Chapter 69 A woman who travels all the way to the Spirit River, no matter what, is in the wrong...

Wang Yan was startled again upon hearing this, and handed him Bai Baidao's letter. "His chronic illness has become so severe." Just as the truth is about to surface... if only they could hold on a little longer. Wasn't this precisely what they were doing on this trip?

"Perhaps it's fate playing tricks." Shen Minghuai's usually stern face softened slightly when he saw what was written in the letter.

Wang Yan sighed, "If the Prince of Wei finds out, how will the Princess Consort face him? With your actions, it's inevitable that innocent people will be implicated."

Shen Minghuai rationally analyzed the situation with her, saying, "She is still pregnant, so the King of Wei will not hold a grudge against her."

Wang Yan took out the gold hairpin and examined it again. She and Shen Minghuai had agreed that they would first go to Linghe Town. There seemed to be an unseen force guiding her to understand and make amends with this woman, whose name and appearance were strikingly similar to hers.

They arrived in Linghe Town late at night and had no choice but to stay at an inn. The next day, they would inquire about the whereabouts of Aying's mother. However, Wang Yan knew very little about this woman, only that her surname was Meng, and that although the town was small, she was difficult to find.

The two had set out early, and the thick fog showed no signs of dissipating even after an hour. Shen Minghuai led her into a teahouse, intending to warm themselves with a cup of hot tea. As soon as they sat down, the innkeeper brought over a box of various tea fruits and had a waiter brew a pot of Zisun tea. The two distinguished guests, dressed in expensive fur coats, instantly became the most dazzling presence in the small shop.

Wang Yan asked curiously, "You also have Guzhu Purple Bamboo Shoots here?"

Manager Hu personally poured tea for the two of them, saying, "Purple bamboo shoots? Yes, we have them, please have a taste, distinguished guests."

Shen Minghuai took a sip, then put it down. "It's just ordinary loose tea, too astringent."

Wang Yan then tasted it and asked the shopkeeper, puzzled, "Are you sure this is Zisun tea?"

Without saying a word, Manager Hu picked up some loose tea leaves, placed them in his palm, and handed them over to show them. "Genuine quality! Look at the color and appearance, isn't this Zisun tea?"

The color was dark, so it was definitely "purple"; the shape... with dozens of bends, it might be related to bamboo shoots. Wang Yan handed over a piece of rice cake, "It's just to warm you up, so have something sweet."

Shen Minghuai took her hand, brought the rice cake to his lips, and ate it clean little by little. The shopkeeper had been watching the whole time, along with a few tea drinkers. This ambiguous behavior in front of everyone was truly embarrassing for her. He, however, acted as if nothing had happened and inquired about Aying's mother from Shopkeeper Hu.

"Does the shopkeeper know Ah Ying?"

"Ah Ying, does anyone know her?" Manager Hu scanned the shop, but no one answered. "I don't know anyone."

Wang Yan added, "Her mother's surname is Meng, and she is from Linghe Town."

Shopkeeper Hu chuckled. "There are quite a few women with the surname Meng in Linghe Town. My wife's surname is Meng. Could it be that you're looking for her?"

Are we supposed to meet every woman with the surname Meng in this town...? It's utterly hopeless. Wang Yan, following his words, chuckled dryly, "It's not impossible."

At that time, a customer in the shop suggested, "You have to tell us who her man is; we know him."

Shen Minghuai replied, "Her husband is from Chenqiao Town. How did you know him?"

"Sishui!" Manager Chen called over the waiter who had just brewed the tea. "He's from Chenqiao Town, you might recognize him."

But they didn't know much about Ah Ying's father, only that his surname was Liu and that he was a butcher.

"Liu Yidao?" Si Shui uttered a name, and the people in the teahouse responded one after another.

"Liu Yidao! I know him."

"Liu Yidao, I actually know him."

Wang Yan was completely confused. "Who is Liu Yidao?"

Si Shui explained to her, "Just like you said, the pig butcher is surnamed Liu, isn't he Liu Yidao?"

Wang Yan didn't believe it was such a coincidence. "What if there's more than one butcher surnamed Liu in Chenqiao Town?"

Shopkeeper Hu sat down next to the two of them and said with great interest, "They are from out of town. You might not know Liu Yidao. His real name is Liu Daqiang. He married a woman from the Meng family in Linghe Town. She is my wife's cousin."

Shen Minghuai also questioned, "You mean the person we're looking for is your wife's cousin?"

Hearing some interesting news, the teahouse suddenly became lively. Could the "abandoned woman" they were talking about, the shopkeeper's sister-in-law, be A-Ying's mother? Since Meng was in Linghe Town, she must have had a falling out with her husband and returned to her parents' home. If so, she really could be the person they were talking about.

Wang Yan was still quietly discussing countermeasures with Shen Minghuai when Manager Hu suddenly stopped everyone's discussion, saying that he was going home to fetch his wife.

It seemed that most of the most enthusiastic people in Linghe Town had gathered here. Although only Wang Yan, Shen Minghuai, and the shopkeeper and his wife were seated at the square table, all the waiters and customers of the teahouse surrounded them, with eight pairs of eyes and sixteen ears staring at one place, which inevitably made Wang Yan and his wife feel a little uncomfortable.

“I don’t have much contact with my cousin, we’re not that close. I only know about her from what other people say, but I do know where she lives now.”

Wang Yan and Shen Minghuai wanted to go with her, but the shopkeeper pressed them back onto the wooden stools, saying that the weather was cold and that they should wait here for a cup of hot tea while she went and would be right back.

Si Shui brought over another pot of Zisun tea, and everyone gathered around asked for a cup, along with some new customers who had come after hearing the commotion. When the tea was almost finished, the proprietress brought Meng Shi back. It was the same table, but this time there was another circle of people surrounding her.

When Meng saw Wang Yan and Shen Minghuai, she was very excited, as if she recognized them as having come from the capital at a glance.

"Did A-Ying send you?"

Wang Yan, worried that it was yet another beautiful misunderstanding, confirmed with her, "Is your daughter named A-Ying? The Ying of firefly?"

Madam Meng quickly grasped her hand. "Yes, my daughter's name is Aying, the Ying of firefly. Please tell me, is she doing well in the capital?"

It turned out that Madam Meng was unaware that A-Ying was dead. Wang Yan quickly said, "You don't need to be so polite, just call me Wenxuan. A-Ying, she—"

Meng suddenly realized her rudeness and immediately released Wang Yan's hand. "I'm sorry. I was too excited. How could I call you by your name without knowing your honorable surnames?"

It seems the Meng family considers them to be A-Ying's master. Wang Yan pushed a cup of tea towards them, "My surname is Wang, and his surname is Chen."

"Young Master Shen, Madam Wang." Madam Meng rose and bowed deeply to them, and no one could stop her.

“A few days ago, Aying wrote to me saying that she didn’t want me to visit her. Now she’s troubling you two to come and see me. What a child.”

Wang Yan exchanged a glance with the person beside him, puzzled, and couldn't help but ask, "Did she write you a letter a few days ago?"

"Yes." Madam Meng even carried it with her, taking out a precious letter from her bosom and unfolding it in front of them. "Did she bring any message or anything with her when she invited you here?"

After looking at it, Shen Minghuai confirmed Wang Yan's guess in a low voice, "It's Fu Niangzi." He had seen her calligraphy at her house before.

Wang Yan looked at her expectant mother, like a piece of candy that had been lingering in her mouth for a long time, but when she bit into it, the juice spilled out, yet it tasted only sour and bitter. She smiled, just as she had smiled in front of Li Shi.

"This is a hairpin that Aying asked me to bring to you. Let me put it on for you."

"Oh, how can this be—"

Without a word, Wang Yan pinned the gold hairpin into Meng's hair. Meng's plain clothes seemed completely out of place, yet they fit her perfectly.

“Ah Ying is doing well, and I hope you are doing well too.”

The hairpin seemed to act like a magnet, drawing everyone who had been silent for a long time to its side.

"Golden!"

A woman urged the child in her arms to take a bite, but the shopkeeper's wife caught them red-handed.

"If you bite it and damage it, can you afford to pay for it?"

Madam Meng suddenly stood up, nearly knocking the child over. "Thank you both so much. As long as she's doing well, that's enough. I, as her mother, owe her so much." She then straightened her hairpin and asked the shopkeeper, "Does it look good? My daughter bought it for me."

She asked everyone she met at the teahouse, receiving envious glances from them, and happily went home. After she left, Wang Yan finally asked the question she had been pondering for a long time.

Why do they call her a 'discarded woman'?

The shopkeeper's wife spat out the melon seed shells, poured herself a cup of tea, and then said, "Last year, my elder sister divorced Liu Yidao, which cost her a full fifty taels of silver."

Shen Minghuai said with disdain, "He is unworthy of being called a human being."

Fifty taels of silver was equivalent to two years' wages for an ordinary butcher. Wang Yan felt indignant for Meng Shi, "Why did she have to be called an 'abandoned woman' after spending fifty taels to get a divorce? Why doesn't anyone mention Liu Yidao? He was clearly the one who was abandoned."

Unlike her, the shopkeeper's wife said calmly, "Women are never in the right, no matter what. At home, they obey their fathers; after marriage, they obey their husbands. Besides, divorce is a very embarrassing matter. Although you say that this money came from your daughter, how many people will believe you? Would you believe a stranger in the capital who only lives on your lips, or a neighbor you see every now and then? It's definitely the latter."

Shen Minghuai sneered again, "Absurd and unreasonable."

The shopkeeper's wife shrugged and said, "In this place, we only talk about what's real. If you can touch it and see it, then it's real. Words are no proof."

Wang Yan snatched the lacquer box containing the hairpin, indignantly asking, "Then this hairpin, at least, is real, right?"

The shopkeeper's wife brushed the crumbs off her hands, her expression serious. "That's why this time is different. Now that you've come to support her, who will dare to gossip? My elder sister is all alone here, and it really hasn't been easy for her."

They only believed what they saw. A nobleman riding a dappled horse and wearing a fine fur coat really did appear in the small town of Linghe, so they believed it. Wang Yan felt only sorrow.

"Isn't she from Linghe Town? Where are her relatives?"

"My parents died long ago, and I only have one younger brother who was conscripted to repair the border a few years ago and has never returned." The shopkeeper's wife sighed, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Wang Yan stood once again in the cold winter, her breath white as she exhaled, but now carrying an indescribable heaviness. Shen Minghuai tightened his grip on her hand, and they embarked on their journey once more. She lay in Shen Minghuai's arms and fell asleep without realizing it, having a very long dream. When she awoke, they were already in Huazhou City.

Lifting the curtain and opening the window, snowflakes danced in the air. A thin layer of snow covered the roadside thatched hut, and steam rose from the hot soup. A man in blue, braving the snow, rushed into the hut, his soft feet and headband covered in snow.

"Old Qin!"

A cold wind blew into the carriage, making Wang Yan shiver and quickly close the window. Before leaving, Xu Ning'an had prescribed many medicinal bath formulas for her. Her qi and blood were already weak, and if she caught a cold, the root of her illness would be difficult to eradicate. After a hot bath, her whole body felt warm, and she wrapped herself in the quilt, and sleepiness quickly overcame her. Shen Minghuai had been staying by her bedside lately, only leaving after she fell asleep. His hands were always warmer than hers, and Wang Yan especially loved holding his hand as she fell asleep, as if she were holding a hot water bottle.

The next morning, the snow stopped. Shen Minghuai took the list sent by Zhao Can and went from house to house asking many people. It was the end of the annual maintenance, and when the topic of the river breaching due to negligence in dike construction five years ago came up, everyone felt sorry for the incident.

As Zhao Can said, no one on the roster participated in the major repair five years ago. The roster consisted entirely of conscripts who participated in the annual repair eight years prior, and half of them came from Linghe Town. However, for the major repair three years later, they were no longer on the service list. Now, many have died from illness or disaster, and some even perished eight years ago; very few remain alive.

Shen Minghuai wrote a letter to Li Changling, who remained in Linghe Town, and then returned to the inn with Wang Yan. Unexpectedly, they witnessed a rather interesting scene as soon as they entered.

A beautifully dressed woman stood in front of room number three, brandishing a knife, and was about to swing it at the man's groin in a fit of rage.

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Author's Note: The countdown to completion is on! [Exaggerated praise]