From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 36 Peaceful Matters
Meng Yuan returned to the palace and walked south towards Jingyuan.

What happened today was not a big deal, and Meng Yuan was in the right. The one who was injured was not the prince, but only a servant of the family.

Therefore, Meng Yuan was not too worried, and he still had Master Nie to back him up.

Of course, this time he completely offended Manager Liu. But Meng Yuan was confident that he had a strong fist and was not afraid of Manager Liu's revenge.

When he arrived at Xunmei's office, he asked the maid to pass on the message before going in.

Xunmei was leaning over the desk, counting the accounts. When she saw Meng Yuan come in, she casually said, "Sit down."

Meng Yuan was promoted by her, so she was not polite to him.

"Before noon today, I heard calls in the parade ground. Were you the one who started it?" Xunmei asked while calculating on an abacus without even looking up.

Is it the same kind of account that you use to support Deadpool?
This matter must be acknowledged. Meng Yuan immediately said, "Whatever you were thinking, you said it out loud. Did you disturb your sister?"

"It's not really a quarrel." Xun Mei raised her head, looked at Meng Yuan with a smile, and said, "I know you are loyal to the princess, and I know you want to do things for her. But just keep it in mind, there will always be a time for you to contribute in the future. Don't lead them to shout slogans in the future, the princess likes quietness."

As expected, there was no fool. Xunmei was an educated person after all, and he knew that those words were not right.

"Yes, I will listen to Sister Mei." Meng Yuan said.

"By the way, what do you want to do here?" Xunmei bent over the desk to settle the accounts again.

"I beat up Manager Liu's son in Zuiyue Tower." Meng Yuan said bluntly.

Xun Mei was stunned for a moment, then raised her head to look at Meng Yuan and asked curiously: "Zuiyue Tower? Why did you go there?"

"I'm going to borrow money from Master Nie." Meng Yuan said.

"..." Xunmei rubbed her brows and said seriously, "Didn't I just give you 300 taels of reward? The palace doesn't need you to eat and drink, so why are you going to borrow money?"

"After I received the bounty that day, I treated Master Nie to a meal and spent it all." Meng Yuan said honestly.

"..." Xunmei just thought it was outrageous, "Did you drink prostitute wine? Didn't I tell you not to follow Uncle Nie and learn bad things?"

"No, Master Nie wanted to go, but I refused him sternly. So we went to Zuiyue Tower. I didn't know that Menghuchun was expensive, so I bought several jars and spent all my money." Meng Yuan said.

Xun Mei held her forehead with her hand, "That place is a place for scholars and elegant guests, the price is more than twice as high as other places. Uncle Nie is really something, Zuiyuelou is Nie Qingqing's business, why does he want you to pay for it? He is bullying you for being honest!"

Meng Yuan remained silent, taking it as his agreement.

"How did you beat Liu He?" Xunmei asked curiously.

Meng Yuan remained honest and told the story of Nie Qingqing inviting him to dinner, the prince writing poetry, and Liu He's flattery.

"Master Nie taught me martial arts and taught me a lot. His kindness is second only to that of the princess and my sister. How can I allow others to bully Master Nie's daughter?" Meng Yuan was very upright.

"It's wrong to hit people. But what you did wasn't wrong." Xunmei nodded slightly, without much change on her face, and obviously didn't think it was a big deal.

"Sister Mei, Steward Liu is from the princess' hometown, so how come his son is the prince's attendant? Master Nie taught me that I can only be loyal to the princess with my body and heart, even if Prince Xin comes." Meng Yuan asked curiously.

"Everyone wants to move up, and we can't force them. There's no reason to delay their future." Xunmei said with a smile.

When Meng Yuan saw Xunmei had already said "we", he knew that the matter was settled.

As expected, Xunmei smiled and said, "Don't worry about this matter. In fact, the prince is a very honest person. He has always been immersed in poetry, calligraphy and painting, and doesn't care about other things."

Meng Yuan heard it clearly. This meant that the prince was stupid and would forget about this matter after a while, but he had to be careful about someone bringing it up around him.

"Just go back and practice martial arts, I'll come over later." Xunmei took it directly and said seriously, "If you need money again, come and tell me. Also, I know Uncle Nie values ​​you and you are close to him, but don't learn bad things from him."

"Thank you, Sister Mei." Meng Yuan expressed his sincere gratitude.

Just as he was about to say goodbye, Nie Yannian rushed in from outside.

"You little bastard, you're causing trouble for me again when I haven't seen you for a while!" Nie Yannian pointed at Meng Yuan as soon as he came in, looking displeased.

"Uncle Nie," Xunmei stood up and said, "He acted out of justice for you and Qingqing, and he didn't cause trouble for no reason. You don't have to be too harsh on him."

After hearing this, Nie Yannian glanced at Meng Yuan and thought to himself, I was right, it has only been a short while and everything has been settled.

"Uncle Nie, I'll just go over to take care of this matter. It's not a big deal." Xunmei said.

"You have too much to do, I'll go!" Nie Yannian immediately refused, "After all, I brought these people here, so I should deal with them."

"Okay." Xunmei didn't try to stand out, and didn't ask about Nie Yannian's methods. It was obvious that she knew what Nie Yannian was capable of. After a few polite words, Nie Yannian pulled Meng Yuan out together.

"It's a waste of your talent if you don't go out to have fun!" Nie Yannian said something unkind.

"Then Master Nie will take me there some other day to broaden my horizons." Meng Yuan said with a smile.

"You can write doggerel, so why don't you go?" Nie Yannian smiled as he walked, "Let's go and settle this matter."

"Will Prince Xin ask about it?" Meng Yuan was more worried about this issue.

"Prince Xin is a loner, he doesn't care about worldly affairs, he doesn't even care about the Crown Prince, don't worry."

Nie Yannian obviously knew a lot about the affairs of the palace. "Let's go find Mr. Wang, the old courtier. He is the prince's right-hand man and a good flatterer! Let him help and the matter will be settled."

"Can a Qingke really get things done?" Meng Yuan asked curiously.

"I said you are ignorant, but you are really knowledgeable. The prince is stupid, and the guests around him are there to make him happy, and he listens to them."

Nie Yannian chuckled, "Those guests accompany the prince every day to recite poems and enjoy the scenery. They make money on one hand, and restrain the prince on the other. Do they dare to take the prince to gambling houses or brothels? Prince Xin is not stupid, he is watching! No one will be on guard against such a stupid prince, so there is no need to hide his shortcomings. Just spend some money to have someone accompany you, don't cause trouble, and you will be rich and noble for the rest of your life. In the aristocratic families, all the unsuccessful children are like this!"

"So that's how it is." Meng Yuan really learned it.

"Remember, some things can be solved with swords. But in fact, most things can be solved with money. If it can be solved with money, don't use a knife." Nie Yannian walked while reminding, "Let's go and give some money to Mr. Wang, so that they don't mention you in front of the prince, and the prince will forget about you tonight!"

"Master Nie, I have no money." Meng Yuan said.

Nie Yannian frowned and asked, "Didn't Xunmei only give you three hundred taels of silver as a reward?"

You're still talking! Meng Yuan laughed.

Nie Yannian also laughed.

The two of them came to the residence of the prince Dugu Kang and met the old scholar Wang.

After a few more words, Nie Yannian took out two silver notes worth 100 taels and said, "This 100 taels is for tea, you can distribute the rest."

"Okay, okay." Mr. Wang did not refuse and accepted it frankly.

The three of them started chatting outside the prince's garden in perfect harmony.

After talking for a long time, even Liu He's name was not mentioned, and the matter was settled.

Back at the training ground, Nie Yannian put his hands behind his back and asked each of the young men about their recent situation. Then he asked them to practice again, and he asked Meng Yuan to bring a reclining chair and sit cross-legged on it.

"Teacher Nie, I want to help you!" Meng Yuan was short of money and spoke in a gang-hanging tone.

Nie Yannian did not respond, but only asked: "How many acupoints have you opened now?"

Meng Yuan did not hide anything and said directly: "Now all the acupoints on the front and back of the torso and the right arm are open, and only twelve are left."

Upon hearing this, Nie Yannian frowned and looked Meng Yuan up and down, then grabbed Meng Yuan's hand to look at it. After he had figured it out, he smiled.

"You're really capable!" Nie Yannian smacked his lips. "I remember telling you that a warrior's rank is more important than money. You should practice martial arts well now, and quickly reach the eighth rank. Then I'll take you to do big business!"

Seeing this good opportunity, Meng Yuan quickly agreed.

"The martial arts gangs in the city fight for people every spring. This year, there is a young man and an old woman who are fighting the most fiercely. They even started to assassinate each other. I have to go and deal with them." Nie Yannian stood up, took out two hundred taels of silver, hesitated for a long time, and then stuffed it into Meng Yuan's hand.

His look reminded Meng Yuan of the way Xiangling had given him travel expenses.

"I can't coax women, and you can't make money!" Nie Yannian stood up, said proudly, and walked out.

Meng Yuan did not let him go, and said, "Master Nie, the spring clothes have not been sent out yet. Hu Qian and Wu Changsheng have mentioned this to me several times."

"You guys handle these things. I have a lot to do. I want to focus on martial arts!"

Nie Yannian did not forget to tap Meng Yuan's nose and said, "The princess is going to go out for an outing in a few days. If you can enter the eighth rank, I will take you to meet the princess!"

Meng Yuan had always heard that the princess was extremely beautiful, but after cutting off his testicles for her and practicing with the knife for so long, he still couldn't see her. He didn't expect that the opportunity would come now.

Seeing that Meng Yuan didn't say anything, Nie Yannian rolled up his sleeves instead, looking like he was ready to do something big, as if he was ready to risk his life to protect the princess, or as if he was ready to practice his skills as a gelding.

(End of this chapter)