Notes on Longevity

Chapter 54 Yu Yan Descends the Mountain to Rescue Ping An; Prince Li Yuan Attempts to Kidnap People

Twenty years of literary and commercial life, the seventh day of the first month of spring, early morning.

The sun, just beginning to climb the hillside, lazily stretched, radiating a warm glow. Golden sunlight scattered across everything in its path. As it slowly reached its zenith, a voice reached its ears. It glanced in that direction and saw, atop a mountain covered in trees whose branches seemed to be waving to it, a magnificent Taoist temple. An elderly man in a blue robe, with white hair, addressed a similarly dressed young man before him, who now held a whisk: "Yu Yan, is the room ready?"

"Reporting to Master, everything is ready." The young man was none other than Yu Yan, Ping An's nominal senior brother. He bowed respectfully to the old man.

“Go down the mountain and bring the child back up. Someone wants to see him,” the old man said.

"Yes." Yu Yan bowed to the old man again, and after the old man withdrew his bow, he casually flicked the whisk in his hand and disappeared from the spot.

"So many years have passed, and you are still the same as before. It's just a pity," the old man shook his head and sighed, then turned and went back into the Ancestral Hall behind him.

The gates of Wuli Pear Garden remain closed to this day. In the reception room in the backyard, the old troupe leader sits in the seat of honor, his brow furrowed and his mind preoccupied.

Yang Youan, Xie Xiaoshuang, Zhang Wanyi, and the others sitting in other seats also looked worried, as if they had encountered something major.

In fact, the Pear Garden opened early today, but several disciples who had gone out rushed back from outside. They hurriedly closed the Pear Garden, which had not yet received any visitors, and found the old troupe leader to tell him who they had met on the way.

"Uncle, don't worry, I've already sent someone to find Brother Zhang." Yang Youan said to the old troupe leader, sitting in his seat with one hand holding the nervous Xie Xiaoshuang.

“But this isn’t a solution either,” Zhang Wanyi said, looking distressed, as she sat opposite them.

“Yes. I feel bad for constantly troubling Young Master Zhang like this. Even if he doesn’t think anything of it, I still feel uneasy about it.” The old troupe leader finally spoke up. “After today, I will take the late emperor’s scrolls to the palace. Even if I have to fight the Second Prince to the death, I will still file a complaint.”

"Why don't we ask Master Ping An's senior brother for help?" Zhang Wanyi was startled by the old troupe leader's words and voiced the thought she wanted to say but dared not.

“That’s not impossible. I’ll go ask Master Ping’an if I can ask his senior brother to come down the mountain.” Yang You’an stood up and looked at the old troupe leader. Although he said this, he still wanted to hear the old troupe leader’s opinion.

But the old troupe leader refused without even thinking: "No way."

He sighed, seeing the puzzled expressions on their faces, and said, "When Master Yu Yan first came, I actually thought the same thing. But think about it, Taoism is now the state religion and enjoys the emperor's favor. However, they cannot participate in state affairs. Although what we are doing doesn't count as a state affair, if we find them and have them speak to His Majesty, even if the matter is resolved, what will His Majesty think of us? And what will he think of Master Yu Yan? Have you thought about that?"

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.

"Now we can only wait for Young Master Zhang to arrive, and then I will go to the palace tomorrow to discuss it further." The old troupe leader said helplessly, he really did not expect these people to be so troublesome.

"Master! Master! Young Master Zhang has arrived." With the sudden sound of voices, Zhang Ze'an, dressed in gray and always carrying a folding fan, walked into the reception room.

"Master." He bowed to the old master, who immediately stood up, walked quickly to his side, and respectfully invited him to take a seat.

But he refused, and then shifted his gaze to Yang Youan and Xie Xiaoshuang, "I saw the Second Prince's men when I came here, so it seems there's some trouble ahead."

"The Second Prince's men?" The old troupe leader's expression changed upon hearing this. He looked towards the outside of the reception room, his solemn face and resolute gaze suggesting he had made a decision. "Then what should we do?" Yang Youan came to Zhang Ze'an's side and asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, with me here, even the Crown Prince wouldn't dare to do anything," Zhang Ze'an said with a smile.

"You really dare to say that." As soon as Yang Youan finished speaking, a group of people suddenly rushed to the door of the reception room. The person in the lead was dressed in gorgeous clothes and had a handsome appearance, but his eyes looked slightly sunken, which was very abrupt, as if he was very weak.

The old troupe leader and the others were startled by the sudden appearance of this person, and Xie Xiaoshuang also hid behind Yang Youan in fear.

"Who are you?" Yang Youan shielded Xie Xiaoshuang behind him, looking at the person who spoke with a serious expression.

"He is the Second Prince," Zhang Ze'an said casually. But the others found his words as astonishing, which made those who were already somewhat frightened even more worried. They hadn't expected the Second Prince to actually come.

"Since everyone knows I am a prince, why don't you kneel down?" The second prince was arrogant and disdainful of everyone.

"I don't even kneel before the emperor, why should I kneel before you?" Zhang Ze'an replied to the Second Prince with his usual nonchalant attitude. Everyone else, except Yang You'an, was greatly shocked by his words.

He doesn't even kneel before the emperor? They exchanged incredulous glances. The old troupe leader and his companions had assumed that Zhang Ze'an was only able to intimidate the previous men because his father was Zhang Erhe, but they never expected that he himself wouldn't kneel before the emperor.

"How dare you say that to Father Emperor's face?" The Second Prince was clearly furious. He glared at Zhang Ze'an and said through gritted teeth.

"Do you dare to cause trouble in front of Wenren?" Zhang Ze'an naturally wouldn't dare, but someone else would! Instead of answering the Second Prince's question directly, he brought up Li Chengru.

The second prince was clearly embarrassed; he forgot what to say when he heard Li Chengru's name.

"Look at you." Zhang Ze'an sneered, pulled Yang You'an in front of him, and said to the Second Prince, "Wenren rarely makes friends. Besides me, You'an is also his friend. When he left, he specifically told me to take good care of him after he left. Aren't you afraid that he will come back and bother you by causing trouble here?"

"Don't try to intimidate me with him. Nobody knows where he is now. I don't believe you can bring him back today. Otherwise, you won't be able to keep the person I want today." The Second Prince glared at Zhang Ze'an. Although he was afraid of Li Chengru, he was not afraid of Zhang Ze'an. He wanted to see if Zhang Ze'an dared to lay a hand on him, a prince.

"Why don't you give it a try?" Zhang Ze'an pulled Yang You'an back behind him again, getting into a fighting stance as if ready to make a move at any moment.

"what!"

Just as the two were about to clash, a scream came from outside the door.

The second prince frowned upon hearing the sound and turned to walk out. Yang You'an paused for a moment, as if he had thought of something, and he bypassed Zhang Ze'an and ran towards the door as well.

In the corridor of the backyard, a young man dressed in a Taoist robe and holding a whisk angrily shielded Ping An behind his back with one hand and tightly gripped the wrist of a young man with the other.

"It really is Master Ping An," he thought to himself.

(End of this chapter)