Returning from the capital
Even after the New Year celebrations, the festive atmosphere lingered. Colorful ribbons fluttered everywhere along the streets, giving the whole of Shanghai a languid feel. The sounds of children playing and setting off firecrackers echoed from the narrow lanes, their laughter dissipating with a gust of cold wind.
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, the wind blew at the same time, making a pair of handmade rabbit lanterns on the window ring. The wheels under the lanterns had been replaced with small bells. Qingcheng thought they were noisy and was about to take them down when she was stopped by a pair of big hands behind her. Gao Junxiao called them "bringing wealth".
Hey, she can't even make decisions about her own house? What kind of logic is that? Qingcheng closed the window to block out the noise. She didn't retaliate immediately, but instead pinched Gao Junxiao's face and teased him, saying that she wasn't short of money. If she ever needed money in the future, she could sell Gao Junxiao, who was like a rare Manchu Han Imperial Feast, for a lot of money.
“Alright, let’s sell it and split the money. Everyone who sees it gets a share!” Gao Junxiao wasn’t annoyed. He kissed the beauty’s cheek. “The rule against marriage between Manchu and common people isn’t actually that absolute. There are policies from above and countermeasures from below. Substitute marriages have long been rampant.”
Substitute marriage? Upon hearing this new term, Qingcheng instantly became interested. Wasn't this the material for her next novel? She hugged Gao Junxiao coquettishly, asking him to explain. Gao Junxiao was patient and pulled her to sit on the sofa to tell her the story.
Before the fall of the late Qing Dynasty, the constraints of the feudal dynasty were far less than before. Over the past century, various ethnic groups had lived together in one place, and they were intertwined with each other. If two families were on good terms, or if they wanted to avoid the imperial concubine selection, intermarriage was a common occurrence.
However, in order to avoid the deeply ingrained risk of execution, a set of procedures for substitute marriages was developed among the people. If a commoner woman wanted to marry a Manchu man, she could find a Han Manchu family with a daughter and become their godparent. She would then legally marry into the Manchu family under the name of an unmarried Manchu woman, thus becoming the principal wife. It didn't matter if she became a concubine.
"Hey, I heard that all Manchu women are registered by the imperial court. Won't it be discovered if I suddenly have an extra daughter?" Qingcheng asked, blinking.
"Everyone knows this kind of thing but keeps it to themselves. In wealthy families, women rarely leave their homes, and in poorer families, there's no class or status to worry about. Who would investigate you? If someone reports you, it's because your family has a feud, and they're using this as an excuse to make trouble." Gao Junxiao didn't take the substitute marriage seriously at all. In his eyes, those people had been completely Sinicized and were no different from each other.
Most importantly, the Qing Dynasty is over! Marriage should be a matter of personal freedom.
"Oh, one more is fine, but the list is missing an unmarried Manchu woman, especially from the Upper Three Banners. Shouldn't the court take action?" Qingcheng rolled her eyes and asked with a smile.
“It is indeed a bit troublesome for the Manchu girls of the Upper Three Banners to marry commoners. It seems that they have to find a rival family that also wants to marry off their daughters. The two families exchange the girls’ name cards, and the marriage can proceed as usual,” Gao Junxiao said seriously.
Clinging to the man, Qingcheng's thirst for knowledge was almost overflowing: "It's too general. How exactly does it work? How exactly did my mother-in-law get married? Tell me in detail."
Hahaha, Gao Junxiao seemed to have heard something funny, and he lay on the sofa laughing non-stop. While laughing, he said that how would he know how his mother got married? He wasn't even born yet.
Qingcheng glared at the man fiercely, then pouted and snorted. The logic was sound, but he definitely knew the steps, yet he didn't tell her, and instead found loopholes in her words—that wasn't what she meant at all. How annoying!
Gao Junxiao seemed to realize he had said the wrong thing, so he quickly hugged the struggling Qingcheng to comfort her. He really didn't know the details, but he could ask his grandmother, who would definitely know.
Hearing that there was a way, Qingcheng was somewhat moved. Gao Junxiao pinched Qingcheng's little fist and placed it on his stomach: "It's just a waste of breath to get information out of her. If you talk too much, you'll get hungry. When I'm hungry, my memory gets worse."
"Really? Then how can I improve my memory?" Kiyosumi suddenly pulled her fist back. He just wanted to negotiate, didn't he? She wanted to see what unreasonable demands the man would make.
"Of course, we should eat our fill first. For example, dumplings. But they can't be store-bought. They have to be made by someone you love with love and care. That kind of dumpling is the best and will fill you up," Gao Junxiao said calmly.
"Tch, knowing full well that I can't even knead dough, I'm just deliberately making things difficult for them," Qingcheng said, turning her head to look at the rabbit lantern. "Forget it, it's too much trouble. I'll change the subject."
"Don't be like that, it's not difficult, much easier than the Imperial Milk Roll." Gao Junxiao stared at Qingcheng meaningfully.
"What palace milk roll? I don't remember having that." Qingcheng denied it coyly, her face burning. How despicable, teasing her about this again.
"Oh~ that loser ate six pieces at my grandma's house." Gao Junxiao directly exposed her.
"You're talking nonsense! There weren't that many, I only ate three pieces." Qingcheng protested loudly, tugging at Gao Junxiao's sweater.
"That's because I told the chef to cut it bigger. Didn't you see that the two pieces I gave you later were especially big?" Gao Junxiao gently poked Qingcheng's little face. "I should have taken a picture of you eating it so you could deny it."
"How embarrassing! I've really embarrassed myself to the point of shame!" Qingcheng complained with a bitter face. "Why didn't you take care of me when we first met?"
"What do you care? Being able to eat is a blessing. I'm overjoyed." Gao Junxiao squinted at her and teased her. "So, do you want to eat? I've managed to get my hands on the secret recipe from the former imperial chef. Even Empress Dowager Cixi ate it back then."
"Even if you have a secret recipe, can you make it as delicious as others?" Qingcheng looked Gao Junxiao up and down. How could he compare to the master chef's decades of experience?
"Isn't this your first time making one too? Let's not look down on each other," Gao Junxiao said honestly.
That's true. Unable to resist the temptation of the milk roll, Qingcheng proactively extended her right hand: "A story plus a milk roll equals a meal of dumplings."
"Deal!" Gao Junxiao immediately grasped the hand, his face beaming with victory.
Qingcheng was annoyed by the feeling of being tricked, but when she thought of the sweet and smooth milk rolls, she swallowed excitedly. Hehehe, this deal was worth it.
Just as she was feeling happy, Qingcheng's view was blocked by a red object. Speechless, she pushed the object aside and saw a double happiness symbol embossed in gold. It was their engagement invitation. Gao Junxiao threw a thick stack of invitations at her without saying a word, telling her to fold them up and put them in envelopes quickly, as they all needed to be mailed today.
Giving Gao Junxiao a resentful glance, Qingcheng reluctantly began to get down to business. She wasn't even married yet, and this scoundrel was already ordering her around. Couldn't she just pay to be a hands-off manager? Why did she have to feel involved? However, Gao Junxiao was busy writing and filling in addresses in his address book, and had no time for her.
Well, teamwork makes the dream work. Seeing that he was writing quite seriously, Qingcheng decided to fold paper. After all, there were still many things waiting for them to prepare. She was so busy that she didn't even have time to write the Beiping report. She could only squeeze out time to sleep and sort out the clues about the poison gas bombs that she and Comrade Gu Xiaojiang had found.
All the clues now point to Fushun. When I meet with Lao Wang this month, I need him to find local comrades to cooperate with the Deep Blue Project. She and Comrade Xiao Jiang are not familiar with Fushun.
Finally, when Qingcheng's fingers were too stiff to even stretch, they finished packing the last invitation. All they needed to do now was send the invitations to the post office. Other relatives and friends in Shanghai would need to visit in person to present the invitations.
"Your headquarters, Commander Xiong and all the section chiefs and brigade commanders, please invite them all. And then, for your newly joined military law department, should you invite your subordinates?" Qingqing counted out the number of invitations and handed them to Gao Junxiao.
Gao Junxiao stuffed all the invitations into his inner pocket: "No need, I'm just on secondment in the military law department. My military law advisory and investigation office sounds like a useless place set up through connections. I just need to organize the case files, which is no different from being an archivist."
"Commander Xiong, you really don't mind wasting talent. Did you return all the young men from your bandit suppression team?" Qingcheng asked curiously.
“Most of them have been returned, but some haven’t. Commander Xiong has already applied to Nanjing for an independent battalion, which will be considered my personal guard in the military law department. Otherwise, without military power, my farts at headquarters won’t even make a sound,” Gao Junxiao replied.
"I have a feeling he wants you to go and keep order in the military law department, where are the 'ox-headed horse-facers'?" Qingcheng put her arm around Gao Junxiao's shoulder, trying to get information out of him.
"The military law department already has a King Yama, so I'm just a judge on a temporary assignment. I'll have to return to the living world sooner or later, and I have no interest in getting involved in the affairs of the underworld. I find it unlucky," Gao Junxiao joked with a grin, while tying a cross knot in the invitation he was going to send.
After the last internal strife, Qingcheng discovered that Director Yan of the Military Law Department was a fence-sitter. How could Commander Xiong trust such a fence-sitter? He had to send someone to monitor him.
Unfortunately, Commander Xiong entrusted the wrong person. Gao Junxiao is now preoccupied with marriage and plans to run away with his wife as soon as he is relieved of his post. He has no intention of getting involved in their internal strife.
Gao Junxiao's instructions interrupted Qingcheng's thoughts: "Oh right, aren't you going to the filming location tomorrow? Tell Xu Xi to go with me to the main road to have a dress made on Sunday."
"Okay, but you'd better think carefully before asking Xu Xi to be your best man. Don't let him steal the spotlight on your wedding day and then complain about it." Qingcheng got up and helped him put on his coat.
"How could that be? That's exactly the effect I wanted. He's diverting my attention so I can enjoy my bride all to myself." Gao Junxiao hugged Qingcheng tightly and cuddled her affectionately.
"You're being indecent. Why don't you go find Lu Xian?" Qingcheng tapped his head.
"We needed to maintain security on the day of the small gift presentation, and he has a low alcohol tolerance. Towards the end, I don't know if he was helping me drink or I was helping him drink," Gao Junxiao said helplessly. "I think one Xu Xi isn't enough. You didn't see all those military men in our department. Good heavens, they're all alcoholics. Even a big water buffalo would be knocked out by them."
"Then I can rest assured. When you're drunk and have to be carried back, I'll use you as a table and count the money on your stomach. After I've counted enough, I'll take care of you." Qingcheng described the joy of counting money.
"Don't be like that. Of course, you'll take care of me first. Money is still money after a day, but a groom becomes an old groom after a day. Don't you feel like you're losing out by only looking at me?" Gao Junxiao frowned, somewhat annoyed.
"It's okay, I'm sentimental, and it's not like it's unusable just because it's old." Kiyosumi deliberately went along with him.
After putting on the scarf, Gao Junxiao immediately replied, "It will definitely work! It absolutely will work! But the groom must be of very high quality, otherwise, as the old saying goes, a moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Kiyosumi pulled her scarf tighter, almost strangling her fiancé to death.
Gao Junxiao took a deep breath and said as fast as he could, "If I'm caught off guard, you can take the initiative, and I'll just be passive and let you do whatever you want with me."
"That's great! Groom, why don't you bark like a dog first?" Qingcheng patted the man's chest, her face full of innocent provocation.
"Aww~"
Hahaha, crazy! Qingcheng smiled and punched Gao Junxiao. She didn't expect him to actually bark like a dog, and a little puppy at that. She couldn't help but laugh until her stomach hurt.
"I always keep my word." Gao Junxiao showed no embarrassment whatsoever. Before leaving, he took another kiss, then put on his hat and went to the post office to mail the invitations.
As soon as Gao Junxiao left, Qingcheng rushed into the bedroom to prepare the Beiping report, making the most of her spare time.
The moon rose above the willow branches, and the main road was still packed with people. After several deafening cannon salutes, confetti rained down, and pedestrians stopped to watch, only to see a thick fog.
On the open-air stage, as the thick smoke dissipated, a short foreigner wearing a top hat appeared out of thin air in the center of the stage, and instantly, a burst of applause erupted.
More and more pedestrians gathered to watch, and the bright lights on both sides of the stage illuminated the area as if it were daytime. The foreign magician's superb skills amazed the pedestrians. He used levitation to make his female assistant float in mid-air, and then used his mind to manipulate fireballs, making them fly around the stage.
With a snap of his fingers, the female assistant vanished without a trace. At the same time, the magician removed his hat and bowed to the crowd, instantly eliciting thunderous applause, and a shower of coins and flowers rained down on the stage. He didn't notice a pair of bloodshot eyes staring intently at him from below the stage.
Backstage, his young and beautiful female assistant was already waiting for him. She skillfully kissed him, her serpentine arms wrapping around him, quickly arousing the magician to the point of unbearable desire. If there weren't other people backstage, he would have taken this little vixen right there and then.
The female assistant seemed to sense his hesitation and whispered in his ear, suggesting he go to their usual spot for a private massage. How could he refuse an invitation from such a beautiful woman? Of course he had to go.
He pinched his female assistant's plump buttocks, his eyes burning with undisguised desire. "Damn, you little vixen, I'm going to give you a good time today, so you won't have the energy to run wild anymore." After receiving their wages, they couldn't wait to head to Tianming Hotel for their "deep exchange."
Under the moonlight, a team of black-clad agents surrounded the Tianming Hotel. Soon after, a hunchbacked figure emerged from the darkness. He had short black hair, almost no muscles on his face, and was as thin as a skeleton.
A man helped him slowly walk out, coughing so hard it sounded like he was about to die, which made all the secret agents stand at attention as if facing a formidable enemy.
"Are you sure it's that person? He's a foreigner." The man pointed at the sign and asked the skull, seemingly not quite trusting him.
"Cough cough, cough~ I'm sure." The skeleton's rough voice was like sandpaper, making people's ears hurt. "Even if he disguised himself as a foreigner, I have worked with him for so long, I would never mistake him."
Just as the man supporting him was about to make the arrest, the skeleton reached out and stopped him, giving him a sinister smile: "No rush, let him have some more fun. Cough cough."
Dark clouds gradually obscured the sky, and a fishy smell permeated the dark alley. The sound of hurried, messy footsteps came from all directions. The magician, drenched in sweat, leaned against the wall, panting heavily. His disguise had been removed, revealing a Chinese face.
Normally, he wouldn't have been caught by these ghostly soldiers. Unfortunately, lust is a double-edged sword; now his steps are unsteady, as if he's walking on cotton, and his movements aren't as agile as usual. Damn it, it's all that little bitch's fault for being so lewd; she almost drained him dry.
Layers upon layers of black shadows pressed in, and at the critical moment, bang! He flicked his wrist, sending two agents flying through the air, their heads blown off simultaneously.
During the fierce fight, relying on his excellent marksmanship, he was about to break through the encirclement when suddenly, his waist tightened. It turned out that a junior agent had disregarded his own life and rushed over to hug him around the waist.
Before he could shoot the persistent spy, two dark gun barrels were already pressed against his forehead. One of the spies disarmed him and skillfully pulled out another gun strapped to his calf and a throwing knife from his waist.
The ghostly skeleton emerged from the shadows again, and the magician's heart skipped a beat. Holy crap, this is a ghost!
"Ahem, Section Chief Zhang, long time no see." The skeleton covered his mouth with a handkerchief, his sunken eye sockets as terrifying as a blood-stained abyss.
Upon recognizing him, Zhang Tianhe stiffened his neck and asked, "It's you! Weren't you dead?"
"Whether I live or die is not important, cough cough, but Section Chief Zhang, do you want to live or die?" The skeleton spoke slowly, as if it were having trouble catching its breath.
The back alley fell into complete silence. The skeleton coughed a few more times: "It's okay if you don't want to talk now. We'll go to the police station and talk slowly. Take him away."
A wisp of cold wind blew through the empty back alley; the deep darkness of night had just begun, and it was unknown when dawn would arrive.
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