Chapter 24: For a poor scholar's silver knife...
The silver-white blade swept across, startling the snow off the treetops.
There were two people in the yard, one standing and one sitting, fighting for half an incense stick of time, and the winner was decided.
Yan Heng sheathed his sword, took the handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his face, feeling refreshed.
"My kung fu has improved."
He made a comment and then ordered, "Chang Sui, go check what happened to that poor scholar."
Poor scholar...this is such a harsh and accurate statement.
Chang Sui was sitting on the ground covered in dust and dirt, but he stood up with difficulty when he heard the sound... No wonder the master paid attention to him. Zheng Yong was really like the one from that year, so it was hard not to pay extra attention to him.
He patted the dirt off his body and said, "It's related to the fraud case that Lord Xu was secretly investigating. This person was wrongly accused and detained by the prefect."
It turns out that I was just a sucker.
Yan Heng scoffed, "This case has far-reaching implications. Using the proctor to secretly investigate is quite clever."
"But many of the details here are related to Prince Teng. It's a big tree with deep roots, so it's not easy to deal with it right away."
If the secret is not broken in one day, the poor scholar will probably be imprisoned for a day.
Yan Heng selfishly didn't want him to hang around Ji Yunchan all day, but he didn't want Ji Yunchan to worry about him even more.
Moreover, this person doesn't even have the ability to protect himself, which is far worse than the one back then.
Ji Yunchan doesn't have such bad taste, she just wants something new for a while.
After Yan Heng finished his assessment, he threw the handkerchief aside and ordered, "The others are fine, but get him out."
Just think of it as repaying a favor on behalf of his Yuanyuan, he thought, it's his family's.
Chang Sui responded and went to do it.
Yan Heng glanced at the sundial, then turned and walked into the house.
She was thinking that she had to mention it in front of Ji Yunchan. He was so magnanimous, so it wouldn't be too much for her to say a few sweet words to him.
Sweet words seemed to have already come out of her mouth. Yan Heng raised the corners of his mouth and thought inadvertently as he stepped over the threshold, what time is it that someone is coming?
I didn't take the sundial I just looked at seriously at all.
He laughed, shook his head, and turned around to look again.
......
Ji Yunchan knew nothing about this and was completely focused on playing chess.
She held the promise in her hand, cast aside all distractions, and didn't think deeply about it.
In the following days, when playing chess, he was very focused and made rapid progress.
Yan Heng saw how focused she was and wanted to tease her.
After a narrow victory, he deliberately put on a stern face, looked at people with his eyelids raised, and said in a cold and low voice: "Ji Yunchan, are you..."
But those who feel guilty cannot resist this.
Ji Yunchan's pupils trembled, and she spoke in a pleading tone, "General."
Yan Heng raised his chin in a good-natured manner and asked her with a smile, "Did you go back and practice secretly?"
Are you so impatient and want to make peace with me so much?
Seeing that her face looked strange, he felt strange.
"Such a big reaction," his smile fell and he frowned, "Are you afraid of me?"
Ji Yunchan's heart was hanging, then falling, and falling.
Her Ah Heng was trying to please her, getting closer to her, and repairing the rift between them.
If she also wanted to be closer to him, she should be angry and coquettish at this moment, instead of shaking her head in a distant manner.
But if she wanted to hurt him with the promise he made, it would be almost a betrayal.
Therefore, all the sweet words seemed like hypocrisy, like incense and candles stained with poison, and she would rather he had less expectations.
So she shook her head, put the matter aside, and asked him, "General, do you want to play another game?"
Yan Heng nodded in agreement without hesitation.
......
After several days of sunny weather, the snow completely disappeared.
Outside the window came the sound of a bird fluttering and trying to get in. The noise was so loud that it was irritating. Yan Heng cursed the pigeon and opened the window to take the letter off the pigeon's feet.
At this time, a report came from outside the door, saying that Zheng Xiucai's matter had been settled, and the official document was submitted for the master's review.
Yan Heng opened the letter and said casually, "Put it here."
Then he read his mother's reply letter in three glances, and the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.
Chang Sui and Ji Yunchan's voices greeted him from outside the door. Yan Heng put away the letter and the official document. When he looked up, Ji Yunchan walked in.
"Greetings to the General." Ji Yunchan bowed.
Yan Heng nodded and sat down in front of the chessboard, "Come here."
He specially wore blue today, and when he looked at himself in the mirror, he thought Ji Yunchan might like it.
Ji Yunchan saw it as soon as she entered the door, and her heart couldn't help but beat faster.
At that time, that blue always stood in the middle of the crowd, but would walk towards her the moment he saw her, no matter how the people around him cheered.
Today is just like the past.
Ji Yunchan didn't dare to think further.
She walked over, raised her hand and hesitated for a while, then finally clenched the chess piece tightly. A pair of almond-shaped eyes flickered with tiny glints as she asked cautiously, "I still want to ask the general, my old neighbor..."
Yan Heng was very unhappy when he heard this.
It was in vain that he dressed up for today, but Ji Yunchan was eager to plead for the poor scholar.
He glanced up at her, pointed at himself and said, "Old neighbor."
"It's the one who lives in the west of Shuozhou City..."
Yan Heng looked at her expressionlessly.
Ji Yunchan lowered her eyes and put down the chess piece that she had been warming in her hand.
The two of them remained silent and focused.
The battle on the chessboard gradually became more intense. Even the people who came to serve tea couldn't help but hold their breath, coming and leaving quietly.
Compared to that risky and immature move at the beginning, Ji Yunchan's chess style is now obviously more mature and easy, chasing Yan Heng up and down, fighting hard.
After a while, she caught an inconspicuous omission and made a key move. It was this move that made Yan Heng's majestic chess piece show signs of decline.
For the first time, Yan Heng's hands slowed down as he played with the chess pieces.
Ji Yunchan took advantage of the victory and pursued the enemy closely.
As a result, Yan Heng was gradually defeated, his chess pieces were surrounded and intercepted, and his army was completely defeated. His situation was deteriorating in a short period of time.
He rubbed the chess piece in his hand gently twice and finally put it back.
He looked up at Ji Yunchan who was sitting upright and said lightly, "You win."
Ji Yunchan breathed a sigh of relief in an inaudible manner, but her heart began beating very fast because of Zheng Yong's matter, and she became uneasy.
The snow has just melted today, which is really appropriate for the occasion, Yan Heng couldn't help thinking.
He had long forgotten the incident before the chess game and deliberately did not mention what he had promised her. Instead, he said to her, "I received a reply to the letter I asked you to write to my mother. Guess what she said?"
"She asked me if I had changed the person. She was so nagging. I used to be able to dismiss her with half a page of paper. Now she asked me with a sharp eye if it was you who wrote it."
Yan Heng raised his eyes slightly, looked at her with a smile, and asked coaxingly: "Do you want to see what she wrote?"
Ji Yunchan was feeling depressed and wished he wouldn't be so nice to her. She was like a grass that curled up its leaves passively, and the closer she got to him, the more resistant she felt.
She refused in a low voice: "I cannot bear to read the general's letter from home."
Yan Heng was not discouraged despite his failure at the start, and was thinking about speaking up on his own.
But she suddenly asked him, "General, you promised me something, is it still valid?"
Yan Heng met her expectant yet evasive gaze, and his heart felt as if it were scratched by a feather.
"Of course." He smiled slightly, not thinking about anything else. He just thought that the girl was embarrassed and took advantage of the melting snow to move forward. So he pointed at her secretly: "The snow has melted away today."
Upon hearing this, Ji Yunchan closed her eyes silently.
Yes, the snow has melted, and it should...
She had done everything she could. In her spare time, she collected evidence, wrote petitions, and submitted petitions, but all of them fell into oblivion and there was no news. The only thing left for her was to ask Yan Heng for help.
Fate plays tricks on us.
She looked up with nostalgia. In the clear winter sky, bright light came in through the window frames and shone on Yan Heng's handsome face.
That was her childhood sweetheart, the one she loved.
At this time he knew nothing and looked at him with a smile.
Ji Yunchan felt heartbroken and sadly felt that being exiled to the bitter cold northwest was what she deserved.
His hands clenched involuntarily, his nails digging deep into his palms.
After a long moment, she looked away and lowered her head, saying, "General, please save the son of my neighbor in the west of the city, Zheng Yong, the scholar."
Perhaps it was because the eye contact just now was too lingering that Yan Heng failed to react for a moment.
The abrupt words lingered for a long time before finally eroding the smile on his face, and then it was like a basin of cold water, poured over his head mercilessly.
He seemed not to hear clearly, "What?"
Ji Yunchan didn't dare to look up. She stood up and knelt in front of him, kowtowed respectfully, "General, please save Zheng Xiucai."
Every move was so unfamiliar that it seemed to burn the affection between the two people.
Yan Heng's voice was hoarse, and he lied to himself: "Ji Yunchan, I'll ask you again."
Thinking that their closeness during these days was all his wishful thinking, Yan Heng's chest heaved and he looked at her with bloodshot eyes.
If you take it back now, I will let bygones be bygones.
But Ji Yunchan turned a deaf ear to it. She stubbornly maintained the kowtow posture, not moving at all.
The sunlight indoors is as bright as water, and you can see tiny dust particles floating in the air wherever you look.
Yan Heng lowered his eyes, becoming increasingly disappointed in this tug-of-war.
"For a poor man."
He laughed coldly: "I really want to know, how good is he, worthy of you doing this?"
As he spoke, Yan Heng's face paled as he thought of that rainy night. The person Ji Yunchan had been haunting in his youth was now safely in the capital, and yet the same thing was happening to him again.
But now he is no longer the young man he was back then.
Yan Heng glared at her and said sarcastically, "Your taste remains the same as always."
He stood up and squatted in front of her, saying mockingly, "What's the point of trying to please that poor scholar? Try to please me instead."
He was not a good-tempered person, but he gave her his whole heart and was reluctant to say a harsh word. He was determined to please her.
But she didn't care and trampled on it like grass.
"Want revenge? I can deal with anyone who has ever troubled you, whether it's the prefect or his servants."
Yan Heng curled his knuckles mockingly and rubbed her cheek.
It was a touch with a hint of eroticism, a naked teasing from top to bottom.
The childhood sweetheart whom he has always cherished and never dared to touch easily.
When Yan Heng, who was already an adult and held a high position, did this, he felt hopeless.
Ji Yunchan closed her eyes in embarrassment.
Yan Heng would not give up. He rubbed her chin, tilted it slightly, and forced her to look at him.
His tone was tender and sweet, but his eyes held a cold scrutiny. "Why aren't you talking, huh?"
Ji Yunchan's eyes were filled with tears. She shook her head and said softly, "General, please don't make enemies for yourself."
Once the words are spoken, both the listener and the speaker find them ridiculous.
The worry at this time was hypocritical and not sincere at all, but seemed like a legitimate excuse.
Yan Heng sneered, and his body trembled.
He looked at her pale face and said self-deprecatingly: "Do you know what my mother said?"
As he spoke, he took out the letter that was still warm from his pocket.
As soon as he let go, two thin pages of paper fell to the ground.
Ji Yunchan picked it up silently with trembling hands and unfolded it.
The handwriting on the letter paper was not very elegant, it was a familiar yet unfamiliar, goose-mother style of handwriting.
She read it word by word. At the beginning of the letter, Yan Mu was worried about and blamed Yan Heng. But in the middle of the letter, she guessed that the letter was written by her and began to show her concern for her.
......After so many years, I know you can't forget her. Now that you have found her, treat her well.
...Mom knows you feel wronged, but Yuanyuan is a good child. Ask her carefully if there is any hidden reason behind the haste she faced back then. Don't let her feel wronged.
Every word and sentence is filled with love from the heart.
Ji Yunchan felt a surge of bitterness in her heart. Her eyes fell on the last sentence, 'According to the time, you should get married'. It was like a blow to the head. Tears rolled down her eyes and she dared not look up again.
Yan Heng's eyes were red, and his heart was broken like falling snow. He spoke in a hoarse voice: "You know what my mother means."
"Ji Yunchan." He twisted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye, "Say you regret it."
At this point, any words seem pale.
Ji Yunchan sobbed and shook her head, avoiding his gaze.
Yan Heng smiled, not surprised at all.
But that smile was cold and without any warmth. His face was cold and his eyes were invading hers. "What is the secret you want to tell me?"
The gaze was angry and cold, yet it was full of scrutiny and inquiry.
That was the last chance.
But in this situation, the hardship she had felt back then seemed like a ridiculous excuse. How could she bring herself to say it, and how could he believe it?
So Ji Yunchan lowered her eyelashes and refused silently.
Yan Heng's patience ran out and he suddenly let go.
"You are really good at it. That's great."
He stood up, looked down at me, and asked desperately, "Am I your dog, Ji Yunchan?"
Ji Yunchan knelt on the ground, crying silently, trying hard to suppress even her sobs, not daring to make a sound.
How strange, Yan Heng thought, the person who was least afraid of him before is now so afraid of him.
Very boring.
Fatigue spread from the bottom of his heart, and he had no intention of getting entangled anymore.
Let her get what she wants.
Yan Heng took out the document from his sleeve, threw it in front of Ji Yunchan, and stood up to leave.
No one knew that it was something that was meant to elicit a few sweet words from her.
Ji Yunchan picked it up without knowing anything.
"Scholar Zheng Yong is here...acquitted..."
She looked up at Yan Heng in shock, and her whole body began to tremble.
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