Chapter 116: The Wild Geese Fly South

  Xia Jiu hastened her pace to welcome him, walking up to Xiao Qi's side who was wearing a knee-length floral cotton-padded jacket. She grasped both of his hands. His chin was pointed, eyes large, eyebrows curved and mouth small, his cheeks were slightly flushed with a hint of redness from the cold.

  "Xiao Qi, you've lost weight, is your injury healed? Come, let me take a look."

  Xia Liu didn't say a word, and simply rolled up one of her sleeves. His warm hands touched the skin on her wrist. The wound had already healed, but the color was deeper than other parts of her skin. He gently stroked it, still lacking some softness.

  She looked at him with some confusion, because of his intimate and affectionate actions, then her small face slowly turned red, with a hint of shyness, joy, and sweetness. She quietly let out a breath, relaxed her shoulders, and let him hold her.

  "It's really okay."

  Xia Xian happily said, then pulled over the package on his shoulder and smiled: "Come, Xiao Qi, take a look at what this is."

  Xia Liu opened the package, a beautiful fur coat unfolded like it was inflated, and it was very soft and elastic. The leather jacket was white, as white as snow, but the collar was fox fur, red like a flame. Xia Liu gently shook it, and a luxurious fur coat appeared in front of Xiao Ding.

  Wow

  Xiao Qi's big eyes suddenly widened even more, she bent down and put down the little dog, stretched out her hand to touch it, but quickly withdrew it. The fur coat was too beautiful, too expensive, she could only look at it, didn't even have the courage to touch it: "Is this the young master preparing to give to the young madam's clothes? So beautiful, too beautiful, the young madam will definitely like it."

  "Is she young?"

  Xia Xun originally received three fox-fur collars as a gift, and immediately thought of Xiao Qi and Peng Ziqi, but he didn't think of the third woman at all. So he very calmly gave the third one to Xiao Dong's wife from the Xi Men family. It wasn't until now, when Xiao Qi mentioned it, that he suddenly realized he still had a first wife who hadn't crossed the threshold yet.

  This time he returned to Jiangnan with great fanfare, one of the most important things being to marry the daughter of Chen Junxian's family, but in his heart, he had never thought of this girl who had never met before.

  After a moment of stunned silence, he suddenly burst out laughing: "No, this is for you."

  "I...my?"

  Xiao Qi looked at the luxurious fur coat and shook her head timidly: "I... how can I wear such clothes? No, this is too expensive."

  Xia Liu only then realized that after leaving for more than a month, Xiao Qi was not only thinner, but her temperament and demeanor had also changed somewhat from before. This innocent and naive little girl seemed to have grown up.

  "Who says you can't wear expensive clothes? It's only been a month since we last met, and you're acting like a stranger to me?"

  Xia Liu said with a smile, shaking open the fur clothes: "Come on, try it on, I made an estimate for you, see if it fits, if it's too fat, go to the fur store to modify it."

  Looking at Xia Xun's unyielding gaze, Xiao Qi obediently opened her arms and let Xia Xun put the soft, warm fur coat on her body, then tied the belt.

  "Beautiful is really too beautiful"

  Xia Yu looked up and down, nodding in admiration.

  People rely on clothes, Buddha relies on golden decorations. Just this one piece of fur coat on the body, Xiao Ding immediately changed a lot. A snow-white fur coat wrapped around a slender figure, a fiery red fox tail collar, fluffy and surrounding a small melon face, like the stamens of a red flower, charming and enchanting. The little girl instantly transformed into a beautiful young lady.

  Xiao Qi happily said: "Yes, this robe is especially, especially beautiful."

  "What I said was about people, not clothes."

  Xiao Qi was taken aback, her face quickly turned red, but in her heart, a strange feeling surged up.

  The young master was very generous to her, never treating her as a servant, but after the young master grew up, he never bought anything for her again. He just threw some money at her and let her buy whatever she wanted. The feeling of that time was completely different from the warm and sweet feeling she had now. She would rather have been the little girl who clutched a coin to buy sugar people for her drooling brother than be given a large sum of money by the young master, and this feeling seemed to be rekindled in Xia Zhen.

  She lowered her head and said shyly: "Thank you, brother."

  Xia Yu also smiled, and thought of going to touch her head, just then Xiao Guan Shi hurriedly came over, shouting "Young Master, Young Master, Peng Gongzi has arrived at the mansion."

  Xia Liu was taken aback and thought to herself: "Isn't she supposed to be waiting for me outside Qingzhou Prefecture to head south together? Why has she rushed over again? Could there be some urgent matter?"

  Xia Fu didn't dare to hesitate, and hastily said a word to Xiao Ding, then rushed to the front yard. As soon as he entered the living room, Xia Fu saw Peng Ziqi standing in the hall with his hands behind his back, wearing that ominous ghost-eye knife at his waist, admiring the "Korean Xi Zai banquet map" on the screen of the six-peach yellow flower pear wood.

  Xia Liu came from outside the hall, and could only see her side face. The soft and charming little woman on the bed, once dressed in men's clothing, was still so heroic and spirited.

  Xia Liu hastily walked up to her side and asked in a low voice: "Zi Qi, what's wrong?"

  Peng Ziqi slowly turned around, her slender eyebrows slightly furrowed, and said lightly: "Do you know me?"

  Xia Liu smiled and said, "Oh, we've never met before, but my younger sister has mentioned you many times in front of Yang Mou, so although Yang Mou and you are strangers who have never met before, it feels like seeing an old friend after a long time. Hehe, Yang Mou is two years older than you, calling you 'Zi Qi' shouldn't be out of line, right?"

  Xia Liu said, secretly sticking out her tongue: "My goodness, it's actually Big Brother-in-law who came. He looks just like Zhi Xi, fortunately... fortunately their names are homophones, or else the truth would have been exposed."

  Zi Qi looked at him with some confusion, not thinking that his own sister and the young man in front of him had made such rapid progress, actually becoming a real couple. He also didn't expect this young man to react so quickly, calmly covering up his own mistake, thus accepting this explanation. Opening his mouth, he said: "Your Excellency is a renowned scholar, while Peng Mou is just a rustic villager, not daring to address you as brother or friend. Peng Mou has come to your residence this time because I heard that Young Master Yang had returned home, and I specifically came to ask the young master about something."

  Xia Xuan vaguely guessed his intention and hastily cupped his hands in response: "Young Master, please speak, Yang will not hide anything."

  Peng Ziqi hesitated for a moment, seemingly finding it hard to speak out, and after a brief pause, slowly said: "Uh, yes. After my sister returned from the governor's mansion, not many days passed... uh, she left behind a letter saying she wanted to travel around Jianghu and would return after a while. A young girl, no matter how skilled in martial arts, is ultimately not very safe; our family elders are worried."

  "Alas, Ziqi... Ah, Peng Gongzi, I don't know anything about your sister's whereabouts. Since she returned to the manor, I haven't seen her again."

  Peng Ziqi said: "I know, I know, I'm saying... uh..., Master Yang"

  "For three months, my sister had been protecting him. During that time, apart from taking care of the young master, who else did she come into contact with? What things did she do? Did she ever mention wanting to go somewhere and take a look?"

  Xia Xuan said, "I'm going to Jiangnan with Zhi Qi in two days, so let's get rid of Big Brother. Otherwise, who knows, it might ruin my big plan. What can I say? Jiangnan is out of the question, what if he really goes there, it would be very inappropriate. The north is also not an option, the Peng family has extensive connections, what if he goes to Beiping Prefecture and finds out that there was a handsome young man by my side who wielded a ghost-eye knife? Places Zhi Qi has never been to are also not an option, I don't know how many people my big brother-in-law has already inquired about or how much he knows. If I make something up and he sees through the loopholes, it will only raise his suspicions about me."

  Xia Liu thought, furrowing his brow and pondering: "This one, I really haven't heard Peng Niang mention anything about it. You also know that at the time, Peng Niang was still by my side as a man, and usually didn't speak much either... Hmm... I remember when we were in Putai County, we once joined forces to capture an evil gentry who had been forcibly seizing women from the village..."

  Peng Ziqi said: "I've heard of this matter before, what's wrong?"

  Xia Fu said, "It's not that there was nothing, at the time it was out of righteous indignation. In addition to us working together to capture the murderer, there were two other scholars who helped. One was called Ji Gang and the other was called Gao Xianning. These two bookish heroes had outstanding character and your sister admired them very much at the time..."

  Peng Ziqi's face suddenly looked ugly, and Yang Xu's words were implicit... Losing face, could it be that his own sister had fallen in love with one of them and eloped?

  Peng Ziqi immediately asked: "Where are the two men from? Does Master Yang know?"

  Xia Fu smiled and said, "I naturally know their hometown, but they are not in their hometown. At present, they are borrowing books from a friend's house in Jinan Prefecture to prepare for the spring examination next year." As he spoke, he told him Liu Fu's address.

  Peng Ziqi thought to himself, "Anyway, I couldn't find her anywhere, and since there's this news, it wouldn't hurt to make a trip to Jinan to investigate." He immediately cupped his hands in gratitude and said, "Thank you, Mr. Yang, for letting me know. If I can find my sister through this, Peng will definitely come to your door to thank you." With that, he turned around and walked away.

  Xia Liu looked at his back and thought to himself: "This big uncle of mine is indeed a decisive person, I just hope that when he finds out the truth one day, he won't decisively break my legs. The Peng family has a home and business in Qingzhou, and when they arrived in Jinan Prefecture, they wouldn't dare to rough up a few scholars with honors carelessly. Brothers Ji and Gao, if I'm in trouble, can you please help me hold them off for a while?"

  The next day, Xia Yu went to the Qi Wang Fu. The King of Qi was fully dressed and eager to go hunting, accompanied by Cao Yu Guang and Jiang Zhi Qing on either side. Both men had a smug look on their faces, and when they saw Xia Yu, they seemed to have a desire to see the old person cry. Unfortunately, when Xia Yu saw them, he remained calm and composed, without showing any envy or jealousy towards the two for gaining the favor of the King of Qi.

  Xia Liu reported to King Qi about his trip to Beiping. He spoke in a very calm tone, without mentioning anything unrelated to the business, and finally said: "As for Beiping, Xie Chuanzhong has agreed to act as our liaison for sourcing goods from now on, making it a long-term deal. And because this business will last for a long time, he only takes a 1% commission. Considering that Xie Chuanzhong needs to liaise with the northern suppliers, communicate with the local officials, and arrange transportation, what he gains from it is not much, so I agreed."

  "Twenty out of one? Actually, it's not a small amount either. The imperial court only collects thirty taxes below."

  King Qi furrowed his brow, then immediately smiled and said: "However, he doesn't know that I am the real mastermind behind this business. You were able to negotiate twenty for one with this local snake, which is quite an accomplishment."

  Xia Fu said: "Thanks to the king's praise, the king's affairs, I will do my best and not be careless. I am about to return to my hometown to get married soon, this time I will inevitably sacrifice to ancestors, make friends with fellow villagers, meet relatives, tidy up the house, after a busy period, the days are afraid of being long, as for this business..."

  Cao Yu Guang immediately puffed out his chest, and King Qi pointed at him saying: "This matter, you can just hand it over to Little Cao."

  "Yes, I will obey Your Highness's orders."

  King Qi waved his whip and said, "I'm just about to go on a hunting trip. Since you have a mind to return home, all sorts of preparations must be busy, so I won't take you along. Yang Xu, I still trust you very much in handling things. Returning home in brocade clothes should be glorious, after you've settled your family affairs, bring your family back and I'll still need to use you."

  Xia Fu bowed slightly and said, "Yes, I understand the king's concern. If there are no other instructions, I will take my leave now and wish the king a successful hunt."

  King Qi burst out laughing, flung his crimson cloak over his shoulder and strode out.

  Xia Fu retreated to the side, watching as King Qi's figure disappeared into the distance. He thought to himself: "The next time I meet with Your Majesty, it will probably be at the Imperial Court. Take care, King Qi."

  February 2nd, Dragon raises its head.

  According to the almanac, this day is suitable for holding a memorial ceremony, moving house, entering a new home, and breaking ground. Zheng, who was in charge of the arrangements, decided that the day Yang Xue and Young Master Yang would return home in glory would be on this very day.

  February 2nd, dragon raises its head. Yang Dingkun's house should also have a day to rise to prominence. Xiao Guanshi thought with utmost loyalty and rubbed his fists together in anticipation.

  Under the gaze of countless people, Xia Xiu, who had once stirred up storms in Qingzhou without anyone knowing, calmly led a family, twenty large carts, and left with great fanfare.

  They will pass through Linqu, Muling Pass, Yishui, Yizhou, cross the Yellow River from Xuzhou, and go through Zhongdu Fengyang to reach Youzhou's Malin Town. Thirty miles outside the city, a person quietly joined the group - it was Peng Ziqing, who had changed back into women's clothes.

  It's not surprising that the young master suddenly had a beautiful woman by his side, as he was always known for being a ladies' man. It would be strange if there weren't any beautiful women around him. Xiao Guan Shi wasn't surprised either, because Xia Jiu Shi had already told him about the engagement between himself and Miss Peng, the eldest daughter of the Peng family, and that she would be following him to Nanjing to take up the post of Tian Fu.

  What truly surprised were Xiao Di and her mother. Xiao Di had not expected that the handsome young master Peng was actually a woman, while Madam Xiao obviously felt threatened by this beautiful woman's position as the first wife of her precious daughter, she had originally thought that with her daughter and the young master's deep feelings, the position of the first wife was absolutely secure, but unexpectedly the young master's trip to Beiping was stolen by that sly fox Peng.

  It's okay, she has such a luxurious fur coat, and her own daughter also has one. It can be seen that her daughter is not inferior to that Peng Ziqi in the young master's heart. Along the way, Xiao Jia's wife kept nagging and took every opportunity to instruct... uh... teach her own daughter to get close to the young master more often.

  Xiao Qi was very annoyed, but she didn't dare to show her anger to Lao Niang, so after passing through Xuzhou, she moved in with Peng Jia's sister and shared a bed together.

  This time, Xia Bian couldn't smile anymore, he also started to get a bit annoyed, a bit frustrated...