Perhaps because he lacked experience in formal relationships, Ning Yi's interactions with Yun Zhu were either relatively serious and gentlemanly, or he did amusingly childish things that he found interesting. Searching: \(、End、Book、God、Station、) Free to read high-quality literature. That night, his provocation of the old man was purely a spur-of-the-moment prank, and Yun Zhu's temperament wouldn't allow her to say much about it. But in modern terms, whether good or bad, mature or reckless, it created a memory.

That evening, after returning to Wenhui House, Ning Yi spoke with Su Wenyu. They hadn't been particularly close before regarding personal matters, and Su Wenyu was somewhat hesitant, and after all, he'd failed at wooing the girl, so he was embarrassed to talk about it. Ning Yi spoke circuitously for a while before he finally admitted that he had indeed confessed to Yuan Jin'er.

Su Wenyu had seen Yuan Jin'er not only on the journey north with the fleet but also before, when the Su family had faced trouble and Yun Zhu had been injured. Later, he had seen Jin'er from a distance a couple of times. At that time, he only thought she was very beautiful, and he learned about her identity from some of the discussions within the family. She had once been the head courtesan of Jin Feng House, but later she had kept herself clean, redeemed herself, and lived with Nie Yunzhu to run a shop, etc., etc. These impressions combined, and during the journey north, Yuan Jin'er had once brought him tea and said a few words to him, and Su Wenyu had fallen for her.

"...Wait," Ning Yi paused. "You...had only said a few words before?"

"Yes, actually...only a few. But I think...uh, I think..." In the courtyard of Wenhui House, Xiao Chan brought tea to the two men sitting in the pavilion. Su Wenyu blushed slightly and hesitantly described the process. "At the time...it was during the ambush against those people from Liangshan. Second Brother-in-Law, you asked me to follow along. Later, I rushed back to give you the warning, ran a long way, and even fell. When I got here, I met...Miss Yuan and Miss Nie. I asked them where you were, and then Miss Yuan brought me tea and let me rest for a while. She...she even gave me a handkerchief..."

Su Wenyu lowered his head and shyly pointed to his forehead: "Here...I had a scratch..."

"Uh..." Ning Yi rubbed his ear, not quite knowing what to say, and then spread his hands. "Uh, well, that...that..." But thinking about it, the matter was simple. In fact, there wasn't much free love in those days. Most men and women got married after seeing each other once or twice. In most romance novels, men and women fell in love at first sight. Actually, that wasn't a literary technique but rather because there weren't any dates or opportunities for interaction back then. Trying to ask a girl out was simply acting like a hooligan. The fact that Su Wenyu and Yuan Jin'er had shared the gesture of tea and a handkerchief was enough to satisfy the conditions for a common heartbeat.

As for the relationship between Ning Yi and Yun Zhu, that was a special case, like a demure girl selling vegetables at the market, still needing to say a few words to the vendors next to her, and becoming familiar as they talked. Ning Yi was taking things too much for granted. An average man probably wouldn't proactively run over and kill a chicken for a woman...

"So, in that case, what did Miss Yuan...say in response to you?" One topic was difficult to discuss, so he had to switch to another.

Unexpectedly, Su Wenyu didn't seem so dejected about this matter: "Actually, Second Brother-in-Law, I don't think Miss Yuan...really dislikes me."

Yuan Jin'er was probably good at considering other people's feelings. Ning Yi smiled, poured tea, and then patted him on the shoulder. "Of course she wouldn't dislike you. What did she say?" He picked up his tea and drank.

"She said...I'm a good person..."

"Cough...cough, cough..."

The light wasn't bright. Ning Yi's body shook, and he tried hard to swallow the tea he was about to cough out. He looked at Su Wenyu, who seemed somewhat pleased with himself. "Right, Second Brother-in-Law?"

"Hmm...cough, you're right, I think she might still like you..." Ning Yi reached out again and patted his knee to comfort him. After a long pause, he organized his words. "Actually, things can't happen so quickly. You...have only known each other for so long. Maybe there's still a chance. You have to give her some time to get to know you. And you have to pursue girls..."

"Pursue?"

"Woo her, buy her things she likes, help her carry things when she goes to the market, show her some kindness, that's about it..."

"That wouldn't be good..." Su Wenyu said in a low voice, "She's already rejected me. If I'm too presumptuous...she'll hate me, right?"

Ning Yi glared at him: "You've been to brothels, haven't you? You have to pester girls..."

"How can a virtuous woman be treated like that?"

"Okay, you win." After all, this was the era. Men in this era were more open to courtesans than people of later generations could imagine, but love and marriage were still subtle and conservative. Su Wenyu's concern was justified. Since his formal proposal to marry her had been rejected, persisting would probably make her hate him. Then the matter could be big or small, related to reputation and character.

Ning Yi nodded and sighed. "Then let's do this. These few days, you should mainly focus on taking care of business. Also, when you need to go out to look at houses or buy things, I'll call you, and then it'll depend on you. Don't overdo it, take it slow, I'll ask her for you. If she really likes you, I can help you propose, but it must be as the first wife. If she really doesn't like you, don't think too much about it, it just wasn't meant to be. A true man has no shortage of wives... That's all I can do to help you."

"Okay, of course. Thank you, Second Brother-in-Law." Su Wenyu nodded with a cheerful smile.

The matter was settled, and there was nothing more to say that night. The next morning, at the crowing of the rooster, Lu Junyi set up his stance in the courtyard to practice his boxing. Soon after, Ning Yi also came out yawning and washed his face with well water -- Xiao Chan had been tired after organizing things last night, and he'd bothered her quite a bit, so he didn't let her get up -- after finishing, he started doing calisthenics in front of Lu Junyi.

The morning passed without much happening. Ning Yi asked the shopkeeper who had come with him to inquire about information on properties for sale, and then roughly prepared the gifts he would take to the Qin residence in the afternoon. After lunch, the group set out for the Right Chancellor's residence. There was no rain today, the sunlight was dazzling, the cicadas in the city buzzed, and the weather was quite hot.

The visit to the Qin residence was a normal, procedural thing. They delivered the gifts, Lu Junyi was arranged to wait in the side hall until the Right Chancellor was available, and Xiao Chan, Yun Zhu, and Jin'er were taken to the backyard to be entertained by Madam Qin, Yun Niang, and others. In fact, he could have only brought Yun Zhu, but since Ning Yi was going to Shandong later, Xiao Chan and the others would still be staying in the capital for a long time, so they came to familiarize themselves, since Xiao Chan was now his concubine and considered family.

Ning Yi was taken to the main hall for tea, and Wen Ren'er was already waiting there. Then he introduced him to several of Qin Siyuan's current advisors. After a few brief conversations, the first thing they dealt with was meeting Lu Junyi. After all, he was a defector, and they had to give face to someone with ability.

This was probably the highest-ranking official Lu Junyi had ever met. He visibly took a breath when he was invited into the living room, then cupped his hands and knelt. This was because he was still considered a criminal. Qin Siyuan quickly came over to help him up, but he insisted on kneeling down. Although this era didn't have the same level of servility as the Qing Dynasty, it wasn't shameful for a wealthy man with a criminal record to bow to the current prime minister, especially since he usually considered himself a martial artist and had long wanted to join the army and serve the country. It was merely respect.

After getting up, Ning Yi once again told Qin Siyuan about Lu Junyi's situation, this time using only complimentary words, including his martial prowess, being framed by Liangshan, abandoning darkness for light, and so on. In addition, there was the matter of restoring his family property after his exoneration. Of course, these things couldn't be done yet.

"In that case, let Strongman Lu stay in Qin's residence for the time being. When the matter of Liangshan has settled, I will arrange for someone to accompany the strongman to Daming Prefecture and arrange for him to serve in the army thereafter. How about that?"

Qin Siyuan asked and made a temporary decision. Lu Junyi naturally agreed. The Prime Minister's residence was quite large, but arranging for the newly surrendered Lu Junyi to stay in his own home was a sign of trust. And they would naturally test his abilities later, which was to be expected. After Lu Junyi's matter was settled, Qin Siyuan had a middle-aged man named Ji Kun entertain and arrange for him to find a place to stay first. Ning Yi followed Qin Siyuan to the study, where they finally discussed the real business of Liangshan, including the resources available and the personnel of the Secret Intelligence Division in the Shandong area.

"...Currently, the one in charge of monitoring in the eastern and western regions of Shandong for the Secret Intelligence Division is the grandson of a friend of mine from many years ago, named Wang Shanyue..." Kang Xian had already mentioned this name to him. Then Qin Siyuan briefly mentioned the Wang family's history. The great Confucian scholar Wang Qisong had been killed for resisting the Liao people, skinned and his body displayed in front of the army. Only his widow and children were left. The only male was this grandson.

"Now, the Wang family mainly lives in Jusong Manor outside the capital. The name was chosen by Duke Wang when he was alive. Although it is now a family of women and children, some of the women practice martial arts and can be considered the martial arts experts that Liheng spoke of. They have taken in a few men, although none of them are outstanding. But with everyone's care, they have managed to support the family. That child, Shanyue... has been under a lot of pressure since he was young, and his temperament is now somewhat extreme and eccentric. He has organized a group of bandits near Liangshan, known as the 'Wolf Bandits' to the outside world. You will know when you see him. This is his portrait..."

As Qin Siyuan spoke, he pulled out a scroll. Ning Yi opened it and looked at it. The brushstrokes weren't old, and a relatively realistic technique was used. Ning Yi looked at it and frowned. "He looks a bit..."

"Delicate?" Qin Siyuan laughed. "Actually, in person, he is a true, elegant young gentleman. That child has had feminine features since he was young, but after Duke Wang's death, he became the only male in the family. The future of all the old, weak, women, and children in the family rested on his shoulders alone. Later...his temperament became somewhat perverse..."

Ning Yi nodded, indicating his understanding: "Are there any specific things I should pay attention to?"

"It's hard to say now. But don't pay too much attention. Just be your true self. Liheng, your personality, and the way you do things are clean and efficient. He probably won't dislike you." Qin Siyuan's expression became much more complicated, and he shook his head with a wry smile. "It's not the kind of perversity that requires special attention. He doesn't have any taboos, and he's very enthusiastic towards his own people. I'll write a letter for you to take to him, and he'll believe you. Just...be prepared not to be scared by him..."

Ning Yi looked at the old man's meaningful smile, and suddenly the corner of his eye twitched... That guy looks like a woman. Is Old Qin implying that he's gay? (To be continued. Vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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