Chapter 3: The Unexpected Turn of Events

  Three days later, just as the sky was getting light, Tang An heard a flurry of activity outside his door that made it impossible for him to sleep. He turned over, pouting with his eyes closed and shouted out: "Little Green Sister, it's so noisy outside!"

  Xiao Lü is Tang Da's full-time maid, sleeping in the outer room. Normally, she is very alert and as soon as Tang An makes a slight noise, she will immediately rush in to see if the little kid has kicked off his quilt or fallen under the bed. However, today, Tang An called out twice, but after a while, there was no sign of the maid coming in. He couldn't help but feel surprised.

  Helpless, Tang An could only twist his little butt and get down from the bed by himself, his chubby little hands rubbing his eyes while putting on his shoes, dazedly walking towards the door.

  As soon as he opened the door and saw what was in front of him, the little kid suddenly froze, then wanted to make a run for it!

  Only saw a group of servants wearing the family's emblematic long shirts, hastily moving various valuable items out, with some holding something in their hands. Even a small, olive-green jade chamber pot for young children was not spared. In short, whatever was valuable was moved.

  She saw a servant holding her mother's favorite white jade screen, sweating and running out, occasionally glancing back, and the little girl immediately thought he was a thief with a guilty conscience. She lifted her small foot, stretched out her small arm, and swooped in front of the servant.

  That servant was already panting with exhaustion from carrying things, and suddenly he saw the young master of his own house blocking his way, his nerves tensed up, and his heart rose to his throat. Don't misunderstand, he was afraid of bumping into this frail and sickly young master of his own house, not because he had a guilty conscience like a thief who had been caught.

  Look at that family Ding stopped in his tracks, Tang An's face was frosty, coldly asking: "What are you doing? Is our Tang family treating you badly? Why do such sneaky things? Put the things back, go get your punishment, I won't report you to the authorities!"

  Tang An originally thought that the family servant would be grateful to him for getting the goods back, and should have immediately returned them with a humble attitude. But unexpectedly, the family servant suddenly looked gloomy and said: "Young master, this is what the old master ordered us to move. We didn't want to move either. Yesterday evening, the old master even gave us dismissal fees and told us to leave separately. I heard that the old master has sold off even the jewelry stores in the city, and this Tang Mansion has also been sold.

  This morning, Old Master still asked us to move these things, and everyone downstairs said that the Tang family is going to be ruined.

  Young master, old master and madam are all kind-hearted, I, Wang Er, have a good grasp of this. If the Tang family really falls, young master will have to live a hard life in the future. We all know that young master has been weak since childhood and needs nourishment, so we gathered some heart and gave it to him." The house servant said, and actually took out a package of silver coins from his pocket to hand over to Tang An, which was quite heavy, probably worth tens of taels, not a small amount for them.

  Seeing Tang An not accepting, Wang Er stuffed it into Tang An's hand: "Young Master, don't be disgusted with the little we have, it's just our heartfelt intention. I've been a servant in the Tang family for almost 5 years, watching you grow up. To be honest, we can't bear to leave the Tang family either. But the Tang family is on the verge of collapse. We also need to make a living, Young Master, please understand us."

  From now on, there won't be anyone serving you by your side. Young Master, please take good care of yourself. I, Wang Er, will wait for the day when you grow up and retake the Tang Manor. At that time, I, Wang Er, will come back to serve as your house servant again."

  As he spoke, Wang Er secretly wiped away a tear, gritted his teeth and picked up the white jade screen again, lowering his head and running out.

  Tang An was stunned after hearing this and his face turned pale.

  "The Tang family has fallen? The Tang family has fallen...... What's going on?"

  I recall those poor guys from movies whose families have fallen on hard times, either dying young with unfulfilled ambitions or barely scraping by with empty stomachs and dirty faces, and some even begging for food until they starve to death on the streets. In short, none of them ended up well.

  At this thought, Tang An felt a chill run down his spine. He suddenly rushed towards the front hall like a madman.

  "Father, mother, where are you?"

  In the front hall, Tang's father and mother silently watched the servants moving things, feeling reluctant in their hearts. After all, this was the home they had lived in for almost ten years.

  Xiao Tang An's face was bright red as he ran in from the inner room, and upon seeing his parents, he immediately found a sense of security. He hastily ran over, but didn't notice his foot slipping, and directly fell to the ground. Ignoring his scraped knee, he quickly got up again, enduring the pain, and rushed to his mother's side in three strides. Lifting his small face, he cried out: "Mother!" His voice was already somewhat choked with sobs, feeling a belly full of grievances.

  Tang's mother saw her son and thought of her brother, who said he would send his son to Mount Shu. The farewell was almost in sight, and she couldn't bear it more. Hearing her son's choked voice, her nose turned sour, and she lowered her body to tightly hug her son in her arms.

  At that moment, tears fell like a string of pearls, unstoppable, and flowed down with a gurgling sound.

  The more she couldn't bear to part with him, the tighter she held her son in her arms.

  "Mother, they say the Tang family is going to be ruined. Tell me this isn't true! Father doesn't gamble or offend people. Isn't the Magistrate the most powerful official in Zhongzhou City? Father and the Magistrate are good friends, what can we do to ask for his help? I know the Magistrate likes money, during holidays, I received a lot of pocket money. Also, when I was naughty, I took a lot of private money from father's study, almost ten thousand taels. If I give all this money to the Magistrate, as long as Father isn't guilty of treason or rebellion, it should be enough, right?"

  Tang An said, and then took out a milky white jade pendant from his bosom, which was his protective jade pendant. Made of sheep fat white jade, the whole body is milky white, and occasionally, a bright light can be seen from the edges. It is said to be something that flowed out of the imperial palace of the previous dynasty, with an engraving of a "Hidden Dragon Rising to Heaven" pattern, which is the treasure of the Tang family jewelry store.

  "Mother, I don't want this either. Let's give it all to the Magistrate. That way, we won't have to leave home."

  Tang's mother heard her son's warm words, feeling that he had grown up, but the tears flowed even more fiercely. For a moment, even with thousands of words, they were stuck in her throat. She could only lovingly stroke Tang An's head and turn to look at her husband.

  Tang Fu turned his back, secretly using his sleeve to wipe away the corners of his eyes that had already become moist. This scene touched him so much that even though he had been through many hardships and his heart had long since become as hard as stone, it couldn't help but melt.

  After a while, he beckoned to Tang An, signaling him to come over. Tang An glanced at his mother, who was gazing at him intently, as if trying to etch his youthful appearance into her memory forever. Perhaps she was also imagining how elegant and charming he would be when he grew up, winning the hearts of girls. But as his mother, she wouldn't be able to accompany him through that journey. (It's not that I won't live long enough, I'm not going to die on you. I don't have such a bad habit.)

  "Dad, mom won't say it, but you tell me, has our Tang family really fallen?" Tang An looked at his old father and asked with a seemingly innocent tone. Tang Father sighed, seeming to be muttering to himself, yet also asking his son: "What's the difference if we've fallen or not? Either way, this is no longer our home."

  "Defeated, just you wait until I grow up, I will surely take it back and avenge my grievances! If I hadn't been defeated, I would have taken those chattering maidservants out and severely punished them!" Tang An's voice was calm and steady, each word clearly entering Tang Father's ears.

  Tang Fu suddenly turned his head, his eyes fixed intently on his son. The two father and son locked eyes, seeing that his son's gaze was firm and unshakeable. Tang Fu suddenly picked up Tang An and placed him on the table at the same height as himself, turned around and pointed to the empty hall, laughing loudly: "I have a unicorn child like this, what more could I ask for?"

  At this moment, Tang An only felt that his old father's stout body was filled with the spirit of heroes and chivalrous men, so full that it was about to overflow.

  Tang Fu turned around, supporting Tang An's shoulder, and said in a low voice: "An Er, actually, Father's real name is not Tang Da Fu."

  Tang An nodded: "I know."

  Tang Fu looked at his son in surprise: "How did you know? Did I make a mistake somewhere?"

  "No. Because one day I heard my mother talking in her sleep, she kept calling out 'Tian Ge'. Later I asked my mother who Tian Ge was. At the time, my mother lied and said it was her brother. She thought I was only 4 years old, so easy to deceive. Later I investigated and found that my mother didn't have a brother."

  Also, your father's finger joints are very thick and rough. When you clench your fists, the bony protrusions on the back of your hand almost disappear. Although you're quite fat, a fat person's skin is usually smooth and shiny, but there are many calluses on the back of your hand and fingers. So I'm guessing that you must have practiced boxing for many years. However, your body is in such poor condition. Therefore, I conclude that your martial arts skills were ruined by someone, possibly due to internal injuries at the time. Is that right?

  I remember that every year after the deep autumn and before entering winter, you always coughed incessantly. It should be because your lungs were injured, right?

  And that person's palm technique must be mainly based on yin and cold, right?

  Tang An asked three "is it" questions in a row, each one more intense than the last, and each question dug deeper. Tang's father seemed to recall that rainy night when he was ambushed, his forehead suddenly bulging with blue veins, his face flushing red, his fists clenched tightly, and his chest heaving constantly. In his heart, a voice growled: "I want revenge!" But after a moment, Tang's father slumped again - he was already a useless person. How could he take revenge?

  He let out a sigh: "You're right about everything. My original name was Tang Tianjing, and the Jianghu people gave me the nickname 'Jade Hand'. But all that's in the past now. I thought the Jianghu was so big, there would be room for our family of three to settle down. Unfortunately, once you enter the Jianghu, it's like entering a deep ocean - trying to get out is just too difficult."

  "The Tang family hasn't fallen, nor have we offended anyone, yet we still had to move. My father only left the Jianghu with a story, but I know my son Tang An will leave behind a legend. Is that right?" Tang's father looked at Tang An with an intense gaze, even somewhat ferocious.

  Tang An didn't respond, he could understand the expectation in his father's words, but that weight was too heavy, and he didn't dare to take it on casually.

  His father saw that his son did not answer immediately and was not concerned. He then took out a blue-covered book from his bosom and handed it to Tang An: "I'm afraid I won't have the chance to be by your side in the future. You will encounter many joys or setbacks, if I can accompany you through this growth process, it would be great. But I'm afraid I don't have that opportunity. This book is written by me about the problems you may encounter in the future, when you encounter these problems, you can refer to my opinions..."

  Tang An took the book with a dull expression, raised his head and looked at Tang Father in confusion. Tang Father turned away, unable to bear looking again. But Tang Mother pulled out a garment from a small box behind her back, shining brightly, which was actually a golden silk brocade armor.

  "This golden silk armor was left by your grandfather, although it's not a top-notch treasure in the martial arts world, but ordinary swords and guns can still withstand one or two. You wear it, my son. When you're on the mountain, be careful yourself." As she spoke, Tang Mu wiped away another tear and took out a small package from her large trunk, handing it to Tang An.

  Tang An stared blankly at his mother, and by now he should have known that his parents' actions were meant to drive him away. He flung the small bundle back: "I won't leave Father and Mother!"

  "Even in death, we will not be parted!"

  But seeing Tang's parents only weeping on the side, they absolutely refused to yield. Tang An suddenly felt an irrepressible sadness in his heart.

  From that world to here, I thought it was hard not to live alone anymore. Didn't expect, so soon we have to part ways. I just wanted someone to accompany me on my birthday. When I'm sick, someone cares and asks if the medicine is bitter. Even if I die, there's someone who will be sad for me and shed a few tears. Why can't even such simple requests be fulfilled?

  What did I do wrong!!!!!!!

  Heavens, you're playing me!!!!!!

  Give the protagonist a reason to be a master, otherwise, who would want to be a young master and run all over the place.