Одна улыбка может обрушить город

Глава 17

Yang Huan turned around, wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at Xu Shirong, and said in a serious tone.

Xu Shirong had just felt that he had some ill intentions, which was why she punched him a few times. Now, seeing his aggrieved expression, she couldn't help but wonder if she had been overthinking things. Just as she was feeling a little apologetic, she glanced up and suddenly saw his eyes staring unblinkingly at her chest. Only then did she realize that this person had indeed been up to no good. Her apology vanished instantly, and she coldly snorted, "You've worked so hard, carrying such a heavy person, and you still have the ability to multitask." After saying that, she walked forward.

Seeing her sudden change in expression, Yang Huan guessed what he was thinking. However, he was thick-skinned and only felt a slight flush on his face before rushing forward, reaching out to stop her, and saying with a grin, "Wife, don't be angry. I'll carry you again. This time, I promise I'll be devoted to you."

Seeing that he was being glib again, Xu Shirong ignored him, slapped his hand away, and quickened her pace, leaving Yang Huan behind. After entering the city gate, she saw an oxcart heading towards the county government office, loaded with firewood. She asked if it was going the same way and hitched a ride on the back. Yang Huan saw her from afar, shouted a few times, and seeing that she wasn't stopping, he ran breathlessly for a while before catching up, jumping on and sitting next to Xu Shirong.

The driver, seeing that Xu Shirong was a single woman and going the same way, let her sit down. Suddenly, he noticed someone else had boarded behind him. He turned to look, and just as he was about to ask, he realized that the woman's profile resembled that of the county magistrate he had seen a few days ago while watching the commotion outside the courthouse. Before he could get a closer look, Yang Huan's eyebrows shot up, and he shouted, "What are you looking at? Just keep driving!"

The driver was startled, thinking that he had only given her a ride out of kindness, and now he was being scolded for even glancing at her. He was about to stop the ox and send her off when he saw the woman turn to him and say, "Uncle, my husband just took the wrong medicine and started biting everyone he saw. Please don't take it to heart. I apologize."

The driver, seeing that the woman spoke so kindly, calmed down a little. Looking at the two of them, the woman was pouting, and the man was looking at her expectantly, trying to appease her. They really looked like a young couple who had just had a tiff. So he shook his head and stopped looking, flicked his whip, and drove the oxcart forward.

By the time they reached the vicinity of the county government office, it was already dusk. Xu Shirong thanked the driver and went through a side gate. Yang Huan hurriedly followed him in, tossing the basket he was carrying to the cook. After they both took a bath and changed their clothes, the cook had already prepared the contents of his basket as side dishes for dinner.

The two had been out all day and had only eaten a few steamed buns they'd brought with them that morning; they were now starving. The cook cut off the tails of the snails, stir-fried them in oil, sprinkled some salt, added water, brought it to a boil, and poured it into a large bowl. A few green scallions floated on the oily surface of the soup, giving it a fresh aroma. The sand crabs were boiled and served with soy sauce and vinegar, while the mudskippers were cooked in sweet glutinous rice wine, tasting quite delicious. Xu Shirong ate two bowls of rice before putting down her bowl, picking up a few snails, leisurely sucking out the meat, and eating them. She glanced at Yang Huan across from her and almost burst out laughing.

It turns out that eating snails requires skill. First-timers often don't know how, and no matter how hard they try, the snail meat just won't come out of the shell. Yang Huan was one of those people. Tokyo is inland, and snails are rare, especially since they're considered a common food. Even when he ate them, it was always the large field snails that had already been cracked open, the meat removed, and cooked. He had never eaten such a small black snail before. Now, he picked one up and put it in his mouth, sucking hard until he was sweating profusely, but the snail meat wouldn't come out. Instead, it rolled down his throat, almost choking him. Frustrated and angry, he spat it out. He looked up and saw Xu Shirong looking at him with a half-smile. Her eyes darted around, and she said with a lewd grin, "Wife, you're quite skilled. How can you suck this out so smoothly? Why don't you suck out some meat and feed it to me, so I can taste it too?"

Just as he was speaking, the cook came out of the kitchen. Hearing this, she burst into laughter and hurriedly turned back. Xu Shirong had intended to see him make a fool of himself, but instead, she was disgusted. She spat at him, cursed him for being indecent, and got up to leave him behind.

She had gotten used to going to bed early since arriving here. After a long day of work, she felt even more sleepy after eating and resting. She locked the door and went to bed early. Just as she put down the curtains, she heard a knock at the door. Thinking it was Xiao Que, she answered lazily.

"My dear wife, I am very happy today..."

Yang Huan's voice rang out from outside the door.

Xu Shirong paused for a moment, then said calmly, "After a day of fun, of course I had a good time."

"Jiaoniang, I can't sleep..."

"Hmm. Go find another young lady outside the yamen, carry her around the city, and she'll naturally fall asleep when we get back."

After a pause, someone outside the door said again, "Jiao Niang, open the door and talk to me, just talk..."

Xu Shirong turned over to face inward, pulled a thin blanket over herself, then closed her eyes and said lazily, "If you're going to talk, you can talk through the door. I'm listening."

Yang Huan tried the same trick again, but this time it didn't go as smoothly as last night. He knocked on the door a few more times, but there was no sound inside. He thought about forcibly kicking the door open, but he didn't have the courage. He circled around the door twice, and suddenly saw Xiao Que peeking over from the corridor. He coughed, put his hands behind his back, and slowly walked out.

Yang Huan hadn't forgotten about the seawall construction. Xu Shirong had only urged him twice, and within two days, the county magistrate of Mu County had drafted a memorial to the prefectural government, vehemently arguing the importance of the seawall. After ten days or so without any response, he simply sent two more memorials. This time, Tongzhou did send a letter, but it wasn't a reply from the prefectural government regarding the seawall memorial; instead, it was a letter to Yang Huan and his wife.

The letter was written by Madam Lu, the Prefect of Tongzhou. She said she was a distant cousin of Madam Xu, the mother of Jiao Niang. The two had often visited each other when they were young, but after they both married, they lived far apart and rarely kept in touch. A few days ago, she received a letter from Madam Xu and learned that her niece had gone to Tongzhou with her husband to take up her post. She was very happy. Since the third day of next month would be Prefect Lu's fiftieth birthday, she wrote a letter inviting her niece and son-in-law to come to Tongzhou to reminisce.

After reading the letter, Xu Shirong recalled that a few months ago, when she was leaving the Grand Commandant's residence, Madam Xu had indeed quietly mentioned that there was such a cousin in Tongzhou Prefecture. She worried that once Xu Shirong arrived in Qingmen County, far from her maternal family and without their support, she might suffer at the hands of Yang Huan. Madam Xu said she would speak with that cousin and ask her to keep an eye on things. At the time, Xu Shirong had only nodded absentmindedly and had long forgotten about it. Only after receiving the letter today did she remember that such a thing had indeed happened.

Xu Shirong put down the letter, but Yang Huan picked it up and read it over and over again several times before calling out in a loud voice, "Little Sparrow, hurry up and pack your things for Madam and me. We're leaving tomorrow."

Xiao Que responded and was about to turn around and leave when Xu Shirong stopped her, frowning slightly. "Even if you really go, there are still seven or eight days until the third day of next month. Why are you in such a hurry? Tongzhou Prefecture is only a day or two away from here."

Yang Huan said seriously, "You don't know, my official document requesting the prefecture to allocate funds for dike repair has been submitted for so long, and the prefecture hasn't said a word yet. I have to go and inquire myself to find out what it means. If we just sit here like this, we'll never get approval. We might as well take this opportunity to go and explore the situation."

Xu Shirong glanced at him, seeing his serious expression and the fact that although his words were somewhat rough, they sounded reasonable. After a moment's thought, she agreed. Yang Huan then beamed with joy and hurriedly urged Xiao Que to pack her things.

His words, though seemingly sincere, were tinged with ulterior motives. Since arriving in this county, while he could occasionally see peonies and osmanthus trees, they paled in comparison to Tokyo. There were only a handful of decent streets, and nowhere to go for leisure; he was feeling suffocated. Then, receiving the invitation, he thought that even if Tongzhou Prefecture wasn't as prosperous as Tokyo, it was still the center of a prefecture, surely better than Qingmen County. Being an impatient man, once he thought of it, he couldn't contain himself and wanted to go immediately. When Xu Shirong asked him a question, he didn't hesitate, opening his mouth and spouting a long string of reasoning. Seeing that he had indeed persuaded her, he was overjoyed.

Nothing more was said that night. Early the next morning, Yang Huan entrusted the affairs of the county office to Magistrate Mu, piled the packed belongings in Xiao Que's carriage, and Xu Shirong rode in another carriage. He himself rode a horse, taking Er Bao with him, and headed towards Tongzhou Prefecture. The nearby residents, hearing that the county magistrate was personally going to Tongzhou Prefecture to plead for the people, spread the word quickly, and soon a large number of villagers gathered to see him off, not leaving Qingmen County until noon.

Yang Huan had initially planned to find a more lively place to relax, and his plea for the people was just a side thing. But now, seeing how much the villagers loved him and how eagerly they looked at him, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed. He patted his chest and said loudly, "Fellow villagers, don't worry and go back home. If I, Yang Huan, don't get the order to repair the dike this time, I'll change my name!"

The county residents who came to see him off were deeply grateful to hear that the county magistrate was so devoted to serving the people. They all knelt down to bid him farewell, and only returned home after the carriage and the figures on horseback had disappeared far off on the official road.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The group traveled at high speed until evening. When they were still about twenty or thirty miles away from Tongzhou Prefecture, they passed through a market town. Seeing that it was already dark, they realized that if they continued on, they would not be able to reach the city or find a suitable place to stay. They inquired and found that there was only one decent inn in the town, so they went there to rest for the night and continue their journey early the next morning.

Xu Shirong's carriage stopped in front of the inn. She watched Yang Huan and Erbao go into the lobby to get their rooms, but they hadn't come out for a while. Feeling a little strange, she got out of the carriage and called Xiao Que to come in and see what was going on. Just as she took a step, several tall horses suddenly rushed towards her from behind, seemingly also looking for a place to rest. They were moving so fast that if she hadn't dodged quickly, and the rider in front hadn't seen her and slowed down, she would have been thrown off her feet. Even so, the horses still hit her, and Xu Shirong couldn't stop herself, stumbling back several steps before falling to the ground.

Xiao Que was stunned by the scene. Seeing Xu Shirong fall to the ground and be unable to get up for a long time, looking somewhat pained, she finally came to her senses. She went forward to help her up while turning back to yell at the man still sitting on the horse, "Are you staying at an inn or reincarnating? Are you blind? You bumped into my lady!"

The rider was a young man in his early twenties. He felt a little guilty for bumping into someone, but Xiao Que's scolding only fueled his anger. He cracked his whip and snorted, "Who told her not to watch where she's going? I was clearly coming this way, and she still had to bump into me. What does it have to do with me? You fat girl, are you conspiring with that woman to extort money?"

Xiao Que was so angry when she heard the man push all the blame onto his wife, not only trying to absolve himself of all responsibility but also falsely accusing her of extorting money that she forgot all about Xu Shirong and stood up abruptly to start cursing again.

"Little Sparrow, I was indeed walking too fast just now and didn't look around. It has nothing to do with this person. Stop arguing." Xu Shirong had already stood up, supporting her waist, and frowned. After speaking, she turned and went into the main hall without even glancing at the man and the riders behind him.

Seeing that her mistress had already turned and gone inside, Xiao Que spat at the man and then angrily rushed over to help Xu Shirong.

Xu Shirong had fallen to the ground, but she wasn't seriously injured. Her buttocks ached from the impact, and her wrist was slightly twisted from bracing herself, but it wasn't a serious injury. She wasn't one to be delicate, and once she recovered, she got up on her own, too lazy to argue with the horsemen at the entrance. However, when she entered the lobby, she was quite annoyed. Yang Huan was arguing with what appeared to be the innkeeper. The innkeeper seemed somewhat embarrassed, clasping his hands in a gesture of apology, repeatedly saying, "Please forgive me, sir, please forgive me. It's just that all the top-class rooms in our inn have been booked. We are truly sorry to have troubled you..."

Xu Shirong arrived behind Yang Huan and heard him pounding the counter loudly, angrily saying, "Who occupies a room and doesn't live there? I have money, I'll give you double the room rate, vacate a room!"

"Oh, sir, I'm a bit short-sighted. Although I only care about money, I also know that there's a first-come, first-served rule. Since I've already taken someone's money, I can't change owners for that room no matter what. If you think my other rooms are not good enough, I'll give you mine. Is that alright?"

"Pah! I find your 'that' brand name disgusting; it even has a stench that would stink up my wife..."

Xu Shirong was already annoyed by his argument with the innkeeper over a few rooms, but when he heard him say this, he was taken aback for a moment, and then said, "Innkeeper, just pick the cleaner rooms from the remaining ones. Since your 'Tianzi' room has already been booked, that's fine. How can you force someone who arrived later to take it?"

She spoke half to the innkeeper and half to Yang Huan. Yang Huan turned around and saw her standing there, looking at him with a slightly displeased expression. He quickly leaned closer and whispered, "Jiaoniang, I know you're always very clean. This place isn't very nice to begin with, and if the room is any worse, I'm afraid you won't be used to it."

Xu Shirong had seen Yang Huan's demeanor before; this man's greatest skill was saying one thing and thinking another. Even if he were truly thinking of her now, she was hardly convinced. She simply said, "When you're traveling, why be so particular? As long as you have a place to sleep, that's fine." Then she turned to the innkeeper and said, "I need three rooms."

Hearing her say that, Yang Huan had no choice but to give up. Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper flipped through the book and shook his head, saying, "There were still some earlier, but after the time we spent arguing, there are only two rooms left."

Xu Shirong had originally planned to share a room with Xiao Que, Yang Huan with another, and Er Bao with the coachman. Now that she heard there were only two rooms left, she hesitated. Just as Yang Huan was about to lash out again, he heard someone behind him say loudly, "My cousin accidentally bumped into Madam earlier, but fortunately, Madam was magnanimous and did not hold it against you. If Madam needs these top-class rooms, I will give them up as an apology."

Xu Shirong turned around and looked up. She saw several men striding into the main hall. The man in the lead was burly, with a sharp, chiseled face and piercing eyes. He looked to be around thirty years old. Beside him was the young man who had bumped into her and argued with Xiao Que earlier. Behind them were several men who appeared to be attendants. The man who had spoken earlier must have been this one.

"Oh, Third Master, you've arrived? We've reserved a room for you." The innkeeper seemed to know the man very well and hurriedly went up to greet him.