Chapter 259 - 179: You Can’t Go Wrong With This Person
Inside Wenyuan Pavilion.
The three took their seats, and a servant quickly brought tea.
"What brings you here today, Hui?" Wen Tailai asked, taking the lead as the host.
"Wen, I heard you’re hosting some sort of grand event. What do you think of my nephew here?"
Hui Hengwu laughed heartily and gestured toward Fang Yue, who was sitting ramrod straight and perfectly still, introducing him to Wen Tailai.
Wen Tailai didn’t respond right away. Instead, he looked Fang Yue up and down, his gaze flickering uncertainly.
On the surface, Fang Yue appeared average, even a little plain. He was the type of person who would disappear the moment he blended into a crowd.
However, while Wen Tailai might have looked rough and rugged, he was a meticulous man. He knew Hui Hengwu wasn’t one for jokes; if he brought this matter up, he wasn’t just shooting in the dark.
This meant the young man before him had to be remarkable in some way.
And sure enough, he soon discovered what it was.
This young man’s cultivation had apparently reached the level of Qi Sensing. Moreover, he hadn’t used any Secret Medicine; he had genuinely achieved it by refining his Primordial Qi through a Qi Cultivation Method. He was only one step away from assimilating that Primordial Qi and truly establishing his foundation in the Qi Transformation Realm.
Once a Martial Artist reached this stage, their cultivation was considered truly proficient. With a lifespan of two hundred years, they had genuinely set foot on the path to longevity.
Otherwise, a mortal’s short life passes in the blink of an eye. What does that amount to?
From that perspective, he was indeed qualified.
His Martial Arts were sufficient, but to marry a daughter of the Wen Family, he would need some literary talent as well.
"Mm, not bad, not bad. Nephew, how old are you? And are you betrothed?" Wen Tailai nodded, then quickly followed up.
’I have to be sure,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, a misunderstanding could damage the friendship between us.’
Hearing this, Fang Yue glanced at Hui Hengwu. He suddenly had the strange feeling he had been brought here for a matchmaking interview.
Nevertheless, he provided the requested information.
"Mm, mm."
Wen Tailai nodded. ’His qualifications are decent, and he was recommended by an old friend,’ he thought. ’I suppose I can give Fang Yue a chance to try.’
Just then, Hui Hengwu leaned over and whispered a few words in Wen Tailai’s ear.
"Is that really true?" Wen Tailai was so surprised he couldn’t help but ask aloud.
"Of course," Hui Hengwu replied with a small, confident smile.
After their cryptic exchange, Wen Tailai turned to scrutinize Fang Yue from head to toe once more.
"Excellent, excellent, truly excellent! Nephew, your literary talents are clearly extraordinary, so I won’t embarrass myself by testing them. Just wait for my good news, nephew. This is a sure thing."
Wen Tailai chuckled. His attitude toward Fang Yue had suddenly shifted, becoming much warmer, as if he were now treating his own nephew.
After staying in Wenyuan Pavilion a little longer, Hui Hengwu and Fang Yue took their leave.
"What did you just tell him?" Fang Yue asked. He felt like he’d been tricked into something, but he couldn’t figure out what. ’What was it Hui Hengwu said he was bringing me here for?’
He was supposed to be finding someone to watch over his family and protect them from that man Luo Wei’s threats while he was away.
After all, his family couldn’t hide in Xinyi Square for the rest of their lives.
Besides, with Fang Yue gone...
...that Luo Wei, being the local tyrant, had plenty of ways to lure his parents out of Xinyi Square.
Once they were outside Xinyi Square, orchestrating some kind of "accident" would be child’s play for the City Patrol Commander.
Fang Yue had expected some sort of negotiation, a discussion of terms. He never thought it would be settled with just a few simple sentences.
"Alright, don’t overthink it," Hui Hengwu said. "Whether this pans out or not, as long as word gets out, you won’t have to worry about your family’s safety for the next year or two."
Fang Yue nodded.
Just then, as the two of them reached the main entrance of Wenyuan Pavilion, they came face-to-face with a young man approaching. He looked like a young master, dressed in black brocade robes and waving a folding fan. His face was like powdered jade, his features delicate. He was accompanied by a Scholar’s Attendant who looked to be only twelve or thirteen, his hair tied up in a soaring topknot.
He brushed past Fang Yue as they crossed paths.
~~~~~~~
"Wasn’t that Steward Hui from the Observatory Examination Pavilion?" the young master asked, turning to watch Fang Yue and Hui Hengwu’s receding figures.
"Indeed. That was Hui Hengwu," a withered, ancient voice replied. The speaker was, shockingly, the young Scholar’s Attendant beside the young master.
If the Scholar’s Attendant hadn’t spoken, no one would have ever imagined that a boy who looked twelve or thirteen at most could possess such an ancient, world-weary voice.
It sounded like the voice of a man in his seventies or eighties, one with a foot already in the grave.
"So it was him. It seems the one beside him is a formidable rival, then," Wu Wende said with a faint smile, a hint of coldness creeping into his eyes as he glanced in Fang Yue’s direction.
Wu Wende was the third young master of the Wu Family from Geng Metal City. As he was not the eldest son and heir, he was fated to have no part in inheriting the family enterprise.
Therefore, he had set his sights on marrying into a powerful and prestigious family.
This time, he had heard that the Wen Family of the central Yujing City intended to find suitors for several unmarried women from their branch lineages.
And so, here he was.
’Even if it’s just a branch of the family,’ he mused, ’once I’m connected, can’t I leverage the resources of the Wen Family’s Main Lineage? Not to mention, just gaining eligibility to practice the Wen Family’s Secret Technique would make it all worthwhile.’
"Young Master, you are overthinking things. The one beside him has unremarkable looks. He is not listed among the top one hundred talents of Great Wei, nor is he among those who have passed the examinations to become a Scholar in the Two Capitals and Thirteen Provinces in the last five years."