TSWPF -Chapter 293 Avoiding

When Old Master Liu learned that Liu Zhimou and the others were planning to stay at the Lu residence for a few days, he let out a sigh. He knew that yesterday’s events had caused Liu Zhimou and the others some hurt, so they didn’t want to stay at home and preferred to go to the Lu residence to avoid the storm.

It wasn’t really their fault—after all, the Liu household truly had many vexing matters, making it impossible for anyone to live peacefully.

If he could, he wouldn’t want to stay at the Liu residence either. Going somewhere else for a few days would help him relax.

But he was an old man; he couldn’t go anywhere.

“Alright, then go and spend time with your maternal grandfather and grandmother. Once your external assignment comes through, there won’t be time,” Old Master Liu forced a smile and said, “Grandpa will have someone prepare gifts for you to take with you.”

“No need, Grandpa. We’ve already prepared everything. There’s no need to prepare more,” Liu Zhimou said. He wasn’t blind—there was no way he couldn’t see that Old Master Liu was unhappy, but there was nothing that could be done. They were determined to stay at the Lu residence for a few days, to spend time with their maternal grandparents and make them happy.

Old Master Liu’s expression darkened, and in an authoritative tone that left no room for refusal, he said, “What you’ve prepared is what you’ve prepared. What I’ve prepared is mine. There’s a difference between the two. Just take it with you.”

Seeing Old Master Liu so resolute, Liu Zhimou couldn’t refuse further. He nodded reluctantly and reminded Old Master Liu to take care of his health—they would return soon.

Knowing that Liu Zhimou cared for him, Old Master Liu finally showed a small smile and waved them on to leave early.

Liu Zhimou acknowledged with a nod and turned to leave the study.

When he returned to the room, the children looked at him expectantly and asked, “How is it? Did Grandpa agree?”

Liu Zhimou deliberately furrowed his brows, sighed, and slumped into a chair, looking completely exhausted.

The children panicked at his display.

Liu Zhiyan jumped up and anxiously asked, “Big brother, Grandpa didn’t agree? He won’t let us go?” After hearing what Big Brother told him last night, he disliked the Liu family even more. He wanted to move out as soon as possible and never stay there again.

There was too much trouble here—it really wasn’t suitable for them to live.

Thinking back to how happy they were at the Xue residence, they could do whatever they wanted freely, without anyone criticizing them.

At the Liu residence, every word and action had to be carefully measured, or else others would ridicule you.

Living like that was exhausting.

“Ah…” Liu Zhimou sighed again.

“How can this be? We’re not staying away forever. We’re just going to spend a few days with our maternal grandparents,” Liu Zhiyan frowned and stomped his foot. “Big Brother, wait for me! I’ll go find Grandpa and convince him.” He had decided—no matter what it took, he would make Grandpa agree to let them stay at the Lu residence for a few days.

Li Qingling rolled her eyes silently and nudged Liu Zhimou, signaling him to stop teasing the children and just tell them.

Clearing his throat, Liu Zhimou said, “Grandpa has agreed to let us go to the Lu residence.”

“Big Brother, you’re so childish! You actually lied to us!” Liu Zhiyan rolled his eyes at Liu Zhimou, never expecting his brother to be so immature—coming back and lying to them immediately.

“Exactly…” Li Qingling and the others joined in to scold him.

Liu Zhimou helplessly rubbed his nose and, with a strong show of motivation, said, “I just wanted to see how sharp your observation skills were—whether you could spot my lie. As it turns out, your observation skills aren’t as good as your sister’s.”

Hearing this, the children thought seriously for a moment and admitted it was true—they hadn’t realized he was lying.

“This teaches you that in the future, you must observe carefully. Don’t just believe whatever others tell you,” Liu Zhimou took the opportunity to educate the children. “If it had been a bad person lying to you and you believed them, what would you have done?”

The children looked at each other and promised to pay attention from now on, never to trust others blindly.

Having easily handled the children, Liu Zhimou felt a bit proud and smiled at Li Qingling.

Li Qingling chuckled and secretly pinched the flesh at his waist, punishing him for talking nonsense.

Liu Zhimou, feeling the pinch, didn’t dare make a sound, fearing the children might press him further, which would make him embarrassed.

He raised an eyebrow at her, silently conveying, “I’ll deal with you tonight.”

Li Qingling immediately understood, her face turning red. She glared at him and then stood, telling the children, “Let’s go, to our maternal grandparents’ house.”

Staying any longer with this man, she feared he would say something else to make her blush and heart race.

The more time she spent with him, the more she realized his multifaceted nature—scheming, shameless, yet sometimes playful like a big child.

She truly didn’t understand how one person could have so many sides.

As Li Qingling and the children exited the courtyard, they ran into Liu Zhixin and Liu Zhiyan.

“Ning Ning, Rou Rou, where are you going?” Liu Zhixin ran up cutely, holding their hands.

“Xin Xin, we’re going to our maternal grandfather’s house to play for a few days,” Liu Zhirou replied with a smile, then greeted Liu Zhiyan, “Sixth Brother.”

Liu Zhiyan nodded, then greeted Liu Zhimou and the others. “I was actually planning to discuss some studies with Fourth Brother.” In fact, after learning about yesterday’s events from his mother, he had planned to bring his younger sisters over to play today.

If he had to choose between Liu Zhishan and Liu Zhimou, he would choose Liu Zhimou.

Although he hadn’t known Liu Zhimou for long, his impression of him was much better than Liu Zhishan.

Liu Zhishan had brought nothing but shame to the Liu family.

He sincerely hoped that Liu Zhishan would go to the military for several years and not return, so the family wouldn’t be thrown into chaos.

Without Liu Zhishan at home, things would be much calmer.

“Sixth Brother, is there anything you don’t understand? I can discuss it with you first.”

“No need. I’m not in a hurry. I can discuss it with Fourth Brother when he returns,” Liu Zhiyan waved him off but couldn’t hold back and asked, “Fourth Brother, are you going to the Lu residence because of what happened yesterday?”

Liu Zhimou shook his head. “Sixth Brother, you’re overthinking. I just thought that in a few days, my external assignment notice would come, so I wanted to spend a few days with my maternal grandparents while there’s still time. Otherwise, we wouldn’t know when we could come back.” He didn’t want to reveal his true thoughts to Liu Zhiyan—sometimes, less is more.

“External assignment?”

Liu Zhiyan furrowed his brows and asked why Liu Zhimou was being externally assigned. Couldn’t he go to the Hanlin Academy?

He didn’t understand why so many people were desperate to return to the capital, yet his cousin was choosing external assignment.

Or was it not a choice, but an order from the emperor?

Liu Zhimou patted Liu Zhiyan’s shoulder and said he would explain after returning from the Lu residence. If he couldn’t wait, he could ask Grandpa, who also knew the reason.

“Alright, I’ll wait for Fourth Brother to tell me when he returns,” Liu Zhiyan said and didn’t press further. He turned to his younger sisters, who were chattering away, and called, “Xin’er, Rou’er, they’re in a hurry. Wait until they return to talk!”

Liu Zhixin pouted. “Ning Ning, Rou Rou, come back quickly! I’ll wait for you at home.” She wanted to go too but knew her brother wouldn’t allow it. Sigh—she’d wait at home.

“Okay…” Li Qingling and Liu Zhirou nodded in unison.

After sending Liu Zhimou and the others to the carriage, Liu Zhiyan took Liu Zhixin back to the third residence.

He looked at his somewhat disinterested sister and asked if she wanted to go play with Liu Zhilan.

Liu Zhixin shook her head. She didn’t like Liu Zhilan.

“Weren’t you playing with her before? Why not now?”

Looking up at her brother, Liu Zhixin rolled her eyes and confidently said, “I only played with her before because I had no one else to play with. Now that I have friends, why should I force myself?”

Liu Zhiyan thought for a moment and asked why she liked Liu Zhirou so much.

“Brother, then why do you like playing with Fourth Brother?”

“You little rascal,” Liu Zhiyan laughed and rubbed her head. “That’s because Fourth Brother is very knowledgeable. I learn from him.” He didn’t know how impressive Fourth Uncle was, only that after interacting with Liu Zhimou, he realized his cousin truly was extraordinary.

Previously, he had many questions about his studies, but under Liu Zhimou’s explanations, he understood effortlessly. This made him admire Liu Zhimou a lot.

Unfortunately, Liu Zhimou would soon be externally assigned, so he wouldn’t be able to ask him for guidance for long.

Liu Zhixin nodded and shared her own reasoning. “Rou Rou is very gentle and treats me well! Of course, I like her! And Ning Ning too—I like her a lot. She can do so many things: barbecue, catch fish, climb trees…” She counted them off on her fingers, talking non-stop until she was out of breath.

“I really want to go play at their place—it must be fun.”

Since it was for fun, Liu Zhiyan smiled again and promised her there would be a chance.

Liu Zhixin nodded happily. Once she was older, she could go.

When the siblings returned to their courtyard, Zhang Yun’er saw them and asked in surprise why they came back so soon.

Liu Zhixin, acting like a little adult, sighed, “Rou Rou and Ning Ning went to their maternal grandparents’ house to play, so we had no choice but to come back.”

Zhang Yun’er looked at Liu Zhiyan and asked what had happened.

“Fourth Brother said he’ll be externally assigned in a few days, so these past two days they went to the Lu residence to spend time with their maternal grandparents,” Liu Zhiyan explained honestly. “Although, I think part of the reason is also because of yesterday’s incident—they wanted to go to the Lu residence because of that.”

Zhang Yun’er was surprised. External assignment? Liu Zhimou is being externally assigned?