Chapter 219: There Was No More Admiration in Her Eyes (Two Chapters Combined into One)
The more Xia Dachuan thought about it, the more frightened he became. He grabbed the shopkeeper by the collar and asked sternly, "Tell me quickly, are you colluding with the flower-beating gang to kidnap good girls?"
The shopkeeper was so frightened that his legs were trembling. He didn't know where this black-faced demon came from. He said tremblingly: "What? What flower-beating? There is no flower-beating! Let me go quickly, or I will call for help."
"No one is taking pictures of the flowers. Where is the girl who just came in?" Xia Dachuan roared.
The shopkeeper suddenly realized what was going on and said quickly, "You're looking for that little girl. She borrowed the room to change her clothes and then left through the back door."
Xia Dachuan hurried to the back door, but there was no sign of Xiuxiu.
At this time, Xiuxiu had already arrived at the Ministry of Revenue.
She deliberately used the charcoal powder she brought with her to smear her face and clothes. In an instant, her ordinary face turned black and white, as if it had just come out of a furnace.
"This is the government office. You can't just come in whenever you want. Hurry up and leave." The gatekeeper started to chase people away when he saw her.
Xiuxiu bravely said in a raspy voice, "Excuse me, is Yang Shengqiu, the top scholar, in this yamen? There's a fire in his house. Please tell him to go back and take a look. The chief is leading everyone to put out the fire right now. If he doesn't go back, who will be held responsible if anything gets lost? Please, sir, I have to go to another family to report the news. I'm leaving now!"
After saying this, Xiuxiu turned around and left without stopping for a moment, and in the blink of an eye she disappeared from the sight of the yamen runners.
A fire was a serious matter, so the bailiff did not dare to delay and immediately asked his companions to go in and pass on the message.
Yang Shengqiu had just been reprimanded by the Minister yesterday. Today, the Minister came to the yamen and learned that he had only brought back 3,000 taels of silver out of the 150,000 taels, so he reprimanded him again.
After being scolded twice in two days after returning, Yang Shengqiu didn't know how he walked out of the Shangshu's room.
The minister's angry voice came from behind: "You've read this book in vain. It's extremely stupid!"
The Minister did not lower his voice, and it was obvious that this sentence was meant for Yang Shengqiu to hear.
Yang Shengqiu's head was buzzing. From childhood to adulthood, he had always been the one praised by others. His name was always associated with words like smart, clever, and intelligent.
But now, he is said to be extremely stupid!
Obviously, he is the top scorer!
Just because he failed to keep the 150,000 taels of silver, he became a sinner?
But it was the emperor who wanted the money, the emperor!
If they had a solution, why would they have obediently paid 150,000 taels? If they hadn't been blaming each other, why would they have let a newcomer like him face those people from Changshou Palace?
The emperor sent someone to ask him for money, could he not give it?
If he asked any more questions, he would be accused of deceiving the emperor.
Do they know about these things?
They must know it, but they still blame him and put all the faults on him!
Yang Shengqiu staggered, but fortunately he held onto the pillar next to him and did not fall.
At this moment, a yamen runner came trotting over and said to him, "Master Yang, there's a fire in your house. You should go home and take a look."
Yang Shengqiu was stunned, thinking he had misheard. His house was on fire?
Seeing that he was confused, the yamen runner thought to himself, isn't this the top scholar? Why does he look not so smart?
The yamen runner hurriedly said, "It was your neighbor who reported the incident. He asked you to go back and take a look. A group of people will put out the fire in case something is missing from your home and you can't explain it."
Seeing that he remained silent, the yamen runner said unhappily, "I've brought the letter. It's none of my business now."
Don't underestimate him as a small yamen runner. Three generations of his family have been on duty in the Ministry of Revenue. Normally, whenever he comes to deliver letters or messages to the adults, he will be rewarded. This is an unwritten rule not only in the Ministry of Revenue, but also in other yamen. However, this newcomer, Lord Yang, not only did not give him any reward, he didn't even say thank you.
The bailiff spat fiercely: "Look at your stingy behavior, you will be dismissed from office sooner or later!"
Like the Shangshu, the little yamen runner did not lower his voice, and Yang Shengqiu heard every word of these two sentences.
Yang Shengqiu clenched his hands into fists in his sleeves. The Shangshu was a cabinet minister and a second-rank official, so it was okay for him to mock him, but this yamen runner was a lowly person, how dare he curse him?
He was the top scholar, while the children of yamen runners were not even worthy of taking the imperial examination.
He had just arrived and could not tell the difference between these yamen runners, but he had heard that the yamen runners in the six ministries all had lucrative positions, and many of them were passed down from generation to generation and had a solid foundation. These newly-minted scholars did not have as extensive connections as these yamen runners.
But so what?
Menial labor is menial labor, but he is an official.
Yang Shengqiu silently memorized the appearance of this yamen runner. One day, he would make this yamen runner kneel at his feet and beg for mercy.
But, is there really a fire in the house?
Yang Shengqiu couldn't quite believe it, but he still decided to go back and take a look.
He has no money, but he has a lot of books.
He had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask for leave from the Minister of the Court. The Minister of the Court said with a cold face, "You are the only one who has too many things to do all day long."
Yang Shengqiu sighed. This was his first time asking for leave, so why did he become the one with the most trouble?
He hurried out of the yamen, got on a sedan chair and rushed home.
Halfway through the journey, he suddenly remembered something.
In the capital, whenever there is a fire, the village head must organize firefighting and evacuation of the people as soon as possible, and report it to the Five Cities Administration, which will then send people to put out the fire.
The area where his house is located belongs to Xichengsi, so it is Xichengsi that is responsible for putting out the fire now.
Xicheng Division......
The third brother of the Duke of Wei, Master Yan San, is the commander of West City.
For some reason, Yang Shengqiu instinctively didn't want to deal with people from the Weiguo Mansion.
But now that something like this has happened, we have no choice but to deal with it.
Yang Shengqiu had to comfort himself that the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion had been divided long ago, and the Third Master Yan was just the Third Master Yan, not the Second Master of the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion.
Yang Shengqiu opened the curtains and looked blankly at the street scene outside.
It's not even the end of the first lunar month yet, but the streets are still filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year. Almost every house has big red spring banners pasted on the outside and big red lanterns hanging, and even the trees are decorated with artificial flowers made of red paper.
Suddenly, Yang Shengqiu saw a familiar figure. It was a young girl. She was wearing a blue dress with white flowers, a blue cloak, two buns on her hair, and a bamboo basket in her hand.
Yang Shengqiu narrowed his eyes slightly, Su Xiuxiu?
Xiuxiu walked out of an embroidery shop, looking a little depressed. It was obvious that the shop didn't have what she wanted to buy.
Then, Xiuxiu walked into another shop, and the sedan chair did not stop and continued to move forward.
Before he even reached the alley where his home was, he noticed something strange.
Quiet, too quiet.
Isn't there a fire?
Aren't you putting out a fire?
Where are the people putting out the fire and the people watching the fun?
He asked his long-servant Xiao Mo to go back and check. Xiao Mo ran off and came back breathlessly a moment later: "Master, Master, there is no fire. There is no fire at home. There is no fire in this area today."
Yang Shengqiu frowned. It was that yamen runner who had deceived him, causing him to be coldly rebuked by the Minister. Who was trying to harm him? The yamen runner had no grudge against him, so it was impossible for him to harm him. He must have been instructed by someone, and this person was most likely from the Ministry of Revenue.
Yang Shengqiu suppressed his anger and returned to the Ministry of Revenue. When he passed by the shop again, he saw Xiuxiu again.
She stood by the roadside looking around, as if she wanted to hire a sedan chair, but there was no sedan chair waiting to carry the work, so she didn't leave.
Thinking of the cold treatment he received in the yamen over the past two days, Yang Shengqiu simply didn't want to go back.
Anyway, he has already come out and was scolded by the Minister. If he goes back now, wouldn’t he just have to face the Minister’s cold face in vain?
Even a clay figure has some personality, let alone a person with flesh and blood like him.
Xiuxiu was dejected. Usually there would be sedan bearers waiting for work under the trees on the roadside, but today, perhaps because it was not the end of the first lunar month or because the weather was cold, she waited for a long time but did not see any sedan bearers.
She was a girl and was too embarrassed to look around, so she could only stand here and wait. Her feet were numb from the cold, and she huddled together in her cloak.
"Miss Su? Why is it you?"
A familiar voice was heard, Xiuxiu was startled, looked up, and saw the familiar yet unfamiliar face.
She suddenly realized that this face had always made her feel uneasy.
Her heart was pounding, no longer with the throbbing of a young girl in love, but with fear.
"Yang, Yang, Lord Yang, it's you, what a coincidence."
Yang Shengqiu's eyes darkened slightly. Although the girl in front of him still had blushing cheeks, her eyes were evasive. In particular, he did not see any admiration or adoration for him in her eyes.
Yang Shengqiu remained calm. He knew this kind of girls too well. They would feel sad for a flower, and cry for the characters in the storybooks. They thought that love was enough to satisfy them, and they would write all their joy, anger, sorrow and happiness on their faces.
"Miss Su, why are you here alone? Things are very chaotic these days. Aren't you scared?"
Yang Shengqiu's voice was as gentle as ever, but Xiuxiu no longer had the warmth of a spring breeze on her face. She clutched the bamboo basket tightly in her hand: "Everyone in the family has their own things to do. I originally wanted to bring my brother with me, but he hasn't finished his homework yet..."
Her voice became smaller and smaller, but the smile on Yang Shengqiu's lips became deeper and deeper.
"It's hard to hire a sedan chair outside now, and it's so cold. Why don't you take my sedan chair?"
Xiuxiu shook her head repeatedly: "Well, how can that be? No, you've already helped me a lot. Oh, by the way, I, I, I've always wanted to treat you to a cup of tea to thank you. It's better to meet by chance than to invite you. Why not today? There's a teahouse over there. I'll treat you to tea."
Yang Shengqiu's eyes were deep. It's better to meet by chance than to invite each other.
Could it be that she was here just waiting to meet him by chance?
"Okay, thank you for your help then." He agreed without hesitation.
It was already clear from the last kidnapper incident that although Xiuxiu was not weak, she had never learned martial arts and was just an ordinary girl.
Yang Shengqiu was not afraid that she would do something bad to him, he just wanted to know why Xiuxiu was waiting for him here.
Is it because of the daughter’s thoughts?
Logically speaking, this should be the reason, just like Princess Huiming sneaked into the shop alone to see him.
If it were in the past, he would have thought that this was the reason.
But today, he hesitated because of Xiuxiu's eyes. He did not see admiration for him in Xiuxiu's eyes.
But this is a silly girl.
Yang Shengqiu seemed to see Xiao Nannan in this silly girl.
Although they are about the same age, the little girl is very smart.
She has been very smart since she was a child, hasn't she?
But because she was too smart and never made any mistakes, he still couldn't figure out her background until now.
Yang Shengqiu thought of the difficult situation in the Ministry of Revenue, and Feng Ke who had gone to bed early last night. He made up his mind to get out of his current situation, and the only thing he could grasp immediately was the identity of Xiao Nannan.
Prince Liang's Mansion, if these grandparents and grandchildren were really people stationed in the capital by Prince Liang's Mansion, then they would be his hope.
Thinking of this, he got off the sedan without hesitation and followed Xiuxiu into the teahouse.
The teahouse was opened by someone from Wu. Every table, chair, flower and painting reveals the style of Wu.
Unlike most teahouses in the capital, there is no storyteller here. In the hall on the first floor, a man and a woman sit side by side, holding a pipa and singing softly.
Yang Shengqiu was still wearing his official uniform. The waiter had sharp eyes and recognized his rank at a glance. It was not high, but it could not be underestimated. The waiter smiled and invited them to the private room on the second floor.
Although it is called a private room, there are actually four tables inside, but it is quieter here and the tea sets used are more exquisite.
When they entered, all four tables were empty, and there were only the two of them in the huge private room.
Xiao Er quickly brought a pot of Biluochun, two dry dishes, two fresh dishes, and four dim sum.
After taking a sip of tea, Yang Shengqiu's gaze fell on the girl opposite him. Xiuxiu lowered her head very low, but still couldn't hide the blush on her cheeks.
"Miss Su, can we go to the Lantern Festival to see the lanterns?"
Xiuxiu nodded: "I did go, but I went home early. It was not until the next day that I found out that something had happened at the Lantern Festival."
Yang Shengqiu said: "That's good, I wasn't frightened."
Xiuxiu whispered, "Actually, I'm not a coward. The Second Miss often says I'm very courageous."
"Second Miss? Are you talking about Old Master Zhen's granddaughter?" Yang Shengqiu asked.
Xiuxiu pretended to be surprised: "Hey, how did you know?"
Yang Shengqiu smiled and said, "You forgot, the first time we met was when I went to visit Old Master Zhen. The son-in-law of the Zhen family was very kind to me, but unfortunately Old Master Zhen was not at home that day. Since then, I have been very busy day after day, and due to some unforeseen circumstances, I have not been able to thank him in person until now. It is really rude. I feel ashamed every time I think about it. I dare not go to see him anymore. He will definitely blame me."
Xiuxiu suddenly realized: "Yes, I was confused. I even soiled the adults' clothes that time. Besides, Old Master Zhen never blamed you. He is a kind and generous man who doesn't ask for anything in return."
"Charitable and kind? It turns out that Old Master Zhen is a great philanthropist?" Yang Shengqiu was surprised and happy.
Perhaps his mood affected Xiuxiu, who became a little excited: "Yes, Old Master Zhen is very generous. A relative came to borrow five taels of silver, and Old Master Zhen lent it without a second thought, and didn't even ask the person to write a receipt."
The corner of Yang Shengqiu's mouth twitched. Five taels of silver without an IOU? This is considered charity?
Xiuxiu continued, "And, last time, when Old Master Zhen and I went to buy meat, we met a starving stray dog on the road. Old Master Zhen gave the dog a large piece of meat without saying a word. Ah, I have never seen anyone as generous as Old Master Zhen."
Yang Shengqiu......
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com