Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 1149: Worthy of Befriending

Qi Kangming put away his hatred for Elder Gu and, together with Gu Dexing and others, thanked Old Master Yan San, "The younger generation thanks you for your righteous help, sir."

Old Master Yan San waved his hand with a smile, signaling that they needn’t be so formal. After learning their identities, he straightforwardly said, "Since we’ve met by chance, it’s destined. Come, join this old man back to the residence, and we’ll have a meal of Glazed Ham, and you can discuss literature with Xiao Wu."

Yan Xiaowu had a gentle temperament, and Old Master Yan San knew well that the world of officialdom was not about literature but about various struggles, which could lead to mortal danger if not handled well. Although the Yan Family could protect Xiaowu, it was necessary for him to make more friends among those in his scholarly cohort to help each other in official circles in the future. Seeing that Gu Jin’an and Qi Kangming were decent, he invited them to his home.

Elder Xu was so excited that his legs were trembling. Oh God, did he hear it wrong? The Yan Family, a noble family of Linhe Prefecture, where family members have always served as Capital Officials, actually invited them to dinner at their residence!

Elder Xu looked up at the sky, wanting to see if gold was falling, wondering how they got so lucky to be favored.

Xu Zhao Ming, seeing his grandfather’s loss of composure, quickly supported him, stepped back two steps, and whispered, "Grandfather, don’t act like this, or people will laugh at us."

Upon hearing this, Elder Xu quickly came back to his senses, suppressing the overwhelming joy inside, though he could hardly contain it! 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

What kind of family was the Yan Family? A noble family with a heritage spanning hundreds of years. And what kind of family was the Xu Family? Three generations ago, they were still farming, only gaining some reputation in Tianfu County. In Linhe Prefecture, nobody even knew Xu Family was a thing. The family couldn’t even buy a good location house in Linhe, only managing to purchase a couple of remote ones.

In his excitement, Elder Xu walked towards Old Master Yan San, saluted, and said, "Lord Yan, I’m the head of the Xu Family from Tianfu County in He’an Prefecture. Thank you for inviting us... This is my grandson, who fortunately passed the Scholar exam this time. His name is Xu Zhao Ming."

He then pulled Gu Dexing over and said, "This is my granddaughter’s husband, Gu Dexing, also a Scholar, and is a clan brother to Brother An."

Scholar Qu wanted to pull his nephew over to say a word to Old Master Yan San, but upon realizing his nephew hadn’t passed the Scholar exam, he dismissed the idea.

Xu Zhao Ming and Gu Dexing both blushed, feeling embarrassed by Elder Xu’s forceful introductions.

Gu Dexing looked at Elder Xu and, at that moment, had the illusion that Elder Xu was possessed by his own second aunt.

Old Master Yan San was taken aback, but soon laughed, saying, "So it’s the head of the Xu Family, and both your young ones passed the Scholar exam, truly commendable. Come, let’s go to the residence for some drinks and a chat."

"Yes, yes, yes." Elder Xu’s steps were unsteady, feeling as if he was walking on clouds, following Old Master Yan San onto the Yan Family’s carriage, heading towards the Yan residence.

The Yan Family, being a noble family, had rules for everything they did, used, and ate. Even though this banquet was a spontaneous decision by Old Master Yan San, it still left Elder Xu and the others in awe.

Elder Xu sighed with emotion, realizing that noble families’ reputation wasn’t for nothing, even the servants had rules for every step they took.

While Elder Xu, Scholar Qu, and Lu Bai felt apprehensive, Gu Jin’an and Yao Youqian were quite relaxed, engaging in a literary contest with Yan Xiaowu.

Yao Youqian even taught Yan Xiaowu the hand game "Hua Quan." However, Yan Xiaowu, a noble son, had never seen a countryside hand game. Watching Yao Youqian put a foot on a stool and use rural slang to play the hand game, Yan Xiaowu was dumbfounded and couldn’t learn it at all.

Old Master Yan San was chatting with Scholar Shang, glanced their way, saw his grandson stunned, and laughed, sighing, "Xiao Wu has had too smooth a life, knowing little. It will help him to meet diverse people."

Otherwise, he might be harmed by others and still not believe it.

Xiao Wu had always excelled in his studies. As a noble son, he was raised with the best medicines and rarely fell ill, but he got sick during the Prefecture Examination, missing the top of the county.

Xiao Wu thought it was simply that Tong San was better and that his illness was an ordinary one without any conspiracy. But such seemingly trivial matters often hid big conspiracies.

Old Master Yan San laid out the evidence he had found before Yan Xiaowu, but after Yan Xiaowu’s initial shock, he asked, "Grandfather, could this be a misunderstanding?"

Truly, Old Master Yan San was fuming at the time, thinking that Xiao Wu was too naive. Xiao Wu’s path to an official career would be hindered by naivety, potentially dangerous for his life!

Realizing the severity, Old Master Yan San had been taking Yan Xiaowu along to show him the world’s evils, hoping to rid him of his naivety.

Gu Jin’an and the others bade farewell to the Yan Family only in the evening, while Yan Xiaowu hadn’t learned to play "Hua Quan" by the end. Yao Youqian expressed his disdain, saying, "Brother Yan, this won’t do. You’d hardly make friends in the countryside this way."

Lu Bai quickly tugged at his sleeve, reminding him, "If you can’t speak properly, don’t speak."

This was a noble son, and his grandfather was right there too. Speaking like this, was he courting death?

Yao Youqian retorted, "How am I not speaking properly? What I say is sage advice. We are to become officials. If we become a County Magistrate or County Government Assistant Officer, we will have to deal with the countryside. Handling countryside matters requires countryside ways; adopting the noble family or official highbrow methods won’t work."

Hearing this, Old Master Yan San looked at Yao Youqian with a new perspective and said, "This young man speaks wisely."

Initially thought to be crude, unexpectedly, he was meticulous—an insightful person, worthy of friendship.

Receiving praise, Yao Youqian laughed heartily but didn’t lose his manners, saluting Old Master Yan San and thanking him for the compliment.

Old Master Yan San nodded and personally saw them out of the Yan residence.

When Yan Xiaowu’s mother heard about this, she complained to Yan Xiaowu’s father, "Master, Old Master let Xiaowu associate with those country folks. Won’t Xiaowu lose his manners after a long contact?"

Yan Xiaowu’s father frowned slightly and said, "Don’t worry needlessly. Father cares most for Xiao Wu. Can he harm him?"

Seeing this, Yan Xiaowu’s mother realized her husband was annoyed and quickly smiled, saying, "The master speaks true; it was my fault for worrying too much."

However, she couldn’t help but worry, feeling that with the Yan Family’s status, there was no need to host a group of country folks. What kind of friendships could they form... She heard that some country lad even taught Xiaowu to play "Hua Quan," which sounded absurd. Why not engage in the refined drinking game etiquette?

Yet, regardless of Yan Xiaowu’s mother’s dissatisfaction, Old Master Yan San’s way couldn’t be changed. The fact proved that his decision today was correct, as today’s event indeed helped Yan Xiaowu in the future.

Returning to the residence, Elder Xu was still ecstatic and immediately set up an incense altar overnight, reporting to the Xu Family Ancestors that the Xu descendants have connected with a noble family, and another pillar was added to the Xu Family.

He even dragged Xu Zhao Ming and Gu Dexing to kneel and bow three times.