“A’Rui.” Shangguan Xi didn’t know what to say, hurrying to check his wound.
Xie Xiao was furious, “Almost dead but you still want to bite me?!?”
While talking, he took a daodao and killed the Japanese pirate with no second thoughts. He was ready to kill a pirate who was running away when he heard him begging.
“Heroes, heroes, heroines… Forgive me, I’m not with them, I was forced… forced…”
Surprisingly, the language he was speaking was mandarin and his accent was much better than Jinxia who had long lived in the Capital. Everybody was stunned.
“This whole time, you were a bunch of fake Japanese!” Xie Xiao poked the man’s ear with the tip of the sword, with fast movements, startling him to the point he didn’t dare to move.
“No, no, they really were Japanese, I was captured by them. They were invading the mainland, but because they were unfamiliar with the place, they arrested me. I don’t know any kung fu…”
Pulling off A’Rui’s robe, Shangguan Xi examined his wound with attention. A small red dot appeared on his shoulder: the needle had not penetrated into his skin.
Luckily the wounded area wasn’t blackened and Shangguan let out a sigh of relief: “This weapon he hid in his mouth was not coated with poison but we must find a magnet stone as soon as possible to pull the needle out.”
“No… It doesn’t matter.”
Not used to being shirtless in front of her, A’Rui awkwardly pulled back his shirt. They wondered whether his red blushing face was due to the pain.
“Why is your face so red?” Jinxia saw the colour of his face and asked in worry, “Are you really okay?”
A’Rui glanced at her with irritation, saying with a firm voice, “I’m fine.”
The tip of the sword continued to swing near the fake pirate’s ear several times, careful not to injure him, yet it couldn’t avoid having his hair cut off. Xie Xiao glared at him, “Your Japanese is so precise, do you want to fool this master?”
“I really not…” His hair fell one by one, not knowing whether the next swing would tear his scalp. The fake pirate was so frightened that his body kept trembling.
Jinxia gestured to Xie Xiao to stop for a moment, she half crouched down, examined the man’s palm and calmly asked, “What is your surname? Where do you come from? How come you can speak Japanese?”
“My surname is Zhang, my first name is a one-word: ‘Fei’. I am a Huizhou person. When I was young, I had been sailing for several years by boat, trading with the Japanese people, so I could speak their language a little.”
“Those who can sail in their early years are great people, sorry for not paying respect before!” Jinxia chuckled in admiration, “May I know who you are working with?”
Zhang Fei said, “At that time, I was young, I didn’t understand the problem, I heard that going sailing could let me earn a lot of money, so I have worked for Wang Zhi for several years…”
Wang Zhi or WuFeng – another name of his – captain of Tuolin people from Xiong village, Huizhou district, Shexian Province. At sea gathering, gang members with wandering Japanese* had been forming a fleet of ships to smuggle goods, they were a large number of people, well provided with war equipment. They claimed themselves to be the Kings of Hui. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a rule for the seaside which was ‘a single board* boat was not allowed to go to the sea’ because the fleet of smugglers was rampant. Due to the invasion of the Japanese pirates, the villagers lived in a dire state.
*[Wandering Japanese – Japanese pirate that no longer followed any leader, most of the time it would be people with martial arts skills. TN]
*[A single board boat was not allowed to go to the sea – A rule mainly directed to the foreigner, not letting them enter the land to start any trading with the people inland, to avoid initiating war, but also avoid the enemy or invaders to have a chance to enter the land. TN]
Jinxia continued to chuckle: “Sorry, sorry, it turns out that you’re just a subordinate of Boss Wang.”
Xie Xiao, standing beside her, was already impatient, “Don’t keep talking nonsense, isn’t Wang Zhi a pirate too? This master would be glad to give him a nice hit.”
“I know, I already know I was wrong. I wanted to start a new life, that’s why I got away from the members of the fleet.”
“Aside from the fleet members that brought Japanese into the mainland, and since they didn’t know their ways, you deliberately became their guide.” Xie Xiao raised one of his hands and gave him a loud, hard slap on his cheek.
“I was forced, forced..”
At that time, not far from them came the sound of water together with the voices of Japanese people talking. Shangguan Xi listened carefully: “There are about seven to eight boats. Lao Si, let’s go quickly.”
Although Xie Xiao was still furious, there was an injured person on the boat and it would have been difficult to stay longer, therefore he quickly raised his legs and kicked the two dead pirates into the water.
Despite the injured shoulder, A’Rui still insisted on rowing the boat. His shoulder was hurt, the body was numb, he almost fell over but Jinxia was quick in supporting him. Seeing that, Shangguan Xi anxiously rowed the boat while observing A’Rui.
Since their attention was diverted, Zhang Fei took the opportunity, moving slowly to the side of the boat, then a ‘splash’ sound was heard; he had entered the water.
Even though Xie Xiao had good reflexes, it was unfortunate that when he reached out his hand to catch him it was a moment too late.
“You bastard! This master already knew your plans. See, he’s not that innocent! I should’ve just stabbed him.” Xie Xiao said in anger.
Shangguan Xi paddled the boat quickly and the tall reeds in the swamp hit their faces. After a while, they returned to their starting point. She promptly supported A’Rui on land and ordered someone to call the physician because his face was getting pale.
There were many Japanese pirate gangs, but their whereabouts were unknown and their origin was unclear as well. Jinxia thought about reporting the situation to the local officers, hoping to gather troops and horses to capture them. Xie Xiao stopped her and said, “Our brothers have already gone to report it to the local officers.”
“I am an official, it would be more appropriate if I go to report it.”
“You’re just an outsider monk, you can’t even know your ways around here. What’s the use of going there?” Xie Xiao said in contempt. “After all if you were a high-rank official, that would be fine, but instead, you’re not even in the ranking… Who would listen to your words? Just hear me out: our gang has a good relationship with the local officials, we even have some acquaintances who sit with us every month for stories and drinks. It would be more beneficial if we reported the case rather than you.”
His words made sense. Jinxia also understood the possibility that her words would have been taken lightly. After all, she came to Jiangnan to investigate Zhou Xian’s case. If they had found out she was involved in this pirate matter, they could have said she was interfering or had other intentions. After a few moments, she gave up and went to check on A’Rui’s wound.
After the physician came, he used a magnetic stone to remove the silver needle from A’Rui’s shoulder but it wasn’t working, therefore, he had no choice but to cut the skin with a sharp blade and then take out the silver needle. A’Rui didn’t say a word but when Shangguan Xi was about to wrap up his wound, he was shocked and jumped up, his face turned red and kept shaking his head: “I don’t dare to accept… I don’t dare…”
Shangguan Xi furrowed her eyebrows, Xie Xiao had already brought over the cloth and the bandages for his wound. She looked at him for a moment, said nothing then stepped out. Jinxia didn’t know where she’d got the clothes, but Shangguan Xi handed them over to her.
Jinxia thanked Shangguan Xi. After changing her clothes and seeing that the physician was done with his duty, she carefully took out the unknown weapon from her pocket, “Doctor, are you able to tell what this weapon is and the poison coated on it?”
This physician was good at treating external wounds on the body but he wasn’t too familiar with poisons. He took the unknown weapon and examined it carefully with a silver needle.
By that time, Xie Xiao had finished dressing A’Rui’s wound: his mouth was still tightly closed, he was not saying a word or even thanking the Young Master Bangzhu, instead he put on his robe and walked straight out of the room.
“Just rest for a few days, take good care of your wounds.” Shangguan Xi said to him.
The bandage on his shoulder was wrapped so tight he couldn’t raise his hand, but he still insisted on doing so, “No need to rest, it’s only a minor injury, no problem.”
Xie Xiao walked out, interrupting his words: “If I tell you to rest, you rest. The important thing is that the wound needs time to heal. Later, I will send over some delicious wine and vegetables, you just rest.”
Shangguan Xi glanced at him unhappily: “People have wounds on their bodies, yet you want to send wine, do you think everyone is like you?”
“Eh… I’m wrong, wrong, rice and vegetables only.” Xie Xiao laughed, correcting his words.
Looking at his expression, Shangguan Xi slowly sighed and her anger subsided a little. She said blaming him, “Seeing your temperament, I don’t know how you have lived outside these years.”
Xie Xiao smiled and said nothing in reply.
Watching the two of them conversing, Shangguan Xi’s expression seemed a lot better. A’Rui looked at her for a bit, then quietly walked out.
***
Since the physician did not know what poison was applied to the unknown weapon, Jinxia had to wrap it up and put it back in her pocket. With a disappointing look, she walked out of the room.
“Come on! I’ll treat you to a drink!” Xie Xiao violently hit her shoulder.
Jinxia staggered when her shoulder was hit, all of a sudden thinking about something else, “Oh! We forgot about Da Yang! Let’s go, quickly, and pick him up.”
Xie Xiao and Jinxia both jumped in the boat.
“Jie, get on the boat, quick!” Xie Xiao shouted at Shangguan Xi.
Shangguan Xi stood still, “Young Master Bangzhu, I still have some trivial matters to deal with.”
Xie Xiao was a careless person, listening to her words, he didn’t bother trying to persuade her, but only said: “Then, after your business is finished, remember to join us, I will wait for you at the Qifen Pavilion.”
Jinxia was already in the boat, but looking at Shangguan Xi’s expression, she thought for a moment, then jumped back out, apologizing to her, “Shangguan Jie, If I didn’t insist on chasing after the pirates today, A’Rui wouldn’t get hurt. Tomorrow, I will definitely come to the house and apologize.”
Shangguan Xie said slowly, “This problem is not entirely your fault, no need to think about it.”
Even though that was true, she was still somewhat wrong. Jinxia understood her point, still maintaining a smiling face, she lowered her voice, “Regarding the matter about the meeting between you and Lu Yi, it seems like he doesn’t know, right?”
Shangguan Xi turned her head and looked at her. Jinxia was unable to discern any emotion from her expression, “Did you tell him?”
“No, I can see that he doesn’t understand much and thinking you must have had your own plan, I didn’t say anything.”
Shangguan Xi’s eyes became softer, “Thank you for thinking of everything.”
Jinxia waited for a moment, seeing that she had no intention of telling her about it, and then she said, “You don’t need to worry, I won’t say much. Jie, a gang leader must have courage and intelligence, but if I may say one thing, Lu Yi turned out to be quite clever and unpredictable, you must be careful.”
“I know.”
Jinxia was unable to read her expression, even after listening to that reply.
Xie Xiao paddled the boat back to the front of the temple. Near the head of the bridge, Jinxia’s eyes immediately spotted YangYue, who was sitting down on a stepping stone by the river, his head lowered, looking down at the river water.
“Da Yang!” She called out loud before the boat approached.
YangYue raised his head with a slow motion, looking at her, then he stood up, waiting for the boat to approach him.
“You’ve met the person, why are you still down?” Jinxia stretched out her hand to pull him into the boat.
“How do you know I’ve met her?”
“You’ve given the wooden box, seeing the seriousness between Ms. Zhai and Lu Daren, she should have personally come and greeted you, and must want to find out more about Lu Daren from you.”
YangYue sighed while holding his forehead: “She did find out about Lu Daren’s interests from me.”
“What did you say?”
Jinxia became interested.
YangYue glanced at her briefly, continuing to lower his face, “I said, Lu Daren loves to cook when he’s free and that he often goes down to the kitchen to cook his own meal.” This was actually one of his own interests.
He paused, then continued, “I also said… that the rice cakes were made by Lu Daren, I think by saying this she won’t give the rice cakes to the female servants, and will at least try it a little.”
“That’s good, that’s good, maybe next time she might even make something to return the favour, then we get to have a little taste too.” Jinxia laughed saying it.
Xie Xiao did not understand anything they were saying and surprisingly asked: “What cakes? Aren’t you guys investigating a case?”
“There are people who fall into the trap of beautiful women,” Jinxia smiled, “But, that’s okay, it doesn’t affect the investigation.”
YangYue also didn’t deny it, just sat quietly.
As the Young Master Bangzhu of Wu’An Gang, Xie Xiao immediately took them to the top of the Qifen Pavilion, he requested a private room upstairs, and ordered a table full of food.
“Do you want to call someone to sing? Is there anything else you like?” Xie Xiao was indeed rich and impressive.
Jinxia leaned out of the window to take a look at the view, not having the time to answer, YangYue had quickly waved his hand: “No need…”
“Then, we don’t need to call them. Actually, I’m quite tired of listening to these songs, drinking wine became less enjoyable.” Xie Xiao took out a few beans and threw them in his mouth, “You didn’t drink wine last time. Today, your father isn’t here either. Give your brother a face, how about some cups?”
YangYue’s mood was indeed gloomy today, in addition there was no more work afterward. He didn’t want to drink a few cups… After hesitating for a moment, he nodded his head, “Alright.”
Xie Xiao raised his hand and called the servant to get two bottles of green bamboo wine.
Jinxia returned to her desk, saw the server was still busy, hence she picked the wine bottle herself, poured a bowl and tried it, “A very fragrant wine, I’m afraid that two bottles aren’t enough.”
“You are a fine lady, drinking a few bowls just to lighten the atmosphere, if you do get drunk, it would be difficult for you to face uncle Yang.” Xie Xiao took her bowl and replaced it with a small wine cup.
Jinxia swapped her cup with YangYue’s bowl and she said to YangYue while following Xie Xiao’s words, “You drink a few cups to lighten the atmosphere, if you do get drunk, it would be difficult for you to face the master.”
YangYue sighed, accepted obediently, and prepared to pour the wine.
Jinxia turned her head explaining to Xie Xiao: “Da Yang is famous for the unfortunate of three bowls*, replacing them with the small cup, he can drink a bit longer.”
*[Unfortunate of three bowls = Not being able to drink more than three bowls, TN]
“What is the misfortune of three bowls?”
“It’s the unfortunate of three bowls.”
Xie Xiao looked at YangYue with a sigh, “It’s okay, the tolerance increased with practice. If you can stay in Yangzhou for three months, I promise after three bottles of wine, you won’t get drunk.”
While he was talking, on the stairs appeared the restaurant server who was leading a group of people up. Seeing the people across from the curtain, Jinxia slowly lowered her bowl and gave YangYue a glance. There were about five to six JinYiWei, one of the military soldiers was wearing a nice green and blue embroidered robe. It turned out to be Gao Qing.
“A’Rui.” Shangguan Xi didn’t know what to say, hurrying to check his wound.
Xie Xiao was furious, “Almost dead but you still want to bite me?!?”
While talking, he took a daodao and killed the Japanese pirate with no second thoughts. He was ready to kill a pirate who was running away when he heard him begging.
“Heroes, heroes, heroines… Forgive me, I’m not with them, I was forced… forced…”
Surprisingly, the language he was speaking was mandarin and his accent was much better than Jinxia who had long lived in the Capital. Everybody was stunned.
“This whole time, you were a bunch of fake Japanese!” Xie Xiao poked the man’s ear with the tip of the sword, with fast movements, startling him to the point he didn’t dare to move.
“No, no, they really were Japanese, I was captured by them. They were invading the mainland, but because they were unfamiliar with the place, they arrested me. I don’t know any kung fu…”
Pulling off A’Rui’s robe, Shangguan Xi examined his wound with attention. A small red dot appeared on his shoulder: the needle had not penetrated into his skin.
Luckily the wounded area wasn’t blackened and Shangguan let out a sigh of relief: “This weapon he hid in his mouth was not coated with poison but we must find a magnet stone as soon as possible to pull the needle out.”
“No… It doesn’t matter.”
Not used to being shirtless in front of her, A’Rui awkwardly pulled back his shirt. They wondered whether his red blushing face was due to the pain.
“Why is your face so red?” Jinxia saw the colour of his face and asked in worry, “Are you really okay?”
A’Rui glanced at her with irritation, saying with a firm voice, “I’m fine.”
The tip of the sword continued to swing near the fake pirate’s ear several times, careful not to injure him, yet it couldn’t avoid having his hair cut off. Xie Xiao glared at him, “Your Japanese is so precise, do you want to fool this master?”
“I really not…” His hair fell one by one, not knowing whether the next swing would tear his scalp. The fake pirate was so frightened that his body kept trembling.
Jinxia gestured to Xie Xiao to stop for a moment, she half crouched down, examined the man’s palm and calmly asked, “What is your surname? Where do you come from? How come you can speak Japanese?”
“My surname is Zhang, my first name is a one-word: ‘Fei’. I am a Huizhou person. When I was young, I had been sailing for several years by boat, trading with the Japanese people, so I could speak their language a little.”
“Those who can sail in their early years are great people, sorry for not paying respect before!” Jinxia chuckled in admiration, “May I know who you are working with?”
Zhang Fei said, “At that time, I was young, I didn’t understand the problem, I heard that going sailing could let me earn a lot of money, so I have worked for Wang Zhi for several years…”
Wang Zhi or WuFeng – another name of his – captain of Tuolin people from Xiong village, Huizhou district, Shexian Province. At sea gathering, gang members with wandering Japanese* had been forming a fleet of ships to smuggle goods, they were a large number of people, well provided with war equipment. They claimed themselves to be the Kings of Hui. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a rule for the seaside which was ‘a single board* boat was not allowed to go to the sea’ because the fleet of smugglers was rampant. Due to the invasion of the Japanese pirates, the villagers lived in a dire state.
*[Wandering Japanese – Japanese pirate that no longer followed any leader, most of the time it would be people with martial arts skills. TN]
*[A single board boat was not allowed to go to the sea – A rule mainly directed to the foreigner, not letting them enter the land to start any trading with the people inland, to avoid initiating war, but also avoid the enemy or invaders to have a chance to enter the land. TN]
Jinxia continued to chuckle: “Sorry, sorry, it turns out that you’re just a subordinate of Boss Wang.”
Xie Xiao, standing beside her, was already impatient, “Don’t keep talking nonsense, isn’t Wang Zhi a pirate too? This master would be glad to give him a nice hit.”
“I know, I already know I was wrong. I wanted to start a new life, that’s why I got away from the members of the fleet.”
“Aside from the fleet members that brought Japanese into the mainland, and since they didn’t know their ways, you deliberately became their guide.” Xie Xiao raised one of his hands and gave him a loud, hard slap on his cheek.
“I was forced, forced..”
At that time, not far from them came the sound of water together with the voices of Japanese people talking. Shangguan Xi listened carefully: “There are about seven to eight boats. Lao Si, let’s go quickly.”
Although Xie Xiao was still furious, there was an injured person on the boat and it would have been difficult to stay longer, therefore he quickly raised his legs and kicked the two dead pirates into the water.
Despite the injured shoulder, A’Rui still insisted on rowing the boat. His shoulder was hurt, the body was numb, he almost fell over but Jinxia was quick in supporting him. Seeing that, Shangguan Xi anxiously rowed the boat while observing A’Rui.
Since their attention was diverted, Zhang Fei took the opportunity, moving slowly to the side of the boat, then a ‘splash’ sound was heard; he had entered the water.
Even though Xie Xiao had good reflexes, it was unfortunate that when he reached out his hand to catch him it was a moment too late.
“You bastard! This master already knew your plans. See, he’s not that innocent! I should’ve just stabbed him.” Xie Xiao said in anger.
Shangguan Xi paddled the boat quickly and the tall reeds in the swamp hit their faces. After a while, they returned to their starting point. She promptly supported A’Rui on land and ordered someone to call the physician because his face was getting pale.
There were many Japanese pirate gangs, but their whereabouts were unknown and their origin was unclear as well. Jinxia thought about reporting the situation to the local officers, hoping to gather troops and horses to capture them. Xie Xiao stopped her and said, “Our brothers have already gone to report it to the local officers.”
“I am an official, it would be more appropriate if I go to report it.”
“You’re just an outsider monk, you can’t even know your ways around here. What’s the use of going there?” Xie Xiao said in contempt. “After all if you were a high-rank official, that would be fine, but instead, you’re not even in the ranking… Who would listen to your words? Just hear me out: our gang has a good relationship with the local officials, we even have some acquaintances who sit with us every month for stories and drinks. It would be more beneficial if we reported the case rather than you.”
His words made sense. Jinxia also understood the possibility that her words would have been taken lightly. After all, she came to Jiangnan to investigate Zhou Xian’s case. If they had found out she was involved in this pirate matter, they could have said she was interfering or had other intentions. After a few moments, she gave up and went to check on A’Rui’s wound.
After the physician came, he used a magnetic stone to remove the silver needle from A’Rui’s shoulder but it wasn’t working, therefore, he had no choice but to cut the skin with a sharp blade and then take out the silver needle. A’Rui didn’t say a word but when Shangguan Xi was about to wrap up his wound, he was shocked and jumped up, his face turned red and kept shaking his head: “I don’t dare to accept… I don’t dare…”
Shangguan Xi furrowed her eyebrows, Xie Xiao had already brought over the cloth and the bandages for his wound. She looked at him for a moment, said nothing then stepped out. Jinxia didn’t know where she’d got the clothes, but Shangguan Xi handed them over to her.
Jinxia thanked Shangguan Xi. After changing her clothes and seeing that the physician was done with his duty, she carefully took out the unknown weapon from her pocket, “Doctor, are you able to tell what this weapon is and the poison coated on it?”
This physician was good at treating external wounds on the body but he wasn’t too familiar with poisons. He took the unknown weapon and examined it carefully with a silver needle.
By that time, Xie Xiao had finished dressing A’Rui’s wound: his mouth was still tightly closed, he was not saying a word or even thanking the Young Master Bangzhu, instead he put on his robe and walked straight out of the room.
“Just rest for a few days, take good care of your wounds.” Shangguan Xi said to him.
The bandage on his shoulder was wrapped so tight he couldn’t raise his hand, but he still insisted on doing so, “No need to rest, it’s only a minor injury, no problem.”
Xie Xiao walked out, interrupting his words: “If I tell you to rest, you rest. The important thing is that the wound needs time to heal. Later, I will send over some delicious wine and vegetables, you just rest.”
Shangguan Xi glanced at him unhappily: “People have wounds on their bodies, yet you want to send wine, do you think everyone is like you?”
“Eh… I’m wrong, wrong, rice and vegetables only.” Xie Xiao laughed, correcting his words.
Looking at his expression, Shangguan Xi slowly sighed and her anger subsided a little. She said blaming him, “Seeing your temperament, I don’t know how you have lived outside these years.”
Xie Xiao smiled and said nothing in reply.
Watching the two of them conversing, Shangguan Xi’s expression seemed a lot better. A’Rui looked at her for a bit, then quietly walked out.
***
Since the physician did not know what poison was applied to the unknown weapon, Jinxia had to wrap it up and put it back in her pocket. With a disappointing look, she walked out of the room.
“Come on! I’ll treat you to a drink!” Xie Xiao violently hit her shoulder.
Jinxia staggered when her shoulder was hit, all of a sudden thinking about something else, “Oh! We forgot about Da Yang! Let’s go, quickly, and pick him up.”
Xie Xiao and Jinxia both jumped in the boat.
“Jie, get on the boat, quick!” Xie Xiao shouted at Shangguan Xi.
Shangguan Xi stood still, “Young Master Bangzhu, I still have some trivial matters to deal with.”
Xie Xiao was a careless person, listening to her words, he didn’t bother trying to persuade her, but only said: “Then, after your business is finished, remember to join us, I will wait for you at the Qifen Pavilion.”
Jinxia was already in the boat, but looking at Shangguan Xi’s expression, she thought for a moment, then jumped back out, apologizing to her, “Shangguan Jie, If I didn’t insist on chasing after the pirates today, A’Rui wouldn’t get hurt. Tomorrow, I will definitely come to the house and apologize.”
Shangguan Xie said slowly, “This problem is not entirely your fault, no need to think about it.”
Even though that was true, she was still somewhat wrong. Jinxia understood her point, still maintaining a smiling face, she lowered her voice, “Regarding the matter about the meeting between you and Lu Yi, it seems like he doesn’t know, right?”
Shangguan Xi turned her head and looked at her. Jinxia was unable to discern any emotion from her expression, “Did you tell him?”
“No, I can see that he doesn’t understand much and thinking you must have had your own plan, I didn’t say anything.”
Shangguan Xi’s eyes became softer, “Thank you for thinking of everything.”
Jinxia waited for a moment, seeing that she had no intention of telling her about it, and then she said, “You don’t need to worry, I won’t say much. Jie, a gang leader must have courage and intelligence, but if I may say one thing, Lu Yi turned out to be quite clever and unpredictable, you must be careful.”
“I know.”
Jinxia was unable to read her expression, even after listening to that reply.
Xie Xiao paddled the boat back to the front of the temple. Near the head of the bridge, Jinxia’s eyes immediately spotted YangYue, who was sitting down on a stepping stone by the river, his head lowered, looking down at the river water.
“Da Yang!” She called out loud before the boat approached.
YangYue raised his head with a slow motion, looking at her, then he stood up, waiting for the boat to approach him.
“You’ve met the person, why are you still down?” Jinxia stretched out her hand to pull him into the boat.
“How do you know I’ve met her?”
“You’ve given the wooden box, seeing the seriousness between Ms. Zhai and Lu Daren, she should have personally come and greeted you, and must want to find out more about Lu Daren from you.”
YangYue sighed while holding his forehead: “She did find out about Lu Daren’s interests from me.”
“What did you say?”
Jinxia became interested.
YangYue glanced at her briefly, continuing to lower his face, “I said, Lu Daren loves to cook when he’s free and that he often goes down to the kitchen to cook his own meal.” This was actually one of his own interests.
He paused, then continued, “I also said… that the rice cakes were made by Lu Daren, I think by saying this she won’t give the rice cakes to the female servants, and will at least try it a little.”
“That’s good, that’s good, maybe next time she might even make something to return the favour, then we get to have a little taste too.” Jinxia laughed saying it.
Xie Xiao did not understand anything they were saying and surprisingly asked: “What cakes? Aren’t you guys investigating a case?”
“There are people who fall into the trap of beautiful women,” Jinxia smiled, “But, that’s okay, it doesn’t affect the investigation.”
YangYue also didn’t deny it, just sat quietly.
As the Young Master Bangzhu of Wu’An Gang, Xie Xiao immediately took them to the top of the Qifen Pavilion, he requested a private room upstairs, and ordered a table full of food.
“Do you want to call someone to sing? Is there anything else you like?” Xie Xiao was indeed rich and impressive.
Jinxia leaned out of the window to take a look at the view, not having the time to answer, YangYue had quickly waved his hand: “No need…”
“Then, we don’t need to call them. Actually, I’m quite tired of listening to these songs, drinking wine became less enjoyable.” Xie Xiao took out a few beans and threw them in his mouth, “You didn’t drink wine last time. Today, your father isn’t here either. Give your brother a face, how about some cups?”
YangYue’s mood was indeed gloomy today, in addition there was no more work afterward. He didn’t want to drink a few cups… After hesitating for a moment, he nodded his head, “Alright.”
Xie Xiao raised his hand and called the servant to get two bottles of green bamboo wine.
Jinxia returned to her desk, saw the server was still busy, hence she picked the wine bottle herself, poured a bowl and tried it, “A very fragrant wine, I’m afraid that two bottles aren’t enough.”
“You are a fine lady, drinking a few bowls just to lighten the atmosphere, if you do get drunk, it would be difficult for you to face uncle Yang.” Xie Xiao took her bowl and replaced it with a small wine cup.
Jinxia swapped her cup with YangYue’s bowl and she said to YangYue while following Xie Xiao’s words, “You drink a few cups to lighten the atmosphere, if you do get drunk, it would be difficult for you to face the master.”
YangYue sighed, accepted obediently, and prepared to pour the wine.
Jinxia turned her head explaining to Xie Xiao: “Da Yang is famous for the unfortunate of three bowls*, replacing them with the small cup, he can drink a bit longer.”
*[Unfortunate of three bowls = Not being able to drink more than three bowls, TN]
“What is the misfortune of three bowls?”
“It’s the unfortunate of three bowls.”
Xie Xiao looked at YangYue with a sigh, “It’s okay, the tolerance increased with practice. If you can stay in Yangzhou for three months, I promise after three bottles of wine, you won’t get drunk.”
While he was talking, on the stairs appeared the restaurant server who was leading a group of people up. Seeing the people across from the curtain, Jinxia slowly lowered her bowl and gave YangYue a glance. There were about five to six JinYiWei, one of the military soldiers was wearing a nice green and blue embroidered robe. It turned out to be Gao Qing.
