But as the onlookers watched, those eager to join in the festivities suddenly noticed that the wedding procession had taken to the main road, circled it once, and then headed towards the city lord's mansion. It hadn't stopped at any house. Could it be that the bride was actually at the city lord's mansion?
This is really something exciting!
Everyone knows that a bride is supposed to leave her own family home for marriage; even if she has no home of her own, she should at least have a place to call her "bride's home." But the city lord's bride is actually living with him?
Wow, this is quite a bit of gossip!
Ordinary people's lives are always monotonous, with the same things happening every day. So these seemingly interesting and worthwhile topics of conversation are what ordinary people love to talk about.
"Could it be that this bride came here to find the city lord?"
"That doesn't count as living in the city lord's mansion and marrying him! Maybe she eloped with the city lord!" someone boldly speculated, but was immediately refuted.
"Pah! Don't tell me it's 'betrothal as wife and elopement as concubine.' Just look at the wedding procession; it's impossible for it to be a concubine. Besides, the city lord came in high spirits that day, and apart from the maids who came to serve him, I didn't see any girls."
"This..." someone hesitated for a moment, "I heard that the city lord is fond of men, could it be..."
Before he could finish speaking, someone covered his mouth and said, "You can't just say things like that. If someone hears you, they'll rip your tongue out!"
Those around covered their mouths upon hearing this, but the unspoken message in their eyes revealed that they all shared the same thought: the city lord might be marrying a handsome man!
Feng Fei heard these words from the crowd and found them amusing, but she also had some doubts. Maybe she really did marry a man as her wife.
Tugged at Yuan Jue's sleeve, Feng Fei asked in a low voice, "Is it possible for you?"
Yuan Jue clearly knew that Feng Fei was asking about that kind of thing. His eyebrows twitched, but he didn't reply.
Then Jin Ming, who was right behind him, took over and said, "I think it's true! You and I..." But Yuan Jue glared at him and stopped him from saying the rest.
Jin Ming stopped talking in dissatisfaction, but still followed closely behind, muttering something from time to time.
"This Yuanjue is getting more and more frightening."
"His face is too dark."
...
Hearing Jin Ming's words, Feng Fei couldn't help but glance at Yuan Jue and chuckle.
Despite Jin Ming's seemingly glib and unreliable demeanor, he is actually quite dependable when he gets to know Yuan Jue.
Look at Yuan Jue's face right now, it's so dark! And look at the way Yuan Jue is looking at Jin Ming, it's really scary.
However, this did not frighten Feng Fei and Ming Feng, who both covered their mouths and chuckled to themselves.
Following the crowd, Feng Fei and his companions soon arrived at the main gate of the city lord's mansion.
A middle-aged man in a brocade robe smiled and bowed to the people outside the gate before raising his voice: "Today is a special day for our city lord. The city lord's mansion is very large, but it can't keep up with the large number of people in Mochou City!"
Unable to understand the meaning behind the words, the previously lively crowd suddenly fell silent.
Judging from his manner of speaking and his attire, he seems to be a very influential manager in the city lord's mansion.
"Gentlemen, I am the chief steward of the city lord. If you don't mind, you can call me Old Zhang." Steward Zhang's words were quite sarcastic, but no one would actually call him Old Zhang.
"Our city lord has arrived! Today is a very auspicious day. The first three hundred people to arrive today may follow me into the city lord's mansion. There will still be banquets in the next few days. However, our city lord wishes that everyone could share in the joy, so those who have arrived today should give way to the others for the joy of tomorrow and the days to come!" Steward Zhang finished speaking with a smile and was about to instruct his servants to invite the first arrivals into the city lord's mansion.
"How does the city lord know who came today and who will come tomorrow?"
Someone in the crowd shouted this, and when Feng Fei looked over, he only saw a weasel-faced man staring at Manager Zhang with a greasy expression. He figured that if Manager Zhang's scheme had a loophole, he would definitely come and eat for a few days, as long as he could.
Manager Zhang wasn't annoyed; he still had a smile on his face, but Feng Fei clearly saw the disdain and indifference in his eyes.
It seems that this steward looks down on these commoners who are just there to watch the fun and take advantage of the situation.
"If I hadn't asked, I would have completely forgotten." Manager Zhang gave a slight bow to the man from afar, then smiled and said to the people around him, "Please don't find it troublesome, just sign your name when you enter. If you can't write, you can just give your name, we have servants here who can write."
Upon hearing this, the weasel-faced man's eyes immediately lit up.
The name given might not be the real one. You can just change your outfit and give yourself a different name and you can have another meal.
There must be quite a few people around who think the same way. Feng Fei looked at them all rubbing their hands together, wanting to laugh but holding it in was uncomfortable.
Feng Fei and his group of four were not positioned too far forward, nor too far back; if they were in order, they would be allowed to enter the city lord's mansion.
But the people behind them wanted to squeeze forward!
Humans are always prone to wanting to take advantage. And since the city lord was getting married, the food served to the people would surely be of the highest quality. No one wanted to miss such an opportunity. So, people jostled and pushed each other.
Feng Fei and his companions weren't necessarily going to attend the wedding banquet, and they felt very uncomfortable being pushed around like this.
Yuan Jue, still concerned about Feng Fei not being taken advantage of, frowned and simply picked up Feng Fei and Ming Feng, disappearing from the crowd in a flash.
Jin Ming initially thought it was fun to be surrounded by people and was having a great time when he wanted to call out to Feng Feiyuanjue, only to find that the three of them were already gone.
Feeling a little resentful that Yuan Jue hadn't called him along, Jin Ming was about to back out of the crowd when he was suddenly shoved. He watched as his body fell into front of a middle-aged woman dressed in flamboyant clothes, with layers of face powder and rouge.
"Ah~!"
The sharp cry soared straight into the sky.
The people around were startled by the shout and stopped in their tracks, staring blankly in the direction of the sound.
A well-dressed young man was lewdly groping the chest of an elderly, pale, yet still youthful middle-aged woman. The woman's face showed no shame, but her eyes shifted between shyness, embarrassment, and feigned anger. The onlookers, unable to bear the nausea, retreated to the sidelines.
The middle-aged woman noticed that her breasts were being touched. Looking at the hands, which were smooth and delicate, she figured it must belong to a young man.
Could it be that some young master has taken a fancy to her?
As she pondered, the middle-aged woman found herself touching the hands on her chest, unable to resist stroking them again and again. What an exquisite feel!
The person behind her, however, seemed to have been bitten by a venomous snake, jerking his hand back and burying his head in his hands, crying out, "Damn you, God! You can't bear to see me live!"
That's right, the one touching the man's chest was Jin Ming.
"I've had the worst luck in the world! This is so unlucky!" Jin Ming cried out twice, lying on the ground. Suddenly realizing he had done something stupid, he carefully looked around and saw that everyone around him was stunned. He quickly grabbed his clothes and ran away.
Seeing Jin Ming run away, the middle-aged woman finally remembered that she had been taken advantage of, and she burst into tears: "Oh my god, I can't live like this! All the chastity I've guarded for most of my life has been ruined like this! That heartless bastard took advantage of me and then ran away! He really wanted to force me to my death!"
The howling grew louder and louder, eventually attracting the attention of Manager Zhang.
"What's going on? No noise is allowed in the City Lord's Mansion!"
Manager Zhang's voice was stern, which immediately made the woman's voice catch in her throat.
Manager Zhang summoned the servant who had been waiting outside the door. After quietly inquiring about the reason, his face twitched involuntarily.
After thinking for a moment, Steward Zhang had someone scoop up a gold ingot, walked up to the woman, and said with a smile, "This wasn't something they did intentionally, and everyone's already run away. If you continue like this in front of the City Lord's Mansion, I'm afraid..."
The rest of the words were left unsaid, but everyone knew what they meant. The woman shuddered involuntarily.
She had originally planned to have the person who took advantage of her take her back, since the incident happened at the city lord's mansion, which would give her some leverage. But that was clearly not going to work now. Although she was still a little unwilling, she immediately beamed with joy when she saw the gold ingot in Steward Zhang's hand.
"It's all my fault for being shameless, causing you so much trouble." She kept talking while her hands moved even faster. As soon as Steward Zhang slightly handed over the gold, the woman quickly took it.
Manager Zhang glanced around with satisfaction, noticing that the red list already had three hundred people, before announcing, "Alright, everyone disperse. It'll be the same time tomorrow, so make sure you get there early."
That concludes the matter concerning the woman.
Meanwhile, Jin Ming was fleeing in a disheveled state, but Yuan Jue grabbed him by the back of his collar and brought him back.
"Why are you so silly? Why don't you use your full set of cultivation techniques?" Feng Fei asked curiously, while Ming Feng blinked and looked at Jin Ming, waiting for an answer.
"I forgot!"
"Hahahaha..."
Feng Fei and Ming Feng burst into laughter, while Jin Ming held his head and howled to the sky.
"Damn it..." (I think the word "damn it" sounds quite sentimental here, although it doesn't really fit the context. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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The last few chapters have been nearly 4,000 words long, so I'm shamelessly begging for more! Please add to your favorites! Please recommend! Please comment!
Chapter Fourteen: Poisoning
Jin Ming leaned against the wall with his head drooping, sighing repeatedly.
Feng Fei and Ming Feng couldn't help but laugh as they watched.
Seemingly annoyed, Jin Ming stomped his foot, suddenly raised his head, and glared fiercely at Yuan Jue, saying, "No way! I'm not willing to let that scary old woman ruin things. I'm going to the City Lord's Mansion!"
Without waiting for Yuan Jue's reaction, he scurried out of the alley.
Before he had taken three steps, Jin Ming stopped and stepped back to Yuan Jue's side, leaning closer and saying, "Aren't you coming with me?"
His gritted teeth made Feng Fei and Ming Feng chuckle to themselves.
Jin Ming waited for Yuan Jue to speak, but Yuan Jue looked at Feng Fei instead.
After a moment's thought, Feng Fei smiled and said, "I'm very curious too, let's go take a look!"
Yuan Jue nodded; if Feng Fei didn't want to go, he wouldn't go. Jin Ming, seeing Feng Fei agree, couldn't help but cheer.
"Shall we go now? But it seems we can't just go in openly. Any good ideas?" Jin Ming rubbed his hands together, his face revealing a slightly lewd expression.
Feng Fei was slightly taken aback, seemingly having never seen Jin Ming like this before. But then, remembering Jin Ming's usual personality, he realized there was nothing wrong with it.
Yuan Jue frowned and thought carefully. According to his character, he would disdain sneaking in, but... after thinking about it, Yuan Jue decided to go in openly. After all, he still had the name of the White Tiger Kingdom, so he thought Lu Fei would not refuse him.
"Let's just go in."
Jin Ming was taken aback, but being a quick-witted person, he immediately grasped the key point and decided not to clap or cheer.
“However, Jin Ming just lost face, so it would be better to disguise him.” Perhaps disapproving of Jin Ming’s smug look, Yuan Jue immediately poured cold water on his enthusiasm.
Jin Ming shuddered immediately, remembering that he had just touched that middle-aged woman's breasts.
Upon thinking of this, Jin Ming immediately felt that his hands were extremely dirty, and before he could even say goodbye, he disappeared in a flash.
Feng Feiyuan and the other two stood calmly in the distance, seemingly knowing where Jin Ming had gone.
After a short while, Jin Ming changed into a brocade robe. His hands kept wiping the robe between his sides, clearly still traumatized by what had happened. Furthermore, Jin Ming was no longer the same person he had been before. Possessing exceptional medical skills and an intimate knowledge of medicinal properties, creating a disguise was extremely easy for him.
But given Jin Ming's personality of cherishing his appearance, he certainly wouldn't want to make himself look ugly.