Chapter 234 The Lingering Ghost
It was unsafe to sail at night, so as evening approached, they found a dock where they could moor, and disembarked to find an inn to stay in.
They traveled for more than ten days without encountering anything, until one night when they entered an inn to rest. There, Sheng An and Xu Jinnian unexpectedly met Xu Huaining, who was also staying at the inn.
Xu Huaining traveled by land, accompanied by five or six familiar scholars. It was purely coincidental that they met here, and obvious surprise appeared on his face.
After her initial surprise, Xu Huaining greeted the couple, saying, "I didn't expect to meet Jin Nian and his wife here. You traveled by water, didn't you? I wonder if your journey was smooth?"
One shouldn't hit a smiling face, so the couple didn't show their displeasure in public. Xu Jinnian said in a cold tone, "It is quite a coincidence."
Upon seeing this, the other scholars traveling with Xu Huaining frowned in unison, somewhat dissatisfied with Xu Jinnian's attitude.
These candidates were clearly older than Xu Huaining. Two of them were participating in the imperial examination for the first time, while the other four had participated once or twice, but failed to pass and were still in their forties.
Therefore, they valued Xu Huaining, who was young and ranked among the top twenty on the list, and thought he was the most likely among the seven of them to pass the imperial examination.
Seeing Xu Huaining's dejected appearance, a relatively young scholar stepped forward to criticize Xu Jinnian:
"Brother Xu spoke to you so kindly, how could you be so distant, cold, and disdainful? It's utterly rude!"
Xu Huaining looked anxious and quickly tried to smooth things over: "Brother Wang, Jin Nian is just tired from traveling, that's why I'm like this. I didn't mean to complain."
Upon hearing this, Wang Juren felt even more that Xu Jinnian's good temper was the reason he was treated rudely, and his gaze toward Xu Jinnian became even more dissatisfied.
Xu Jinnian didn't want to waste his breath on irrelevant people, but he couldn't stand Xu Huaining hiding behind the scenes like a venomous snake, causing trouble.
He stared at Wang, the scholar, expressionless, making Wang's heart skip a beat. Wang instinctively took a step back, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
"Is it not impolite to accuse a stranger without knowing the background?"
Wang, the scholar, blushed and opened his mouth to try to explain, only to find, to his dismay, that he had no way to defend himself.
Xu Jinnian ignored Wang Juren and focused his gaze on Xu Huaining. His eyes inadvertently swept over Xu Huaining's still-healing right leg, and the mocking smile on his lips deepened.
"Stay away from me in the future, otherwise if I'm in a bad mood one day, I won't hesitate to spread the word about the harm your family has done to me."
Xu Huaining's lips pressed down, and he could barely control his expression.
Xu Jinnian didn't look at him again, turned around and took Sheng An's hand, walking into the inn: "It's cold outside, let's go inside."
Sheng An was furious and wished he could expose Xu Huaining's true colors in public.
However, thinking that if she exposed it, her own man would also become the subject of gossip, she could only suppress the thought and muttered "bad luck" in a voice that everyone could hear as she walked away.
For a moment, everyone looked at Xu Huaining, secretly wondering what his family had done to be humiliated in public.
Xu Huaining remained expressionless and said apologetically to Wang Juren, "I'm sorry, Brother Wang, I've dragged you into this."
Wang, though impulsive by nature, was not stupid. He had already made up his mind, but he said politely, "It was my fault, it has nothing to do with Brother Xu, please don't take it to heart."
The other candidates tried to ease the tension, urging the two to go inside the inn, as it was windy outside and they might catch a chill.
Xu Jinnian and his group were not short of money, so they directly asked for the five best rooms in the inn.
The other guards and servants also lived in rooms of two, filling the entire second floor.
Xu Huaining and the others arrived a little late and could only stay in a first-floor guest room with a less-than-ideal environment; the bedding on the bed emitted an unpleasant musty smell.
Given the conditions of the inn, they had no choice but to accept it.
In the room at the end of the second-floor corridor, Xu Jinnian bent down to make the bed.
Sheng An sat at the table drinking tea and poured a cup for Xu Jinnian.
After drinking three cups of tea, her anger subsided somewhat, and she began to speak ill of Xu Huaining to Xu Jinnian:
"This guy is like a ghost, impossible to leave. To run into him in a small town like this, and with more than ten days left on the journey, I never want to see that punchable face of his again..."
Xu Jinnian made the bed and came over, taking the cup from Sheng An's hand: "It's not advisable to drink too much water at night."
Sheng An was also afraid of having nightmares about looking for a toilet, so he stopped pouring water into the cup: "The further north we go, the colder it gets. I don't know if we can reach Beijing before the northern section of the Grand Canal freezes over."
Xu Jinnian was not quite sure: "If there is no significant drop in temperature during this period, we should be able to travel directly to Kyoto without any obstacles."
Listening to the howling wind outside the window, Sheng An couldn't help but wrap his cotton coat tighter around himself: "The climate difference between the north and south is too great. Even in the coldest months of winter in Qingzhou, it's not as cold as here."
Unfortunately, there was no heated brick bed in the inn, only a brazier of charcoal for warmth, and sitting there like that still felt cold.
“An’an has suffered a lot along the way.”
Xu Jinnian felt a little guilty, so he pulled Sheng An into his arms and placed a warm kiss on her forehead.
"It's not so much suffering, at least I don't have to endure the pain of unrequited love."
Sheng An smiled and comforted the man, then kissed him hard on the lips: "You've taken good care of me all this way."
It can be said that they were extremely attentive.
The couple snuggled together for a moment, and then a waiter brought them hot water.
After a quick wash and a hot foot bath, most of my fatigue disappeared, and I felt warm all over.
The inn served meals, just a few simple home-style dishes, which tasted acceptable, and the couple ate with relish.
I was tired from traveling all day, so I didn't visit other people's rooms at night. I went to bed early after turning off the lights.
When Sheng An woke up early the next morning, he saw that the room was dimly lit, and his heart skipped a beat.
Has the world changed?
Xu Jinnian also noticed it, quickly dressed, got out of bed, and opened the window. Sure enough, she saw that the sky was gloomy and the air, which was still, carried an eerie warmth.
Having been in this world for three years, Sheng An has learned to read the weather: "It shouldn't rain or snow today. After dinner, I'll send someone to ask the boatman if he's going to send out boats."
The boat captain stays on the boat at night to guard against theft and damage.
The couple walked out of their room, and the people in the next room also came out, all with rosy complexions, clearly having slept well the night before.
The group chatted and laughed as they walked downstairs, where Xu Huaining and the others were having breakfast in the lobby.
This time, Xu Huaining only glanced at him and didn't try to embarrass himself like he did last night. Instead, he looked at Xu Jinnian with sadness in his eyes.
Sheng An was furious, so she simply turned her face away and pretended not to see it.
Xu Jinnian kept his eyes straight ahead and sat down at another table with Fang Qingzhou and the others. Soon, the waiter brought out several freshly cooked breakfast dishes.
There were fist-sized meat-filled buns, thick and sweet millet porridge, as well as sesame seed cakes and sweet tofu pudding, all of which Sheng'an liked to eat.
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