Chapter 96 Reencounter with Liang Ye
Shanhe and Miao'er were taken to an interrogation room with stark white walls and two square tables facing each other in the middle. Shanhe and Miao'er supported each other, their hearts pounding with anxiety.
The clatter of boots under the eaves only served to accentuate their solitary, bewildered, and helpless state.
A few breaths later, a clerk in a blue round-necked long gown strolled in, holding paper and pen. He glanced at Shanhe Miao'er briefly, then put down the paper and pen: "Write down her name, place of origin, current residence, and family members." After saying this, he turned and went outside to wait, "Make a quick sketch."
Shanhe and Miao'er exchanged a glance, then busied themselves grinding ink and laying out paper. Shanhe picked up the brush, but hesitated. Xue Shanhe, or He Shanxue? She was currently known as "Snow Lady" in the streets precisely to avoid being recognized. But if she wrote He Shanxue, and the officials discovered it was a false name, wouldn't that implicate Wu Tianqi and Danxia Painting Studio, creating unnecessary complications? After pondering this, Shanhe moistened the brush with ink and honestly wrote:
Xue Shanhe, aged eighteen, is from Jiangning County, Jinling. He currently lives in Fuxing Lane, Beixiguashi. He has two younger sisters and a dog.
"Two younger sisters...and a dog?" Cheng An chuckled as he held Shan He's complaint. He glanced up and saw Liang Ye leaning back in his chair, his face ashen, his brows furrowed as if covered in frost. Cheng An quickly suppressed his laughter and said seriously, "These two younger sisters must be Qingyue and Miao'er."
Liang Ye tapped his fingers on the table and sneered, "Find two people to quietly camp near her house. While they're at it, find out what kind of business she's been doing lately and who she's been dealing with."
Cheng An accepted the order and left.
Liang Ye then said to Zhang, the clerk, "Just say that verifying the household registration will take some time, and tell her to wait. After half an incense stick has burned, separate the two of them and say that the magistrate of the prefecture wants to interrogate them separately."
The clerk Zhang accepted the order and left.
Shanhe shielded Miao'er behind him, saying anxiously, "My sister and I are just ordinary people. We've only come to visit an old friend, why are you treating us like this!"
Zhang, the clerk, sighed: "Madam Xue, you don't know, the case involving Madam Wu is of great importance. It was personally ordered by His Majesty to be thoroughly investigated. Therefore, our magistrate and our government office have no choice but to take it seriously. Even the petition you just wrote still needs to be checked for accuracy in the treasury."
Shanhe softened her tone: "Can't I go with her? We've always been inseparable, we've never been apart. She's only fifteen, a young girl, I'm really worried about you taking her away alone."
Clerk Zhang frowned: "Madam Xue, what are you saying! This is the Jinling Prefectural Government Office, and there is an Imperial Envoy here. If you don't feel at ease here, then where can you feel at ease?"
Shanhe paused for a moment, then finally relented: "Well... alright. Miao'er is timid, Lord Zhang, please take good care of her." Shanhe quickly slipped a few pieces of silver to Zhang the clerk.
"Cowardly?" Liang Ye sneered. "Dare to set fire to my courtyard, dare to play dead, dare to lie to me, dare to secretly run away to Jinling with Xue Shanhe without a word, and you call that cowardly? Back then in my courtyard, she was vehemently attacking Granny Wei. Even Caiping was no match for her. Is that what you call a fifteen-year-old girl?"
The clerk, Zhang, was clueless and remained silent with his eyes lowered. Cheng An smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Miao'er is a bit of a troublemaker."
"More than that! It's no surprise she seduced Xue Shanhe." Liang Ye walked to the window with his hands behind his back, glancing at the increasingly anxious woman in the building across the street. A slight smile played on his lips. "What did your two men find out?"
Cheng An's heart skipped a beat, her lips moved, unsure how to speak. Liang Ye turned his face, his jaw tightened, his lips pressed into a straight line: "What are you hesitating for? Speak."
Cheng An lowered his eyes, seemingly resolute: "They said it was the head of the household's older sister, who got married last month."
“I’m not hiding anything!” Shanhe frowned and said, “Lord Zhang, I only have two younger sisters and a dog at home.”
Zhang, the clerk, sat behind the table opposite her, crossed his legs, and carefully examined Xue Shanhe's household registration again from beginning to end. He lifted his eyelids and said slowly, "Then how did you find out that you were married?"
Shanhe was stunned: "I..."
"No concealment is allowed!" Zhang the clerk suddenly raised his voice.
Shanhe was startled and hadn't recovered when a woman's shrill cry suddenly came from outside. Her face paled, and she realized that she had been "invited" to this interrogation room for an hour. Miao'er had long been taken away, and apart from that, she had only seen this clerk, Zhang, and hadn't even seen the imperial envoy. Now, hearing this scream, the fear in Shanhe's heart grew stronger and stronger. Could it be that she had become a prisoner now? She twisted her fingers, and instead of answering, she asked, "Has the imperial envoy not finished his work yet? Why doesn't he come to interrogate me in person? Why does he always have to trouble you to send messages? I've been waiting for so long, and my livelihood is about to be ruined. If we keep waiting like this, it would be better to let my sister and me go as soon as possible. Anyway, we won't visit Madam Wu."
“My lord is busy with official duties and cannot come in person,” Zhang the clerk said with a smile. “Besides, now that you’re here, why should you leave? It’s only right that you wait here while my lord is handling important matters. Tell me quickly and truthfully, are you married? Whom are you married to? Why didn’t you write him down in your petition?”
A barrage of questions rained down on Shanhe, who sat alone in a round-backed chair, stunned. She lowered her head: "He and I... never went to the government office to register our marriage, so it can't be considered a formal marriage, which is why I didn't write his name on it."
Clerk Zhang pressed, "Who is he?"
"My husband."
"I'm asking you if he holds an official position and what kind of business he's currently engaged in."
“He, he…I don’t know.” Shanhe avoided his gaze.
"You two have already pledged your lives to each other, didn't you know?" Zhang the clerk squinted at her. "If you don't tell me, the young girl in the next room might not be able to keep the secret."
"Don't make things difficult for Miao'er!" Shanhe bit her lip. "He joined the army in Beichuan and is now serving under General Pei."
"What's your name?"
Her voice was barely audible: "Liang Shao."
Clang—
Upon hearing the name "Liang Shao," Liang Ye paused for a few moments, then strode from the window to the table, picked up the inkstone, and slammed it against the wall. The white wall was splattered with ink, and the inkstone shattered in two, crashing to the ground.
Everyone in the room was taken aback. Cheng An had already lowered his head, not daring to look. Zhang the clerk wished he could disappear into a crack in the wall.
Liang Ye's chest heaved, his eyes red with anger. He said "good" three times in a row, his brows furrowed with deep rage. He stared at the slowly flowing ink, then suddenly smirked, a self-deprecating smile on his face. He slumped into the armchair, looking utterly dejected and embarrassed.
On his journey south to Jinling, he had already guessed that Shanhe and Ashao must have met. Otherwise, why would Ashao stay in Jinling for the New Year instead of returning home? But he didn't want to believe it; he wanted to hear Xue Shanhe say it himself. Now that Xue Shanhe had said it, he still didn't want to believe it. After all, he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.
But what should he do if he actually saw it? Liang Ye suddenly felt an unbearable headache.
What a Xue Shanhe! What a formidable Xue Shanhe! After only three months apart, she's already thinking about going back to Ah Shao!
He had initially asked her to come with him, promising to settle her life with him and take care of everything for her. She refused. Half a year passed, and in the end, she burned everything down, leaving not a single tile behind!
Thinking of this, Liang Ye wished he could rush to her side immediately and see how panicked, embarrassed, ashamed, and helpless she would flee in panic. He supported his forehead, his agitation growing stronger.
Seeing Liang Ye's anger, Cheng An and the others dared not act rashly, but held their breath and stood aside with their heads bowed. After a while, they heard a slightly hoarse voice from behind the desk: "Let her go."
Walk?
Cheng An was stunned. Ever since learning from He Niang that Xue Shanhe was still alive, Liang Ye had immediately guessed that Shanhe must have fled to Jinling and had begun preparations for her journey south. Today, after finally seeing her—and with Xue Shanhe practically offering herself up—and after all this trouble, was he just going to let her go like that? Cheng An wasn't sure and whispered, "My lord, aren't we going to see her?"
Liang Ye sneered, "Does she mean for me to personally go and see a mere government slave?" He abruptly stood up and strode out.
Cheng An immediately followed: "Where are you going, sir?"
"Interrogate the three people from Lan Gu Bookshop."
Shanhe lay on the table, feeling dizzy and lightheaded from waiting. Perhaps it was the events of this afternoon that had left her exhausted; she had just been so nervous that she felt nauseous, and now she felt drowsy again.
Miao'er came running in, saw Shanhe bent over her desk, and quickly went up to her, putting her arm around her shoulder and asking repeatedly, "Wife! Wife! What's wrong?"
"Miao'er," Shanhe said weakly, "Why are you here? Have you finished interrogating me?"
"No, it wasn't reviewed."
Clerk Zhang entered and said, "The Imperial Envoy has already interrogated other criminals, so you two will not be interrogated today. He will summon you when it comes to Wu Tianqi's turn. You two should go home now!"
Is that it?
Shanhe immediately followed up, "What crime has Madam Wu committed?"
"A batch of books from Jinling were discovered in the capital that violated palace regulations, and His Majesty has ordered a thorough investigation."
"Can we come and visit Madam Wu? She is pregnant."
"Don't worry, she won't be mistreated before a charge is established." Zhang, the clerk, took a step forward, then suddenly stopped. "Before the magistrate summons you, you are not allowed to go out or move around freely, and you are not allowed to contact outsiders without permission, understand?"
"Oh," Shanhe replied lazily.
The clerk Zhang added, "You'd better keep this in mind! Your confessions might just save her!"
Miao'er helped Shanhe slowly walk out of the Jinling government office. They saw the sun already setting in the west, dusk approaching. Still shaken, the two walked silently, their lips pursed. Just then, they saw a blue-curtained carriage parked outside the office, and a man dressed in a dark gray, narrow-sleeved robe stood beside it. Upon seeing Shanhe, the man smiled and waved, "Second Madam!"
Shanhe was taken aback, looked up blankly, and after recognizing him several times, suddenly realized and said, "Chengbao!"
Cheng Bao greeted her with a smile and bowed first: "Second Madam, what business are you here at the yamen today?"
Looking at him, Shanhe felt as if she had been transported to another world. Chengbao's voice had become deeper, and his shoulders seemed much broader. More importantly, his back was ramrod straight, and his whole body exuded a natural and cheerful aura, unlike the bowing and scraping servant Chengbao of the past.
Cheng Bao welcomed the two women into the carriage, then sat on the carriage floor and drove the carriage himself, holding the whip.
"It was Second Master who taught me how to come here."
"when?"
“I received his letter half a month ago, saying that you were here, Second Madam,” Cheng Bao said with a smile. “Second Master was worried about your safety, so he specially sent me to take care of you. I made arrangements at the school and set off immediately.”
The entire afternoon's anxiety felt like a lone sail adrift on raging waves. But upon seeing Cheng Bao and learning that he was sent by Liang Shao, Shan He finally felt a sense of security, like a boat docking at shore.
A hundred-tael silver note was slipped under the carriage curtain.
Cheng Bao's voice was clear and bright: "Second Master's properties are all in Mizhou. This is a gift from Second Master to you, instructing you not to wrong yourself, and especially not to wrong Qingyue, Miao'er, and Liu Liu." Cheng Bao turned his face, "I know Miao'er, she's the little girl beside you. Who is Liu Liu?"
-----------------------
Author's note: I have 500 nutrient solutions now, so there will be an extra chapter soon!
The younger brother's departure to Beichuan was foreshadowed early on. In the chapters depicting his personal growth, General Pei instructed him to escort his wife and children to Beichuan after the New Year, so the younger brother was bound to leave.
This time, Shan Shan won't be as pathetic as before; she's Niu Hulu Shan Shan! There's bound to be a brotherly feud, a brutal beating from the younger brother, and more...
[Pink Heart][Yellow Heart][Pink Heart]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
