Chapter 586 Oranges, Bananas, and Dates

"What's wrong?" Zhu Lan turned around and saw her frowning face and asked.

Yan Jing puffed up his cheeks and said in a troubled tone:

"Aunt, it's too dark. Jing'er can't see anything clearly..."

Zhu Lan burst out laughing.

Yan Jing grew up in Changyu Palace, being the apple of everyone's eye. He was raised in the palm of everyone's hand and had never experienced the life of an ordinary citizen.

You have to know that the palace lanterns she saw every day used high-quality flower oil as fuel, and their burning brightness was much higher than the cheap vegetable oil used in ordinary people's homes.

Even with candle wick lamps, three or four candles are often placed in the same lamp. Ordinary people would not do this.

Zhu Lan smiled and touched Yan Jing's head, telling her that this was the case in all ordinary people's homes.

Then, she heard Yan Jing sniffling.

Zhu Lan thought Yan Jing couldn't adapt to such dim light, and was about to speak to comfort him, but heard Yan Jing's muffled voice:

“When I was in Changyu Palace, my mother and Aunt Biyu never let Jing’er study in the dark, saying it would hurt my eyes.

But auntie, if the candles used in ordinary people's homes are all like this, then how are the children of Jing'er's age in the charity school going to study at night?"

Yan Jing raised his little head and looked at Zhu Lan with burning eyes.

"Aunt, Jing'er wants to buy some more candles to donate to the charity school, is that okay?"

"Sure." Zhu Lan sat down next to her, holding his chin and asked her, "How much does Jing'er plan to pay?"

Yan Jing looked down at herself. She was only wearing an ordinary piece of clothing that she bought on the road. Although she had no concept of "money", she knew that this piece of clothing should not be worth much.

Yan Jing's face turned red, and after a long while he managed to utter:

"Jing'er can write, so she can help people copy books to make money."

Zhu Lan nodded and started to calculate for her carefully.

"One candle costs twenty coins, and the price of a handwritten book is eight hundred coins. According to Jing'er's speed, it takes about seven days to copy a book, and one book can be exchanged for forty candles. In other words -

Jing'er copied books for seven consecutive days, which could earn a month's worth of candles for a charity school."

Yan Jing blinked his big eyes twice.

Zhu Lan: "And there are more than 2,000 charity schools in Daliang..."

There was no light in Yan Jing's eyes.

With a bitter face, she threw herself into Zhu Lan's arms and experienced despair for the first time in her life.

Zhu Lan touched her little head, thought for a moment, and said softly:

"Jing'er, besides the children in the charity school, there are many other people in the world who need help, and there is also a lot of justice that needs to be upheld.

Would you like to help them?"

Yan Jing pursed her lips and said aggrievedly:

"Jing'er wants to help, but Jing'er is not Nezha, and can't copy so many books..."

"If there is another way that is thousands of times more difficult than copying books, but can help people all over the world, would Jing'er be willing?"

Yan Jing was a little confused. She didn't understand what Zhu Lan was talking about. Perhaps only gods and her father could do such a thing?

She tilted her head and thought for a long time, then nodded slowly but firmly and said to Zhu Lan:

“The sage said: ‘Do not shirk responsibility’.

If there really is a road like what my aunt said, Jing'er is willing to go there."

Zhu Lan pinched her little face with relief.

Yan Jing had the habit of eating fruit every day. Zhu Lan bought some on the road, washed them with well water, and brought them to Yan Jing to eat together.

She put a plate of fruit on the table and asked while peeling the fruit:

"Jing'er, do you know what we are doing in Maoxian?"

Jing'er said it was to catch the bad guys.

Zhu Lan asked her if she knew who the bad guy was.

Yan Jing thought about it and said that Wu Zhiyuan was a bad person.

Zhu Lan smiled and asked her why she said that.

Yan Jing said that if Wu Zhiyuan was not a bad person, why would Aunt Zhu deliberately let him misunderstand their identities in order to get close to him.

"But we need evidence to catch bad guys, and we don't have enough evidence now."

Zhu Lan handed the peeled pear to Yan Jing, then picked up two oranges, one large and one small, on the plate and started to compare them.

"Look, this big orange is in Beijing, and the small orange is in Maoxian."

Zhu Lan placed the two oranges on both sides, then picked up a date and placed it next to the small orange.

"Now this date and the little orange are mixed together, and they don't listen to the big orange."

Zhu Lan picked up another banana and said:

“Now this banana is also in Maoxian, providing convenience for small oranges and dates.

But the banana plays with the little orange just to curry favor with the big orange, so the banana is an ally of the big orange."

Zhu Lan put the banana next to the big orange.

“Our goal now is to first take down the small oranges and then the big oranges.

Jing Er, what do you think we should do?

Yan Jing bit his lower lip, thought hard for a while, looked up and asked:

“Now the big oranges and bananas are in one group, and the small oranges and dates are in one group.

The little orange and the jujube don't listen to the big orange, which means there is a conflict.

And if bananas are big oranges, then aren’t they like small oranges and dates, and there is also a conflict between them and bananas?”

Zhu Lan smiled and nodded, waiting for her to continue.

Yan Jing thought about it and suddenly stretched out his little hand.

"Aunt, bananas shouldn't be here.

Although bananas are big oranges, they are also found in Maoxian.”

She pushed the bananas to the side of the oranges and dates.

"Big Orange is not here, so let Banana fight these two guys, and we'll just watch from the sidelines, isn't that good?"

In an instant, the smile in Zhu Lan's eyes became even more intense.

It was already late at night. Zhu Lan opened the door and walked into the yard, only to see the silver moonlight all over the ground.

She didn't know when a leaf appeared at her fingertips, and she put it to her lips and blew it gently.

Soon, four figures appeared in front of her silently.

Zhu Lan said something to them.

Qingdai and Zhusha stayed behind to protect them, while Shuibi and Xinghuang climbed over the courtyard wall in the moonlight and went in two directions respectively.

…

Two days later, Maoxian County Government Office.

Zhu Qian was stretching in the yard in his casual clothes when he suddenly saw a figure hurrying towards him. It turned out to be the county magistrate.

The county magistrate walked up to him, looking a little anxious.

"Sir, someone just came to report from the Liu residence that Master Liu has been missing for a day and a night.

And Master Xu...seems to be missing too."

"What?" Zhu Qian frowned, "Did you send someone to look for him?"

"The detectives have already looked for it, but they can't find it!"

The county magistrate rubbed his hands, obviously a little nervous.

"Sir, if this is really a missing case, then that person is Master Xu...why don't we report it to the government office first..."

Zhu Qian paced back and forth anxiously, seeming to be more worried about another matter, and said to the county magistrate:

"No rush to report, let's go to Tongyun Bank first!"

The two of them hurried to the money house in the east of the city and found Manager Mi.

When Manager Mi saw the county magistrate coming, he hurriedly greeted him enthusiastically.

Zhu Qian waved his hands impatiently and asked:

"Did Mr. Liu come to exchange the silver yesterday?"

"This..." Manager Mi was a little embarrassed.

Zhu Qian slapped the counter and almost shouted, "Have you been here before?!"

Manager Mi was frightened and trembled, and said timidly:

"Here, here they come, with Master Xu, the two of them have exchanged all the silver on the account..."

Zhu Qian's face changed drastically. He kicked the counter hard and cursed silently.

Is this guy surnamed Liu crazy... His only son has been raised in the capital for medical treatment, and the doctors who treat him were arranged by Grand Tutor Xu.

He actually dared to work with Wu Zhiyuan to take all the old tutor's money and run away.

Do you really not want your son's life?!

When County Magistrate Zhu came out of Tongyun Money House, his face was livid. The County Magistrate observed his expression and reminded him:

“Sir, didn’t a woman with a child come to the Xu family a few days ago?

I have already found out where they live, maybe they know the whereabouts of Master Xu and Master Liu..."

Zhu Qian waved his hand fiercely, "Let's go!"