Chapter 55: 53

In the end, Magistrate Yin still agreed that the two should come together as guests. Firstly, he didn’t want to offend these two young masters from the capital, and secondly, he was afraid that Yan Mingting would think that he was treating others snobbishly.

This group of people walked into the front hall, and Magistrate Yin called for food to be served.

Yan Mingting said that he had already eaten, and would just drink some wine, so Magistrate Yin brought up several jugs of good wine.

Everyone sat down one after another. Magistrate Yin came back to his senses and saw that Yan Mingting was sitting on the same side as “the most beautiful man in the capital.” Li Yucheng and Yan Mingting’s little companion sat on the other side, along with two lieutenants.

He smiled in embarrassment, but seeing that everyone was undisturbed, he didn’t say anything, thinking that they had just chosen seats randomly.

Zhao Yelan had already heard Yan Mingting mention the Yin family’s situation last night, so he covertly looked around and saw that there was no one else in the front hall except the servants. After Yin-furen helped greet the guests, she had taken all the female relatives back to the courtyard.

The dishes on the table were quite satisfactory, not too extravagant, but they also took into account the tastes of the capital, providing half Beijing cuisine and half Huaizhou cuisine.

Magistrate Yin toasted with Yan Mingting for a while before talking about serious business: “I wonder if General Yan still needs manpower? Just say the word, and I will do my best to help the General catch the thieves.”

“There is a need, but let’s wait until Pinglu’s body recovers first,” Yan Mingting said.

Magistrate Yin’s smile froze slightly, and then he laughed again: “This is natural, when she recovers, I will definitely let her serve the General.”

At this time, Zhao Yelan, who had been eating in silence, said abruptly: “What is wrong with Miss Yin?”

“Joke all you want after hearing this, but my daughter ran away previously and suffered some hardships, and became ill when she came back,” Magistrate Yin said.

Zuo Ran’s face puffed up in anger, and she buried her head in her food without saying a word, gritting her teeth.

“I also get sick from time to time, and I happened to bring a famous doctor with me on this trip. How about asking him to look at Miss Yin?” Zhao Yelan said.

“There is no need to trouble you. I have already invited many doctors, and they believe that she will recover soon.” Magistrate Yin responded. Seeing that he had finally stopped talking, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned his attention to Yan Mingting again. “General, how long will you stay in Huaizhou on this trip?”

“Not sure, the first thing to do is to catch those two thieves,” Yan Mingting said.

Magistrate Yin nodded, thinking inwardly that he only hoped his people could find Yin Pinglu as soon as possible, so that the two of them could get along well. The original marriage was canceled two days ago, and only then did he put his mind on Yan Mingting. Perhaps Yan Mingting was willing to marry Pinglu? Then his Yin family would truly prosper.

After three rounds of drinking, Magistrate Yin continued to praise Yin Pinglu to Yan Mingting, and everyone else’s ears seemed to grow calluses.

Li Yucheng finally couldn’t bear it anymore and said: “Magistrate Yin, hearing you say these things, your daughter is a celestial maiden like no other in heaven or earth. I am so moved by what you said. How about marrying your daughter to me?”

“Nephew, don’t joke.”

“I’m not joking with you. If you don’t like me, then my brother is fine too, ah. Fu Qian. You send someone to the capital to inquire, who doesn’t know this name? His father is the Minister of Dali Temple.”

Magistrate Yin was inwardly startled. He calmly looked at Zhao Yelan but saw that he didn’t seem to be moved. He just indifferently played with an empty teacup, and suddenly glanced at Yan Mingting’s hand with sharp eyes.

Yan Mingting’s hand suddenly paused, and he immediately put the wine cup he had just picked up back down on the table in silence.

Magistrate Yin frowned, feeling that the way these two got along with each other was a bit strange, but after some thought, they were both well-known people in the capital, and it wasn’t  surprising that they knew each other previously.

Yan Mingting looked at the color of the sky. Realizing that Magistrate Yin only wanted to talk about unrelated matters with him, he prepared to leave.

The others stood up one after another. Li Yucheng’s sharp eyes saw that there were several footprints on Yan Mingting’s shoe, and he glanced at Zhao Yelan with a suppressed smile, thinking that if they didn’t go back, Yan Mingting’s leg may be crushed.

“Daddy, daddy, I also want to see the great General!” At this moment, a little girl ran into the front hall. 

“Aiya, Miss Ba, come back quickly.” The nanny swiftly chased after her.

“This is Pinglu’s younger sibling. She is still young and a little naughty, please forgive me,” Magistrate Yin said awkwardly.

Yan Mingting’s leg was suddenly hugged. He looked down and saw that the little girl was only as tall as his thigh. She clutched his leg and asked with a smile: “Are you a general who knows how to fight? Holding a sword, xiu hei, xiu hei, huchi huchi?”[1]

Yan Mingting and Zuo Ran laughed at the same time.

“Can you teach me? I want to learn too!” The little girl stretched out her hands. “You teach me huchi huchi, and I’ll give you something nice!”

“What is it?” Yan Mingting asked with a smile.

“Tanghulu!” The little girl took out the tanghulu from her bosom and insisted on giving them to him.

“How can the General eat your tanghulu? Hurry up and go back to your room to sleep.” Magistrate Yin came over to pull her away.

“It’s okay, the little girl has heart.” Yan Mingting wrangled his expression under control and exchanged glances with Zhao Yelan, taking the tanghulu before going back to the inn with the others.

In the middle of the night, Yan Mingting snuck into Zhao Yelan’s room again along with Zuo Ran.

He placed the tanghulu on the table: “This should have been given to me by Yin Pinglu.”

“What?” Zuo Ran was taken aback.

“The only people who know I like tanghulu are my own people,” Yan Mingting said. “By letting the little girl give it to me, no one would be suspicious at all.”

Zuo Ran didn’t hesitate to tear off the candy paper and place it next to the candle. Carefully inspecting the traces on it, she finally found that each sugar-coated hawthorn contained a pattern of very thin lines.

There were flowers, the sun, streams, rivers and mountains.

“What do these mean?” Yan Mingting asked.

“Ask her.” Zhao Yelan looked at Zuo Ran.

“This is what she mentioned when she taught me to read, and the meaning of these patterns is – freedom. She is free now, she escaped safely!” Zuo Ran trembled and wept with joy.

“That’s great.” Yan Mingting let out a sigh of relief and sent her back to her room. Then he smiled, “This girl, Yinglu, is clever. Although the tanghulu were given to me, only Zuo Ran could understand the secret code. Is it because she was afraid that I would be swayed by her father?”

“Why, the foul old man has spent most of the day talking to you, but you’re not affected at all?” Zhao Yelan glanced at him.

“You joke, am I someone who can be persuaded with just a few words?” Yan Mingting smiled and stretched out his feet, swinging them triumphantly. “It is only that somebody stepped on me twice in one night, and those who didn’t know might think that a lot of vinegar had been added to the tea.”

“I was about to be suffocated to death by the smell of your alcohol,” Zhao Yelan said.

Yan Mingting tentatively embraced him from behind, and the other person stiffened for a moment. Then he immediately turned around, and the two faced each other.

Yan Mingting’s heart beat terribly fast, especially when he saw the other party nearing his neck. Breath fell on his skin like embers, about to ignite him.

Zhao Yelan turned his head sideways and sniffed him, his nose caressing his skin intentionally or unintentionally. Hearing the other party’s heavy breathing, his lips curled up and he pushed the person away: “It stinks to death.”

Yan Mingting’s hands were empty, and he looked at him with some sorrow. As soon as he took a step forward, the other poked him in the chest with his index finger, preventing him from approaching.

“Go bathe.”

“Hug me first.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Zhao Yelan raised his eyebrows. “Do you want me to picture you drinking or picture you taking a bath?”

“Okay, I’ll go bathe now, wait for me!” Yan Mingting turned around and slipped away to bathe. He scrubbed himself hard, and was afraid that his body would still smell, so he held his nose and picked up some incense, waving it around his body. Only then did he happily sneak back into the upstairs room.

However, the room was pitch black, and the fellow who was supposed to flirt with him was already dead asleep!

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Yan Mingting wanted to cry but had no tears, and could only lay down on the floor to let himself cool down.

In the darkness, the corners of Zhao Yelan’s mouth silently twitched.

The next day, Yan Mingting was called to the government office to discuss business. The officials in Quzhou had received the letter and were cooperating in the search for the escaped culprits.

Zhao Yelan went to the teahouse again to observe Kuang Sheng’s movements.

After a while, Yu Dali came in to report the situation: “There is still no one lingering around his house, but he went to the gate of the city whenever he was free to ask the guards if there was anyone from the capital.”

Zhao Yelan suddenly had a guess in mind and said: “I see, leave eight people here to continue guarding, and the rest will withdraw.”

“Yes.”

Zhao Yelan was walking alone on the street when he suddenly saw a large group of people progressing toward the government office. The escorts were tall and strong, holding weapons in their hands, and were transporting ten large boxes.

It should be the team escorting the disaster relief money.

The common people stopped to watch curiously, but were kicked back by the officers and soldiers.

He paused, returned to the inn, picked up the still-sleeping Li Yucheng, and asked him to take him to the Cheng mansion.

He had been to the Cheng mansion two or three times before for food and entertainment, and they didn’t inquire about his identity. This was because when Li Yucheng came back this time, he also brought a letter from Li Jinyu instructing them to follow the previous person’s arrangements, not ask too many questions, and not make noise.

The Cheng family had accumulated some wealth over the years, but had always listened to Li Jinyu’s warnings to never bribe other officials and to be well-behaved businessmen. Although it couldn’t be said that they were as rich as a small country, they had a good reputation and the family property was enough for three generations to squander.

The head of the Cheng family was now Li Yucheng’s uncle, so he took him to the study and asked: “Fu-gongzi, since you came here today, do you have something important to do?”

“I wonder what the relationship is between Master Cheng and Magistrate Yin?”

“Except for necessary contact, I rarely communicate with him.”

“What is necessary contact?”

“Such as trafficking in goods, opening up business routes, or his birthday……”

Zhao Yelan: “How is his relationship with other businessmen?”

“He used to be very close to the Wang family, but after the Wang family fell, he completely ignored them. On the contrary, they had heated fights with other officials. From the county magistrate to the governor, he has connections.”

“Have you paid the commercial taxes this year?”

“Not yet, but we are counting the days, and we will hand it over soon.”

“Go now, there are too many merchants at the end of the month, and the government office will be too busy in a while.”

The government office was very busy at this time. Magistrate Yin received the news of the arrival of the Imperial court’s disaster relief money, but there was no rain these days, so it could only be stored in the government office’s treasury.

After discussing the deployment in the city with the people in the criminal chamber, Yan Mingting was about to leave, but at the door, he bumped into Li Yucheng and his uncle, who had come to pay taxes.

He walked out the gate of the government office with his arms folded, his gaze scanning every corner of the neighborhood carefully, and finally spotted Zhao Yelan’s figure in a restaurant diagonally opposite.

The other party naturally also saw him, and while fanning himself, he raised his chin at him.

After a while, Yan Mingting opened the door to the private room and said: “You had them go to the government office?”

“En.” Zhao Yelan paid attention to the movement inside. “What is Magistrate Yin’s reaction?”

“Quite normal. It seems that there is no indication of corruption.”

“I doubt he has the guts to set his heart on making contacts.” Zhao Yelan sneered.

The two sat and waited for half an hour before they saw the nephew and uncle come out. After Li Yucheng bid farewell to his uncle, he dashed upstairs. When he saw Yan Mingting, he was not surprised, saying: “Uncle has had countless exchanges with the people in the building, and in a few words, the total amount of money put into the treasury is 38,000 taels.”

The Imperial court had allocated a total of 100,000 taels, divided into two teams to Huaizhou and Zhizhou, each with 50,000 taels. This was not only to spread out the transportation risk, but also to facilitate disaster relief. Along the way, it was handled by many middlemen, and since there was no disaster, it was convenient to scrape a little off the top. But this was too little, and was too easy to arouse suspicion. The best way was to –

“I heard that the escort team encountered a robbery, and the governor’s troops were able to save this amount,” Li Yucheng said.

“En, it just so happens that the bandit incident has made the surrounding area restless, which is indeed a good opportunity.” Zhao Yelan began writing the memorial and handed it over to Yan Mingting, who found a few reliable people to personally deliver it to Beijing.

After all this work, it was almost dark, and Li Yucheng went back to the Cheng residence.

The two were eating in the restaurant when Yan Mingting suddenly remembered a very important matter: “What about Xiao Gao? Why didn’t you take him with you when you went out this time?”

“He has other things to do,” Zhao Yelan said mysteriously.

It was a little cooler at night, and the two of them finished their meal and took a walk along the waterways. The oncoming wind blew across their cheeks, bringing a touch of coolness to the hot summer day.

Yan Mingting turned his head to the side, saw the hair on both sides of his head blowing in the wind, and couldn’t help but reach out to touch it.

Zhao Yelan didn’t make a sound, but stopped suddenly. Watching the lanterns floating by the river, he remembered that today was the Hungry Ghost Festival.

After a while, as they walked upstream, they saw many people putting out lanterns. Seeing this, Yan Mingting also went to buy two: “Shall we let them go?”

Zhao Yelan took one, but didn’t move.

“I’ll send one for my parents and younger brother,” Yan Mingting said. “What about you?”

Zhao Yelan lowered his eyes, and was about to light his when a gust of wind blew over, making the candle flicker on the verge of being extinguished.

At this time, a pair of hands surrounded it to prevent the wind from blowing it out. The flame flickered a few times, and then stabilized again.

“Better.” Yan Mingting smiled at him.

Zhao Yelan chuckled lightly.

The two river lanterns squeezed into the big crowd together with other river lanterns of various colors. Carrying the longing and condolences for the deceased, they gradually floated downstream along the current.

“They will be able to see,” Yan Mingting said to himself. He turned his head and said solemnly, “They will definitely see that we are doing well now and have a new family.”

Zhao Yelan’s expression moved, and he stared at him until the people behind urged them to return to the road.

More and more people came to release the river lanterns, and the crowd began to grow. Yan Mingting glanced at his hand intentionally or otherwise, and quietly hooked his little finger under the cover of his sleeve.

Zhao Yelan didn’t swat his hand away. Yan Mingting was beaming with joy, his face full of smiles towards the people they passed as he walked all the way to the inn next to his shoulder.

At this time, a sedan chair passed by.

Magistrate Yin’s eyes widened. He quickly lowered the curtain, then pushed aside the curtain at the back worriedly, looking back at their secretly hooked fingers, horrified in his heart – Mother, General Yan is really a cut-sleeve?!

 

[1] Xiu hei (嘿咻) is an onomotopoeia for applying force to something, but is also a colloquial phrase for having sex. Huchi (呼哧) is another sound that represents heavy breathing. This little girl is making an unintentional innuendo. ⮐

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