Chapter 085: The Guests from Imperial City
After Situ Yun moved in, Su Shuilian"s life of nurturing her unborn baby had become more interesting. It could also be said that her quiet time of nurturing her unborn baby had turned livelier. Although there were only two people, she and Situ Yun, and a dog in the house, he was so enlivening that she had to clutch her fast-growing belly while laughing hard. That scene pleased Lin Si Yao.
Of course, Situ Yun was quiet sometimes. For example, this morning, as the sun hadn"t risen high at noon, he was resting comfortably on a cherry tree branch, occasionally picking some cherries, tossing them upwards, and catching it with his mouth.
Casually throwing some cherries into the fruit tray next to Su Shuilian"s soft couch, he"d say, "They"re fresh and clean. You don"t need to wash them again. Beautiful sister, you don"t need to thank me."
After taking a walk around the South courtyard to help her digestion and also sunbath, Su Shuilian now sat on the couch to rest. Hearing him, she didn"t know whether she should cry or laugh. She lifted her head to look at him. "Don"t you need to go to the new house to check on it?"
Well, he was sent here by Si Shan to supervise the construction, however, except for taking Xiao Chun around the mountain"s foot in the early morning to pick some fresh wild fruits for her breakfast, she didn"t see the boy step out of this house even once.
"In here, I have to listen to big Uncle"s orders," Situ Yun answered dispiritedly. Si Shan and Si Ling. Since he had become Si Shan"s disciple, he had known the tricks between these two: If he didn"t listen to Si Shan, he would receive some slaps, at most, with some words of lecture like, "it"s hard to teach the youngsters" in his ears. But, if he didn"t listen to Si Ling"s order, he wouldn"t need to show his face in front of him anymore.
Are you kidding? Life here"s so unhurried and relaxing. I got the big dog to walk; I got the beautiful sister to admire; and I got the fresh fruits around the mountain to enjoy. And the key point is, I have to stick to Uncle Si Ling to make him spare a room in the new house for me. And then, in the near future, I can construct a house of my own here. Everytime I finish a mission, I can come to rest. So how can I go against Uncle Si Ling"s commands?! So, protecting the beautiful sister is the job I must obliged!
As Su s.h.i.+lian saw the boy not worried at all, she just let him do whatever he wanted. Anyway, A Yao and Tian Dafu were at the new house"s construction site to watch. They didn"t need a teenager who had just celebrated his thirteenth birthday.
Talking about that, the other day, Situ Yan suddenly announced that it was his thirteenth birthday. Then, he occupied the kitchen and cooked himself a big bowl of longevity noodles, whose taste wasn"t less delicious than what Lin Si Yao could cook. That"s how Lin Si Yao discovered his cooking talent even though he had tried every excuse he could use to not get into the kitchen.
With that thought in her head, Su Shuilian leaned on her side on the soft couch and dozed off.
After the third month, her morning sickness had turned better, but she felt that she wanted to sleep more. Everyday, she had to take several naps.
"Ah? She"s sleeping?" As Situ Yun hadn"t heard from her for a while, he turned to check. She had soon drifted away in her sleep.
Jumping off the cherry tree, he went to the main house to take a thin blanket and cover her.
As he was about to jump up onto the cherry tree branch to enjoy the mouth watering cherries, he halted. Situ Yun immediately signaled Xiao Chun to guard Su Shuilian as he leaped to the thick-branched cherry tree, crouching there. From a distance, he observed two luxurious four-horse drawn carriages dozens of meters away from the house. One leading the other, they were approaching.
He frowned, pondering for a while. He jumped off the tree, ordering Xiao Chun to go through the backyard and find Lin Si Yao at the new house. He stayed by Su Shuilian, waiting for someone to knock at their front doors.
If he weren"t wrong, from the crest he saw on the carriages, those two belonged to Prince Jing"s Mansion in the Imperial City where his teacher had asked him to investigate several days ago.
It"s strange. Why did the carriages from Prince Jing"s Mansion in the Imperial City had to come to this rural village? Moreover, as they were moving straight ahead, it seemed this house was their target.
Situ Yun thought for a while then carefully lifted the soft couch, moving it into the main house. Afterward, he immediately returned to the door, crossing his arms, balling his fists. He was ready. His ears turned to listen to the sounds that were coming closer until he heard the horse whining as they halted right outside their gates.
"Are you sure this is it?" The voice of a slightly old sounding man arose inside the carriage.
"Yes, chief," answered the servant outside the carriage respectfully.
Immediately, the curtain of the carriage was lifted. Two servants in their twenties supported an old man around sixty years old to get off the carriage.
In the next moment, a woman around fifty years old stepped out of the s.p.a.cious, luxurious carriage behind. Although she didn"t dress like an upper-cla.s.s woman, she was helped by several maids down. It could be seen that her position and status weren"t low.
The two of them came to the door of the courtyard with the help of their servants. As one of the servants was about to knock the door, Situ Yun opened the door from inside.
Situ Yun crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning against the door. He observed the two elders who looked exhausted after the in-haste journey.
"Who are you looking for?" Situ Yun asked coldly. In this moment, he didn"t look mischievous as when he played with Su Shuilian or Xiao Chun. He looked cold and bold with the unique aura of an a.s.sa.s.sin like Si Shan.
As the doors had sprung open all of a sudden, the servant who was about to knock on the door was startled. He immediately turned around to look at the two elders and found that the two elders were also astounded.
"Little buddy, please tell me if there"s a girl whose maiden name is Liang Si Xu…" asked the old woman after exchanging looks with the old man, her voice polite.
"No…" Situ Yun gazed at them for a while before slowly spitting out his word.
He wanted to close the doors but the two servants by the old man stepped forward to hold the doors.
"Little friend, please wait…" The old man with a staff called Situ Yan to stop him from closing the doors.
"What?" Situ Yun arched his sword-like brows. Although he was just thirteen years old, he had already got the domineering aura of a fighter on his face.
"Little friend, I don"t want to lie. We"re here to find a person. We"ve traveled from Feng Cheng. We"ve crossed several thousand miles from the Imperial City. Could you let us in to rest for a while?" The old woman gave the old man, who was asking the young fellow with a smile, a look to stop him from explaining.
"Sorry, this isn"t an inn…" Situ Yan pouted and then turned around to get into the courtyard. He didn"t mind rejecting the two elders" request. He wasn"t stupid. If he let the two chief managers of Prince Jing"s mansion get into the house, it would be okay if nothing bad happened. But if something happened, Uncle Si Ling wouldn"t show him mercy!
"Little buddy! Little buddy!"
"Little buddy!" As the old woman saw Situ Yun close the gates impolitely, she hurried to call after him like the old man was doing.
However, Situ Yun didn"t bat an eye. From Imperial City? Pst, aren"t you sent from Prince Jing"s mansion? But, why have they come here to find someone? Liang Si Xu? Who is that? Could it be…
"What happened?"
When he got to the door of the main house, he saw Lin Si Yao and Xiao Chun inaudibly fly toward from the backyard.
"Uncle, they said they came from the Imperial City to find a lady called Liang Si Xu. I think they went to the wrong place…" Situ Yun shrugged, briefing the situation. Then, he added, "Their carriages look like they"re from Prince Jing"s mansion."
Lin Si Yao was stiff for a while when he heard that. He frowned with a stooping head. After a moment, he lifted his head and shot Situ Yun a look. "After lunch, you go supervise the construction of the new house."
As they came from Prince Jing"s mansion in the Imperial City, even though they didn"t ask for the name Shuilian, he had to keep an eye on them. He should watch her personally to make sure everything is okay.
"Uncle?" Listening to him, Situ Yun"s shoulders slumped. He bitterly gazed at Lin Si Yao for a long time, but the other didn"t bat an eye on him. Lin Si Yao carried Su Shuilian from the couch and brought her into the bedroom to rest. He left one last order though, "You cook lunch today."
"Uncle!" This time, Situ Yun kicked his leg and exclaimed.
He hated cooking the most. This pure white robe of his, which he had just put on this morning, was about to be stained with soot and smoke.
Think about it, such an elegant and graceful young man like him, how could he stay in the smoky sooty kitchen?! If he had known this earlier, he wouldn"t have let his mood make him cook those longevity noodles on his birthday! Uncle Si Ling had made use of him completely!
Wuwuwu! Teacher, you should come here fast. Your student is being mistreated, he"s about to become the second Lin Si Yao. How could I be an a.s.sa.s.sin later! I will change my occupation. I should just be a farmer"s cook!
"Hmm… A Yao, you"re back? I dozed off again…" When Su Shuilian woke up, she saw Lin Si Yao sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her silently.
"You need to rest more. If you"re up, we should have lunch first…" Lin Si Yao let her lean against the headboard. He waited for her to sip some warm water before pulling her up. Then, they went to the kitchen for lunch.
"Is it something wrong with the new house?" Su Shulian stroked the wrinkle between his eyes when she saw him frowning.
Previously, she was about to give him all the money she had saved to build the house. However, Situ Yun had come to give them the needed money.
It was a stack of paper money, each of them valued at five hundred silvers. A Yao told her that it was his savings that he asked Si Shan to deliver to him.
He took one check to the private bank to exchange it to smaller silvers in different values and asked her to keep the rest. It was six thousand silvers in total. She put them in the bottom of their big chest. Money, sufficient is enough. If it were one year ago, she would be so thrilled for a long time. But now, she thought the small family life was enough for her. Facing a big amount like that, she was calm.
"The house"s okay…" The problem is related to you. Lin Si Yao tried to suppress his worries. Recalling the two stubborn old people waiting at his door, he couldn"t help but feel a headache. He did want to fan his hand and blow them out of Fan Hua Town. But he knew if he did that, the Fan Hua Town wouldn"t live in peace. He couldn"t do anything but trying to press his anger to the bottom of his heart.
However, he knew that those two would continue to wait at his door and Su Shuilian would know about them sooner or later. Although Situ Yun told him that they didn"t come for Su Shuilian, it wouldn"t guarantee what they would do after they saw Su Shuilian, who looked extremely alike to the fourth lady of Prince Jing"s mansion.
"A Yao? You…" Su Shuilian looked at frowning Lin Si Yao as she didn"t get head or tail of it. She wanted to ask but their door was knocked on at that moment.
"d.a.m.nit!" Lin Si Yao gritted his teeth and cursed. After a brush of wind, there was no one standing next to Su Shuilian.