25 Jade Hairpins
◎“I haven’t abandoned you, and I won’t abandon you.”◎
Jinxi City was not a wealthy place, and there were very few things to sell at rural markets like this. Fortunately, neither of them were particularly shrewd, so they planned to buy enough food and water for a few days before leaving.
Just then, a commotion erupted at the market entrance. Ying Jianhua instinctively retreated behind a stall, simultaneously lowering his straw hat to conceal himself.
Du Zhijin glanced around casually and said, "Officials have arrived."
The official...could it be Lu Ping?
Ying Jianhua's heart tightened instantly, and her hands moved faster than her brain; she grabbed her sleeve and pulled her towards herself.
Try tugging, but it won't budge?
As the group drew closer, she looked around with interest, as if she wanted to see what would happen. He ground his teeth and said, "Come closer, I have something to tell you."
Du Zhijin's eyes remained fixed on the entrance, but he leaned his ear closer to him and said, "Go ahead and speak, I can hear you."
"...Can't you look at me?" The words had barely left his lips when a figure appeared before them, surrounded by a crowd. The person in the middle was Lu Ping, and Du Zhijin's gaze was about to meet hers. Without time to think, he seized the opportunity and forcefully pulled her towards him, but stumbled due to the excessive force. With a "thud," the two fell into the haystack, their faces and heads covered in straw.
Lu Ping also noticed the commotion and was about to go forward to check when he was stopped by his subordinate's words: "Boss, the magistrate told us to hurry back, saying that people from the Prince's Mansion have come again."
He frowned, his gaze lingering for a moment on the two figures in the hay before turning away: "Let's go." But before leaving, he couldn't help but cast one last glance at them.
One of them...doesn't he look a bit like Mu Nv?
The wooden girl sneezed, shook her head, and several straws fell out.
She sat blankly on the ground, looking at Ying Jianhua, whose hair was also covered in grass: "Doctor Ying... Amo, what is it that you have to say in the grass?"
"Don't you think this grass is comfortable to sit on? Why don't we prepare some? If we have nowhere to sleep on the road, we can use the grass as blankets and sleep under the open sky." With Lu Ping gone, he felt relieved and casually made up a conversation. Who knew Du Zhijin would take it to heart and actually try to buy it? He quickly interrupted her before she could be tricked: "What are you doing?"
Du Zhijin: "Buy straw."
Ying Jianhua frowned: "There's straw everywhere! Why waste money buying it from them?"
After saying that, he grabbed her and left without waiting for the vendor to offer a price again.
Du Zhijin was left speechless, completely bewildered.
Didn't he just say he wanted to buy straw?
Straw could be skipped, but other items such as straw sandals and flatbreads were a must-buy. After witnessing several rounds of heated debate, Du Zhijin completely gave up on haggling and became a silent but sturdy carrying pole.
She felt from the bottom of her heart that Ying Jianhua's bargaining skills were even better than his medical skills!
"Since I bought so much stuff from you, it's not unreasonable to give you a couple of pairs of insoles as a bonus." "Oh, no, no, no, it's just a small business, a pair of insoles is nothing..."
The noise over there was quite lively, but after listening for a while, she got bored and her gaze drifted uncontrollably to the side, landing on a jewelry stall.
Ah, when he fell into the haystack, the wooden hairpin he used to tie his hair also fell off, and now he has a small twig he picked up on the road pinned to his head.
Suddenly, she remembered the jade hairpin he had pawned, and an idea began to form in her mind.
Finally, the vendor reluctantly gave her a pair of insoles, and Ying Jianhua, having achieved her goal, took her to the next place.
As the sun began to set, just as lunchtime approached, wisps of smoke rose from the market, carrying the aroma of wontons on the breeze. Seeing Du Zhijin's gaze fixed on the wonton stall, Ying Jianhua thought that since she had been standing there all day, a bowl of wontons wouldn't be too much of a waste, so she turned and walked over.
"Two bowls of wontons." "Alright, would you like a large or small bowl, sir?"
Upon hearing this, Ying Jianhua was taken aback.
In the past, when he came to the market, he wouldn't spend money to eat out. He would drink water when he was hungry and cook at home. For him, self-sufficiency was always the top priority; the things at the market were just a way to rob people.
So this was the first time he had been asked, "Do you want a big bowl or a small bowl?"
He was about to say "two bowls of wontons" when he caught a glimpse of Du Zhijin staring blankly at the stall, so he changed his mind and said, "...one bowl of each."
The large portion cost five coins more than the small portion, and Ying Jianhua, fearing she would regret it, practically threw the money away when paying.
Even so, Du Zhijin finished the large portion of wontons in just 15 minutes.
"Wait here for a bit, I'll be right back." After finishing her meal, she left with those words, her movements so quick that Ying Jianhua didn't even have time to ask her where she was going.
There was still half a bowl of wontons left. He looked in the direction she had left and pursed his lips.
They waited for two hours.
As the sun set and night fell, the wonton stall owner rubbed his hands together and said to him embarrassedly, "Sir, we're closing up shop."
He nodded slowly, moved a few steps away, and watched helplessly as the shopkeeper cleared away the tables and chairs, leaving him all alone in the market.
The night wind was a bit chilly and bleak. He sat on a slightly uneven rock, his mind wandering.
Why hasn't Du Zhijin come back yet?
Where did she go? Was she not full after just one bowl of wontons? Or did she think he was troublesome and stingy, just a burden?
Or perhaps she actually saw Lu Ping and left to see him. If the two of them were to exchange even the slightest word, she would be completely exposed.
Because, according to Lu Ping, Ying Jianhua was already dead.
He had already prepared his explanation. It would simply be that Ding Lao tried to kill him but his plan backfired, and he was saved by Du Zhijin. No one would suspect that he set the fire himself; besides him, there was another person from the Prince's mansion present at the time.
The Prince's Mansion would rather kill the innocent than let the guilty go free, and wanted all the suspects to be executed. He had known all along that the constable under Lu Ping's command came from the Prince's Mansion, and had drugged him under the guise of Honghua.
The medicine was harmless on its own, but when combined with another ingredient, it would cause the person to lose consciousness for a short period of time. He scattered the powder into the fire, and the constable fainted as he had intended. If Du Zhijin hadn't suddenly appeared, the constable might have died in the fire as well.
When a person dies, they truly leave no trace and there is no way to verify their existence. Du Zhijin's appearance was a huge, uncontrollable variable for him, and could potentially leave hidden dangers at any time.
Neither she nor Lu Ping were fools, especially Lu Ping, who had nearly ruined his plans several times. The only option now was to leave Jinxi City immediately, but she had vanished without a trace...
As darkness fell, Ying Jianhua's unease grew stronger. He could even picture Du Zhijin's expression when she learned the truth: she would be disappointed but not hesitant, while he would be abandoned in her increasingly cold gaze.
No, he couldn't let her know he had killed Prince Chengduan. Although they hadn't known each other for very long, he could tell that Du Zhijin was a person of great principle. Knowing his true nature, she wouldn't act rashly, but she would definitely leave. And just the thought of Du Zhijin leaving filled him with a strange sense of panic.
Why? Because he needs her protection? Yes, he still needs her protection, at least to find a new place to stay.
He convinced himself.
He simply still needed her protection.
The night breeze calmed his feverish mind. Ying Jianhua breathed a sigh of relief. He would part ways with Du Zhijin sooner or later, but before that, he needed her unwavering trust.
But soon he began to have new worries.
The night was deep and quiet, but she still did not appear.
Looking up at the sky, Du Zhijin quickened her pace without realizing it. She hadn't expected to be up so late; the Prince's mansion was much larger and richer than she had imagined, and finding a hairpin from such a vast treasure trove was no easy task.
Fortunately, she finally found it. Strangely enough, just when she was at her wit's end, a ray of moonlight shone on the hairpin, reflecting a beautiful emerald green light.
The city was under heavy guard because of the prince's death, and Du Zhijin had to go through considerable trouble to return. By the time she arrived at the market, it was completely deserted.
It's so dark, is he still there?
Her heart skipped a beat, and she hurried to the original location of the wonton stall, but she didn't see anyone there.
All she could see was the thick darkness of night, and darkness always attracts evil. She held Zui Lan in her hand and took a few more steps forward.
Under the moonlight, a figure sat quietly, his long hair flowing with a silvery sheen, like silken ribbons formed from night dew. Hearing her footsteps, he turned his head to look, the moonlight falling precisely on his eyelashes, casting a frosty halo over him.
Yet, this jade-like face carried a hint of worry, which melted away the moment he saw her.
"You're back."
Something about that sounds a bit off.
She stopped a foot away and replied curtly, "Oh, um, I'm back."
After they finished speaking, the two of them seemed to be silenced by a spell, and neither of them spoke again.
Du Zhijin had a vague feeling that something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Then Ying Jianhua spoke again—
“My parents also told me that I would come back soon.” Ying Jianhua lowered his eyelashes, and the moonlight shone into his eyes, allowing her to see the sadness in them.
This sorrow, like frost, falls upon the vibrant flowers, making one involuntarily feel a sense of regret.
After a moment of silence, he looked up at her, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "But they never came back. I thought you..."
What did you think she was?
He didn't say it, but Du Zhijin understood.
Her heart felt like it had been pricked by needles. She walked over, opened her palm, and showed him the jade hairpin she had been holding the whole way.
Upon seeing the jade hairpin, he was stunned: "You... I haven't abandoned you, and I won't abandon you."
Du Zhijin walked behind him and removed the branch that was binding his hair. Ying Jianhua was still in shock and couldn't come to his senses for a long time until he saw from the shadow that the jade hairpin was neatly inserted in his hair.
Emerald light leaked from her fingertips onto his shoulder.
Just like a quiet night many years ago.
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