They chatted all the way and returned to Jinzhouwei when it was dark. Cang Jian was worried about the safety of the prince. When he heard that Duan Tingxuan had returned and brought a lot of fish and kelp, he was overjoyed and personally brought a carriage to greet him. Seeing the black kelp, he touched his head and asked hesitantly: "This... is this the kelp that Lord Zhang sent back to say that it can be eaten as food? This... isn't this the ghost hair?"
"It's not ghost hair."
Zhang Tianming explained it to his master. Cang Jian was very interested when he heard that it could be eaten after being boiled. When he returned to the government office, he could not wait to order someone to take the kelp to the kitchen and boil some water to eat. Suddenly, Su Nuannuan asked in confusion: "What is that pile in the corner of the yard? Why do they look like scallops to me? Did Master Zang also send people to catch seafood?"
Cang Jian laughed and said, "Madam, you are joking. How can I have so many people? These are several carts of contraband that my brothers found when they were patrolling today. I don't know what happened, but those people saw my soldiers, dropped the carts and ran away. My brothers are rough people and thought that the carts were food. But when they came to check, they found that they were several carts of large river clams. I didn't have time to take care of them, so I just left them there and planned to cook them tomorrow." This sentence aroused the curiosity of Duan Tingxuan and Su Nuannuan. Duan Tingxuan asked, "Where is Pingzhang? Didn't you ask him to come and see?" Cang Jian said, "Lord Long went to the granary in the afternoon to check the remaining food in the granary. He came back and said he had a headache. He is still lying in the room now. Miss Chu is taking care of him. I think he must be exhausted these days. Alas! It's all my fault for my incompetence."
"No wonder. If Pingzhang were here, you wouldn't just pile these things up as river fish. You wouldn't even think about whether they are really river fish and are they worth smuggling?" Duan Tingxuan smiled and shook his head, then pulled Su Nuannuan's hand and said, "Come on, Nuannuan, let's go see what they are."
Cang Jian hurriedly ordered someone to send two lanterns. When the couple came to the pile of things in the corner of the yard, Duan Tingxuan cursed, "You bastard Cang Jian, you just left this... this thing like this. How can we eat it after leaving it overnight? Aren't you afraid that you'll get a stomachache?"
Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "Master Zang has been so busy these days. I guess he didn't think it through." As she spoke, she squatted down and took one in her hand. She saw that the big river clam was slightly oval in shape. It was bigger than her palm, so she said, "It looks much bigger than ordinary river clams."
When Duan Tingxuan heard this, an idea immediately flashed in his mind, and he grabbed the big river clam. With a force of both hands, he heard a "pop" sound, and the hard shell of the river clam broke.
Seeing how anxious he was, Su Nuannuan quickly moved the lantern close to his hand, and saw the young marquis open the clam shell, revealing the fat clam meat inside. Then he touched it with his hand, touched a place, and cut the clam meat open. Inside, he saw a pearl the size of a middle fingertip, white and round. The luster was attractive, and it turned out to be a top-quality pearl.
"Oh my goodness, I was wondering, how could someone smuggle river clams? There is no profit in this stuff, but it turns out that they stole the Eastern Pearl Clams from the Wusuli River. This... this is too bold, and there must be a traitor, otherwise how could they steal so many river clams?"
"Dongzhu?" Su Nuannuan swallowed her saliva, thinking, isn't that something that only exists in the Qing Dynasty? Is that what the Great Yin Dynasty also called it? Yin squatted down, picked up a large clam and asked Duan Tingxuan to crush it for her, then fumbled around in the clam meat for a while before wondering, "Strange, why is there no pearl in my clam? Does this thing also depend on the person? Because you are the prince, you are fawning on me; because I am the lady, you are ignoring me?"
"How can that be true?" The young marquis didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and shook his head, saying, "Do you think this thing is a carrot, and you can get one at a time? I heard from Lord Guo that the place is a bitter and cold land, and the life of the pearl divers is very hard. It is often good luck to get a pearl from a dozen clams, not to mention that these oriental pearls are also divided into grades." After saying that, he handed the pearl to Su Nuannuan and said with a smile, "This oriental pearl is of good quality, you can keep it. Since we caught up with it this time, we have to get a few out and return to Honglian and Xiangyun as dowries. Their faces will be more glorious, and it will be worth it for you and them to be master and servant."
What woman doesn't love pearls? Su Nuannuan took it and played with it lovingly, then she said worriedly, "But...are we going to intercept these smuggled items? If someone finds out, will they report you to the emperor?"
The young marquis didn't like what he heard, and sneered, "I am at least a close minister of the emperor. Can you bring me down with a few oriental pearls? Nuannuan, you really underestimate me, your husband."
"Hey, hey! Being modest brings benefits, while being overconfident brings harm. This is all known. Don't be arrogant because of your favor." Su Nuannuan said seriously, but Duan Tingxuan laughed, then hugged her and walked into the house, saying, "Don't worry, because the conditions outside the Great Wall are difficult, so all along, the government troops here have intercepted smuggled goods and kept some for themselves, giving some to their superiors, and the rest they put into their own pockets. Otherwise, why do you think people can come here to garrison with peace of mind?"
"I see."
Su Nuannuan breathed a sigh of relief, and she didn't want to criticize the drawbacks of this policy. She felt that she couldn't care less. The two of them happily returned to the hall, and saw Cang Jian walking around in the hall. When he saw them, he came up to them and said anxiously: "Madam, why is the kelp not cooked yet? It makes me feel so uneasy. I really want to taste it quickly. If it tastes good, we can last for several days, and maybe we can successfully wait for the relief grain money from the court."
Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "Those kelps are big and thick. I told them to cook them until they are soft, otherwise it will be uncomfortable to eat." After that, Duan Tingxuan also smiled and said, "Don't worry about this for now. Let me ask you, do you know what those clams in the yard are?"
"What is it? Isn't it just food? But river clams are not delicious. They have no taste. It all depends on the cooking skills. But look, my lord, we have almost eaten up all the food we have. Where are the seasonings to cook river clams? No, no, it's far inferior to the big shark you caught."
Duan Tingxuan smiled and said, "Don't rush to judge. Let me tell you, that's not an ordinary river clam, but the Eastern Pearl Clam from the Wusuli River. Otherwise, who do you think would be so full and have nothing to do at this time of year that they would smuggle river clams?"
Cang Jianmeng was stunned for a moment, and it took him a long time to react. He jumped up and shouted, "Fuck their grandma's legs, it turned out to be Dongzhu clams. I was wondering why there are such fools who go to pull back several carts of river clams. Come back if you want, why are you afraid of the government troops? It turns out that they are guilty of stealing Dongzhu clams from the Wusuli River. Damn it, it's too damned. Next time we must catch these clam thieves, it will be a great achievement."
Duan Tingxuan and Su Nuannuan both laughed, and suddenly they heard a clear voice outside the door saying, "What great achievement? But has the relief grain from the court arrived?"
"No, I don't know if the relief grain from the imperial court has been taken back yet." Speaking of grain, Cang Jian couldn't help but sigh again, but soon adjusted his mood and told Long Pingzhang about the matter of the Dongzhu oyster. Sure enough, Lord Long was also surprised for a long time, and then shook his head and smiled, "This is a big windfall. I didn't expect that such a good thing would happen to you."
"There's something even better." Speaking of the gains of Duan Tingxuan and others, Cang Jian became even more excited. He repeated the exciting scene of the young marquis fighting against the group of sharks that Zhang Tianming had told him. Unfortunately, due to the lack of adjectives, it sounded dry and not as exciting and tense as when Zhang Tianming narrated it.
Long Pingzhang looked at Duan Tingxuan and asked with concern: "Tingxuan, are you okay?"
"What can happen to me? I don't care about those sharks." Duan Tingxuan laughed, then looked Long Pingzhang up and down, and said with a smile: "What? All your memories have been restored?"
Long Pingzhang nodded, then sighed: "It really seems like a dream. At that time, I thought I was going to die, so I left you that clue when no one was paying attention. I didn't expect that I would survive after falling off the cliff with serious injuries. It's a pity that my followers... Alas!"
"You are blessed by God to be alive. Miss Chu said that there were several corpses scattered around you at the time, but no one survived. It can be seen that you are blessed by God. Especially after several months of recuperation from this serious injury, you were able to recover. It is a blessing in disguise. Um! You just said that you rolled down the cliff by yourself?"
"Isn't it?" Long Pingzhang looked as if he couldn't bear to recall the past. "At that time, I saw that there was no help coming from the sky, so I thought that a soldier could be killed but not humiliated, so I left you a clue and staggered off the cliff with my last bit of strength. By the way, did you see my clue?"
"I saw it. I didn't tell you the details because you lost your memory. Thanks to that clue, I was able to complete the task successfully. I really don't know how you noticed that clue that day. You really are worthy of being the Dragon Fire Eye." Because Cangjian was beside him, Duan Tingxuan spoke very vaguely.
Dragon Fire Eyes was Long Pingzhang's nickname among his peers. Hearing this, he felt a little embarrassed and quickly scratched his head and said with a smile: "Don't be ridiculous. I also got the clue by chance. Please save some face in front of Xiu'er. What Dragon Fire Eyes? Xiu'er doesn't know that you are praising me for my subtle observation. You think I am as unstable as a monkey."
"Hahaha..." The young marquis laughed heartily, then shook his head and said, "How can you brag like that? Look, Miss Chu feels embarrassed."
Long Pingzhang was not convinced, so he looked at Su Nuannuan, thinking of asking her to teach Duan Tingxuan a lesson, but he saw that she was staring at him, which made Long feel a little scared. He stuttered when he spoke and muttered, "Sister-in-law... Why is my sister-in-law looking at me like this?"
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