The Second Ducal Prince did his best to control himself, as befitted the military uniform that he was wearing. But he knew that he had barely kept his emotions in check, when he heard Du Yan"s address of the old man in the green robe. This was his Brother Yan"s father? But why was he there at Ningfei Town? What had his presence to do with the trap that Du Qiangyi had been talking about?And why was he so slim and graceful? He looked nothing like Brother Yan at all! If Li Changhai did not know better, he would have thought that the old fellow was related to Lin Liushui instead, given how refined he looked! Was he really Du Yan"s father? If so, how did he end up with a son who looked like a huge, unruly bull?
But the old man only sighed as he looked at his son, and shook his head when he was done. "You should not have come to Ningfei, Little Yan. That was the reason why I had sent your cousin to bring you that letter. To keep you away. I know how much you hated him. And would be able to see that it is a trap, if he was involved. So that you would stay well away. But you came here anyway."
Du Yan nodded back at the old man"s words. Without any show of emotion. And gestured at the group behind him. "With brothers and friends like these, do I have to worry about the sort of traps that my enemies are fond of playing with? Besides, even if I did escape their machinations this time, how long would I have to keep avoiding them?
"Since it has to end with a fight, I might as well face that now, when I am ready for them."
The salt and pepper haired man gave a rather familiar grunt in response to that, which was enough to tell Li Changhai that he was definitely Du Yan"s father. The son had clearly inherited the older man"s style of dealing with unpleasant news. Even the way that their shoulders shifted as they did that was the same!
Which somehow made the Second Ducal Prince feel a little warmer towards the man in green. It surprised him a little, but not that much, once he thought about it for a while. To be honest, it was nothing worse than what his own father had done. He could not even begin to count how many times he had felt like burying his head in the ground because of the Duke of the Westlands. And to be fair, Du Yan"s father had tried to warn him off.
Too bad his brawny friend was never the sort to run and hide.
"Well, I suppose I should have expected that of you. You were ever the sort who preferred to meet things with your fists, rather than wriggling your way out of it. Why you never bothered to use your brain like I do, I will never understand. Thank goodness your brothers and sisters aren"t like you."
Brothers? Sisters? Li Changhai almost gave himself a twisted neck, the way that his head spun to look at Du Yan. Even Lin Liushui seemed shocked, and almost dropped his fan when he heard it. But the burly fellow only gave his friends a shrug, as though it was of little importance.
"Well, how are they? I have not seen them for close to ten years now, I think. So they should be old enough to be Tested? Did any of them end up with a similar Talent?"
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"For fire and forging? Not at all. Thank goodness. One of you was enough to give me a headache. That was before you got dragged to the ancestral home. And I had to deal with your mother"s wailing back then as well."
Du Yan"s father seemed to be a little proud as he mentioned his selection by the Patriarch, back in the day. Which told Li Changhai that he was only putting on a show, so that his son would not look too bad, if he decided to storm off. Not that Du Yan would do that. The Second Ducal Prince knew his friend well enough to know that he would stick to his decision, whatever the consequences.
In the end, it was Lin Liushui who got impatient, and stepped forward to introduce himself, seeing how Du Yan was unlikely to think of doing that. The big fellow was rather slow to seize such opportunities, and so buy himself a bit of breathing room, Li Changhai had to admit. But that was just his style, and he didn"t see anything wrong with it. Unlike his Brother Liushui.
He dipped into a deep bow, that was a perfectly executed greeting to someone from the older generation. "This one is surnamed Lin, with the given name Liushui, which means Flowing Water. Probably because I can never stand still in one place for long. This one humbly greets Elder, and wishes you long life and good health."
Du Yan"s father grinned when he saw how smooth Lin Liushui had interjected himself into the situation and clasped his hands back at the good-looking man. Before turning back to berate his son again. "Ah! See how suave he is? Why can"t you be more like him?" he chided Brother Yan, before he turned back to the handsome Lin Liushui.
"This one welcomes you, Nephew Lin. I trust you won"t mind if I called you Liushui? My worthless son must have been giving you headaches all this time. So I cannot help but feel sorry about that. Let Du Chenyong offer you a bow in apology for all the trouble his useless son has caused."
Li Changhai"s jaw dropped as soon as he heard it. And watched in silence as the two men, one older and one younger, began to bow to one another all over again. And make all sorts of polite noises that he had come to expect in his father"s court. But he certainly did not think to see it here! And performed by Du Yan"s father no less!
"Well, seeing as to how my useless offspring has already dragged you and your companions all the way here, it would be impolite for me to leave you standing out here in the street. Come, come! Let us head inside this place. I have already a private room prepared inside, where we may freely exchange embarra.s.sing tales about Little Yan here," the old man laughed, as he made a welcoming gesture, that included everyone in the party.
"Honestly, I for one would dearly love to know how he had managed to keep himself out of trouble all these years."
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