This quiet atmosphere lasted until they found a place to rest for a while.
Fu Erkang pulled Ziwei aside, ignoring the stares of those around them, and tried to explain what had happened yesterday. The master, oblivious to their interaction, was still discussing the upcoming itinerary with Master Ji and the others.
Ziwei was being dragged along by Fu Erkang, stumbling as she followed behind him. Only when they reached a secluded spot did Fu Erkang release his grip on Ziwei's hand.
Fu Erkang put his arms around Ziwei's shoulders, looked into her eyes, and said sincerely, "Let me explain to you, Qing'er and I are not what you think."
Ziwei shook off Fu Erkang's hand and said righteously, "Then why didn't you say so earlier? What is that tacit understanding? And why did the Empress Dowager betroth Qing'er to you? So Qing'er is your past."
When Fu Erkang realized he had been misunderstood by the woman he loved, he was completely flustered and hurriedly explained, "No, no, no, what past? There's no past."
Ziwei, however, had no intention of listening to Fu'erkang's explanation. In her view, it was no different from a cover-up, and she turned her back. Fu'erkang grabbed Ziwei's hand again, not wanting her to turn away and avoid looking at him. Ziwei said sadly, "It's not just your past, but also your future. So what you were talking about before meant that the Empress Dowager wanted to betroth Qing'er to you. So you had already discussed it beforehand. No wonder your mother told me to back down back then; now I understand."
Fu Erkang was furious. He was completely devoted to Ziwei, yet she still doubted his sincerity. "You don't understand? What do you understand? I should have told you this a long time ago. I was afraid you would overthink it. Now, things have only gotten more confusing. The so-called tacit understanding was just that when the Empress Dowager was at Biyun Temple, Qing'er was with her, and I was ordered to deliver something."
Ziwei looked at Erkang with teary eyes, her voice filled with sorrow, "And then you watched the snow, watched the moon, watched all night long, right?" Xiaoyanzi had only found out about this later by subtly inquiring about it from Benjamin, and then told Ziwei about it.
"Yes, but that doesn't count as the past at all." Fu Erkang was now at a loss for words. In his opinion, it didn't count at all; Qing'er had never been a part of his heart. So what was there to talk about in the past?
"But you have to admit, if it weren't for me, you would have happily accepted the Empress Dowager's arranged marriage." Ziwei logically accused Erkang. "If Qing'er were willing, the Empress Dowager would still stick to her original idea and still betroth her to you. With such a past and future, how can I trust you?"
Erkang caught up with Ziwei, took her hands, and promised, "I didn't do anything wrong to Qing'er. I never seriously started anything with her. Last night, it was because of you that I said those things to Qing'er and hurt her. Besides, what happened between Qing'er and me was too trivial compared to what happened between you and me in the past."
Ziwei pushed Erkang away sadly. "How can it not be worth mentioning? She's the young lady, and I'm just a maid. I went through so much trouble to acknowledge my father, not just for myself, but mostly for you. Only then could I be worthy of you. But this shock has been too much for me. I don't want to be a stumbling block between you and Qing'er, especially since Qing'er is so outstanding and kind. I even hoped that Qing'er could be a help to me in the future. I'm saying it again now, it's over between us."
Erkang was stunned by Ziwei's words and stood there dumbfounded. After speaking, Ziwei turned to run away. Erkang quickly grabbed Ziwei and tried to explain again, but finding that he couldn't reason with her, he simply kissed her passionately.
"You have to believe me, I will never marry Qing'er for your sake. It would not only hurt you and me, but also Qing'er. I've never loved her, so how could I possibly love her wholeheartedly and unconditionally after marriage?" After the kiss ended, Ziwei was noticeably calmer. Fu Erkang also held Ziwei tightly and spoke to her from the bottom of his heart.
"What if the Empress Dowager still wants to betroth Qing'er to you?" Ziwei was still very worried, otherwise she wouldn't have said those words just now.
"No matter what, I will never let go of your hand, not in this lifetime or the next. The Empress Dowager is a reasonable person. If she sees our determination to stay together, I believe she won't stand in our way," Fu Erkang said affectionately.
Ziwei then remembered that Erkang had been punished by the princess yesterday. "Are you alright? I heard from Xiaoyanzi that you were not only beaten with ten strokes of the cane yesterday, but also forced to kneel for an hour." Ziwei's eyes were full of heartache, and there were faint tears in her eyes again.
Fu Erkang couldn't bear to see Ziwei like this, so he immediately took her hand and kissed it. "It's alright, I applied some medicine yesterday, and it's much better now."
The two embraced tightly for a while before leisurely heading back. Their feelings now were completely different from when they first left.
Inside the small pavilion in the corridor, the master and An'an were playing chess, while Qing'er watched with great interest. They hadn't taken Fu Erkang's words from yesterday to heart at all.
When Fu Erkang and Ziwei returned, the master had already had his things packed up, ready to set off again.
Ziwei's state of mind was quite different from before, which could be seen from the slight upturn of her lips as she sat in the carriage. However, Anke didn't care.
"Uncle, where are we going next?" An Ke was a very free-spirited person, and he had only suppressed his nature while in the palace. Now that he was out of the palace, there was no need to keep suppressing it.
"You, you, can't you just stay with me quietly for a while?" the old man said with slight displeasure. "We'll just go wherever we end up. I've only decided on a general direction. I don't know where we'll be going in the middle." After saying that, the old man opened his folding fan, fanned himself, and enjoyed the scenery outside.
Looking at the old man's childish expression, Anke muttered to herself: "I only won two games against you, is it really necessary to be so petty?"
The old man pretended not to hear and asked, "An'an, what did you just say?"
An Ke shook her head, indicating that she hadn't said anything. Seeing that Qing'er had already begun to lean against the carriage wall and close her eyes to rest, An Ke suddenly felt a little bored and lifted the curtain to look outside. She happened to see Ertai waiting beside the carriage.
Ertai also noticed the princess's head, and rode his horse at a slightly faster pace to her side, asking softly, "Miss, is there anything you need?"
Anke was momentarily stunned by the wide smile spreading across Ertai's handsome face. "It's nothing, I just needed some fresh air."
Ertai took out an oil paper package from the small bag he carried on his horse and handed it to Anke.
I noticed she hadn't eaten much at breakfast, and she'd just played a long game of chess with the master in that corridor. She's probably hungry now. Luckily, I'd bought a bag of chestnut cakes from a nearby shop before we left.
An Ke Ertai handed her an oil paper package, still a little confused. She pointed blankly at herself and asked, "For me?"
Before Ertai could speak, the tips of her ears were already faintly red, and the blush was spreading upwards. "Yes, I noticed that Miss didn't eat much for breakfast. I guess Miss must be a little hungry now. Fortunately, I have these pastries with me. If Miss doesn't mind, please try them." After saying that, he silently returned to his original seat.
Anke looked at the greasy oil paper package in her hand. Despite being a germaphobe, she surprisingly didn't immediately throw it away, which she found somewhat unbelievable. She pulled her head and arm back.
The master had been observing the interaction between the two young people. Although he felt that Ertai was not good enough for his niece, as long as he treated her well and she liked him, he would let them arrange a marriage. His niece would be married off to their side, which was close to the palace, and their family wouldn't dare to put on airs with her.
The old man had considered marrying his niece off to someone of equal social standing, but he worried that after he passed away, there would be no one to support her, and whether his family would still treat her well. He had been thinking about his niece's marriage for the past few days, and the worry had turned several hairs white.
Seeing the situation today, the master decided to remain calm and observe. If they truly liked him, then he would grant Ertai a title later. Watching the subtle tension between the two young people, the master was quite pleased, after all, his niece was the one being flattered.
Watching his niece eat the chestnut cake, the old man pretended to be asleep and didn't see it.
The carriage stopped immediately, and the master quickly got off.
An Keqing and her group followed closely behind the master, watching the vendors hawking their wares. Sometimes they would glance at them quietly, but most of the time they just found it interesting. They had never seen such things in the palace before, and after seeing them, they found them even less interesting.
At this moment, Fu Heng reported the situation of the town to his master. "Master, I have arrived here with my entourage and have already scouted the area. The county magistrate here is named Duan Kui, and his reputation is not good. Prefect Shi Ming has also received the news, saying..."
Before Fu Heng could finish speaking, a commotion broke out on the other side, and the common people began to avoid and dodge the crowd.
The people there were shouting, "Help! The yamen runners are beating people!" Soon after, the beaten people came to the master's side. An Ke noticed that among the beaten people were several elderly people with graying hair at the temples.
The old man had already been knocked to the ground, but he was still shouting at them, "You smashed my stall, and you even beat me. Have some mercy, even if you kill us, we won't give you any money."
Little Swallow, forgetting her mistakes, stepped forward to stop them again. But the soldiers wouldn't listen to her. Just as they were arguing, the master spoke up.
"Is the government office you're talking about Duan Kui's?" the old man asked righteously. He had just met an honest official, and now he was faced with a corrupt one; this journey had truly broadened his horizons.
The constable, his face full of impatience and even arrogance, said fiercely, "And where did you come from? How dare you address our magistrate by his name? Go away, mind your own business!"
The master was already getting displeased, his hand gripping his folding fan tightly, which creaked under the weight. "Yongqi, Ertai, Benjamin, teach them a lesson." The fact that he had endured this long showed that his patience had increased considerably.
Now that they're no longer willing to tolerate it, no one can save them.
Fu Erkang, however, was thinking to himself that the master had once again ignored him. He gave his good younger brother a cold glance. Lately, the master had mentioned his brother more often than he had. This made Fu Erkang suspicious.
Without the master's order, Fu Erkang could only stand beside the master, pretending to protect him and blocking his way.
The three of them, not to be outdone, began to unleash their skills, and in no time at all, they had the yamen runners crying and screaming, some even begging for their parents.
While they were beating them, An Ke had already helped up those who had been knocked down by the constables. Zi Wei's eyes flickered slightly, and she quickly followed An Ke's footsteps to help those people up as well.
Xingxing was already waiting behind them with the ointment. Seeing this, she naturally busied herself applying the medicine.
When the constables were being beaten, they would start to grimace and grimace whenever their buttocks were touched. An Ke found this very strange; could it be that their buttocks were also injured?
Anke patiently inquired about the old man's condition, asking, "What happened? Why are they chasing after you?"
"I'm just a broom seller. I'd only just opened this morning, and business was slow when they started pressuring me to pay taxes. I had no money, so they started beating me. I make a living selling brooms, earning barely a few cents a day, yet I have to pay so much in taxes. Heavens, where is justice?" The old man angrily slapped his legs. "Is there any way for us poor people to survive?"
An Ke's mind was filled with many thoughts. Having traveled extensively with her father, she had witnessed the plight of many impoverished people. Yet, she felt powerless to change their circumstances. The most significant problem was taxation, but the national treasury also needed local taxes to fill its coffers. This was a tradition passed down from their ancestors and could not be changed. Moreover, if the national treasury was empty, it would be unable to provide relief should any natural disasters occur.
The old man was also filled with emotion, especially after hearing the old man's words. "I never imagined that there was so much poverty behind the prosperity. Tell them to stop fighting and stop to find out what happened."
Fu Lun nodded, stretched out his hands towards Yong Qi and the others, and shouted loudly, "Everyone stop fighting!"
Looking at the constables sprawled on the ground, Fu Lun stepped forward and asked, "Can't taxes be collected properly? Do you have to use sticks to suppress the people?"
One of the constables, clutching his backside, looked grief-stricken. "We didn't want to do this either! The magistrate and county head want us to close the case today. If we don't, we'll lose our lives. We were forced into this; we had no other choice."
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