Mother and child

  Finally, he still came step by step to the outside of the hall, Du Fan looked at the inside of the hall with a hint of worry.

  Perhaps because the quiet-loving duchess rarely came to the great hall, several stewards and a group of servants were all standing neatly on one side of the great hall.

  A brand new red carpet was laid on the floor of the hall, with fresh flowers scattered all around it.

  The long table was filled with all sorts of food, as if the chef had laid out a year's worth of dishes.

  However, Du Fan was clear that his father had been away for many years, and his two older brothers had also gone out to travel. As for himself, he rarely returned home, so in the duke's mansion, everything was actually decided by his mother. These servants naturally took every opportunity to flatter the duchess.

  The duchess sat in the hall, wearing only a simple long gown, her hair casually coiled up, yet she looked elegant and refined.

  She gently swirled the red wine in the high-stemmed crystal glass in her hand, smiling ambiguously at Du Fan, before asking after a moment: "Has he arrived?"

  Du Fan's cold sweat instantly broke out, he had understood this mother's temperament since childhood. She was usually easy-going, but once she got angry, it was absolutely terrifying to the extreme, and most importantly, the angrier she became, the more beautiful her smile on her face would be, and when her face was expressionless, it proved that she wasn't actually angry.

  Du Fan walked into the hall with a slight tremble, not daring to sit down, but instead went to the side of the duchess and said in a low voice: "I'm here, Mother?"

  Of course, this doesn't mean that Du Fan is afraid of his mother. As a child, if you don't have any respect for your parents, then they might as well have raised you in vain.

  The duchess looked up at Du Fan and smiled: "What's wrong? Little Fan... I see you're sweating profusely. Is it too hot or are you sick? But on this early spring day, how hot can the weather be? I think you must be ill. Do you need to go to your church first to get checked out before coming back to have dinner with me?"

  Du Fan forced a bitter smile and said, "Mother, you're joking. What illness do I have? I just knew that Mother had summoned me, so I couldn't help but quicken my pace, which naturally made me break out in sweat."

  "Really?" The duchess was still smiling, "If I remember correctly, you've only reached the third level of Qi training. Although it's not like you're immune to water and fire, but... shouldn't sweating be a bit more difficult than this? Are you trying to make me happy on purpose? Or perhaps... have you done something that you can't show your face for... are you feeling guilty?"

  Du Fan's back was almost soaked, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. His mother was great in every way, except that she was too overbearing. In his past life, he would have described her as "too fierce". He wondered how the old Duke of Green had managed to tame this fierce woman, and when he had time, he should go north to ask for advice, and study the art of taming women with his father.

  As he thought about it, Du Fan had already begun to look forward to the scene of the father and son meeting.

  But a cold snort instantly pulled Du Fan back from his fantasy, and he saw the duchess looking at her son with a seemingly knowing smile, as if she had seen right through what was on his mind.

  At this moment, Du Fan had already made up his mind that no matter what happened in the future, he would never let his mother arrange his marriage. Otherwise, if she brought back someone as fierce as herself, his life would be over. Even sneaking a snack occasionally would probably end in a miserable death!

  "What is it," the duchess said indifferently, "that you've thought of something pleasant? You're laughing so happily?"

  "No, absolutely not," Dufan waved his hand, "I just suddenly feel that Mother is really beautiful and charming. Thinking back to the past, what kind of trick did Father use to deceive Mother into going home with him? This is indeed an attractive topic..."

  "Alright, you don't have to change the subject," said the duchess with a smile. "But what about you? Don't you have anything to say to me?"

  Du Fan awkwardly smiled, knowing that hiding anything from his mother would be useless. He waved his hand to signal the servants to leave before hanging his head and saying: "Mother, this time I'm going to a sacred temple with those people from the Sacred Church. Although it's not very safe, you don't have to worry too much. Your son has grown up without ever suffering any losses."

  "Very well," said the duchess, "if you had tried to deceive me with some trivial excuse, I would have seen through it and you would not have got past me this time."

  "How dare I?"

  The duchess seemed to sigh slightly, and after a moment said: "Your father has been away for many years, your two older brothers have also gone out to travel, now even you want to go out, who should I worry about? But men, they must go out and make their way in the world to truly grow up, so I won't stop you. However, going on a long trip with that group of rascals, you must be prepared for everything, or else you'll probably end up being taken advantage of by them until nothing is left."

  "This mother of yours doesn't have to worry, I'm always the one eating people, who's ever eaten me?"

  The duchess looked Du Fan up and down, suddenly couldn't help but laugh: "That's also true, you little rascal, back then you suddenly wanted to become a priest, I thought you'd at most mess around for a few years before obediently returning home. Who would have thought that now you've actually made quite a name for yourself? According to the servants in our household, among the common people in the Imperial Capital, your reputation is simply too good to be true. Back then, I really couldn't have imagined it."

  Du Fan's face turned red for a moment, and then he lowered his head again.

  "Alright," the duchess suddenly took a deep breath, "I didn't call you here to scold you, but there's something I want you to take with you."

  As she spoke, the duchess took out a piece of leather armor from her spatial ring and tossed it to Du Fan, saying: "This is a leather armor made from the skin of a magical beast. It's something I used when I was young. Although it's nothing special, as long as you wear it on your body, there will be many times when it can save your life. From the moment you leave the house, this leather armor cannot be taken off. Do you understand?"

  In the end, the duchess's tone was unutterably serious.

  Du Fan naturally understood, whatever his mother took out would definitely not be something simple. He responded with a sound, and without knowing what politeness was, he actually took off his upper garment and put on the leather armor in front of his mother. After finishing dressing up, he said: "Mother, this leather armor, you can only help me take it off after I come back?"

  The duchess let out a "heh" and smiled, but after Du Fan's antics, the sadness of parting had dissipated somewhat.

  It was night, and the mother and son had a rare chat for a long time. It wasn't until late at night that Du Fan returned to his underground room. There, Chenchen had already made everything and fell asleep on the table, exhausted.

  Du Fan put her on the bed and struggled in his heart for a long time, finally dispelling the desire to lie down and be a beast, turned around and sorted those things into the space ring.

  Just as Du Fan turned around, Chenchen's tightly closed eyes slightly opened, looking at Du Fan's busy figure, she smiled silently and fell asleep again.

  The next day, Du Fan got up early and since he had already packed everything the night before, he didn't have much to do. He put Chenchen, who had turned into a cat, in his arms and walked out of the underground room. He casually set up a few magic arrays and called over a few servants to give them some instructions before strolling towards the entrance of the duke's mansion.

  Old Mark had obviously been waiting for a long time, and when he saw Du Fan approaching, he hurriedly came forward and said: "Third Master, I've already heard about the matter from Madam. This time, I'm afraid it's not convenient for me to follow you out, but you must be careful. Also, Madam said she wouldn't come see you off, but she asked me to give this thing to you. She said that in the north, all of our Green family's territory is under our control, and if anything happens, with this thing, you can mobilize the northern army to do your bidding."

  As he spoke, Old Mark stuffed a white jade token into Du Fan's hand.

  The surface of the jade plaque looked ordinary, but the touch was icy cold. Du Fan knew that this thing should be a token of the Green family. He didn't hesitate and put it into his spatial ring. After bidding farewell to Old Mark, he slowly walked out of the duke's mansion.

  At this time, the imperial capital was at its busiest hour of the day, with people of all colors filling the streets and alleys. Due to Du Fan's unintentional disguise, he encountered countless followers along the way.

  Like this, he greeted people and helped several elderly women cross the road, accompanied a few children to find their mothers, until noon when Du Fan finally arrived at the entrance of the church.

  A Templar Knight, like an ant on a hot pot, came forward as soon as he saw Du Fan and said: "Young Master Du Fan, why are you so late? We've already sent people to the Duke's Mansion several times to urge him, but they all say you left early in the morning. Now, that side is just waiting for you alone."

  Du Fan smiled and said: "Sorry about that, I ran into a few believers who insisted on me helping them pray, so I wasted a bit of time."

  As he spoke, Du Fan followed the knight and slowly walked towards the direction of the Holy Temple.