Chapter 9: You are Lin Dafu?

“Hehehe, Old Wang, how are you planning to spend the reward money?”

In the West Courtyard, Chest Hair held two ‘Ten Taels’ silver notes from the Lin Family’s silver shop, examining them repeatedly, carefully smoothing out every tiny crease.

“I’ll save it to marry a wife. I’m twenty-five and still don’t have a wife. My old mother nags me all day long.”

“What’s so good about marrying a wife? It’s better to go to the brothel and find a Jie’er. Jie’er speak nicely, know many tricks, and even wipe you down afterward. Isn’t that better than a wife? What if I marry a tigress, and she bullies me!”

“With your looks, you probably can’t even get a wife.”

Wang Xigui’s assessment of Chest Hair, though unpleasant, was accurate.

There are wrongly given names in the world, but no wrongly given nicknames.

Chest Hair’s body hair was terrifyingly thick; his arms and thighs were covered in a thick layer of curly hair as hard as boar bristles, and the large patch on his chest was as dense as a rice field in June.

As for other places, they were no less impressive.

In Wang Xigui’s words, if this fellow took off his clothes in broad daylight, you wouldn’t be able to find his bird, as it was completely hidden by the bird’s nest.

Moreover, Chest Hair was incredibly ugly, with a big mouth, small eyes, buck teeth, and an upturned nose. In terms of appearance, he was the black sheep of the Dragon Guard Army, the troublemaker, the rotten mud that couldn’t stick to a wall, the rat droppings in good soup.

But Chest Hair didn’t care about any of this. He just laughed heartily and reflected, “It’s been a while since I tidied up.” With that, he stretched his leg onto the step, rolled up his pant leg, grabbed his goose-feather saber, and began to shave.

‘Scratch~ scratch~’

The grating, teeth-aching sound of friction was incessant.

While shaving his leg hair, Chest Hair didn’t forget to chat with his comrade-in-arms, Shortened name Ni, “Husband, how are you going to spend your money? After the Prince’s funeral is over, how about we go to the brothel together to play with Jie’er?”

“My surname is Shortened name!”

Shortened name Ni was usually taciturn and upright. The uprightness here didn’t refer to his character, but to his face!

A square face, with a jawline and forehead almost parallel, sharp and angular.

Anyway, Ding Suian had never seen such a square face, so big and square, even more square than that damned Billy Chow!

He wondered if the Dragon Guard Army recruitment officer was blind, to have brought together these two’sleeping dragons and young phoenixes,’ him and Chest Hair, into the An Squad.

“Oh, husband, how are you going to spend it?”

“Buy a house in Central Heaven City and get residency.”

Shortened name Ni gave up on correcting Chest Hair’s address, answering with a word-by-word emphasis.

His goal was the most difficult: a stinking soldier wanting to buy a house and settle down in the capital. Tsk tsk tsk.

This was a stinking soldier with ideals.

“Brother Sui’an!”

Hu Da, who had been clutching the silver notes tightly, saw Ding Suian walk from the back courtyard to the front after finishing his bath and quickly went to meet him. “Before I came out, my mother told me to listen to you in everything. I’m nervous holding this money, Brother Sui’an, please hold it for me first.”

Hu Da’s real name was Make do. He was the youngest in the An Squad, not only Ding Suian’s subordinate but also a close neighbor living in the same alley.

“Make do, you just joined the army and followed our leader; your ancestral grave must be smoking green! I’ve been in the army for five years, and in the first four years, I didn’t save as much money as I did in the one year following our leader. You must work hard in the future.”

Wang Xigui subtly flattered Ding Suian.

As the strong army of Great Wu, the Dragon Guard Army’s pay was already top-tier, yet it was only one tael and eight qian of silver per month.

Ding Suian had always been generous to his brothers, and this time, each person received nearly a year’s worth of silver, making everyone feel they had followed the right person!

However, these rough men were not accustomed to expressing themselves with overly sentimental words; for Wang Xigui to even flatter him was already his limit.

Chest Hair, who had been the first to draw his saber and stand alongside Ding Suian at the door today, deliberately showed his freshly shaved left leg to Ding Suian. “Leader, look at this leg of mine, isn’t it great?”

Ding Suian silently looked at the short, stiff, black, and hard stubble, praising, “Truly a good leg with chivalrous spirit!”

“Hahahaha~”

“Leader, tell us how the Princess Consort ended up in your room!”

“Exactly! And she hid for two nights. Leader, if you say nothing happened, I won’t believe it!”

The righteous men who had been calm in the face of danger a few hours ago were now winking and nudging, instantly reverting to their scoundrelly soldier selves.

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Leader, you’re treating us like outsiders!”

“Brother Sui’an, if you won’t talk about the Princess Consort, then talk about Jinlian! What happened after Jinlian was carried to the bed by Master Ximen?”

“Alright, then I’ll talk about Jinlian.”

“Old Wang, get some stools!”

“Husband, bring out your hidden pumpkin seeds!”

“Make do, brew my chrysanthemum tea.”

After a flurry of activity, everyone brought wooden stumps, low stools, and small benches, arranging them in a semicircle, surrounding Ding Suian.

They sat obediently, faces full of anticipation, craning their necks like fledglings waiting to be fed.

“Cough cough~” Ding Suian cleared his throat and formally began, “It is said that Ximen Qing stripped Jinlian’s clothes…”

As everyone listened intently, just like the day before, several white light spots emerged, converging on Ding Suian’s glabella.

A month ago, he had broken through from Body Refining to Manifesting Elemental State, and the internal sign of entering the Chenggang Realm was the formation of a Qi Sea at the Zhongji Acupoint, four inches below the navel, to contain Protective Aura.

One time, while idly telling stories to entertain everyone, Ding Suian discovered that he could actually absorb Protective Aura from the emotional fluctuations of his audience. The more intense the emotional fluctuations, the more Protective Aura he gained.

Although he didn’t get much each time, it was free!

Normally, poor soldiers like them could only slowly absorb Protective Aura by training their bodies, a slow and arduous process.

As for expensive methods like medicinal baths and Medicinal Pills, they were not suitable for them.

However, this Golden Finger was not without its drawbacks. Perhaps because he talked about Jinlian too much, his blood qi had been hot recently, and he often felt restless.

Every morning, he would certainly be like rebar.

But, touching Lin Hansu’s conscience, compared to the advantage of gaining extra Protective Aura, Ding Suian could tolerate this small flaw.

The twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the fourth day after the Prince of Lanyang’s demise.

According to the Wu system, when a Prince dies, the coffin is kept for seven days.

From this day on, the Prince’s Mansion officially welcomed guests to pay their respects.

In the preceding days, The Du Family had searched almost the entire City of Lanyang to find Lin Hansu, and then an imperial decree descended from the heavens. The matter of the Princess Consort’s escape caused a huge stir, becoming a topic of conversation for many idlers and housewives after meals.

Naturally, the guests who came to mourn had also heard about this.

Generally speaking, public opinion was very unfavorable to Lin Hansu.

‘If the Prince didn’t love the Princess Consort so deeply, why would he make her accompany him in death?’

‘The Princess Consort has no children to raise; accompanying the Prince to the Yellow Springs would not only create a beautiful story but also earn the City of Lanyang a memorial arch for chastity! Yet, for the sake of survival, she fled without regard for her reputation—how selfish!’

‘The world is degenerating!’

Yes, they called Du Jue’s demand for Lin Hansu to accompany him in death ‘deep affection.’

Even some women deeply agreed.

The Du Family members who came to mourn, after being led into the mourning hall by the usher to wail as usual, would always deliberately cast a scornful and disdainful glance at Lin Hansu.

Lin Hansu had already prepared herself mentally for this.

She just knelt quietly in the mourning hall, her head bowed, her eyes fixed on her nose, and her nose on her heart.

She neither made eye contact with The Du Family nor bothered to cooperate with their wailing, only bowing in thanks with strict formality.

Her demeanor was impeccable, yet it infuriated The Du Family.

In short, undercurrents surged within the Prince’s Mansion; anyone could sense the treacherous atmosphere.

Ding Suian was also very busy. The Prince’s Mansion covered over a hundred acres, and a single squad of Dragon Guard Army could not possibly manage it all.

To prevent any incidents, Ding Suian had Chest Hair lead five men to guard the mourning hall, Wang Xigui to guard the mansion gate with one man, while he himself patrolled with Hu Jiangjiu.

It wasn’t until the end of the Xu hour (7-9 PM) at night, when the guests dispersed, that they finally got a breather.

After a quick wash in the West Courtyard, Ding Suian changed into a long robe and left the mansion.

“Keep a close watch, the Prince’s Mansion is not peaceful these days.”

Passing the mansion gate, Ding Suian didn’t forget to remind Wang Xigui a few more times.

No sooner had he left than a strange old, pale fat man, about fifty years old, emerged from behind the stone lion at the gate.

He was called strange because of his attire. Though fat, he wore a set of armor.

The taut armor plates creaked under the strain of his fat, and his flabby belly stubbornly bulged out from the gaps in the plates, forming small rolls of flesh.

It was an uncomfortable sight.

“Brother, this young brother, please wait!”

Ding Suian hadn’t walked far when he turned to see someone chasing him from behind. In just a dozen steps, the old, pale fat man was already panting heavily.

“Brother, is something the matter?” Ding Suian stopped.

“Hoo~ hoo~ Wait… a moment.”

The old, pale fat man supported his knees with both hands, panting for more than ten breaths before finally catching his breath. “May I ask your esteemed name, brother?”

“You’re too kind. My humble name is Ding Suian.”

“Good name, good name.” The old, pale fat man wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, smiling like a Maitreya Buddha. “Brother, I see you are familiar with the guards at the gate. Could you do me a favor?”

“What favor?”

“Ah, it’s nothing big. I just want to meet the Princess Consort, but she’s busy with many affairs. Could you put in a good word for me and let me in?”

“You know the Princess Consort?” Ding Suian scrutinized the other party.

Lin Hansu was currently at the center of a storm, so out of principle to be responsible for his patron, Ding Suian naturally grew wary.

“Yes, I know her, I know her.”

As he spoke, the old, pale fat man warmly grasped Ding Suian’s hand and slipped a fist-sized brocade box into it.

Ding Suian looked down and saw three small gold-painted characters on the brocade box: huaju pill!

Oh, good stuff.

The huaju pill was indeed a High Grade Medicinal Pill for solidifying Qi and gathering Protective Aura, greatly beneficial to Martial Artists in the Manifesting Elemental State!

“I can’t guarantee the Princess Consort will see you, but I can report your presence.”

“Alright, alright, reporting is fine, hahaha~”

The old, pale fat man let out a high-pitched laugh peculiar to old money.

No wonder people say ‘a seventh-rank official at the prime minister’s gate.’

This old, pale fat man merely asked Ding Suian to report his presence and already offered such a valuable Medicinal Pill. The Princess Consort’s leg is truly good to cling to.

I’m definitely clinging to Lin Hansu’s leg!

This was Ding Suian’s first time doing such a thing; his movements were stiff and awkward as he tucked the brocade box into his Huai, clearly not as natural, far from the ‘calm and unhurried’ manner described in novels.

Not smooth enough, still needs practice!

Take money from others, do things for them.

“May I know your esteemed name, elder brother?”

Knowing the other party’s name makes it easier to report, doesn’t it?

“My humble name is Lin Dafu, hehe, I trouble you, brother.”

“Huh?”

You are Lin Dafu!

This matter is a bit tricky.

Ding Suian reluctantly took out the brocade box and put it back into Lin Dafu’s hand.

“What’s wrong, brother?” Lin Dafu blinked, his chubby, round face full of confusion.

Just then, Wansu approached from a distance with a group of servants.

She now managed the small kitchen in Huguai Garden and often went out to purchase ingredients, having met Ding Suian several times.

From afar, Wansu came to greet him. Young Master Ding had helped the Princess Consort save them, making him everyone’s benefactor, and the Young Master was handsome, so those unmarried maids were happy to chat with him.

But as Wansu drew closer and saw the person next to Ding Suian, her expression changed. She immediately put away her smile, hurried forward, curtsied, and respectfully said, “Master, please return to the inn to rest. As for the Princess Consort, this servant will slowly persuade her with Granny Xu.”

Master?

No, you call him Master?

He remembered Wansu was a dowry maid brought by Lin Hansu from the Lin Family, and Lin Dafu also had the surname Lin. Could it be?

“Wansu, who is this?”

“This is the patriarch of my Jiangbei Lin Family, the Commander of the Qiaodao Local Army, and the father of the Princess Consort of Lanyang.”

The old turtle who couldn’t have sons, was actually Lin Hansu’s biological father?

Thanks to reader: ‘Go up the mountain to kill rats’ for the reward~