Chapter 21 "Brother Tang, I...I was wrong."...

Yunping County is only a few days' journey from the capital. The group slowed down their pace the next day, no longer rushing as they had the first two days, and set off before dawn.

Even so, it only took a few days to reach Yunping County.

It was already late afternoon when they arrived. Magistrate Huang and his men were already waiting at the city gate. The group entered the county town and the carriage stopped in front of the county government office.

Cui Xintang stepped down from the carriage and was talking with the magistrate and a few others when he caught sight of the young man waiting outside the county office. He suddenly stopped and frowned.

The boy looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, with fair and delicate features. He looked like a scholar from an academy, but he was dressed in the clothes of a yamen runner and mingled among a group of yamen runners.

As Cui Xintang stepped down from the carriage, the boy's eyes were fixed on him. When he saw Cui Xintang's face, a look of surprise flashed across the boy's face as well.

But it was only for a moment. When he met Cui Xintang's slightly indifferent eyes, the boy raised his face and smiled at him.

Cui Xintang glanced at him once before looking away and stepping into the county government office.

Meng Yuanxiao followed behind him, feeling a gaze constantly fixed on him.

She felt something was off, looked around but saw nothing, so she just assumed she was overthinking it and didn't take it to heart.

Upon entering the county government office, while Cui Xintang was talking with Magistrate Huang and the others, Meng Yuanxiao, sitting idly in the flower hall, rested his chin on his hand and began to observe the people outside.

Magistrate Huang was over fifty years old, a thin man, and seemed to be in poor health, panting after walking only a few steps.

Next was the registrar, whom someone had just called "Registrar Xu." When Meng Yuanxiao saw Registrar Xu's face, his eyes lit up.

Xu, the registrar, was about the same age as Cui Xintang. He was fair-skinned and handsome, dressed in a blue long robe, and had a refined and scholarly air. He was much more attractive than Magistrate Huang and the others standing next to him.

These past few days, all I've seen along the way is barren landscape, and the people are all dusty and gray. When I suddenly saw the registrar, who was so handsome, I couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Her almond-shaped eyes stared curiously at Registrar Xu, and before she knew it, she had made him blush.

Meng Yuanxiao was stunned for a moment, then turned her head and met Cui Xintang's phoenix eyes that seemed to be both smiling and not smiling.

Meng Yuanxiao: "..."

She coughed lightly to cover her embarrassment, hurriedly looked away, and dared not look again.

As dusk fell, there was no need to discuss matters further today. After a brief exchange of pleasantries and inquiries about the situation in Yunping County, Cui Xintang declined Magistrate Huang's offer to stay and led his men to the post station.

Since they were newcomers, they naturally needed someone to guide them.

As soon as Magistrate Huang opened his mouth, the young yamen runner stepped forward and volunteered to take the group to the post station.

Cui Xintang glanced at the yamen runner's face, but did not refuse, only saying "Thank you for your trouble."

When they reached the carriage, he helped Meng Yuanxiao into it, giving her a half-smile.

That glance, filled with mischief and teasing, made Meng Yuanxiao's cheeks burn. She didn't dare to look at Xu Zhubu beside her, and whispered, "Brother Tang, I was wrong."

Cui Xintang stopped teasing her, helped her into the carriage, gave her a few instructions, and told Qingzhu to drive the carriage slowly before it drove off.

After leaving the county government office, the carriage slowly moved ahead, while Cui Xintang and his companions walked behind, talking.

The county government office was not far from the post station; it only took a quarter of an hour to get there.

Meng Yuanxiao got off the carriage, and the yamen runner, who was very friendly, greeted her with a smile, saying that his surname was Lin and that he worked in the county government. He told her that if Madam Cui needed anything, she should just look for him.

Meng Yuanxiao gave Cui Xintang a strange look but did not respond.

Cui Xintang reached out and straightened the collar of her cloak and her slightly ruffled hair, saying, "Yuanyuan, go upstairs and rest first. I'll go upstairs after I finish speaking."

Meng Yuanxiao followed the postmaster's wife upstairs. She was very clean, and once inside the room, Hongshao immediately changed the bedding on the bed to those she had brought herself.

With nothing to do and feeling a bit stuffy in the room, Meng Yuanxiao went to the back window and propped one of the windows open to let in some fresh air.

From here, you can see the people talking in the backyard of the inn.

The accompanying officials had already returned to their rooms to rest, while Cui Xintang and the yamen runner stood in the backyard talking.

Cui Xintang had his back to her, so Meng Yuanxiao couldn't see his expression, but she could see that the yamen runner had a big smile on his face, as if he was very familiar with Cui Xintang.

Meng Yuanxiao was somewhat surprised when the yamen runner suddenly looked up at her and smiled at her.

Meng Yuanxiao was taken aback.

She had felt like she was being watched by a pair of eyes in the county government office, and now that she met his gaze, that strange feeling suddenly surged up again.

Meng Yuanxiao frowned, suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, and lowered the window sash back down.

Hongshao was quick and efficient, and soon she had made the bed and laid a blanket on the tatami.

Meng Yuanxiao took off his coat and shoes, lay on the couch reading a storybook, and waited for half an hour before Cui Xintang came in from outside.

Meng Yuanxiao rested her chin on her hand, crossed her legs, and only lifted her eyelids to glance at him. "Brother Tang, what were you talking about? Why did you talk for so long?"

Cui Xintang said, "I just ran into the postmaster and asked him a few questions."

After saying that, he took off his outer garment and hung it aside, then casually picked up her storybook and glanced at it.

Meng Yuanxiao sat up and hugged his waist, asking, "Brother Tang, do you recognize that constable?"

"Um?"

Meng Yuanxiao said, "I think that yamen runner is strange. He's all over everyone. And when I listen to him speak, it doesn't sound like he speaks with the accent of Yunping County."

"Really?" Cui Xintang asked absentmindedly.

Meng Yuanxiao didn't take it to heart and instead asked, "Brother Tang, what are you planning to do tomorrow?"

Cui Xintang closed the storybook and tossed it back onto the couch, pinched her cheek, and said, "You can rest at the inn tomorrow, and come with me to the village below the day after tomorrow."

Meng Yuanxiao was surprised, "Shouldn't the inspection team from the Ministry of Revenue be checking the county government's accounts? Why are they going down to the villages?"

Cui Xintang did not answer, but said only, "Would you like to stroll around the county town tomorrow? If so, I can find someone to show you the way."

Meng Yuanxiao blinked. "Do we need to find someone else? Didn't that constable just say that if we need anything, we should just go and find him?"

Cui Xintang raised an eyebrow. "So formal? Do you know them?"

After saying that, she chuckled and deliberately teased, "Or is it that Yuanyuan thinks he's younger than your husband and wants to take a few more glances at him?"

Meng Yuanxiao: "..."

Bringing family members on official business is already a way to attract attention, so to avoid giving others cause for gossip, they only brought Hongshao and Qingzhu with them.

No sooner had they settled into the inn than Hongshao fell ill, vomiting and having diarrhea, and was feeling extremely unwell.

She obviously couldn't go to the countryside with him, so Meng Yuanxiao had no choice but to leave her at the post station and ask the postmaster's wife to take care of her.

The next day, Meng Yuanxiao got up very early again. When he was pulled onto the carriage, he was extremely tired.

The two officials from the Ministry of Revenue who had come with them stayed at the county office, leaving only the two of them and Qingzhu, who was driving the carriage, to go to the village.

After leaving the official road, the road became increasingly bumpy, and Meng Yuanxiao felt as if he was about to be shaken to pieces.

She rubbed her temples, her little face scrunched up as she asked, "Brother Tang, when will you arrive?"

"It'll be another 45 minutes," Cui Xintang said. Then, amused, he added, "Will you come along next time?"

Meng Yuanxiao hummed a few times, then simply rested her head on his lap and continued to doze off.

She had always been pampered, and Cui Xintang had expected her to complain about being tired, but to her surprise, she hadn't complained at all along the way.

He smiled slightly, gently supporting her head to prevent her from swaying, while continuing to ponder the news he had received about Fengshui Town the day before.

It was already afternoon when the carriage arrived at the village. The village head, Sun, had received advance notice and led his men to greet it at the village entrance.

At the entrance of the village stands an old locust tree from a previous dynasty. Its trunk is so thick that it takes two people to hug it, hence the village is called Locust Tree Village.

The villagers rarely saw horse-drawn carriages, so as soon as the carriage entered the village, many people gathered around it.

They stayed at the village head's house for the next few days. Meng Yuanxiao was half asleep, and Cui Xintang woke her up when the carriage stopped in front of the village head's house.

Meng Yuanxiao, still half asleep, had just stepped off the carriage when he was startled by the crowd of onlookers.

She subconsciously moved closer to Cui Xintang and clutched his sleeve tightly.

Cui Xintang noticed her nervousness and glanced at the villagers watching.

Village Chief Sun immediately scolded, "What are you all doing here? Get out of here, disperse!"

The Sun family's house was not small. Because county officials and their men would occasionally come down to do business and needed a place to rest, the two westernmost rooms in the Sun family's house were separated to form a small courtyard.

They have been staying in this small courtyard for the past few days.

After the group dispersed, Cui Xintang whispered a few words to Meng Yuanxiao, then watched her and Sun Lizhang's wife enter the courtyard before turning his gaze away and going into the main room to talk with Sun Lizhang.

Sun, the village chief's wife, was very hospitable. She came in and showed Meng Yuanxiao around, adding that the bedding was all new and that she shouldn't mind.

Meng Yuanxiao was feeling unwell from the bumpy journey. After dealing with Aunt Sun, he didn't care about anything else, took off his outer clothes, and rushed to the bed to take a nap.

She had only slept for half an hour and was still somewhat dazed when she sat up in bed.

Feeling uneasy in this unfamiliar place, she immediately went out to look for Cui Xintang. Unexpectedly, as soon as she came out of the courtyard, she saw a group of women sitting in front of the gate.

When they saw her come out, all the women looked at her.

In just half an hour, they already knew her identity. One woman said, "Madam Cui is awake? Lord Cui is discussing matters with my father. Let's not go find them, let's sit here and chat."

The speaker was Sun, the village chief's second daughter-in-law, whom Meng Yuanxiao had met earlier.

The other women also invited her to sit down, and Meng Yuanxiao became unusually flustered, unsure whether to go in or back, and couldn't help but blush.

A younger woman patted the small stool beside her and said, "Don't be afraid, Madam Cui. They just want to see the wives of officials in the capital and broaden their horizons. Come, sit here."

Seeing that Meng Yuanxiao hesitated to sit down, she couldn't help but laugh. "Do I have the character 'king' written on my forehead? Am I a man-eating tiger? Sit down quickly. Lord Cui can't leave. He just told us to keep an eye on you!"

Meng Yuanxiao glanced in the direction of the main room of Village Chief Sun's house, pursed his lips, and went over to sit down.

A note from the author:

----------------------