Chapter 39 If there were any earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magical ability) to help her act bravely, she would shorten her lifespan...
Le Jin didn't know the exact way to the Meng family's southern courtyard.
After thinking it over, she decided to go to Luoyang first and ask.
And so, Ruyunfu's horse clattered along the long streets of Luoyang, carrying several cloth bags on its back filled with sesame cakes, dried meat, chestnuts, roasted sweet potatoes, mung bean cakes...
Le Jin was already quite bloated, and after being so "meticulously" cared for by Meng Shutai for a while, her stomach felt incredibly empty. She wanted to buy everything she saw and practically buy up the entire street.
She cut the steaming sweet potato in half, ate one half, and fed the other half to Ruyunfu.
"Grandma, do you know how to get to the Meng family's villa in the suburbs of Beijing?"
Le Jin took out a handful of fragrant and sweet chestnuts and handed them to the old woman selling vegetables across the vegetable stall on the ground, then squatted down and asked her.
"The Meng family's villas? Oh my, there are so many! There are two in the western suburbs alone, three in the southern suburbs, and in the northern suburbs... oh, the northern suburbs are estates!"
“Ah…” Le Jin hadn’t expected the Meng family to have so much territory, but now that she thought about it, it was exactly what she expected. Her eyebrows furrowed together.
There are three courtyards in the southern suburbs! How luxurious...
Can she finish searching in a day?
"Grandma, how do I get to the courtyards in the south suburbs? Are they far apart... Ah!"
Before Le Jin could finish her question, someone suddenly kicked her hard, causing her to fall to her knees on the old woman's vegetable stall, crushing two fresh bok choy.
She turned around angrily and saw a burly middle-aged man rushing forward, ignoring the pedestrians on the road, his sword clanging against the snow-silver armor.
If Yunfu slightly blocked his way, he was shoved hard, and he cursed gruffly, "Get out of the way!"
The old woman helped Le Jin to her feet. "Are you alright, child?"
"No, no." Le Jin shook her head, her breathing rapid, and turned to glare at the man's retreating figure. "Won't you apologize?!"
"Hey, hey, don't!" The old woman waved her hand at Le Jin and whispered, "That's a military officer from the Imperial Guard! You can't afford to offend him."
The Imperial Guard? Le Jin was taken aback. Wasn't Yuan Jingming there?
"Grandma, how about I give you this bag of chestnuts as compensation for the little cabbage?" Le Jin quickly took out a bag of roasted chestnut cakes from her cloth bag and handed it to Grandma.
In the past, when people worked, they were very careful with their money and reluctant to spend it. If they had any social interactions, they would usually exchange goods for other things.
Le Jin subconsciously followed the old method, but as soon as she handed the chestnut to the old woman, she suddenly realized that she had more money than she could spend, so why was she still so frugal?
So, in a bag of roasted chestnuts, Le Jin also put a pair of agate earrings inside.
The old woman was frightened and was about to refuse when Le Jin had already led Ru Yunfu and followed the middle-aged man.
"Hey little girl, be careful not to get into a fight! You'll suffer the consequences!"
The man walked incredibly fast, and Le Jin had to run to catch up. Before long, she saw him enter a bustling winery.
Le Jin looked up and saw Jude Winery.
It belongs to Madam Zhang Xiangyun!
However, her joy lasted only a few seconds before her eyes and brows drooped again.
Now she has a bad reputation among Madam Zhang, being seen as an unfaithful woman who frequents brothels; it's probably best not to go to her place again.
The people from the Imperial Guards are probably just here to meet friends and have drinks; it's nothing serious. Besides, there are so many people in the army, that person might not necessarily be related to Jiang Yuan and his companion.
Le Jin pouted, feeling a little disappointed.
She has to accept that whether the young couple ends well or happily is no longer her concern.
Le Jin gripped the reins tightly and stroked Ru Yunfu's dark and beautiful fur: "Let's go."
"Let me go! I won't go with you!"
As soon as I turned around, a hurried, frightened, and familiar voice came from the winery.
Le Jin's heart skipped a beat. She immediately shoved Ru Yunfu to the waiter at the door, lifted her skirt, and rushed inside.
In the overcrowded winery, the middle-aged man was pulling Jiang Yingyun out, his face contorted with fury, a truly terrifying sight.
“I’m your father! I can’t stand by and watch you do evil! You owe your cousin a life, and you have to pay it back!”
Jiang Yingyun clung desperately to the pillar with the gauze curtain hanging in the hall. Her arm was pulled painfully by her own father, and tears welled up in her eyes. She was both scared and aggrieved.
Her father's heartless words from four years ago still echoed in her ears; if she were to have any further contact with the Jiang family, she would likely face certain death.
She anxiously turned back to look at the wine order contract on the shopkeeper's table, which had not yet been signed.
She was just a hair's breadth away from having her wine sold to the largest winery in Luojing, but then her biological father, whom she hadn't seen for four years, suddenly appeared, determined to ruin her.
She was a girl not yet twenty years old. Clinging to the pillar was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot; her arms were so sore that she was about to let go of her last support.
"Smack—"
A whip lashed out swiftly and fiercely at the man's hand that was holding his daughter, forcing him to release Jiang Yingyun instantly.
Le Jin stood behind Jiang Cheng with her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised in a haughty manner.
"Can't you see where you're going? Your legs are kicking around like crazy! They're worse than a toddler's legs, just chop them off!"
"What?" Jiang Cheng clutched his wrist where he had been hit, and looked at Le Jin, who was just a thin woman, with a look of shock and confusion on his face.
How dare she commit violence against the Imperial Guards?
Jiang Cheng composed himself and turned to face Le Jin, shouting, "Are you insane! Do you know who I am?!"
"Whoever you are, you offended me and didn't even apologize, so you deserve to be whipped."
As Le Jin spoke, she raised the whip again, as if to hit him: "Gaze again! I'll slap your face until it's bruised!"
How dare a beautiful, delicate girl, who is so weak she could not even kill a chicken, bully him? Jiang Cheng had never suffered such a loss before!
No matter what, he was a member of the Imperial Guard and received a government salary. Wouldn't it be ridiculous if he were scared off by a young woman?
Jiang Cheng snorted coldly and stepped forward to punch her. Le Jin suddenly trembled and instinctively dodged to the side.
Jiang Yingyun, who was behind the pillar, seized the opportunity to shout:
"She's the eldest son of the Meng family's fiancée, you can't hit her!"
She herself was so scared that her whole body went weak, but she still spoke up to protect Le Jin.
As soon as he said it, two or three other drinkers chimed in.
"Yes, yes, yes! I thought this young lady looked familiar. Isn't she the one riding her horse around the city the other day!"
"She wasn't arrested and brought before the Prefect of Luoyang? She really is the future wife of the Meng family?"
Upon hearing this, Le Jin immediately took advantage of the situation and raised her chin at Jiang Cheng.
Although Jiang Cheng was furious, he also considered the Meng family's influence. After much deliberation, he reluctantly cupped his hands to Le Jin:
"Madam, I am but a humble soldier. I bumped into you in my haste. Please forgive me."
After apologizing, he turned around and walked towards Jiang Yingyun, gritting his teeth and saying fiercely, "Get out here and come with me."
"She can't go with you."
Le Jinqing uttered these words, crossed her arms, stood between the two, turned around, faced Jiang Cheng, and shielded Jiang Yingyun with her back.
Why?
Le Jin blinked, deliberately trying to provoke him: "Because... I don't want to do as you wish."
"If you make me unhappy, I'll make you unhappy. It's that simple."
Jiang Cheng's expression changed repeatedly, as colorful as a neon light.
This was the first time Le Jin had ever seen someone so funny when they were both embarrassed and angry.
She smiled, turned around and gave Jiang Yingyun a quick wink, looking incredibly dashing, like a flurry of green bamboo leaves.
Having interacted with Lady Le a few times, Jiang Yingyun found, for the first time ever, that this person was actually quite adorable.
Jiang Cheng's beard trembled as he once again took out the "token" that worldly people had given him: "I am her father. If she makes a mistake, I will take care of it."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yingyun trembled. Under this heavy shackle of blood ties, she had nowhere to escape.
Unexpectedly, Le Jin whipped the air again, the crisp and loud sound like a slap across Jiang Cheng's face.
"What did she do wrong? Did she kill her cousin? But her cousin clearly died in the banditry, what does that have to do with her?"
"Can……"
"But what?! The authorities haven't even convicted her, who do you think you are? Are you going to resort to vigilante justice?"
Jiang Cheng's voice was louder than Le Jin's, full of authority: "I should take her home! What is she, a woman, doing showing her face in public?"
"Do business!"
Perhaps it was because someone was standing with her, but Jiang Yingyun felt a surge of strength within her, and her words were firm and resounding.
She no longer hid behind Le Jin, but stood shoulder to shoulder with her, standing up openly and honestly.
"Our dynasty has not prohibited women from engaging in commerce, so why can't I? Anyway, you've long since stopped acknowledging me as a daughter of the Jiang family..."
Le Jin glanced at her sideways. The woman's long eyelashes were wet, glistening with light, making her look pitiful. But beneath those eyelashes, her eyes were firm and clear, like priceless gems, clear, dazzling, and impossible to look directly at.
“When I was little, anyone could step on my foot at home. When you treated me like a servant, when you ignored me as if I were invisible, who among you remembered that I was the daughter of the family! I don’t want to be with your cold-blooded family, you don’t deserve it!”
"You are the ones who don't deserve to be my family."
Her father's only intention in capturing her was to sacrifice her to his grandmother and uncle, like the ancient kings who sacrificed slaves to the gods.
That family was an inseparable whole; she was the human sacrifice placed on the altar to serve as a link.
Jiang Cheng was surprised that she would say such outrageous things, and he raised his hand to slap her, but Le Jin reacted quickly and lashed out with her whip.
This time, the whip struck Jiang Cheng's bare hand hard, tearing open the skin and drawing blood instantly.
"Ah—" he cried out in pain, about to unleash a torrent of curses, but Le Jin spoke first, catching him off guard: "I told you to get lost, why didn't you get lost? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Jiang Cheng wrinkled his nose, snorted, and glared at Le Jin like a wolf, as if he wanted to devour her flesh.
"My wife previously told me not to resort to private punishment, but what is she doing now? Isn't she also showing contempt for the law and the imperial court!"
"Well..." Le Jin tilted her head and thought for a moment, her pretty eyes crinkling into a lively smile, as sweet as a peach with dewdrops on them.
"Then go and complain to the Meng family and Meng Shutai!"
Anyway, Meng Shutai should be the one to take responsibility for his nephew's debts. This isn't causing him trouble; it's a case of the guilty party having a culprit and the debtor having a debtor.
As soon as she finished speaking, Yue Jin shrugged smugly, when she suddenly saw a handsome young man, elegant and refined, walking gracefully into the winery's wide-open main gate.
His bright, starry eyes fell directly on Le Jin, taking in her arrogance without the slightest disgust.
Instead, it resembles a pool of fallen flowers and spring water, rippling with gentle waves.
“That’s right. Her matter should be addressed by Meng Shutai.”
The voice was like a jade bead, so beautiful that Kele Jin stared blankly, her soul almost leaving her body in fright.
Jiang Cheng turned around, his eyes widening: "Young Master Meng."
He approached Meng Shutai respectfully, but before he could speak, Meng Shutai glanced at him casually, and the coldness and indifference in his eyes made his legs tremble.
Strange, Lord Meng is usually easy to talk to, why is he being so unapproachable today?
Oh no, he must have offended someone's fiancée. Lord Meng is really angry.
Jiang Cheng trembled as he forced apologetic: "My lord, it was truly an unintentional mistake of mine to offend my wife today..."
Meng Shutai's lips curved slightly, but his eyes remained calm and emotionless.
"If it was an unintentional mistake, why is Right Commander Jiang acting like a ferocious tiger devouring people?"
His gaze shifted to Le Jin, and a sudden pity welled up within him. His tone instantly became tinged with heartache: "Poor Le Jin is still ill. I have been taking good care of her for many days. What if she gets upset this time?"
Le Jin silently looked down at her toes, silently protesting in her heart: I've been fed so much by you that I'm almost starving, and you still care about this little fright?
At this moment, Jiang Cheng was struck dumb, too frightened to think any further. He immediately turned to Le Jin and said, "I was preoccupied with family matters and acted rashly. Please forgive me, Madam Le, and be lenient with me..."
As he spoke, he repeatedly bowed to Le Jin. Jiang Yingyun and Le Jin were standing together, and this time they also received his bow.
Le Jin secretly glanced at Meng Shutai, only to find that Meng Shutai was also looking at her, clearly indicating that he wanted her to make the decision.
The whip marks on Jiang Cheng's hands were clearly visible to Le Jin, and she knew they must be incredibly painful.
She blinked, seemingly trying to escape her own "masterpiece," and turned her head to the other side. "Go away, go away, don't let me see you again!"
Jiang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to wag his tail at Meng Shutai, but before he could even put on a smile, Meng Shutai didn't even look at him and casually uttered a sentence.
“Oppressing women and intimidating the innocent, the Meng family will report this to the army. Commander Jiang will return to his troops and await a hundred lashes.”
One hundred lashes would likely leave Jiang Cheng partially paralyzed and bedridden.
Le Jin's eyes widened in terror as she watched Jiang Cheng being helped out of the winery, half-lying down.
So even if you force someone to stand in front of her, it doesn't mean she gets to make all the decisions.
She had already lashed him twice; there was no need for such severe punishment...
Suddenly, Le Jin's sympathetic gaze was blocked by a graceful and elegant figure, completely obscuring her view of everyone else.
She should have some sympathy for herself.
Le Jin dared not even blink, only staring at the white jade belt with scrolling grass patterns around the man's waist.
If she had some kind of earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic/technique), she would gladly shorten her life
She knew he would bring her food, but she still left. How can she explain this now?
Her mind was in turmoil when suddenly a cold, jade-like hand lifted her chin, forcing her to look up.
Meng Shutai's thick eyebrows drooped, the beauty closed her eyes, as if she were drowsy from a spring nap, and a cascade of disheveled crabapple blossoms cascaded down her body, making it hard for her to breathe.
Le Jin leaned back unconsciously, but the hand on her chin tightened, holding her firmly in place, her brows furrowed.
A pair of pitiful eyes looked at him.
This move was performed by Le Jinshu.
She used to do this when playing with dogs in the countryside. She would lift the puppy's fluffy chin with her fingers, making "sucking" noises as she did so, clearly enjoying it immensely.
If Meng Shutai hadn't remained silent and unquestioning, just standing there like a Buddha, Le Jin would have been no different from a puppy in his hands.
His clear, black and white eyes gazed quietly at Le Jin, gentle and warm like jade, patiently waiting, or rather, enduring.
To be honest, if Meng Shutai were really angry and rushed up to scold Le Jin for leaving without saying goodbye and messing around, Le Jin would actually feel better, since that's the normal reaction.
But Meng Shutai was anything but normal. Le Jin had no idea whether his calm demeanor was brewing a storm of snow and electricity.
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