A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 74

Mo Yan continued slowly and deliberately, "Because I'm about to be promoted to head constable."

Zhao Yu was speechless for a moment, and Mo Yan was acting all smug, which was really infuriating. He couldn't do anything about her, so he could only say, "Guard Zhan, let's go."

Zhan Zhao respectfully stepped aside: "Princess, please."

After bidding farewell to Ning Jin, Zhao Yu hurried away, with Zhan Zhao close behind. As the two disappeared into the distance, Mo Yan belatedly exclaimed "Ah!" and realized that she had forgotten to return the gray squirrel cloak she was wearing to Zhan Zhao.

Just as she was about to call him, she saw Zhan Zhao turn around. Even from a distance, she could still feel his gaze on her, a faint smile still on his lips, as if he were urging her to go back soon...

Mo Yan stood there, pulling her cloak tighter around her, somewhat dazed.

Ning Jin waved his hand in front of her eyes and sighed softly, "Girl, even if you have your eye on Zhan Zhao, you should be more discreet."

"You've taken a liking to Zhan Zhao?" Mo Yan didn't react. "What do I like about him?"

"How would I know?" Ning Jin refused to say more and turned to get into the car.

Mo Yan followed and climbed into the car, still puzzled.

Chapter Eight

On the way back, Ning Jin's expression was cold and indifferent, and he didn't joke with Mo Yan at all. When they arrived at the Kaifeng government office, he let Mo Yan get off the carriage, and without even saying goodbye, he told the coachman to drive away. Mo Yan was left standing on the street, completely bewildered, not knowing what she had done to offend him. After thinking for a long time, she still couldn't figure it out, and could only shake her head and sigh, "How come men change their expressions like the weather changes?"

After entering through the east gate, she intended to return to her room, but then remembered that Ma Da Sao had mentioned earlier that she needed to take her medicine again at noon. Since it was already close to midday, and to avoid troubling Ma Da Sao to bring it again, she decided to go to the kitchen herself.

Medicine was being simmered on the small stove, filling the kitchen with its aroma. When Sister-in-law Ma saw Mo Yan enter, she quickly pulled her down to sit: "You're still sick, why aren't you resting in your room? Why are you running around like this?"

Mo Yan smiled and obediently sat down: "I have nothing to do, so I came to drink my medicine."

"Just a little while longer." Aunt Ma put down the medicine cap, turned around and noticed that the gray squirrel fur cloak Mo Yan was wearing looked very familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. "This cloak looks like someone I've seen wear before?"

“It’s Brother Zhan’s,” Mo Yan said with a smile.

Ma Da Sao scratched her forehead and laughed, "Look at my memory! Isn't this the kind of thing Lord Zhan often wears? Did Lord Zhan give it to you?"

Mo Yan nodded: "Anyway, he didn't say he would pay it back."

Mrs. Ma chuckled: "He really treats you like his own sister, thinking of you so thoroughly."

"His own sister?" Mo Yan was taken aback. This was the second time today she had heard someone say something like that. "Does he treat me like a sister?"

"Of course, otherwise why would I treat you so well?" Sister-in-law Ma laughed. "I remember Master Zhan once said that if he had a sister, he would cherish her like a treasure, the apple of his eye. If you don't acknowledge such a good brother, you'd be a fool." The medicine on the stove was ready, and she quickly got up, picked up the medicine pot, and slowly poured the liquid into a bowl.

Mo Yan was still in a daze, and after a long while she hesitated and said, "But... I have several older brothers." She said this very softly, and Ma Da Sao was busy getting medicine for her and didn't hear her clearly.

After taking her medicine, Mo Yan wanted to stay in the kitchen to help out, but Aunt Ma urged her to go back to her room to rest and sent her out. Although the snow had stopped, it seemed colder than the past few days. She walked slowly back to her room alone, feeling inexplicably downcast. She pulled her cloak tighter, but couldn't ward off the seeping chill. The bitter taste of the medicine she had just taken lingered on her tongue, and the discomfort in her body crept up on her again. She dragged her feet back to her small courtyard, opened the door, and lay down on the bed fully clothed without even opening her eyes.

Suddenly, someone laughed in his ear: "I've heard people say that once you become an official, you become arrogant and disdainful of others. It seems that this is indeed true."

The voice was incredibly warm and familiar. Mo Yan jumped out of bed and rushed towards the person, excitedly exclaiming, "Sister, it's you! When did you get here?"

Ning Wangshu smiled and patted her back lightly: "I just arrived in the capital last night and wanted to see if you're doing well as a constable."

Seeing that her senior sister had already styled her hair into a married woman's bun, Mo Yan hugged her neck tightly and laughed and jumped, saying, "You're married! Why didn't you invite me to the wedding banquet? Is it that young master from the Nangong family? Is his illness any better?" She asked a barrage of questions, but Ning Wangshu just smiled and didn't rush to answer.

"Sis, say something, stop laughing like that." Mo Yan was an impatient person.

Ning Wangshu pulled her down to sit first. Seeing that her complexion was not good and that she could faintly smell medicine as she spoke, she asked, "Are you sick? Why do you look so pale?"

Mo Yan waved her hand dismissively: "It's nothing, it's nothing. I had a slight fever yesterday, but I'm fine after taking medicine."

"How could you have a fever?"

"Sigh... It's troublesome, I just had bad luck and happened to see someone hanging themselves."

Ning Wangshu shuddered, knowing that her junior sister had always been unable to bear such things and must be terrified. It was inevitable for a constable to encounter such things, and she felt a pang of pity as she looked at Mo Yan.

Mo Yan didn't want to bring that up again, so she quickly changed the subject and said with a smile, "You got married but didn't invite me to your wedding banquet. See how I punish you!"

"I won't come to your wedding banquet either," Ning Wangshu said with a smile. Her husband, Nangong Ruoxu, was seriously ill, and to avoid tiring him, she only informed her master about the marriage, not her other fellow disciples. Fortunately, most of her fellow disciples didn't care about worldly formalities and wouldn't blame her for it.

"I'm getting married?" Mo Yan, who always listened only to the literal meaning of words, was stunned for a moment. "When am I getting married?"

“How would I know?” Ning Wangshu teased her. “You’d have to ask my brother-in-law.”

"Your brother-in-law? Who's that?"

Ning Wangshu smiled at her: "Who is it?"

Mo Yan was stunned for a moment before she reacted, then chuckled and said, "How should I know!"

The two joked and played around for half a day. Mo Yan, disregarding her not-yet-fully-recovered illness, dragged Ning Wangshu to Zuixianlou for a meal. Fortunately, they still had a considerable amount of silver notes left from Zhan Zhao's previous donation. Since they had finally managed to see their senior sister, they naturally wanted to treat her well.

Unable to refuse her junior sister's hospitality, Ning Wangshu had no choice but to go with her. When ordering food, she only picked a few delicate and light dishes, and forbade Mo Yan from eating greasy or meaty food, ordering only porridge for her.

"Sister, I have some silver on me." Mo Yan assumed she was trying to save money for herself.

Ning Wangshu laughed and said, "You should keep your meager salary."

"By the way, what brings you to the capital this time?" Mo Yan asked, biting her chopsticks. "Don't tell me you came specifically to see me; I wouldn't believe you even if you did."

Ning Wangshu picked up some shredded bamboo shoots and handed them to her, smiling without saying a word.

"What exactly happened?" Mo Yan pressed.

Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand.

"If you don't tell me, of course I won't understand." Mo Yan's curiosity was piqued. "Tell me, tell me!"