Before long.
Li Yaozu and his wife, along with Wei Tu, the lone outside guest, sat on the small stools beside the dining table.
"Wei, brother..."
Li Xingye was the first to greet Wei Tu. Rather than calling him "brother Wei," he addressed him as "brother Wei."
There was not the slightest trace of arrogance on his face.
Humble, composed.
His manners toward a guest were impeccable.
Wei Tu slightly raised his brows, immediately gaining a bit more favor toward Li Xingye. At the same time, he could not help but sigh inwardly—no wonder the county's gentry had swarmed to the Li Residence to seek marriage ties with the Li Family after learning of Li Xingye's County Examination results.
If he treated him like this, then when Li Xingye spoke with those gentry, he must have been equally gentle and courteous, refined in speech.
"I seldom return home and have always been studying at the prefectural school, so I have not seen brother Wei many times. I never expected that brother Wei, living in such humble quarters, would still harbor such great ambition..."
"After hearing Father speak of this remarkable tale, I too came to admire brother Wei."
Smiling, Li Xingye raised his hands, fingers pressed together, and offered Wei Tu a token bow across the table.
"With brother Wei's martial arts, you will surely shine brilliantly in the martial examination during this County Examination. When the time comes... you and I can go to the Prefectural City together and look after each other..."
He spoke sincerely.
Hearing Li Xingye's invitation, Wei Tu's expression stiffened slightly. He did not know what to say and felt somewhat awkward.
Other than Dan Yangong, he had never interacted with any scholars in this world. He truly could not tell whether Li Xingye's enthusiasm was perfectly measured or too much of a good thing.
Traveling to the Prefectural City with Li Xingye would naturally have been good, but he did not want to accept any more of the Li Family's "care."
If his pockets had not been empty this time, and if Xinghua had not been at the Li Residence... he would not have wanted to knock on the Li Residence's door.
"My master's eldest son runs a school in the Prefectural City and has a spacious home..."
"When I left the Shan Family, Brother Yangong already told me to stay with him when I went for the prefectural examination. I will not trouble Brother Xingye any further."
After thinking for a moment, Wei Tu shook his head and politely declined.
The moment his words fell.
The smile on Li Xingye's face stiffened slightly. Only after hearing what Li Yaozu said afterward did it ease again.
Li Yaozu said, "Scholar Dan has lived in the Prefectural City for many years. When brother Wei left the Shan Family, given Scholar Dan's temperament, he would surely have invited brother Wei to stay with him..."
"I was rash."
"I hope brother Wei will not take offense."
Li Xingye did not know whether his father was merely giving him a way to save face or speaking the truth, but he showed no sign at the table that he cared about the matter.
Once the dishes were brought to the table.
No one in the dining room spoke again, strictly observing the teaching: do not speak while eating, do not speak while sleeping.
After finishing dinner in the inner quarters.
Wei Tu did not linger in the inner quarters without the sense to read the room. After cupping his fists in salute, he left under the guidance of the maid Chun Lan.
As he was about to leave the inner quarters, Wei Tu seemed to hear something. His steps paused slightly, and he raised his head to glance at the tall, straight ancient cypress planted deep within the inner quarters.
The courtyard wall hid the cypress's trunk, but its lush branches and leaves pressed over the tiled roof and poked out, swaying faintly beneath the moonlight.
Wei Tu shook his head. Then a relieved, relaxed smile appeared on his face as he stepped through the courtyard gate.
After succeeding in cultivating the Health Cultivation Technique, his ears and eyes had become exceptionally sharp, and his hearing far surpassed that of ordinary people.
Otherwise, when he had returned home to visit his family, he would not have discovered at night the Zheng State soldiers slaughtering the swordsmen of Baiyang County outside the inn.
Wei Tu had heard it—the ancient cypress in the inner quarters being kicked, viciously kicked.
And judging from his guess, the source of that kick was most likely the humble and courteous Li Xingye from moments ago.
"Like father, like son..."
"That truly is no lie."
Wei Tu thought.
Upon arriving at the front residence of the Li Residence.
Wei Tu saw Xinghua standing outside the hall where he had stayed half a year ago, holding up a lantern.
"Wei, brother..."
"You... you're back..."
Upon seeing Wei Tu, Xinghua did not excitedly rush forward to embrace this man she had known since childhood. She lifted her foot, then shrank back again.
Her gaze lowered, seeming to pierce through his purple wool-lined jacket and see Wei Tu's bare upper body.
More than half a year had passed, and Xinghua could tell that Wei Tu's chest muscles had become firmer, larger than when he had left home. His waist had thickened as well. The stitching she had sewn had been taken apart and resewn another round, the stitches now even finer...
Familiar.
Yet unfamiliar.
Especially the lean, fierce aura of a martial man around Wei Tu—it seized the soul.
Ordinary people would be intimidated by three parts upon seeing it and move aside.
Even when speaking with him, they could not help becoming more amiable, choosing humbler words.
Xinghua was certain that she too was afraid of the aura around Wei Tu. After all, she was merely a delicate woman, a maid from the inner quarters who had never seen much of the world.
Wei Tu stopped in the courtyard. He saw Xinghua's half-step backward and the timid look in her eyes when she saw him.
"The meal in the inner quarters was too refined. I'm not full. Are there any flatbreads left in the room?"
"Bring me a few, then prepare bathwater for me. I've been on the road all day."
Wei Tu gave Xinghua orders in the tone one used for a maid.
Hearing this, Xinghua felt a slight disappointment while standing at the door. Yet amid that disappointment, she seemed to feel that at Wei Tu's side, she was no longer useless.
At the very least, she could still serve as a rough maid and attend to her husband, who had hopes of succeeding in the martial examination.
To this.
Xinghua submitted meekly to whatever came.
She was used to it.
She turned and headed through the doorway, going to find the flour cakes that had just been baked in the kitchen a quarter of an hour ago.
However.
Just then.
Wei Tu silently walked up behind her and pinched her butt.
Xinghua's face immediately flushed red. She twisted around to glare at Wei Tu before her, her face full of displeasure.
This time, Wei Tu pinched her much harder than before.
"Wash yourself clean and wait for me in bed. I've held back for too long at the Shan Family."
Wei Tu spoke without the slightest restraint, saying words so embarrassing they made one's ears burn.
"You eat first."
Xinghua stuffed a piping-hot flatbread into Wei Tu's arms, stamped her foot, and left the hall. Obediently, she ran off to bathe in the maids' washroom.
"Perhaps..."
"This is Xinghua's fear of nearing home..."
Watching Xinghua's departing back, Wei Tu shook his head and thought.
He and Xinghua were different, after all. He had received a modern education; the thoughts Xinghua believed she had hidden deeply could not deceive his eyes.
At this moment.
Xinghua feared him.
What she feared was that after he gained success and fame, he would no longer acknowledge her as his wife who had shared his hardships.
Less than half an hour later.
Xinghua entered the hall. She deliberately tucked in her head, burying the neck she had scrubbed red with soap so Wei Tu would not see it.
Her worries had come to nothing.
After Wei Tu shut the door and blew out the candle, he hoisted her over his shoulder and tossed her onto the spread bedding.
Soon after.
The red waves beneath the covers churned.
The bed swayed.
Late in the night, the two roused halfway from exhaustion and held each other tightly, with none of the unfamiliarity from several hours earlier remaining.
"Wei, brother..."
Xinghua opened her eyes, kissed Wei Tu on the forehead, then continued sleeping in contentment.
PS: Dear readers, please do not let the book sit in your libraries. Please follow along as much as possible—following a new book is crucial during its release period.
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