A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 42

"There are so many fish, and they're all so fat. We'll probably eat them all."

Bai Yingyu peeked over from beside her and whispered, "It's still wrapped in oilcloth. Can the fish even bite into it?"

"It's still wrapped in oilcloth!?" Mo Yan turned her head and stared at her with wide eyes.

Zhan Zhao was delighted to hear this.

"Hmm." Bai Yingyu felt a little nervous under their gazes. "I had tied a thin rope to it, intending to retrieve it after you left. I didn't expect the fish to bite through the rope after only one night."

Mo Yan smiled broadly, and her gaze towards Bai Yingyu became much more affectionate: "This method is not something an ordinary person could come up with. Miss Bai is indeed exceptionally intelligent."

Then, she turned to look at Zhan Zhao and said happily, "As long as we dive down, we can just pull them up."

Zhan Zhao nodded in agreement, but remained motionless.

"..." Mo Yan naturally assumed that he should go into the water immediately.

"I can't swim."

Zhan Zhao smiled.

Author's Note: I bought Harry Potter 7 five days ago and haven't read it yet. Time, oh time...

Chapter Thirty-One

After practicing for about half an incense stick's time, Mo Yan resigned herself to her fate and plunged headfirst into the water.

This small lotus pond, with withered lotus leaves blocking the sunlight and lotus stems crisscrossing in the middle, and layers of silt underneath, was much more difficult to navigate than Taihu Lake, even without strong winds and waves. Mo Yan initially searched directly in the silt below the corresponding window, but after searching for a long time, she still couldn't find it.

"Is this really the place?" she asked Bai Yingyu at the window, emerging from the water.

Miss Bai nodded affirmatively.

"Can't find it?" Zhan Zhao frowned. "This pond draws water from Taihu Lake, so it might have been moved by the water. Go and look around again."

Mo Yan didn't say anything, took a deep breath, and dived back into the water.

She searched the pond until sunset, turning over almost the entire lotus pond, before finally finding the small package half-buried in the mud about three zhang away from the small building. The problem lay in the rope that Miss Bai had unnecessarily tied. The fish couldn't bite the oilcloth, but they pulled the rope, dragging the oilcloth package several zhang away. The oilcloth was dark-colored and half-hidden by the mud, so it would have been impossible to find without slowly searching inch by inch at the bottom of the pond.

"Let's see if it's right?" she said, panting on the bank, half of her body still submerged in the water. "If it's not, I'll look again."

"Come up first, there's no rush."

Zhan Zhao took the small package, disregarding formalities, and immediately pulled her close. He noticed her hands were icy cold, and her face was pale and her lips were purple; she was clearly quite cold. He had already called her up to rest several times, but Mo Yan was anxious and insisted on not coming up.

"Let's see if it's true or not." Mo Yan climbed ashore shakily, her eyes fixed on the small package.

Zhan Zhao quickly unpacked the package, inside which were two thin booklets. Opening them, he saw a series of figures: On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month of the first year of the Huangyou reign, 596 bolts of tribute silk were delivered, totaling 47,760 taels of silver...

"These two books should be genuine."

Mo Yan was overjoyed, finally relieved of a great weight on her heart. However, she had not slept all night and had been diving for too long. When she finally breathed a sigh of relief, she felt a sudden darkness before her eyes and her body swayed as if she could not stand steadily. She quickly leaned against the willow tree by the pond to calm herself down.

"Are you alright?" Zhan Zhao quickly reached out to support her arm and asked with concern.

"I'm just hungry," Mo Yan said honestly.

The two walked into the small building, and Zhan Zhao smiled: "You ate quite a lot at noon too."

Mo Yan said irritably, "Go try going into the water and see if you're hungry."

The two entered the room, and Bai Yingyu saw that Mo Yan was in a disheveled state, so she quickly called a maid to take her to wash up. Poor Mo Yan didn't even have time to eat a snack before the maid asked her to leave.

Zhan Zhao leaned back in his chair, flipping through two thin ledgers in his hands. The paper inside was as thin as a cicada's wing. One was an account of income and expenditure, while the other was a private account of gifts to officials at various levels. Most of the names on the ledgers were shockingly familiar. After only a few pages, he closed the ledgers. The complexity of the relationships within them exceeded his expectations, and he couldn't bear to look any further.

Watching Zhan Zhaofu carefully wrap up the account book and put it into his bosom, Bai Yingyu felt uneasy: "Does Lord Zhan intend to hand this over to Lord Bao of Kaifeng Prefecture?"

"Of course." Zhan Zhao looked up at her. "When does Miss plan to depart for the capital to escort the coffin?"

He had another thought in mind: Bai Baozhen's words to Bai Yingyu before he left were crucial. Wouldn't it be better if he could get her to testify in court? However, this was something he could only say openly once they got to the capital. If he said it now, he was afraid it would only make her more uneasy.

When this matter was mentioned, Bai Yingyu's voice trembled slightly: "Of course, the sooner the better... There are things to do at home..." On one hand, she was grieving that her father's body had not yet been laid to rest, and on the other hand, there was no one in her family who could accompany her to the capital. She had never traveled far before, and this time she had to go alone.

"I will return to the capital immediately tomorrow. Miss, you may wish to travel with me." With such an important witness, Zhan Zhao naturally had to protect her.

Bai Yingyu was delighted upon hearing this: "Thank you, Lord Zhan."

The two sat for a while longer in silence. Zhan Zhao was never a talkative person, and with something on his mind, he even skipped the formalities. Bai Yingyu, who had always lived a secluded life in her chambers, felt a little apprehensive at the thought of setting off with them the next day.

After waiting for about the time it takes to eat a meal, Mo Yan returned after washing up. She was wearing a maid's outfit, and her wet hair was hanging loosely behind her.

Perhaps because she had just bathed, Zhan Zhao carefully observed that her complexion had regained its rosy hue, which reassured him considerably. He had felt deeply guilty upon seeing her pale appearance earlier; if he had known how to swim, she wouldn't have suffered so much.

"Is it ugly?"

Seeing Zhan Zhao staring at her, Mo Yan touched her face in annoyance. She had looked in the bronze mirror earlier, and the bloodstains on her face were even more noticeable after her bath.

Zhan Zhao was taken aback by her question: "No, it's beautiful." He realized immediately that it was inappropriate. If he said the bloodstains were beautiful, it would be unreasonable; if he said she was beautiful, it would be a bit frivolous.

Fortunately, Mo Yan didn't care at all. Hearing the word "good-looking," she didn't make a fuss. However, Bai Yingyu glanced at Zhan Zhao a few more times.

Mo Yan tossed her hair in annoyance; she was so hungry she couldn't wait for it to dry completely. She had already eaten several pieces of tea snacks from the small table in the short time she'd just sat down.

Seeing her appearance, Bai Yingyu said, "How about I have the kitchen send some more over?"

"Thank you so much," Mo Yan said hurriedly.

After giving the order, two maids appeared at the door carrying a tray. The freshly steamed hibiscus cakes were still fragrant...