Chapter 203 Leisure House

Next day, Qi Ning slept in and nobody disturbed him. Till noon, he was awakened by the knock at the door, so he got up and asked, “Who disturbs me when I am sleeping?”

It was the new steward Han Shou’s voice outside. “Marquis, somebody was sent from the mansion of Divine Marquis to invite you to dinner. He has been waiting quite a while. Will you see him?”

Qi Ning was stunned and wondered why somebody from the mansion of Divine Marquis came to invite him to dinner. Did they want to apologize for the misunderstanding that night?

He got up and opened the door. The servants brought hot water and helped him wash up. After everything was finished, Qi Ning went out. Han Shou was waiting outside and stated respectfully in a hurry after seeing him, “Marquis, Captain Qu came and said that Divine Marquis Ximen sent him to invite you to dinner.”

“Divine Marquis Ximen sent somebody to invite me?” Qi Ning was surprised and thought that he had heard the name Ximen Wuhen many times, but he had never seen this person. He had forgotten what happened the other day and didn’t take it to heart, yet Divine Marquis Ximen still sent somebody here.

When Qi Ning saw Tanlang Captain from the mansion of Divine Marquis, Qu Xiaocang, the latter still narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Marquis, I came to invite you to dinner as Divine Marquis ordered.”

“Divine Marquis is so nice.” There was a misunderstanding that night, but Qi Ning had vented his anger, and he didn’t want to be an enemy of Divine Marquis.

Since Divine Marquis Ximen sent Qu Xiaocang to invite him in person, he just showed respect for Qi Ning.

Although Qu Xiaocang was just a captain, the ordinary captain couldn’t be put on a par with this captain.

He was one of the seven Big Dipper stars in the mansion of Divine Marquis, the number two. As far as Qi Ning knew, except Divine Marquis Ximen, Qu Xiaocang was the second highest-ranking leader in that mansion.

Qi Ning would try to be polite to such a big shot.

“Divine Marquis has prepared liquor and dishes and is waiting for you.” Qu Xiaocang smiled. “He has said that if I can’t persuade you to come, I will wait at the gate of your mansion till you go there. Then I will go back with you to report back. Otherwise, I will stay at the gate all the time.”

Qi Ning laughed. “If I won’t go there in the next three days, will you wait three days and nights at the gate, Captain Qu?”

“If you hope so, I can do nothing but wait.” Qu Xiaocang showed a big smile, and his fair-skinned and fat flesh squeezed, yet he didn’t show disrespect. Although he was fat, he didn’t look hateful, while his big smile showed that he was easy to get along with.

Qi Ning knew that all people in the mansion of Divine Marquis respected Ximen Wuhen above anybody else, and their way of doing things was like that of the gangdom. Since Qu Xiaocang said that, he might do that.

Qi Ning was clear that Qu Xiaocang was shrewd, so he didn’t want to make things difficult for him. He responded with a smile, “Since you came here in person, I can’t keep you waiting.” He asked, “It’s time for lunch. If we go there now, won’t it be too late?”

He had been to the mansion of Divine Marquis, and it was far away from his mansion. It would take more than one hour if they went there in a carriage.

Qu Xiaocang smiled. “Thanks for accepting the invitation. Marquis, please don’t worry. Divine Marquis has said that he will wait no matter how late it is, and he doesn’t live in the mansion. In fact, his residence is not far away from here.”

“Yes?”

“The mansion of Divine Marquis is a working place. Divine Marquis lived in the mansion all the time in the early years, yet since…Alas, since his wife passed away, he moved out of the mansion and bought a small house not far away from here,” Qu Xiaocang explained. “Divine Marquis loved his wife a lot. He and his wife lived in the mansion for many years. After she passed away, he missed her when he saw everything there, so he left there.”

Qi Ning nodded slightly.

Divine Marquis Ximen’s residence was not far but only three streets away from the mansion of the Marquis of Honor. They went to the end of an alley, and it was Divine Marquis Ximen’s house. There was a simple and crude horizontal inscribed board on the door head, with two words “Leisure House” in it.

The courtyard was not big, but there were flowers and grass planted inside. In late winter, most of the flowers and grass were withered, yet a bamboo forest in a corner of the courtyard was luxuriantly green, adding some vigorousness to the desolate winter.

Duan Canghai followed them and protected Qi Ning, but when they arrived at the gate of the courtyard, Qu Xiaocang merely invited Qi Ning in, and he just stayed outside the courtyard with Duan Canghai.

Qi Ning knew that Ximen Wuhen was the leader of his mansion, of an extraordinary position in society and that he was one of the top experts of four kinds of arts, the most famous painter.

It was quiet in the courtyard, and there were three simple rooms. If Qu Xiaocang didn’t lead the way, Qi Ning would doubt that he came to a wrong place.

Suddenly he heard a rasping sound from a small room next to him. He looked at it, to see some smoke from the kitchen chimney on the roof. It seemed to be a kitchen.

He was curious and walked over, looking at the inside. It was a kitchen as expected, with a mud stove. An old man was cooking dishes by the stove with a scoop in his hand, and the aroma spread. The old man did it skillfully, looking like an experienced chef.

“Excuse me. Is Divine Marquis here?” Qi Ning asked that man.

That man raised his head and smiled as soon as he saw Qi Ning. “Wait a moment!” He picked up the cooked dishes and put them on a plate. Then he wiped his hand with a towel and walked over with that plate of dishes in his hand, saying with a smile. “Marquis, please go to the hall and have a rest.”

Qi Ning saw that this dish was stir-fried meat and asparagus. Although it didn’t look good, the spreading smell made people have a good appetite. He followed that man to the hall in the middle and saw a small square table in the middle, with three or four plates of dishes on it. All of them were common home cooking.

Qi Ning looked around. The furniture in the room was simple, but he didn’t see Divine Marquis Ximen. He was confused, while the chef took off the apron and threw it aside unexpectedly, saying with a smile, “Marquis, please have a seat. You just arrived in time. If you come earlier, this dish hasn’t been finished, and if you come later, the dishes will go cold. Come on. By the way, what kind of liquor would you like?” He sat by the table and brought two pots of liquor, adding, “This pot of liquor smells good and it is not strong, and the southerners will like it. This pot is sheezer that I have treasured up for a few years, given by a friend from the north. He said that when it is drunk, the throat will be burning hot. They call it North Wind Sheezer. Aha, this name is interesting.”

Qi Ning was stunned and soon realized something, so he asked, “Are you…Divine Marquis Ximen?”

The chef smiled. “Marquis, do you think that Divine Marquis should wait for others to serve him? Aha, I think that I am alive only in this way.” He raised his hand. “Hurry up and sit down to eat. If you don’t eat, they will go cold. Make yourself at home. When your father was alive, he often came here, and every time he came, I would personally cook these dishes that went with liquor, but we could eat all of them.”

Qi Ning finally confirmed that this man was really Divine Marquis Ximen.

He had heard Divine Marquis’s name since long ago, yet he hadn’t expected that Ximen Wuhen would be like this when he saw him for the first time.

Ximen Wuhen looked like an ordinary civilian, about more than fifty years old. He had a slender figure, plainly dressed, but he appeared to be a gentleman. Perhaps he was a handsome man when he was young.

He knew that in this era, few men cooked even in ordinary families, yet the leader of the mansion of Divine Marquis could wear an apron and cook in person, which was beyond Qi Ning’s expectation.

After they sat down, Ximen Wuhen poured a cup of liquor for Qi Ning first and suggested, “Let’s drink some weaker liquor. You are young and have never been to the north, so you may not be used to the sheezer of the northerners.” Then he poured a cup for himself and added, “I have heard about that thing and told the people in my mansion to punish them severely. Marquis, please don’t take it to heart.”

Qi Ning came back to reality and responded, “Divine Marquis, don’t bother. In fact, the misunderstanding has been cleared up on the spot.”

“It’s not a misunderstanding.” Ximen Wuhen shook his head. “These years, I don’t need to have a hand in many affairs in my mansion personally. I just let my first disciple Xuanyuan Po manage the mansion. Everything was fine, but since something like this happened, it shows the negligence of the mansion.”

Qi Ning smiled. “Many things happened, and it is inevitable to make mistakes. Divine Marquis, you don’t need to bother about it too much.”

“My mansion is a place to deal with cases, and every case is related to the forces of the gangdom.” Ximen Wuhen looked serious. “Even if the simplest case is handled carelessly, it may cause great calamity, so I can’t allow any accidents.”

Ni Qing looked solemn at once and expressed, “Divine Marquis, you are right. I said something wrong.”

“Eat some dishes,” Ximen Wuhen stated with a smile. “I invite you today because I want to apologize to you for that matter, and I hope that you can speak it out if you have suggestions about my mansion. Lastly, I want you to know where I live. If you are fed up with the feasts of fat things and want to eat something different in the future, you can come here.”

Divine Marquis Ximen looked gentle, which didn’t conform to his leading position, and it surprised Qi Ning. Qi Ning grabbed the chopsticks and picked up some dishes to taste. Then he thought that they were delicious, so he praised, “Divine Marquis, are you joking? If I want to eat home cooking, I can come here to have free meals?”

“Aha…” Ximen Wuhen laughed. “You are welcome at any time. I have to tell you first. When somebody has a meal here with me, there is a rule. After you taste the dishes, if you don’t eat all the dishes on the table, you are not allowed to leave. When your father was alive, he had never broken this rule.”

Qi Ning glanced at the dishes on the table. Although there were five different kinds of dishes, the quantity was not big. If both of them tried their best to eat, they could eat up the dishes.

At the moment, Qi Ning heard footsteps outside and a clear voice. “Father, are you drinking liquor secretly again?” While speaking, a figure came in in a flash. Qi Ning raised his head, to see that it was Ximen Zhanying.

Ximen Zhanying glanced at them and saw Qi Ning. Then he frowned in an instant. Ximen Wuhen looked at Ximen Zhanying. “Zhanying, you have arrived in time. Marquis is here. Come and pour us liquor.”

Obviously Ximen Zhanying didn’t have a good impression of Qi Ning. He snorted and turned to leave. Ximen Wuhen furrowed his brows and ordered in a deep voice, “Stop!”

Ximen Zhanying stopped in his tracks, while Ximen Wuhen stated coldly, “Didn’t you hear my words? Marquis is here. How can you be so impolite? He doesn’t bother about you for what happened two days ago. If it were another marquis, do you think that you can get away with it so easily? Why don’t you come over?”

Divine Marquis was worthy of his title. When he said in a cold voice, there was momentum that couldn’t be defied.