Chapter 238 Midnight Search
With a knife to his neck, Xu Huaining had no choice but to pay to avoid trouble, handing over the small bundle hidden behind his back.
Seeing that he was somewhat sensible, the bandit leader snorted coldly, took the bundle himself, and tore it open.
Xu Huaining didn't have much silver left to begin with, and he had spent quite a bit along the way. The loose change in his bundle only amounted to a little over twenty taels.
The bandit leader was extremely dissatisfied, feeling that Xu Huaining was not honest, and waved his hand to order his underlings: "Search him."
Xu Huaining never expected that after paying the money, he would be subjected to a body search and humiliation by these lowly brutes. His face immediately turned extremely ugly: "I am a scholar on my way to the capital for the imperial examination. How dare you act so recklessly? Aren't you afraid of being punished by the authorities?"
Xu Huaining regretted his words as soon as they were spoken.
He was so angry he lost his mind!
"The government? Hahahaha, you've gone stupid from reading too much! What government official would be so idle as to mobilize a huge force to arrest people for such a small amount of money!"
The bandit leader first laughed arrogantly, then his eyes hardened, and he once again held his long knife to Xu Huaining's neck, slapping his cheek in a highly insulting manner, making a crisp, cracking sound.
"I only care about money, not my life. If you dare to utter another word, I won't hesitate to let this knife draw blood!"
Xu Huaining trembled and shut his mouth without uttering a word.
He and his two servants were rudely thrown off the carriage, and all the luggage in the carriage was turned over and thrown on the ground, covered with the footprints of bandits.
Xu Huaining's face was ashen, and his hands clenched tightly under his sleeves.
The bandits turned the carriage upside down, but they couldn't find a single copper coin.
The bandit leader spat and cursed at Xu Huaining: "You dress like a respectable person, but you're a penniless wretch. You're a disgrace to a scholar!"
The other bandits joined in the jeering and subjected Xu Huaining to all sorts of humiliation.
The bandit leader kept his word, not only robbing Xu Huaining of all his money, but also taking his carriage, clothes, and the two servants who took care of him.
Xu Huaining needed someone to take care of him, a carriage to get around, and clothes to keep warm. He had no choice but to bow his head and speak kindly to the bandit leader, hoping that he would be lenient and leave these things behind.
The bandit leader, of course, wouldn't listen to Xu Huaining and very "generously" offered to pay fifty taels of silver to ransom him.
Having no other option, Xu Huaining turned to his fellow travelers, including Wang Juren, for help, hoping they could raise fifty taels of silver for him, which he promised to repay in full once they reached the capital.
Wang Juren and his companions managed to scrape together fifty taels of silver and give it to Xu Huaining. In the end, Xu Huaining successfully redeemed the servant, carriage, and clothes from the bandit leader.
After this ordeal, Xu Huaining was in an extremely bad mood.
The two servants served him cautiously and tremblingly, fearing that they might not serve him well enough and incur Xu Huaining's punishment.
The other scholars sympathized with Xu Huaining and offered him words of comfort.
Xu Huaining didn't give them a cold shoulder; instead, he expressed his gratitude for their loan.
Sheng An and his group were completely unaware of Xu Huaining's ordeal.
With the sun about to set and only fifty li from the capital, the group discussed their options and decided to find a place to stay and head to the capital early the next morning.
The place where they settled was a large village, and the family they were staying with was a small landlord in the village. Only the small landlord's family had extra houses to accommodate so many people.
Sheng An and his group didn't stay for free; they gave the small landlord a sum of money per person.
The young landlord happily instructed the kitchen to prepare hot water and food for the group, his attitude as enthusiastic as could be.
After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, Sheng An lay down comfortably, hugged Xu Jinnian's waist, and prepared to close her eyes and go to sleep.
Xu Jinnian massaged her waist and legs as before, then suddenly stopped and gestured to her waist, his tone filled with obvious concern: "You've lost weight."
Upon hearing this, Sheng An immediately withdrew her hand and pinched her waist back and forth, saying uncertainly, "No, it's about the same as before I left home."
Xu Jinnian assured her, "She has lost weight, there's no mistake."
Before leaving home, An'an's waist was only as thin as it is now when she first woke up.
"It's okay, you'll gain weight if you eat more once you're settled."
Sheng An didn't care and patted the man's hand to signal him to continue.
Xu Jin smiled and said as she worked, "I heard from the teacher that there are many delicious foods in the capital. I'll take you to eat them all when the time comes."
Sheng An's eyes lit up instantly: "Great! The food in Jiangnan is pretty much the same. I haven't had enough of the food in the North yet. Maybe I can learn a few tricks and add a couple of different dishes to Shengyuan and the restaurant."
In his previous life, Sheng An was a senior chef, and he was skilled in many dishes. While he wouldn't say he was an expert in all eight major cuisines, he could at least know a few famous dishes from each cuisine.
In this life, she has lived in Qingzhou since childhood, and she has never cooked dishes that span such a large geographical area.
If a discerning customer notices something amiss, she'll have a hard time explaining where she learned to cook these dishes.
Seeing how easily his wife was satisfied, Xu Jinnian felt a pang of guilt.
You should treat An'an even better in the future.
The night was deep and quiet, and the cold wind howled.
The people in the courtyard were sleeping soundly when suddenly there was a loud banging on the gate, breaking the silence. Lights began to come on one by one inside the house.
Sheng An opened her sleepy eyes, glanced at the man who had sat up, and asked indistinctly, "What happened?"
Xu Jinnian dressed quickly and then gently patted her head when he heard her say, "Go to sleep peacefully, I'll go out and take a look."
Sheng An was indeed extremely tired, and obediently replied, "Put your clothes on properly, so you don't get cold."
In the front yard, the servant, startled awake, groggily got up, threw on a thick cotton-padded coat, and shivered as he went to open the door, shouting rather rudely, "Who is it in the middle of the night!"
The man outside shouted, "The authorities are handling a case, open the door!"
The servant was startled, his drowsiness vanished instantly, and he scrambled to remove the doorstop and pull down the latch, opening the door a crack.
There were three or four people standing at the door. By the light of the torches, the servants could see that they were wearing official hats and carrying long knives at their waists. They were undoubtedly officials. They hurriedly opened the door and bowed, saying, "Please come in, sir."
The leader shoved aside the servants, his hawk-like gaze sweeping across the not-so-large courtyard, and coldly demanded, "Has anyone been here today?"
The servant dared not conceal the truth and hurriedly nodded: "Yes, yes, there are several scholars who are going to the capital to take the imperial examinations and they are staying here tonight."
Upon hearing this, the leader didn't even blink, and waved his hand behind him, ordering, "Go in and search, don't let any suspects escape!"
"yes!"
The other three obeyed the order, shoved aside the servants blocking their way, and stormed inside, torches in hand.
This is what Xu Jinnian, Tan Zhenlin, and the other two saw when they came out.
Tan Zhenlin frowned and said in a low voice, "What kind of major case is it that made these people search the village overnight?"
Xu Jinnian glanced at him: "You'll know if you go ask."
Tan Zhenlin: "..."
It's true that he's the son of the prefect, but in the capital city where powerful and wealthy people gather, he's not even a nobody. Judging from their arrogant behavior, it would be a miracle if they gave him any face!
Xu the fox is indeed a bad person, always instigating him to do stupid things.
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