Chapter 8 Chapter 8 The Woman Who Dared to Hit Chen Lingan
In the Beizhenfusi's detention room, Wu Yong poked his head out from behind the door, looking like he wanted to speak but didn't dare.
Chen Lingan was still buried in the sea of files, not even looking up. "If your tongue is useless, cut it off."
Wu Yong was startled and walked in with a chuckle, "Sir, Zhang San is here."
"Who?" Chen Ling'an looked up in surprise.
"It's your childhood sweetheart!" Wu Yong seemed to be rubbing his hands in anticipation. "Shall I invite her in?"
Chen Lingan asked, "Is there anyone else?"
Wu Yong: "No, she was the only one. The sentry at the entrance of the alley said that the Zhang family's carriage dropped her off and then left."
Chen Ling'an lowered his eyes to look at the file on the desk again, "No."
Wu Yong was stunned. "Why not? The little girl came to see you happily and brought you some walnut cookies she made herself." As he said that, he wiped the residue from the corner of his mouth with his hand.
Chen Lingan said angrily, "Think carefully with your walnut-shaped brain. Who did she meet the day after the Four Seasons Banquet? And because of whom did she escape Zhang Wen's punishment?"
Wu Yong blinked his eyes, suddenly realizing, "Oh, she's spying for Liu Jinshu! I can't see her like that. I'll kick her out right now."
"Wait," Chen Ling'an stopped him again, "Just tell her I'm busy with work and ask her to come back in a few days. Also, don't call her Zhang San anymore."
Why was this? Wu Yong had a vague guess, but he didn't dare ask any more questions. He turned around and walked away slowly, shaking his head every few steps.
Not long after, he came back!
"Um... the third young lady refused to leave and wanted to wait at the door." Wu Yong carefully observed his superior's expression. "She asked if she could have a cup of tea. The doorman didn't dare to take the initiative, so he came to ask for your permission."
Chen Ling'an put down the file in his hand and asked, "Are we in the Northern Pacification Office so poor that we can't even afford a cup of tea?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Wu Yong disappeared at a trot.
After a while, he peeked in at the door again, "The third lady asked if she had jasmine tea. I remember you have some here..."
Chen Ling'an grabbed the teapot and threw it over.
Wu Yong reached out to catch it, grinned foolishly and slipped away.
Just after an hour of silence, he came running back, leaning against the door frame and asked, "The third lady drank too much tea and wants to borrow the yamen's clean room. Should we lend it to her or not..."
Chen Ling'an squeezed the file in his hand until it was deformed. He looked at Wu Yong with a forced smile and said, "What else?"
"I understand." Wu Yong nodded hurriedly, wiping the sweat from his forehead and ran away.
Chen Ling'an took a deep breath and finally sorted out his interrupted thoughts. When he was about to start writing, he heard hurried footsteps outside the door.
Before Wu Yong's big face showed up, Chen Ling'an grabbed the teacup and slammed it against the door, "Get out!"
"Something really happened this time..." Wu Yong said bravely.
Chen Ling'an stood up and drew his sword.
Wu Yong cried out "Ah" and ran away with his head in his hands.
Chen Ling'an let out a long sigh of relief and sat down at his desk again, but found that he could not concentrate at all.
The courtyard was bright and filled with the early summer sunshine. The leaves danced in the sunlight, emitting a green fluorescent light. With the breeze, deep in this capital city with rows of buildings, he actually smelled a few traces of wheat fragrance.
The sounds of children playing came from a distant, unknown place.
After being stunned for a moment, he angrily threw the pen to the ground and walked out of the signing room with a gloomy face.
Walking all the way to the screen wall at the gate, the usually quiet place became extremely noisy. The Jinyiwei on duty stopped doing their job and peeked out through the cracks in the door.
There are actually dogs barking!
Chen Lingan coughed heavily.
Everyone immediately quieted down, the barking of dogs outside the gate became clearer, and the woman's delicate voice also reached Chen Ling'an's ears.
Chen Ling'an was stunned for a moment, then suddenly opened the door.
As the door opened, a stone came whizzing towards him. Chen Ling'an was caught off guard and with a bang, it hit him right on the forehead!
With a click, the small stone rolled several times and then stopped.
Hiss——, the Jinyiwei who were watching the fun took a breath at the same time.
A bluish purple color slowly appeared on Chen Ling'an's smooth white forehead.
His extremely speechless and numb eyes reflected Zhang Xiaoman's stunned face, and at this moment, the hand that threw the stone had not even been put down.
Wu Yong, who was observing secretly, sighed regretfully: Damn it, the little girl's life is in danger.
The big yellow dog on the steps in front of the door seemed to sense that the atmosphere was not right, so it tucked its tail between its legs and ran away.
"S-Sorry, I..." Zhang Xiaoman tried to force a smile on his embarrassed face, "I was beating the dog."
Chen Ling'an had a blank expression on his face. "You said I'm a dog?"
"No!" Zhang Xiaoman was a little incoherent, having never expected him to turn in this direction. "The dog kept barking at me, and I was scared."
Chen Ling'an looked up at the sky. "Should I shut up now?"
Zhang Xiaoman was stunned for a moment, then realized that he was arguing with her. Her heart was filled with bitterness and astringency, mixed with a hint of sweetness. She said slowly, "Don't be angry. It hurts, right? Let me see."
Chen Ling'an turned his head away from her outstretched hand, "What's wrong?"
Zhang Xiaoman was not discouraged, and still had a smile on his face. "I waited for several days but you didn't come to me to reminisce about the past, so I had no choice but to come to you myself."
Chen Ling'an remained expressionless. "I'm a treacherous official filled with evil, a sinister villain who plays with people's hearts. Aren't you afraid that I might harm you?"
Hearing this, Zhang Xiaoman stopped smiling and looked at the dimple on Chen Ling'an's forehead. "Nine years ago, some bad kids bullied me. I got so angry that I grabbed a rock and threw it at them. I ended up hitting you as you were passing by, leaving a scar... Back then, you only complained a few times, but you weren't angry. You even stood up for me and taught those people a lesson. Look, you didn't lose your temper today either. You're not a bad person at all. You're as tolerant as ever."
Chen Lingan snorted softly.
"Won't you invite me in?" Zhang Xiaoman smiled.
Chen Ling'an stood still. "This is the Northern Pacification Office. Anyone who crosses this threshold is either an official or a wanted criminal. Are you sure you want to come in?"
"Forget it then." Zhang Xiaoman quietly retracted her outstretched foot and held the box of pastries in front of him. "Walnut pastries, I make them. They're not as good as Aunt Lin's, but they're not bad either."
When the lid was opened, there were only a few fragments inside, and it was impossible to piece them together into a complete piece no matter how hard you tried.
The wind blew through the long street, carrying fallen leaves, but it couldn't blow away the embarrassment on Xiaoman's face. "Uh... I haven't eaten since lunch, and I've been waiting until now..."
Chen Ling'an stared at her face, then suddenly laughed and took the box from her hand. "I'll send someone to take it to you."
Zhang Xiaoman habitually said "No thanks", then realized what was happening and smiled, "I still have to send it, I don't know the way."
After coming to the capital, she had only been out a few times and couldn't even recognize all the streets and alleys near Zhang's house.
Chen Ling'an ordered two Jinyiwei to escort her back.
The golden sun set in the west, the sound of horse hooves could be heard, and Zhang Xiaoman leaned almost half of his body out of the car window, smiling brilliantly and waving vigorously.
Chen Ling'an watched her walk away and disappear around the corner. Turning back, he saw Wu Yong waving his arms towards the alley entrance with a silly smile on his face.
Chen Ling'an touched the bruise on his forehead and asked, "Who's on duty today?"
Wu Yong was confused. "As for me, Liao Kai has taken a leave of absence. This month I am responsible for the security of the Northern Pacification Division."
Chen Ling'an curled his lips and said, "Take the broom and guard this road yourself. No idle objects can pass in front of the door, and not even a leaf can be on the ground."
Wu Yong's smiling face instantly turned into a bitter one.
Returning to the signing room, Chen Ling'an placed the box on the desk and slowly, slowly picked up a piece of walnut cake.
Slightly sweet and crispy, the tip of the tongue instantly feels the broken pieces burst into particles, and the particles quickly melt, and the rich walnut fragrance immediately fills every corner between the lips and teeth.
He was stunned.
Bang, bang, bang, someone was knocking on his window. He pushed it open and large patches of sunlight poured down on him.
"Brother Ling'an," Zhang Xiaoman crouched on the windowsill with his chubby little head in his hands, looking at him with a smile, "The walnut cakes are ready. Aunt Lin asked me to bring them to you."
He said, "Put it aside for now. I'll eat it after I finish my homework."
Zhang Xiaoman walked in, placed the plate on a corner of the desk, and leaned forward to read the half-copied words. "Avengers don't break their swords; though they harbor resentment, they don't blame the falling tiles... What does that mean?"
This is a sentence from Zhuangzi's "Da Sheng", which means that a person who seeks revenge will not break the sword that has hurt him, and even a person with a strong sense of jealousy will not resent the tile that accidentally falls and hurts him.
Mr. Lin Ting specifically told him this today, but he remained silent and did not answer.
The window sash trembled in the wind, making a slight "kaka" sound. Wu Yong's voice came from the yard, "What kind of weather is this? It's been sunny for only two days, and it's raining again..."
Chen Ling'an suddenly opened his eyes.
A gust of wind blew by, and the papers on the table rustled and fluttered around the room like butterflies.
He stared at the snack box on the table, suddenly grabbed the lid and slammed it shut.
The chilly wind, carrying the smell of rain, brought the Northern Pacification Office's carriage to the Zhang family's door.
Seeing that the two Jinyiwei were driving the carriage, the doorman was so scared that he almost fell to his knees. When he saw the third girl jump out of the carriage, his eyes almost popped out. When he saw the Jinyiwei politely and respectfully saying goodbye to the third girl, his heart was already filled with huge waves of shock.
Soon, the news reached Aunt Yao's courtyard.
"Master, what should we do?" she said to Zhang Wen worriedly. "If she secretly met with a man outside the family without telling the master and his wife, and it gets out, the word 'improper' will be enough to ruin the reputation of the entire Zhang family."
Zhang Wen's face was dark, but he was not as furious as she expected. His brows were furrowed, and it was obvious that he was thinking about something.
Aunt Yao began to feel uncertain and added fuel to the fire cautiously. "A few days ago, the Liu family came with full sincerity, and now she's looking for another man. This is simply a slap in the face of the Liu family. Even if Master Liu is magnanimous and doesn't blame her, Madam Qin is a difficult person, and Master Liu may not be able to swallow this..."
Zhang Wen was finally touched. He stood up and called the person who reported the news in, but he asked again about the reactions of the two Jinyiwei, including what actions they took, every word they said, including the expressions on their faces, no matter how big or small!
The old woman had not seen it at all, and did not dare to call the doorman to answer - for fear that the master would blame her for not being able to convey the message clearly. So she had to follow the words of the messenger and add her own imagination to exaggerate the news that had been passed down two or three times.
Zhang Wen's furious face actually showed signs of calming down.
Aunt Yao thought to herself that this was not good. How could she have forgotten that the master did want to use the Liu family to squeeze into Chen Ge Lao's circle, but he would never openly become an enemy of the Jinyiwei!
After all their calculations, they had never anticipated that the hard-hearted Chen Ling'an would treat Zhang Xiaoman differently. The Zhang family had clearly announced the punishment of kneeling in the ancestral hall, but after waiting for several days for Chen Ling'an's response, they assumed he didn't care.
Today's plan failed.
She sighed softly. This village girl was more troublesome than she had imagined.
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