good season

Xia Dachuan grew increasingly frightened. He grabbed the shopkeeper by the collar and demanded sharply, "Tell me quickly, are you colluding with the flower sellers to abduct innocent girls?"

The shopkeeper was terrified, his legs trembling. He didn't know where this dark-faced man had come from. He stammered, "Wh-what flower-shooting? There's no flower-shooting here. Let go of me right now, or I'll call for help."

"If no one took pictures of the flowers, where did the little girl who just came in go?" Xia Dachuan roared.

The shopkeeper suddenly realized and quickly said, "You're looking for that young girl? She borrowed a room to change her clothes, and then left through the back door."

Xia Dachuan hurriedly chased after her to the back door, but Xiuxiu was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, Xiuxiu had already arrived at the Ministry of Revenue.

She deliberately smeared charcoal powder she carried with her on her face and clothes, and her ordinary face instantly became streaked with black and white, as if she had just crawled out of a furnace.

"This is a government office, you can't just walk in whenever you want. Hurry up and leave." The guards at the gate started to shoo her away as soon as they saw her.

Xiuxiu mustered her courage and said in a rough voice, "Excuse me, is Yang Shengqiu, the top scholar, in this yamen? His house is on fire. Please, sir, inform him quickly so he can go back and check on it. Right now, the village head is leading everyone to put out the fire. If he doesn't go back, who will be responsible if anything is lost? Please, sir, I still have to go to other houses to report, so I'll be going now!"

After saying that, Xiuxiu turned and left without stopping for a moment, disappearing from the sight of the yamen runners in the blink of an eye.

A fire is a serious matter, and the constables dared not delay, so they quickly sent their companions in to inform the authorities.

Yesterday, Yang Shengqiu was reprimanded by the Vice Minister. Today, the Minister came to the yamen and learned that he had only brought back 3,000 taels of the 150,000 taels of silver. He was reprimanded again.

Having been reprimanded twice in the two days since his return, Yang Shengqiu had no idea how he managed to walk out of the Minister's room.

The Minister's angry voice came from behind: "This book has been read in vain, utterly stupid!"

The Minister did not lower his voice; these words were clearly meant for Yang Shengqiu.

Yang Shengqiu's head was buzzing. From childhood to adulthood, he had always been the one praised by others. His name was always associated with words like intelligent, clever, and brilliant.

But now, he is being called extremely stupid!
He was clearly the top scholar!

Just because he failed to protect those 150,000 taels of silver, he became a sinner?
But it was the retired emperor who wanted the money, the retired emperor!
If they had a way, why would they obediently hand over 150,000 taels? If they hadn't been passing the buck, why would they have put a newcomer like him in front of those people from the Longevity Palace?

The retired emperor sent someone to ask him for money; could he refuse?

If he asked even one more question, he would be accused of deceiving the emperor.

Do they know about these things?

They certainly knew, but they still blamed him and placed all the blame on him!
Yang Shengqiu stumbled slightly, but luckily he managed to grab onto a nearby pillar to avoid falling.

Just then, a constable came running over and said to him, "Lord Yang, your house is on fire. You should go home and check it out."

Yang Shengqiu was startled, thinking he had misheard. Was his house on fire?
Seeing his bewildered expression, the yamen runner thought to himself, "Isn't this the top scholar? Why does he look so dim-witted?"

The constable hurriedly said, "It was your neighbor who came to inform you that you need to go back and check on things. There are a bunch of people to put out the fire, so that you don't have any trouble explaining if anything is missing from your house."

Seeing that he remained silent, the constable said impatiently, "I've delivered the letter, it's over for me."

Don't underestimate this lowly yamen runner. Three generations of his family have worked in the Ministry of Revenue. Whenever he comes to deliver messages to the officials, he is usually rewarded. This is an unwritten rule not only in the Ministry of Revenue but also in other yamen. However, this newcomer, Lord Yang, not only did not give him a reward but also did not even say thank you.

The constable spat fiercely: "Look at your stingy behavior, you're destined to be dismissed from office sooner or later!"

Like the Minister, the lowly yamen runner did not lower his voice either, and both sentences entered Yang Shengqiu's ears without missing a single word.

Yang Shengqiu clenched his fists into his sleeves. It was one thing for the Minister to mock him, a high-ranking official of the second rank, but this lowly yamen runner dared to curse him.
He was the top scholar in the imperial examination, while the sons of the yamen runners were not even qualified to participate in the examination.

He had only been there a short time and couldn't distinguish between the yamen runners yet, but he had heard that the yamen runners in the Six Ministries were all in lucrative positions, and many of them were hereditary and had solid foundations. These newly appointed scholars were not as well-connected as these yamen runners.

But so what?

A lowly servant is a lowly servant, but he is an official.

Yang Shengqiu silently memorized the yamen runner's appearance, determined that one day he would make this yamen runner kneel at his feet and beg for mercy.

But did the house really catch fire?

Yang Shengqiu was somewhat incredulous, but he still decided to go back and take a look.

He had no money, but he had many books.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask the Vice Minister for leave. The Vice Minister, with a cold face, said, "You're always causing trouble."

Yang Shengqiu sighed. This was the first time he had asked for leave, and he had become the one who caused so much trouble.
He rushed out of the government office, got into a sedan chair, and hurried home.

Halfway there, he suddenly remembered something.

In the capital, whenever a fire breaks out, the village head is responsible for organizing firefighting and evacuating the people as soon as possible, and for reporting to the Five City Commandery, which will then send people to fight the fire.

The area where his house is located belongs to the West City Division, so the West City Division is now in charge of putting out the fire.

Nishijo Tsukasa.
The Duke of Wei's third brother, Master Yan, is the commander of the West City.

For some reason, Yang Shengqiu instinctively didn't want to deal with the people from the Duke of Wei's mansion.

But now that this has happened, we can't avoid dealing with it.

Yang Shengqiu could only console himself that the Duke of Wei's mansion had long since split up, and the Third Master Yan was now just the Third Master Yan, no longer the Second Master of the Duke of Wei's mansion.

Yang Shengqiu lifted the curtain and stared blankly at the street scene outside.

Even before the end of the first month of the lunar calendar, the streets were still filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year. Almost every household had bright red New Year banners pasted on their doors and hung bright red lanterns. Even the trees were decorated with artificial flowers made of red paper.

Suddenly, Yang Shengqiu saw a familiar figure. It was a young girl wearing a blue dress with white flowers, a blue cloak, and her hair in two buns. She was also carrying a bamboo basket.

Yang Shengqiu narrowed his eyes slightly. Su Xiuxiu?

Xiuxiu walked out of a shop selling embroidery, looking somewhat dejected. Clearly, the shop didn't have anything she wanted to buy.

Then, Xiuxiu entered another shop, and the sedan chair continued on its way without stopping.

Before he even reached the alley where his house was located, he sensed something was amiss.

Quiet, too quiet.

Wasn't it a fire?

Aren't we putting out a fire?

Where are the firefighters? Where are the onlookers? He told his servant Xiao Mo to go back and check. Xiao Mo ran off and returned a moment later, panting, "Young master, young master, there's no fire. There's no fire at home. There's no fire in this area today."

Yang Shengqiu frowned. It was that yamen runner who lied to him, causing him to be reprimanded by the Vice Minister. Who wanted to harm him? That yamen runner had no grudge against him and couldn't possibly have harmed him. He must have been instructed by someone, and that person was most likely from the Ministry of Revenue.

Yang Shengqiu suppressed his anger and returned to the Ministry of Revenue. When he passed by the shops again, he saw Xiuxiu once more.

She stood by the roadside looking around, as if she wanted to hire a sedan chair. There were no sedan chairs waiting to pick up passengers, which is probably why she hadn't left.

Thinking about the cold treatment he received at the yamen these past two days, Yang Shengqiu simply decided not to go back.

Since he's already out and has been reprimanded by the Vice Minister, wouldn't going back now just mean getting a free glimpse of the Vice Minister's cold face?

Even a clay figure has some humanity, let alone a person of flesh and blood like him.

Xiuxiu was dejected. Usually, there would be sedan chair carriers waiting for fares under the trees by the roadside, but today, whether it was because it was still the first month of the lunar calendar or because of the cold weather, she waited for a long time but did not see any sedan chairs for fares.

She was a young girl and too shy to look around, so she could only stand there waiting. Her feet were already numb with cold, and she huddled up, wrapping her cloak tighter around herself.

"Miss Su? It's you?"

A familiar voice came from behind, startling Xiuxiu. She looked up and saw a familiar yet unfamiliar face.

She suddenly realized that this face had always made her feel uneasy.

Her heart pounded wildly, no longer with the fluttering of a young girl's first love, but with fear.

"Yang, Yang, Lord Yang, it's you! What a coincidence."

Yang Shengqiu's gaze darkened slightly. Although the girl in front of him still blushed, her eyes were evasive. In particular, he did not see any admiration or adoration for him in her eyes.

Yang Shengqiu remained calm and composed. He knew these girls all too well. They would feel sad for a flower, cry their eyes out for the characters in storybooks, believe that love conquers all, and wear their emotions on their sleeves.

"Miss Su, why are you here all alone? Things have been so chaotic lately, aren't you scared?"

Yang Shengqiu's voice was as gentle as ever, but Xiuxiu no longer possessed that warm, gentle touch. She clutched the bamboo basket tightly in her hands: "Everyone in my family has their own things to do. I originally wanted to bring my younger brother along, but he hasn't finished his homework yet."

Her voice grew softer and softer, but Yang Shengqiu's smile deepened.

"It's hard to hire a sedan chair outside these days, and it's so cold. Why don't you ride in mine?"

Xiuxiu shook her head repeatedly: "No, no, that won't do. You've already helped me so much. Oh, right, I, I've always wanted to invite you for a cup of tea to thank you. But a chance encounter is worse than an invitation. How about today? There's a teahouse over there. I'll treat you to tea."

Yang Shengqiu's gaze was deep; was a chance encounter better than an invitation?

Could it be that she's here just to bump into him?
"Alright, then I'll trouble you." He readily agreed.

It was already clear from the kidnapping incident last time that although Xiuxiu was not weak and frail, she had never learned martial arts and was just an ordinary young woman.

Yang Shengqiu wasn't afraid that she would harm him; he just wanted to know why Xiuxiu was waiting for him there.

Is it because of a daughter's feelings?
Logically, that should be the reason, just like Princess Huiming secretly came to the shop alone to see him.

In the past, he would have thought that was the reason.

But today, he hesitated, because he didn't see any admiration for him in Xiuxiu's eyes.

But she's a silly girl.

Yang Shengqiu seemed to see his little girl in this silly girl.

At roughly the same age, the little girl is remarkably intelligent.

She's been very smart since she was little, hasn't she?
But because she is too clever and leaves no room for error, he still hasn't been able to figure out her background.

Thinking of the Ministry of Revenue, where he could hardly move an inch, and of Feng Ke, who had gone to bed early the previous night, Yang Shengqiu made up his mind to get out of his current predicament. The only thing he could grasp immediately was Xiao Nannan's identity.

If the Liang Prince's family and their descendants were indeed people planted in the capital by the Liang Prince's family, then they were his hope.

Thinking of all this, he no longer hesitated, got out of the sedan chair, and followed Xiuxiu into the teahouse.

The teahouse was run by people from the Wu region, and every table, chair, flower, and painting exuded the charm of the Wu region.

Unlike most teahouses in the capital, there are no storytellers here. In the lobby on the first floor, a man and a woman sit side by side, holding a pipa and softly singing.

Yang Shengqiu was still wearing his official robes. The waiter, with his sharp eyes, recognized his rank at a glance. Although his rank was not high, he was not to be underestimated. The waiter smiled and invited them to a private room on the second floor.

Although it's called a private room, there are actually four tables inside, but it's quieter here and the tea sets used are more exquisite.

When they entered, all four tables were empty, and the large private room was empty except for the two of them.

The servants quickly served a pot of Biluochun tea, two dried and two fresh varieties, along with four kinds of snacks.

After taking a sip of tea, Yang Shengqiu's gaze finally fell on the girl opposite him. Xiuxiu's head was lowered, but it still couldn't hide the blush on her cheeks.

"Miss Su, did you go to the lantern festival to see the lanterns during the Lantern Festival?"

Xiuxiu nodded: "I went, but I went home early. I didn't find out about the incident at the lantern festival until the next day."

Yang Shengqiu said, "That's good, they weren't frightened."

Xiuxiu whispered, "Actually, I'm not timid at all. The Second Miss often says I'm brave."

"Second Miss? Are you referring to Old Master Zhen's granddaughter?" Yang Shengqiu asked.

Xiuxiu feigned surprise: "Huh? How did you know?"

Yang Shengqiu smiled and said, "You've forgotten? The first time we met was when I went to visit Old Master Zhen. The Zhen family's son-in-law was kind to me, but unfortunately, Old Master Zhen wasn't there that day. After that, I got busier and busier, and due to various circumstances, I haven't been able to thank him in person until now. It's really impolite. I feel ashamed every time I think about it, and I'm even more afraid to go see him. He must be mad at me."

Xiuxiu suddenly realized: "That's right, I was confused. I even dirtied the adults' clothes that time. Besides, Grandpa Zhen didn't blame you. He's a kind and generous man who doesn't ask for anything in return."

"A benevolent and charitable man? It turns out that Old Master Zhen was a great philanthropist?" Yang Shengqiu was both surprised and delighted.

Perhaps his emotions affected Xiuxiu, who became somewhat excited: "Yes, Grandpa Zhen is very generous. A relative came to borrow five taels of silver, and Grandpa Zhen lent it to him without even thinking about it, without even asking the person to write an IOU."

Yang Shengqiu's lips twitched. Five taels of silver without an IOU? Is this considered philanthropy?

Xiuxiu continued, "And another thing, last time when I went to buy meat with Grandpa Zhen, we encountered a stray dog ​​that was so hungry it was skin and bones. Grandpa Zhen gave the dog a big piece of meat without saying a word. Ah, I have never seen such a generous person as Grandpa Zhen."

Yang Shengqiu. (End of this chapter)