"Sister Yumei, why did you..." After the soldiers left, Tao Wanniang looked at Bai Yumei in confusion, wondering why she didn't tell the truth.
"This Li Jianghai is extremely treacherous and cunning; he won't do anything without a profit. The person he's going to arrest must be a good person!"
Bai Yumei said sarcastically, then added with feigned concern, "Sister Tao, you're in big trouble. Li Jianghai is a mad dog that won't let go once he's bitten!"
Tao Wanniang didn't quite understand Bai Yumei's meaning, after all, it was the middle of the night and she hadn't thought about it carefully.
"Go back, everyone. Nothing will happen tonight!" After parting ways with Bai Yumei, Tao Wanniang went to the front yard to reassure the others.
"Little Qiao'er, were you scared? Go back to your room and sleep. You'll be alright!"
Seeing that Xiao Qiao'er looked frightened, Tao Wan's mother pulled her over to comfort her.
"Grandma Tao, I'm scared. Can I sleep with you?" Xiao Qiao'er asked cautiously, her look so vulnerable that Tao Wan's mother couldn't bring herself to refuse.
"Alright then, I'll sleep with Grandma Tao!"
Tao Wanniang pulled Xiao Qiao'er back into the house. The rest of the Ling family were still in shock, but when they saw Tao Wanniang go back into the house, none of them lingered.
"Mother treats Xiao Qiao'er even better than her own grandchildren," Zhou Xiaoyun muttered after returning to the room. "Honey, what happened?"
"Nothing's wrong, it must be the government causing trouble!" Ling Dapeng thought it was better to avoid trouble. If he mentioned the matter of the imperial inspector, he would have to go through the trouble of explaining that the person wasn't here, so he simply said it directly.
"Ah!" Ling Dapeng yawned as he spoke. "Go to sleep, we still have to set up our stall tomorrow!"
Seeing that Er Gou in her arms had already fallen asleep, Zhou Xiaoyun could only sullenly put the child down and lie down to sleep herself.
"Grandma Tao, your bed is so soft!" Xiao Qiao'er exclaimed in surprise, noticing that Tao Wan's mother's bed was much softer than her own.
Tao Wanniang blushed. All she had bought was a mattress from her spatial storage, a blue-printed cotton cover at that!
"Grandma is old, and her back hurts from sleeping on a hard bed too much!"
Tao Wan's mother made an excuse and said, "Little Qiao'er, you go to sleep first, Grandma is going to the outhouse."
Children naturally fall asleep quickly. Little Qiao'er lay on the soft bed, responded, turned over, and fell asleep.
Tao Wanniang was thinking of Xiao Yi in the stone cave, wondering how he was doing. She bought two white steamed buns from her spatial storage, went to the kitchen to get a bowl and some water, and then went to the stone cave under the artificial hill.
"Your Excellency, it is I, a commoner!" Tao Wanniang, still carrying a candle, spoke softly after entering the narrow stone cave, afraid of being accidentally harmed!
Xiao Yi woke up when there was a commotion outside. When he heard the noise again, he immediately became alert, but when he heard Tao Wanniang's voice, Xiao Yi felt relieved.
"Sir, it's me. There's not much food left at home, so I brought you some steamed buns and water. Please don't find them too cheap."
Tao Wanniang put the things down and subconsciously checked Xiao Yi's complexion, which looked better than before.
"Thank you. Are the government officials here to search?" Xiao Yi asked softly.
"Yes, but this place is secluded, and no one else knows about it, so we managed to get away with it!" Tao Wanniang said truthfully. "However, I don't think they'll give up so easily, so you might have to stay here for a few more days. May I ask where your guard is?"
“I don’t know where Cheng Feng and Lin Da went, but I think they will come looking for you.” Xiao Yi looked at Tao Wanniang, somewhat surprised by her courage.
"This... I'm afraid it'll be quite difficult. If the officials become suspicious of me, they'll keep watch around me. Your two guards will be spotted as soon as they appear," Tao Wanniang said, frowning. "I say, Your Excellency, what hornet's nest have you stirred up that even the prefect of this region is willing to kill to silence witnesses?"
Xiao Yi smiled noncommittally, picked up the steamed bun Tao Wanniang had given him, and took a big bite.
"Tao, are you simply driven by curiosity, or do you just like to meddle in other people's business?"
Tao Wanniang paused for a moment, but wasn't embarrassed. She said directly, "I just want to see if the person I risked to save was worth it."
“Someone told me that I’m being targeted by the government and that I won’t have a good life in the future. I need to know if the price I’m paying is worth it.”
“You really are a sharp-tongued woman,” Xiao Yi said. “Besides being an imperial inspector, I am also a royal heir, and the current emperor is my uncle. If I die in Shanhai Prefecture, Zhang Shicheng will never have a good life!”
Tao Wanniang was startled. Such a powerful figure! He's some kind of prince!
"Does...the Prefect know about this?"
“I don’t know. If he knew, he probably wouldn’t have given up!” Xiao Yi’s expression turned cold. “Within the jurisdiction of Shanhai Prefecture, more than a hundred villages and towns were affected by the disaster. The imperial court allocated a thousand dan of grain, but less than 30% of it actually reached the affected towns and villages. Yet Zhang Shicheng’s private granary was full of grain.”
"Officials and merchants colluded to resell disaster relief grain, inflate prices, and line their own pockets. Each of these acts is enough to cost Zhang Shicheng his head. Do you think he would let me, the imperial inspector, go?"
Tao Wanniang felt a sense of impending doom. "If you find out all this, won't he dig you up from the ground?"
"I've gotten myself into this mess, haven't I? Good heavens, I hope I don't lose my hard-earned little business." Tao Wan's mother clicked her tongue. "Speaking of which, sir, young master, you must have a backup plan, right? You can't possibly come here alone to investigate official corruption!"
You wouldn't be that stupid, would you? Tao Wanniang looked at Xiao Yi with expectant eyes. He's not a greenhorn anymore; he can't be that reckless!
"I possess an identity jade token and the Emperor's decree; who would dare disobey?"
Xiao Yi retorted, "If you hadn't secretly poisoned me, I wouldn't be in this situation!"
In other words, there's no backup plan. Tao Wanniang frowned. This young master is too ambitious.
"Well, young master, it's late, I need to go back to sleep. I have to set up my stall tomorrow!"
Tao Wanniang didn't want to say anything anymore; she was going to be ruined by her own actions!
Xiao Yi looked at Tao Wanniang's slender figure, her shadow stretching long and thin in the dark stone cave... This woman is quite interesting!
The next day, when she set up her stall, Tao Wanniang looked rather unwell. She had been thinking hard all night but still couldn't come up with a solution that satisfied both sides.
How could an ordinary wonton vendor possibly help the imperial inspector escape his predicament and also counter the prefect's side?
"Hurry up, give each of us a bowl of wontons and two scallion pancakes!"
As soon as the stall was set up, a group of yamen runners dressed in official robes occupied two tables with an extremely arrogant attitude, and even deliberately slammed their hands on the tables and shouted loudly.
Tao Wanniang frowned. Was this... going to ruin her business?
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