Rainy Night
"Boss, three skewers of candied hawthorn, please!"
"Alright! Miss, please take this and leave safely."
Jiang Yi returned to the teahouse with a smile on her face. Just then, Xia Zhi and Shangguan Muya also returned from buying pastries. The three of them were tired from shopping, so they rested there for a while. Downstairs, a storyteller was telling a play, spitting everywhere. Everyone was enjoying the climax of the play. Jiang Yi liked it very much and even became less talkative.
"I watched him build a tall building, I watched him entertain guests, I watched his building crumble..."
When the storyteller reached this point, the audience erupted in applause and cheers. Jiang Yi, even with a candied hawthorn in her mouth, managed to clap her hands to show her support.
Xia Zhi secretly tugged at Jiang Yi's sleeve. Jiang Yi looked at her, puzzled. Xia Zhi kept giving her meaningful glances. Following her gaze, she saw Shangguan Muya pursing her lips and constantly fidgeting with her fingers until they were almost raw.
It took Jiang Yi a while to realize that this story was a veiled criticism of their Prime Minister's Mansion.
Oh no, oh no, I've made a huge mistake!
I originally wanted to take Shangguan Muya out for a walk to clear her head, but now she's definitely going to overthink things.
Jiang Yi's mind raced, trying to figure out how to make up for it.
"Muya, um... this story isn't very good, let's go!"
Shangguan Muya didn't embarrass Jiang Yi, nor was she angry. Instead, she gave a bitter smile and said, "Fine."
Before they could even take a few sips of the freshly brewed tea, the three of them carried their purchases downstairs.
The storyteller over there started a new round of stories, and unexpectedly, this one was related to He Lin. Jiang Yi listened carefully before leaving, and he was talking about the emperor's illegitimate son who had been living away from home. He told the story in a vivid and detailed way, such as how a concubine couldn't give birth to a prince and went out of the palace to find someone to replace the prince with a cat, or how Emperor Liang encountered a courtesan during his southern tour... It was simply absurd and incomprehensible!
It's best to ignore it!
Jiang Yi stormed out of the teahouse and headed straight for the inn.
When we returned, there was a carriage and several large horses parked in front of the inn, indicating that they were ready to set off.
"Hey, you're packing up and leaving already? Have He Lin and the others returned?"
Qi Junxu mounted his horse nimbly, gestured with his chin towards the inside, indicating that she should go see for herself.
"Here, I'll go ahead and wait for you in Ur."
Having said that, he pulled on the reins and squeezed the horse's belly, disappearing in a flash.
"Ur didn't explain anything clearly, so where are we supposed to find him?"
Shangguan Muya explained, "Ur is a mountain. Once you cross this mountain, you'll be almost in Southern Xinjiang."
"Oh." Jiang Yi was taken aback, then suddenly exclaimed, "What? We have to cross the mountain?!"
He Lin came up from behind and said helplessly, "There are official roads to take. We won't let your small body cross mountains and valleys by hand."
Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief: "It's probably better to take the official road."
You know, when she used to go hiking with friends, her legs would start trembling halfway up the mountain, let alone coming down. She always had to take the cable car down. With her stamina, she could barely climb stairs, let alone climb a mountain. It would be worse than death for her...
Seeing that Shangguan Muya was carrying one or two medicine packets, Yin Zhaobai couldn't help but ask, "Are you not feeling well? Why did you go to get medicine?"
"I caught a chill last night, but it's nothing serious."
He Lin went to the government office early in the morning to deal with the Black Tiger Stronghold matter. When he arrived, the governor had just gotten up. Upon hearing from his servants that Lord Xi Chen and Lord Zhao Bai had arrived, he rushed over to handle official business without even having a bite to eat. It was said that after capturing Wang Dahu yesterday, he interrogated him overnight and slept for less than two hours. It can only be said that the governor was unlucky to have encountered a living devil like He Lin.
It was only after interrogation that it was discovered that Wang Dahu and the magistrate of Linzhou County were in cahoots, having harmed many innocent people over the years. After extracting information from Wang Dahu about the person behind him, the prefect immediately decided to arrest him. In less than half an hour, the magistrate was found bound hand and foot in prison while still asleep, joining Wang Dahu in his cell. It was remarkably swift...
As a result, Wang Dahu was executed according to the law for his numerous crimes, his bandits were punished according to their crimes, and the county magistrate who colluded with him, after all, was an official of the Liang Dynasty and was escorted to the capital to be punished by the Liang Emperor and the Ministry of Justice...
From that moment on, Black Tiger Village disappeared from Linzhou overnight.
Southern Xinjiang is home to 100,000 mountains, and Ur is just one of them, serving as a gateway to the region.
People in southern Xinjiang are skilled at raising and making poisons from Gu (a type of insect), and rarely come into contact with outsiders. Perhaps it is because of the humid environment here, where there are many snakes, insects, and rodents. It is said that some people here understand the language of insects and animals and can communicate with the Gu they raise. In short, southern Xinjiang is a mysterious place for outsiders.
A light rain was falling. After traveling for two whole days, we finally arrived in Ur, one step closer to southern Xinjiang.
Upon arriving at the agreed-upon location, they saw Feng He standing in front of the inn, holding an umbrella.
"Young Master Lin, Lord Zhaobai, my Highness has been waiting for you for a long time. Please."
The group dismounted and entered the inn. Shortly after, the rain outside intensified and soon turned into a torrential downpour.
There were quite a few people in the inn, but most of them were dressed in strange clothes and were obviously from southern Xinjiang. Their eyes were not very friendly, which made their group stand out from the crowd.
Qi Junxu asked the waiter to set aside a special area for roasting lamb legs. The shop owner was initially reluctant, thinking, "Who would barbecue indoors? It's inconvenient to clean up, and other customers would likely complain." But Qi Junxu offered a lot of money, so after hesitating for only three seconds, the shop owner finally agreed.
Yes, money is always the hard currency, no matter where you go.
The waiter brought over a barbecue grill. Since matches couldn't be lit indoors, he placed a charcoal brazier on it and put a cleaned lamb leg on the grill, sprinkling it with salt. Soon, the aroma filled the air, and the lamb sizzled and sizzled with oil—it smelled wonderful.
Jiang Yi was practically drooling at the sight, swallowing hard and asking several times if it was done yet. She looked like a starving wolf who hadn't eaten meat in centuries, her eyes practically glowing...
After nightfall, most of the guests on the first floor went upstairs to rest, but they were still chatting and drinking around the barbecue. Jiang Yi felt that this was a good life, full of flavor, and it was definitely the life she had always dreamed of.
After a few sips of strong liquor, Jiang Yi and Shangguan Muya were quite drunk, their faces flushed. Xia Zhi, however, didn't drink, so as to make it easier to take care of them.
The two of them stood head to head, hand in hand, muttering to themselves in a way that was hard to understand. Occasionally, they would burst into inexplicable silly laughter, leaving the several straight men opposite them completely bewildered.
"...Muya, I want to sleep with you tonight."
Shangguan Muya was also dazed and drunk, unable to open her eyes. She rested her chin on her hand and asked, "Why?"
"Hehe, I'll hold you while I sleep, that way it'll be warmer."
"Where is He Lin?"
"Let him stay alone in his empty room."
He Lin: "..."
Everyone: "..."
"Bang—whoosh—"
It was windy and rainy outside, and the window was blown open all at once.
Jiang Yi was startled and suddenly opened her eyes wide. The smell of alcohol had dissipated, and her mind was much clearer.
"Knock knock knock—"
If you listen carefully, it sounds like someone is knocking on the door.
The waiter rubbed his sleepy eyes and was startled when he opened the door.
"I'm sorry, sir, our shop is closed. Please try looking elsewhere."
In this desolate wilderness, with only their shop in the vicinity, where could they possibly find another place? It was obvious they were just trying to get by. But the waiter looked at the shopkeeper behind the counter with a troubled expression, not knowing what the people outside had said. The shopkeeper came out, opened the door, and let them in.
It was an elderly man and a little girl who looked about seven or eight years old. Both of them were wearing straw raincoats and straw hats, so their original appearances could not be seen.
The little girl crossed her arms in front of her and leaned slightly forward to greet the shopkeeper, which showed that they were from southern Xinjiang.
"Thank you. Could you please prepare a room for me, innkeeper? My grandfather's leg ailment has flared up, and it's raining heavily outside, so he can't travel."
"Young lady, I'm so sorry, our inn is full today, we don't have any extra rooms." Seeing the grandmother and granddaughter traveling in the heavy rain, the innkeeper kindly said, "However, there is an empty woodshed in the backyard, but there's no charcoal, so it might be very cold at night. If you don't mind..."
Upon hearing this, the girl immediately smiled, took out a golden object, about the size of a thumb, from her sleeve, placed it in her palm, and presented it to the shopkeeper.
"Thank you very much. I have no money on me, so please accept this golden silkworm as payment."
The shopkeeper's eyes widened immediately: "Is this the Golden Silkworm from the depths of the Southern Frontier? I've heard that one is worth a thousand gold pieces! This... young lady, are you really going to give it to me?"
"Yes, Grandpa said that one should know how to repay kindness."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony."
The shopkeeper rubbed his hands together and carefully took the golden silkworm. Although it was stiff and dead, it was still quite valuable. He had made a huge profit.
A dark figure flashed by in a corner on the second floor. He Lin and Qi Junxu exchanged glances. It seemed that tonight was going to be lively.
"Jiang Yi, if you're sleepy, go upstairs to sleep."
Jiang Yi stood up unsteadily. "It's okay, I'm fine, hiccup~"
He Lin: "..."
“Wait a minute, little sister. It’s so cold tonight, and your grandfather’s leg ailment has flared up again. If he doesn’t keep warm, it might get even worse. We have an empty room here, why don’t you go up and rest?”
The little girl didn't stand on ceremony and smiled sweetly, "Then thank you, sister."
"You're welcome. Just go up to the second floor and turn left to the third room."
The little girl nodded, and the old man next to her also turned slightly to nod to Jiang Yi in gratitude.
But when Jiang Yi saw the old man's eyes under the brim of his hat, her legs went weak with fear, and she took a step back. Fortunately, He Lin was right behind her and supported her steadily.
The elderly man's eyes were completely white! He couldn't see.
The girl helped him slowly upstairs, and Jiang Yi's drowsiness and drunkenness disappeared completely.
"If you give up your room, where am I supposed to sleep?"
"Oh dear, those two, one old and one young, are quite pitiful. You can squeeze in with Yin Zhaobai and the others tonight, and I'll sleep with Mu Ya and Xia Zhi."
When Shangguan Muya heard Jiang Yi call her name, she suddenly stood up and almost fell over.
Xia Zhi quickly helped her up, and Yin Zhaobai also walked quickly towards her.
"Muya, you're drunk. Let me take you upstairs to rest."
Shangguan Muya gently shook her head: "I'm not drunk..."
Just as Yin Zhaobai was about to pick her up, Qi Junxu arrived and pulled him aside, forbidding him from touching Shangguan Muya.
"Men and women should not touch each other; Lord Zhaobai, please have some self-respect!"
Yin Zhaobai watched helplessly as Qi Junxu carried Shangguan Muya upstairs, his eyelashes trembling as he stood there.
Jiang Yi couldn't stand it anymore and angrily said, "Hey! Qi Junxu, you old-fashioned patriarch! Can't you give her a chance? Besides, Mu Ya herself doesn't dislike him, so why are you meddling in her business!"
He Lin reached out and pulled the person back: "Alright, he can't hear you anyway."
"I'll say it! Even if he can't hear me, I'll still say it!"
"..."
The rain continued to fall. A large bird perched on a tree not far from the inn, its sharp eyes scanning the entire place. A few raindrops splashed onto its glossy black feathers. It spread its wings, shook them, pecked at a spot with its beak, then let out a long cry and soared into the sky…
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