The Crown Prince Zhou Zilin was the younger generation, and since the two families were old friends, he should have received Wen Yan in the outer hall. But the Zhou family clearly didn't take Wen Yan seriously and asked him to meet people in the study.
Wen Yan had been feeling sullen before, but now he couldn't care less. After a few pleasantries, they sat down and Wen Yan said, "I just met a young man who looked a lot like the deceased Zhuo An. Who is he?"
Zhou Zilin took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "To be honest with Second Uncle Wen, I was also shocked when I saw him for the first time."
Wen Yan forced himself to remain calm, a little sweat on the tip of his nose, and asked, "Then who is he?"
Zhou Zilin snorted inwardly. With such limited skills, he could only deal with two children. He smiled and said, "He is Zhao Wu. Uncle Wen should have heard of this name, right?"
Wen He interrupted, "Is that the constable Zhao Wu who set the Longxing Inn on fire?"
Zhou Zilin nodded and said, "Yes, it was him. Not only did he make great contributions to solving the Longxing case, he also penetrated deep into the Western Xia Kingdom and single-handedly fought his way out of the encirclement and rescued our Daming Dynasty's spies in the enemy country. Commander Chai once said that few people in the world could match his martial arts skills. Uncle Wen, do you think that if Wen Xiaosi were still alive, would he have such ability?"
Wen Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief. The more powerful that person was, the less likely it was Wen Zhuo'an. He felt he had been too cautious. How could someone who fell off a cliff survive? He laughed and said, "I thought he looked like Zhuo'an, so I just asked." He added, "Zhuo Feng has been out for half a month. My mother missed him so much that she fell ill, so she asked me to bring him back home."
Zhou Zilin chuckled sarcastically and said, "When Wen Xiaosi committed suicide by jumping off a cliff, I never heard that the old lady missed him so much that she became ill." He then hurriedly said, "Of course, the old lady is getting older, and her longing for her grandson is different. How about this, I'll go and ask my grandfather to bring Zhuo Feng back to Beijing as soon as possible, at the beginning of next month at the latest."
His previous words had infuriated Wen Yan, but his latter words had reassured him. After a few more insignificant words, the Wen Yan brothers said goodbye and went home.
Wen Yan went directly to Qingfu Hall where the old lady lived. When she reached the gate of the hanging flower house, she heard the gatekeeper say that the old lady of the Pu family had arrived.
Madam Pu is Madam Wen's cousin and the current Empress Dowager's sister-in-law. She's already in her sixties and hasn't visited this place in years. Why did she suddenly come today?
Wen Yan was so happy that he quickened his pace. He had always wanted to get close to this cousin, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't.
He went in and bowed to the two old ladies.
Mrs. Pu had kind eyes and was graceful and elegant. She looked several years younger than the thin Mrs. Wen.
Madam Wen asked anxiously, "When will Zhuo Feng be able to come back?"
Wen Yan smiled and said, "Zhuo Feng is still in the manor in Beijing. Zhou Zilin has already agreed to let him go home at the beginning of next month at the latest."
After hearing this, Mrs. Wen nodded with satisfaction when she saw that Mrs. Pu was not angry.
Madam Pu didn't show it on her face, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She said, "The Zhou family is becoming increasingly overbearing, even taking someone else's grandson and refusing to return him. The Empress Dowager often tells us that as relatives by marriage, we must be more cautious in our words and actions and not embarrass the Emperor."
The old lady is usually kind and pleasant, and it's rare for her to scold someone like this.
Wen Yan flattered him, "The Empress Dowager is wise, and the Pu family is a model of relatives from the emperor's family. Unlike the Zhou family, even though the Empress Dowager is gone, they still act like the emperor's father-in-law and uncle, acting in a domineering and overbearing manner."
Mrs. Pu liked to hear this, and after chatting and laughing for a while, she declined the offer of dinner and went home.
In the evening, He Dong returned from Ningzhou Prefecture, and Zhao Wu also happened to go home to visit Xu Lanyin.
He Dong brought back a letter from Min Hu to Zhao Wu, telling him not to worry and to go back after he had dealt with his personal matters.
Xu Lanzhou and Xu Lanting also wrote to Xu Lanyin. They explained that the entrance exams hadn't even begun yet, but Zhou Shu had found Xu Lanzhou a teacher to teach strategy and a master to teach archery and horse riding, and that Xu Lanzhou was diligently studying. Xu Dashi had already taken his two children to the provincial capital and was preparing to open a new shop. Xu Lanting, Minjia, and Zhao Xingchen trusted Xu Lanyin deeply, especially Minjia, who had cried several times...
Everything is fine at home, so Xu Lanyin can live here with more peace of mind.
Tonight, Zhao Wu didn't go to Zhou's house, but rested in his own main courtyard. He called Xu Lanyin to the main courtyard to watch him practice martial arts. It had been a long time since he had relaxed, so he had a large courtyard to himself.
There were no lights on, and the moonlight was like water. In the haze, the drifting figure was mysterious and unpredictable, coming and going like the wind.
Xu Lanyin watched with great interest and kept shouting "good" from time to time.
Suddenly, Xu Lanyin felt her body falling into someone's arms, her feet left the ground, and in an instant she stood on the roof.
Xu Lanyin suppressed her screams and laughed softly, "It's so exciting. It would be even more enjoyable if I could scream out loud."
Zhao Wu laughed out loud and said, "If you want to scream, just scream. Why hold it in?"
Xu Lanyin shook her head and, with Zhao Wu's help, she sat on the tiles and said, "If I scream, people will think there's been a murder here."
Thinking of that scene, Zhao Wu also laughed out loud. He sat down next to Xu Lanyin and said, "It's been a long time since I've sat with my sister so comfortably."
Xu Lanyin also had this feeling.
Zhao Wu said again, "When my elder brother gets better, I will take you to visit the West Mountain and visit the place where Wen Xiaosi committed suicide for love."
Xu Lanyin laughed out loud, "Okay."
The two of them sat on the roof, enjoying the breeze and looking at the stars and the moon, before going back into their houses to rest.
The next morning, Zhao Wu had breakfast with Xu Lanyin in the back room and then went to Zhou's house.
Before he entered the yard where Wen Zhuofeng lived, he was stopped by Zhou Zijun.
Zhou Zijun smiled and said, "I'm off duty today, shall we go to the martial arts training ground to compete?"
He had wanted to find Zhao Wubi to try it for a long time, but because Wen Zhuofeng was seriously ill, he had not been able to disturb Zhao Wubi before.
Zhao Wu made an excuse, "My clothes are not suitable for competition."
He really didn't want to compete with Zhou Zijun. Although Zhou Zijun was a military commander, he was still far inferior to himself, a disciple of Jie Chi, who had experienced brutal fighting.
If you show more mercy, others will notice it. If you show less mercy, others will suffer a terrible defeat and lose face, right?
Zhou Zijun said stubbornly, "We are similar in size, so you can change into my training clothes."
Zhao Wu had no reason to refuse, so he followed him to the martial arts training ground.
The servant brought the training clothes and Zhao Wu put them on.
Zhao Wu reduced his strength, but still didn't dare to use the three-kick technique to compete with Zhou Zijun.
The two fought for hundreds of rounds without a clear winner. Zhou Zijun stood back and said, "Brother, you didn't use your full strength. With your skills, can you rescue the old demon?"
Before Zhao Wu could say anything, a loud shout rang out, "Of course he didn't use his full strength, not even his full attack. Go down and let the secret guards compete with him."
It was Old Master Zhou. Not only did he come, but many of the Zhou family's nephews and nieces also came.
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