Chapter 45 The Bell of Blessing Rings Again (Available on Qidian, please subscribe at midnight!)
"It was Aunt Zhen who insisted that I come."
With half a zongzi still stuffed in his mouth, Ouyang Rong stared blankly up at the girl in front of him who was blocking his sunlight with her pursed lips.
His junior sister had just walked up to him on stage and said this out of the blue, which made him frown in confusion.
What do you mean? You didn't want to come to him, but were forced by someone else?
In addition, the junior sister is indeed quite tall, but she speaks a bit bluntly and likes to talk back to her senior brothers.
The pair of long, graceful legs in front of him instantly blocked his entire view, especially when looking up from below, he could barely see her proud little face... This is the real Zhemu Pavilion! The one halfway up Dagushan Mountain is a fake pavilion, nothing like this one. No, this pavilion is truly Zhemu.
The resentful senior disciple put down his chopsticks, stood up, and his first words were: "Savory rice dumpling, or sweet rice dumpling?"
Xie Lingjiang turned her head away from him, her eyes fixed on the dragon boats racing on the river, and pouted:
"I have plenty of zongzi to eat, I'm just here to pass on a message from Aunt Zhen..."
She paused for a moment, then noticed out of the corner of her eye that someone had already buried themselves in peeling zongzi without saying a word. She immediately said, "Savory zongzi, dipped in white sugar."
But as soon as she finished speaking, the noble lady from the Xie family immediately regretted it, and a look of annoyance flashed across her face.
It seemed as if he was disappointed in his son's lack of ambition.
Ouyang Rong was looking down and didn't see these things. When he heard this, his hand trembled.
What kind of cult have we joined? If it's dipped in sugar, is it considered a savory or sweet rice dumpling?
Ouyang Rong silently complained, handed the zongzi to Xie Lingjiang, and turned to call the waiter next to him to get some white sugar.
After the waiter left, only Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang remained, and the atmosphere became a little awkward.
We haven't seen each other for many days since our last argument.
Xie Lingjiang's men's attire today is quite eye-catching. He is dressed in white, looking like a jade gentleman, but he wears a vermilion satin belt with floral patterns, which makes his waist look very slim. The collar of his inner shirt and the cuffs of his inner garment are also vermilion.
A touch of vermilion adorns her white dress; the junior sister knows how to coordinate outfits.
Ouyang Rong looked away and spoke first: "What message did Auntie ask Junior Sister to deliver?"
Xie Lingjiang unconsciously poked at the small, brown, savory rice dumpling in her bowl with her chopsticks.
"Your aunt is calling you over to choose a maid."
"Choose a maid?"
She nodded and explained:
"Early this morning, Aunt Zhen dragged me out to the street, saying that the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is lively, and there are many foreign merchants selling slaves at the horse market in the west market. As a seventh-rank official, it is not right that you do not have a maid in your room. She wants to pick a personal maid for you."
"When we arrived, we found there were so many choices, it was dazzling. There were Goryeo princesses, Silla maids, Bodhisattva maids, Japanese slaves, and even blonde, blue-eyed Western Region women... I just didn't know which kind you liked. I didn't want to shop around anymore, so Aunt Zhen asked me to pass on a message that you should come and choose for yourself after you're done with your work."
Ouyang Rong hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
Xie Lingjiang's expression remained unchanged. She lowered her head and took a small bite of the tip of the zongzi. It was salty. Suddenly, she said:
“I know what you’re thinking. When I was a child, I didn’t like this kind of thing that compares people to animals. But have you ever thought about it, senior brother? Rather than leaving them with those unscrupulous merchants, only to have them bought by evil masters and end up in a miserable old age, why not go and redeem them, treat them better, do your bit, and even, if there’s a chance, send them home?”
Ouyang Rong remained silent. Although it is said that without buying and selling, there would be no harm, the current situation in the Great Zhou Dynasty is one of supply falling short of demand... which is not something that a mere seventh-rank county magistrate like him can reverse.
After a while, the shop assistant returned with the sugar, and Ouyang Rong casually handed it to Xie Lingjiang, about to speak, when a short young man jogged up from below the stage and approached him with an overly familiar air:
"Hey, Sister Jiang, you've come to watch the dragon boat races and eat zongzi too!"
After speaking, Wang Caozhi immediately turned his head, stared at Ouyang Rong, and exclaimed in surprise, "This is... the county magistrate?! I've heard so much about you!"
The short young man had a regretful expression, as if he had long admired the man and wished he had met him sooner.
Ouyang Rong raised an eyebrow, glanced at his junior sister who was slightly frowning, and solemnly cupped his hands in greeting: "May I ask your surname..."
"I am Cao Zhi. My surname is Wang. I am from the old Langya Wang family. My family and your sister Jiang's family are old friends."
Ouyang Rong suddenly realized: "So it's Brother Cao! My apologies for not recognizing you."
"I have long admired the magistrate's name, but have never had the chance to meet him. I have heard that the magistrate of Longcheng County loves the people like his own children and is full of righteousness. Today, I have seen that he is indeed as good as I imagined! He is even more dashing than I had imagined!"
"Not at all, not at all. 'Heroic bearing' is enough, but 'vigorous spirit' is hardly enough... Brother Cao is truly a man whose name reflects his character, a dragon among men. You've come from afar, please have a seat! Cao, would you like a savory or sweet rice dumpling? Would you like some sugar?"
"It has to be a sweet rice dumpling! What, white sugar? Who eats rice dumplings with sugar? Are you going to?"
"I won't dip it, what about you?"
"No dipping."
"Dipping in sugar is a hollow sweetness, it has no soul," someone sighed.
"..." Xie Lingjiang.
You guys... Xie Lingjiang looked at the two naturally friendly clowns with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. Before she could even introduce them, the two of them locked eyes and directly kicked her out of the Zongzi (a type of rice dumpling) club... Well, you two don't even have a drop of sugar on you, you've got a drop of brains on you.
“Salty rice dumplings dipped in sugar, that’s not…” Wang Caozhi was still excited and wanted to say more, but the next second, his quick survival instincts made him glance at the bowl of sugar in the hands of Xie’s sister, who was holding a blank expression. He then said to Ouyang Rong with a serious face:
"Your Excellency, I think that dipping savory rice dumplings in sugar is also a wise choice!"
Ouyang Rong nodded with a smile, and Xie Lingjiang couldn't help but say, "Wang Caozhi, aren't you busy frying grain? How do you still have time for the Dragon Boat Festival?"
Wang Caozhi scratched his head:
"Well, I'm just following those big grain merchants around, drinking their sweet soup. I don't have the guts to speculate. Sister Xie, you think too highly of me, hahaha."
He secretly regretted telling her directly about his trip to Longcheng to sell grain when they first met. He hadn't expected this Miss Xie to be so serious; she turned cold as soon as she heard it...
The young manager of Qingliangzhai glanced at Ouyang Rong out of the corner of his eye. The latter had a calm expression, without any anger, and even looked a little dull as he peeled the zongzi leaves harmlessly.
This Ouyang Lianghan seems to be just like the rumors say—a virtuous gentleman and a bookworm. Well, otherwise this noble lady from the Xie family wouldn't be so close to a man from a humble background with a different surname. They must be compatible. Looking at it this way, being a bookworm isn't so bad after all… Wang Caozhi chuckled to himself and shook his head.
He sighed.
“Magistrate… Ah, never mind, let’s not be so formal. We’re all familiar with Magistrate Jiang, so please allow me to call you Brother Lianghan.”
“Okay, either way is fine.” Ouyang Heshan nodded.
But Yan Liulang, who was not far behind, frowned when he heard Wang Caozhi's words... How dare a shady merchant who buys and sells goods call the magistrate his brother? He's got some nerve.
Wang Caozhi's smile widened even more:
"Brother Lianghan, I heard that Longcheng has suffered from floods and the people are suffering from food shortages and water shortages. So I specially transported some grain over here, hoping to do my part."
"I suppose Brother Lianghan lifted the price control order a few days ago because he was worried about the food shortage and wanted to attract more grain merchants to Longcheng. But who could have imagined the current grain prices..."
"Hey, I didn't expect to be praised so highly by those unscrupulous seniors in the industry. I want to help, but I can't fight against them... Brother Lianghan, how about this: in the next few days, I'll join forces with a few other conscientious grain merchants who also can't stand it anymore, and we'll set up a soup kitchen in the south of the city to distribute soup. Brother Lianghan, you can come and cut the ribbon when it opens. What do you think?"
The young magistrate looked somewhat wistful. He looked at Wang Caozhi for a while, his eyes filled with emotion, yet he hesitated to speak. Finally, he sighed and patted the conscientious and responsible young grain merchant on the shoulder, as if everything was unspoken.
“Hey, you’ve come from afar, please have a seat.” Ouyang Rong repeated.
Wang Caozhi smiled brightly and waved his hand, "I won't disturb you any longer. I still have friends downstairs. Sister Jiang, Brother Lianghan, let's get together another day. I'll treat you."
Xie Lingjiang barely nodded or spoke throughout the entire process. She and Ouyang Rong watched the short young man's back as he left.
There was a moment of silence between the two.
"Your younger brother is quite adorable," he praised.
"I can't be bothered with it." She bit her lower lip lightly.
Ouyang Rong glanced at the sky, thought for a moment, and then turned to say, "Why don't you go and talk to him and tell him to leave Dragon City as soon as possible?"
Xie Lingjiang's face showed some apology, "I'm sorry, I can only keep the Xie family's businesses from coming, but the Wang family's side..."
Ouyang Rong shook his head and interrupted, "No, I mean tell him to run away quickly."
"..."
A noblewoman from the Xie family was stunned. She turned her head and stared at Ouyang Rong for a while.
At one moment, the corners of her lips, which she liked to lightly bite, suddenly curled up.
"I'm not going."
She smiled, looking at him with bright eyes.
"Why? Aren't we family friends?"
"I'm not familiar with him."
"So, who are you close to..." The person who was speaking casually paused, and changed the question to, "Aren't you angry with your senior brother anymore?"
"Give it a little more."
"Now that today's business is done, I'll take you somewhere."
"Where?"
"A place where a certain righteous heroine was heartbroken when she first arrived, but left happy."
"Heroine... you mean me?" Xie Lingjiang wrinkled her nose. "No, I'm a strategist who's skilled in both literature and martial arts, not a heroine who only knows how to fight."
"That... the female advisor?"
"Hey~" she replied crisply, raising her chin.
Ouyang Rong smiled, then, remembering what had just been delayed, said:
"Then please send my aunt away for me, tell her I'll go over when I'm done with my work."
“Leave it to me.” Xie Lingjiang nodded.
Watching her departing figure, Ouyang Rong muttered to himself, "I'll choose a cheaper maid later."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ouyang Rong felt as if he had been electrocuted, his whole body trembled, and he faintly heard the trembling of an ancient bell in his ears!
"this……"
He immediately sat back down as if nothing had happened, but his lowered face was full of astonishment.
Because in the Tower of Merit in my mind, that ancient and silent bell of blessings is trembling!
A brand new blessing.
——————
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(End of this chapter)
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