I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 105 Returning home in glory
This time, Xie An left the house in a carriage.

Once you become the incense master, the temple will naturally be equipped with a carriage for travel.

According to the standard configuration of the hall, there was also a groom. However, Xie An had Yuhe, an all-round maid, so he dismissed the groom.

drive!
Yuhe, wearing a brown fur coat and leather boots, sat outside the carriage and drove the carriage towards the outside of the canyon.

Although the weather was cold, Yuhe did not feel cold at all. Instead, she was full of heroism.

She turned back to the carriage and asked, "Master, where are we going first?"

"Loi Lantern Town is prosperous and has more diverse New Year goods."

"Sit tight, sir."

The carriage broke through the wind and snow, and its wheels crushed the thick snow, leaving two long tracks.

Xie An sat comfortably in the warm carriage.

The seat was covered with a layer of exquisite animal skin, and there was a hot water bottle next to it. The heat emitted from it spread throughout the carriage, making it warm.

Xie An has now entered the realm of fine flesh, with fine flesh and bronze skin. He is no longer afraid of cold or heat, and does not need a hot water bottle or even a carriage...

But it still feels good to be taken care of.

Riding in a carriage gives you privacy and you don’t have to show up in public...which is also nice.

Just like in my past life, taking the subway and driving are both about getting from point A to point B, but driving is undoubtedly more enjoyable, except when there's a traffic jam...

Having lived to this day, Xie An has long understood:
There's no need to be overly obsessed with pursuing wealth and fame, but there's no need to reject them either. The only thing you need to be careful about is... not letting them wear you down.

If you are determined, wealth and honor will naturally come to you.

Suddenly, Xie An had another idea: Is it the same for beauties...?
"..."

After a while, we arrived at Water Lantern Town.

Although it was snowing, it could not cover up people's enthusiasm for the Little New Year.

The shops on both sides of the street were decorated with red lanterns and window decorations, creating a festive atmosphere. There were also countless itinerant peddlers and vendors, all of whom had red "Fu" characters hung on their stalls and shouted loudly to sell their wares.

Every household took their children out shopping, as candied figurines and candied haws were particularly popular. Almost every child clutched a candied figurine or candied haws. They skipped along the street, licking a candied figurine and considering it their greatest enjoyment of the year.

"Mom, I want that candy pig."

"After the New Year, it's the Year of the Monkey. I'll buy you a monkey candy figurine."

"No! I don't like monkeys, I like pigs. Mom, I want the pig candy man, I want it, I want it... Woohoo, Mom doesn't like me anymore."

"Okay, okay, don't cry, don't cry, then it's a pig."

"Hehe. Mom is so nice."

Looking at the mother and daughter, Xie An couldn't help but smile.

Yu He, who was holding Xie An's arm, couldn't help but smile and said, "Master, how about I go buy a candy man?"

Xie An flatly refused, "Those are for children. Let's go, let's go to Wufangzhai. And buy two good cotton-padded jackets."

There's a Wufangzhai branch in Wuqiao Town, and naturally in the more bustling Shuideng Town as well. While their New Year pastries are pricey, they're high-quality and delicious.

Xie An planned to buy one for each of his two disciples and Madam Li, as well as one for Chen Yuan, the owner of the pawnshop, and Chen He, the owner of the Chen family martial arts school and pharmacy.

As for the cotton-padded jackets, they were naturally given to the two disciples.

With Xie An's current financial resources, he could definitely afford to buy better furs or woolen coats. However, his two disciples were working at a pawnshop after all, and wearing too extravagant clothes would obviously make them out of place.

The jacket made of fine cotton is not only beautiful, but also warm.

……

Wuqiao Town.

Li House.

At the beginning of the morning, the mansion was already bustling with activity.

Chunlan led a group of servants and maids to sweep the house, paste window decorations, make dumplings, make sugar-coated melons, and bake fire cakes. As the hostess, Madam Li personally went to the kitchen to paste a new portrait of the Kitchen God and then burned incense to worship him.

It is a common custom to worship the Kitchen God during the Little New Year.

From the royal family to the common people, everyone would put up a new picture of the Kitchen God on this day, burn incense and offer sacrifices to him, praying for a good harvest and peace in the coming year.

Mrs. Li pays more attention to this point as she grows older.

The Kitchen God worship is one of the Five Sacrifices, alongside the household god, earth god, door god, and travel god. Each household places special emphasis on worshipping them.

Most civilians in the Daqian Dynasty lived a hard life and attached great importance to sacrifices, hoping to receive blessings from the gods.

After the Little New Year's Kitchen God Festival, every day is busy:

On the 24th, people welcome Nuo and beat the dust; on the 25th, they welcome the Jade Emperor; on the 27th, they offer sacrifices to the Spring Ox; on the 28th, they cut window flowers; on the 29th, they welcome the Door God... until the New Year's Day.

After finishing all this, Chunlan helped the frail Mrs. Li back to the living room and gave her a back massage.

"Madam, you are not in good health, so please don't do these chores yourself. Leave them to us servants."

Madam Li smiled and said, "While I'm still in good health, I'll do whatever I can to help. By the way, have you notified the pawnshop owner, Chen Yuan, to come to your house for lunch?"

"I was notified yesterday."

"And He Chunli. Although he's young, he's a court attendant after all, so he has to follow proper etiquette. Over the past year, although business has been a little slower than when Old Xie was there, there haven't been any mistakes. I've seen that little He handles things steadily, and he has some of Old Xie's style."

Chunlan didn't answer.

Ok?
Mrs. Li was quick to realize what was going on. "What's wrong?"

Chunlan stammered, "A few days ago, the shop ran into a loss. It was said that Master He paid two hundred taels for a pawned antique. But when the master asked another pawnbroker to take a look, they found it was worthless. Later, the master asked Chen Yuan to take the item to the Yong'an Pawnshop in the county town, but it was still worthless..."

The master was furious about this and even beat Master He with a stick."

Mrs. Li was shocked when she heard this. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Chunlan lowered her head. "The master won't let us say more... He said that the mistress is too kind to the servants, which is not conducive to disciplining them. And..."

"What else?"

"Also... somehow, the master found out that Madam had met with Master Xie privately before and offered him 180 taels of silver to redeem himself. Although Master Xie refused, the master is quite dissatisfied with it." Chunlan said, then prostrated herself on the ground. "Madam, I didn't say that. I swear!"

Eh.

Madam Li sighed and hurriedly helped Chunlan up. "I know you didn't say that. Get up quickly. The master is good in every way, but he's obsessed with money and treats his servants harshly. Which court official doesn't make mistakes? Reliable character is the most important thing."

Then, Madam Li took out a piece of silver from the drawer in her room and put it into Chunlan's hand. "Give this two taels of silver to Xiao He and ask him to buy some medicine to recuperate. And also, say a few good words for the master. Then, ask Xiao He to come to our house for the New Year's tea and dinner."

Chunlan pinched the silver coins and looked at Madam Li, whose temples were covered with white hair. She felt very uncomfortable and muttered, "If the master knew about this, he would definitely quarrel with Madam again."

cough cough cough.

Madam Li coughed softly. "I'm not in good health and don't think I'll live much longer. So I thought I'd do more good deeds, not only for myself, but also for Master and Shaoyun. A few nagging words are nothing. Go ahead."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Also, Shaoyun has been doing well in the Tiger and Wolf Sect recently. He's been recognized and given resources to practice martial arts. Family harmony is the most important thing. Shaoyun will be home soon for the New Year's dinner. You must call Xiao He over to prevent him from getting upset. Got it?"

"understood."

……

"Hiss! Be gentle. Don't take my butt lightly."

"Turtle, I haven't even applied the ointment yet, and you're already shouting?"

“Ah, you haven’t applied the ointment yet…Ah!!!”

In the room behind Li's Pawnshop, He Chunli's pants were pulled down, and he was lying on a bench. Han Li, who was standing next to him, grimaced before he even applied the medicine. When the medicine was actually applied, his grimaces turned into ghostly howls.

"Alright. Apply twice a day, and once more at night." Han Li took the ointment and muttered, "Master Li is too cruel. I've examined that jade pendant before, and it's worth two hundred taels, no doubt. How could it be worthless? Or is there something wrong with the method Master taught us?"

"How dare you say that... If you hadn't insisted on accepting the jade pendant, would I have agreed? I was just blocking the knife for you." He Chunli looked aggrieved.

Han Li, feeling extremely ashamed, took out a string of candied haws, squatted under a bench, and stuffed a large red hawthorn into He Chunli's mouth. "Okay, okay, Shopkeeper He, you're taking the blame for me. Until your butt is healed, I'll take care of you, okay? I'll do whatever you ask me to do."

Click.

He Chunli bit off a piece of hawthorn, which tasted sour and sweet. His mood improved a lot. "That's pretty good."

Han Li squatted on the ground, and when He Chunli finished eating a hawthorn, he raised the skewer and fed him the next one, serving him very well. And every time He Chunli bit down a hawthorn, he deliberately made a loud sound, looking very proud.

Han Li got angry and took away the last two fake skewers. "I fed you a candied haws, and you put it back on me. I won't feed you anymore."

hiss!
He Chunli immediately showed a pained expression, "Han Li, you are not a human being..." Han Li couldn't bear to see this and moved the skewer over again, "Forget it, it's not easy for you, so I'll give you some face. Just eat and enjoy, and don't glare at me."

He Chunli stopped showing off and enjoyed the hawthorn happily.

Han Li became melancholy. "Where did our master go? There's been no news for a year... Could it be...?"

He Chunli was very anxious when he heard this. He swallowed the hawthorn in his mouth without chewing it. "What nonsense are you talking about? Master practices health-preserving exercises. I heard that health-preserving exercises can prolong one's life."

Han Li said, "That's right. We learned the master's health-preserving skills and have been practicing them for a year. Our bodies have improved a bit."

He Chunli looked up at the falling snow outside, his thoughts racing. "Without Master, there would be no me today. I really hope Master is well... Master, I miss you so much."

Han Li also looked out the window and murmured, "Who doesn't? I miss Master a lot, too. I wonder if he's doing well now, if he's suffering from hunger and cold..."

The sky is full of flying snow, and the ground is covered with silver.

This kind of atmosphere can easily bring up sadness in people's hearts.

He Chunli asked, "Brother Han Li, do you still hold a grudge against Master for letting me be the Imperial Court Master?"

Han Li smiled bitterly, "Initially, I felt somewhat disappointed and resentful that Master had made you the Court Master. Because at that time, I felt that I was more suitable... But after this year, I realized that Master was right.

The pawnbroking business is a fraught one, prone to greed and disaster. Zhang Bing is a prime example. While I'm quick-witted, I'm also incredibly greedy. If I'd been a pawnbroker a year ago, I'd probably have ended up like Zhang Bing.

"Master is right, we are just servants. Even if we help the shop make a lot of money, Master Li may not reward us. But if the shop goes wrong, he will be beaten and scolded."

After saying that, Han Li looked at He Chunli's beaten butt and felt a little scared.

Even someone as cautious and steady as He Chunli could not avoid being cheated.

What's more, what about Han Li himself?
You have to know that the temptations faced by a Chaofeng master are enormous. Pricing is entirely up to the Chaofeng master, and even the slightest price adjustment can lead to significant profit. But if word gets out, it's all over.

Han Li asked himself if he could resist such temptation a year ago.

"I now understand that Master made that decision for my own good. He wanted me to gain more experience. Moreover, when Master was ill, you were the one who served him at his bedside. Even if I were Master, I would give you the position of Imperial Court Master."

Han Li is now much more mature than he was a year ago.

Previously, the two of them had followed Xie An, their master taking care of everything and protecting them from the elements. They hadn't thought much about it and had never truly faced the pressures of society or the complexities of the pawnshop.

It was only in the year after Xie An left that they faced the wind and rain and the beatings of society on their own.

He became mature in an instant.

He Chunli gave Han Li a thumbs up. "Brother Han is amazing, and has a good understanding. I've made up my mind. I'll be a court attendant for a few years. Once I've saved up enough money, I'll go and redeem myself from Master Li, and then I'll give you the position of court attendant."

Han Li was greatly surprised. "Then why are you going there?"

Hey.

He Chunli smiled. "I'm going to find my master and take care of him until he dies. I know I don't have much ability or ambition. I'm not like you, with a family... If my master hadn't valued me, I would have starved to death on the street. After I find my master, I'll marry him and have a child. I'll have my child recognize him as his godfather and help him see him to the end of his life."

I know that Master is just like me, a poor man with no family. He is an old man all alone, with no one to see him off to the end. It is very tragic.”

Han Li was greatly shocked. He suddenly felt that not only had he matured over the past year, but He Chunli was even more mature than him.

Snapped.

Han Li patted He Chunli's shoulder and said, "When you give birth to a baby, I will give you a big gift. Your baby must recognize me as his godfather."

"This... isn't good. You're two years older than me, so you're more like my uncle."

"No, just godfather."

"That doesn't make sense to me. It's either uncle or nothing. It's up to you."

"Fuck, so stingy."

At this moment, there was a crisp sound of footsteps outside the door, the sound of "clattering" made by small steps on the snow.

Han Li glanced outside the door and shouted, "It's Miss Chunlan, here you go, pull up your pants!"

He Chunli, the person involved, became even more nervous, "Help me quickly."

"I'll go stop her and tell her to come in slowly. Your hand isn't injured, so put it on yourself." Han Li glanced at He Chunli speechlessly, then walked out the door to greet Chunlan.

He Chunli looked at his hands.

"Oh, that's right..."

After putting on his pants, He Chunli picked up the dragon-head crutch left by his master and limped out the door, enduring the pain. "Miss Chunlan, why are you here?"

Chunlan glanced at He Chunli's buttocks and then handed over the silver: "Master and Madam asked me to come and see Master He's injury. Master He, take these two taels of silver. It's a token of appreciation from Master and Madam. Actually, Master was very upset when he returned, thinking he had hit you too hard. He couldn't save his face, so he asked me to come and apologize to you."

He Chunli was greatly surprised. He hurriedly bowed and shouted towards the direction of Li's residence outside the house, "Thank you, Master."

Seeing He Chunli accept the money, Chunlan finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Yes. Master He will come to the mansion for dinner tonight. But don't forget, I still have to go to work."

After leaving a word, Chunlan left in a hurry.

He Chunli shouted from the back: "Thank you for your grace, Master."

Han Li felt sorry for He Chunli, seeing that he was still using his dragon-headed crutch. "You're in this state, and you're still going to the Li residence for dinner. You can't even sit down for a while."

He Chunli said, "Do you think I want to go? How dare I disobey the master's order? But the Li Mansion has many rules, and I can't eat freely. I'll just have a few bites and then come back... Let's go to Feiyun Tower in town for dinner."

Han Li smiled and said, "Brother, I'll treat you. Just as a thank you for blocking the knife for me."

"Forget it, you have a family. You need to support your family with your meager income, so I'll treat you. But not too much, three meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and a soup at most!"

Han Li looked at the limping guy, his eyes reddened, and suddenly said hot-headedly, "No, I'll treat you. It's all my fault that you're like this."

"No, think more about your family. Your father's illness still needs money. You are my only friend in this world."

Han Li's nose felt sore.

He Chunli has grown a lot over the past year.

Although he is a few years younger than him, he has some responsibilities as an older brother.

……

Chunlan had just arrived at the door of the pawnshop when she noticed a crowd of people on the street making a commotion. She couldn't help but look in the direction of the crowd out of curiosity.

I saw a very luxurious carriage slowly approaching.

The tall, green-maned horse was exceptionally majestic, giving people a strong sense of oppression just by walking down the street. Outside the carriage sat a beautiful and valiant woman in a brown fur coat, sitting upright, driving the horse while looking around coldly.

Perhaps it was the luxury of the carriage, or perhaps it was the elegance of the driver, that attracted passers-by on both sides of the street to stop and watch.

Chunlan's eyes lit up the moment she saw the woman.

She has been in Wuqiao Town for so many years, but she has never seen such a graceful woman.

In addition, although the Daqian Dynasty did not prohibit merchants and common people from traveling by horse-drawn carriages, as far as Wuqiao Town was concerned, except for the Chen family martial arts school and Li Lilao's family, no other family dared to ride in a horse-drawn carriage. Although the Li Mansion was equipped with a horse-drawn carriage, it was rarely used.

The door is small and the carriage is too ostentatious.

Perhaps it was because of this that so many passers-by came to watch.

As the wheels rolled over the snow, the carriage finally stopped in front of Li's pawnshop.

The beautiful woman jumped off the carriage, then led a well-dressed middle-aged man in a green brocade robe out of the carriage and slowly walked towards Li's pawnshop.

In Chunlan's eyes, the middle-aged man was dignified, walked steadily, and his brows revealed a noble temperament that was different from that of passers-by, making him stand out from the crowd.

Chunlan felt that this middle-aged man was very familiar, yet different. She stared at him blankly for a long while.

Finally, Chunlan thought these two nobles were just guests, so she bowed and said, "Please come in, I'll go find the court attendant."

"Miss Chunlan."

A familiar voice and a pair of kind hands helped Chunlan up.

"Who are you?" Chunlan looked at the elegant man in front of her with a puzzled look on her face. In fact, deep down in her heart, she felt that it was Xie An. The main reason was that the man in front of her had such an extraordinary temperament, which was completely different from the Xie An in the past. Chunlan couldn't believe it, let alone recognize him.

"Oh, it's me, Xie An. During my stroke, you came to visit me many times and gave me two taels of silver. Have you forgotten?" Xie An could see that Chunlan was a little hesitant, so he took the initiative to lower his posture and acted very friendly and natural.

Chunlan's eyes gradually brightened, but she still kept bowing, "Thank you... Master!"

"It's me. Hurry up and get up. If Miss Chunlan is not busy, could you allow me to come in and have a cup of tea?"

Xie An's friendly and easygoing attitude instantly relieved Chunlan of most of the pressure. The distance between them didn't seem that far anymore. She hurriedly and excitedly led Xie An into the house. "Okay, it's snowing hard outside. Come in quickly."

While leading the way, Chunlan did not forget to glance at Xie An out of the corner of her eye.

Although she didn't know what Xie An had done in the past year, she knew Xie An was already a man of high rank when she saw his luxurious brocade robe and his aura as noble as pine and cypress. Now he was like this... he was returning home in glory!

(End of this chapter)