Chapter 87

Chapter 87

That afternoon, Ji Yan’an brought over a map. It was a topographic map of all of Mobei, with several areas marked out in red pigment.

“These are the plots of land you can choose from. Do you want to pick one yourself, or should I pick for you?”

“Also, your residence is right next door to the Ji Mansion.”

Ji Yan’an had chosen the house himself. The residence next door had always been empty. It wasn’t particularly large, and it wasn’t as refined as the homes down south, but it was still a blue-brick, tiled-roof house with a sizable courtyard. More importantly, it was sturdy and practical.

She had to pick the land herself?

Jiang Yunsui immediately sat down beside him and studied the topographic map with great seriousness.

After staring at it for ages, well… she didn’t really understand it.

“Where are we?” she asked, scratching her head in bewilderment.

Ji Yan’an: “…Why didn’t you say you couldn’t read it earlier?”

Jiang Yunsui glanced at him with her little eyes. Did he have some sort of misunderstanding about her? Did she look like a cultured person who could read topographic maps?

Ji Yan’an pointed to a spot on the map.

“This is Beizhen City.”

Jiang Yunsui said, “Then I want one that’s close by.”

If it was too far away, she wouldn’t be able to go look at it.

Then she stared at all the marked areas around Beizhen City, unable to make a decision. Little Mushroom had no idea how to choose.

Jiang Yunsui rubbed her little chin with one hand, looking as if she were deep in serious thought.

But for some reason, Ji Yan’an had the feeling that this little girl was about to get up to something weird again.

Sure enough, the very next second, the child closed her eyes, held a finger over the map, and began choosing at random.

“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe-where my finger lands, I’ll go!”

She opened her eyes and looked at where she was pointing. Uh… with her eyes closed, she’d pointed to the wrong place. There was nothing there. So her little hand made a turn and pointed to the nearest area circled in red.

“Here, then. Ji Yan’an, I want this one.”

Ji Yan’an was already very calm about the strange little tricks she pulled from time to time.

“Mm. Do you want to go look at it today?”

Jiang Yunsui was already planning what she should plant there. That was land that belonged to her.

“Not today. Today I have to go look at the house.”

With that, Jiang Yunsui had already skipped out the door.

Ji Yan’an put away the topographic map and shook his head.

Children really did have endless energy.

Jiang Yunsui had always known about the house next door. No one lived there, and when people said it wasn’t big, that was only in comparison to the Ji Mansion.

Because it had been unoccupied for so long, the door creaked when she pushed it open.

The sound seemed to wake some living thing inside. Jiang Yunsui saw black shadows dart out from the tall weeds in the courtyard.

“Meow!!!”

A shrill cat cry rang out. Jiang Yunsui looked up and saw a black cat standing on the wall, its emerald-green eyes staring straight at the people and dogs below.

“Woof, woof, woof…”

Zuozuo and Youyou quickly blocked Jiang Yunsui, barking at the black cat on the wall in warning, driving it away.

“Quiet, Zuozuo Youyou!”

Jiang Yunsui pinched the two dogs’ ears to make them settle down.

The two dogs obediently sat, though their eyes remained fixed warily on the black cat.

Jiang Yunsui was just about to speak when the black cat glanced at them, suddenly leaped onto a tree, and vanished.

She scratched her head. “I wasn’t even going to chase it away.”

Never mind. The house came first.

The first thing that entered her sight was the weeds in the courtyard, so thick they looked like a jungle.

Jiang Yunsui bared her teeth in dismay. There were so many weeds; she definitely couldn’t clean this place up by herself.

She would have to find helpers later.

But weeds couldn’t stop her. She continued exploring inside.

Rustle, rustle…

After much effort, Jiang Yunsui finally squeezed through the weeds. The house she saw was covered in dust, but it was still sturdy.

She opened the door.

The moment she opened the first door, several huge rats scurried out.

“Aaaaaah!!!!”

Jiang Yunsui jumped in place, startled by the big rats that had suddenly darted out.

She wasn’t afraid of big rats, but she hated them!

Those things ate mushrooms too. She had been bitten before, though mushrooms weren’t rats’ staple food, so it had only happened once.

Zuozuo and Youyou had already chased after them at the first opportunity.

But when dogs caught rats, they weren’t as nimble as cats.

So the hunt failed. The two dogs came back looking visibly dejected.

Jiang Yunsui patted their doggy heads and comforted them in her soft, childish voice. “It’s okay. We’ll get our dignity back next time!”

Putting the rats aside for now, she poked her head inside and looked around.

So many spiderwebs. So much dust.

There was also a rotten, musty smell from being unoccupied for so long.

First, she would leave the doors open to air the place out, let the sunlight in, and get rid of the smell.

Mm, time to check the next room.

This time, a huge spider with all its legs spread wide dropped down.

It landed directly on Jiang Yunsui’s head, scaring her into another burst of shrieking and flailing.

Her voice was so loud that even the people next door heard it.

Ji Yan’an: “…Didn’t she go to look at the house? What is she doing over there?”
Nanshu said, “I’ll go take a look.”

Before he could even leave, Nanmo came in.

“A spider.”

Yes, Nanmo had leaped up onto the wall to watch as soon as Jiang Yunsui let out her first scream. He had seen with his own eyes how she screamed at the sight of the rat, and how she hopped around when the spider fell onto her head.

The spider wasn’t poisonous, so he and Ji Si hadn’t interfered.

The little thing bouncing around in fright had actually been rather amusing.

Ji Yan’an lifted a brow slightly. “Tell me everything.”

Expressionless as ever, Nanmo coldly recounted what he had seen.

Nanshu looked disgusted. Such a funny incident had been turned into something so dry by Nanmo. He wanted to go see for himself.

“Young Master, I’ll go take a look.”

“Heh, that unlucky little thing. Who knows what she’ll find when she opens the next door.”

Ji Yan’an: He was starting to get curious too.

And so, before long, several people had sprouted on the wall of Jiang Yunsui’s new residence.

Yes, Song Jin, who had come looking for Ji Yan’an, also heard the news and ran over to watch Jiang Yunsui’s fun.

On this side, Jiang Yunsui finally managed to get the huge spider off her head and toss it into the grass.

Fuming, she pointed at the spider and scolded it in a fierce, childish voice.

“You’re too much! So what if you’re a spider and have eight legs? Does that mean you have to fall on my head?!”

There were seven large rooms in the house altogether. Aside from the main hall, the other large rooms were each divided into several smaller inner chambers.

She peered inside. There were still plenty of cobwebs, but it was quite dry.

Should she push open the next room or not?

Jiang Yunsui cheered herself on. She refused to believe it. The first two rooms had to have been accidents. How could there possibly be so many “little cuties” specifically waiting for her to open doors? Haha.

Then, full of fighting spirit, she opened the door to the third room.

Plop…

Something fell again. And once again, it landed on her head.

Jiang Yunsui vaguely felt something crawling over her head, accompanied by a hissing sound.

Goose bumps instantly rose all over her body. She reached up and grabbed at her head.

“Aaaah! Get off me!”

She didn’t even look at what she had grabbed. With all her strength, she squeezed her eyes shut, picked a random direction, and threw it.

When she realized she hadn’t been bitten, she patted her little chest in lingering fear.

Then she continued looking at the house. What had that been just now? She had no idea. What thing? There was nothing at all. See? She knew she couldn’t be that unlucky.

Meanwhile, the people watching the show were all a little dumbfounded as they looked at the thing flying toward them.

Nanmo stretched out his sword sheath to block it. The thing wrapped itself around the sheath and opened its mouth at Nanmo.

Nanmo reached out and pinched it seven inches from the head.

That’s right. It was a snake.

Song Jin couldn’t help laughing. “Come on, come on. Everyone guess what the Little Unlucky One is going to unleash from the next door.”

Nanshu was the first to respond. “I guess another snake!”

Song Jin said, “Mm, then I’ll guess something that hasn’t appeared yet. A lizard.”

Then Song Jin looked at Ji Yan’an and Nanmo.

“You two guess too. Let’s see which one of us gets it right.”

Ji Yan’an casually named an animal. “Bees.”

Nanmo said, “A rat.”

And so, the group sat on the wall and stared at Jiang Yunsui’s side.

Jiang Yunsui stood at the entrance of the fourth door, her little face full of conflicted feelings.

If she opened it, she was afraid something would fall again. If she didn’t, she felt terribly unwilling to admit defeat!

“Zuozuo Youyou, you come here.”

That’s right. Jiang Yunsui decided to let the two dogs do it.

She really was a great genius.

Under Jiang Yunsui’s expectant gaze, Zuozuo and Youyou pushed the door open with their paws.

Plop…

Something fell down. A huge clump of it.

Before Jiang Yunsui could feel happy that the thing hadn’t fallen on her, she heard a buzzing sound.

The smile that had just risen on her face instantly froze.

“Run!”

She turned around at once and bolted without even thinking.

“Awooo, awooo, awooo!”

This time, the ones screaming were the two dogs.

On the wall, Song Jin sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh, damn. That unlucky little thing isn’t going to bring those bees over to your estate, is she?”

Of course she was. Jiang Yunsui and the two dogs were running straight toward the Ji Mansion.

Song Jin said, “Ji Yan’an, I didn’t expect you to be such a jinx!”

Hurry down from the wall. Hurry and run.

The expression on Ji Yan’an’s face nearly cracked as well. He had really just said it casually.

Nanshu shrieked, “They’re coming, they’re coming! Protect the Young Master!”

Ji Yan’an said, “Have someone prepare smoke!”

What was the point of protecting him? Could tiny things like hornets be blocked?

Jiang Yunsui sprinted back at top speed. “Save meee!”

Behind her, the two dogs cried, “Awooo, awooo, awooo!”

The buzzing kept drawing closer. Shielded by the others, Ji Yan’an quickly fled back into his room, and everyone reacted swiftly, shutting all the windows tight.

Jiang Yunsui was also carried by Ji Si as he dashed into the room. After Zuozuo and Youyou squeezed inside, the door was quickly shut.

A dozen or so hornets still managed to fly in after them, but they were much easier to deal with than the swarm outside.

Once all the hornets that had gotten in were killed, the two dogs lay on the floor, whimpering and whining. They looked utterly pitiful.
Jiang Yunsui had been stung too. A few little red, swollen bumps had appeared on her face, and they hurt whenever she touched them.

Ji Yan’an had also been unlucky enough to get stung, though he had been stung on the hand. Fortunately, his face was fine.

People’s constitutions were strange. Some people only got red bumps after being stung, while others swelled up outright.

Mm… Ji Yan’an belonged to the unlucky sort. His hand had swollen into a pig’s trotter.

At that moment, his expression was dark as thunder.

Aside from the time he had been stung as a child after being too mischievous and poking at a beehive, he had never been stung again!

Today had forced him to relive the feeling of his childhood.

Of course, the unluckiest one was still Nanshu.

One of his eyelids had swollen so badly that his eye had turned into a narrow slit, and his upper lip was puffed up like a sausage.

“Your Heirshhip, boohoo, it hurds sho bad.”

He could not even speak properly.

“Pfft, hahahaha…”

Song Jin laughed without the slightest restraint. Jiang Yunsui had been stung five times herself, yet she was still in the mood to bare her teeth and laugh at Nanshu, who had only been stung twice.

The corner of Ji Yan’an’s mouth twitched. Looking at Nanshu’s face, even he could hardly bear the sight.

Nanmo turned his head slightly, the corners of his mouth lifting.

Nanshu was furious. So they were all laughing at him, were they!

“You unluckee eggh!”

He pointed at Jiang Yunsui and stamped his foot.

Jiang Yunsui reacted as if someone had stepped on her tail. “I’m not unlucky! It was Zuozuo Youyou! They were the ones who opened the doors!”

She was not unlucky. She was clearly a lucky Little Mushroom.

Besides, “Ji Yan’an was the one who gave me the house.”

All those things had come out of the house, so unlucky person = Ji Yan’an.

Ji Yan’an lifted his uninjured hand and flicked Jiang Yunsui on the forehead.

“What, do you want me to take the house back?”

Jiang Yunsui immediately put on a fawning smile, only to tug at her injuries and grimace from the pain.

“No, no. You’re not unlucky.”

The hornets outside had already been driven away with smoke.

When Shen Qingzhu was called back, what he saw was several injured patients waiting for him.

“Weren’t you all in the residence? How did you manage to provoke hornets?”

As he spoke, he took out medicine and handed it over.

“Apply this to the places where you were stung.”

Song Jin had not been stung. Watching everyone else suffer, he was laughing rather happily.

“A certain little child went off happily to look at her house. Strange, isn’t it? The first door she opened had a few rats run out. The second door dropped a big spider. The third door dropped a snake. These hornets flew out from behind the fourth door.”

As Song Jin spoke, Jiang Yunsui’s tiny shoulders drooped lower and lower, and her little face fell along with them.

Shen Qingzhu could not help but take another look at Jiang Yunsui.

This was not simply bad luck anymore. This was honestly a little uncanny.

The ointment was cool and soothing, and it felt very comfortable when applied to the stings.

The two dogs had suffered the worst. Because their fur got in the way, the medicine could not be applied properly. In the end, their fur had to be shaved first.

And so Jiang Yunsui gained two ugly, furless dogs.

This time, Jiang Yunsui truly cried. Her two beautiful, fluffy dogs had become so ugly that the sight made her want to cry.

Although the hornets had been brought over by Jiang Yunsui, she had not done it on purpose.

Who could have imagined those hornets would build such a huge nest on the beam behind the door?

So Ji Yan’an did not punish her. He only told her to finish copying the Thousand Character Classic she owed him as soon as possible.

For the next few days, she was not allowed to go anywhere. She was to behave herself and practice writing for him!

Jiang Yunsui pouted. Ji Yan’an was just jealous that she recovered quickly.

In just two or three days, Jiang Yunsui’s little face was tender and smooth again, with only a few faint red spots left.

As for Ji Yan’an, that hand of his was still fatter than his other one.

Nanshu went without saying. For several days, he hid in the Ji Mansion and did not dare go out, afraid of embarrassing himself.

Ji Si and the others also went to open the remaining rooms next door, and nothing happened at all.

This time, Jiang Yunsui had nothing to say. She only drooped her little face as if someone owed her money.

After Ji Yan’an recovered from the hornet stings, he was very busy for a while. As a result, as long as Jiang Yunsui was not caught, she never took the initiative to practice writing.

So even now, she had not finished copying a hundred characters of the Thousand Character Classic she had been punished with.

“There are still three Truth Mushroom today.”

Jiang Yunsui picked them and handed them to Nanny Zhou.

Nanny Zhou carefully put them away. “Suisui, go play by yourself. I’ll find someone to deliver these to Mr. Shen.”

The appearance of Truth Mushroom was entirely a matter of chance. Sometimes they appeared only once every several days, and sometimes they appeared every other day.

The number that grew was also very unstable.

However, they were truly useful.

Ji Yan’an had already used them to interrogate quite a few spies hidden in Beizhen City.

Because of that, the stability within Beizhen City had soared sharply.

So Ji Yan’an placed great importance on Truth Mushroom.

After Nanny Zhou left, Jiang Yunsui wanted to go find Zuozuo Youyou. She wanted to see how much fur had grown back on the two ugly-cute dogs today.