Chapter Seventy Two.

Liushu County is generally cooler than Long Gong County. Just as its name suggests,there is a significant number of willow trees in Liushu County. Their county symbol is a willow catkin showing their appreciation for willow trees as the county's treasure.

At the governor's residence there is a small secluded open air pavilion at the flower garden. The pavilion has a small table inside with a stool. On the table there is a chessboard with black and white chess pieces laid on it. Beside the chessboard there is a small teapot and a cup. This is where Lord Wang spends most of his time. He plays chess by himself and drinks tea alone. After playing a round of chess he gets up to stretch and walks towards one of the large window openings and stands there for a while to enjoy the beauty of flowers. His facial expression is serene as usual. He catches the sight of an approaching flying pigeon and extends his hand for the pigeon to land there. He gently holds the pigeon and takes the pigeon post tube it's carrying and releases it to fly away. He opens the pigeon post tube and takes out a small handwritten letter and reads it. It's a letter informing him about Du Mei Lin's appearance in Meanders City. The serene expression on his face immediately goes away and is replaced by an anxious one.

Lord Wang,Wang Jing is the governor of Liushu County and he was Du Mei Lin's husband some years ago. When Lord Wang married his second wife Wan Zetian,Du Mei Lin moved out with her son and disappeared since then.

Lord Du Yuan is seated in his study reviewing official documents. He's so immersed into reading the documents that he doesn't notice someone coming in. A tray with a teapot and a cup is gently placed on the table. He doesn't look up as he thinks it's one of the maids that has brought him tea as usual,but the person stands there for a while till he feels the prying presence of the intruder. He looks up only to meet Madam Ruo's warm eyes.

"A-Yuan long time no see."

Lord Du Yuan springs up from his seat and subconsciously pushes his chair backwards due to shock.

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost? It's me, Mei Lin."

Madam Ruo opens her arms wide and invites him into a hug. When it comes to Madam Ruo,Du Yuan is still the little brother that needs to taken care of . Lord Du Yuan runs into her arms and embraces her. Lord Du Yuan has probably never been this happy.

After they break the hug,they settle down to talk about what has happened over the years.

"Why didn't you attend father's funeral?"Du Yuan asks.

"I was there but I had disguised myself so you wouldn't see me."

"What about the child you mentioned?"

"Back then I didn't have money to fend for myself and the child so I gave him to a martial brother of mine. I already checked with the sect and learnt that he already left."

"Are you still looking for him?"

"I gave up and let nature takes its course like how it has led me to you."

As they are halfway through their talk,Lord Xu Kong arrives. Madam Ruo leaves them to talk and promises to visit another day.

"I've never seen you this happy in all these years we've known each other. "

"My sister is still wild as she used to be. I'm happy to see that she's still alive and hasn't changed at all. Anyway what do you want to talk about?"

"The officials are suggesting it's time you revive the military camp at the Fourth Meandering and train a new batch of soldiers."

"I was thinking about the same thing. But we need someone trustworthy to train the soldiers. The Commander at the Ministry of Justice would be perfect but he and his team are already in cahoots with General Fu Jiuyun."

"Yeah. There are so many soldiers at the Ministry of Justice but they've all been led astray. Even the new recruits have already joined the system."

"So,what should we do? I heard Fu Jiuyun is secretly training a troop of soldiers at the Eastern Border."

"Why don't you try asking Master Lei to help?"

"He has his own sect to deal with."

"Didn't you say Yichen said that courtesan Duan Xinyue's martial arts is even better than Master Lei's?"

"He's a stubborn one."

There's a knock at the door and Lord Du Yuan allows the person to come in. It's Madam Ruo.

"I went to talk to sister-in-law and came back thinking maybe Lord Xu may have left. I didn't expect you guys had so much to talk about."

"Jie,how did you know the Master of Qingfeng Pavilion?"

"It's a long story,"Madam Ruo replies a bit embarrassed.

"As I was standing outside I heard a little of what you guys said. Xinyue doesn't like to involve himself with political affairs and he even kept his martial arts a secret. He's stubborn but if you want him to do it I have a plan."

"What plan?"

"Use your power as the governor of course. Issue an edict."

"But he may run away."

"Why don't we arrange a meeting with the young men around to find more potential young men? Even if he agrees to do it,he still needs someone to assist him,"Lord Xu Kong suggests.

"Sounds like a plan,"they all agree.