Heiraten - Kapitel 17
The shopkeeper scrutinized Nineteen carefully, then looked at him again, completely ignoring his braised pork knuckle: "It doesn't look like it, it really doesn't look like it. What kind of girl dresses like this? Young man, you must be lying. Sigh, you're not in the right condition to eat braised pork knuckle, so give me a bowl of plain porridge instead."
"Boss, braised pork knuckle."
“Why doesn’t this young lady listen to reason?” the shopkeeper said, looking displeased. “Young lady, you should also keep an eye on your husband. Fine, I don’t care whether you two eloped or got married legally, but you should at least keep an eye on him. Huh? You don’t look too happy. Did you have a fight? Even if you had a fight, you can’t just ignore your husband…”
A dark, thick knife was held against his neck, and the innkeeper's old face twitched slightly. Tang Shijiu, holding the knife, chuckled, revealing a set of snow-white teeth: "Boss, a plate of braised pork knuckle, and a bowl of congee."
Other people's food smells better, and besides, there's not much good food at Xiaoyao Manor. Nineteen, his hands greasy, let out a satisfied burp. Shen Yuntan pitifully ate his plain porridge; the owner, mindful of his poor health, had specially served him a thinner bowl!
Nineteen, his mouth covered in grease, said, "Spittoon, you're not well yet, rest for another day. By the way, this braised pork knuckle is really delicious. I've never had such a good braised pork knuckle before. It truly deserves to be a signature dish."
She spoke quite loudly, and the shopkeeper heard her from afar. He laughed so hard that wrinkles appeared on his face, but he was wary of the large black knife and dared not approach her.
"Tch," Shen Yun thought disdainfully. "Isn't it just that I'm enjoying the delicious pork knuckle here and want to have another meal?"
Nineteen made the decision for him: "It's decided then. To save money, you'll move into my room." Yun Tan was taken aback, then smiled obsequiously: "Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Your Majesty... Your Majesty."
"You piece of trash can't do anything to me!" Nineteen, carrying a large knife, shouted at the shopkeeper, "We only need one room today!"
Intimidated by his tyranny, the shopkeeper dared not say anything, but in his heart he muttered countless times that the world was going to the dogs.
Yun Tan's illness came on quickly and went away quickly; after a few days, he was completely fine. Nineteen heard that there was a large town ahead with a huge market, and he was overjoyed. The two of them rode at full speed and didn't feel tired at all.
Nineteen was very active; after settling into her room, she skipped off for a stroll. Shen Yuntan, on the other hand, was still a bit lazy and stayed at the inn alone.
They happened to arrive at a bustling market, where all sorts of things were being sold. Nineteen strolled around, looking at everything with great delight. There were plenty of hairpins and jade bracelets on the stalls, both cheap and expensive, made of jade and intricately carved, but no enamel hairpins. Nineteen was slightly disappointed; she had wanted to see how much a hairpin of that quality would cost!
She had only walked a few steps outside the market when she realized something was wrong.
There were people following behind.
Tang Shijiu focused his mind, figuring out that it was another scoundrel trying to take advantage of Shen Yun, so he deliberately didn't return to the inn and instead took a longer route. The man followed at a leisurely pace, his movements and internal strength quite impressive.
Nineteen has a terrible sense of direction, and after wandering around for a while, she ended up in the woods outside the city. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to find her way back if she kept going, Nineteen stopped.
The man moved forward slowly, appearing quite calm.
She was a little girl, about nineteen years old.
Nineteen frowned. The girl was only sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing a pale yellow silk dress, which was clearly made of the finest material. Her phoenix eyes, even without her speaking, revealed an unreasonable and shrewish spirit.
"Your name is Tang Shijiu?" Goodness, is he really that famous now? Tang Shijiu couldn't help but feel a little self-satisfied.
"Hmm." He was overjoyed inside, but he still had to put on a heroic act on his face.
"You have an enamel hairpin, don't you? Pshaw, you think you can own something like that? You think you're surnamed Tang?" The girl clearly had no good intentions, her expression extremely arrogant. She looked Tang Shijiu up and down. "Wearing red and green, how tacky! Didn't your mother teach you that only old women like to wear red clothes?"
"I only know that ugly women care about what clothes to wear at what age," Nineteen retorted without backing down.
The woman's face flushed with anger, and she swiftly drew a silver whip. "You have an enamel hairpin, don't you?"
"Do you want me to take it out and show it to you?" Nineteen suddenly realized, "I've heard that only people who haven't seen the world are particularly interested in other people's things."
A flash of silver light, and the long whip, like a flying dragon, pounced towards Nineteen. A look of hatred flashed across the woman's face: "Only a shameless woman would steal someone else's lover. Brother A-Yin will never like you!"
The silver whip came fiercely, and the woman's skills were not weak, but Nineteen didn't take it seriously. He drew his Xuanbei sword, neither dodging nor evading, and took the hit head-on with the rolling silver dragon, sparking a burst of sparks.
The woman's hand went numb, and the long whip slipped from her grasp.
"If your skills aren't up to par, don't come out and embarrass yourself," Nineteen said coldly.
The woman pursed her lips, then suddenly swung her hand, sending three silver nails flying towards Nineteen. Nineteen easily dodged them, angrily saying, "I let you go, and you still dare to hurt someone? Do you believe I'll kill you right now!"
The woman proudly raised her head: "Go ahead and kill me! Kill me, and you'll have a good life!"
Nineteen had never seen such an unreasonable woman before, and was momentarily speechless with anger: "I won't kill you. You're such a low-class nobody that you're not even worth my attention."
Before she could finish speaking, a sinister voice came from above: "Who dares say her martial arts are mediocre?" Before Nineteen could react, another person appeared beside the girl. The man was about fifty years old, with gray hair and hawk-like eyes. At first glance, he appeared to be a refined middle-aged man, but the deep nasolabial folds on his face inexplicably carried a look of sorrow.
As soon as the girl saw the old man, she immediately clung to him like a taffy, exclaiming, "Grandpa! Grandpa! It's her!"
The grandfather and grandson didn't look very alike, but their arrogant expressions were exactly the same: "What's your name?"
Tang Shijiu disliked that arrogant demeanor, but remembering his master's instructions that he should show some courtesy to seniors after descending the mountain, he reluctantly said, "Junior Tang Shijiu."
"Tch," the old man scoffed, "You ill-mannered brat, do you even deserve the surname Tang?"
Nineteen could no longer contain his anger: "Could it be that your so-called upbringing is simply looking down on someone's surname upon first meeting them? Is your so-called family education just looking down on people like a dog?"
Instead of getting angry, the old man laughed: "Little brat, you've got a sharp tongue. Let me tell you, I am Tang Diruo from the Tang Clan of Sichuan, and this is Tang Chongli, the young lady of the Tang family." His eyes were full of arrogance as he waited to see Shijiu's expression.
Nineteen remained expressionless, offering a faint "Oh," showing neither surprise nor intimidation, nor even disgust or disdain.
It was as if they had never heard of it before.
She knew it all too well! Just like when her junior brothers and sisters came to tell her the news of Xu Ziqing and Gu Yan's marriage, any expression could satisfy them, but what could dissatisfy them the most was no expression at all.
"She stole Brother Yin!"
Who is Ah Yin? She'd never even heard of her! Nineteen didn't bother to argue, casually scratching her hair: "What do you want?"
A glint flashed in the old man's eyes: "Xiao Li said you kidnapped someone, so hand them over."
What a joke! She doesn't even know this person!
"She said I stole him, but I said she stole him too! She can't even keep an eye on her own man, and then she comes out and accuses every woman of stealing him. Is this the kind of upbringing you Tang Clan has?"
Tang Diruo's face darkened: "Anyone who insults the Tang Clan shall die!"