"Pfft..." Upon hearing this, Chen Tai, who was drinking tea, spurted it out directly.

Li Mubai and Zhang Shen froze and turned their heads, staring at Xu Qi'an.

"The poet is not Yang Ling?"

Search "pawℝead.com" for the original.

Little brother must be itching to sell me so straightforwardly... Xu Qi'an gritted his teeth, "It's my pen name."

"Really?"

"Really!"

The two still didn't believe it and asked, "What did you go to the official brothel sector for?"

Xu Qi'an sat up straight and said, "To see Miss Mu'ai."

The room suddenly fell silent, and the three scholars felt a blockage in their chests, wanting to vomit but unable to.

A few seconds later, Zhang Shen stood up and pointed at Xu Qi'an's nose, "You, you..."

He paced around the room anxiously, "A masterpiece for the ages, and you use it on a courtesan, is she worthy? Is she worthy?"

Yes, yes, it would be better if I used it on you... Xu Qi'an thought to himself, pretending to listen to the teacher's admonition.

Li Mubai was equally emotional, "Singing about plum blossoms is one thing, but 'A Gift to Fu Xiang of the Shadow Plum Blossom Pavilion,' it's simply vulgar and unbearable. You've ruined a good poem."

If it could be changed to 'A Gift to Mr. Li Mubai of the Cloud Deer Academy,' you would be laughing like a pig... Xu Qi'an silently mocked.

Two lines of poetry become eternal names... It is indeed a waste to use them on a courtesan. But things cannot be judged by their appearance alone. Without this poem to win the favor of the courtesan Fu Xiang, how could he have extracted useful information?

How could he frame Zhou Li?

If Zhou Li is not framed, what if he withstands it? What if his political enemies do not defeat him?

What will be the outcome of welcoming the Xu family?

Poetry is originally copied, so there's no need to feel sorry. Moreover, what's the use of having a lot of goods in your stomach if it can't solve the current problem?

No matter how good the poetry is, it can only be exchanged for tangible benefits to be useful.

Chen Tai sighed in his heart, initially surprised and disbelieving that Yang Ling was Xu Qi'an's pen name, but upon careful consideration, he found it reasonable.

Such poetry talent cannot be found easily.

"If Li Mubai and Zhang Shen can take him as their disciple, I can too... Since there are two teachers, why can't there be three?" Chen Tai secretly decided to take this talented poet under his wing when he had the chance.

After experiencing a bombardment of words, Xu Qi'an obediently admitted his mistake and promised that in the future, he would let the two teachers revise and polish his good poems and words first.

Li Mubai and Zhang Shen reluctantly calmed down.

Apart from regret for brushing shoulders with a famous poem, the two scholars really felt that Xu Qi'an had wasted it by using this poem on a courtesan from the official brothel sector.

A priceless treasure.

Xu Xinnian had some conscience and timely came out to ease the situation and change the subject, "Has my younger sister made any progress in her studies at the academy?"

The three scholars looked at each other, and Chen Tai couldn't help but laugh, "Your sister is really determined and unbreakable."

Zhang Shen helplessly said, "In just ten days, she has had four different teachers."

Li Mubai added, "They all swore never to teach children again in this life."

Xu Cijiu Xu Ningyan: "..."

...

In the small courtyard, the family reunited after a long separation.Auntie welcomed her husband and baby son with joy, and Uncle also embraced his wife and young daughter with joy.

Upon seeing her father, Xu Lingyin burst into tears and clung to his legs.

Uncle Xu Xinnian felt sorry for his daughter, thinking that she must have suffered under the strict teacher at the school.

Wearing an indigo-colored robe, Xu Lingyue stood on one side, her thin face with a slight smile, watching the scene.

As the eldest, she couldn't throw herself into her father's arms like her younger siblings, and she wasn't as favored by her parents as her older brother Xu Qi'an.

Being the middle child was always awkward.

"It's been a month, and my little sister has lost a lot of weight." Xu Qi'an walked over, took his sister's soft arm, and examined it carefully.

He squeezed her slender waist tied with a ribbon, and her chest began to swell. Her budding figure was particularly attractive.

With a melon seed face and big eyes, there were no flaws from afar or near. She lacked the soft charm of a woman but had the pure and agile beauty of a young girl.

Xu Lingyue instinctively pulled her hand away, then stopped herself. The warmth of her older brother's palm made her face flush, and her eyes rippled as she softly called out, "Big Brother..."

On the way home, Xu Lingyue, unusually, asked to ride a horse. After getting her father's permission, she rode with Xu Qi'an because she didn't know how to ride.

The sun was warm, and the wind on her face was a bit chilly. Riding a horse in the dead of winter was like riding a motorcycle without a helmet.

As a woman, Xu Lingyue clung tightly to Xu Qi'an and looked around with bright eyes, feeling a sense of security she had never felt before.

Xu Xinnian also had a younger sister in his arms.

"Second Brother, I'm going to throw up from the bumpy ride...."

"Then go back to the carriage."

"I don't want to. I want to ride on your neck."

Xu Xinnian frowned at Little Dou Ding's pestering.

Auntie in the carriage opened the curtain and revealed her beautiful face.

"Master, have you been fooling around while I was away from the mansion?"

Xu Xinnian and Xu Qi'an both answered in unison, "No."

Auntie looked at the two of them for a moment and thought, "It's not your business, don't be nosy."

...

Three days later, it was a day off.

Early in the morning, Xu Qi'an played with a jade and stone mirror, and the mirror reflected the shadows of a crossbow, a bronze mirror, and a simple knife, like a blurry painting.

He was using the mirror as a temporary storage bag. He put all sorts of things in it.

After having breakfast at the main house, Xu Lingyue said with an expectant expression, "Big Brother, you're off today. Come out with me."

Uncle Xu Xinnian remembered the incident with Zhou Lizong's horse a while back and frowned, "I'm off today too, Lingyue. Let Daddy go out with you."

Xu Lingyue hesitated for a moment and shook her head, "Never mind, I suddenly feel a little dizzy."

Uncle Xu Xinnian: "???"

Listen to music at the theater in the morning, take a nap at home at noon, and go to the black market at night. I have to break through to the Qi Refining Realm as soon as possible... Xu Qi'an's mind wandered.

At this moment, the gatekeeper, Old Zhang, hurriedly came to report, standing in front of the hall, "Master, two officials have arrived outside the gate."

"Officials?" Xu Pingzhi drank a mouthful of porridge and asked casually, "Where are they from?"Xu Er Lang said, "Brother, are they your colleagues?"

Xu Qi'an didn't care much, "Probably not."

The gatekeeper, Lao Zhang, said, "I don't know, but they're wearing black clothes and have strange copper gongs tied to their chests."

The three men from the Xu family trembled and silently looked at each other, all seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes.

Nightwatchers!

"Quickly invite them in." Xu Pingzhi quickly stood up and walked towards the front hall.

Xu Qi'an and Xu Xinnian followed behind, their thoughts spinning as they considered the purpose of the Nightwatchers' visit.

In the Great Feng Dynasty, the term "Nightwatcher" was not a good one, often associated with bloody words such as punishment, imprisonment, and house searches.

But honestly, with Uncle Xu's status, the Nightwatchers should not have bothered with them.

Soon, the three of them met the Nightwatchers in the front hall.

The two men were wearing standard black clothes, with short cloaks hanging behind them and copper gongs tied to their chests engraved with complex spells.

Both of the Nightwatchers were young, with the left one having a serious expression and rarely smiling. The right one was the opposite, with a smile on his face and his eyes squinting.

The smiling young man looked at the Xu family and said, "Which one is Xu Qi'an?"

Xu Qi'an took a step forward, "It's me."

The squinting young man nodded slightly, "Come with us."

Xu Pingzhi's brow furrowed and he stood in front of Xu Qi'an, bowing and saying in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, what crime has my nephew committed?"

The serious-faced young man furrowed his brow.

The other one said with a smile, "If you don't do anything wrong during the day, you won't be afraid of the Nightwatchers at night."

With the Nightwatchers' style of doing things, if they were refused, would they draw their swords and attack on the spot? Xu Qi'an put a hand on his uncle's shoulder and looked at the two Nightwatchers, "Okay, I'll go with you."

He followed the Nightwatchers out of the Xu residence. There was a carriage parked outside, and the serious Nightwatcher pointed to the carriage, indicating for Xu Qi'an to get in.

The smiling young man took off the copper gong from his chest and hit it hard. In the loud sound, he said loudly, "Be careful of fires in this dry weather!"

The Nightwatcher's yamen was in the inner city, far from the Xu residence, and it would take several hours to walk there. Therefore, arranging a carriage for Xu Qi'an was not because he was given special treatment, but simply to save time.

The Nightwatcher who rarely smiled drove the carriage, and inside the carriage, Xu Qi'an and the other young man sat face to face.

What did the Nightwatchers want with me? Was it for Zhou Li's case? It's impossible. I can't guarantee a perfect crime, but in the Great Feng Dynasty where there are no surveillance devices, they can't possibly find out that I kidnapped Miss Zhang. Even if there are any clues, they wouldn't have locked onto me so quickly...

Xu Qi'an reached into his pocket and lightly tapped the back of the jade mirror, pouring out a silver note. He took a look at it and saw that it was worth ten taels. He breathed a sigh of relief.

He sincerely handed over the silver note and said, "I am a law-abiding citizen who admires your dedication to the country and the people. I offer these ten taels of silver as a token of my appreciation. If you could tell me what's going on, I would be grateful."

The Nightwatcher's gaze fell on the silver note, and he smiled innocently with his squinted eyes, "The Nightwatchers have strict rules. If you take a bribe of more than ten taels, you will be punished with fifty lashes. More than fifty taels, you will be exiled. More than one hundred taels, you will be beheaded.""I obviously don't need to get beaten for just ten taels of silver."

Xu Qi'an showed a wry smile and was about to take back the silver, but he heard the squinting young man say lazily, "You want to extract information from me... you have to pay more!"

Xu Qi'an handed over thirty taels without any anger.

The young man smiled, his eyes narrowed to a slit. He put the two silver notes in his pocket and handed another one through the curtain, saying, "Thirty taels in total, ten taels for each of us, and the remaining ten taels will be used to play tea games at the official brothel tonight. It's five taels per person."

The serious young man took the silver note and replied with a low "Hmm."

The squinting young man crossed his legs and smiled at Xu Qi'an, "Although rules are important, when everyone ignores them tacitly, if you take them too seriously, you will be excluded."

PS: This chapter has three thousand words, my friends. Do you know the principle of equivalent exchange?