NoGift

Chapter 84: the zhang household

"BROTHER, is it really alright for us to stay at that general's house?" Aurum asked, they were inside a carriage travelling towards the said house. "I'm not really comfortable living with strangers."

"You don't have to worry about that. Houses in Xing, especially those that belong to the upper echelon of society, composed of a number of buildings called courtyards. Instead of rooms, they have those. Being a general, I'm pretty sure his family is pretty well off. They will definitely give us separate courtyards. Which is enough to give us privacy. We don't even have to interact that much with the people there. Since, traditionally, wealthy families in Xing only ever eat together during dinner. Sometimes they even don't and just order servants to bring food to their courtyards. That's especially the case when the family is quite big," Argent explained in length.

"I see." As expected of her brother, Aurum thought. Her brother probably investigated a lot of things about Xing before coming here. Unlike her who only focused on the etiquette. "Ah, right, Xing practiced polygamy. So it's understandable to have a big family. Then would we encounter some concubine born daughters there? I heard they're terrible."

Argent looked interestingly at her sister. "And where did you hear that?"

"I read that number one best-seller on [Quill&Ink] since you told me that it would be our company's big project. All the concubine born daughters there are horrible. There's this one sister of the female lead who tried to sell her off to a brothel. Then there's another one who hired bandits to rape the female lead and destroy her face. Horrible, right?" Aurum said with a matching shudder.

Argent chuckled. Sometimes, her sister could really be so silly. "Don't use that story as a basis. And besides, if there really is a horrible concubine born daughter at the General's household, I'm pretty sure she would be no match against you."

"Yes, you're right, Brother. No bitchy concubine born daughter could bully me," Aurum said, raising her chin in a proud way. "By the way, Brother, according to Xing's etiquette, the two of us couldn't be in the same courtyard, right? Since Xing is kind of stiff in regards to men-women relationship. Even though we're siblings, since, technically, in their eyes your a guy, it would be bad if we share the same courtyard, right?"

"I guess so."

"Then Master, Black could stay with you since they would think we're both boys," Black said happily, sticking close to Argent while looking at Aurum with a gloating expression on his face.

"This kid, are you actually showing off right now?" Aurum asked, narrowing her eyes at Black.

"Not really. Black is just happy that he could stay with Master and Aurum couldn't."

"See? You're really showing off!"

"Now, now, stop bickering you two. We wouldn't stay in that place anyway. As soon as I have permission to go around the country in the guise of searching for locations, we would leave the capital immediately," Argent said.

"Eehh... Then Black couldn't show off to Aurum some more," Black said, pouting.

Aurum flicked Black's forehead. "Stop acting so disappointed about it."

After 30 more minutes of travel, the carriage stopped. The coachman immediately opened the door and the three inside went out. They immediately attracted the attention of some servants waiting outside the huge gate. The general went down the horse he was riding. The servants immediately greeted him. Then one of them took the reins of his horse.

"Mother?" Lei Feng simply asked.

"Madame is waiting for you inside, young master," the servant answered.

Lei Feng walked towards the twins and Black. "Let's go."

The servants opened the gate and the four walked inside.

Inside the main hall of the Zhang household, Madame Lin was drinking tea. Earlier, she received a call from her son saying that he was already back and that he brought the fourth prince's guests with him. He told her that there seemed to be a problem with those guests supposed residence so he volunteered to let them stay in their house.

So Madame Lin immediately told the servants to prepare two courtyards for their coming guests. Her son said there were three but the other one was a child and most likely would stay with one of the two other guests. Madame Lin had no problems welcoming them to her home. It's rare for that son of hers to actually invite other people to stay here. He must have approved of them in some way if he didn't even hesitate to invite them here. So Madame Lin couldn't wait to meet them.

Then a servant entered and told her that her son already arrived with the guests. She immediately stood up and went out of the main hall to welcome them. When she walked outside, she saw a group of servant girls huddling together. She couldn't help but hear what they were talking about. Because they all sounded so excited.

"Are you sure it's them?"

"Yes! I just saw them enter the main gate with young master!"

"Is it really the Blackbourne twins?"

"What you should say is that they're here with the young master!"

"I heard that Madame ordered some servants to clean two courtyards. Could that mean that they'll stay here?"

The older servant with Madame Lin cleared her throat and the group of servant girls immediately stopped talking. "Stop loitering around. Don't you all have work to do?"

"Yes! We apologize, Madame!" almost all simultaneously said and then they immediately scattered.

"Don't be too harsh on them, Zi Yu," Madame Lin said, this servant had been with her ever since she married into the Zhang family so she's quite comfortable with her company.

"You're too kind, Madame. They would get lazy if you don't scold them from time to time."

Madame Lin only smiled. "By the way, do you know what those girls were talking about?"

"I think they're talking about the one who created those sPhones as well as his sister."

Of course, Madame Line knew about sPhones. She had one herself. But she only used it for the call function. She thought it was more convenient than using a defaro crystal. But aside from that, she didn't really used the other Apps so she's not familiar with the things being posted on [Jiffy]. Madame Lin was about to ask why those servant girls knew what the inventor of sPhones looked like when she saw her son walking towards the main courtyard. And just behind him was a pair of teenage girl and boy with a child of about ten walking beside them.

Madame Lin couldn't help but be amazed when she saw the pair of teenagers. Not because she was not used to seeing foreigners but because of just how amazing their appearance were. The boy has silver hair and a pair of purple eyes while the girl has long golden hair and a pair of amber eyes. Both have delicate white skin and pinkish lips. They're like a pair of dolls.

"Mother," Lei Feng greeted his mother.

"Welcome back, Ah-Feng," Madame Lin greeted her son warmly before turning to the three foreigners. "These must be the guest you were talking about."

Argent observed the woman in front. She was wearing a coat with hibiscus embroidery and a matching purple dress inside. Her long black hair was tied behind her back in a simple style. The only thing decorating it was a silver hair comb. She was very petite. Having her son stood in front of her only made it more apparent. She had this quiet beauty, the kind that one wouldn't notice at first but once one do, it would be hard to look away.

"Mother, these are Argent Blackbourne, his sister, Aurum Blackbourne, and--" Lei Feng stopped when he was about to introduce Black. Because he didn't really know how to introduce him.

"He's my apprentice, Black," Argent said finishing Lei Feng's introduction. "It's our pleasure to meet you, Madame," she added, bowing to the woman in front.

"Thank you so much for letting us stay here," Aurum followed, making a perfect bow.

Madame Lin was immediately delighted. Because the two just spoke using the Xing language. And so perfectly too! Add that to their perfect manners and she really couldn't help but feel happy while watching them. "Oh my, welcome you two. Please treat this as your own home while you're here in Xing."

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General Zhang Qian Yu's laugh reverberated over the dinner table. He was a robust man. The black robe he was wearing couldn't hide his big and muscular build. His long black hair was tied in simple knot behind his head. There were laugh lines at the corner of his eyes, showing that the older general really loved to laugh.

"But still, I couldn't believe that a kid like you made that esufon. All the younger soldiers under me seemed to have one of those."

"Dear, it's called sPhone," Madame Lin corrected her husband.

"Isn't that what I said, esufon?"

Aurum chuckled. This older general was really funny.

"Ah, are you laughing at me, little lady?" the general asked.

Aurum showed an embarrassed expression.

Madame Lin immediately came to her rescue. "Dear, you're embarrassing Aurum," she scolded before turning to Aurum. "Come Aurum. Let's leave the men here and take a walk."

Aurum has no choice but to agree because not doing so would be rude to the Madame. The two of them stood up and went out of the main hall.

"Your mother seemed to take a liking to that little lady. If you don't watch her, she might just convinced the girl to be your wife," Zhang Qian Yu teased his son. Then he turned to the silver haired teenager. "How about it, kid, want to marry off your sister to our Zhang family?"

"Father," Lei Feng said in a disapproving tone.

Argent looked at the older general. "If my sister fancies your son, then sure, why not. But as I can see it, something like that is highly improbable."

"Oh, are you telling me my son is not good enough for the little lady?"

"No, he's just simply not her type."

The older general laughed again. "I like you, kid." He poured wine on a cup and put it in front of Argent. "Here, have a drink."

"Father, Argent is only 14. You shouldn't be offering him wine," Lei Feng said while taking the cup away.

"Xiao Feng, you're always no fun. That's probably the reason you're not the little lady's type," the older general said, shaking his head.

"Yes, I'm not. And please, don't call me Xiao Feng."

Instead of replying back, the older general turned back to Argent. "You practiced swordsmanship, right?" he asked, changing the subject. Since earlier, he already noticed the lean muscles on the youth's arms and also the calluses on his palms. Those muscles could only be formed if one was training intensively. And those calluses on his palms were pretty common to those who practiced the sword.

"Yes, General."

"Are you any good?"

Argent smirked, making her look proud and playful at the same time. "I'm more than good."

"Oh-ho, then you should go to the army barracks tomorrow after your visit to the palace. My men could definitely use a good sparring partner. Xiao Feng would take you."

The older general didn't wait for any of their answers and just stood up and walked out of the main hall.

Lei Feng sighed. "You can just ignore his invitation."

"It's fine. I think it would be fun," Argent said. She wouldn't have anything to do after her palace visit tomorrow anyway. It's a good way to clear her mind. Especially since there's still no relevant news from Jaxon and his men. "Your father doesn't have any concubine?" she thought of asking.

She's been wondering about that ever since dinner started. Since, aside from her and Aurum, the only people on the dinner table were Lei Feng and his parents.

"No. His and mother's marriage was a love match. Even though my late paternal grandmother wanted Father to take more concubines so he could have more children, my Father vehemently refused. Swearing that Mother would be the only woman in his life."

"And thus, you become the only child of the family. It's a miracle you didn't grow up a spoiled brat."

Lei Feng stared at Argent, a small smile on his lips. "Yes. It is indeed a miracle."

Because if that explosion didn't send him to this body, then the original 'Lei Feng' would surely be nothing but a spoiled brat. He's already that way even before Lei Feng took over the body. So yes, being able to exist in this world was indeed a miracle.

Argent was slightly confused. Because she just had a feeling that the 'miracle' she was talking about was completely different from his 'miracle'.