Chapter 202 My Heart's Door is Filled with Old Friends
Feng Shisan pressed his rough hand against the mottled wall and growled in a low voice, "This is it."
Mei Xiaoqing was startled awake by his loud voice, and half-asleep, she said, "Your family's silver... is also piled up in the walls?"
Feng Shisan was practically jumping for joy. "I don't know where it came from, but there really was silver hidden in the wall! Can you believe it?" Seeing that everyone was still motionless and half-believing, Feng Shisan insisted on showing them clearly. After clearing away the rubble, Feng Shisan actually dug a big hole in the wall. Ji Fang rubbed his eyes and saw it clearly. He propped himself up and wanted to take a closer look.
As if by magic, Feng Shisan pulled a tattered wooden box from the hole, holding it in his hands and showing it to everyone. Ji Fang reached out to touch it, but Feng Shisan deliberately brushed his hand away, wanting to make sure he could see it but not touch it, thus whetting everyone's appetite.
"Clang, clang, clang." Feng Shisan opened the wooden box and took out large silver ingots. "Let's see what this is. Are you green with envy?"
"Silver?" Ji Fang's eyes lit up. "It really is silver! Such a big silver ingot! Is one ingot worth five taels?"
Feng Shisan rolled his eyes at him, "Five taels? Guan Ye's eyes are like rulers and scales, while your eyes are like shit. Ten taels, a single ingot is a full ten taels."
As he spoke, he tossed the silver ingot in his hand to Ji Fang, who caught it with a flick of his wrist. The weight of the ingot made his palm feel heavy, as if it really weighed ten taels. Ji Fang handed the silver to A Jiu, saying, "A Jiu, it's real. Thirteenth Young Master wasn't talking nonsense. It's a really big silver ingot."
Feng Shisan laid out the silver ingots in the wooden box and counted them several times. "Nineteen ingots, that's one hundred and ninety taels. Little Ma, you're good at math. Is this a lot of silver? How much land can we buy? How big a house can we build? Is it enough for us to live in?"
Before Xiao Ma could answer, Mei Xiaojing chuckled, leaned against him, and closed her eyes again. Feng Shisan saw this but didn't show any annoyance at being slighted. "Xiao Ma, you say it."
After a moment of mental calculation, Xiao Ma raised his head and said, "Based on the current land prices in Jin, this amount of silver is enough to buy a hundred acres of fertile land, and building a large courtyard with three courtyards wouldn't be a problem."
"So many?" Feng Shisan had no idea what to expect, and his voice trembled when Xiao Ma suddenly said it.
"This is even considering the savings," Xiao Ma smiled. "This is the money your parents... saved up?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Xiao Ma felt something was off. Saved up? For an ordinary family, saving three to five taels of silver a year for food, drink, and basic necessities was already quite difficult. If he remembered correctly, Feng Shisan had said his father was the gatekeeper of Rongdu...
Without a second thought, Feng Shisan replied, "Otherwise, what? It must have been saved up for me by my parents. My father is the head of the Vermilion Bird Sect..."
Mei Xiaojing suddenly opened her eyes and exclaimed in a crisp voice, "That's not right!"
"What's wrong?" Feng Shisanhu shouted.
Mei Xiaojing perked up, ignoring Xiao Ma tuing at her clothes, and insisted on getting up to talk to Feng Shisan, "Luo Yichen is the leader of the Black Eagle Guard, a fifth-rank military officer, with a monthly salary of five taels. Shouzheng is a ninth-rank military officer, with a monthly salary of eight hundred coins, which is a maximum of ten taels a year. This is one hundred and ninety taels of silver, which means your father would have to save for twenty years without eating or drinking. Feng Shisan? Judging from your house, it doesn't seem like you have a lot of wealth. Is this silver... hidden in your house by someone else?"
"Bullshit!" Feng Shisan cursed as soon as he opened his mouth. "If anything, it's a frame-up. My father is notoriously stubborn. My mother meticulously calculates every penny of his monthly salary when he brings it home. He can barely afford meat a few times a month. The silver found during the raid on our house is something my mother has never even seen. The injustice is greater than the sky. Which son of a bitch framed my father by hiding so much silver in our house!"
Xiao Ma comforted him, "It was a setup back then, but now it has solved our immediate problem. We are all empty-handed and lack medical care, how can we survive? Thirteenth Young Master, no matter who hid it, it has helped us today, which is a blessing from heaven."
Xiao Ma's few words made Feng Shisan feel very comfortable. Feng Shisan then took out an object wrapped in blue floral cloth from the box and handed it to Xiao Ma, saying, "You are knowledgeable, can you help me see what this is? How much is it worth?"
Xiao Ma opened the blue floral cloth, and a pair of dazzling pearl earrings came into view. Mei Xiaojing exclaimed, "What beautiful pearl earrings!" Xiao Ma carefully picked one up and examined it closely in the firelight, saying, "It looks like a rare and precious item. It's a pity I've never seen any pearls before. I can't estimate how much it's worth. I have enough silver to spend, so I'll keep this treasure safe."
"—It's a pearl from the far north," Mu Chenbi said. "This is an extremely precious tribute, a treasure that can only be obtained once every three to five years. Only favored concubines in the palace can receive this reward, and they all cherish it as a treasure. They only wear it at palace banquets... The pair you have in your hand... is almost identical to the one my mother treasures. It seems to be worth a whole bushel."
Xiao Ma's hands trembled as he listened, and he quickly put the coin in his hand into the blue floral cloth, wrapped it up, and handed it back to Feng Shisan, saying, "Take it, take it."
"Huh?" Feng Shisan thought he had misheard, holding the so-called Eastern Pearl with some confusion. "Is it very valuable?"
"Are you stupid?" Mei Xiaoqing frowned, amused and annoyed. "The point isn't how much it's worth, but rather, this is a royal item, how did it end up in your house?" Mei Xiaoqing suddenly pointed at Feng Shisan. "Could it be that it was stolen from the palace? Feng Shisan, is your house a den of thieves?"
Feng Shisan was dumbfounded. He had even forgotten to refute the claim that his own home was a den of thieves. He lifted the blue floral cloth and stared blankly for a long time before finally stammering, "Nonsense... utter nonsense, maybe... it's fake, who knows..."
Suddenly, a large hand reached out in front of him and snatched the pearl from Feng Shisan's eyes. "Wan Qixi!" Feng Shisan tensed up abruptly. "You're trying to steal it?"
Wan Qixi ignored the brute, sat cross-legged by the campfire, paused for a moment, opened his palm, his narrow eyes fixed on the pearl pendant, suddenly chuckled, raised his eyebrows after a few laughs, and looked at Feng Shisan's face, his laughter becoming more and more unrestrained.
"Are you... are you crazy?" Feng Shisan was intimidated by his gaze, and his burly body shrank back towards Ajiu. "Ajiu, is he crazy?"
"So...so this is how it is." Wan Qixi laughed until tears streamed down her face. "Everywhere I look, there are old friends—the Guan family girl, the Ma family young master...hahahaha, Feng Shisan, seeing you now, you're actually an old friend too..."
Feng Shisan snapped out of his daze and spat at him, "Pah! Who do you think you are, trying to get close to me? What kind of old friend are we? Get lost!"
Wan Qixi picked up the silver ingots from the ground and blew off the dust. "Everyone surnamed Feng has grievances, but your family really doesn't. Your father was arrested and your family's property was confiscated, and that's all deserved."
If this is tolerable, Feng Shisan is not worthy of being called a human being. Feng Shisan immediately placed his sword against Wan Qixi's neck. "Say it again, and I'll kill you."
Wan Qixi showed no fear. She stroked the familiar pearl earrings. Her sister had always loved these earrings so much. Wan Qixi remembered the surprise she felt when she received them as a gift. Outside the Zhuque Gate, the guard was blocking people from leaving the city and bluntly demanded the gold hairpin from her sister's hair. Her sister took off the hairpin, hesitated for a moment, then took off her beloved earrings, strung them on the hairpin, and handed them to the man…
Wan Qixi wouldn't mistake it; the pearl earring that her sister had taken off years ago was hidden in Feng Shisan's house—it belonged to her sister.
"You treacherous merchant from the Western Regions!" Feng Shisan cursed. Others could say whatever they wanted about him, but they couldn't slander his father. An injustice was an injustice, and Feng Shisan had survived to this day on sheer pride. Anyone who shattered his ideals would face his wrath. "What do you know? My Feng family is full of loyal and virtuous people! My father was devoted to serving his country, and he was beheaded because he was falsely accused! Did he deserve to die? Are you saying my father really took money from others and broke the law? My father would never do such a thing! If that were true…" Feng Shisan glanced around the dilapidated house swaying precariously in the east wind, "Does my family have to live here? We only eat meat twice a month… and it's just minced meat?"
Wan Qixi scoffed, not even glancing at the furious Feng Shisan, and clutched the pearl earring tightly into his pocket.
"Look, look!" Feng Shisan deliberately shouted loudly, "After saying so much, you just wanted to steal my things and stuff them into your own pocket? Wan Qixi, don't think that just because you helped us, I won't dare to kill you. Take back what you just said, or you'll be in big trouble."
Ajiu got up and approached him, pushing away Feng Shisan's sword and saying, "He's not a merchant from the Western Regions. He said he sees many old friends everywhere he goes. Aren't you curious about who he really is?"
Seeing that Feng Shisan still showed no intention of sheathing his sword, Ajiu said in a low voice, "Things have come to this point, and we are all in the same boat. Wanqixi, it shouldn't be a problem for me to reveal your identity, right?"
Wanqi Xi pressed his hand against his chest and remained motionless, seemingly indifferent. When Ajiu spoke, Ajiu calmly said, "His name is Lu Xiaojun, the young master of Tianhu Fang, Lu Xiaojun."
—Tianhufang, the Lu family? Lu Xiaojun.
Everyone except Guan Ye was stunned. Mu Chenbi felt a chill run down his spine and quickly reached for the Twin Dimples Sword beside him. Wan Qixi's narrow eyes were arrogant, and his long face had a half-smile. "Feng Shisan, is it? So Feng Shouzhen of the Vermilion Bird Gate is your father. Back then, we left the city through the Vermilion Bird Gate. The price we agreed on was agreed upon. Your father accepted the gold ingots for someone else, and then extorted a lot more, not just a large bag of silver ingots. He also asked for my sister's gold hairpin. My sister took off the hairpin and added these earrings before he let our carriage leave the city. I saw all of this with my own eyes. Feng Shisan, your father was ruthless and heartless. He was beheaded and his family property confiscated. He died a just death."
“You…” Feng Shisan’s voice trembled, “You’re talking nonsense.”
Wan Qixi glanced at the wooden box on the ground again, "The imperial court found many, and your family actually hid quite a few. Your father accepted bribes, and your mother most likely knew as well. She's complaining to save face for your father in your eyes, so that you... have something to live for..."
"Shut up!" Feng Shisan cried, "If you say another word, I'll kill you."
Xiao Ma stood up and tentatively pressed his hand on Feng Shisan's trembling shoulder. "Wan Qixi is crazy. You can only believe half of what he says. Look at you showing off. He's deliberately trying to annoy you. Young Master Shisan, sit down and let's talk."
"Father guards the gates of the imperial city. He is dutiful and has never made a mistake. It is others who are jealous of him and resent him, who slander him for bending the law for personal gain and accepting bribes..." Feng Shisan murmured to himself, "My family only eats meat twice a month, and the minced meat is only half a bowl... If we had so much silver, how could we live in poverty... No... Father would not do such a thing. Father is a loyal minister and a good general. He guards the gates of a city, how could he not guard his own gate?"
"Wanqixi is talking nonsense." Xiao Ma was afraid that Feng Shisan would have a stroke from anger and something bad would happen to him, so he hurriedly winked at Wanqixi.
Why would Wanqixi follow his wishes? He snorted disdainfully, suddenly jumped up, dusted off his clothes, shouldered his sword, and turned away, saying, "This is not a place for me to stay. I have things to do, so I'll take my leave first."
"Where are you going?" Guan Ye called out to him after being silent for a while.
Hearing Guan Ye's concerned tone, Wan Qixi's lips curled into a hint of relief. He turned to the side and said, "How can I tell you this? If you get arrested, you'll expose me. Mind your own business."
"Wan Qixi." Guan Ye stood up and took a few steps after him, "Don't do anything foolish."
Wan Qixi laughed and said, "Foolish? I am the smartest person in the world. You whole room are the truly stupid ones. Let's go."
"Ah Jiu, take good care of Guan Ye. That girl is incredibly stubborn, so you'd better keep an eye on her."
Before Ajiu could respond, Wanqixi had already disappeared into the vast and unpredictable night.
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