Chapter 48: The Cycle of Wind and Water

  "Who?" Mao Jie glared at him with a bad temper: "You were just coaxed away by someone, how did you come back again?"

  "Are you talking about him?" Zhang Fei pointed to the next room where Liu Xiu was, and suddenly lowered his voice by three degrees, leaned in close to Mu Nian's face, and carefully asked: "Sister, do...you have a grudge against him?"

  "Does he deserve it?" Ma Qiang's eyes rolled upwards.

  "What's going on?" Zhang Fei slanted his mouth, thinking to himself that she had first scolded the man as a swindler, and now at the mere mention of him, she was getting angry. If they didn't have a grudge, that would be strange. Right, she said he was a swindler, could it be...

  Meng Jiang saw Zhang Fei's eyes spinning around and knew he wasn't thinking good thoughts, so she raised her hand and shouted: "Don't make wild guesses!"

  "Alas, don't guess, don't guess." Zhang Fei accompanied with a smile, placed an invitation in front of Mao Qiang. "Sister, Ah-weng heard that sister came to Zhuo County, but stayed at the post house, and was very unhappy, so he asked me to invite sister to go home for wine."

  Mei's eyebrows furrowed, somewhat hesitant. Zhang Fei saw this and hastily added: "Also, he asked sister to extend an invitation to Mr. Lu. He said that during the discussion earlier, everyone was arguing loudly, and he didn't quite catch what the master said, so he'd like to invite the master home for a chat, also to receive instruction in person."

  Mao Niang listened and said with some concern: "I'm worried that Mr. will be free."

  Zhang Fei laughed and said, "Master Lu and his son are teaching students at the Peach Valley Temple. This time they came to Zhu Xian with Master to advocate for preparations against the Hu people. If even Sister can't show her face, then who else in Zhu Xian can invite him?"

  She smiled wryly, but didn't retort. She thought for a moment, adjusted her clothes, picked up the invitation from the table, stood up and walked towards the door, saying: "Alright, I'll go ask first, if Mr. is really busy, don't blame me."

  Zhang Fei nodded repeatedly and hurriedly added another sentence: "Also invite his two attendants at the same time."

  Mao Jie, who had already walked to the door, stopped in her tracks and turned around, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei hastily chuckled twice and repeatedly bowed his hands: "This is what Uncle ordered, saying that we should apologize together for our wrongdoing, no matter how you put it, after all, I was the one who beat him up."

  Mao Jie smiled helplessly and walked out the door to Liu Xiu's room, clearing her throat. Liu Xiu had been concentrating on listening carefully and had already clearly heard the conversation between the two people next door, but he remained seated without moving. Now, upon hearing Mao Jie's cough, he got up and walked to the front of the door. The two stood facing each other, one inside and one outside.

  "Miss Mao, something's up?"

  Mao Jie felt a bit embarrassed and ashamed, having not given them a good face before, but now she had to come over and ask for their help. Although she knew that Lu Min's negotiations with the other big families were not going very smoothly, Lu Min was after all a scholar, while the Zhang family was just a butcher with some ill-gotten wealth, and even her own Mao family didn't want to lower themselves to their level. It was hard to say whether Lu Min would be willing to give them face by attending this dinner. But now that the Zhang family had taken the initiative to invite Lu Min over to discuss something, it was indeed an opportunity for them, and who knows, maybe they could really break through the impasse.

  She handed over the invitation and explained Zhang Fei's intention, finally reminding Liu Xiu that although the Zhang family in Zhuo County was not the strongest, they should not be underestimated either. Liu Xiu smiled and nodded: "I'll go report to the master." He turned around and left.

  "Ah——" Ma Qiang called out, waving her hand, and Liu Xiu turned back around, looking at her in confusion: "Miss, do you have anything else to say? Just say it all now."

  "That... " Ma Jia rubbed her hands awkwardly: "Please, sir... put in a good word for us. Although the Zhang family is of butcher stock, Ah Fei... is a child who has a heart that yearns to learn and isn't one of those people who only have eyes for wealth."

  Liu Xiu nodded: "I understand." He turned and entered the inner room. Mao Qiang saw that his face was calm, but didn't know if he was willing to explain things to Lu Min on her behalf. She felt anxious in her heart, glanced at Zhang Fei who was hiding behind the door and peeking out, curled up the corner of her mouth, and forced a smile.

  Lu Min is reading a book, and although he can hear the conversation outside clearly, he has no interest in attending Zhang's banquet. On one hand, it's because Zhang's family are butchers by trade, with a low social status; on the other hand, Zhang's influence in Zhuo County is extremely limited, so even if they agree with his opinions, it's unlikely to have much effect, and would only bring him trouble for no reason.

  "I'm a bit tired." Lu Minlian didn't even glance at the invitation Liu Xiu handed over, and said to Liu Xiu without raising his head. His voice wasn't very loud, but Mao Jiang, who was standing outside the door behind a screen, heard it clearly, and her face suddenly stiffened, silently sighing.

  Liu Xiu hesitated for a moment and didn't leave. After a while, Lu Min saw that he still hadn't left and raised his head in surprise: "Is there something else?"

  "Sir, I think... it's worth a try." Liu Xiu saw that Lu Min had an unpleasant expression and didn't panic, lowering his voice to persuade: "The Zhang family may not be able to decide anything, but after all, they are a big household in Zhuo County and are also common people. If we can use their mouths to convey your good intentions to others' ears, it will have some effect. Sir, you are self-disciplined and working for the country, why bother with trivial matters? Those who achieve great things must make some concessions."

  Lu Min furrowed her brow, had a change of heart, put down the book in her hand, thought for a moment, and sighed: "Forget it, as you said, let's just go." After finishing speaking, she picked up her pen and wrote a few words on the invitation.

  "Yes." Liu Xiu hastily bowed and retreated from the inner chamber, turned around and bowed to Mao Jie, returning the invitation card that Lu Min had approved: "Miss, sir has agreed, and will arrive on time for the appointment."

  Mao Niang's heart had already cooled down halfway after hearing Lu Min's previous sentence. She still had some hope since Liu Xiu hadn't come out yet, but considering the pride of a scholar, she didn't expect Liu Xiu to be able to persuade Lu Min. Moreover, Liu Xiu spoke in a low voice, and Mao Niang couldn't hear clearly. She felt that her hopes were slim, and at this moment, when she heard Liu Xiu say that Lu Min had already agreed, she was momentarily stunned and didn't dare to believe it, staring at Liu Xiu with wide eyes.

  Liu Xiu asked in surprise: "Mao Niang, what's wrong?"

  Mao Jie finally reacted, suddenly feeling embarrassed and a bit flustered. She turned around and walked away, taking two steps before turning back to face Liu Xiu, her tone somewhat unnatural as she said: "Thank you."

  Liu Xiu smiled faintly: "You're welcome, miss, take your time."

  "Uh..." Mao Jie slowly turned her head, her eyes cast downward, looking at the door frame beside her: "A Fei said, please ask you two to go together."

  "This is natural." Liu Xiu said calmly: "Wherever the master goes, we will naturally accompany him wherever he goes."

  Mei didn't say anything else, turned around and went back to the house. Zhang Fei, with a joyful expression on his face, handed him an invitation: "Alright, go back and tell your father that Master will arrive on time. You can make preparations, don't let those inexplicable people come, lest they disturb Master's mood."

  "No problem, no problem." Zhang Fei smiled with his eyes open and took a step forward to the door, but instead of leaving in a hurry, he walked to Liu Xiu's gate and respectfully paid his respects: "Please rest assured, sir, that I will come to fetch you at noon to take you there."

  Liu Bei hastily stood up and returned a courtesy, but Liu Xiu remained seated without moving, merely nodding his head and saying indifferently: "Very well then." He then ignored Zhang Fei's eager gaze and began to examine some documents that Lu Miao had just handed him.

  Zhang Fei saw him, didn't get angry, licked his lips, and said a few polite words to Liu Bei, then walked away with a smile. Liu Bei returned to his seat, looked at Liu Xiu with some confusion, lowered his voice and asked: "Big brother, how did you persuade Mr.?

  "I didn't say anything, it's Mr. Liu's own idea." Liu Xiu replied lightly and lowered his head to continue reading the official document. Next, he had to follow Lu Min to do the bookkeeping, so he must quickly familiarize himself with the format of Han Dynasty documents.

  ;