Chapter 138 Troublemaker
Beside the dock, Princess Shanmin, her face icy cold, lashed her whip heavily at the guard captain who was pleading for forgiveness before her: "Who told you to come along? Get back!"
The head guard dared not dodge and endured it: "Princess, the Sixth Young Master has ordered that I must bring you back to Jinling."
Princess Shanmin was even angrier and lashed out with her whip again: "You dog servant, don't forget you are a member of the Princess's Mansion. You obey Sixth Brother without question, yet you dare to disobey me, the Princess. What use is a dog like you!"
After saying that, he lashed out with several more lashes.
The guard leader's face was slapped so hard that his skin was torn and blood was flowing freely, but he gritted his teeth and did not retreat even a step.
Princess Shanmin, tired of beating him, shouted at the people around her, "Why aren't you pulling this bastard away!"
The others dared not disobey and stepped forward to escort the guard leader aside.
Princess Shanmin snorted coldly, got into the sedan chair that the other guards had carried off the boat, and headed towards the street along the river.
The guard leader, Wei Ming, stopped trying to stop them. He touched his blood-soaked face and looked at the departing palanquin with a hint of gloom in his eyes.
The subordinate beside him quickly took out some medicine for his injuries, his face full of resentment: "Boss, this lady is going too far. It was clearly the Sixth Young Master who made her unhappy, why is she taking it out on us?"
Wei Ming frowned and snapped, "Shut up!"
If these words were to reach the princess's ears, would this boy still be alive?
The subordinate looked indignant, but knew that his boss was doing it for his own good, and felt even more sorry for his boss: "There's no such logic to this!"
Of all the princes and princesses in the capital, none were as difficult to serve as Princess Shanmin.
Those guards like them were considered lucky; the people who served her closely changed at least three times a year, and the longest they served her was less than three years.
At first, the censors in the court would impeach her, saying that Princess Shanmin was cruel by nature and killed innocent people indiscriminately, but with Princess Pingyuan protecting her, nothing happened to her.
The most severe punishment was a three-month confinement, after which the inhabitants would continue to do as they pleased, causing widespread resentment among the people of the capital.
Unexpectedly, not only did he cause trouble in the capital, but he also went south under the pretext of following the Sixth Young Master to broaden his horizons. He caused countless troubles along the way, and the Sixth Young Master had to clean up his messes quite a bit.
This morning I heard that a family in Pingzhou has a gold token of immunity from death bestowed by the Yu Dynasty a thousand years ago, and I insisted on coming to Pingzhou to see it with my own eyes.
The Sixth Prince had important business to attend to and was unable to accompany Princess Shanmin, so Princess Shanmin went out on her own with a few maids and guards.
Fearing she might cause trouble, the Sixth Prince had no choice but to send them to stop her.
As a result, he was whipped.
Wei Ming sighed helplessly and patted his subordinate on the shoulder: "Protecting the princess is our duty, and we must not harbor any resentment."
His subordinate turned his head away, clearly disagreeing with him.
Having no other option, Wei Ming changed the subject:
"The Chi family, who possess the pardon, is a prominent clan in Pingzhou. We must not allow the princess to act so arrogantly. Someone should go to the Chi family later and tell them to treat the princess with utmost care. Tomorrow, everyone should be alert and escort the princess away immediately if anything seems amiss!"
These subordinates had followed Wei Ming for many years and understood his meaning; their voices rang out in unison, "Yes!"
At this time, Sheng An had already returned to his room and was naturally unaware of what had happened at the dock.
She took off her clothes and got into bed. When Xu Jinnian also got into bed, she naturally snuggled up to him and hugged his warm body: "Where shall we go tomorrow?"
Xu Jinnian embraced her, transferring the warmth of his chest to her body: "I am not familiar with Pingzhou, so tomorrow I will have a servant find a local to guide us."
Sheng An immediately nodded: "Okay!"
The room was not near the road, so it was very quiet at night. The couple, who had been on a boat all day, slept soundly and woke up naturally the next morning.
The waiter was waiting at the door early in the morning. Upon hearing the noise coming from inside the house, he immediately instructed others to bring hot water.
Sheng An was once again amazed by the service at Fangping Inn. After washing up, she sat down at the table with Xu Jinnian to have breakfast, and sure enough, there was a bowl of hot sweet tofu pudding.
The cook was quite skilled; the pan-fried buns she made were delicious and fragrant, yet not too greasy, and Sheng An was very satisfied with the meal.
After a satisfying meal, the couple met Zheng Wenying, their guide, through the introduction of one of the waiters.
Zheng Wenying is a fifteen-year-old boy with delicate features and youthful vigor.
He was much taller than his peers, but his body was unusually thin, and the veins under his skin could be seen through his exposed wrist bones.
Upon first seeing Zheng Wenying, Sheng An paused, glanced at him several times, and said to Xu Jinnian with some surprise, "His profile looks a lot like yours, especially the brow bone, which is exactly the same."
Upon hearing this, Xu Jinnian's gaze fell on Zheng Wenying's face, but he couldn't see any resemblance to himself, so he decisively denied it: "No, we don't."
In An'an's eyes, he was unique, how could he resemble others, not even in profile?
Sheng An was unaware of the man's awkward thoughts, assuming he didn't know what her profile looked like, and she was too lazy to argue with him.
They flagged down a clean-looking oxcart and the three of them got on to head to Zhongshan Temple.
Zhongshan Temple is a famous temple in the entire Dongjiang Prefecture. Countless literati and artists have written poems and painted pictures for it from ancient times to the present, with no fewer than ten poems being well-known.
As Sheng An listened to Zheng Wenying's explanation, he couldn't help but tease him: "Since Zhongshan Temple is so full of scholarly atmosphere, I suppose you've also absorbed some of it. Why don't you compose a poem for me to hear? A good one will be rewarded."
Zheng Wenying was a very talkative child, but when Sheng An teased her like this, her face turned bright red: "Sister, sister, I'm not cut out for studying, nor do I have the brains to write poetry. I'm sorry to disappoint you."
Sheng An couldn't help but chuckle and gave him a packet of pastries she had brought: "Thank you for leading the way. Take these pastries back for your younger siblings to try."
Zheng Wenying was surprised to receive a gift of pastries before she had even done anything, and instinctively tried to refuse, saying, "No, no need, sister, you've already given me the money."
Sheng An pretended to be angry: "Take it if I give it to you, otherwise you're disrespecting me!"
Zheng Wenying's eyes welled up with tears, and she hugged the pastries tightly: "Thank you, sister."
This lady was very generous. After booking him, she paid half of the fee upfront, which was a full thirty coins. She would also cover his meals for the next few days.
In this way, he could earn a net profit of sixty coins a day, enough to feed his three younger siblings for several days.
Before the family fell into poverty, sixty coins were nothing, but since their parents passed away and their property was seized by relatives who tried every means to take it back, these coins became the life-saving money for the four siblings.
Sheng An, unaware of the boy's thoughts, noticed the wind outside gradually picking up and seeping in through the gaps. She couldn't help but move closer to Xu Jinnian: "You have to write a poem for me in a bit."
Xu Jinnian put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him: "I will definitely live up to An'an's expectations."
Fangping Inn is quite a distance from Zhongshan Temple; it took about half an hour for the oxcart to arrive.
Looking at the densely packed vehicles and throngs of people at the foot of the mountain, Sheng An was dumbfounded: "So many people?"
Zheng Wenying explained, "Today is the ninth day of the first lunar month, which is also the first temple fair of the first lunar month. Not only will people from the city come to offer incense, but people from nearby villages and towns will also come."
Sheng An was helpless. If she had known it was a temple fair, she would have come a few days later. She really didn't like seeing crowds of people.
Upon seeing this, Zheng Wenying immediately became nervous: "Sister, I...I..."
He thought everyone liked a lively atmosphere, which is why he specially brought his sister and the others here.
Sheng An waved his hand: "It's alright, we're already here, it's good to have a lively atmosphere like this."
Just then, another carriage stopped beside them, and a woman's worried voice came from inside: "Mother, Father specially sent us out. Could it be that the distinguished guest who came today has ill intentions? I am very uneasy."
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