Huo Jincheng's eyes became sore from reading this. He closed the bamboo slips and looked up to find that his father's expression was not right. It seemed as if he was immersed in some unforgettable past event.
"Dad, Dad?"
"What's wrong with you? What are you thinking about?"
He called out twice before the Grand Tutor came to his senses. "Nothing. What time is it?"
Lai Xi's head leaped forward, he looked up, rubbed his eyes, yawned, and glanced at the clepsydra on the cabinet. "It's past midnight."
Huo Jincheng also turned his head to look, "It's getting late."
The Grand Tutor lowered his eyelids, was silent for a while, stood up, threw the bamboo slips in his hand to Huo Jincheng, and walked towards the stairs without saying a word.
"father!"
Huo Jincheng hadn't expected his father to leave so quickly. He'd wanted to share his thoughts on Fog Mountain Strangeness. The book, seemingly a story of absurd mountain spirits and tree monsters, actually contained subtle allusions to imperial power and corrupt officials. While it was posed as a story about the previous dynasty, a closer look revealed a hint of criticism of the current emperor.
Author signature: Anonymous.
The anonymous Huo Jincheng knew that the stories about fox spirits and snake demons that were circulating in the streets came from this person. As early as the Five Kingdoms period, all countries strictly prohibited the spread of the story. The government of various countries also issued a manifesto to capture the anonymous person for many years, but to this day, they still couldn't find out whether he was a boy or a girl.
After years of silence, the anonymous author unexpectedly published a new work, and the words were even sharper than before. Huo Jincheng thought that he had to tell Ding Youtian tomorrow that such letters must not be allowed to appear in Yunji Bookstore to avoid getting into trouble.
"Hmm, what's that smell?" He was about to get up to put the bamboo slips away when he smelled the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes. He looked sideways at Lai Xi and asked.
"Oh, I stewed some sweet potatoes that were grown by Madam Jian. Would you like to try some?"
"It's time to rest. I won't eat it. I'll heat it up tomorrow morning."
"Okay, the bed has been made long ago, go and rest, young master."
Huo Jincheng put The Romance of the Three Kingdoms back on the bookshelf and took The Fog Mountain Strangeness upstairs, intending to give it to Ding Youtian tomorrow and remind him to either keep it as a treasure or burn it.
Early in the morning, after Jane Ning got up, she felt that the temperature had dropped a little. It was even colder than yesterday. She put on a padded jacket, opened the door and went out to open the yard door first, then went to the chicken coop to catch the hens.
The hen started sitting on its nest these two days and refused to come out of the nest every day. She forcibly caught the hen and threw it into the kitchen, and scattered a handful of grain on the ground.
Outside the courtyard, Ma Xiaomai shrunk his neck and pushed the door open. The newly built wall had been raised and reinforced, so he couldn't climb over it yet. As soon as he entered the yard, Guoguo also ran out, followed by Dabao and the others, who all got dressed and came out.
"Master, my father praised me this morning. I used the grappling technique that Master taught me to sneak attack my father and almost succeeded." Ma Xiaomai told Jian Ning happily, "My father told me to practice well with Master and not to slack off or he would whip me."
"Brother Xiaomai, has your father ever whipped you?" Sanniu asked as she got into a horse stance.
"Yes."
“I didn’t see any of it.”
"I asked you to go and see the second time my father beat me."
"OK."
Jian Ning: “…”
What kind of disciple did she take on? Is she a bit of a fool? How could someone be whipped and then think of telling others to come and watch? Like a gorilla watching?
She was drunk too.
After Jian Ning and the others finished their exercises and prepared breakfast, the Grand Tutor and Huo Jincheng also arrived. Seeing Ding Youtian, Huo Jincheng remembered that he had forgotten Fog Mountain Strangeness in his room. However, he told Ding Youtian about it, gave him a wake-up call, and asked him where he got the book.
Ding Youtian nodded and said, "Thank you very much. I'll ask Mr. Ding San to bring all the books back later. I bought them from a monk at a high price."
Huo Jincheng said, "It's better to burn it after reading it to save trouble."
Ding Youtian said "hmm".
Outside the courtyard, Tian arrived with her three sons. Ma Xiaodou shouted for Sanniu as she entered the courtyard. Sanniu and the others squatted in front of the chicken coop to watch the hens sitting on their nests. Erniu looked up at Ma Xiaodou and said, "Be quiet, don't make any noise. Our hens are about to lay chicks."
Ma Xiaomi tilted her head to look into the chicken coop and said, "Without a rooster, there will be no chicks."
When Sanniu heard this, she immediately retorted, "My mother said that the chicks will be born in a dozen days. Humph, chicks are born by hens, what does the rooster have to do with it?"
"Hahaha..." Ma Xiaomi laughed out loud, pointing at Sanniu, "Are you stupid? A hen can't give birth to chicks without a rooster."
"Yaoyao, don't listen to him." Ma Xiaodou leaned closer to Sanniu, "It will definitely be born. Believe your mother. My second brother doesn't know shit."
"How could I not know?" Ma Xiaomi lifted up Ma Xiaodou's eyes. "If you don't believe me, ask big brother or mom. See if I understand."
Ma Xiaodou scratched his head, thinking that his second brother had become stupid. Yaoyao was right, giving birth to chicks was the hen's business, what did it have to do with Guan Gong?
The two brothers went to Tian's house to quarrel. Tian laughed angrily when she heard it, "Get out of here. You don't study hard, but keep asking questions."
Tian drove them all away.
Qiu Ge was sitting by the stoves, leisurely eating the breakfast that Tian brought him. Now that Cui Gu was back, Mei Xiang and Lai Xi were also there, he was completely liberated and only needed to take a break from time to time.
Before noon, some villagers had gathered outside the clinic, and many villagers from nearby villages also rushed over to watch the fun. Many of them came to see the legendary female doctor.
In preparation for the special day of the clinic's opening, the village head and clan leader wore new clothes. What made the two old men extremely excited was that the town lord also sent Captain He and two yamen runners to show their support, and also presented them with a banner that read "Miraculous Doctor Brings Back Springs".
Wu Fengfu had also come, but he wasn't there to represent the town government, nor to celebrate the opening of the clinic. He was there for Ding Zhu. Ever since he'd seen her yesterday, he hadn't forgotten her, and after dinner he'd gone to see his aunt, Wu Fengxian.
He guessed that his aunt was about to tell Ding Zhu's fiancé's fortune, and it wouldn't be long before Ding Zhu's in-laws would come to cancel the engagement. He would watch the fun first, and then go to Old Ding's house together after his aunt came. He asked his aunt to be a matchmaker for him.
After the village head and clan leader gave their speeches in turn, they asked Jian Ning to come out and say a few words. As soon as Jian Ning stood up, there was a lot of discussion below, and the voices mainly came from people from other villages who came here to see him.
"I didn't expect her to be such a young wife. Not to mention she's really pretty. But is she really as good-looking as the rumors say?"
"I don't know. This delicate girl might be good at warming the bed at night, but I'm afraid she's not reliable as a doctor."
"Be careful and take your beating. I heard this girl is very powerful. Even more than a dozen strong men are no match for her."
The crowd was chattering about all sorts of things, but when Jane Ning finished speaking a few words, there was a wave of applause, even more enthusiastic than when the head of the village and the clan leader spoke, simply because Jane Ning said that people from other villages were also welcome, and that the examination was free, only the medicine and medical treatment had to be paid for.
When the hour of Chen arrived, the village head and the clan leader jointly lit the first string of firecrackers.
Lu Huaian hurried over amid the sound of firecrackers.
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