Chapter 66 "I'm worried about them?"
Pingjiang Street, Jiangyang Prefecture Tongzhiyuan.
The spring light is fading, the sky is bright, and the sun is shining brightly. It seems to be the best weather in recent days.
Strands of golden light shone across the six carved nanmu doors of the main house, making them sparkle. Through the doors, the screen, adorned with lotus blossoms, remained immaculately pristine.
From time to time, the sound of birds chirping could be heard in Tongzhi Courtyard, one after another, embellishing the quiet morning with more fun.
There is a small stone table on the left side of the courtyard, but for some reason it does not have the customary one table with two chairs like the ones next to it. Instead, it has three round stone benches. On the table is an extremely delicate food box and several small white porcelain plates.
A clear male voice sounded at the right moment, breaking the silence——
"Master Jia? Master Jia?"
It turned out to be Yang Sheng calling. He was wearing an indigo gown and his hair was tied back with a ribbon of the same color. He was dressed very energetically, full of the brilliance of youth.
Yang Sheng was asked to lift up the front hem of his clothes and tuck it around his waist, exposing his legs for easy walking. He also carried a half-sized kettle on his elbow, with a lotus-like nozzle on the tip of the long spout for watering.
At this moment, he was walking among the flowers and plants in the yard with the pot in his hand, looking here and tinkering there with leisure, watering the flowers and plants from time to time, while talking to the main house.
The room was completely silent, no one answered, only the chirping of a few birds prevented him from feeling lonely.
Yang Sheng didn't look lonely at all. He shrugged his shoulders, a smile on his face, and shouted in a louder voice:
"Dad! Dad?"
No one responded, which made him even more playful and bolder, and he became even more outspoken.
"I said, Dad—"
But before he could finish his words, he was interrupted.
"What's that?"
The voice came out from behind the lotus screen in front of the main hall in a steady and powerful voice. Although the words were stern, the tone was not harsh. Then, as the footsteps got closer, a corner of a black satin robe was revealed from behind the screen.
It was Lord Jia Renjia.
His hair was combed very neatly and meticulously, without any trace of slovenliness or uncleanliness.
However, there was a dark patch under his eyes, and the corners of his clothes were wrinkled inappropriately. He didn't look like someone who had just gotten up and washed up in the morning, but rather like—
I sat there all night without a break, and only had time to comb my hair again before getting up and going out.
Lord Jia walked out from behind the screen in two or three steps, stepped out of the main house and into the courtyard. He looked tired as he walked, but there was still no sign of weakness. He stopped a few steps in front of Yang Sheng.
Before Master Jia could speak, Yang Sheng placed the kettle on the ground, wiped his hands on his waist to dry the water stains, and then said, "Father, don't worry!"
Lord Jia's gaze froze, as if he hadn't understood what was going on. When he came to his senses, his eyes widened and he glanced at Yang Sheng with a hint of displeasure.
"You? What did you say?"
It seems that he is confused and doesn't know what to say.
Yang Sheng's mind was as clear as a mirror. He didn't know it at first. Before he could even have a sip of his freshly cooked fish soup last night, his father hurriedly asked him to gather his men and follow him out of the house.
But now he is no longer a covered drum - he knows nothing.
"Father, this morning I heard from the yamen runner who left the city with Lord Mu last night that our prefect and his young lady have returned home safely!"
Yang Sheng clapped his hands, looked around at the flowers and plants in the yard, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
The flowers and plants in the Tongzhi Court are all thanks to him. Otherwise, with my father's behavior, he would like to spend all twelve hours a day in the meeting room, either reading papers or patrolling. How would he have time to take care of the flowers and plants?
If he comes to take care of them, these flowers will die!
However, since Master Jia hadn't responded, Yang Sheng assumed he was still waiting for his next words, so he continued, "It's true! Master Mu personally escorted them back to the mansion. I heard he was almost there before he even brought them in!"
The prefect's residence is on Guan'an Lane. According to the yamen runner who came to report, the house has been delivered to the entrance of Guan'an Lane. Doesn't that mean it's just a matter of sending it back to the house?
"Father, you don't have to worry anymore! Let's clean up and have some breakfast first."
Yang Sheng raised an eyebrow, glanced at the stone table and bench on his left, and said with a pout, "Here—I've brought it all to you!"
"I just made something in the small kitchen. Don't think it's too simple."
"Today is the last day of my rest. The kitchen lady will be back tonight, so you won't have to eat the simple meals I cook tomorrow."
Yang Sheng was talking to himself as he walked over to the stone table and started to set the table with both hands. It was just some porridge, side dishes and a few pickled crabs, but he had to prepare so many plates and bowls as if he was having a banquet.
The busy Yang Sheng didn't notice that Lord Jia was frowning and standing there with a strange expression.
"Yang Sheng, you——"
He wanted to ask what Yang Sheng was talking about, which left him completely confused.
"Come here quickly! Dad, if you're any later the food will get cold!"
The words in Lord Jia's throat were choked, and he was almost furious. Even his good self-control was about to fail.
He let out a long sigh, bent over to smooth out the wrinkles on his clothes, and then walked towards the stone table. When he was completely at the edge of the stone table, his eyebrows jumped -
It was just a few pickled vegetables and two drunken crabs, clearly prepared by the kitchen lady early in the morning. What on earth had Yang Sheng "done"? Or, in other words, how cold could the pickled vegetables be?
Lord Jia's breathing became heavier, as if it became an outlet for the helplessness in his heart.
He raised his head and glanced at Yang Sheng. At this moment, Yang Sheng had finished setting the dishes and was standing aside with his head lowered, staring at him with eyes full of expectation.
Lord Jia held the bamboo chopsticks in his hand, paused for a moment, then lifted his sleeve with one hand and reached out to pick up some food with the other. However, the chopsticks had just touched the edge of the bowl when he retracted them and placed them on the chopstick holder again.
He had no appetite for some reason.
Yang Sheng, who was standing aside, had a look of understanding on his face, as if he had not expected it, and was quite smug.
"Father! I told you that the prefect is safe and has returned home to rest!"
"Who knows? The prefect has already finished his meal long ago. Why are you still worried about him and making him unable to sleep or eat?"
Lord Jia raised his eyebrows, finally coming to his senses. It turned out that the boy had been nagging him to eat all morning because he thought he was talking about Lord Song and Madam Wen...
"Ahem! What are you talking about?"
Master Jia took a sip of the tea beside the bowl, and after he calmed down a little, he said helplessly:
"Who told you I was worried about them?"
"It has nothing to do with Lord Song and Madam Wen."
"It's irrelevant? How can it be irrelevant?"
Yang Sheng looked like he had heard something extraordinary. His eyes were wide open, filled with confusion and disbelief.
"If it really had nothing to do with him, why would you have rushed out with your men last night? And why did you go through so many detours to trouble Lord Mu?"
You should know that although Lord Mu has been in office for a shorter time and is half a level lower than my father, he is extremely capable and does his job well, so he cannot be ordered around easily.
As he spoke, Yang Sheng sat down on the stone bench opposite Lord Jia and looked at Lord Jia through the faint hot steam of tea.
He looked calm and muttered nonchalantly.
"Besides, what kind of irrelevant person is worth your worrying about so much that you would stay up all night and sit on that couch?"
Yang Sheng recalled that he met Lord Mu at the city gate last night. After handing over the group of people to Lord Mu, he returned to the government office. When the Tongzhiyuan came in to report, his father was sitting on the couch in front of the window, spending the night in the moonlight and with a candlelight.
This morning he went in and told his father to get up, only to find him still sitting in the same spot as last night, motionless. Only the extinguished candle and the lamp flowers formed by the melted wax indicated the passage of time. As for his father—
It was obvious that he had not slept a wink all night.
"Don't tell me you got up so early to meditate there?"
Lord Jia was furious. He found that Yang Sheng was becoming more and more daring and outspoken. If he continued like this, he would sooner or later get into trouble.
But... he's quite intelligent, not a tongue-tied person...
He felt mixed emotions and didn't know what to feel.
When facing Yang Sheng, it is neither possible to praise nor to criticize him.
Yang Sheng looked at the silent Lord Jia and felt strange in his heart. He had been with his father for so many years, but he had never seen his father care about others so much in a long time.
The prefect has only been in office for a few days. Even if he is my father's immediate superior, he shouldn't be so worried about him, right?
How could his father be the kind of person who would curry favor with the powerful and be willing to bow down to them?
Not to mention that Miss Wen who came from nowhere.
After thinking about it, he didn't think there was any need for his father to please them.
His father is the Tongzhi of Jiangyang Prefecture. Even if he is not as high as the prefect, he has worked in Jiangyang for more than ten years. To be honest, his father can be regarded as half a parent official of Jiangyang Prefecture!
Originally, his father was in a hurry to go out of the city on patrol and had not even eaten. He didn't know why. It was not until this morning when he heard the report from the yamen runner that he realized it was because of the prefect and Madam Wen.
Yang Sheng felt even more displeased. He didn't even know about this matter. How could there be any secret between him and his father in the first place?
I just don't know if my father left the city early in the morning to rescue the prefect and that lady.
Ever since the prefect took office, my father doesn't seem to be speaking and doing things as easily and leisurely as before.
He felt something was amiss, but he didn't know how to explain it. Could it be that this young prefect had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, putting pressure on his father's career? That was why all these things seemed amiss?
Yang Sheng nodded, as if he felt that he had finally found a reasonable explanation so that he would not be so suspicious of his father.
He doesn't want to, and will never, doubt his father.
Yang Sheng's brows relaxed, his mouth was no longer pouting, and he finally relaxed.
"Why are you nodding your head randomly? Are the chickens pecking at rice?"
Lord Jia's voice suddenly rang out. No one knew what the boy was mumbling to himself. Sometimes he frowned, sometimes he was secretly delighted. The changes in his expression were more exciting than a revolving lantern. If it were night, he wouldn't need to light a lamp in his office.
Just looking at Yang Sheng's expression makes you feel good.
It turned out that he only thought that he didn't sleep last night because of Lord Song and Madam Wen.
Lord Jia couldn't help but laugh in his heart. How could he do this for Lord Song and Madam Wen?
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