Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

Gao Hui felt her wrists were being pulled painfully by her father. She gritted her teeth and stood in the middle of the yard, looking at the young man in the Taoist robe in front of her, and then at Zhao Pan'er standing next to Zhou Feng.

Originally, the father and daughter had agreed that she only needed to humble herself and apologize to Zhou Feng. But now, standing here, and thinking about how her wet nurse had been punished by her father, Gao Hui could no longer suppress her anger.

She gritted her teeth, suddenly bent her knees, and knelt down on the bluestone ground with a thud: "Master Celestial, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have let the wet nurse go to the Imperial City Guard, and I shouldn't have let them cause trouble for Madam Zhao. It's all my fault!"

Even though she was apologizing, Gao Hui's eyes were red and tears kept sliding down her cheeks, but her attitude was stubborn and she showed no sign of sadness or fear.

Gao Hu, who was still standing next to her, was completely dumbfounded.

You didn't say that at home, you would just apologize, why did you kneel down?

His Gao family was, after all, a prominent and influential family in the capital city of Tokyo!

If Gao Hui did something wrong, she should just apologize.

But if they just kneel down and apologize to Zhou Feng like that, wouldn't that be putting the Gao family's face under his feet?

Gao Hu, his face ashen, was still unaware that a spoiled young lady like this, pampered since childhood and acting like a child, would not care about anything once she rebelled.

Aren't you afraid that the Gao family will be implicated?

Then I'll give you the best possible apology, okay?

"Hui'er...you..."

The words Gao Hu uttered were somewhat indistinct, not even as loud as the grinding sound of his clenched back teeth.

But Gao Hui had already knelt down, so if he simply pulled his daughter up, then kneeling would be meaningless.

Hopefully, Zhou Feng won't do anything too outrageous right now!

Zhou Feng looked at the girl kneeling in front of him, his expression stiffening.

Gao Hui looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old. Compared to Zhou Feng's age, she would be considered a child in later generations.

Now that someone else's child has done something wrong and is kneeling in front of you begging for forgiveness, and is so delicate and cute, Zhou Feng finds it difficult to question her.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Feng made a decision. He stepped forward and helped Gao Hui up, saying, "Miss Gao, please get up and talk. This matter isn't that serious."

Noticing Zhou Feng's actions, Gao Hu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

You should know that when he first received Yu Zhongquan's leg, he was terrified.

As a military general, he had been on the battlefield before and had seen many corpses and dismembered limbs.

But Zhou Feng's act of fabricating the other party's limbs and sending them over is itself a statement of his attitude.

Although the Gao family has some influence, if they were to directly clash with this Celestial Master who is currently enjoying the Emperor's favor, they might not necessarily achieve a good outcome.

It's already quite good that Zhou Feng can speak and act like this now.

After helping Gao Hui up, Zhou Feng withdrew his hand.

Women in this era should avoid excessive physical contact.

Right now, he's just helping Gao Hui up as an elder, so it's not a big problem. But if he keeps holding onto the girl's arm, that would be reckless.

"Mr. Gao, Miss Gao, please sit down and talk."

Zhou Feng returned to the stone table and sat down, gesturing to the father and daughter.

Sun San Niang and Song Yin Zhang had long since wisely moved away from the courtyard.

Because Zhao Pan'er is a party involved and Zhou Feng's fiancée, she can have an equal conversation with Gao Hu here.

But if the two of them were here, it would be considered immature, even an insult to the Gao family.

Gao Hu hesitated for a moment, then carefully sat down on the stone bench.

Upon seeing this, Gao Hui followed her father's lead and sat down to the side.

Zhao Pan'er was generous, pouring a cup of tea for Gao Hu and Gao Hui respectively, her expression normal, without any resentment or smugness.

Gao Hu held the cup of tea, unsure whether to drink it or not. He could only take a deep breath, put the cup down, and look at Zhou Feng with a serious expression. His tone became somber: "Master, I have come tonight to apologize and to have a face-to-face discussion with you."

"My daughter is young and ignorant, and was misled by that servant of Ouyang Xu, which led her to do such a foolish thing. I have already sent someone to speak to the Imperial City Guard, and they will never make things difficult for the Gao family and Madam Zhao again. As for the wet nurse who mediated between them, I have already dealt with her."

Zhou Feng raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

Now that Zhao Pan'er's identity has been backed up by the Imperial City Guard, even if the Gao family doesn't speak up, Lei Jing probably won't dare to provoke Zhao Pan'er again.

As for that wet nurse…

Without Gao Hu saying anything, Zhou Feng knew the other party's fate: he would surely disappear from this world.

But when Gao Hui, who was sitting next to her, heard the words "wet nurse," her eyes instantly welled up with tears again.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but Gao Hu glared at her and stopped her from speaking. She could only bite her lower lip and force herself to remain silent.

Zhou Feng glanced at Gao Hui, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then slowly said, "Observer Gao, your daughter is still young and inevitably has moments of confusion. Since you have already handled this matter, I will not say anything more."

Upon hearing this, Gao Hu breathed a sigh of relief and was about to express his gratitude when Zhou Feng changed the subject: "But there is one thing I would like to ask Observer Gao for a favor."

Gao Hu's spirits lifted: "Please speak, Celestial Master. I will do whatever it takes to accomplish!"

Zhou Feng waved his hand: "There's no rush to talk about it now. Chen Xiao will visit your residence later."

During the time he was away, Chen Xiao had been using his name to travel around, so Gao Hu and the others were not unfamiliar with Chen Xiao.

"Very well, I will await Lord Chen's arrival at home."

Gao Hu glanced at his daughter, whose eyes were red and swollen, then at Zhou Feng, and gritted his teeth before agreeing to the matter.

You see, he's not afraid of the other party asking directly, and he'd even be happy to pay some money or gifts to settle the matter; what he fears is this kind of emotional constraint.

But Zhou Feng chose the latter.

But what can he do when he's at my mercy?

For the sake of their daughter, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and accept it.

"As for Ouyang Xu, Observer Gao should know better than anyone what kind of person he is. Whether he is a good match for your daughter is something you know better than I do, so I don't need to say anything more."

"yes!"

Gao Hu's expression changed slightly.

He originally thought that Ouyang Xu had the talent of a third-place scholar, and that he had been taken in as a student by Prime Minister Ke. In addition, with the power of the Gao family, he would also have a place in the court.

Who would have thought that this guy not only became a favorite to curry favor with the emperor and alienated himself from the righteous faction, but also sent his servants to bewitch Gao Hui after leaving Tokyo, causing Gao Hui to do such a wrong thing!

If Ouyang Xu doesn't return to Tokyo, fine, but if he dares to come back, Gao Hu won't let him off easily!

After the matter was discussed, the atmosphere in the courtyard relaxed a bit.

Gao Hu took a few sips of tea, exchanged a few polite words, and tried several times to take Gao Hui's leave, but couldn't find an opportunity.

Zhao Pan'er had encountered countless spoiled young ladies like Gao Hui, so dealing with such a girl was naturally easy and pleasant.

Moreover, Zhao Pan'er was already engaged to Zhou Feng and had no relationship with Ouyang Xu, so Gao Hui naturally had no reason to be hostile to her.

Before Gao Hu and Zhou Feng had even finished their conversation, Gao Hui had already taken Zhao Pan'er's hand and was calling her "sister, sister."

Upon noticing this, Gao Hu couldn't help but take a deep breath.

This Zhao Niangzi was more shrewd than he had imagined. When faced with such a situation, she not only did not cry, make a fuss, or file a complaint, but she also never said anything bad about his family from beginning to end. On the contrary, she was very polite.

Such composure in a woman who runs a teahouse was even somewhat surprising to Gao Hu, who was an observer.

Finally, Zhou Feng spoke first: "It's getting late. Inspector Gao, please take your daughter back and get some rest. Let's leave it at that."

Gao Hu felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He stood up, cupped his hands to Zhou Feng and Zhao Pan'er, and said "I've bothered you" repeatedly. Then he grabbed Gao Hui's arm and walked out of the courtyard.

Gao Hui was pulled along a few steps by him, but she still turned back to greet Zhao Pan'er.

Zhao Pan'er smiled slightly, nodded at him, and didn't say anything more.

After the courtyard gate closed again, Sun San Niang peeked halfway out from the kitchen doorway, a rolling pin in her hand, and clicked her tongue: "Pan'er, you just let them go like that?"

"So what if we don't let them leave? Are we really going to detain them? That's an Inspector, a high-ranking official of the third rank!"

Zhao Pan'er took a sip of tea with a hint of helplessness.

They were able to get Gao Hu to personally come and apologize because of Zhou Feng's influence; otherwise, who would know these three women?

"Alright, alright, we hope our son will be magnanimous."

Sun San Niang muttered something, but didn't say anything more, and turned to walk towards her bedroom.

Zhao Pan'er and Zhou Feng were sitting in the courtyard, and they naturally had things to say, so she wouldn't go over and disturb their conversation.

Zhou Feng leaned back in his chair, mentally planning his encounter with Gao Hu that day.

The other party is a smart person, and their act of showing weakness to him is genuine.

As an observer with real power, Gao Hu wielded considerable influence, especially since Chen Xiao and others had limited connections with high-ranking military officers.

Having a high target as a breakthrough point would be ideal.

Conquering a country is easy, but maintaining it is difficult.

If you want to control the entire Song Dynasty with your own people, it's very difficult to do so without loyal followers in the army.

Now that we have Gao Hu, things are so much more convenient.

And then there's Ouyang Xu. Gao Hu's influence certainly won't extend to Xijing, but Zhou Feng has read the original novel, and that guy will eventually return to Tokyo.

We'll just wait for him to come back and then we'll take him down, and then we can do whatever we want with him.

"Thank you so much, Celestial Master, for standing up for me!"

"A verbal thank you won't do. There's still plenty of time. Let's have a proper private chat."

Seeing Zhao Pan'er's slightly strange expression, Zhou Feng stood up, put his arm around her waist, and walked towards the backyard.

"Hey? What are you doing? There's someone here..."

Zhao Pan'er's pretty face turned red, and she struggled a few times awkwardly, but she couldn't break free at all, even though Zhou Feng didn't use much force.

Along the way, all the subordinates turned to the side when they saw the two approaching, pretending they hadn't seen anything.

But this self-deceiving posture only made Zhao Pan'er more embarrassed.

"Pan'er, have you thought about when we should get married?"

Zhou Feng gently put his arm around Zhao Pan'er's slender waist and sat down in her boudoir.

In ordinary households, even if two people are engaged, a woman's boudoir is not a place that can be entered casually.

But how could Zhou Feng and Zhao Pan'er, who have been through so much, be limited by the rules of this world?

Moreover, even more outrageous things have already happened while the face was partially covered!

Zhao Pan'er was clearly taken aback by Zhou Feng's question. After a long while, she pursed her lips, her eyes instantly reddening: "I...I don't know. You are such a high-ranking official, of such noble status, while I...I used to be a musician..."

Her bottom line was that she would never be a concubine, only a wife.

At the very beginning, even though Ouyang Xu had become a third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination, she did not feel that she was unworthy of him because they had both come from impoverished backgrounds.

Now she was facing Zhou Feng. She hadn't thought much about their previous interactions, and was even deeply moved by Zhou Feng's agreement to marry her.

The reality is that even Gao Guancha, whom Ouyang Xu tried so hard to curry favor with, could only bow his head and admit his mistakes in front of Zhou Feng.

Even when he went to Kaifeng Prefecture, the officials there would still address Zhou Feng as "Sir".

Even within the inner palace, Zhou Feng could freely enter and leave, and meeting the emperor would not be difficult for him.

Could Zhao Pan'er really be worthy of such high-ranking officials and dignitaries?

"So what? A musician serves people with music, not with her looks. When I first met you, you were just like this, Zhao Pan'er. What's the difference between now and then?"

Hearing Zhou Feng's words, two large tears welled up in Zhao Pan'er's eyes, but she didn't wipe them away. Instead, she shook her head vigorously.

"This is different. Just like today's tea competition, I displayed my dancing skills in public, which was extremely undignified."

This was something she only thought of when Gao Hu left, and it was also the reason for her complicated expression just now.

As a partially veiled boss, she is free to order tea however she pleases.

However, as Zhou Feng's legal wife, her behavior during today's tea competition was clearly not dignified.

Zhao Pan'er had already begun to regret her actions from the moment Gao Hu and his daughter left, but Zhou Feng's reckless behavior made her temporarily overlook the matter.

"Don't overthink it. I don't care what your hometown is or what you've done. Like you said, I've already risen to such a high position. If you were still bound by so many rules, wouldn't I have served my purpose in being an official?"

Seeing Zhou Feng winking at her, Zhao Pan'er suddenly burst into laughter through her tears. The two looked at each other and then fell silent at the same time.

With the atmosphere already set, Zhou Feng naturally didn't hesitate to continue with the matter of his half-hidden face being disturbed.

This time, no one came out to bother us!

After a few seconds of stiffness, Zhao Pan'er also reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck.