Chapter 52

"Uncle!" A gust of wind came from behind, followed by a sudden weight pressing down. Xun Yi was so startled that he almost fell into the river.

Steadying himself, he turned his head to look at his back. On Xun Yi's back was a young man, grinning and hugging his neck, all his weight pressing down on Xun Yi.

Seeing the young man, Xun Yi almost died of anger: "Are you trying to scare me to death!" He elbowed the young man hard, who dodged and then laughed, refusing to leave Xun Yi's back: "Uncle, your nephew just arrived, and you don't even welcome me."

"Welcome? I'd rather send you off!" Xun Yi tried to shake the young man off, but the young man clung tightly to his back, making Xun Yi slowly carry him forward.

"It's been months since we last met, Uncle. I finally came, let me stay a bit longer!" The young man hummed a song, his body, which was even more robust than Xun Yi's, pressed down on him.

"It's been months, and you've gained some weight. Your uncle isn't in good health, get down!" Xun Yi glared at the young man, who, seeing that Xun Yi might really be unwell, got off his back.

Walking in front of Xun Yi, he squatted down: "Let me carry you?"

Seeing the young man's broad shoulders, Xun Yi's lips twitched, and he slapped his back hard: "Forget it, walk with me honestly!"

"Sure, sure, sure." The young man walked beside Xun Yi, asking about his health during this period.

A few servants followed behind, keeping a distance from the young man.

"Indeed, the person the young master trusts most is still his uncle who grew up with him." Zhang Song, seeing the interaction between the uncle and nephew, thought to himself.

Speaking of Li Xinghong, he was two months older than Xun Yi. One was a sheep, the other a monkey, but because they grew up together, their relationship was extremely close. In terms of maturity, Li Xinghong, the young uncle, had been the one who raised him since childhood.

Xun Yi: "It's good that you're here. I just received a secret letter from your family. You can take it back later."

Li Xinghong, the heir of Rui County House, had Xun Yi's aunt as his great-grandmother, and Xun Yu's elder sister. The two families had always been on good terms, and Li Xinghong had lived in the Xun family for several years. Currently, Xun Yi's guardianship was still in the hands of his great-aunt.

"Secret letter? What secret letter?" Li Xinghong reached out to search Xun Yi for the letter.

Xun Yi slapped him hard: "We'll talk about it when we get home." There were many people here; could secret letters be casually read?

Seeing the people and the large and small bags they carried, Xun Yi said: "The things you brought also need to be put away at home."

"Wait a moment, Uncle, do you know how to get to Qiu Lan Gambling House? Your nephew has something to check out."

"Qiu Lan Gambling House? Why are you going there?"

"To smash the place!" Li Xinghong lifted his chin: "A few days ago, the people I sent to Qiu Lan Gambling House to smash the place were driven away by a scholar. Today, I, the heir, will personally go to settle the score!"

"Scholar?" Xun Yi vaguely thought of something and asked: "For no reason, why did you send people to Qiu Lan Gambling House? Your uncle still has some influence there. If it's not a big deal, I can help you smooth things over later."

"It's nothing much, just some martial artists poking around. So I sent two experts to take down their sign, but they were stopped by a young man. I heard he's not very old, so he probably doesn't have much skill. I'll teach him a lesson later." Li Xinghong was eager to fight, stretching and preparing for a big battle.

"Two experts? One tall and one short?" Xun Yi stomped his foot and turned his head.

"Right, one big fat guy and one short guy. They owed me a favor, but they didn't get the job done, so I had to come myself—ouch!"

Xun Yi suddenly hit him hard with a wooden sword.

"Teach him a lesson? You want to teach your uncle a lesson?" Another strike followed, this one infused with his magical power, using the Withered Plum Sparse Shadow Sword Intent.

Li Xinghong's face changed slightly, and he twisted his body, a purple dragon appearing in his palm. He grabbed the wooden sword with both hands.

"Phew, phew, why did Uncle suddenly get so angry?" Seeing Xun Yi's dark face, Li Xinghong came forward to massage his shoulders and back, respectfully hanging the sword on Xun Yi's waist: "Uncle, I just went to teach a scholar a lesson. To be honest, it's all for you. Otherwise, with his literary talent, he might compete with you for the top scholar."

"No need, your uncle won't go against himself." Xun Yi rolled his eyes: "Qiu Lan Gambling House and I are old acquaintances. A few days ago, I helped them repel two people who were trying to smash the place. By the way, were those pens at the Wenqu Temple bought by you?"

"Right." Li Xinghong had a rich man's air and said grandly: "Uncle is about to take the imperial examination. To prevent others from using these blessing pens to cause trouble, I've bought all the blessing pens at the Wenqu Temple for this period!"

"Wait, was that person a few days ago your uncle?" Li Xinghong scratched his head: "So, I wasted a favor."

Xun Yi opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Who would have thought that the thing they were investigating was right by his side?

"Then, do you know someone called Wen Xiang Jun?"

"Wen Xiang Jun? Who is he?"

"If you don't know, never mind." Xun Yi thought, so this guy buying the pens and the incident with the evil god pen were just coincidences?

Xun Yi didn't need to go to the government office, and Li Xinghong didn't need to go to Qiu Lan Gambling House. The two of them returned to the Xun family's small building together.

As soon as they entered, Li Lan ran over with a white dog and said with a smile: "Young Master, what would you like to eat today?"

"Golden pig's trotters, crab roe steamed, spicy tendon, duck soup with orchid, clear-cooked crab..." A long list of dishes was recited.

Hearing this familiar voice, Li Lan suddenly looked up: "Your Highness?"

She saw a lazy creature hanging on Xun Yi, like a koala, refusing to leave.

"Hey, Xiao Lan, long time no see!"

"Your Highness actually came back?" Li Lan inwardly groaned. Just as the young lady had left, this prince came?

Moreover, this one was even harder to please than Xun Tan.

"Today, I just got home, and I won't bully you. Eight meat dishes, eight vegetarian dishes, eight candied fruits, and eight pastries. Prepare them later. Ouch—" His stomach was hit hard by Xun Yi's elbow: "Don't bully Li Lan every day. By the time these dishes are ready, it will be late."

Then he said to Li Lan: "Prepare four dishes. Later, help this guy tidy up his room."

The Xun family's small building wasn't big, but Xun Tan and Li Xinghong were frequent visitors, each with their own room.

"No rush, Lan, you can cook slowly. I can stay with Uncle later!"

Li Lan rolled her eyes, used to Li Xinghong's behavior, and went down to prepare the meal.

Xun Yi and Li Xinghong entered the room, and Xun Yi handed the secret letter from Liu Xun to him: "Is this from your family?"

Seeing the familiar fire seal, Li Xinghong opened it in front of Xun Yi. A servant wanted to speak but was stopped by Zhang Song, who shook his head and led him out to prepare tea.

"Steward, why didn't you let me stop him? This is our family's secret letter."

"Xun family's young master is one of the prince's most trusted relatives, and he is also closely aligned with our Rui County House. It's fine for him to see it."

Xun Yi saw Li Xinghong reading the letter and asked: "What? Do I need to step out?"

"No need, nothing much, just that the north is unstable again." Li Xinghong handed him the letter: "It seems there are some people acting in secret."

Xun Yi took it and read it, frowning: "Ancient Zhao's secret treasure?"

"Right, the royal treasure left by the ancient Zhao dynasty. Heh, can anyone really believe it?"

"Ancient Zhao fell due to an alien continent, not because of any moral failure. And because of the surprise attack, the country's strength wasn't drained. Many things from Ancient Zhao weren't inherited by the previous dynasty. It's normal for a few secret treasures to exist, but no one knows how to open them." Xun Yi said: "The Heavenly Ancestor and the High Ancestor Emperor also searched for the secret treasures but found nothing."

"So, let them do their thing." Li Xinghong sealed the letter and ordered it to be sent home that night.

"By the way, what do you plan to do with Liu Xun?"

"He died in the line of duty, so he is a hero." Li Xinghong's expression was focused, very different from his usual carefree demeanor.

"Tomorrow, I will help collect his remains, and our Rui County House will take care of his family."

Li Xinghong had a plan in mind. Seeing Xun Yi's expression, he changed the subject: "By the way, Auntie asked me to bring you something." Li Xinghong, who had followed Xun Yi since childhood, knew his character well. Knowing that he was wary of death, he didn't talk much about the funeral and instead mentioned Ying Xiu.

"Auntie asked me to give this to you." He then presented the osmanthus branch that Ying Xiu had returned.

Seeing the three osmanthus fruits and a magpie on it, Xun Yi said: "Three consecutive top ranks? This girl really thinks highly of me."

The two understood each other. Xun Yi held the pot and dug out a brocade bag from the soil.

Opening it, he saw what Ying Xiu had written, and the date of sending the letter: "That's strange, according to what Ying Xiu said, you should have arrived a few days ago. Why are you only coming to me now?"

"Oh, I spent two days at Guangyao Mountain a few days ago. There's a fun game there. I'll take you there later."

Guangyao Mountain? Xun Yi seemed to have heard of it somewhere, but Li Lan and Dai Ping brought the dishes, interrupting his thoughts.

The two of them sat at the host's seat and slowly talked about what had happened during their separation.

The few servants who came with Li Xinghong were surprised: According to the young master's caution, shouldn't he have tested the food before eating?

So, they prepared to step forward to test it. Li Lan glared at them, holding the dish and coldly said: "If His Highness doesn't want to eat, he can go cool off somewhere else!"

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, Miss Lan, don't be angry. It's a new servant, who doesn't know the rules." Zhang Song hurried over, smiling and leading the servants away, leaving time for Xun Yi and Li Xinghong.

Outside, Zhang Song scolded the servants harshly, one of whom complained: "Steward, in the house, the young master always tests the food. Why is he less cautious outside?"

"Hmph! In the house, there are the second young master and others watching, so the situation is different. But at the Xun family, Xun family's young master is the young master's uncle. Would he harm him?" When Li Xinghong was fourteen, he was almost killed by his stepmother's poison, and it was Xun Yi who personally tested the food to save him. In Li Xinghong's heart, this cousin was not just any relative. Li Xinghong spent several months each year at the Xun family, more than Xun Tan.

Zhang Song said meaningfully: "You came late, so watch more and do less. Remember, at the Xun family, never offend Young Master Yi and Miss Tan."

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