Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 179 Leaving Home
At the beginning of the day, Gao Changgan, Lao Hei and others thought it would be another ordinary day.

They slept in as usual, and after getting up, they did various housework in the Gu Mansion under Qin'er's arrangement.

There were servants in the mansion, but Lao Hei suggested that Gu Jingnian should not be allowed to eat and drink for free, and the money for the servants should be saved for him.

Whether the money could be saved or not is another matter. However, the miscellaneous chores in the mansion were not so easy. They made a mess of it at first, and it was only after Qin'er and Luoxia patiently taught them for a month that they gradually got the hang of it.

At that time, Lao Hei even said, "You are worthy of being servants," which offended them severely.

Anyway, everything is going well now.

Wei Yushi went to Yuewei Academy early. Gu Jingnian and Feng Niang also got up early for the first time, and no one knew where they went together.

Pei Nian, on the other hand, stayed at home today.

"Could it be that the shopkeeper and the marquis ran away to avoid Miss Pei?"

"Where did you go?"

"I guess they went outside to kiss. They got so close to each other when they were talking that they almost wanted to kiss each other."

"If the shopkeeper really wants to snatch Master Gu away, we can live here forever."

"Exit."

Gao Changgan imitated Feng Niang's tone and sneered at them, looking quite arrogant.

He was confident because he knew that even if Gu Jingnian did not marry Feng Niang, he could still live in the Marquis' Mansion.

None of them had any greater ambitions, and they were already very satisfied with the peaceful life with plenty of food and clothing.

They spent the whole morning in a daze.

At noon, Pei Nian's friend Yin Wanqing came and said that Pei Nian had won the first place in the graduation examination of Yuewei Academy and would be appointed as an official soon.

The official appointment system of Yong State was different from that of Rui State. There was no imperial examination, but students of Taixue and Yuewei Academy could obtain official positions based on the regular ten-day examinations and graduation examinations.

Gao Changgan didn't understand all this, but he admired Pei Nian very much because he could become an official wherever he went. He was a very capable person, and he couldn't do it anyway.

This has nothing to do with supernatural powers, but rather that he does not have enough understanding of how the world works. Simply put, he just doesn't have the brains for it.

"This is a great event." Lao Hei said subconsciously, "The family has another income."

These people were also afraid of being poor when they followed Feng Niang, so the first thing they thought of was the living expenses.

After saying this, Lao Hei realized that he had said something wrong and quickly tried to make amends.

"I mean, let's cook some delicious dishes tonight to celebrate. I'm a good cook now, you must try my roast meat."

"No need." Pei Nian said, "We still have things to discuss, just eat something simple."

At this time, Lao Hei, Gao Changgan and others had already noticed that the atmosphere was a little more solemn than usual. They thought that Pei Nian was angry because Lao Hei spoke without thinking, so they didn't take it too seriously and went to the kitchen to work without any care.

Over there, Pei Nian and Yin Wanqing were sitting in the flower hall.

Yin Wanqing said, "The teachers originally wanted to give your final exam essay a middle to lower grade."

"Why?" Pei Nian asked, "I am confident that the paper will get a top grade."

"You studied at the academy for the shortest time, but you wrote the best essays. If this gets out, it will make me look like a nobody."

"If that's the case, why did I win in the end?"

"This is the fairness that should be there." Yin Wanqing first said a polite remark, and then said: "Besides, my brother wants to give you an official position and assign you an errand."

Pei Nian asked, "What's the errand?"

She had no special powers and often felt weak in Yong State, but she felt appreciated and appointed, which made her feel a little excited.

But the next moment, Yin Wanqing said, "Didn't Gu Jingnian tell you? My brother wants him to go to Jusai City to persuade his father, but one of his conditions is to grant you an official position."

Pei Nian suddenly felt disappointed. He thought it was all due to his own efforts, but he didn't expect that in the end it was because of Gu Jingnian.

Yin Wanqing saw Pei Nian's eyes and knew what she was thinking. She smiled faintly and said, "You wanted to be an official, and you got it. Does it matter what your brother thinks? If he doesn't appreciate you, it's because he doesn't know your talents."

"Thank you."

Pei Nian smiled, feeling relieved.

Yin Wanqing said, "Generally speaking, it takes at least three months from the final exam to the selection and appointment of officials. But you are a special case, and the court will immediately arrange a sixth-rank official position for you. Don't be dissatisfied yet. I know that you already have this rank in Rui Kingdom, but after all, you are the first female official in Yong Kingdom."

Pei Nian knew that this was a special matter, so he asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"You will go to the southwest on behalf of Gu Jingnian."

"what?"

Pei Nian was quite surprised.

She originally thought that Yong Ting had given her the official position in order to deal with Gu Beiming's rebellion.

"Going to the southwest...what to do?"

"I don't know the details yet, but I know that the southwest has been suffering from a severe drought for a long time, and my brother is going to go there to provide disaster relief. You can accompany him." Pei Nian was even more surprised and asked, "At this time?"

The eastern border was threatening to cause disaster, so the crown prince should have been at the imperial court. But he went to the southwest instead.

Either it was to confuse Gu Beiming; or Emperor Yong took the opportunity to weaken the power of the Eastern Palace; or there were more important things happening in the southwest.

Pei Nian also noticed that Yin Wanqing just said "on behalf of Gu Jingnian", so he asked: "Where will Gu Jingnian go?"

"Didn't he tell you?" Yin Wanqing asked again.

"No." Pei Nian said: "If you want to use me as a hostage to control him, I'm afraid you will be greatly disappointed."

Afterwards, they talked about some details.

Lao Hei cooked in the kitchen. He tried to peek inside the hall several times, but he didn't dare to disturb them, so he scratched his head and turned back.

In the evening, Gu Jingnian and Feng Niang finally came back. Pei Nian and Yin Wanqing were still talking, while Gao Changgan and Yan Er had eaten up all the food.

"I'll go burn it again..."

"No need." Gu Jingnian said, "I have something to tell you."

So, everyone in the family was called to the lobby.

Seeing that Gu Jingnian's expression was more serious than usual, Lao Hei blamed Gao Changgan and Yan Er for not knowing the limits.

"I will be away for a while soon, Uncle Huo, you come with me."

"Yes."

Lao Hei said: "Don't worry, Marquis Chengye, we will take good care of the family."

"Who asked you to stay home?" Feng Niang scolded angrily, and said, "Pack up and get ready to go out with me."

"Huh? Why?"

"There's news about Yan Da, Ah Meng and the others."

The incident happened so suddenly that Lao Hei, Gao Changgan and the others were all very surprised and asked quickly, "Are you coming back?"

The reason why I asked this was because last time Feng Niang only said she was going out for a trip, but she ended up bringing them from Rui State to Yong State, and they went through too many hardships in between.

Feng Niang didn't answer.

Obviously, this trip will most likely not bring back a return visit.

Although Yong State is good, it is not her home after all.

Lao Hei looked at Gao Changgan and Yan Er, and saw reluctance and fear in their eyes.

They were finally able to live a stable and prosperous life, so of course they didn't want to leave. But they also knew that this trip was to find Yan Da and Ah Meng, who had been separated, so they had to leave no matter what.

After a while, Lao Hei said, "The food has been eaten by Gao Changgan and Yan Er. I will go and cook some more."

"No need." Feng Niang said, "Just eat something casually."

This time, Lao Hei was very persistent and said, "The family can still have a few meals together."

No matter what others think, in his heart, everyone has lived together for so long, so they are a family.

The rich and peaceful life was broken.

The next day, Gu Jingnian left with only Huo Bo. After that, Pei Nian was appointed an official and went out on official business, so Wei Yushi also moved to the Zhao Princess's Mansion with the Zhang brothers.

A few days later, Lao Hei, Gao Changgan, Yan Er, Qin Er and Luo Xia followed Feng Niang and left Yongjing.

Before leaving, they cleaned Chengye Marquis Mansion thoroughly, covered all the beds and furniture with cloth to prevent dust, and made preparations to return and live there again.

If they never come back, it is likely that they have already embarked on the journey to find fertile land.

"Let's go."

After taking a last look at the familiar pavilion, Lao Hei closed the door, locked it with a thick iron chain, put the key in his arms, and turned to leave.

After a period of sadness, the few money-losing guys soon became heartless again and had a lot of fun fighting for the sesame cakes in the carriage.

Gao Changgan was disappointed that he failed to grab the sesame cake. He felt that it was better to follow Feng Niang than to follow Gu Jingnian to eat his fill, so he asked Feng Niang, "Master Gu, are you coming again?"

"Well, he went to do something and then joined us."

Feng Niang didn't tell these money-losing guys anything.

This trip was actually a condition of exchange between Gu Jingnian and Yong Ting.

Yingyao might be in Lianzhou, and Fengniang is going to look for her. Yongting cannot interfere, but will help them because Gu Jingnian will help Yongting to appease Gu Beiming.

Once Feng Niang successfully finds Ying Yao, Gu Jingnian will no longer need to stay in Yong State. He will then capture Gu Beiming and take him to Rui State in exchange for Gu Caiwei and her son.

If all goes well, they will then head to the fertile land together.

(End of this chapter)