pretending to go back and tidy up his courtyard, and followed him all the way here.
Just then, three carriages drove past the gate of the detached courtyard, and the sound of their wheels entered the courtyard.
Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu glanced outside the door, then cupped their hands. "Master Jian, we will guard outside. You continue to listen."
Yan Shuyi glared over with a stern face. "I'm just casually listening to the story of my little sister's lover's friend."
Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu silently walked towards the courtyard gate, thinking to themselves, 'my little sister's lover's friend,' that's quite a distant connection.
The two of them pulled open a door each from the inside, then came outside, and turned around to close the doors.
However, just as they closed the two doors, they turned around and saw a person standing in the snow across the long street, staring coldly at them, and instantly held their breath.
Oh no, the Young Master-in-law caught us.
Ji You said nothing, only glanced towards the courtyard, then stepped into the alley.
Seeing this, Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu exchanged glances, then lowered their heads and obediently followed.
"How long have you been here?"
"Replying to Young Master, we arrived before Prince Chong's Mansion's Immortal Appreciation Banquet even began—"
Ji You was startled. "I hadn't left then, why didn't I see you?"
Ding Yao glanced at Zhuo Wanqiu. "Master Jian said she came to stay with Young Miss Rui'er for the winter, and didn't want to see unrelated people. But what Master Jian said must be false. She's been strolling towards the Nishan Sacred Path a few days after arriving, and even saw Young Master a few times."
"Why didn't I see her?"
"Master Jian has a spirit mirror protecting her. If she doesn't want Young Master to see her, Young Master naturally won't see her."
Yan Shuyi had indeed arrived before Ji You left Shengjing, claiming to Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu that she was coming to stay with Wei Rui for the winter.
But in reality, both of them knew very well who Master Jian had truly come to stay with for the winter.
Later, after the news of the snow disaster came, Ji You left the capital to help with the disaster, and the matter spread widely. Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu originally thought their Master Jian would also go, but to their surprise, she wrote several letters overnight, and then, under Ding Yao's name, summoned several Lingjian Mountain Disciples who were traveling in Shengjing, and sent the letters to some Sect in the south belonging to Xuanjian Peak.
Not long after, countless keys were sent to Shengjing and then forwarded to Kuang Cheng.
Then she wrote to the Dan Sect, and after doing everything, she stayed in that detached courtyard, quietly listening to the news Wei Rui heard from the Immortal Supervisor.
After hearing this, Ji You couldn't help but imagine a cold and aloof Fairy, showing no joy or anger, sitting in the wind and snow.
He had known Yan Shuyi for a long time and often saw her feign indifference, but she didn't quite pull it off. However, that demeanor was only for him.
It wasn't until he heard Ding Yao describe her actions after the snow disaster that he could feel Yan Shuyi's calm and meticulousness as the Sect Master of an immortal sect.
After listening, Ji You looked at Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu. "So what's going on today?"
Zhuo Wanqiu spoke up. "Young Miss Rui'er heard the news of Young Master's return from the city guard, and Master Jian's little face was stern all morning. When Young Miss Rui'er wrote the letter, she deliberately added instructions not to let you know."
"Then why did she secretly call Kuang Cheng here?"
"Master Jian wanted to hear about your disaster relief efforts, but she didn't want Young Master to come, so she had Kuang Cheng tell it."
As her words fell, the three looked at each other in silence.
She came for him, but she was hiding. Master Jian was indeed still afraid.
