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Глава 15

"I don't know how he got here, but he is indeed in the teahouse right now..." Han Zhang didn't finish his sentence. He was traveling with Xiao Chen, and he had ridden someone else's donkey. He didn't know if this would cause trouble for Xiao Chen.

"He's alone?"

Han Zhang nodded.

"How could you leave him alone in the teahouse!" Mo Yan exclaimed anxiously, without offering any further explanation to Zhan Zhao. She whipped her whip and rode back the way she came.

Zhan Zhao sighed inwardly. Although Lord Bao had ordered Mo Yan to follow his orders, she acted willfully and didn't take his instructions to heart at all, which was truly a headache. Now it was the same; upon hearing that "Second Brother" had arrived, she immediately left, completely disregarding their official duties.

"By the way, how did you end up with this girl? What did she do wrong?" Han Zhang asked slowly as he approached, leading his donkey.

“She did not commit any crime. This matter is quite complicated and it’s a long story. I will explain it to Brother Han later.”

Zhan Zhao had no intention of saying more. He pulled on the reins and spurred his horse to chase after Mo Yan. Seeing this, Han Zhang hurriedly jumped onto his donkey and followed after him.

Inside a roadside teahouse, the steaming almond tea on the table remained untouched. A man in a blue shirt sat quietly beside the table, unmoved as two middle-aged peasant women continued to hurl insults at him.

The two peasant women, living in the countryside, were naturally furious that their donkey had been stolen, and their words were quite vulgar. Even the teahouse owner couldn't help but frown and shake his head. The young man in the blue robe, though his face was as cold as ice, never uttered a word in response, nor did he even glance at them.

"Second Brother! It really is you!" Mo Yan dismounted and rushed forward. After not seeing her senior brother for many days, she never expected to meet Xiao Chen here: "How did you end up here?"

Hearing her voice, Xiao Chen's icy expression softened slightly. He pushed the teacup in front of him toward her and asked, "How come you're here? Li Xu sent a message back to Shu by carrier pigeon, saying that he had been waiting for you in Kaifeng for more than ten days without seeing you. He was afraid that something had happened to you."

"..." Mo Yan finished her tea and hesitated before asking, "Then, you came out specifically to find me?"

Xiao Chen snorted but didn't reply.

Mo Yan immediately felt extremely guilty and stammered, "Because the horse was injured, I couldn't bear to ride it, so I had to lead it, which is why I was a few days late."

As the two men talked, they were completely oblivious to the two peasant women beside them, which made the women even angrier. Seeing that Mo Yan was slender and petite and a young girl, one of the peasant women stepped forward and suddenly grabbed Mo Yan's arm...

Before Mo Yan could react, the peasant woman screamed, her hand immediately released, and her body flew straight out of the teahouse.

Zhan Zhao, who had just arrived, leaped off his horse, caught the peasant woman, and gently placed her on the ground.

"It would be unfair to attack someone who doesn't know kung fu," Zhan Zhao said calmly as he entered the teahouse.

Xiao Chen casually straightened his sleeves, not even glancing at him.

Mo Yan said, "Second brother didn't intend to hurt her. Besides, she was the one who was rude first." At this moment, Han Zhang had arrived outside and was smiling apologetically at the two peasant women, explaining that he had mistakenly led the donkey. He figured the peasant women wouldn't bother him anymore.

Zhan Zhao lifted his robe and sat down opposite Xiao Chen, ordering a bowl of tea for himself.

"Second brother, this is Lord Zhan Zhao of Kaifeng Prefecture." Mo Yan smiled at Xiao Chen. "I am now a constable of Kaifeng Prefecture, do you believe me?" As she spoke, she took out her constable's badge and put it in Xiao Chen's hand.

The bronze waist tag was quite heavy. Xiao Chen stood on tiptoe and lightly ran his fingers over it, clearly rubbing the raised character "捕" (meaning "capture") against his fingertips: "Why did you become a constable for no reason? Didn't I tell you not to associate with those government officials?"

He spoke with a hint of annoyance, completely ignoring Zhan Zhao, and impatiently tossed the waist token back to Mo Yan.

Upon hearing this, Zhan Zhao simply smiled nonchalantly, not minding at all. He had noticed Xiao Chen's little actions earlier and realized that the young man in the blue robe seemed to have some difficulty seeing... He had observed Xiao Chen's eyes before and, on the surface, there was nothing unusual about them, except that he seemed more focused than the average person.

Mo Yan took the waist token and put it away properly before smiling at Xiao Chen and saying, "I don't want to either, but Fifth Brother has been wronged and is currently imprisoned in Kaifeng Jail. I want to help them investigate this case and clear Fifth Brother's name."

"Fifth Junior Brother has been imprisoned!" Xiao Chen was slightly startled. "What for?"

“This matter is complicated and involves a lot of people,” Mo Yan frowned, understanding the inconvenience of the situation. She tugged at Xiao Chen’s sleeve and said, “Second brother, we are in a hurry to go to Suzhou. Why don’t you come with us? I will tell you the whole story on the way.”

Xiao Chen looked displeased, but said nothing.

Han Zhang had to spend some spare change to get some peace and quiet. The two peasant women took the money, led their dappled donkey, and finally let him go, swaying away as they walked away.

The four mounted their horses and set off. Zhan Zhao was half a horse's length behind the others. He carefully observed Xiao Chen's movements and found that although he was visually impaired, his hearing was very sharp. He rode swiftly with Mo Yan without any difficulty.

Xiao Chen had always lived in the mountains. Due to his poor eyesight, he was eccentric and usually taciturn. Han Zhang was feeling quite stifled traveling with him, but now that they had met Mo Yan, the two chatted and joked along the way, making it a relaxed and enjoyable experience.

"So Sister Ning is also in Suzhou! That's wonderful!"

Mo Yan turned her head to Xiao Chen, her eyes sparkling. Her senior sister had been away from Shu for several months, and the thought of seeing her again in Suzhou made her very happy.

Xiao Chen gave a faint "hmm," his expression remaining unchanged.

Mo Yan had been used to his appearance since childhood and had long since become accustomed to it. She didn't find it annoying at all and continued to chat and laugh with Han Zhang with a smile.

When the moon was high in the sky, the horses were exhausted, so the four of them found an inn in a small town ahead to rest.

Along the way, Mo Yan had already told Xiao Chen what had happened. Although Zhan Zhao overheard her expressing some dissatisfaction with Kaifeng Prefecture, she didn't say anything inappropriate. He noticed that Mo Yan deliberately downplayed the matter and didn't mention the imperial guards from the previous night, presumably to avoid worrying Xiao Chen.

"Xiao Qi, come back to Kaifeng with me tomorrow."

As Mo Yan escorted Xiao Chen to his inn room, just before he entered, Xiao Chen suddenly spoke.

Mo Yan froze, and Zhan Zhao and Han Zhang, who were walking ahead, also paused in their steps.

"Second brother?...I still have to go to Suzhou."

Xiao Chen turned around and said coldly, "You're not even listening to me anymore?"

"No!" Mo Yan quickly replied, "It's just that we can't skip Suzhou."

“You just listen to whatever they say? When did you become so close to these government officials?” He was clearly getting impatient and raised his voice. “After you go back to Kaifeng, return that broken plaque to the Kaifeng Prefecture. We’re trying to avoid those people like the plague, and you’re getting involved in their affairs.”

"Second brother!" She was speechless for a moment, feeling embarrassed. "I... I will naturally resign from this job after the matter of fifth brother is resolved."

“We can figure out a way to deal with Li Xu’s matter ourselves. Haven’t we seen enough cases of officials protecting each other? If you help them now, aren’t you afraid of being used and becoming an accomplice to evil?”

"Second brother..."

Seeing Mo Yan's troubled expression, Zhan Zhao stepped forward and said, "Master Xiao, I'm afraid you've misunderstood something..."