Chapter 163 [VIP]
In mid-October, Wang's Vegetable Shop reopened.
Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan harvested the ripe vegetables from the experimental field last night, thus starting their annual winter vegetable sales business.
Knowing that the store would be open today, Lin Sui got up especially early, got ready, and went to the front yard to wait for loading.
Before long, Ershun drove the cart to the backyard, and the group hurriedly loaded baskets of vegetables onto the cart.
Uncle Chen stood to the side holding an oil lamp for illumination. Ever since he twisted his back in the spring, Wang Ying had forbidden him from doing any heavy work. The old man couldn't stay idle, so he did odd jobs in the mansion. Although they were nominally master and servant, Chen Qingyan and Wang Ying had long regarded him as their own uncle and elder.
After loading the cart, Er Shun said, "I'm leaving the city now, I'll go back to the shop later."
Wang Ying patted the carriage, "Drive slowly."
"Hey, don't worry."
While he was hauling the goods, Wang Ying went back to her room to tidy herself up, washed up, changed her clothes, and neatly tied her hair back with a plain hairpin.
Yuanbao is still sleeping. If you don't wake him up, he probably won't wake up until Chenshi (7-9 AM).
Wang Ying told her mother-in-law to stay inside and watch the child, while she and her husband went to the side hall to prepare breakfast.
Aunt Chen has gotten a bit older these past few years, and it's inevitable that she'll sometimes be too busy to manage grocery shopping and cooking all by herself. So, Er Shun's wife helps out with the chores.
Wang Ying didn't let her work for nothing; she paid her two hundred coins a month so she could earn some pocket money.
After dinner, Wang Ying and Lin Sui went to the shop. Chen Qingyan was going to the prefectural school later. The dean of the prefectural school had specially invited him to explain the provincial examination questions to the other students who had not participated in the provincial examination.
Chen Qingyan is now quite famous at the prefectural school. After all, he ranked third in the country and was admitted from the Jizhou Prefectural School. Many students at the school regard him as a role model.
Chen Qingsong, on the other hand, is under a lot of pressure. A few years ago, he was young and didn't care much. But ever since his older brothers passed the imperial examinations, he has always been mentioned in comparisons at the prefectural school.
With his two older brothers shining so brightly, Chen Qingsong seemed all the more ordinary. He had no choice but to keep studying, afraid of failing the exam and losing face.
*
When Wang Ying arrived at the shop, the two shops next door had just opened. The usually quiet owner of the sesame oil shop took the initiative to strike up a conversation with them.
"Are you planning to start selling vegetables again?"
"Yes, ice doesn't sell well when it's cold. Luckily, the vegetables from the farm are in season, so we're bringing them here to sell."
"Your business is really thriving; the products you sell in both winter and summer are irreplaceable."
Wang Ying smiled and brushed it off. This person used to look down on people, so it was quite strange that he suddenly became so enthusiastic.
Tianju brought a ladder and removed the trinkets, replacing them with the old trinkets from the vegetable shop.
Ma Zhandong then set up all the previously dismantled countertops one by one so that the dishes could be easily placed on them later.
After tidying up the shop, Ershun still hadn't returned by Chenshi (7-9 AM).
Logically speaking, Chen Bo's hauling of vegetables went smoothly every time last year, and he was never stopped. It's impossible that his first haul of vegetables this year would be blocked by someone.
Wang Ying was a little anxious. "Xiao Ma, Xiao Tian, go to the city gate and see what happened."
The two dared not delay and quickly ran out.
Ma Qianzi and Tianju jogged all the way to the East Gate. They circled around the gate but couldn't find Ershun. Could it be that he had run into trouble outside the city?
Do you have any money with you?
Tianju reached into his pocket and said, "I only have fifty coins."
“That’s enough.” Ma Qianzi also brought fifty coins, which together made up a string of coins. He took the money and walked to the clerk at the city gate, and quietly handed the money over.
"What's the matter?" The clerk looked at him with a puzzled expression after taking the money.
"Excuse me, sir, did you see a cargo wagon enter the city this morning? It was brownish-red and loaded with fresh vegetables."
The clerk's expression changed upon hearing this. "Those are your goods?"
Upon hearing this, Ma Zhandong knew that Ershun was definitely in trouble. "It's our boss's dish, we're preparing it for the opening today."
"Hey, that's unfortunate," the clerk said in a low voice. "When the cart came in this morning, it ran into the city patrol guards, and they confiscated the vegetables."
Upon hearing this, Tianju became agitated, "Why are you taking our vegetables away?"
"There's no way to reason with this. The head of the patrol guards is Magistrate Zhao's brother-in-law. You're just out of luck."
Tianju wanted to say something more, but Maqianzi stopped him, saying, "Thank you, sir." This was not something they could handle; they had to hurry back to their employer!
The two returned to the shop without stopping and told Wang Ying what they had found out.
Lin Sui said, "It's one thing for them to take the vegetables, but why did they also detain the carriage and Ershun?"
Wang Ying's face darkened. She had already guessed what was going on; he must be eyeing her food and wanted to get the source of it from Er Shun...
He couldn't solve this problem either, so he could only ask the Marquis for help! Wang Ying grabbed Lin Sui's hand and said, "Sui'er, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Sister-in-law, what are you saying? You all saved my life, why can't you just say what's on your mind!"
"Go to the Marquis's residence immediately, explain the matter to the Marquis, and ask him for help."
"I'll go right now!"
Ma Zhandong said, "Then I'll go back and get the carriage ready. If the Marquis isn't at his residence, I'll take the young master directly to the military camp."
"Okay, go quickly!"
Zhao Tongpan was a sixth-rank official, equivalent to a deputy mayor in later times. If you really had to confront him, even if you were a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, you wouldn't gain any advantage.
A quarter of an hour later, Ma Zhandong drove another carriage from his household to pick up Lin Sui and head towards the Marquis's residence.
*
At this moment, Er Shun was taken to a nearby garrison by the patrolling guards. This group of people not only detained the carriage but also brought him along.
The head of the guards was named Xue Wang, who was Zhao Tongpan's brother-in-law. He also had a nickname, Xue Yiba, and relied on his brother-in-law's connections to run rampant in the city. There was nothing he couldn't get his hands on.
He had heard about these fresh vegetables last year, but there had been rumors that the shop owner was Wang Tongzhi's nephew, so he didn't buy any last year.
As a result, several things happened later, and Xue Wang learned that his family had no relation to Wang Tongzhi at all, which gave him another wicked idea.
Today, during my patrol, I happened to run into Chen Ershun driving his horse-drawn cart into the city. I detained him and his goods, wanting to find out the origin of the fresh vegetables, as I also wanted a share of the profits.
Chen Ershun was brought here in a daze, his hands and feet were tied, and he was locked in a room.
He was already timid, and this fright almost made him wet his pants. He kept kneeling on the ground begging for mercy. "My master is a scholar who passed the imperial examination. Please let me go. We don't need the food anymore; consider it a tribute to you."
Xue Wang spat and laughed, "You scholar, you scared me to death!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Ershun dared not speak again. He squatted in the corner, silently praying that his beloved would surely come to take him away...
After being locked up for half an hour, Xue Wang and two of his men opened the door and came in. As soon as they entered the room, they started beating people without saying a word.
They were all soldiers, and Chen Ershun couldn't withstand their beating. After a few punches, his nose and mouth bled, and he saw stars. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed, begging for mercy.
Xue Wang grabbed his hair and pulled him up, asking, "Where did the vegetables in the car come from?"
"I...I don't know."
"Pah, you're pretty tough. Keep hitting me."
The men punched him until he was knocked to the ground, then kicked him until he covered his head and begged for mercy.
"Alright, alright, go easy on me. How are we supposed to find out where the food came from if we kill it?"
"Hehehe, I'm used to it."
Xue Wang stepped on Er Shun's head and said, "Aren't you going to talk? If you don't talk, you'll lose your life."
Er Shun let out a fearful hiss, but even so, he didn't reveal that the dishes were brought out by his husband. He only said, "The dishes... were delivered from the post station outside the city..."
"Bullshit! I followed your car last year. The driver was an old man who would just go out for a short while and come right back. Are you trying to fool me?!"
Er Shun cried out in anguish, tears streaming down his face, "I...I really didn't know...please forgive me..."
Xue Wang frowned. Was this man truly unaware or just incredibly stubborn? An ordinary person would have been killed long ago after being hit and intimidated like that, yet he was still able to withstand it.
Out of consideration for the other party's status, he didn't dare to kill him. Otherwise, his brother-in-law would nag him again and have Chen Ershun locked up. If he still didn't talk by tomorrow, he would throw him out and find another way.
*
Wang Ying was extremely anxious, but finally, two hours later, the Marquis arrived at full speed on horseback, carrying Lin Sui.
"My lord, please help me..."
Li Mu said, "No need to say anything more. Lin Sui has already explained it to me on the way. I'll go and ask you for the people first."
"Thank you, Lord Marquis!"
Li Mu helped Lin Sui off the horse with one hand, then whipped his horse and galloped off towards the east of the city. Wang Ying and Lin Sui watched his retreating figure with anxious eyes.
"Why did it take you so long to get back?"
Lin Sui said, "Ma Zhandong took me to the Marquis's residence first. The Marquis wasn't there, so we went straight to the military camp. But when we arrived, the Marquis had just gone out to train the troops. It was a centurion I knew who helped call him back."
This back and forth took up a lot of time. After they met, Lin Sui briefly explained the situation to Li Mu. Without saying a word, Li Mu led out his horse and carried her back to the city.
"I wonder how Ershun is doing. I hope nothing bad has happened to him."
Lin Sui held Wang Ying's hand to comfort her, "It's okay, everything will be alright."
Li Mu knew Xue Wang and knew that he was a reckless person. He had been trained by Xue Wang in the army camp before, but because he couldn't endure the hardship, he used his connections to transfer to the city garrison, where he was responsible for patrolling the city every day.
When he arrived at the garrison, the guards at the gate stopped him, saying, "This is a restricted area; entry is prohibited."
Li Mu lashed the man away with his whip, shouting, "Even if you were blind, I wouldn't recognize you!"
Upon closer inspection, the two men were startled by the blue birthmark on Li Mu's face and quickly turned to step aside, saying, "Please forgive us, Your Excellency, we were blind to your greatness..."
Li Mu was too lazy to waste words with these people and went straight to the main hall of the garrison. Xue Wang was playing dice with some of his men. When he saw Li Mu coming, he was stunned for a moment and thought to himself, "Why does this plague god have the leisure to come here today?"
He quickly forced a smile and stood up, saying, "Oh dear, Your Excellency has arrived! Why didn't you send someone to inform me beforehand so I could go out to greet you?"
Li Mu interrupted his polite words, "Release the carriages, horses, and people from the Wang family's vegetable shop that were detained this morning."
Xue Wang feigned ignorance and asked, "What did you say, Lord Marquis? I don't understand."
Li Mu was too lazy to waste words with him and turned around to search the house.
Xue Wang quickly ran over to stop him, "I am, after all, the chief cavalryman of the garrison. It's not right for the Marquis to raid my territory without a word."
Li Mu's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "Do you think I can't do anything to you, or do you think your brother-in-law can protect you?"
A note from the author:
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