Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

After Yuan Tiangang finished fortune-telling, he leaned listlessly against the stone table in the pavilion in the bamboo sea, waiting for his dinner.

In the past three days, the maids sent by Lady Guichuan County to serve him have been replaced three times, but they are still unsatisfactory. This makes Yuan Tiangang, who is used to Fengji taking care of everything, feel very melancholy. The maids who were criticized by him left crying again, and he didn't know when the replacements would come, so they shouldn't miss his dinner. I believe Lady Guichuan County knows her limits on this matter.

He closed his eyes and rested, thinking about it here and there, and soon his sense of smell was aroused by the aroma of food. The sweet, silky and non-greasy milky aroma was his favorite Yu Lu Tuan, but it didn't smell like the Zhou family's chef's craftsmanship.

This one is even more delicious!

Yuan Tiangang suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the food box expectantly, but was suddenly startled. He saw the woman in front of him with hair as white as ebony, cheeks as red as apricot blossoms, and smiling eyes so bright that they could rival the stars. Who else could it be but Wen Jiao?

"You, you, what's wrong?" Yuan Tiangang was not good at speaking, and he was so shocked that he started to stutter.

"You didn't knock? But there's no door to knock on in your bamboo pavilion, so I'll definitely knock a few times." Wen Jiao placed the dishes one by one, "As for why he came in without telling me, it's a long story, why don't we talk while we eat, Yuan Ling, come and try the cooking of our cook, Madam Shen. Is it to your liking?"

Jade dew dumplings are Aunt Shen's specialty. This kind of dessert made with butter and cheese is always too sweet, but she has the ability to make it sweet and delicious, and you won't get sick of it no matter how much you eat. If Wen Jiao wasn't afraid of getting fat, she could finish the whole plate in one go.

With the delicious food in front of him, Yuan Tiangang didn't bother to talk nonsense. He picked one up and put it in his mouth. He chewed it and his breathing stopped for a moment.

"But is it better than the one in Zhou's restaurant?" Wen Jiao asked with a smile.

Yuan Tiangang was so focused on eating that he didn't bother to reply and just nodded.

"As long as Yuan Ling is satisfied," Wen Jiao said, "I have brought Madam Shen with me. From today on, I will be bothering you at your residence. Yuan Ling, don't worry. I know you like quietness, so I only brought two personal maids and Master Fengji with me."

“Cough, cough, cough!” Yuan Tiangang didn’t swallow it all at once, and his throat was choked. He coughed for a long time before he recovered: “This, how shameful!”

Wen Jiao shrugged, "I've figured it out. Yuan Ling originally couldn't leave Master Feng Ji, but now I can't leave him either. It's a pity that Yuan Ling has the habit of choosing his own place, and I can't change it. Otherwise, I would have to rob it and invite Yuan Ling to the Prime Minister's Mansion. Now that I can't go to the Prime Minister's Mansion, I have no choice but to move to your Xuanji Pavilion."

"Fengji, explain." Yuan Tiangang shouted loudly.

"Master Fengji has gone to help us arrange accommodation." Wen Jiao said with a smile, "Don't worry, Yuan Ling, your Xuanji Pavilion is big enough, and he will arrange for us to stay in a secluded place so that we won't disturb your peace and quiet."

"The Prime Minister actually allowed it?" Yuan Tiangang was incredulous. The Prime Minister's daughter moved directly into the home of a man who was not related to her. This would be earth-shattering news in any dynasty, right?

Wen Jiao rolled her eyes and looked up at the sky: "It's hard for a hero to resist the temptation of beauty, and my mother is a beauty."

In fact, when Wen Jiao told Madam Yin that she was going to move to Yuan Tiangang's place for a while, Madam Yin was so shocked that she almost dropped the Bai Yushang in her hand: "What? You're moving to Yuan Tiangang's house in Huoshan Order!"

"Mother, please keep your voice down," Wen Jiao caught the pitiful cup in time. The wine in the cup splashed out a few points and stained the back of her hand, red as agate. "I really have no choice. Mother also knows that Chen Guangrui is eyeing me covetously. Now I can only rely on Fengji's protection, but Yuan Tiangang really can't live without Fengji. I have heard clearly that he has a bad temper and can't survive if he moves away. I want to bring him to the mansion as a guest and let Fengji take care of him nearby. I think about it over and over again. Now I can only live with him quietly and wait until Chen Guangrui is sent away. I also ask you to keep the news secret and announce to the public that I am sick and need to rest in the farm outside the city."

Madam Yin turned a deaf ear to him and murmured, "I heard that he is not bad looking. He is over 30 years old, which is about the same age as my son. The current Huoshan Order is a fifth-rank official, so his rank is not low. At first, I thought he was weird and didn't look like someone who could start a family, so I didn't put him on the list of potential sons-in-law. But since Mantangjiao likes him..."

Who is interested? Tell me who is interested? Can the mother of this body think of anything else besides finding a second husband for Mantangjiao?

Wen Jiao was embarrassed and annoyed. She slammed Bai Yushang onto the table with force. With a "bang", the wine sloshed everywhere. She shouted, "Mother, I'm not going!"

"Go, go, go, why not go?" Madam Yin came back to her senses in time and said repeatedly, "Mingxin Suxin, why don't you hurry up and pack your young lady's luggage? Bring more rouge and powder, jewelry, and colorful clothes!"

Wen Jiao was completely afraid to go after hearing what she said: "I'd better report it to my father and see what he thinks..."

"He has no mother there. If you dare not agree, just try it." Mrs. Yin made a promise.

You always feel so bad for your daughter's marriage! Wen Jiao was going crazy.

Afterwards, she was packed up by Madam Yin and sent to Xuanji Pavilion in a manner that could be described as being kicked out of the house.

The days living together in Xuanji Pavilion were not as cramped as Yuan Tiangang had imagined.

First of all, Wen Jiao kept her promise and said that she would live in a secluded place and not disturb his peace, and she would never disturb his peace.

Xuanji Pavilion was the house that Yuan Tiangang had taken a fancy to after he was summoned to the capital. He spent a lot of money to buy it because he loved the bamboo forest with a spiritual atmosphere inside. This house was not only quiet, but also quite spacious. Fengji arranged Wen Jiao and her servant in the courtyard farthest from Yuan Tiangang. As long as they did not meet deliberately, they could really avoid seeing each other.

Secondly, the chef brought by Wen Jiao was really to people’s liking.

I don't know where this chef got his ingenuity from. He cooked all his specialties on the night he arrived and asked Fengji to serve them. It looked like a table full of dazzling array of dishes, but in fact, each dish was a small plate the size of a palm, which could be picked up with one chopstick. Even if you eat it all, you won't feel full. After Yuan Tiangang tasted each dish, the chef immediately finalized the menu and cooked in different ways. Compared with the days when he ate takeout every day in the past, the life now is undoubtedly much more comfortable.

Finally, of course, Fengji returns.

The fox fairy took action, and one was worth a hundred. From then on, there was no dust in Xuanji Pavilion. I would not trade this life for a fairy.

The only drawback was that every day at the hour of Mao, Lady Guichuan would go to his bamboo forest to breathe in the energy of the rising sun, and then practice sword for another hour. The place where she practiced sword was not close to the bamboo pavilion where Yuan Tiangang practiced his hexagram skills, but Yuan Tiangang was used to being alone, and he would inevitably become restless if he heard the slightest disturbance.

Perhaps the hexagrams come from the heart, because when he got up in the morning to cast a hexagram, he got the following hexagram: "Unexplained wind and rain hasten the passing of spring, and the peach and plum blossoms have fallen from the branches; there are people singing and laughing beside the peach trees, and I know that your mind is in a turmoil."