"She even disguised herself as a man and accompanied the Crown Prince everywhere. People who knew her thought it was disaster relief, but those who didn't thought it was just some kind of debauched Prince!"
“That’s enough!”
Lu Yan stopped her from speaking. He knelt all night, thinking a lot. Now his mind was much clearer. He looked at Aunt Jia and told her, "We are here to help with the disaster, so we shouldn't cause any trouble. You just stay at the post station and don't go out."
Just as he finished speaking, Jiayue pushed the door open and walked in. Aunt Jia quickly changed Lu Yan's topic: "Where have you been?"
Jiayue said, "I went to the kitchen to look for breakfast, but there was no one there. There were only some grains and food. I wanted to use them to cook, but Miss Qin's people stopped me. They said these things were bought by Miss Qin, and if we want to eat, we have to go out and buy them ourselves."
Aunt Jia rolled her eyes and said, "I'll go buy it. You guys wait."
Aunt Jia didn't even give her a chance to speak, she just got up and ran away. She wanted to send a message to the Fourth Prince!
Although Qin Wan followed the Crown Prince, perhaps with the Emperor's tacit approval, the officials were unaware of this. Let them report her! What county lord? Deprive her of her title!
Aunt Jia rushed to the door excitedly, but was stopped by the guards.
Aunt Jia was unhappy: "Why are you stopping me?"
The guard said, "By order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the two female relatives of the Marquis of Pingyang are not allowed to leave the post station."
Aunt Jia was furious: "You won't let us drink water or eat food. Are you trying to starve us to death?"
The guard replied in a serious tone, "There are farmers who deliver vegetables every day. What do you want to eat? Write down the order and bring the money, and I'll have someone leave it for you."
Aunt Jia originally wanted to use the farmers to pass on the message, but when she heard that they couldn't even contact the farmers, she turned around and went back.
Naturally, she complained to Lu Yan, then wrote a list and took two taels of silver to the door, handing it to the guard: "Since we are not allowed to go out, please go buy us some food, big brother."
Since someone was helping to run errands, Aunt Jia was not at all polite. She ordered ten main dishes alone, and there was also a long list of various side dishes and porridge.
The guard didn't even bother to look at the specific items they wanted to buy. He just glanced at the long list of dishes and the two taels of silver in his hand and said, "My aunt, you probably don't know that silver is worthless in Shenyang City these days. With these two taels of silver, you can't even buy a few side dishes, let alone some porridge."
Aunt Jia was furious today. Even the guards were bullying her. She stamped her feet in anger and said, "You are extorting me!"
The guard stood straight and said disdainfully, "Whether it's blackmail or not, let Marquis Lu go to the restaurant and you'll know."
Aunt Jia was worried about Lu Yan waiting for dinner, so even though she was unhappy, she still said, "Then think about what you can buy with two taels of silver."
The guard pointed to a street corner stall and said, "They sell food over there. If you need it urgently, I can go over there and buy some for you."
Aunt Jia was only thinking about eating quickly, so she waved her hand and said, "Go ahead."
The guard left and came back with two baskets shortly afterwards.
One of them contained a clay pot filled with golden, sticky millet porridge, and next to it were two small bowls with two plates of pickles.
The other basket was filled with buns.
Aunt Jia's expression changed when she saw this: "Is this all you have?"
The guard said, "Even these will cost one or two taels of silver. These buns require a lot of water, which is all brought back from Qingquan Mountain."
Aunt Jia thought of the muddy water she had just seen and stopped complaining: "So be it."
She reached out to take the basket, but the guard refused to give it to her. He simply said, "We are guards of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, not servants. So, next time you ask us to buy something for you, you should be polite and give us some money for running errands. If you only pay once today, we won't charge you any fees for running errands."
Concubine Jia looked at the one or two taels of silver she had received and secretly criticized the guard, wondering how much money he had taken. She rolled her eyes at the guard and took the basket. "You're still charging me for this? It's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who won't let me out. If I could go out, would I still need you to buy it?"
The guard didn't care about her small amount of money and said, "If you don't want to pay, then ask Pingyang Hou to find farmers to deliver the vegetables to your door, or find a restaurant to have someone deliver them. My concubine doesn't have to pay these few coins."
Aunt Jia was so angry that she didn't know what to say. She turned around and went back with the basket.
She stuffed the basket into Jiayue's hands and began to complain, "This guard is so mean! He won't let us go out to buy groceries or cook, but instead asks us to bring some things back, and even charges us for it! Isn't this just taking advantage of someone's misfortune?"
Jiayue glanced at her and knew that she wouldn't listen even if she told her, but she couldn't help but ask, "Who made you make such a scene last night?"
Aunt Jia knew she was in the wrong, so she just kept her head down and served Lu Yan his meal, not daring to say a word.
Lu Yan also knew that Qin Wan was probably targeting him on purpose. It seemed that she still had him in her heart, otherwise why would she target him?
She must have been jealous, which was why she allowed Taoyao to humiliate Aunt Jia.
Lu Yan, who had figured it out intuitively, became more and more confident and had some ideas in mind: "I'll go out and visit the restaurant myself and ask them to deliver meals three times a day."
Jiayue quickly reminded Lu Yan: "Actually, the most important thing is drinking water. My aunt and I can't go out, and the Marquis is busy with disaster relief. What are we going to do with water?"
Aunt Jia said quickly, "Then we'll just pay the money and have the guards help us carry it up the mountain. Don't they also want to make money?"
Lu Yan ignored Aunt Jia and only said to Jia Yue, "I will go to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to explain the situation. I will make sure there is water for you to wash."
Lu Yan didn't think of asking Qin Wan for help. Although her food was piled up in the kitchen, he couldn't go to see her now.
What's more, didn't Taoyao and Aunt Jia have an argument today just over this water?
Aunt Jia said, "Why bother with all that? Just find the kitchen steward, give him some money, and he'll bring it out for us, won't that be enough?"
Lu Yan said, "The kitchen is managed by Miss Qin's maid. Will Miss Qin be happy to cook for us?"
Aunt Jia rolled her eyes and said, "Even if she made it, I wouldn't dare to eat it!"
She hugged Lu Yan's arm tightly and said, "I was afraid she would poison me and kill me. Yesterday, the maidservant next to Miss Qin slapped me twice. Look."
Tao Yao was merciless. The mark from last night hadn't disappeared yet, and today he was slapped again, making it even more red and swollen.
Lu Yan lowered his eyes to look at her face, suddenly puzzled: "Last night? Did she hit you last night?"
Aunt Jia realized that she had gone to see Qin Wan last night, but she did so without telling Lu Yan. She immediately fell silent.
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