Chapter 29
Without those men in black who might come to take his life at any time, Fan Changyu no longer had to rush to sell his belongings and leave Lin'an Town.
He simply negotiated a long-term business deal with Yixianglou. After the butcher shop reopened, the braising pork business was better than before because of the Yixianglou's brand, and it was even more popular than Wang Ji's.
The day before New Year's Eve, when she was returning home from the shop, she saw a rather imposing carriage parked at the entrance of the alley. She thought that the mother and son of the Song family had returned here again, but when she entered the alley, she saw a lot of people gathered in front of her house.
Fan Changyu thought something had happened at home again, so he squeezed through the crowd and said, "Make way, make way..."
A neighbor asked: "Changyu, do you have any wealthy relatives?"
Fan Changyu was confused and just said, "No."
The man asked again: "Could it be a relative of your husband's family? I saw the carriage parked at the entrance of the alley, it is more magnificent than the carriage used by the Song family when they moved last time!"
Fan Changyu then realized that the owner of the carriage parked at the door was here to visit his home?
Someone nearby said, "The carriage the Song family used on the day of the move was not their own. They rented it from a car dealership!"
There was even a hint of belittling the Song family in his words.
Mrs. Kang stood at the door of her house and said with a grin, "What a bunch of flatterers! When Yan'er goes to the capital and passes the imperial examination, he will have a carriage for everything he wants!"
Fan Changyu was confused and ignored the trivial questions from his neighbors. After entering the house and closing the gate, he saw a nobleman in a brocade robe and jade belt sitting at the square table in the main room.
When the other party saw her, he smiled and nodded in greeting. Fan Changyu didn't know his identity, so she just followed his example and nodded.
"It's getting late today, so I won't disturb Mr. Yan and his wife." As he said this, he stood up and bowed to Xie Zheng. When he turned to Fan Changyu, the smile on his face deepened.
Xie Zheng sat on the other side of the square table, with a calm expression on his face. Although he was dressed in ordinary clothes, his demeanor was slightly more impressive than that of the nobleman. "Goodbye, I won't see you off."
Fan Changyu knew that Yan Zheng had a bad temper. He sat on the stool without moving. Fan Changyu still walked him to the gate as a token of his respect.
After closing the door again to block the prying eyes of the neighbors, Fan Changyu asked Xie Zheng, "Who is that person?"
Xie Zheng said, "The owner of the bookstore in the town."
Fan Changyu picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself some water: "I remember the owner of the bookstore in Zhenshang was an old man with a beard?"
Xie Zheng said: "That's the shopkeeper. The real boss has always lived in the main city of Jizhou."
The last time Zhao Wen came to look for him, everyone in the alley had gone out to work and make a living, so he didn't see him. Today is the end of the year, and every household has to stay at home, so the news spread from one person to ten, and then to a hundred, causing such a sensation.
After the tea was poured out, Fan Changyu realized that it was actually cold tea. She took a sip of the cold tea and glanced at the half-drunk teacup where the nobleman had just sat. She couldn't help but ask, "You're just serving cold tea to guests?"
Xie Zheng raised his eyes to look at her, and Fan Changyu clearly read from his eyes the meaning of "what else?" and was speechless for a moment.
Xie Zheng saw her buy another bag of chenpi candy, and pushed something wrapped in red paper on the table toward her: "I made some money writing contemporary essays, keep it."
Fan Changyu opened the outer layer of red paper and took a look. His almond-shaped eyes revealed an expression of astonishment. There were actually four gold ingots inside!
Before she started selling brined meat, the butcher shop couldn't make that much in a month!
Fan Changyu was dumbfounded: "Is this how you can make money by writing contemporary essays?"
Xie Zheng took a sip from the coarse porcelain cup in front of him. His knuckles, which had shed their scabs, were as slender as bamboos, with distinct bones and muscles. "The articles I wrote previously sold well, and the bookstore gave me some dividends. This forty taels also includes the deposit for the next batch of articles."
Those contemporary articles he wrote did indeed cause a stir in the entire capital. Although Zhao Wen was a businessman, he was able to protect his family business when surrounded by wolves. He did have some skills. He not only copied his contemporary articles in large quantities and sold them to officials in major prefectures, but also concealed the sources of those articles.
During the days when the Fan family was in trouble, his uncle was still conducting a carpet search of all bookstores, otherwise the number of assassins coming to this town would have been more than doubled.
These silver coins could not be considered as Zhao Wen's special gift to please him. Just considering his few contemporary articles, they would be worth a fortune if they were sold.
All the bookstores under the name of Zhao family have made a lot of money in recent days by reproducing his contemporary articles.
Fearing that she would become suspicious, he specifically asked for only forty taels, but he didn't expect that she still thought it was too much.
Fan Changyu looked at the silver ingots in his hand, then looked at Xie Zheng: "This boss came all the way to see you because he liked the contemporary writings you wrote?"
Xie Zheng nodded and said, "The battle of Chongzhou was not won, and the factional strife in the court continued. Although the image of the war in Chongzhou that I wrote was crude, it was something that other scholars had not experienced, so it sold better."
Seeing that Fan Changyu was not happy to see the silver but fell silent, he frowned unconsciously.
The next moment, Fan Changyu said, "You don't have to lie to me. I know everything."
Xie Zheng pressed his fingertips against the wall of the cup with a little force and asked, "What?"
Fan Changyu raised his eyes and looked at him: "You can win the favor of the bookstore owner, so you must be very talented in writing. You must have read a lot of books in the past. You are afraid that I will be angry with you because my ex-fiance broke off the engagement with me after he was pregnant, so you have been lying to me that I am not well-educated, right?"
After hearing what she said, Xie Zheng loosened his grip on the cup wall with his fingertips.
Before he could reply, Fan Changyu frowned and continued, "I'm not as petty as you think. There are many educated people in the world. Just because my ex-fiancé is heartless, it doesn't mean that all educated people in the world are heartless. I understand these principles. You don't need to worry about those unnecessary things."
Xie Zheng lowered his eyes and said, "I'm sorry."
Fan Changyu waved her hands to indicate that it was okay. She had hidden her martial arts skills from her neighbors before. It was his own ability. Whether he told her or not did not harm her interests, so she didn't mind.
Fan Changyu was just curious and asked him, "Since you have read so many books, why don't you take the imperial examination, but become a bodyguard instead?"
Xie Zheng said: "Xiwen can't help me with what I want to do."
The two of them had been together for almost a month. This was the first time Fan Changyu asked him about him in detail. As the conversation came to this point, she continued by asking, "What do you want to do?"
The wind blowing through the hall blew up a strand of Xie Zheng's hair. He looked at the thick layer of snow on the courtyard wall and the misty sky, his eyes becoming deep and unfathomable: "Just like you want to continue the butcher shop your father left behind, I also want to do what my father didn't finish."
Fan Changyu thought for a while, then his eyes widened in surprise: "Could your family be running a security company?"
Bodyguards are all poor people, otherwise who would risk their life to earn that little bit of money?
He was well-educated, skilled in martial arts, and was also a bodyguard. After much thought, Fan Changyu decided that only the young master of the escort agency was suitable for him.
Xie Zheng hesitated for a moment and nodded.
Fan Changyu suddenly realized: "No wonder you keep saying that you will leave after your injury heals."
She pushed his forty taels of silver back and said, "Keep this money for yourself. There are many places to spend money to rebuild the escort agency! When you are ready to leave, I will see if I have enough money. If I do, I will give you more!"
This was not the first time Xie Zheng had heard her talk about their separation. Apart from the superficial wounds on his body which were too severe to be healed, his internal injuries had been mostly healed. Zhao Wen had come today to inform him that he had already purchased 200,000 shi of rice.
He would indeed be leaving soon.
Hearing her talk about this again, I felt some inexplicable emotions rising in my heart.
He raised his hand and pressed down a piece of gold ingot, stopping her from pushing him, and said in a somewhat tough tone: "This is for you, medicine money."
Fan Changyu still refused: "When you agreed to pretend to be a bribe, we agreed that I would treat your injuries. How can I take money from you now? That would be a breach of trust. You were writing essays in the cold wind with your injuries a few days ago. It's not easy to earn this money..."
He pressed down on the ingot with all his strength, his dark eyes fixed on her: "Candy money?"
Fan Changyu was stunned for a moment before he realized that he said the money was for buying candy. He said honestly, "It doesn't cost that much money to buy candy..."
"Then keep it for now and buy it later."
"It wouldn't cost that much money to buy you until you're injured and leave..."
Fan Changyu was halfway through his words when he suddenly fell silent.
Buy it later, does that mean they still have future plans?
The firewood burning in the fire pit made a crackling sound, sparks flew everywhere, and finally broke the silence in the house.
The other party still said the same thing: "You keep it."
Fan Changyu didn't look at him, but stared at his hand holding the silver ingot for a while before asking, "What kind of candy do you like?"
When Xie Zheng heard her ask this, he replied, "You decide and buy it."
-
That night when Fan Changyu fell asleep, she, who usually had a good sleep, stared at the ceiling of the tent and couldn't fall asleep.
Although she is broad-minded, she is not a fool.
Although Yan Zheng has a bad temper and a sharp tongue, he has a good heart, otherwise he would not have taken Chang Ning away after the bandits broke into his house.
He is good-looking, can read and write, and has excellent kung fu skills.
She knew that he was only staying here temporarily and would leave eventually, so she always treated him as a passer-by.
But today he gave her such a large sum of money, asking her to buy him candy in the future?
Fan Changyu suddenly felt a little confused.
She tossed and turned like a pancake until dawn, when she finally fell into a drowsy sleep.
As expected, I woke up late the next day, and there was a faint dark spot under my eyes.
Fortunately, the butcher shop is closed on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, so it doesn't matter if you get up late.
Fan Changyu got up yawning and started making glutinous rice dumplings. Outside in the alley, he could hear children playing with firecrackers. The whole town was immersed in the peaceful atmosphere of the New Year.
Chongzhou, just across the state, had just suffered a devastating defeat.
-
Capital city.
The streets are decorated with lights and colorful lanterns, and the atmosphere is full of the festive atmosphere.
An 800-mile urgent battle report passed through Yongding Gate, but was not sent to the imperial palace, but was instead sent to Prime Minister Wei's residence.
A meteor-like horse galloped through the narrow passage, and the elm and poplar trees on both sides were weighed down by frost and snow.
The front of the Wei Mansion was dignified and solemn. Two stone lions with ferocious faces were pressing down on the precious pearl. Armored and sharp-armed guards were lined up in a goose formation. The walls were covered with accumulated snow, and even birds were reluctant to land on the dead branches here.
The messenger on horseback rolled to the ground, took out the battle report from his arms and held it high above his head, "Urgent news from Chongzhou!"
The guard at the door suddenly changed color, took the battle report, hurried into the mansion, and handed it to the soldiers in the mansion. The soldiers then hurriedly delivered the battle report to the study: "Sir, urgent news from Chongzhou!"
After a while, the study waiter opened the door and came out to take away the battle report.
The entire process was rigorous and swift, and the letters and reports sent to the Wei Mansion's study every day were delivered in this manner.
The study attendant closed the study door, his feet making almost no sound as he walked, and respectfully presented the battle report to the bearded old man who was reviewing memorials behind the mahogany case: "Prime Minister, urgent report from Chongzhou within eight hundred miles."
A strong hand with distinct muscles took the battle report and slammed it heavily on the table after reading it: "I should have expected that the rebellious son would not be able to stabilize the situation in Chongzhou! It has only been a short time since the autumn harvest, why can't the entire northwest collect food?"
The waiter dared not answer.
The old man stood up, and he was not wearing a brocade robe, but an ordinary cloth. He looked out the window at the deep snow scene with his hands behind his back. He had a pair of narrow eyes and a tall figure. He was Wei Yan, the Prime Minister of Dayin who had controlled the government for more than ten years.
He hesitated for a moment and said, "Send that rebellious son back to me, and transfer He Jingyuan to take charge of the battle in Chongzhou."
He once had two most skillful knives in his hands, one was for his nephew whom he raised himself, and the other was for He Jingyuan. His own son Wei Xuan was just an ambitious but stubborn fool.
The waiter agreed and was about to leave when he heard the prime minister, who had been carrying out the emperor's orders for more than ten years, ask, "Have you found the body of Marquis Wu'an?"
The waiter shook his head: "No."
Wei Yan sighed deeply: "That child has the blood of the Wei family in him, and his character and methods are most like mine. What a pity..."
The waiter had been serving Wei Yan for many years and could understand his thoughts to some extent. He thought about how much he valued Marquis Wu'an in the past, far more than the eldest son Wei Xuan, and continued, "Maybe the Marquis has been deceived by those treacherous villains. You have raised the Marquis for sixteen years, and you are like father and son. It is nonsense to say that you killed Prince Chengde and General Xie. Where is the evidence? The Marquis has not even seen the evidence. There should be room for maneuver in this matter. Why do you have to..."
The waiter suddenly stopped talking in the middle of his speech, looked up and met Wei Yan's cold and stern eyes, and slapped himself hard: "It's me who talked too much!"
Wei Yan said, "He will find out one day. He has already become suspicious. If we don't kill him when he is off guard, it will be my Wei family that will be at the mercy of the enemy."
The waiter was stunned at first, then said: "The Prime Minister is the pillar of the country. Even the Marquis can't touch you, let alone the Marquis is no longer here."
Wei Yan closed his eyes and said nothing.
When he turned around and sat down behind his desk, the trace of sadness on his face had disappeared, and he asked, "Have the things I sent to Jizhou been brought back?"
The waiter lowered his voice a few notches: "The Xuan-branded assassins have not sent back any news so far."
Wei Yan's eyebrows suddenly became sharp: "Where is He Jingyuan?"
The waiter replied, "The spy who was placed next to He Jingyuan wrote to me earlier and said that He Jingyuan seemed to be unaware of the existence of that thing."
At this moment, a report came from outside the study: "Sir, the governor of Jizhou has sent a golden box here on a fast horse."
The author has something to say:
Mini-theater:
Xie: I made money, give it to her!
Changyu: I don’t accept money from unknown sources.
Xie: Medicine money.
Changyu: I am not a person who goes back on my word! I won’t charge you for the medicine.
Xie: Candy money.
Changyu (honest): You don’t need that much candy…
Xie: ...I will buy them slowly in the future (bold and larger font).
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