Chapter 239 Reporting
The four men stood under the eaves, watching coldly, when the searchers who had broken in also saw them.
When the leader saw Xu Jinnian, a look of surprise flashed across his face. He took out a portrait from his pocket and carefully compared it by the light of the torch. The more he compared, the more alarmed he became.
How can this person look so much like the person in the portrait?
Compared to the man in the portrait, the man before her was far more outstanding, especially his deep, abyss-like eyes, which were unforgettable after just one glance, making the man in the portrait seem like a fake.
Xu Jinnian did not miss the change in the leader's expression. He glanced at the portrait in the other person's hand, but due to the angle, he could not see what the person in the portrait looked like.
The leader noticed his gaze, his eyes hardening as he commanded, "Are you a scholar staying here tonight? Produce your household registration, travel permit, and official documents!"
Hearing his impolite words, Xu Jinnian remained unmoved, but Tan Zhenlin could no longer contain himself and stepped forward, shouting:
"What kind of attitude is this? We are scholars on our way to the capital for the imperial examinations, not criminals you are trying to arrest!"
The leader sneered, "A mere scholar dares to act like a big shot in front of me? Do you even know who I am?"
Tan Zhenlin rolled his eyes: "Anyway, he's not a good person!"
"How dare you! I am a member of the Princess Pingyuan's household!"
The leader was so angry that he was about to draw his sword and teach this arrogant brat a lesson.
Xu Jinnian kicked the hilt of the knife, sending the half-drawn blade back into its sheath.
"you--"
The leader glared angrily at Xu Jinnian.
Perhaps out of some concern, he did not draw his sword again.
At this moment, Fang Qingzhou stepped forward to smooth things over: "My lord, we are new to the capital and are unfamiliar with its customs. We hope you will forgive us."
As she spoke, she slipped a silver ingot into his hand.
The leader weighed it in his hand and then stuffed it directly into his pocket.
He gave Xu Jinnian one last deep look, then turned to his three subordinates and ordered, "Search the other rooms thoroughly!"
Xu Jinnian stood there, watching them come and go, harassing the small landlord's family, but they couldn't even find a hair on the prisoner's head.
As they left, each of them carried gold and silver objects, making them even more repulsive than the bandits they had encountered that day.
Others witnessed this scene, and their expressions grew increasingly grim.
Although I had heard that Princess Pingyuan's mansion was powerful, seeing it in person was still a different story.
A mere guard was so arrogant as to disregard even a scholar, which shows just how powerful the Princess Pingyuan's residence was.
After a long silence, Ye Yunhua patted Tan Zhenlin on the shoulder and said, half teasingly and half admonishingly, "This isn't Qingzhou. Once we enter the capital tomorrow, we'd better keep a low profile."
Tan Zhenlin felt aggrieved, but he had no choice but to nod silently.
Xu Jinnian and Fang Qingzhou remained silent.
Before they left, Master Jiang's words of advice still echoed in their ears, and they never thought of being the first to stand out before the end of the imperial examination.
As soon as Xu Jinnian returned to the room, Sheng An opened her eyes.
The courtyard was noisy just now, and she couldn't fall asleep even if she wanted to. So she listened carefully to what was happening outside and managed to piece together the cause and effect.
Upon seeing Xu Jinnian, Sheng An looked him up and down to make sure he was alright before asking, "The authorities are arresting a criminal in the middle of the night. What did this criminal do?"
Xu Jinnian didn't want to see her upset, so he went along with her and said, "Those people looked fierce and menacing, but we didn't ask them any questions."
Sheng An had no doubts, yawned and patted the bed: "Come up and go to sleep, we have to get up early tomorrow."
Xu Jinnian concealed the gloom in his eyes, leaned over and kissed her forehead: "Go to sleep now."
Meanwhile, the people from Princess Zhang's mansion in Pingyuan were still searching the village, turning the entire village upside down, before heading back home with the gold and silver artifacts they had collected, not quite satisfied.
The poor, ordinary families in the countryside didn't have much money to spare, and at this moment they were incredibly envious of their companions who were searching the city.
Noticing his boss's bad mood, the subordinate asked, "Brother, why didn't you teach those two ignorant scholars a lesson just now?"
The leader glared at him: "What do you know!"
The subordinate flattered, "That's precisely why we brothers need your help, elder brother, to clear things up for us."
Upon hearing this, the leader took out a portrait from his pocket and pointed at the person in the portrait: "Take a closer look."
His subordinates all crowded around to look. The three men who had gone with him to search the landlord's house exchanged glances, clearly understanding each other's thoughts.
Before they could voice their opinions, the leader put away the portrait and sternly warned the three:
"Don't talk about what happened tonight when you get back to the princess's residence. Otherwise, if it gets to the princess's ears and she gets angry, don't blame me for not warning you!"
The three men tensed up and said in unison, "Yes!"
In the afternoon, a male slave escaped from the princess's residence. When the princess returned and found no one there, she flew into a rage and ordered all the guards in the entire residence to search the entire capital.
They searched the capital city for an entire afternoon, practically digging up rat holes, but still couldn't find the escaped slave. They had no choice but to leave the city and search in the nearby villages.
Unexpectedly, instead of finding the runaway slave, they discovered a man who might be even more favored by the princess than the runaway slave.
This man was a scholar who had taken the imperial examination; he was both talented and handsome, and was the type the princess liked best.
However, the princess's temper was unpredictable, so they dared not speak recklessly, otherwise they would offend her and not even know how they died.
This kind of risky opportunity for wealth should be left to others. They can use the princess's name to line their own pockets, take two more concubines and have a few more sons, and then their lives will not have been in vain.
The next morning, after having breakfast at the small landlord's house, Sheng An and his party boarded the carriage again and headed towards the capital.
The closer you get to the capital, the denser the surrounding villages become, and the houses look quite nice, mostly made of blue bricks and tiles.
The number of vehicles coming and going on the official road also increased, and many merchants flocked to the capital from all directions before the end of the year, hoping to make a fortune and return home for a prosperous New Year.
Sheng An never expected that traffic jams would occur in ancient times. Looking at the endless line of carriages and horses ahead, she gained a deeper understanding of the prosperity of the capital city.
It took them until the afternoon to reach the destination, a mere fifty li (approximately 25 kilometers) long.
Looking at the tall and majestic city gate and the people queuing to enter the city, Sheng Anjue closed the car window and said to Xu Jinnian:
"There are many wealthy people in the capital. If we could open a Shengyuan here, the business would be even better than the Shengyuan in Qingzhou."
Xu Jinnian held her hand and gently rubbed it: "Once I pass the imperial examination, I will do my best to stay in the capital and open a grand garden with you here."
Sheng An shook his head: "I was just saying it casually, there's no rush to open a restaurant."
She could manage to run a restaurant in Qingzhou, but it's hard to say how she would fare in the capital, where powerful and influential people congregate.
Besides, the life-or-death ordeal of her past life was still imminent, so she really had no mind to think about opening a restaurant. She would deal with everything after things had settled down.
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