Chapter 28: 28

“Mother!”

“Ting’er……” The beautiful, gentle woman stood in the fenced yard, wearing a washed white sarong and a wooden hairpin that tied all her hair behind her head. Hearing the sound, she turned to wave with a smile. “You’re back, come and help Mother.”

“Mother, what are you going to do?”

“Mother wants to plant some flowers and melons and fruits in the courtyard, and when spring comes, the garden will be full of spring colors. It will surely look good, and your father will love it too.”

“Okay, I’ll help you.”

The two figures, one big and one small, were busy from morning to evening. His mother wiped the dust from his face and suddenly turned to look at the person at the courtyard gate with a smile.

“Father! You’re back, I want to eat steamed buns!”

“I bought some for you, but have you finished your homework today?”

“Finished!”

The scene of the three at the gate talking and laughing gradually blurred, and in an instant, the dream of the past began to collapse like tiles suddenly being pulled out one at a time, smashing everyone’s heads to pieces……

“Father……Mother!”

Zhao Yelan woke up from the dream, covered in cold sweat. He gasped for a moment with his mouth open, and his eyes gradually regained clarity.

“You’re awake?”

Only then did he realize that there was a person next to him, hugging him and patting his back repeatedly.

He slowly raised his eyes to meet Yan Mingting’s gaze, and his voice was still a little dry: “Why are you here?”

“When I came back from sweeping the tombs, I found that you weren’t in the mansion. So I came here to find you,” Yan Mingting said.

“Let go.”

“Then don’t kick the blanket off. You have a serious fever, you have to sweat.” Yan Mingting released his grip and took a defensive posture, thinking that he was going to be beaten or kicked. Against expectations, the other party sat up from his arms indifferently, put on his clothes without expression, and got out of bed without any intention of fighting him.

“Where are you going?”

Zhao Yelan pushed open a window and stood in front of it, silently looking at the blooming flowers in the courtyard.

Yan Mingting put on his outer robes. When looking at him, he got a sense of inexplicable loneliness from his moonlit back. The moonlight shone on the side of his face, which was pale and brittle, like porcelain that would shatter if he wasn’t careful.

“You miss your Mother?” Yan Mingting walked to his side.

Zhao Yelan looked at him stiffly.

“You just called for your Mother several times,” Yan Mingting explained. Seeing that he was silent, he said, “I also miss my mother. She passed away early and I’ve almost forgotten what she looked like, but the feeling of her accompanying me is still clearly stored in my memory.”

Zhao Yelan’s expression eased. He turned his head and continued to look out the window.

After a long time, Yan Mingting asked at once: “Are you hungry? You’ve been sleeping and haven’t had dinner yet.”

Zhao Yelan seemed to be in a daze for a while, before he murmured: “I want to eat steamed buns.”

“Okay, then you go back and lie down first. I’ll go out and buy them now.” Yan Mingting went to Mingji’s steamed bun shop without pause, only to find that it was closed.

He knocked loudly on the door, and the shopkeeper opened it to drive him away.

“Shopkeeper, just do me a favor and sell me another basket,” Yan Mingting said as he took out the bag of silver.

But the shopkeeper continuously waved his hands and refused: “No good, no good, I’ve packed up all my things and it’s too troublesome to start a fire again. You should come early tomorrow.”

“No, my wife is about to give birth and just wants to take a bite of your stuffed steamed buns, otherwise she won’t survive, and she won’t be able to give birth to a child no matter what, ah. She’s just waiting for your stuffed steamed buns in order to live, do us a favor and help us.”

“……But my pals have all gone back, and I can’t do it alone.”

“I’ll do it for you! Will that work?! I’ll pay the money!”

Half an hour later, Yan Mingting returned to the Zhao residence with the buns, but there was no one in the room.

“Zhao Yelan……Zhao Yelan!” He shouted anxiously.

“Are you calling for my soul?”

Zhao Yelan’s voice was not loud. Thanks to Yan Mingting’s good hearing, he immediately turned around and followed the voice to the person.

The other party was planting flowers in the back courtyard of the bedroom. He dug a hole with the small trowel in his hand and placed a peach sapling in it.

“It’s late, why aren’t you lying down properly?” Yan Minging asked, stepping forward.

“Hurry up and help,” Zhao Yelan said.

Yan Mingting held the peach sapling steady while Zhao Yelan and Gao Tan worked together to fill in the soil and finish the job.

“Where did the peach tree come from?” Yan Mingting couldn’t help asking.

“My lord ordered me to dig it out from the mountains outside the city just now.” Gao Tan patted his chest triumphantly. “Qinggong is good, I can run very fast. Isn’t it great?”

Zhao Yelan: “All right, enough prattle, hurry up and fetch water to wash our hands.”

After the three of them washed their hands, they sat down in the bedroom. Zhao Yelan had sweated a lot after going through all the trouble just now. He took out a handkerchief to wipe his brow, and immediately saw two dark marks on Yan Mingting’s face that didn’t look like smudged soil from planting the tree. He pinched his chin suspiciously, looking left and right: “Where did you get this?”

“I just lit a stove fire,” Yan Mingting explained.

Zhao Yelan promptly guessed the reason. Mingji steamed bun shop’s business was very good. Once the shopkeeper closed the door, no amount of money could make him open it again. He originally thought that Yan Mingting would be smart enough to find stuffed steamed buns from another shop. Regardless, he just wanted to eat stuffed steamed bun at this time. Any shop would do, but he didn’t expect this fellow to be so stubborn that he would actually work as a cook for others in order to buy Mingji’s buns.

“Why not just take out your General’s badge, the bun shop would still give them to you,” Zhao Yelan said.

“Isn’t that bullying?” After Yan Mingting spoke, his face was rubbed twice. He couldn’t help but laugh, his eyes narrowed comfortably.

Zhao Yelan wiped off the stains on his face in a bad temper, and scoffed coldly: “General Yan is upright, so he naturally looks down on bullying fellows like us.”

“What are you talking about.” Yan Mingting pushed the stuffed steamed buns in front of him. “Eat quickly, they’re hot, just out of the oven. They won’t taste good when they’re cold.”

Zhao Yelan picked up a hot bun, eating it carefully as he asked: “You helped someone light a fire, and he agreed to do this for you?”

“Ah……yes.” Yan Mingting nodded guiltily. “I said my family needed buns urgently, so he had me help.”

Zhao Yelan cast a half-disbelieving glance at him and continued to eat the buns quietly.

“Will you return to the General’s Mansion later?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan refused: “Go back by yourself, I will go directly to the Imperial Academy tomorrow.”

“How can I do that? No, I’ll stay here with you one more night.”

Zhao Yelan glanced at him and said nothing.

Not long after eating the buns, Zhao Yelan was about to fall asleep but was stopped by Yan Mingting, who brought a bowl of medicine to him with a smile: “Come, drink the medicine first.”

“……”

“Drink.”

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Zhao Yelan took the bowl and drank it down.

Yan Mingting laughed and said: “You will spit out the medicine every time you’re unconscious, but you can obediently drink it when you’re awake.”

Zhao Yelan ignored him and lay down with a frown. Suddenly his mouth tasted sweet as Yan Mingting stuffed a candied fruit into his mouth.

He froze for a moment, and after feeling the sweet and sour taste, he ate it slowly and raised his eyes to look at the other person.

Yan Mingting said with a laugh: “My younger brother didn’t like to drink medicine, so he insisted on pestering me to feed him some candied fruit. How do you like it?”

“Don’t like it.” Zhao Yelan turned over and prepared to sleep.

“Yet you still ate it so fast.” Yan Mingting smiled and made another floor bed.

When he woke up the next day, Zhao Yelan still overestimated his own body. He had gotten up last night to plant trees and was struggling with fatigue. His head was still a little bit fuzzy, but he didn’t ask for leave and insisted on going to the Imperial Academy.

Gao Tan sent him to the door. When he was about to go back, he was stopped by Zhao Yelan, who ordered him in a low voice: “Go to the Mingji shopkeeper and ask him.”

“Yes.”

Seeing that he was unwell, Ruan Xian came over to help him with his work. The two sat together, chatting casually about the Imperial examinations and guessing who would take first place.

Zhao Yelan nodded perfunctorily, and only praised Wang Guisheng slightly when the other party asked who he favored.

“I also think that this person has good literary talent, but his writing is too harsh. I don’t know if he can catch the eye of the Emperor.”

“He can,” Zhao Yelan said firmly.

Ruan Xian looked at him meaningfully: “Zhao-daren, you mean the Emperor likes this type?”

Zhao Yelan curled the corners of his mouth and said no more, leaving him to ponder it himself. If he was clever enough, he would know what to do next.

In the afternoon, the Imperial Academy received an order and immediately drafted an Imperial edict. The results of the Imperial examinations had been released, and there were already successful candidates named, as well as the first ranks.

The whole courtyard became lively. Ruan Xian stood by and read the list. The first place scorer was indeed Wang Guisheng. He looked at Zhao Yelan with surprise. The other party was sitting alone in a corner and flipping through the history books. He either didn’t care about this matter as much as the rest of them did, or he already knew.

Ruan Xian shifted his eyes, thinking about something internally.

After being released from the government office, Zhao Yelan and the others rubbed their temples and walked out the gate wearily. 

Ruan Xian approached him furtively and asked in a low voice: “Zhao-daren, I don’t understand something. Please enlighten me.”

“What is it?”

“I have read that Wang Guisheng’s article. He scolded you and made insinuations against you, but you have no grudge against him and often praise him. Why?”

“Because he is a useful person.”

“Understood, thank you for letting me know. Zhao-daren is not feeling well, why doesn’t he come to my house for a while? My brother-in-law happens to be a doctor, perhaps he could have a try?” Ruan Xian said.

Zhao Yelan was about to speak, when he heard a spirited voice outside the gate: “Zhao Yelan.”

He looked up and saw Yan Mingting standing outside with his arms folded, a sedan chair parked beside him.

“Why are you here?” He walked forward slowly.

“I was passing by and thought I would take you home with me on the way.” Yan Mingting stretched out a hand to touch his forehead. “It’s still a little hot. Hurry up and get in the sedan chair.”

Zhao Yelan did not refuse, needing this sedan chair in order to continue to live. He opened the curtain and sat down firmly, but found that he was not immediately followed. He opened a corner of the curtain suspiciously and saw Yan Mingting asking Ruan Xian in a serious tone: “Who are you?”

“Answering the General, I am Ruan Xian, editor of the Seventh Rank Imperial Academy,” Ruan Xian said respectfully.

“Do you have a wife?”

“Of course. I have been married to my wife for more than a year.”

“En, okay, it’s getting late. Hurry back to accompany your wife.” Yan Mingting’s expression relaxed slightly, and he turned around and got into the sedan chair.

After they traveled a certain distance, Yan Mingting asked: “Who was that little white face?[1] Are you two on good terms?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head.

“But you two were still talking and smiling?”

“What were you talking and smiling about?”

“You were smiling at him like this.” Yan Mingting took two fingers and pushed the corners of his mouth up, complaining, “You always smile like this towards others but show a cold face to me.”

Seeing this, Zhao Yelan pursed his lips to suppress a smile and said, “They are just for show.”

The corners of Yan Mingting’s mouth twitched: “That is to say, you are perfunctory to others, but you are truthful to me?”

Zhao Yelan smiled, shot him a look, and then closed his eyes to rest.

Yan Mingting intentionally didn’t disturb him, and only after arriving at the General’s Mansion did he give him a light pat: “We’re here.”

Zhao Yelan gradually opened his eyes and got off the sedan chair after him slowly. Seeing him quickly step through the gate, something occurred to him and he turned to ask the bearers: “How long were you waiting at the Imperial Academy?”

“A little less than half an hour,” said the bearer.

“Aren’t you coming in?” Yan Mingting came back to the door again. “What’s the matter? You haven’t recovered yet and have trouble walking?”

Zhao Yelan walked to the door with profound meaning, and when he passed him, the corners of his mouth curled up.

“Wait.” Yan Mingting grabbed his arm in surprise. “Did you just smile at me?”

“Didn’t.”

“Still saying no, what are you smiling at, tell me.” Yan Mingting held his shoulders and walked inside in a good mood. “Oh, by the way, let’s go to the study first. There’s a bit of a clue in the matter of the doctors.”

Zhao Yelan continuously tried to break free from his grip, but was unsuccessful. He caught a glimpse of Gao Tan sweeping the courtyard from the corner of his eye, and called: “Xiao Gao, come here.”

“My lord, you’re back!” Gao Tan dashed over with a broom in hand.

“What happened with the matter I asked you to check?”

Gao Tan took a cautious look at Yan Mingting, then covered his mouth and whispered a few words into his ear.

Yan Mingting saw that Zhao Yelan’s eyes were becoming increasingly gloomy, and picked out the key word ‘Mingji’ from Gao Tan’s whisper. He seemed to have guessed something, and immediately raised his hands in surrender.

“May I ask General Yan, which of your wives is having a difficult labor and needs buns to survive?” Zhao Yelan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Yan Mingting sensed danger, taking two stiff steps back as he smiled innocently: “……I don’t seem to understand what you’re talking about?”

After speaking, he dashingly lifted the hem of his clothes and then fled in a desperate manner.

Zhao Yelan snatched the broom from Gao Tan’s hand: “Yan Mingting, you stop for me!”

 

[1] A ‘little white face’ (小白脸) is basically an insult toward an educated person who doesn’t do labor under the sun, or it can refer to a boy toy who relies on a rich woman. ⮐

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