Chapter Twenty-Five: Taking Concubines

  Bai Fu Dao said: "Young Master Qing, we're all exhausted tonight, let's not disturb you anymore. If there's anything else, just summon us again."

  "You traitors and outsiders are so diligent in following me, I've never seen you work so hard before!"

  The five ghosts immediately became unhappy. Bai Fu said, "We've been busy for half the night just to save you, old man, and yet you're scolding us instead of thanking us."

  "It's all my fault, he's always right, you might as well follow him"

  "It's easy for others to kill us, but they've always been polite to you, not even saying a harsh word. Such people are hard to find in the world." Seeing Xiao Qing's face getting worse, he quickly made amends, "But brother, one servant cannot serve two masters, and one woman cannot marry two husbands. Lord Qing, you are loyal and dedicated."

  Xu Xian slowed down his pace and headed home. The morning star was about to dawn. A busy night, but not much sleepiness. Tonight, he met another insider. But the plot changed because of himself, where would fate throw these people, including himself?

  Suddenly thought of a sentence and began to chant in a clear voice: "In life, all you need to do is close your eyes, take a step forward, and listen to the rise and fall of creation."

  Why sigh about things being like a play or a game of chess? Just stick to your own path and stride forward.

  Xu Xian arrived at the door of his home, but saw someone pacing back and forth in front of the door. It wasn't Pan Ya, so who could it be? She had finished her errand and was coming to look for Xu Xian, driven by her emotions. Although it was already nighttime, she couldn't help but wait for him at the door.

  Xu Xian gently held her and asked with some concern: "Why didn't you go in to wait?" The spring night was cold as water, and her hands were already chilled through.

  "It's quite rude to disturb someone in the middle of the night. I have martial arts skills, so I'm not afraid of the cold." He felt that getting this one sentence made tonight not a waste after all.

  Xu Xian didn't stand on ceremony and pushed open the door, introducing Pan Ya to his sister. He simply said she was a close friend, and when asked about her husband, his sister replied that he had gotten up in the middle of the night and gone to the county yamen.

  Sister prepared food in advance for the two to eat something. Xu Xian and Pan Ya talked about tonight's events. Pan Yu was surprised: "Really can summon heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals?"

  Xu Xian said: "The talismans are all used up, otherwise I'll summon them for you to take a look"

  "Beacon fires play with the princes."

  Xu Xian smiled and said: "A beauty's smile can overthrow a city."

  The two of them were laughing and chatting when they suddenly heard a hurried knocking at the door. Li Gongfu's loud voice shouted, "Open the door quickly!"

  Xu Xian opened the door and Li Gongfu excitedly grabbed Xu Xian's hand, saying: "Han Wen, you're really amazing! The silver is back again!"

  Xu Xian smiled and said: "I told you, Lord Kuxin is not a free gift. From now on, I'll make sure to offer sacrifices to you and give you many official duties." He didn't want the people around him to treat him like an outcast either.

  Li Gongfu said: "That is, that is the god of this warehouse, you must worship it well. At noon, Yang Daren invited you to drink wine and thank you." He also saw a handsome young man next to him ask

  "Who is this in Chinese?"

  Xu Xian continued to introduce for a while and finally said: "We are all sleepless tonight, now go back to the room to rest, and when the time comes, we will trouble Brother-in-law to wake us up."

  Mr. Li said: "That's for sure, your room was cleaned up by your sister a long time ago, I don't know how good it is, but you've been outside and haven't had the chance to live in it."

  Xu Xian thanked his sister again and took Pan Yu back to the room. Pan Ya didn't sleep all night, although she had martial arts skills, but they couldn't compare to Xu Xian's magical Taoist methods. After chatting with Xu Xian for a while, she started to feel sleepy. Lying on Xu Xian's bed, she still felt a bit strange. Whenever the two were alone together, she would take off her necklace and reveal her beautiful face, then smile at Xu Xian, full of charm.

  "Is it like having an ugly daughter-in-law meeting her parents-in-law for the first time?"

  "If your sister knew you were sleeping with your close friends every day, I don't know if she would kill you."

  Xu Xian sighed and said: "It's not like I wanted to hold on every night, it's hard to get through"

  "I've got a good deal, I'm sorry to say that I couldn't fulfill my responsibilities as a wife."

  Xu Xian stroked her hair and said, "This is between us two."

  "But your family's incense stick still has to rely on you to continue burning"

  Xu Xian was also a headache. As long as he was born in this mundane world, he would inevitably be bound by the constraints of this mundane world. He could only say: "Let's talk about this later."

  Pan Yu closed her eyes and said no more, but secretly prepared everything she could for this man.

  At noon, Yang Daren thanked Xu Xian in the government office, never expecting that the case of the stolen silver from the treasury, which had left the entire Qiantang County government helpless, would be solved so quickly by Xu Xian. The treasury was restored to its original state overnight, just like when it was stolen, unbelievable.

  Yang Zhixian said: "Xian nephew, what's going on here?"

  Xu Xian smiled slightly and said: "The heavenly secret cannot be revealed. As long as the silver is recovered, isn't that enough?"

  Yang Zhi Xian smiled and said, "It's all right as long as the silver is recovered." He saw that Xu Xian was unwilling to say more and didn't dare ask further. In the end, he knew that this son was not someone who could be measured by ordinary standards. He then turned to Pan Ya and said, "Pan Gongzi, Pan Daren, how have you been lately?" His tone was familiar, but in fact, he had only met Pan Yu's father, Pan Zhan, once many years ago.

  Pan Yudao said: "Thank you, Lord Yang, for your concern about my father's health, which has always been good."

  "That's good, that's good" Although in Qiantang County, Yang Zhiyuan, the county magistrate, is considered a big shot, he himself is just a small official like a sesame seed or a green bean. What faction he belongs to is nothing but a joke. At this age, there isn't much ambition left, but being able to sit at the same table with the leaders of the Pan faction for dinner is also an honor.

  At this time, Yang's concubine smiled and raised her cup, saying: "Mr. Pan is a dragon among men, a phoenix among women, I'll toast you with a cup." As soon as she saw Pan Wang, a pair of eyes rolled over her face, and his tongue couldn't leave for a while.

  Yang Zhi County hastily coughed, but these three madams were still young and had been spoiled by him every day. At this moment, they didn't care about anything and just kept smiling at Pan Yu nonstop. It wasn't that they had any ulterior motives, but their fondness was genuine.

  Xu Xian couldn't help but secretly laugh at this, as Ming Yu was the kind of person who would attract women like moths to a flame with just a casual sit, and if he were to make any moves, it's likely that nothing else would be spared.

  A yamen runner came up and whispered something in Magistrate Yang's ear. Magistrate Yang angrily exclaimed, "How can such a thing happen!"

  Pan Yu looked puzzled, so he explained: "Recently, Qiantang County caught a notorious thief, thanks to the efforts of Gong Pu. Today, we were preparing to send the documents to the Ministry of Punishment. Unexpectedly, a guard from the Liang Wang Fu came with a letter from Liang Wang to bail him out. I don't know what to do."

  Li Gongpu sat on one side, hearing Yang Zhixian call him "Gongpu" so intimately, his whole body trembled. This Yang gentleman usually just called out "Li Li" randomly, and when he got angry, he would directly address him by name, how come he was being so polite today.

  Pan Yu knew the old oily heart, no more than not wanting to offend the people of Liang Wangfu, letting himself help him cope. Thinking that Xu Xian's family was in Qiantang, a smiling guard he was not afraid of and could still openly give Liang Wangfu an unpleasantness. In an instant, countless thoughts moved, considering the pros and cons, said: "Your Excellency still needs to act according to the law!"

  Yang Zhi-xian was overjoyed and said, "I eat the country's salary, I should do so. Let's go see the guards of the Liang Wang Fu!"

  Xu Xian thought to himself, it seemed that there was such a scene in the original plot, but he didn't expect it to happen now. At this time, the two of them, this important great villain, still had such great energy in the world. Even Fa Hai had to be polite in front of Liang Wang, and Liang Wang wasn't afraid of this old monk with boundless magical powers at all, but instead often threatened him by destroying his temple. Liang Gongzi even frequently threatened to burn down his temple.

  Fa Hai, although he can't be said to be afraid of Liang Wang, still abides by the principles of a cultivator and doesn't interfere with worldly affairs. This "not interfering" means not intervening in human matters. However, these immortals and Buddhas

  Many people are indeed not doing human affairs. Although it is clear that the Liang Wang Fu is dirty and corrupt, Fa Hai absolutely refuses to take action, at most just offering some advice. He clearly tells Liang Wang that if Bai Suzhen is a monster, he will take action, but if she is not, then there is nothing he can do about it.

  Then Liang Gongzi and Xiaoqing had a conflict at the foot of Jinshan, and the guards were asked to invite Fahai. Fahai rushed all the way, but only appeared "just in time" after Xiaoqing was bitten by a poisonous snake and killed Liang Gongzi. He scolded and cursed, giving Xiaoqing a blow that left her seriously injured. However, Xiaoqing managed to escape back to Bai Suzhen's side despite being injured and at a disadvantage. It can be seen that Fahai also secretly spared his strength and didn't use his full power.

  Otherwise, why did Liang Gongzi ask Fahai to save him, but Fahai pushed it away and said: "You are already a thousand snakes turning your heart, your pulse is broken, and the old monk really can't do anything about it." This sentence was mostly said to the guards of the Liang Wangfu standing beside him. What Liang Gongzi said was just that he had been poisoned by the snake, but Bai Suzhen, whose skills were inferior to Fahai's, could cure the poison of the crane top red, while Fahai didn't even try and made a conclusion. Probably facing Liang Gongzi's corpse, he would scold in his heart: Let you threaten my brother!

  Indeed, no baldness without poison, no poison without baldness.

  In the main hall, Yang Zhi County sat high above, while Xu Xian and Pan Yu listened from behind the lotus screen.

  Two constables brought up a prisoner with cangue and chains, his hair disheveled and his face covered in dirt. They said: "Your Honor, the prisoner has been brought."

  The prisoner saw the guards in the hall and begged for help: "Brother, save me!"

  "He signaled to him to be quiet, with a confident look on his face. As the general manager of the Liang Wang Fu, he was full of self-confidence. This time, he had specially requested a personal letter from the Liang Wang Ye, and did not believe that a small county magistrate would dare to resist." "Magistrate Yang, the Liang Wang Ye has personally instructed you to release the person, you'd better follow the instructions, otherwise..." The implicit threat was evident, as the saying goes, 'even a seventh-rank official is not to be trifled with in front of the prime minister's gate', let alone someone of his status. His tone did not put Magistrate Yang in his eyes at all."

  Yang Zhi County was furious, but Pan Gongzi was very polite to me. You are just a small guard of the Liang Wang Fu, how dare you be so arrogant and not put me in your eyes? However, his face remained calm and he hesitated: "This..."

  "Sir! This man is indeed a notorious thief, guilty of robbery and all sorts of crimes. It took me nine oxen and two tigers' worth of effort to capture him, you absolutely cannot let him go!"

  Yang Daren nodded and said, "Yes, can't let go." He knew that with Pan Yu around, this prisoner would have to die in Qiantang County. If he didn't want the two families to be caught in the middle and perish together, he had no choice but to handle it impartially and take one path.

  Wei pointed at Li Gongpu and cursed: "What kind of thing are you, daring to stop Master Yang from releasing people?"

  Pan Yudao said: "What are you, daring to let Lord Yang release someone?" He spoke these words as he emerged from behind the curtain.

  The guard was about to drink when he saw the person walking out from behind the curtain, and immediately broke into a sweat. As someone who often walked in the capital, Pan Yu naturally recognized him and secretly thought that this time they were probably done for. He still managed to say: "Your humble servant has seen Master Pan."

  "Pan Yudao said: 'I heard there is also a handwritten letter from Liang Bo, I wonder where it is?'"

  The guard dared not bring it out, and was tongue-tied, unable to utter a word.

  "Director Wang, this man is indeed a notorious thief! Moreover, the official document has already been submitted to the Ministry of Punishment, and I really don't dare, nor do I have the authority to release him! As long as Lord Liang issues a formal order, I will definitely release him."

  The prisoner begged: "Big brother, save me! If I'm taken to the Ministry of Punishment, I'll definitely be dead!"

  "Wei Shi let out a cold snort and said, 'You just wait!' before turning around and leaving. However, he understood that for now, nothing could be done, and they could only think of a solution after being escorted to the capital. Once the Ministry of Justice's documents were released, it was inevitable that they would be found guilty, and at most, their punishment might be reduced."

  The prisoner was taken away, and Pan Yu said again: "Last night's search for thieves, this great thief from the rivers and seas has a deep relationship with that silver thief. Lord Yang still needs to investigate carefully!" Xu Xian knew that as soon as Pan Yu spoke, it was equivalent to sentencing the prisoner to death.

  Yang Zhixian hastily said: "Definitely, definitely." In his heart, he was delighted. He had originally planned to find someone to take the blame and settle the case. Now it was a win-win situation. Anyway, this notorious thief was a person who deserved to be killed. Now it didn't count as wrongly accusing a good person. The methods used by the yamen to frame people were numerous, he wouldn't believe that he wouldn't confess to this crime.

  Li Gongpu said in confusion: "When I took him, the silver in the warehouse had not been stolen yet, it doesn't seem to be related!"

  Xu Xian said: "Brother-in-law, do you think this person has committed a capital offense?"

  "It's not like he didn't deserve it, what he did was enough to get him killed three times over!"

  Xu Xian remembered that in the original plot, this person was only sentenced to 15 years of exile on the border. It was said that after 15 years, he would be allowed to return and change his sentence to a lighter one, or even get medical parole and be able to stay on the border for two or three years. Obviously, someone had used their "seven-inch trick", and now it was only fitting that they should reap what they sowed, and Xu Xian couldn't help but feel pleased in his heart.

  In the afternoon, Xu Xian and Pan Yu took a boat back to Hangzhou. However, Pan Yu said he wouldn't return to the academy, but instead brought him to a secluded courtyard in the city. The courtyard was decorated with lanterns and streamers, indicating that someone was getting married. Some servants were busy moving things around, and when they saw the two of them, they bowed on their own initiative.

  Xu Xian couldn't help but ask in confusion: "Ming Yu, whose wedding banquet are we attending? We need to bring the gift money."

  "It's not marriage, it's taking a concubine!"

  Xu Xianqi said, "This is strange, how could the concubine invite us? Could it be the Governor's mansion? But even if it were the Governor's mansion, he wouldn't need to sneak around like a common rich man and keep a secret mistress!" Although taking in a concubine doesn't require a wedding, there would still be lanterns, colored silk, red invitations, and firecrackers. However, it would only involve a small sedan chair entering the gate, without a big feast or inviting outsiders to attend.

  Pan Yu smiled and said: "It's for you to take a concubine!"

  Xu Xian stared with his eyes wide and tongue-tied, pointing at his own nose: "For me? What a joke?"

  Pan Yu turned his face and said: "Yes, I'm going to leave, you'll need someone to take care of you! Although taking a concubine before marrying a wife is not quite in line with the rules, it's not a big deal either."

  Xu Xian didn't say another word, and pulled her into a room, which happened to be the Dragon and Phoenix Chamber, with red candles and bedding all prepared. Xu Xian angrily said: "Pan Mingyu, what do you want to do?" But he still had to lower his voice.

  Pan Yu sat on the bed, sighed and said: "I couldn't give you what I wanted to give." Aixi stroked the Fengguan Xiaobei and said: "I really want to try it out!" But she didn't look at Xu Xian.

  Xu Xian painfully rubbed his forehead, and moved her body in the past, staring straight into her eyes, but saw that her face had an inexplicable melancholy color, and the words of rebuke could no longer be spoken, saying: "Alas, what's the point of this!"

  Pan Yu hugged his waist, pressed her face against him and said: "For a husband to take a concubine is the virtue of a good wife. To favor beauty over wisdom is also the style of ancient sages, Han Wen why aren't you happy?"

  This is the standard of ancient people, Liu An killed his wife just to prepare a meal for Liu Bei, and he was called virtuous by the world. A Chinese saying goes: "How can you treat women as human beings when you take them as goods and playthings? Only then is it excellent."

  Xu Xian held her face and asked, "Do you believe this? Which family's daughter are you? Hurry back home, I won't take you as a concubine!" Having three wives and four concubines was the most normal thought for men, Xu Xian wasn't a saint, occasionally he would also have some lustful thoughts. But when holding this woman in his arms, his heart wouldn't have any other thoughts.

  Pan Yu said in a low voice: "It's Cai Feng, I've already told her!"

  Xu Xian felt even more headache "Oh no! She has deep feelings for you. How could she agree to your request, did you force her?"

  "I didn't force her, she agreed herself. I'm not unmoved by her feelings, but what can I give her? I have to guard against her forever, do you think she'll be happy once she's in my mansion? She has feelings for your Hanwen too, and only you can treat her well!"

  Since she had decided to maintain the status quo and be with Xu Xian, for the sake of secrecy, women were absolutely not allowed to get close. Although she was somewhat moved by Cai Feng's affection, it was far from comparable to Xu Xian. She deliberately invited Xu Xian to drink with Cai Feng on her painting boat, precisely to observe Cai Feng's intentions. She knew that Cai Feng was a stubborn person, and if she were to give him to someone he disliked, he would absolutely not agree.

  "Anyway, don't think I'll agree!"

  Pan Yu didn't understand this person, so he said: "This news has spread throughout Hangzhou City, if you don't agree, Cai Feng will have no choice but to die!" Being sent to someone else with great fanfare is already considered a light punishment, if she were to be rejected again, what face would she have left to return to the painting boat? With Cai Feng's temperament, there was nothing else she could do but die.

  Xu Xian would absolutely never do such a thing.

  "You!"

  Pan Yu comforted in a soft voice: "Don't be childish, you know, it's also unavoidable!" She too didn't want to be like this, but he would eventually have to take a wife and have children. He could indeed remain devoted only to her forever, staying single all his life. But how long could he persist? Not to mention others, would Xu Xian's sister allow the Xu family line to end? Letting him bear so much was also not what she wanted.

  Xu Xian sighed and said: "Is this how a wife should treat her husband?"

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