Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 244 The safest place

"Ah, my stove!"

The ugly slave hurriedly stomped out the firewood that had spilled out of the stove with his feet, while looking at his own earthen stove with eyes full of heartache.

There is no separate kitchen in the courtyard where Zhao Qinan lives.

When there was still a princess in the princess's mansion, the meals provided by the kitchen in the mansion to the master and servant were not very good, so the ugly slave would sneak into other courtyards every day to pry bricks, hide them under her skirt and bring them back, and use yellow mud to build a small earthen stove in her own courtyard, so that she could cook for Zhao Qian'an and herself separately.

Life is getting better now. She can go into the kitchen whenever she wants. If she wants to eat something, she just needs to give an order and someone will prepare it for her.

But she still liked to use this small earthen stove to cook for Zhao Qian'an.

This is not just a simple earthen stove, it is full of memories!

But I didn't expect that I was so careless and destroyed it with one kick.

The ugly slave squatted on the ground and looked at the collapsed earthen stove with heartache.

She picked up the broken bricks to see if they could still be used.

Zhao Qi'an exclaimed softly behind her and asked, "Have you become stronger recently?"

The ugly slave rolled his eyes at him and muttered, "Master, it's already this hour and you're still making sarcastic remarks."

Zhao Qi'an looked at her gloomy appearance, thought for a moment and said, "I'll give you a note later. Go to the account office and withdraw 200 taels of silver. You can arrange it however you like."

How many?

Two hundred taels?
What's the point of paying two hundred taels for a small earthen stove? Wouldn't it be better to just find someone to rebuild a small house to use as a kitchen?

When the time comes, I will buy a big iron pot, a set of good knives, a colander, a chopping board... Buy the best!

Even with this, I can still save about a hundred or eighty taels!

The ugly slave threw the broken brick in his hand aside and stood up with a smile on his face: "Hey, Master, please speak more about the key points next time."

Zhao Qi'an said with a straight face: "The point is, go clean up the west wing and give it to Xiao Qi to live in!"

"As ordered!"

The ugly slave left happily, and before leaving, he stuffed a roasted sweet potato into Zhao Wuwen's mouth: "Seventh Miss, eat it, it's so sweet!"

Zhao Wuwen held the charred sweet potatoes in both hands, feeling a little at a loss.

Seeing that Zhao Qi'an didn't react, she carefully peeled off the charred skin of the sweet potato, revealing the yellow sweet potato flesh inside, and took a light bite...

Then Zhao Wuwen's little face wrinkled like a bitter gourd.

The bad…

……

Zhao Qi'an and Chou Nu were the only ones living in his courtyard, so the west wing had been empty and used as a storage room by Chou Nu.

However, Chou Nu was nimble and strong, and he carried the boxes and cabinets without any trouble, and soon put the west wing in order again.

When she went to bring new bedding to Zhao Wuwen, Zhao Qi'an said to Zhao Wuwen, "In the future, you will live here first. If you need anything, just go to Chou Nu. If you can't solve it, go to Luan Nu."

Now Luan Nu is the chief steward of the mansion, in charge of all matters big and small in the mansion, as well as some of the mansion's properties, and is very busy.

On the contrary, the ugly slave eats when she is full and sleeps when she wakes up. She is an idle person and lives in this courtyard. It is most convenient for Zhao Wuwen to find her when he has something to do.

Zhao Wuwen agreed, and then asked timidly: "Foster father, you...what kind of teacher did you find for me?"

Zhao Qi'an smiled and shook his head: "Let's not talk about it for now. I'll tell you when she agrees, so that you won't be disappointed."

She worriedly asked, "Will he need to leave Kyoto like Fifth Brother?"

"No, it's right here in Kyoto."

Zhao Wuwen breathed a sigh of relief, and then said happily: "Then I can visit my third sister, sixth brother, and eighth sister anytime."

Zhao Qi'an also laughed. While the two were chatting, a burning smell came from outside the house.

Zhao Qi'an's nostrils twitched slightly, and his expression changed slightly.

Before he could go out to check, he heard a loud voice outside the house shouting in panic:

"The water is gone! The water is gone!"

……

The fire broke out suddenly, and by the time everyone reacted and put out the fire, the front hall of the main house had been burned down.

Zhao Qi'an looked at the main house with the door burned down, holding his forehead and unable to speak for a long time.

The ugly slave's face was covered in black ash. He came over and asked, "Master, is this still habitable?"

She wasn't too sad, but instead encouraged him, "It's burned like this, and it'll take time to find someone to repair it. Why don't we move to the big house in the front yard?"

Even now, Chou Nu is still thinking about the palace where Yu Zhen used to live. That beautiful big house made of glazed tiles has been something she has been thinking about for a long time.

Zhao Qi'an glanced at the well in the yard and shook his head: "No."

"Ah? Why?"

Chou Nu was immediately disappointed.

Zhao Qi'an watched the people in the mansion cleaning up the debris, and said to the ugly slave: "After the longevity banquet, I will go to Mount Xumi with the national teacher."

The ugly slave was stunned for a moment, then his face became excited again: "Then my people..."

Zhao Qi'an nodded: "I will go see how your people are doing and find the whereabouts of your sister for you."

"But..." He lowered his head, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "The reason why the national teacher took me to Mount Xumi was due to some misunderstandings."

The ugly slave immediately asked: "What misunderstanding?"

Zhao Qi'an shook his head: "It's hard to explain right now, just think that the Imperial Master mistook me for someone else."

"Then aren't you deceiving the Imperial Master?!" The ugly slave was startled and immediately covered his mouth.

She looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to this side, so she lowered her voice and said, "But isn't it said in Kyoto that the Imperial Master can listen to the true voice of the world, and all lies cannot be hidden in front of her? How did you do it?"

Before Zhao Qi'an could explain, she slapped herself lightly: "I understand, this is not what I should listen to, just pretend I didn't ask."

“You can listen to it, actually.”

"I don't want to listen. For matters like this involving important people, the more you know, the more unsafe it will be. I know that!"

"..."

Seeing the ugly slave covering his ears, Zhao Qian was speechless for a moment.

I don't know whether to say that she is timid or smart.

Zhao Qi'an continued, "So once the Imperial Master realizes what's going on, he might attack me."

He pointed to the well in the courtyard and said, "That well is connected to an underground river. If there is any danger, I can just jump into the well and follow the underground river to escape to the Jingyun River outside the city in a quarter of an hour."

The ugly slave suddenly realized.

She had seen Zhao Qi'an jump into the well.

But I didn't expect that this well was actually the master's "escape route"?

No wonder the master was reluctant to move out of the small courtyard even after the princess passed away.

It turns out that his yard is the safest in the entire princess's mansion.

The ugly slave finally understood this, then turned his head to look at the main house which was already half burned, and said in embarrassment: "But this... can people still live here?"

(End of this chapter)