After convincing the old madam, Xiang Han happily left. Before he could walk far, he was suddenly pulled aside by someone.
He turned around in surprise and saw Xu Yan Ze who was looking displeased. "What made you so happy?" He didn't even saw him standing there.
"Huh, you haven't left?" Xiang Han hurriedly looked around before pulling him along in a slow jog.
They ran the whole way back to Chenghui Courtyard. While he was still catching his breath, Xu Yan Ze had already passed him a cup of tea and waited for him to finish drinking before asking, "Is something up?"
"Yeah!" Xiang Han nodded, "Yan Ze, do you want to have something to do? Such as… managing people."
Did he still want him to manage that bunch of servants from Chenghui Courtyard?
Xu Yan Ze silently looked away, and lazily replied, "No thanks, I just want to sit around and wait to eat."
"Uh…" Xiang Han was struck speechless, and desperately wished to grab him by his shoulders and ask, where has your valiant spirit gone? What happened to your aspirations?
Why did such a strong male lead become so useless when it was his turn? Was it because he had a lover now?
Xiang Han coughed and feigned distress, "But… Grandmother has put me in charge of training the guards. I'm afraid I won't do a good job and wanted to ask for your help…"
"Training guards?" Xu Yan Ze was curious.
"It's like that, I told grandmother about the land tax…" Xiang Han repeated the events again and said, "It's impossible to lower the tax for the time being. For our safety, both Grandmother and I agreed we should train some soldiers."
"How many people?"
Xiang Han lowered his voice, "We'll recruit a thousand and if we add our current soldiers and servants, there are probably a thousand and five hundred people."
In reality, in order to prevent the regional commander's suspicions, the old madam was only prepared to raise a thousand soldiers. Twisting the words around, it was just recruiting a thousand people.
"One thousand men?" Xu Yan Ze grew solemn, "A private army is a grave crime."
"Cough, Xue Qing Lin has 50,000 troops but the emperor can't do anything."
Xu Yan Ze looked at him meaningfully, "The emperor is indeed powerless against him, but Xue Qing Lin has power over the Jin family. If he knows…"
"Then… 500 people?" Xiang Han hesitated.
Xu Yan Ze thought for a moment, "We'll recruit a few hundred people under the guise of setting up an escort service. If Xue Qing Lin is suspicious, we'll just say our family is looking to expand our business to the north and south region. If we purchase goods from the south, he probably wouldn't say anything. The Jin clan is huge, if we choose some from the other branches, it won't arouse suspicion."
"Mn, that's true." Xiang Han nodded, "I'll handle the clan's side, and you're in charge of recruitment."
Xu Yan Ze squinted at him, "Why should I help you?"
Xiang Han coughed softly, "We are husband and wife."
Xu Yan Ze pulled him closer and lowered his head, asking, "Then, how are you going to thank me?"
"Does this mean that you're agreeing?"
"How are you going to thank me?!"
Xiang Han was at a loss. Wasn't all this effort he'd gone through for this person's sake? Why did he still have to give thanks?
Hesitating for a while, he saw that there were no servants around and hurriedly tilted his head up. He planted a kiss against the other person's lips and swiftly pulled away mumbling, "Is this… okay?"
The light in Xu Yan Ze's eyes dimmed, and he didn't say anything before grasping his waist. With a pull, he fiercely kissed him back.
Xiang Han quickly shut his mouth and glared at him furiously.
Xu Yan Ze sucked his lips, lightly nibbling before deepening their kiss. After trying to pry it open for a moment, he looked towards Xiang Han with a defeated expression and murmured, "Open."
Xiang Han naturally refused, and they continued to glare at each other for a long time before Xu Yan Ze changed his target. Planting dense kisses from his neck to his collarbones, his hands stealthily began to undo his buttons and a pair of hands slid against Xiang Han's bare waist.
Unsurprisingly, Xiang Han felt his body go weak, like a fish out of the water. In a flash, all his energy was completely drained. Xu Yan Ze took the chance to press him down against the table and went in for the conquest once more until he successfully pried open the other person's teeth. He mercilessly invaded and tangled their tongues relentlessly.
"Mmf… let…" The kiss had drowned out his words. No matter how hard he tried to break free, his hands were quickly captured and pinned onto the cold surface of the table.
Gradually, he began to feel dazed and even his struggles began to lose strength. It wasn't until he heard a startled cry did Xu Yan Ze abruptly released him and hurriedly fixed his clothes.
Xiang Han finally noticed that his own clothes had been pulled open some time ago and was hanging loosely on his body. His face immediately reddened as he quickly turned around to tie his sash with trembling hands.
Tying it halfway, Xu Yan Ze picked up the belt that had fallen to the ground while holding back his laughter. Xiang Han froze. He glared furiously and snatched it back.
With a light cough, Xu Yan Ze finally turned to look towards the horrified looking Jin Cui, who was kneeling by the door. "What's the matter with you?"
She lowered her head and nervously stammered, "Old Madam requested for the young master and young mistress to go to the west courtyard. She said it's to visit the third master."
"Visit… my dad?" Xiang Han had finished rearranging his clothes and was astonished by what he heard.
"Yes, Nanny Li told me to pass on this message."
"Understood, you may return."
Xiang Han waved her away before asking, "Didn't they say it wasn't convenient just yesterday, why did they…"
"Let's go over first," Xu Yan Ze suggested. After all, the third master's sickness was intermittent, no one knew when he would regain his clear-headedness next.
"Mn." Xiang Han nodded and took two steps forward before stopping. He touched his slightly swollen lips and then his neck, and asked, "There aren't any marks, right?"
"Let me see." Xu Yan Ze carefully looked over it before pulling up his collar and shamelessly said, "No one can see it now."
Xiang Han touched his neck and glared daggers at him. He ran off towards the west courtyard without looking back.
When Jin Xue Li wasn't having an episode, he was no different from an ordinary person. Seeing Xiang Han, he smiled and waved, "Xiao Bao, come here. Let father hug you. Have you gotten bigger?"
The old madam stood by the side, dabbing at her tears. "What's there to hug? Xiao Bao has recovered, he's no longer the three-year-old child he was in the past."
Jin Xue Li froze, and asked in amazement, "Recovered?"
"He not only recovered, he even has a wife." The old madam said merrily.
Xu Yan Ze pressed his temples. Every time this happened, he felt his head hurt.
"Wife?" Jin Xue Li finally noticed Xu Yan Ze. After a moment, he finally spoke, "Too thin, not suitable for giving birth."
The fists under his sleeves clenched. Xu Yan Ze silently told himself: This was the little fool's father. Don't be rash. Don't…
At the same time, Xiang Han thought about the miracle fruit and felt depressed.
Although he knew his son had recovered, Jin Xue Li was used to treating him as a three-year-old child. Seeing Xiang Han's expression growing dim, he immediately panicked and stupidly tried to coax him, "Xiao Bao, don't be afraid. He just needs to eat some more, and he'll definitely be able to give birth."
Xiang Han couldn't restrain a smile from forming and sneakily glanced at Xu Yan Ze.
At the same time, Xu Yan Ze met his eyes and pointed towards his neck, scaring him into pulling his collar up higher.
It was at this moment that Jin Xue Li finally realised the words from earlier. He grabbed Xiang Han's hands in agitation, "Xiao Bao, father didn't hear wrongly, right? Mother said that y-you…"
Xiang Han was startled, and stammered, "Y-Yes, father. I'm fine now…"
"You've recovered. Great, great, great. This is too great. It's great that you've recovered! Wife… Wife, our child has recovered…"
The old madam's expression grew tense, afraid that the stimulation would cause a relapse of his illness and hurriedly went to calm him down.
Detecting the abnormality, Xu Yan Ze quickly pulled Xiang Han into his arms and looked warily at Jin Xue Li.
Xiang Han recalled how Jin Xue Li had gone into madness because of his wife, and the constant studying which left him unable to seek grievance. It should have been caused by the burden and stress in his mind.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help taking a step forward and joined his grandmother in calming him down. At the same time, he used his spiritual force to clear his mind. After some time, Jin Xue Li's condition began to stabilise.
Xiang Han let out a breath and smiled. When Xu Yan Ze saw his forehead covered in sweat, he didn't hesitate to help him wipe it off.
Seeing this, the old madam and Jin Xue Li exchanged a look and shook their heads with a chuckle. Xiang Han instantly grew embarrassed and broke free to use his own sleeves to wipe them.
Xu Yan Ze watched him silently, gripping the handkerchief in his hands. His gaze grew unpredictable.
The four of them sat in the west courtyard for a meal. Before they left, the old madam urged him, "Xiao Bao, if you're free, come visit your father more often. You and your father rarely see each other, I'm worried you will grow estranged. You should catch up with each other."
Xiang Han had just been thinking of ways to help Jin Xue Li to clear his mind and practice his spiritual force more often. He quickly agreed.
When they returned to Chenghui Courtyard, Xu Yan Ze sent away all the servants and closed the door. He stared at Xiang Han, "In the past, we saw each other even less…"
Less? We've already seen each other for several lifetimes.
Xiang Han immediately interrupted him solemnly, "We haven't finished discussing matters previously. We should forge a bylaw article."
Hearing this, Xu Yan Ze immediately stifled a yawn, "It's getting dark. Let's talk about it again tomorrow. It's time to rest."
Saying so, he pulled Xiang Han into the room against his struggles. "What time is it? Don't just think about resting all day."
"Sure. Then, let's do some exercise." Xu Yan Ze immediately pinned him to the bed. Xiang Han's limbs were practically useless and after flailing around for a bit, he helplessly said, "Just do whatever you want. It's just that I've already consumed the fruit. Who knows if I've already…"
On top, Xu Yan Ze let out a hollow laugh, and rubbed his head. "Little fool, why are you so cute?"
"Isn't it all because of you?" Xiang Han pushed him away with a straight face, "Let's just talk about my family's power. This matter is quite urgent. I don't have any troops on hand and can't investigate Xue Qing Lin."
"Your grandmother didn't allocate anyone to you?"
"Grandmother definitely won't allow us to go against the regional commander. She must not know of this."
"Alright, let's forge it."
Xu Yan Ze helplessly discovered that he was growing increasingly indulgent of this rascal.
Xiang Han was swift. It didn't take long for him to forge a bylaw article and prepare the escort service building. At the same time, they selected a few children from the clan.
When the old madam learnt of this, she called him over. "Bring your two cousins in too. They only know how to spend their time at the red-light district, no different from their father. So uncivilised."
"That… I'm afraid my two aunts may not agree." Xiang Han hesitated.
"I'll deal with them, you can just go ahead," the old madam's words were absolute.
Therefore, after the escort building was set up, Xiang Han instructed some men to tie his two cousins up and dragged them over. He prepared to hand them over to Xu Yan Ze to train them.