The small courtyard where Zhao Ya and Zui’Er now live inside the Martial Arts Hall originally had no kitchen.
But Xu De knew his sister-in-law’s special hobby, so he had the household servants buy a complete set of kitchenware and brought it over.
Regarding this, Zhao Ya once joked that no matter where Zui’Er goes, there must be a kitchen by her side.
The two of them went into the kitchen, Zui’Er lifted the pot lid, and a waft of aroma hit their noses.
"How is it, smells good, right?" Zui’Er said with a proud face.
"Yes, it does smell quite nice."
Zhao Ya was also a bit tempted.
Lately, to free up more time for practice, Zhao Ya hadn’t eaten regular meals, relying on jerky and insect eggs to supplement the necessary nutrients.
Although doing this had no real issue, humans eventually need to eat proper meals; if nothing else, only eating jerky would make his mouth taste bland in less than three days.
Zhao Ya felt just like that right now.
He was about to pick up his chopsticks to try a piece of fish.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door outside.
"Who is it, coming at this time?" Zui’Er seemed a bit unhappy.
However, Zhao Ya smiled, put the chopsticks back, and then said, "I’ll go see, maybe it’s the senior brothers and sisters."
So saying, Zhao Ya went to the courtyard gate, opened it, and saw that it was not Shen Dao and the others but Gu Mingdong standing outside.
This disciple of Miao Shaocheng, Zhao Ya’s junior nephew, has now also become a backbone among the younger generation of Dingtai Martial Arts Hall.
Upon seeing Zhao Ya, he respectfully bowed in salute.
"Master Zhao."
"Mm, is there something you need?" Zhao Ya asked.
"Someone outside entrusted me with a letter for you."
"A letter for you to deliver? Who is it?"
"I don’t know, but this person said they are an acquaintance of yours and that this letter is very important and must be delivered to you promptly, so I dared not delay and brought it to you right away."
Saying that, Gu Mingdong took out a letter from his bosom and handed it to Zhao Ya.
Zhao Ya reached out to take it, and then Gu Mingdong took his leave.
After he left, Zhao Ya tore open the envelope and looked inside, his face slightly changed.
Because there were two sheets of paper, one was an invitation, the signatory was none other than the most powerful person in the entire Commandery, Wei Hongbin.
The other was a letter, from someone Zhao Ya indeed knew, it was that Captain Sun Yingkui whom he met upon entering the city because of the cavalry matter.
In the letter, Sun Yingkui made it clear that he wanted to meet with Zhao Ya, and as for the invitation, it would be discussed face-to-face upon meeting.
At the end of the letter, an address was given, which was very close to Dingtai Martial Arts Hall, just a few dozen steps away in a teahouse.
Moreover, Sun Yingkui said if Zhao Ya still felt uneasy, he could bring company.
After reading the letter, Zhao Ya fell into silent contemplation.
First, what was this Sun Yingkui wanting from him?
And to insist on a face-to-face conversation.
Doesn’t he know the current situation between the Martial Artists in the Commandery and the cavalry under their jurisdiction is tense?
Then there’s this invitation.
It actually had his name directly written on it.
Even if it wasn’t personally penned by Wei Hongbin, he must be aware of it.
What exactly was his intention?
Zhao Ya could not figure it out, so he decided not to think about it anymore.
This Sun Yingkui stated clearly in the letter that he came alone.
Since he dared to come alone to Ping’an Square, how could Zhao Ya avoid this meeting?
Thinking this, Zhao Ya tucked the letter into his pocket, went back inside to get what he needed, and turned to the courtyard.
At this time, Zui’Er was standing at the kitchen door, looking at Zhao Ya with a pitiful expression.
Zhao Ya couldn’t help but smile, "Simmer it on low heat, I’ll be right back."
"Okay!" Zui’Er nodded vigorously, suddenly looking much happier.
Leaving the Martial Arts Hall, walking east less than fifty steps, there stood a teahouse.
The teahouse owner was once a disciple of Dingtai Martial Arts Hall, but due to lack of talent, he achieved nothing even past his thirties, thus leaving the hall to open this teahouse.
The disciples of Dingtai Martial Arts Hall usually like to come here for tea and chat with the teahouse owner when they have spare time.
Zhao Ya had also come with Shen Dao before.
Today, as soon as he entered, the owner recognized him, quickly stepped forward, and respectfully made a salute with both fists.
"Little Master, you’ve come."
In terms of seniority, this man nearly in his forties had to call Zhao Ya ’Master’.
Zhao Ya found it awkward but couldn’t say anything, so he nodded and said, "Someone said they’re waiting for me here."
"Oh, the guest you’re looking for is you, sir, he’s in a private room upstairs, please go up."
The teahouse owner personally led Zhao Ya up to the second floor and pointed to one of the private rooms.
"Little Master, it’s this one."
"Alright, you attend to your business."
"Sure, if you need anything, just call me anytime."
The teahouse owner also noticed that Zhao Ya had business here, so he didn’t dare ask more questions and quickly went downstairs.
Zhao Ya opened the door and walked into the private room.
As expected.
Sitting in the chair facing the door was Sun Yingkui, the Captain.
Today, he wasn’t in uniform, but casually dressed.
Seeing Zhao Ya enter, he stood up, full of smiles, and made a gesture of respect with his hands.
"Young Hero Zhao, it’s been a while."
Zhao Ya, however, did not return the sentiment.
After all, the deeds of Wei Hongbin and his subordinates in the Commandery were nothing to be proud of.
Zhao Ya had no goodwill for them at all.
Had it not been for Sun Yingkui being a decent person, he wouldn’t even have come.
Facing Sun Yingkui’s pleasantries at this moment, Zhao Ya merely replied coldly.
"Lord Sun, we are not children, so let’s get straight to the point. Why did you specifically arrange to meet me?"