“What were you doing with the map?” Asked uncle Huai. I was not even startled, I got used to him popping up at any time of the day.
“The village have to be moved somewhere else, I was looking where they could all go to stay together and not far from here”
“Oh. Don’t worry about that. We will not make any major changes this close to the freezing winter, they might get a security upgrade even. I don’t think we will need to move them. There is plenty of space in the forest to make another village for the miners. This village would benefit as a hub”
“Do you have enough money to build a new village?” I asked
“It would be part of the initial investment of the mining operation. Let the future joint owners pay part of it”
“Does it mean you are accepting my conditions?” I tried
“Yes. All of them” Great!
“Your aunt is adding one though. She wants to help you find the residence and is insisting in decorating it”
“That works” She had good decoration sense
“You don’t seem surprised that we accepted” said uncle Huai
“Well, you are the city lord after all” That said it all, AnNan citizens were his number one priority.
“Tell me, when we want you to be smart, you are stupid and when we need you to be stupid you are smart?”
Was it a compliment or an insult?
…
I asked “You are not waiting for me to answer. Right?”
“I am just trying to find the correct words to tell you some news”
Oh, that talk...
“Your parents did not come out from the secret realm” uncle Huai started
“You and aunt hiding from me made me understand that” I said
“You … that’s it?”
“What do you want me to say? You told me about my father's legendary lack of direction. They got lost again and got stuck somewhere in the secret realm. They will come out when it opens again in a 100 years and I will make fun of both of them then”
“Xiao Shin, no one saw them after the first 6 months at the realm. I could not find any other information” said uncle Huai gently.
I gave him the ‘are you done’ look
“So what? Their enemies are strong but they do not meet the age requirement to pursue them there. This is the safest place for my parents to get stronger and 5 years would not have been enough. They need more time to cultivate and a sealed realm is perfect for that” Even if it meant lying to their only child and giving him false hopes
That secret realm opened every 100 years and only cultivators less than 99 years at core foundation or higher could enter it so next time it opens, I would not be able to go look for them.
“You are right, I will consider them stuck in the realm for the next 100 years” said uncle Huai “But those are not the only news I have” he continued
“First, your grandfather decided to do a funeral for your parents next week”
“I am not going. I am not gonna curse my parents to death” The Yu family did not hold a funeral in my first life. It was easy to see that they was doing it this time to make me meet them
“I will send a message to the Yu family then” decided uncle Huai. My reputation would not be affected even if they tried.
“How about your poisoning? Any additional information?”
“AnBa’s master gave us an antidote. We need to take it for 6 months but even without it, in 3 years or so we would have been fine”
“This is good” I said relieved “But don’t forget to take the antidote, no need to take risks. Do you want me to analyze it for you? Just in case”
Uncle Huai took out a bottle of pills. The analyzer confirmed it was pills that helps remove excess heat
“As for the culprit, we found out that the retired cook was killed a few months after he left the residence. His adopted son told us that he found a hidden stash of money after his death and old papers with recipes. Those papers took us to the writer; the son-in-law of our housekeeper” That must have made him angry
“...He confessed. The first interrogation was a mild one so he lied but after that proof he was interrogated again. It was the Liu Lu Jin the brother of you former aunt Liu”
“I see. Did you catch him?” I asked after some time
“Yes. It took a few days. When he heard about the housekeeper's son-in-law being questioned the first time he went to visit his sister but he came back after we released the suspect. We caught him before the 2nd interrogation though. Liu LuJin confessed easily. I…you see poisoning the city lord is the capital punishment not only for the traitor but for his family too. Liu LuJin was not married but your former aunt was an accomplice so both were executed last week along with the housekeeper’s daughter and son-in-law” I closed my eyes “And the children?” I asked with my eyes closed
“Anyone less than 20 years old would only be exiled. Your cousin is already exiled so she is not affected. The housekeeper’s grandchildren were all less than 10 years old. He and his wife, resigned and took them outside the city”
“They will have to survive the freezing winter” I said
“The housekeeper accumulated enough money over the years, they will be fine. Your cousin inherited your aunt’s dowry and she is living with your grandmother so she would be fine too” He was lying, the she-wolf was 11 years old. Whatever she has would have been or will be stolen by my grandmother.
However, even if she was young, for everything she did to me in both lives, I could not muster the will to help her a tiny bit nor would I ask uncle Huai to do so. Her mother and uncle tried to kill him and his wife!
“I might need to ask my grandmother why she did that to me” I said “But not now. I need to finish this assignment first, deal with the mine and buy a residence. Get ready for the winter too. Ah! I bought a few things from uncle Qin’s stores and forgot to collect them and pay for them!” I started to panic
“No worries, this village is covered. I already re-assigned an array master to protect the mine area, he can finish the arrays in this village. I plan to use higher level ones here and station a security team. As for the rest of the villages, I already requested the officials to change the schedule to have someone else do them. They might get array a bit later than expected but it will be done before winter”
“So I can go back?”
“Yes. I have to leave tonight but I cannot take you. You will use the carriage so it will take a few more days to arrive”
“What were you doing with the map?” Asked uncle Huai. I was not even startled, I got used to him popping up at any time of the day.
“The village have to be moved somewhere else, I was looking where they could all go to stay together and not far from here”
“Oh. Don’t worry about that. We will not make any major changes this close to the freezing winter, they might get a security upgrade even. I don’t think we will need to move them. There is plenty of space in the forest to make another village for the miners. This village would benefit as a hub”
“Do you have enough money to build a new village?” I asked
“It would be part of the initial investment of the mining operation. Let the future joint owners pay part of it”
“Does it mean you are accepting my conditions?” I tried
“Yes. All of them” Great!
“Your aunt is adding one though. She wants to help you find the residence and is insisting in decorating it”
“That works” She had good decoration sense
“You don’t seem surprised that we accepted” said uncle Huai
“Well, you are the city lord after all” That said it all, AnNan citizens were his number one priority.
“Tell me, when we want you to be smart, you are stupid and when we need you to be stupid you are smart?”
Was it a compliment or an insult?
…
I asked “You are not waiting for me to answer. Right?”
“I am just trying to find the correct words to tell you some news”
Oh, that talk...
“Your parents did not come out from the secret realm” uncle Huai started
“You and aunt hiding from me made me understand that” I said
“You … that’s it?”
“What do you want me to say? You told me about my father's legendary lack of direction. They got lost again and got stuck somewhere in the secret realm. They will come out when it opens again in a 100 years and I will make fun of both of them then”
“Xiao Shin, no one saw them after the first 6 months at the realm. I could not find any other information” said uncle Huai gently.
I gave him the ‘are you done’ look
“So what? Their enemies are strong but they do not meet the age requirement to pursue them there. This is the safest place for my parents to get stronger and 5 years would not have been enough. They need more time to cultivate and a sealed realm is perfect for that” Even if it meant lying to their only child and giving him false hopes
That secret realm opened every 100 years and only cultivators less than 99 years at core foundation or higher could enter it so next time it opens, I would not be able to go look for them.
“You are right, I will consider them stuck in the realm for the next 100 years” said uncle Huai “But those are not the only news I have” he continued
“First, your grandfather decided to do a funeral for your parents next week”
“I am not going. I am not gonna curse my parents to death” The Yu family did not hold a funeral in my first life. It was easy to see that they was doing it this time to make me meet them
“I will send a message to the Yu family then” decided uncle Huai. My reputation would not be affected even if they tried.
“How about your poisoning? Any additional information?”
“AnBa’s master gave us an antidote. We need to take it for 6 months but even without it, in 3 years or so we would have been fine”
“This is good” I said relieved “But don’t forget to take the antidote, no need to take risks. Do you want me to analyze it for you? Just in case”
Uncle Huai took out a bottle of pills. The analyzer confirmed it was pills that helps remove excess heat
“As for the culprit, we found out that the retired cook was killed a few months after he left the residence. His adopted son told us that he found a hidden stash of money after his death and old papers with recipes. Those papers took us to the writer; the son-in-law of our housekeeper” That must have made him angry
“...He confessed. The first interrogation was a mild one so he lied but after that proof he was interrogated again. It was the Liu Lu Jin the brother of you former aunt Liu”
“I see. Did you catch him?” I asked after some time
“Yes. It took a few days. When he heard about the housekeeper's son-in-law being questioned the first time he went to visit his sister but he came back after we released the suspect. We caught him before the 2nd interrogation though. Liu LuJin confessed easily. I…you see poisoning the city lord is the capital punishment not only for the traitor but for his family too. Liu LuJin was not married but your former aunt was an accomplice so both were executed last week along with the housekeeper’s daughter and son-in-law” I closed my eyes “And the children?” I asked with my eyes closed
“Anyone less than 20 years old would only be exiled. Your cousin is already exiled so she is not affected. The housekeeper’s grandchildren were all less than 10 years old. He and his wife, resigned and took them outside the city”
“They will have to survive the freezing winter” I said
“The housekeeper accumulated enough money over the years, they will be fine. Your cousin inherited your aunt’s dowry and she is living with your grandmother so she would be fine too” He was lying, the she-wolf was 11 years old. Whatever she has would have been or will be stolen by my grandmother.
However, even if she was young, for everything she did to me in both lives, I could not muster the will to help her a tiny bit nor would I ask uncle Huai to do so. Her mother and uncle tried to kill him and his wife!
“I might need to ask my grandmother why she did that to me” I said “But not now. I need to finish this assignment first, deal with the mine and buy a residence. Get ready for the winter too. Ah! I bought a few things from uncle Qin’s stores and forgot to collect them and pay for them!” I started to panic
“No worries, this village is covered. I already re-assigned an array master to protect the mine area, he can finish the arrays in this village. I plan to use higher level ones here and station a security team. As for the rest of the villages, I already requested the officials to change the schedule to have someone else do them. They might get array a bit later than expected but it will be done before winter”
“So I can go back?”
“Yes. I have to leave tonight but I cannot take you. You will use the carriage so it will take a few more days to arrive”
