Tao Dayong just thought that he had picked up a bargain, because the middleman said that the previous owner of the house had committed a crime and had to leave Beijing with his family, and was eager to sell it. Even though Tao Dayong had some concerns, he completely discarded those concerns when his son felt that it was ok to buy it. They were lucky.
The house required almost no renovation before it could be moved in, so after a little tidying up, the father and son, along with a servant, packed up and left the inn and moved in. Tao Dayong then arranged to hire someone, as it would be troublesome to tidy up such a large house, so hiring someone was a must.
The father and son personally planned to buy people. Those they bought were either servants or maids, but there was not a single beautiful maid. Not only did Yuan Jing not need them, he also did not want to bring anyone in to bother his mother. His mother would definitely be uncomfortable if she saw him, because his mother had mentioned it to him when he was at home. Someone actually wanted to give his father a beautiful concubine, but fortunately his father was determined and refused.
After the house was bought, Yuan Jing sent a letter to his senior brother. Di Rong was quite surprised to know about this and the location of the house, because that place was not something that a newcomer could buy. He thought that his junior brother must have other ways. Thinking of such a junior brother, looking at his stubborn son in front of him, he wished he could exchange his son with the junior brother.
"Go, send a gift to your junior uncle on behalf of your father, and get to know him by the way."
"Got it." Di Yu shouted happily, as if he was going out to have a good time. It was because his father was very strict and forced him to study. Now he had finally got the chance.
Di Rong didn't bother to pay attention to his son, so he waved his hand and told him to leave.
After settling down, Yuan Jing often visited his senior brother to ask for advice on his studies, while Tao Dayong brought two long attendants with him to go back to Taojia Village to pick up people.
Yuan Jing lived alone in this house, and couldn't help but miss his lover who was so close to him. He didn't know how to see him, and he also had to find a way to make his lover slowly accept him, even though he believed that his lover would definitely wait for him and fall in love with him again.
In fact, at Bailu Academy, he had noticed several times that someone was secretly spying on him, but without any malicious intent. The feeling was similar to that time when the man in black delivered something at night. So, his lover must have been watching him secretly, and as a result, this house was given to him as soon as he arrived in the capital.
Late at night, Yuan Jing walked out of the study and strolled in the garden. He played with the jade pendant unconsciously with his fingers and sighed. The gap between their status was too big this time. It would be difficult to slowly get close to each other and let the feelings flow naturally. If it weren't for the life-saving grace, he would have to enter the court to have the chance to know the whereabouts of his lover.
Suddenly, there was a noise from one side, so low that only Yuan Jing noticed it. He looked over and walked a few steps forward. There was a man in black standing there, and the noise he made might be an attempt to attract his attention.
The man in black noticed that Yuan Jing had seen him, so he walked forward respectfully and presented a letter with both hands. Yuan Jing reached out to take it.
The man in black didn't say a word. He silently bowed to Yuan Jing, then turned around and flew out without leaving any trace on the snow.
Sure enough, everything was just as he had guessed. This house was delivered to him by someone arranged by Mu Chengan. Yuan Jing suppressed the joy in his heart and returned to the study to open the letter. There was still only a piece of paper with the same large and flamboyant characters, an address and a time written on it.
White Horse Temple, tomorrow at noon.
This is an appointment for him to meet there. Yuan Jing was immediately happy. As expected, she is his lover. He doesn't even need to look for opportunities to meet her. She has come to him just as he wished. He can sleep peacefully tonight.
The next day, I did morning exercises as usual. After breakfast, I reviewed my books and practiced calligraphy for a while. However, I had already asked Tao Zi to prepare the carriage as we were going to the White Horse Temple in the morning. Tao Zi was very happy.
At about nine o'clock, Yuan Jing and Tao Zi, who were fully dressed, set out for the White Horse Temple together. Once there, they could first familiarize themselves with the environment, have a vegetarian meal in the temple, and then go to see Mu Cheng'an in full energy.
It took half an hour to reach the foot of the White Horse Temple. The temples here are much more popular than those outside Wenchang City. Most of the people coming and going are rich or noble. At the feet of the emperor, one can feel the strict hierarchy of feudal society even more.
Yuan Jing was a thirteen-year-old boy. Apart from his good looks, he was not too eye-catching on the way up the mountain. From the way he was dressed, one could tell that he was not from a wealthy family, so there was no need to pay much attention to him.
This situation was exactly what Yuan Jing needed. He did not want to attract other people's attention in a high-profile manner. Moreover, he came here to meet the King of Zhenbei. If the King of Zhenbei's enemies knew the purpose of his trip, this mission would probably end early, and he would be locked up in a small dark room.
Yuan Jing shuddered at the thought of this situation, so the mission must not fail. He did not ask for being with his lover forever in this life, but only for them to have a spiritual connection.
After lunch at noon, he told Tao Zi to be careful not to offend the powerful and let him go on his own. Yuan Jing went for a walk alone in a remote area behind the temple. Mu Chengan asked him to meet, so it was impossible for him to meet in the crowded place in front, and he believed that his actions would be watched by his people.
In ancient times, it was inconvenient to tell the time because there were no clocks to carry with you. The only way to tell the time was roughly from the position of the sun. Yuan Jing slowly walked to a bamboo forest where there was a spring. It reminded Yuan Jing of the day when he first met Mu Chengan.
As expected, when Yuan Jing suddenly realized that someone was looking at him, he looked up and saw Mu Cheng'an in a black suit with gold inlays. Yuan Jing's eyes showed surprise. Just as he was about to say something, he closed his mouth cautiously, took a few steps forward, and bowed respectfully: "Yuan Jing greets the King of Zhenbei."
"You are quite clever." The words of the King of Zhenbei did not sound like a question, but of course it also depended on who was listening.
After hearing what Mu Chengan said, Yuan Jing raised his head and smiled: "The prince did not hide his identity from Yuan Jing blindly. As long as you pay a little attention to the information of the court, you will naturally know the prince's identity. Is the prince in good health?"
According to information revealed by the court, the health of the Prince of Zhenbei has been worse than before since he was attacked and injured three years ago, so he has not been to the border for three years and stayed in the capital to recuperate. Yuan Jing was so concerned about him, but he didn't know whether it was a false appearance used by Mu Chengan to confuse the enemy or it really left serious consequences.
Mu Cheng'an couldn't explain what he was thinking. After knowing Tao Yuanjing came to Beijing, he wanted to meet him. Although this man was his savior, there were many ways to repay the grace, but he had fallen in love with this young boy for the past three years. Now, three years have passed, and when he saw him again with his own eyes, he was indeed more outstanding than three years ago.
But she was still too young. Sometimes Mu Chengan even suspected that he had something wrong with that. Why would he care so much about a ten-year-old child and have people ask about her from time to time? Privately, he even looked for a beautiful child of this age, but after just one look, he quickly asked his men to send the child away.
Seeing that he still looked like a little adult, Mu Chengan wanted to tease him: "Whether you are in good health or not, you can tell by taking my pulse. Don't you know medical knowledge very well?"
Yuan Jing smiled. This was exactly what he thought. He would feel at ease only if he could check it himself. He asked Mu Chengan to stretch out his hand while saying modestly, "I'm sorry to make a fool of myself in front of the prince. I've only read a few books."
Mu Chengan followed his instructions and stretched out his hand, revealing his wrist. Yuanjing put two scallion-like fingers on it and carefully grasped it. In Mu Chengan's eyes, Tao Yuanjing was no different from those experienced old doctors.
Yuan Jing was relieved at first. Mu Cheng'an's physical condition was not as bad as people said that he could not go to the border again. The injury he suffered three years ago had long been healed. However, "The prince's body is basically fine, but he suffered a lot of injuries in his early years. Although he has recovered, it is inevitable that his foundation has been damaged. It is not visible now, but once it breaks out one day in the future, it will be like a mountain of illness."
Yuan Jing frowned slightly. This would affect Mu Chengan's lifespan. This man was already twenty years older than him. If it affected his lifespan again, how many years would they have to spend together?
Mu Cheng'an was certain that Tao Yuanjing really understood medical knowledge. Several doctors had told him the same thing. However, he was alone in the past and he never took his physical condition seriously. But this time, seeing this man frowning, he felt that he should take good care of himself.
Thinking of this, Mu Chengan withdrew his hand, and took Yuan Jing's hand with a very natural movement, leading him deeper into the cave: "Since you understand medical principles, how about letting you take care of my body? You should know that I don't trust the doctors in the palace. The old emperor is hoping that I will die soon so that he can pass the throne to his son."
Mu Cheng'an led the way naturally, and Yuan Jing did not find it strange. He followed him obediently. However, he was still growing, so he had to look up to meet his gaze. He was surprised and asked, "Is the little prince really the son of the emperor who was left outside?"
Mu Chengan chuckled: "So you've heard about this, too. It seems there aren't many secrets in the capital."
Yuan Jing was shocked. He knew this from the plot. In real life, he had never heard people talk about the life experience of the young prince of Zhenbei Palace. "Is there any father-son relationship between the prince and the young prince?"
"Tsk, what father-son relationship do you mean? Apart from these three years, I have been at the border most of the time, and he was in the capital, and the people serving him were also arranged by that person. Do you think there is any father-son relationship between me and him?" When talking about his adopted son, Mu Cheng'an's eyes were without any emotion.
"Thank you for your hard work." Yuan Jing said this with a chuckle, which immediately made Mu Chengan laugh. If his subordinates saw it, they would definitely drop their eyes to the ground.
If someone else had said such words, Mu Cheng'an would definitely kick that person out. As a prince with high power, he never needed anyone's pity or sympathy. However, Yuan Jing's words made him happy.
As expected, only this young man could affect his happiness and anger. This time he came to see him to confirm his feelings.
This young boy must be special to me too. In the past three years, apart from two classmates, I haven't seen him being particularly warm to anyone else.
Before they knew it, they had arrived in front of a bamboo house. Mu Cheng'an took Yuan Jing into the house, which was filled with bamboo products. There was tea on the table. After they sat down, Mu Cheng'an personally poured a cup of tea for Yuan Jing.
Yuan Jing took a sip and found it to be delicious tea. He wanted to use the spiritual spring water to grow a few tea trees himself, but he never had the chance. Maybe he will have the chance now.
Seeing Yuan Jing's look, Mu Cheng'an decided to send him a few cans of tribute tea. Anyway, before he could sort out his feelings, he would first bring this man into his own circle. This thought made Mu Cheng'an feel happier, and the haze brought to him by the old emperor was also swept away.
"Since you know my identity, why do you dare to come to see me like this? Aren't you afraid of being implicated by me?"
Yuan Jing took a sip of tea, put down the cup, looked up at the person in front of him, and said with a smile: "Maybe this is fate. I felt that we were destined to be together the moment I saw you, Your Majesty."
"Haha..." Mu Chengan laughed for the first time. His men were guarding outside. When they heard the laughter inside, they were all shocked. What did the young boy say to make the prince laugh so happily? Just this ability was enough for the prince and them to pay attention to him.
The shameless Yuan Jing blushed for a rare moment, and his originally fair skin now looked even more pink and tender, making people want to pinch it, so Mu Chengan reached out and pinched him as he wished.
"Woo..." After being pinched, Yuan Jing opened his eyes wide and looked at her. His pair of dark eyes were asking, why was he being pinched?
Mu Cheng'an quickly let go of her hand, put his hands behind his back and rubbed his fingers. It was just as he thought, the skin was smooth and tender, and she was indeed still a child. In comparison, his mind seemed a little dirty, but it was rare for him to care about someone in his heart for more than 30 years, so he was reluctant to let go of this young boy.
Yuan Jing's face immediately turned red due to his tender skin. Mu Cheng'an looked away uncomfortably. He actually bullied a child and seemed to be addicted to it.
Yuan Jing rubbed his face with the back of his hand. Never mind. He had taken advantage of Mu Chengan verbally before, so now Mu Chengan took advantage of him physically. This was perfect. They were even.
It's just that I have been so disappointing in this life. I am only thirteen years old, which is too young.
Yuan Jing said, "I want to treat the prince's health. I am short of medicine. If there are enough herbs, I can make pills and take them for a period of time. Maybe there will be some improvement."
If the two of them could live together, he could use the spiritual spring water openly, but he was not sure whether the spiritual spring water alone could achieve the conditioning effect. So after much thought, he decided that it would be better to use medicine. It would be best if the medicinal materials were cultivated with spiritual spring water, and then made into pills with the spiritual spring water. It is estimated that the medicinal effect would be the best.
"Okay, just write the prescription, I'll have someone go get it, prepare the herbs and send them over."
"Well, please send us the seeds of the best medicinal herbs. It would be fine if we could have fresh herbs as well. I would like to do some experiments," Yuan Jing made the request.
"Okay." This was no problem for Mu Cheng'an. Although the request was a bit strange, when he thought about the precious flowers cultivated by Yuan Jing and the herbal medicine cultivation developed in Taojia Village, perhaps this young boy had some talent.
"You saved my life. How do you want me to repay you?" Mu Cheng'an looked at Yuan Jing seriously and asked.
Yuan Jing certainly couldn't offer to repay the favor by giving himself to the man who saved his life, because this person would be his sooner or later, and proposing this condition, well, wasn't worth it.
Yuan Jing was calculating in his mind. He lowered his eyes and then raised them again and said, "Your Highness has practiced an internal martial arts technique since he was young, right? Can you give me a martial arts technique that I can practice as well?"
When I took Mu Cheng'an's pulse for the first time three years ago, I discovered the condition of his body. I was a little surprised at the time. It turned out that internal strength existed. However, he himself came from the end of the world and even had superpowers. Isn't it normal for internal strength and martial arts to appear?
So he had to find an opportunity to get a copy of such a technique to practice. If he could master it, he would have an extra means of protection when he went to other worlds to carry out missions in the future.
Mu Chengan never expected that Tao Yuanjing would propose such a condition. While he was surprised, he also wanted to know more about this young boy. He chuckled and said, "Just the technique? You want to be a civil servant in the future and practice martial arts to become a warrior?"
Yuan Jing explained seriously, "Keeping fit, I've actually always been interested in that. I've always been the best in horseback archery at the academy, but it's hard to go further. As for the rest, I'll get it on my own."
Seeing Tao Yuanjing's proud little expression, Mu Chengan felt happier. Of course, the riding and archery skills taught in the academy were nothing to Mu Chengan.
"Okay, I'll send it to your house when the time comes. If you have any questions, you can ask me."
"Then how are we going to see the prince in the future?" Yuan Jing took the opportunity to ask.
Mu Chengan's lips curled up: "You will naturally be able to see the king when you come here."
"Okay." Yuan Jing responded happily.
Yuan Jing was in a particularly good mood when he came down the mountain that day. In this life, he had waited for five full years before he could spend such a period of time with Mu Chengan. The harder it was to come by, the more precious it became. A single meeting would make him savor it for a long time.
Yuan Jing was very happy, so Tao Zi asked, "What happened to you, young master, that makes you so happy?"
Yuan Jing still had a smile on his face: "Your young master came out to enjoy the scenery, and I felt happy and cheerful."
"Oh, then I'm happy too. I'm having a lot of fun too." Tao Zi said happily without any doubt.
Yuan Jing laughed and shook his head, quickening his pace down the mountain.
After returning home, Yuan Jing plunged into the study and carefully pondered the conditioning prescription he had written for Mu Cheng'an. He felt that when he was no longer an official and had some free time in the future, he could enter the Imperial Hospital to learn all the medical skills there and improve his medical skills. There were too few medical books to be found outside.
After it got dark and Tao Zi rested, Yuan Jing waited for the man in black again. It was the third time, and it was the same man as the previous two times. Yuan Jing stuffed the prescription into an envelope and handed it to him, asking curiously, "Can I ask your name? How do you address me?"
"Wu Yi." The man in black replied in a low voice, and gave Yuan Jing two booklets in return. Then he disappeared into the darkness quietly and no one except Yuan Jing knew that someone had been there.
Under the lamp, Yuan Jing flipped through two booklets. At first he thought both of them were about martial arts techniques, but it turned out that only one of them was. The other one was beyond his expectation. It was information about a person and a marquis's mansion.
Yuan Jing looked carefully immediately. He had originally planned to wait until he settled down and then slowly look for opportunities to inquire about Tao Yuzhu's situation. He didn't expect that Mu Chengan had already made preparations for him. He had been secretly paying attention to him and even took care of his family.
Yuan Jing didn't think Mu Cheng'an had gone too far. On the contrary, it saved him a lot of effort. What he saw shocked him greatly. Tao Yuzhu could actually go to such lengths.
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