Fame and Cotton Jade Crisps

"Madam also asked me to remind you, Young Master, to please be sure to attend. This is a rare opportunity."

Xue Jian said in a respectful, gentle voice, "If you do not go, Young Master, Madam said she will confine you for three months, and will also remove all your painting paper, poetry books, and guqin, and forbid you from entering the kitchen again."

As she said this, waves of strange feeling also rose in her heart. To have hobbies and interests spanning such a wide range, this young master truly was a talent.

And such a precious opportunity—if it were thrown outside, people would scramble for it before it was too late. Yet here, she had to painstakingly persuade this young master. Speaking of it, it was simply unbelievable...

"Isn't that punishment a little too heavy?"

Li Hao was somewhat speechless, and said, "Is this an instruction, or a threat?"

Xue Jian raised her head, her lovely face full of innocence as she blinked.

"Fine, fine, I understand." Li Hao sighed.

Xue Jian pursed her lips in a smile. This young master was absolutely an amusing person. She gave a graceful bow, obediently bid Fifth Master farewell, and then respectfully took her leave from Li Hao.

"You should listen to that girl Sword Lan and make the trip."

After Xue Jian left, Li Qingzheng said faintly.

"Is it for that ultimate art in Black White Hall?" Li Hao asked.

One of Qingzhou City's Three Holy Lands, Black White Hall could be placed alongside Listening Rain Pavilion. Although Li Hao had heard Second Master say that the two were not on the same level, Black White Hall still had something to it, such as that ultimate art that served as the hall's treasure.

"That's right. That ultimate art is enough to be listed among the seventh floor."

Li Qingzheng said faintly, "And Tan Palace Academy's teaching standards are not bad either. It is time you went and reined in your temperament."

"So that's the real goal..." Li Hao curled his lip.

Before long, the maid Qingzhi came skipping and jogging back.

Seeing her empty-handed, Li Hao asked, "Where are the crisps?"

"I couldn't buy any."

Qingzhi first gave Li Qingzheng a proper, respectful salute, then said to Li Hao, "I asked Granny Wang next door. Uncle Liu went to set up at the market by Tan Palace Academy. I heard there are a lot of people there, geniuses from all Nineteen Provinces have come, and business is booming. Aside from Uncle Liu, quite a few other peddlers on the nearby streets have also gone over there to set up stalls."

"Hiss..." Li Hao drew in a light breath and could not help smiling wryly. It seemed he really had no choice but to go.

Although his cooking skills had now reached the sixth stage, Uncle Liu had been making Cotton Jade Crisps for decades. He could make them himself, but there was always that little bit of flavor missing. It was not perfect enough.

Opposite him, the old man saw Li Hao's helpless expression and chuckled as he stroked his beard.

"Young Master, when I came back, on the Jiaoshi Carriage outside the gate, Young Master Yuanzhao said he was waiting for you, and told you to hurry and get ready so you can go to Tan Palace Academy together," Qingzhi said.

"Fine."

Since matters had come to this, Li Hao could only set off, for the sake of the crisps.

He had Qingzhi prepare outer clothes, changed, and went out.

"Fifth Master, I'll be going, so I won't see you off," Li Hao said to the old man.

"Go. When you come back, see how I defeat you," Li Qingzheng said with a smile.

Then you'll have to think it over carefully... Li Hao snickered inwardly, and went out with Uncle Fu at his side, along with Qingzhi.

Qingzhi had entered the residence three years ago. He had heard she was the young lady of some small family, but later her family met with disaster and she was sold into servitude. After being passed around, she ended up drifting into the Divine General Residence.

Li Hao had heard that she knew a bit of calligraphy, so he had her come to Mountains and Rivers Courtyard.

With the previous assassination experience, Qingzhi's test for entering the residence had naturally gone through layer upon layer of screening, and then Li Fu had performed a medicinal examination. Only after confirming there was nothing abnormal was she officially transferred into Mountains and Rivers Courtyard.

Later, she gained Li Hao's appreciation, and was slowly transferred to his side to become a personal maid. She could also be considered one of Li Hao's more trusted people.

Outside the residence.

A squad of Li Family personal soldiers was already in position. Five Yanbei Jiaoshi, each as large as an elephant, were lined up front and back, hitched to an enormous carriage. It was extraordinarily imposing.

Because Li Hao and the other third-generation members of the Li Family, aside from a few who had already inherited titles, still had no fame or official honors to their names, the carriage was not equipped with a canopy. But the carriage body, carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, still radiated noble splendor. Added to the rugged, primordial bodies of the five Jiaoshi, it could be said to have a presence in full measure.

Lifting his foot and entering the carriage compartment, Li Hao saw two boys and one girl who had long been waiting inside, all around his age. They were precisely Li Yuanzhao, as well as the siblings Li Yun and Li Zhining.

Among the direct-line third generation who had once trained together in the Martial Arts Arena, there were only the three of them, plus Eighth Mother's two children, making five in total.

But Eighth Mother's children had been doted on by Eighth Mother since they were young, and their relationships with the others were extremely distant. They were rather unsociable; this could be seen even before, and now it was even more obvious.

However...

As the years passed, many things had changed as well.

"Hao Ge!"

Seeing Li Hao, Li Yuanzhao immediately called out with a smile, patting the seat beside him to invite Li Hao over.

He was thirteen now, but his body had grown increasingly round, giving him quite a comical charm. His tiny narrowed eyes looked like two slits cut into a round bun.

Li Yuanzhao's parents had both died, making him an orphan among the third generation. Since childhood, he had been fostered in Fourth Mother's courtyard, and it was said Fourth Mother liked him quite a lot. That was how he had been raised so fair and plump.

Hearing his enthusiastic voice, the siblings beside him looked over, but their brows furrowed slightly, and they did not greet Li Hao.

As they grew older, and as the knowledge they received in the Martial Arts Arena increased, or perhaps because of some other influences, the siblings had gradually come to Mountains and Rivers Courtyard less and less. After Li Hao turned eleven, they had never come again.

When Li Hao went fishing with the old man in his daily life, he would occasionally run into them, but these siblings seemed to have lost their old warmth. When they saw him, they became somewhat evasive.

Li Hao had taken the initiative to greet them a few times. Later, after it happened too many times, he understood. He did not say anything, neither complaining nor reproaching them; from then on, they were merely like strangers on the road.

After all, what grew together with the years was not only the people around him, but also himself.

Five years was enough time for far too many things to change.

For his sake, Fifth Master had walked out of the ancestral hall where he had sat alone for decades, often coming to the courtyard to play chess with him and relieve boredom.

Yet the people who had once run happily into the courtyard to listen to stories had gradually scattered, leaving only Li Yuanzhao, who still, as always, liked running to Mountains and Rivers Courtyard.

Sometimes when there were no stories to hear, he would move over a small stool and sit beside Li Hao, watching him paint alone, watching him play chess and chat idly with Fifth Master.

Apart from that, from the Sword Hermitage thousands of li to the south, no letter had been sent for a very long time either.

The last one he had received was a year ago.

However, on that letter at the time, they had agreed that around this time next year, that little girl would complete her training and descend the mountain.

Thinking that he would be able to see that little tail again in another year, a gentle smile could not help appearing in Li Hao's eyes. He lifted his backside and sat down on the half of the seat Li Yuanzhao had made room for.

"Zhining, why aren't you calling him Hao Ge?"

After Li Hao sat down, Li Yuanzhao saw the siblings sitting beside them with no reaction at all, and called out to the younger sister among them.

Li Zhining, who had once dressed cleanly and obediently, now had a somewhat graceful little budding beauty about her. Only, compared to those once bright and simple eyes, there was now a bit more calm and resolve.

She glanced at Li Hao and saw that the same casual, warm smile still hung on his face. Her brows furrowed, and she did not speak.

Beside her, however, Li Yun's face darkened, and he said to the coachman up front, "Set off, Uncle Ming!"

"Yes, Young Master."

The carriage slowly began to move. Aside from the initial tug and lurch, the journey became smooth, without the slightest shake.

"Li Yuanzhao, although we have invitations from Tan Palace Academy, my mother said we should rely on our own ability to enter the palace as much as possible, and not count on the family for everything, making outsiders laugh at us!"

Li Yun's face was stiff as he spoke coldly.