A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 96

"I understand, I just want her to be happy."

Hearing him say that, and seeing the heartache in Zhan Zhao's eyes, Ning Wangshu felt relieved.

After sitting for a while longer, Zhan Zhao declined the invitation from the Nangong couple to stay for a meal, then took his leave and returned to Kaifeng Prefecture with a troubled mind. As soon as he entered the prefecture, he encountered Wang Chao, who told him that the imperial rewards for the Laba Festival and the year-end had just arrived and that he should collect them.

As a fourth-rank official, and highly valued by the Emperor, his rewards were naturally generous, including not only silver but also a variety of other items. Following past practice, Zhan Zhao sent the beef, mutton, rice, and other gifts to Ma Han's family. The remaining items included silk, cloth, precious pills, and daily toiletries such as hair ointment, face cream, lip balm, and bath beans.

He thought for a moment, then sent a errand boy to deliver the rest of the things to Mo Yan's courtyard before returning to his room to rest. For some reason, he couldn't calm down. Even when he closed his eyes, he could always hear a little girl calling, "Daddy, save me, Daddy, save me..." The sound of her calling tore at his heart.

He got up and brewed himself a pot of tea. As he watched the steam rise, he realized that he hadn't felt so troubled in many years. He sat quietly at the table, sipping the tea slowly, from hot to lukewarm, from lukewarm to cool. Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened until it was completely black.

Just as I was about to get up and light the lamp, I heard someone coming this way...

"Brother Zhan! Brother Zhan!" The man, clearly noticing the darkness inside, muttered to himself suspiciously, "Strange, why isn't he here?"

It was Mo Yan. He hesitated for a moment, then got up and opened the window: "Xiao Qi..."

Author's note: I hope everyone stays safe!

Anyway, it's good to be alive!

Chapter Twenty-Nine [VIP]

"Brother Zhan, so you were inside. Why didn't you turn on the light?" Mo Yan walked in lightly, turned on the light for him, and kept saying, "They said that the things in my room were sent by you. Is that true?"

As the lamps were lit, he suddenly saw her smiling face in the candlelight. It was as if he had been transported to another world. He thought to himself: If she hadn't met her master that day, he would never have met a girl named Xiao Qi, and he wouldn't be seeing her standing before him now...

Mo Yan was puzzled to see him staring blankly at her, but she didn't disturb him. Instead, she tried her best to stare back at him with wide eyes.

After a while, Zhan Zhao came to his senses and, seeing Mo Yan's expression, couldn't help but laugh and say, "Why are your eyes so wide?"

She asked curiously, "Then why were you staring at me like that just now? It was as if you didn't recognize me."

Zhan Zhao didn't answer, but just smiled slightly, thinking to himself: As long as she can live so vibrantly, it doesn't matter if she causes some more trouble.

"Did you have them deliver the things to my room?" she asked with a smile. "There are so many, I don't need them all."

"If you can't use them all, just keep the ones that are usable."

"What about yourself? Don't you need it?"

"I..." Zhan Zhao wanted to say that he would be leaving soon anyway, but he swallowed the words back and said with a faint smile, "I don't need that many."

She tilted her head to look at him, and after a while, she chuckled and said naturally, "You're so good to me."

Upon hearing this, Zhan Zhao lowered his eyes and smiled faintly.

“By the way, Chief Wang said that I will be promoted to head constable after the New Year, and then I won’t have to patrol the streets anymore. Sister-in-law Ma said that the Lantern Festival in the capital is very lively. I was thinking of going to see the lanterns with you that day, is that alright?” Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him expectantly.

"Of course." He thought for a moment and smiled, "There's still a long time before the Lantern Festival, why are you thinking about it so early?"

She said smugly, "You're such a busy person. If I hadn't told you earlier, you definitely wouldn't have remembered that day was the Lantern Festival."

Indeed, that was the case. He smiled slightly, busy with official duties all day long, and recently focused on Liao affairs, and had not paid any attention to anything else.

Mo Yan turned and walked towards the door, but when she reached the door, she turned back again, worried, and reminded her, "Don't forget!"

Zhan Zhao smiled and nodded: "I will definitely remember."

Just after the New Year, Mo Yan was indeed promoted to head constable. However, for her, the change from constable to head constable was almost the same as having a new badge and no longer having to patrol the streets every day.

With nothing to do that day, Mo Yan strolled along the street and happened to come across a shop selling dried fruits and candied fruits. The shop was filled with a dazzling array of goods, and she remembered that Ning Jin had sent her some palace-made dried fruits and candied fruits before the New Year, which tasted quite good. Since she had nothing else to do and hadn't properly thanked her brother-in-law for what he had done for her last time, Mo Yan specially bought some fresh rice cakes, had the shopkeeper carefully wrap them up, and then headed out of the city.

"How rare! You actually remember me."

In the plum blossom grove, Ning Jin took the rice cake and looked at her with a half-smile.

Mo Yan pointed at the rice cake and said hurriedly, "I specially bought it from the old shop in Zhouqiao. It was just made. The taste is probably different from the ones in the palace. I don't know if you like it or not, but I think it tastes good."

Ning Jin unwrapped the paper package, and a fragrant aroma wafted out. Inside were delicate pink and yellow rice cakes, white and fragrant square-shaped rice cakes, slender and crimson jujube cakes, and wide and pinkish-white sugar cakes... It was clear that she had put a lot of thought into selecting these pastries.

"What are you standing there for? Sit down and eat."

"Huh, where's Wu Da's wet nurse?" Mo Yan asked curiously when she saw that Wu Zichu was not by Ning Jin's side.

"It's the New Year, he should at least go home to see his wife, children, and elderly parents." Ning Jin turned to call the maid to brew tea, then picked up a piece of cake and put it in his mouth, chewing it slowly.

Mo Yan tilted her head and smiled, "I didn't realize you really knew how to be considerate of your subordinates. You're much better than Judge Bao."

Wu Zichu has been gone for several days. Ning Jin only returned to the palace once a year, and otherwise stayed at Qingyun Villa, feeling lonely and bored. Today, when he saw Mo Yan bringing him some snacks, his mood gradually improved.

"I heard you've been promoted to head constable?" he asked with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Mo Yan proudly pulled out her head constable badge from her bosom and showed it off. However, in an instant, she changed to a dejected look: "In Kaifeng Prefecture, I am the least capable head constable. Other head constables have more than a dozen constables under their command, but I don't even have half a constable under my command. I'm all alone, and there's no difference between me and when I was a constable before."

Ning Jin laughed and said, "What do you need so many people for?"

“If there were someone available to do my bidding, I wouldn’t have had to go through all that trouble to buy these rice cakes myself.” She shook her head and sighed. “Lord Bao is so unfair.”

Ning Jin chuckled to himself, thinking: Bao Zheng is quite shrewd; he knows she's unreliable, so he just gives her an empty title.

By the time the maid brought the tea, Mo Yan had already eaten several pieces. Ning Jin quickly gathered the remaining rice cakes in front of him and asked in dissatisfaction, "Did you bring these to give to me or to eat yourself? How come you ate more than me?"

Mo Yan shrugged: "I didn't eat much."

Ning Jin rolled her eyes at her before carefully rewrapping the pastries herself, handing them to the maid, and instructing, "Keep them safe, I'll eat them again tomorrow."

Watching helplessly as the rice cakes were taken away, Mo Yan hurriedly drank a few sips of tea.