boyutpedia Chapter 361 Bitter Summer
Chapter 361 Bitter Summer
Ye Changyan walked out of the small house, and Qingxuzi and his fellow disciples all looked at him with concern.
"The results of your practice have not been damaged. On the contrary, the realm of your practice seems to have reached a higher level than before."
Ye Changyan's words made Qingxuzi and his fellow disciples all look happy, and then they heard Qingxuanzi's excited question.
"Junior brother, are you serious?"
Ye Changyan nodded, with a very determined expression on his face, and continued.
"However, this matter is of great importance. I would like to ask all the senior brothers to increase the protection of the back mountain and arrange for someone to be responsible for patrolling. If there are any abnormal situations such as thunder from the sky, you can send someone to Shengjing City to find me."
Several senior brothers nodded in agreement. They knew that these old guys would take good care of the cultivation results left behind by Senior Uncle Gongshu when he entered Yujing Palace.
After coming out from the back mountain, Ye Changyan walked towards the guest house under the guidance of the disciples arranged by Qingxuzi.
Ye Changyan arrived at the guest house, and soon disciples from Yujing Palace brought dinner to everyone.
"Dad, Mom, sir, I have already told the Palace Master and Senior Brother Qingyang that the summer down in the mountains is very unbearable, so you should all stay in Yujing Palace to recuperate. Jingcheng and I will come to visit you when we have a day off."
After hearing what Ye Changyan said, Ye Xiaozheng and Mr. Cai nodded in relief. However, Lian looked at Ye Changyan and then at Zhong Yunfeng hesitantly.
"Aunt, don't worry. You and uncle don't have to worry too much about what's going on in Yuzhou. After I've settled things in Shengjing, I'll go back and take care of things at home. If there's anything going on at home, I'll send a letter to Changyan to let you know."
Lian and Ye Xiaozheng both nodded in satisfaction, and then listened to what Ye Changyan continued.
"Jingcheng and I usually study at the Imperial College. I have already discussed with the Palace Master and several senior brothers that Xingwang will also stay at Yujing Palace this time to take care of my father who needs to recuperate in the back mountain. The back mountain is a forbidden area of Yujing Palace, and no one else is allowed to enter without permission. Xingwang was originally responsible for sweeping the back mountain, and he is very familiar with it. I feel more at ease when he helps take care of my father while he recuperates in the back mountain."
Xing Wang on the side looked at Ye Changyan with some reluctance, and Ye Changyan smiled at him.
"Xingwang, don't worry. Since your master has entrusted you to me, I won't leave you here for long. When the master has recovered, you can follow him down the mountain."
Seeing that Xingwang still looked unhappy, Ye Changyan guessed what he was thinking.
"When Master Liang and I come to visit you, we will remember to bring you some delicious food. In addition, I have also made an agreement with the Palace Master and the others to have Steward Dai arrange for someone to deliver some watermelons and other fruits and vegetables from the greenhouse to the foot of Mangshan Mountain every few days. The Palace Master has agreed to arrange for someone to pick them up at the foot of the mountain."
Hearing Ye Changyan say this, a smile appeared on Xingwang's face, and then Ye Changyan instructed Xingwang again.
"Xingwang, you should also take advantage of this time to practice martial arts with Taoist Cangqin and the others. I haven't seen you practice martial arts in the past six months since you followed me down the mountain. If I pass the imperial examination and become an official, you will be my personal bodyguard. If you don't practice martial arts well, how can I trust you to hand over my life and property to you?"
Hearing Ye Changyan's provocative words, Xingwang straightened his body proudly.
"Master, don't worry. With me here, no bad guy can hurt you!"
Everyone laughed when they heard this, and then they sat down and had dinner.
The next morning, Ye Xiaozheng and his wife, as well as Cai Lao and Xing Wang, sent Ye Changyan, Liang Jingcheng and others to the gate of Yujing Palace, and then said goodbye to them reluctantly.
The continuous drought in Shengjing and surrounding prefectures since the beginning of winter last year has caused much discussion in the court. However, after the Dragon Boat Festival this year, Shengjing experienced unbearable hot weather so early in the morning. The emperor, the empress dowager and the concubines had already moved to the palaces on the outskirts of Beijing to escape the bitter summer.
During this period of time, the Sitianjian has been taking turns to observe the celestial phenomena, but they have not been able to see anything, let alone predict when it will rain as the officials hoped.
Someone in the court has proposed that Your Majesty lead the ministers to offer sacrifices to the heavens and pray for rain to alleviate the drought in Shengjing and its surrounding areas.
Caijia Farm in Sanyuan County has not lacked water for watering the crops in the greenhouse for the time being, as a number of water storage ponds had been dug previously.
In such hot summer weather, many dignitaries in Shengjing came to the door, wanting to buy the watermelons from the Cai family farm at a high price. However, as Mr. Cai was recuperating in Yujing Palace, the steward Dai Xing could not make such a decision. Dai Xing went to discuss with Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng, and Ye Changyan followed the agreement he had already made with Mr. Cai and asked Dai Xing to push the matter onto Xiao Yankai.
Xiao Yankai was able to deal with these nobles from Shengjing City with ease and handled these issues properly.
That day, Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng were practicing horse riding at the North Suburbs Horse Farm, and they ran into Li Ping who was also riding a horse at the farm.
"It's so hot, we are here for a course arranged by the Imperial Academy, so we have to come here to practice horse riding. You could be staying at home to escape the heat, so why are you running out to suffer like this? Be careful not to get heat stroke."
Li Ping smiled when he heard Ye Changyan teasing him with concern.
"I feel uncomfortable staying at home all day. Remember that you two have horse riding lessons today, so come out to stretch your muscles. Let's go to Yunfeng Tower for a drink later. Remember to ask your future brother-in-law to give you two more plates of watermelon."
"That's not a big problem. I'll treat you to dinner tonight. I'll tell Yunfeng that he'll give us plenty of watermelon. What do you think?"
Ye Changyan readily offered to treat them all and even promised to provide enough watermelon. Li Ping smiled and nodded.
"I heard that many nobles in Shengjing came to your house and wanted to buy your watermelons, but they were told that Master Cai was out for summer vacation, and you two brothers were studying in the Imperial College. The housekeeper pushed them to General Xiao. I know that the Xiao family has a share in Yunfeng Tower. I'm afraid you have planned this a long time ago and want to make a fortune!"
Several people rode on horses and walked slowly under the shade of trees outside the horse farm. The look in Li Ping's eyes when he looked at Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng almost showed the words "profiteer" written all over their faces.
"Li Ping, what do you think of my master and I? A few days ago, Yunfeng sent my parents to Shengjing. I had already discussed with Yujing Palace to arrange for my father to recuperate there. Changyan and I thought the weather was hot down here, so we asked the master to stay in Yujing Palace for a while to recuperate and escape the heat. Changyan and I were studying, the master was not at home, and the brothers were busy with government affairs, so we had to temporarily leave the household affairs to my uncle to help take care of them. Juezhi did not have the situation you described."