0098 Lighting the Lamp (Part 3)
More than ten miles away from Fanchuan, in Longzhengfang of Chang'an City, Zhan Yinyuan leaned against the door, his sleepy eyes half-closed, trying to stay awake as he listened to Zhan Qing's detailed instructions.
“In the few days since we arrived in Chang’an, your elder sisters and brothers and I have visited all the inns and shops inside and outside Chang’an, but we haven’t heard from your thirteenth brother,” Zhan Qing said to Zhan Yinyuan, standing in front of the door with his head down and his face solemn. “He is naturally fond of lively gatherings, so we plan to go to Pingkang Ward in the next few days.”
"Although we all know Thirteen Lang's temperament, people from the Central Plains are inherently cunning and treacherous, and it's possible that someone might deceive him..."
Zhan Yinyuan had stayed up all night reading comic books, and now he was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open, only nodding in agreement: "Yes, yes, yes..."
Zhan Qing frowned: "Little Fifteen! It's the middle of the day, the sun is blazing, don't look like you're half-dead!"
Zhan Yinyuan perked up: "Yes! I heard everything. Brother and sister, you can go and scout out Pingkang Lane. I will stay here and continue to inquire with the neighbors. If there is any news about Brother Thirteen, I will definitely let you know."
"Recite the words that the clan elder told you before you left, and let me hear them again!"
"...Heaven and earth are vast, but the entire clan is paramount. To report to the emperor is a merit, to deceive is a crime. I swear to Mother Butterfly that I will never collude with Brother Thirteen!"
Zhan Qing was finally satisfied and left Longzheng Ward with a few older clansmen.
After seeing off his older sisters and brothers, the young man turned back into the house, yawning as he went.
Once inside the room, he was already drowsy and just wanted to take off his outer clothes and go back to sleep.
Zhan Yinyuan slowly moved to the front of the canopy bed. His fingers had just touched the buttons, and before he could exert any force, a clear voice suddenly came from behind him: "《Young Master Shen's Spring Night Encounter with Qingqing》? Little Fifteen, what book are you reading?"
The young man's drowsy eyes suddenly cleared, and he rushed to the boy's side in a few steps, snatching the small book from his hands.
"You, you, I..." Zhan Yinyuan's mind was a mess. He wanted to ask Zhan Yaoguang when he arrived, but he was also eager to explain that he wasn't reading anything indecent. Several thoughts were mixed together, and in the end, he couldn't say anything. He just forced himself to say, "Thirteenth Brother! You've gone too far! How could you peek at my things!"
Zhan Yaoguang hurriedly raised his hand: "I've only read the cover, I haven't opened it yet."
Zhan Yinyuan breathed a sigh of relief, now wide awake. He simply started talking about the books he had been reading these past two days: "Who are we to each other? If Brother Thirteen wants to read them, then he can. It's not like they're anything shameful."
He said with great interest, "This painting depicts a young swordsman wandering the martial world who was once seriously injured by his enemies. He was rescued by a young lady from a wealthy family, and from then on, they lived together and developed feelings for each other. The author's painting skills are excellent, and the story is also interesting, but it looks somewhat familiar; I feel like I've seen it somewhere before..."
As Zhan Yinyuan spoke, his voice gradually softened. He suddenly looked up at Zhan Yaoguang, and then realized—
Isn't this exactly the same as what happened between Thirteenth Brother and that woman?
Zhan Yaoguang listened with great interest and asked, "And then, did the young hero and the young lady end up together?"
Zhan Yinyuan raised an eyebrow, avoiding the boy's gaze, and confidently replied, "Of course, young hero, you finally passed the imperial examination and welcomed the young lady in great style!"
In reality, the young hero died saving the young lady, causing his eyes to swell up like walnuts from crying.
—We must never let Brother Thirteen know about this ending!
Zhan Yaoguang was satisfied and handed the book back to him: "I came here because I have something to ask of you."
Upon hearing this, Zhan Yinyuan muttered under his breath, stuffing the book under his pillow as he complained, "I knew it. Thirteenth Brother is completely infatuated with that young lady. He only has eyes for her and his heart. He wouldn't come looking for me if there was nothing wrong..."
Thinking of this, the young man raised his eyes and glanced at Zhan Yaoguang with a resentful look.
Zhan Yaoguang naturally heard Zhan Yinyuan's words, but he neither refuted nor felt ashamed or angry. Instead, he leaned against the table in the room with great ease, put the half-broken willow branch he had broken off on the way there into his mouth, took out half a bag of copper coins from his pocket, thought for a moment, and then found a silver ingot and threw it to Zhan Yinyuan, who was sitting on the bed.
"Go to the West Market and buy some rock honey and ginger."
"What does Thirteenth Brother need all this for?" Zhan Yinyuan hurriedly took the money. "Are you going to make ginger candy? But neither of us likes that stuff, so why would we make it..."
Zhan Yaoguang realized for the first time that his cousin was talking too much, and immediately became impatient. He walked straight over, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and pushed him towards the door: "Go when I tell you to. I'll ask you to do two things with the money you have, and the rest will be your reward for running errands."
Zhan Yinyuan's eyes lit up: "Alright, I'll go right away. Thirteenth Brother, please sit inside for a while, I'll be right back!"
He hadn't run two steps when he seemed to remember something and hurriedly ran back. He leaned against the door and said to Zhan Yaoguang inside, "Thirteenth Brother, Sister Zhanqing and the others went out earlier. I don't know when they will be back. Please be careful and don't let them find you."
Zhan Yaoguang nodded to indicate that he understood.
After Zhan Yinyuan left, Zhan Yaoguang found the kitchen of the small house by himself.
Iron pots were only found in the palace at that time. He searched around for a long time and only found a bronze cauldron, so he had to make do with it.
He first found a piece of silk and tied the ends of his hair together. Then he found some dry firewood and prepared to start a fire. The flames grew stronger and stronger, jumping and thumping in the dark stove, heating up the pot and utensils. He reached out and checked the flames two or three times before finally waiting for Zhan Yinyuan to come running back in a flurry.
"Thirteenth Brother—" The young man came running in, piling the ingredients on the stove. "I'm back! This is the secret rock candy from Monk Zou of Suining, specially transported from Jiannan. I heard that the nobles in Chang'an prefer this. And this ginger, it was given to me by Old Lady Zhang at the entrance of this alley. She knew I bought ginger to make candy, and she was curious, so she just asked us to give her some when we made it, and then she gave us this ginger."
Zhan Yaoguang nodded, put the rock honey into the pot, and turned to Zhan Yinyuan, saying, "I put a cutting board over there. Can you chop this ginger into small pieces for me? I'll use it in a bit."
“Alright…” Zhan Yinyuan was not unwilling, but rather curious, “But why didn’t you do it yourself, Thirteenth Brother? Shouldn’t you do it yourself to deliver the things to that lady?”
With his back to him, Zhan Yaoguang fixed the iron hook to the wall and said in a calm voice, "I have other things to do here."
"...I don't believe it." Zhan Yinyuan grew up with Zhan Yaoguang, and you could tell what he was thinking just by listening to his voice.
Zhan Yaoguang hung up the iron hook, turned her face expressionlessly, and said, "So you insist on hearing what I have to say? Is it because I don't want to handle ginger and get disliked by her when I get back?"
Zhan Yinyuan stared in disbelief and shouted, "Thirteenth Brother, how pretentious and affected you are! That thing wrapped around your head, is it to prevent the fire from burning your hair and making your wife dislike you again?"
Zhan Yaoguang let out another cold laugh.
Ginger candy originated from Fenghuang and was introduced to them. It's not difficult to make. Simply boil rock candy into a thin syrup, add minced ginger, melt them together, let it cool slightly, and then use the pliability at this point to stretch it into long strips with an iron hook. Finally, cut it into small pieces with scissors.
Zhan Yinyuan, being childish, bought a lot of things without thinking. Zhan Yaoguang worked until his arms were sore and exhausted, but he still managed to make three large jars full.
Zhan Yinyuan happily distributed the candy: "Take one can back to that sister, Thirteenth Brother; I'll take one can to Old Lady Zhang at the alley entrance; and I'll keep the other one for myself. It's unreasonable that after helping you so much, Thirteenth Brother, I can't even get a can of candy."
Zhan Yaoguang didn't care at all. He picked out the most neat and beautiful candy from the jar and was about to leave when he suddenly turned around and looked at Zhan Yinyuan at the door.
"Little Fifteen, you've been in Chang'an for these past few days. Have you heard of any festivals or celebrations happening here recently?"
Zhan Yinyuan thought for a moment: "There really is one. I heard that the people of Dali are having their Thousand Autumns Festival soon, which is to celebrate the birthday of their Empress. In a couple of days, there will be a lantern festival in the city, and even Leyouyuan will be open to the public for everyone to enjoy themselves..."
The boy's eyes suddenly lit up: "Take out some of the money you had left over and rent me a carriage. I'll need it. I'll come back in a couple of days, and I'll choose the driver myself."
Zhan Yinyuan nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, secretly calculating in his mind that renting a car and driver for the night wouldn't cost much, so in the end, he would still earn more.
The young man's eyes darted around, and his smile became even more sincere.
After seeing Zhan Yaoguang off, Zhan Yinyuan strolled leisurely and popped a piece of ginger candy into his mouth. Sure enough, it still tasted the same unpleasantly spicy-sweet flavor he remembered.
He pursed his lips, chewed the candy with his teeth, and swallowed it as if he were going through a tribulation.
Just then, a creaking sound came from the door. He assumed it was Zhan Yaoguang returning, and turned around happily, instinctively saying, "Ten..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw that the people who entered were Zhan Qing and the others. Zhan Yinyuan's expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly changed the subject, saying dryly, "It's...it's Sister Zhan Qing and all the older sisters and brothers who have returned..."
Zhan Qing nodded and walked into the courtyard, saying, "We went to Pingkang Ward, but when the people there saw us, they thought we were there to cause trouble. They didn't know anything when we asked them anything. Now we have no choice but to wait until nightfall, and when they open for business, we'll disguise ourselves and go in to look for them..."
At this point, Zhan Qing twitched his nose and caught a whiff of a sweet and spicy aroma.
She frowned slightly and asked, "What's this smell? Little Fifteen, did you make ginger candy?"
Zhan Yinyuan was on edge at the moment and could only continue following Zhan Qing's words: "Yes, yes, I made it, I made it. I suddenly missed this taste, so I bought sugar and boiled it into syrup..."
He handed the sugar jar to Zhan Qing: "Sister Zhan Qing, would you like to try some?"
Zhan Qing nodded, picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. Just as he was about to walk into the main room, his eyes suddenly sharpened and his gaze shot towards Zhan Yinyuan.
"No! Making ginger candy requires so much strength, a child like you could never do it. Could it be... Thirteen came by?"
Zhan Yinyuan's mind went blank, but before Zhan Qing could react, he strode into the house. After searching through the few rooms, he still couldn't find Zhan Yaoguang.
Zhan Yinyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then said confidently, "See? I said I didn't have any, and I mean it. I made this candy myself, so stop looking down on me!"
Zhan Qing didn't believe him and was trying to trick him: "Is that so... But if that's the case, how come there's a man's shoe in the courtyard!"
Zhan Yinyuan was initially flustered, but he quickly became certain that his thirteenth brother, being so intelligent, would never make such a mistake. Therefore, he swiftly composed himself, forced back the sweat from his brow, and said firmly:
"Absolutely impossible! Sister Zhanqing must have seen wrong!"
Zhan Qing paced back and forth a couple more steps, then suddenly beckoned to one of the young men and whispered a few words to him.
The young man nodded, went into the inner room and brought out a painting. When he unfolded it, it was a dignified and solemn portrait of a goddess.
"Little Fifteen, do you dare swear to Mother Butterfly what you just said?"
Zhan Yinyuan's knees buckled, and he finally knelt down with a thud.
———
3000+!!!
So, I'll postpone it for another day (ε)
By the way, ginger candy really exists; it has a rather unique flavor. You can try it if you're interested.
However, it only appeared during the Qing Dynasty, but this story is not set in a fictional Qing Dynasty...
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