tallest building

Chapter 67 Establishing an Imperial Order

That day, Wen Mingqian had just finished dealing with chores when Liu'er came in and said, "Madam, the Duke of Feng's family has sent someone over."

"What did you say?" Wen Mingqian was about to drink his tea, but put down his teacup upon hearing this.

"It was Lan Mama from his young mistress's room who came. She said she wanted to ask about our young master's studies," Liu'er said.

"Please come in," Wen Mingqian said.

Sure enough, Liu'er soon brought in Lan Mama from the Duke of Feng's mansion.

"Greetings to Madam. Today, our Madam and Madam's second wife specially sent this servant." Madam Lan said with a smile, "I wonder if Madam has heard of Siqi Academy?"

"I've heard about it. Is it the one that Master Chen and Master Jiang co-founded?" Wen Mingqian asked with a smile.

“Exactly,” Madam Lan nodded. “You sent me here to ask Madam if she would be willing to send your fourth young master somewhere?”

“We’ve been discussing this for the past few days. We were thinking of sending him there, but we don’t know if it will be easy to arrange or if there are any rules,” Wen Mingqian said, passing on the information.

“There are many people who want to go, so it’s not easy to arrange. However, our lady said that if the fourth young master is interested, we will ask our Duke to get two spots from him, so that he can have company with our young master.”

Due to his health condition, Feng Tianzhu didn't study very hard.

Now that he has become close to Gong Chang'an and knows that Gong Chang'an is determined to study, he simply chooses to stay with him.

"That would be good," Wen Mingqian said with a smile. "With your family taking care of us, we feel much more at ease."

"That would be wonderful! I'll tell Madam and Madam when I get back, and they'll be happy too," said Madam Lan. "Our Madam also said she plans to visit the Old Madam and Madam tomorrow. Would that be convenient?"

"It should be nothing serious. Please wait a moment, I'll send Zhang Ma over to inquire." Wen Mingqian instructed Zhang Ma to go and ask around the main house, as he wouldn't be free tomorrow.

Zhang Ma returned shortly after she left: "The old lady was very happy to hear that the Duchess and the young mistress were coming, and she was just worried about not having anyone to talk to!"

"That's good, that's good. I've been here for a while now, it's time for me to go back." Mother Lan was about to take her leave.

"Aunt Lan, please wait a moment. We've come all this way, and we don't have anything special to offer you. Here's a box of our newly made pastries for you to take home and enjoy!" Aunt Zhang said with a smile. "Please don't be offended."

"Oh dear, what you're saying is really bad luck for me," Lan's mother said hurriedly. "I couldn't bear to refuse, so I took it with me."

Zhang Ma not only gave her a box of pastries, but also two strings of cash: "This is our mistress's idea, so you can buy a bowl of tea. Don't think it's too little."

Lan's mother couldn't refuse and had to accept it, and Zhang's mother then saw her onto the car.

The next morning, Madam Feng and Madam Wu indeed arrived at the Gong family's main residence together.

Madam Gong was very pleased and had already ordered people to prepare fruits and snacks.

"You look so radiant, Madam! You seem even more energetic than me!" Madam Feng praised. "You're clearly someone who enjoys a life of luxury. Both of your daughters-in-law are filial and capable. Aren't you enjoying a life of leisure?" "That's for sure! I really don't have any worries these days. They're all managing their own affairs, and I'm too lazy to ask. At this age, you have to learn to play dumb," Madam Gong said with a smile. "I just hope that relatives and friends can come and visit me more often, keep me company, and have some fun. That would make me even happier."

“So we’ve come to the right place,” Mrs. Wu said jokingly. “If the old lady doesn’t mind, we’ll come more often.”

"That's wonderful! Look how much your young master has grown; he's so adorable," said Madam Gong. "I asked them to prepare a small gift for our first meeting. Please don't think it's too meager; it's just a token of my goodwill."

Feng Tianzhu rushed in, hurriedly bowed to everyone, and then dragged Gong Chang'an out to play. He hadn't seen Gong Chang'an for quite some time and had caused quite a scene at home.

His parents finally brought him here today, and he was unwilling to follow the rules in front of his elders, feeling as if he were bound by ropes.

“Madam, you’re too kind,” Madam Feng said hurriedly. “Actually, we’ve come today to discuss the matter of your fourth young master studying with our child.”

"Mingqian told me yesterday that this is a good thing and a very important matter. Thank you for thinking of me." Madam Gong was both happy and surprised that Gong Chang'an and Feng Tianzhu could become sworn brothers. Everyone knew that this child from the Feng family was a real headache, and it wouldn't be surprising to call him a troublemaker.

"It's just that they look out for each other. We should thank your fourth son for being able to keep my husband in line," Madam Feng said sincerely. "With the two of them together, my husband can avoid causing trouble."

If it weren't for Gong Chang'an, they really wouldn't have dared to send Feng Tianzhu to the school alone.

"Chang'an is still a child, and he is inevitably naughty at times. If he offends your young master in any way, please forgive him." Old Madam Gong said with a smile, "Speaking of which, these two children really get along well. I heard that they played together the first time they met."

"It's all thanks to your second wife's excellent upbringing. Chang'an is truly a rare talent." Madam Feng and Madam Wu kept praising Wen Mingqian and his mother.

When Madam Gong heard this, she felt proud and happy.
Meanwhile, Gong Chang'an and Feng Tianbao played together for a while, and then Gong Chang'an said, "My fifth brother is also at home, why don't we go and play with him?"

Feng Tianbao shook his head: "I'm not going. My stepmother said that Song Shi has a bad heart and told me to stay away from her."

Gong Chang'an was determined to get him there, so he lied to him and said, "Let me tell you, there's something extraordinary in Aunt Song's room."

"What is this? Something I've never seen before?" Feng Tianzhu became interested upon hearing this.

"Last time my brother and I were playing there, we saw a little kid who was about a foot tall. He darted through the curtain and went inside. I chased after him and watched him crawl under the bed. But when I got under the bed, there was nothing there." Gong Chang'an started making things up.

But Feng Tianzhu didn't suspect him and quickly asked, "A child who's only a little over a foot tall? How could he run away? Whose child is that?"

“I’m telling you this, but don’t tell the adults,” Gong Chang’an said mysteriously in a low voice, “I read in a book that it might not be a human being.”

"Huh?! What is it if it's not a person?" Feng Tianzhu was both scared and curious.

"I read in a book that there's a kind of tiny person, less than a foot tall, called 'Li Di Huo,' who knows five hundred years into the past and five hundred years into the future. If we could catch him, we'd be set for life," Gong Chang'an casually made up. "It's not anything else, but if we caught him and asked him how to completely cure your illness, wouldn't that be great?"

Feng Tianzhu was deeply moved and hugged Gong Chang'an tightly, saying, "Good brother! That explains why we're so compatible! Come on, let's go find that Emperor Li's goods!"

(End of this chapter)