021 White Moonlight
Yuan Chongjing refused to be alone with Li Yang any longer.
After leaving Song Xi's residence, he abandoned the carriage and walked alone into the street.
Li Yang smiled helplessly and quickened her pace to catch up: "It will take more than an hour to walk back, your body can't take it."
Bei Hai followed behind, urging, "Second Young Master, the Young Madam is right, let's get in the car first."
Yuan Chongjing didn't even glance at them, and strode forward.
Seeing that he still stubbornly refused to get in the car, Li Yang said to Yuan Chongjing, "How about this, you take the car back, and I'll go for a stroll in the street. Little Peach is out of dried fruit, so I'll go buy her some."
“Second Young Master, the Young Madam is right.” Bei Hai nodded without thinking, but then realized something was wrong and whispered to Li Yang, “Young Madam, I’ll come back to pick you up after I take the Second Young Master home.”
Yuan Chongjing walked through the crowd for quite a while before he felt the heat on his face subside a little. The two people behind him were still whispering to each other. He took a breath to calm himself down before turning around and saying to them, "Let's go. There's nothing to do back at the manor."
"It's good to walk," Li Yang said, stretching his arms as he finally stopped being awkward. "It's good to walk, it can also help you exercise. The streets of Kyoto have changed a lot in recent years. Come on, Jing-ge, let me show you around."
Yuan Chongjing didn't say anything, but quietly followed her. Since waking up from his injury, he hadn't had a chance to properly look around, so it was alright for her to chatter on about the newly built sights on the street.
But Yuan Chongjing soon discovered that Li Yang was surprisingly popular. More than half of the small vendors on the street knew her, and before they even reached the end of the street, they couldn't carry all the things they had bought in both hands.
Li Yang called Bei Hai over and asked him to move everything onto the carriage. Seeing that Yuan Chongjing was staring at them, she smiled somewhat guiltily and said, "These are all social interactions. There must be buying and selling for everyone to maintain their relationships."
"What relationship do you have with them that you can maintain?" Yuan Chongjing said impatiently. They're just street vendors; they might be selling their wares somewhere else tomorrow. They're worthless.
Li Yang said mysteriously, "You don't know this, do you? You have to ask them for some inside information. You might not believe me, but even your Censorate might not know as much as us small merchants."
Yuan Chongjing thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, saying, "You're right about one thing."
He actually praised her; that's quite rare. Li Yang was a little surprised: "Hmm? Which sentence?"
Yuan Chongjing glanced at her: "I really don't believe it."
Li Yang: "..."
It's not easy; now I even know how to roast her.
She looked around, found a group of people, and pulled Yuan Chongjing by the arm toward them: "Don't look down on these gossips about everyday life. Sometimes, important matters concerning certain officials or events that are about to happen in the court are hidden in these gossips. It just depends on whether you have a long-term vision and whether you can think things through."
Yuan Chongjing was amused by her words: "According to you, it's a real loss that I didn't get along well with them."
"No, that won't happen. You have me. As long as I get along well with them, that's fine." Li Yang raised an eyebrow and smiled at him, saying smugly, "I know all the gossip about the backyards of all the officials in the capital."
Yuan Chongjing chuckled and said, "You're quite proud of yourself."
When they reached the edge of the crowd, Li Yang ignored him and instead smiled at them, saying, "Hey, Aunt Zhou, what are you all talking about? It's so funny."
Seeing that it was Li Yang, everyone spontaneously made way for her.
When Aunt Zhou saw Yuan Chongjing there, she asked with concern, "Yangyang is here. Is your husband finally able to go out?"
Li Yang pulled Yuan Chongjing forward: "Alright, alright, he's been lying in bed for more than half a month. So, I'm taking him out for a walk today. Otherwise, his bones will become too lazy to move around, and all the housework will fall on my shoulders."
Knowing that Yuan Chongjing disliked these things, Li Yang quickly changed the subject: "What are you talking about? Has anything major happened in Kyoto recently?"
Aunt Zhou spat out the sunflower seed shells in her mouth and said excitedly, "It's nothing serious, just some trivial matter between you and me."
“Oh, Aunt Zhou, your expression is not right. Tell me quickly.”
Aunt Zhou looked around and saw that there were no strangers besides her usual friends and neighbors. She then raised her chin and gestured for Li Yang to look at the shop across the street: "Look, the heir of the Duke of Luo's family has come to buy things in person."
Upon hearing this, someone immediately corrected, "No, she is the 'former' heir apparent's wife. After her short-lived husband died, the position of heir apparent was passed on to Duke Luo's second son."
“Yes, yes, yes,” Aunt Zhou patted her head, somewhat regretting not telling Li Yang this firsthand news: “Logically, after the son dies, the position of heir should be passed on to the eldest son and grandson, that is, the heir’s son. I don’t know what the Duke of Luo was thinking, but he actually passed it on to his second son. I heard that the ‘former’ heir’s wife is having a terrible time in the Duke of Luo’s mansion.”
"Yes, a woman without a husband has no one to rely on, and now she has no status either. In the Duke of Luo's mansion, she's bound to be bullied."
Listening to their chatter, Li Yang felt her mind was in chaos, making her consciousness blurry and her thoughts confused.
Yuan Chongjing didn't like hearing about these things either. After extracting the information he wanted from Li Yang's account, he was about to leave when he found Li Yang standing there blankly. He nudged her arm: "Let's go."
"Huh? Oh, let's go, let's go." She said unconsciously.
Across the street was the dried fruit shop that Xiao Taozi loved. Yuan Chongjing remembered what Li Yang had just said. Seeing her walking straight ahead without stopping, he reached out and grabbed her collar: "Wait, didn't you just say that Xiao Taozi had finished her snacks and you wanted to buy some more? Come on, let's go in."
After he finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the shop door.
Li Yang reached out to grab him, but the soft, silky hem of his garment brushed against her fingertips and quickly drifted away, leaving her hand empty. The next moment, the owner of the garment left her side and walked towards the shop across the street.
She lagged behind by two steps, and when she went over, she saw Yuan Chongjing standing frozen at the shop entrance, staring intently at the people inside.
Li Yang followed his gaze and saw that the people inside had already chosen their items and were waiting for the shopkeeper to calculate their bills. She was dressed in a plain white dress, her black hair styled in a simple bun that hung quietly down her back, and a jade belt tied around her waist, which made her figure appear extremely thin and haggard. She stood to the side, only half of her face visible, her eyes fixed intently on the abacus in the shopkeeper's hands.
The shopkeeper's calculations seemed a bit too much, making her bite her lip in embarrassment.
She thought for a moment, then pointed somewhat reluctantly to the pile of things on the table and said, "Then I don't need these."
Her voice was soft and weak, evoking feelings of pity.
Yuan Chongjing immediately stepped forward and said to them, "How much silver is it? I'll pay for it."
The shopkeeper said, "It's eight taels and three mace in total."
Yuan Chongjing paused, his hand holding the silver tassels, and asked incredulously, "How much?"
"Eight taels and three mace".
Yuan Chongjing looked at him, then at the pile of things on the table, counted out the silver, and handed it to the shopkeeper. Then he turned to look at her, calling out with a hint of tenderness, "Biyun."
Xu Biyun, the eldest daughter of the Xu family, was a top student in the girls' academy when they studied together. She was a talented woman who was proficient in poetry, calligraphy, painting, music, chess, singing and dancing.
She was also the owner of the carriage that startled Li Yang when he skipped school, and the person Yuan Chongjing liked during his youth.
Li Yang stood at the door, neither going in nor speaking, but simply watching them quietly.
At this moment, Yuan Chongjing's world consisted only of the person before him. He asked, somewhat puzzled, "Biyun, what happened? How could you...?"
They couldn't even come up with eight taels of silver.
Xu Biyun lowered her head, stubbornly holding back her tears.
The shopkeeper's gaze swept back and forth between the three of them. Finally, he wrapped up the things Xu Biyun had bought and handed them out, saying, "Madam, it's ready."
Xu Biyun quickly snatched the things and hugged them to her arms, then ran out with her head down.
"Biyun!" Yuan Chongjing wanted to pull her aside to ask her something, but as he turned to follow her outside, he saw Li Yang standing at the door. He seemed to wake from a dream, his steps slowed, and he let Xu Biyun run away from the shop.
Seeing the indifference on Li Yang's face, Yuan Chongjing felt a little flustered and tried to explain. His outstretched hand paused, hesitated for a moment, and then fell limply to his side.
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