Chapter 11 World One
Feng Hui noticed that Mu Nanxing had been acting strangely these past few days. Every time he went to Mu Nanxing's room to look for him, he couldn't find him.
Feng Hui ran into Bao Shan standing outside Mu Nanxing's door and knocked several times but no one responded.
Bao Shan had a gloomy look on his face and looked very pitiful.
"Maybe he went out. Go and have your meal first."
After Bao Shan and Feng Hui had finished their meal, Mu Nanxing, dressed in black with only a scarlet belt around his waist, walked into the post station with an upright posture.
Feng Hui called out to him, "Young Marquis, come with us."
Mu Nanxing's eyes darkened slightly, and he turned his head away: "I have used it."
After saying that, he stepped onto the stairs.
Feng Hui didn't take it to heart, concentrating on his meal. But seeing Bao Shan's poor appetite, the porcelain bowl she used was half the size of a normal bowl. She only ate a little, then, with drooping eyebrows, also wanted to go upstairs.
"You use so little..."
Feng Hui picked up her porcelain bowl and asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, Brother Feng Hui, I'm fine."
After Baoshan finished speaking, he lowered his brows slightly again. Hearing the noise upstairs, Baoshan looked hurriedly, but only saw the scarlet ribbon flash by.
"Brother Feng Hui, does the young marquis dislike having me around to serve you?"
Her voice was thin, with a hint of grievance and sadness.
Feng Hui immediately denied it: "How could it be?"
Thinking of Mu Nanxing's deliberate avoidance these days, Feng Hui seemed to have his Ren and Du meridians opened up in an instant, as if he suddenly understood something.
Young Marquis, is he hiding from the treasured fan? But this is too unreasonable. The treasured fan is not a jackal, tiger or leopard. How could anyone want to avoid a woman as gentle and kind as her?
"I'm afraid the young marquis is in a bad mood and is taking his anger out on you. But you don't have to take it to heart. After all, he's still a man of great stature.
If you weren't around to serve me, I wouldn't even be able to change my clothes properly. People would laugh at me!"
The worry between Baoshan's brows deepened.
"I know I'm useless and can only do the chores of getting and changing clothes. The young marquis is probably tired of my clumsiness."
"That's not what I meant..."
Feng Hui stood up from the wooden chair anxiously and paced back and forth in front of the table. It took him a long time to come up with an idea.
Baoshan listened attentively, but only heard Feng Hui mention the method of preserving the fragrance.
Bao Shan lowered her head and told him that she had found the method. After changing Mu Nanxing's clothes, she told him the method.
As if she had made a mistake, she dared not look directly at Feng Hui. As far as Feng Hui could see, all he could see was her hair like clouds and her black hair like ink.
"Brother Feng Hui, I didn't tell you about this, but told the young marquis directly. If you're angry, just scold me a few times to vent your anger."
Feng Hui wasn't angry. Instead, he was delighted by the treasure fan's cleverness. He had put so much effort into finding it, like a headless fly, not even knowing where to find the remaining fragrance. Yet, the treasure fan had found it so easily. He also reported it to Mu Nanxing, which finally put his worries to rest. He was so happy that he couldn't be angry.
But since Mu Nanxing has already learned the method to preserve the fragrance, the sachet that he holds close to his heart has been preserved. He should be happy and even more grateful to the treasure fan. So why is he hiding from it?
In an instant, many thoughts flashed through Feng Hui's mind, and he finally concluded that the young Marquis Mu was not loyal. He might have wanted to destroy the bridge after crossing it. After obtaining the method found by the treasure fan, he wanted to throw it away.
Feng Hui patted his chest and made a promise to Bao Shan: "Don't worry, I'm here, you can stay by the young marquis' side with peace of mind. I will definitely not let him abandon you."
Mu Nanxing did have the idea of not letting Baoshan serve him. He originally planned to move Baoshan to another place, preferably not in front of him.
However, the reckless and impulsive Feng Hui found him first, treating him as a "heartbreaker".
"You must not lose the precious fan!"
Mu Nanxing frowned slightly: "I don't mean to abandon her."
However, Feng Hui did not feel comfortable when he learned of Mu Nanxing's plan.
Instead, he became even angrier. He remembered the hierarchy between him and Mu Nanxing, but every word he said was filled with dissatisfaction.
"You want to transfer Miss Baoshan away, where are you going to transfer her to?
Should he take the position of a groom and raise horses, or carry a spear and stay with a group of soldiers.
Baoshan is such a good girl with a gentle personality. Ever since she followed you, her heart has been filled with you.
She always fumigates the clothes you wear with vanilla, for fear that they will be contaminated with strange smells.
If any of your laces are torn, Baoshan will find the closest one among hundreds of silk threads and mend it for you. "Now you want to drive her away, where can she go? How will others view her after she was abandoned by Young Marquis Mu?"
Hearing about what Bao Shan had done, Mu Nanxing's expression changed slightly. He didn't know that Bao Shan had done so many things in private and had never revealed them in front of him.
Mu Nanxing had no doubts about what Feng Hui said. Although Feng Hui was a reckless person, he only spoke the truth, which showed that Bao Shan had really put a lot of thought into it.
“Never lost, never abandoned.”
Upon learning that Mu Nanxing had given up his original idea, Feng Hui hurried to look for the treasure fan.
If Baoshan Xunyi hadn't asked him to help find vanilla, how could he know so much and how could he have convinced Mu Nanxing.
Before leaving, Feng Hui did not forget to leave a message.
"You have saved the sachet you longed for, but don't forget the hard work of others."
Sachet? Whenever Mu Nanxing thought of the sachet in the past, his mind would flash back to the moments he spent with Li Qingyu, the tenderness and consideration he had kept deep in his heart.
But now, whenever he mentioned the sachet, he would think of the wrinkled sachet that had been kneaded, and the softness that made the tips of his ears red.
This is not good. I must not think about it anymore. Mu Nanxing forced himself to calm down and remembered what Feng Hui said. Although Bao Shan was a soft-hearted person, he was not a person with ulterior motives.
It really didn't make sense to let her leave just because of his own thoughts.
The soldiers dispatched were methodically carrying out the resettlement of the refugees, the allocation of housing, the collection of food, and the counting of vacancies in Fuling City.
The waiter, the craftsman working the river, the guard of the house...
After writing down everything, Mu Nanxing instructed the soldiers to inform the refugees. Almost everyone had a piece of rice paper filled with work assignments. If they were determined to make a living, they would follow the instructions on the paper, find a suitable job, and work hard to supplement their family income.
As for the refugees who looked down on these jobs, Mu Nanxing didn't care about them anymore. He has never been a kind-hearted person who would care about others to the end. Life and death are determined by fate, so he just let them do as they please.
The soldiers were divided into two groups. The larger group went to resettle the refugees, while the smaller group investigated the city.
Apart from presenting dancers at the banquet, Lord Zhang seemed to have done nothing wrong in Fuling City. A cursory investigation at the time did not reveal anything unusual.
But Mu Nanxing did not believe the truth on the surface, so he ordered a team of soldiers to change out of their armor, put on civilian clothes, and sneak into the city and Lord Zhang's mansion to investigate.
At first, they found nothing and only discovered Mr. Zhang.
Although they were extremely extravagant in food, they did not disrupt the accounts in Fuling City. Most of the money used and the items purchased by the Zhang family came from the dowry shops brought by Mrs. Zhang.
These shops are well-managed and profitable, with a considerable income every month. Compared with this, Mr. Zhang's salary can be considered meager.
If we continue to investigate in this way, although Lord Zhang is extravagant, he has not done anything wrong.
The turning point of the matter happened with a bird, a parrot raised by Zhang Shang, the son of Lord Zhang. The bird was snow-white in color without a trace of impurities.
The soldiers who were hanging around in Zhang's mansion heard the servants bragging that this parrot was worth an entire house.
The soldier then echoed twice, saying that Madam Zhang was indeed a good manager. The servant sneered twice, laughing at him for coming into the mansion late and not knowing the ins and outs, and only seeing the surface.
The soldier followed the servant's instructions and investigated. It turned out that the shop was indeed under Madam Zhang's name, but the business was not selling any goods.
This shop was just an empty shell. The contract stated that the purchase price of rice was twenty copper coins and the selling price was twenty-five copper coins. However, in reality, not a single copper coin was spent and not a single pound of rice was sold. The account book stated that a profit of five copper coins was made, but in reality, twenty-five copper coins went into the pocket.
As for the customers who buy rice, they are not the kind of children who give money to their doorsteps, but they have something to ask for.
He gave money to Mrs. Zhang's shop, and Mr. Zhang found convenience for him.
Like this disaster relief, the flood came urgently at the beginning, and the refugees would inevitably suffer from hunger and cold before the relief envoys arrived. The emperor then ordered that the granaries in the places where the refugees fled should be opened first to release food, and the silver and money spent at that time would be reimbursed by the court.
Fuling City can be considered a place where refugees gather. Long before Mu Nanxing arrived, Lord Zhang had opened the granary and even used the official silver in the city to buy food.
The grain merchant had done business with him before and was willing to pay the twenty-five copper coins, but he only got empty-handed customers.
However, the food they bought was not only small in quantity, but also mixed with stones and gravel.
No matter how long it is boiled, the smell of mold and decay cannot be covered up. This is old grain that has been stored for who knows how long.
The refugees were already weak from all the hard work and had empty stomachs. After eating the stale grains, they suffered from vomiting and diarrhea. Some of the weak ones only had two meals of rice porridge before dying.
However, the vendors selling aged grains took this opportunity to make a fortune.
In front of Mu Nanxing were all the things the soldiers had investigated.
His face was as gloomy as water. The night was quiet and the lights were dim. Mu Nanxing wrote a memorial and asked someone to send it to the capital at full speed, under the stars and the moon.
Mrs. Zhang found a hundred-year-old ginseng for Zhang Shang. The roots of this ginseng were intact, and one could tell at a glance that it was not an ordinary one.
The ginseng was cut into slices, and each thin slice was placed in a jade box.
Madam Zhang asked Zhang Shang to hold it in his mouth, not because she felt sorry for the century-old ginseng, but because the medicinal properties were too strong.
If the whole root is stewed into soup, Zhang Shang’s body might not be able to bear it.
Seeing her son's right hand becoming limp and flabby, and having taken ginseng slices several times but still having no effect, Mrs. Zhang became even more anxious.
Her son was going to take over Mr. Zhang's position and take the imperial examination to become an official in the future. How could he become a disabled person?
Mrs. Zhang became increasingly haggard, and seeing doctors was of no use, so she thought of a folk remedy.
I heard that if a person who cannot see with both eyes is given a pair of clear eyes, he will be able to see the sunlight again.
If the disabled hand is replaced with a healthy hand, wouldn’t it be as flexible as before?
Mrs. Zhang was eager to find a witch doctor to help Zhang Shang.
This wasn't just holding a ginseng slice in your mouth and enduring the strange taste. This time, blood would be shed, and his right hand would be cut off. Zhang Shangke disagreed.
"Mom, think about it carefully. I don't care whose hand I replace, but if you really find a witch doctor to remove this right hand, and then the witch doctor can't reattach it, your son will really become a cripple, a cripple without a hand at that."
"Pah, pah, pah, what nonsense are you talking about."
Mrs. Zhang was also afraid, so she gave up the idea.
Seeing that he had saved his right hand, Zhang Shang used his intact left hand to coax the mockingbird with snow-white feathers. The bird's feathers were groomed to be shiny and smooth. It was said that it was being taken care of by a new servant in the mansion.
This young man was found among the refugees. Although his status is poor, his skills are quite good.
Looking at the obedient appearance of the parrot, Zhang Shang's mood finally improved a little.
But when he thought about the refugees looking for work, which had something to do with Mu Nanxing, and then he thought about Bao Shan's cold words to him, he suddenly disliked this bird.
He reached out and pulled hard, tearing off a large piece of feathers from the precious bird.
The originally beautiful mockingbird now had a bare belly and was frightened, flapping its wings on the bird stand.
"Stupid bird!"
The parrot, which usually seemed dumb, suddenly started talking.
"Stupid! Stupid!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
