Miao Chu

Chapter 212 Name
Song Miao nodded and asked, "Is there something you need, young master?"

Han Li hesitated for a moment before saying, "There's something that involves both public and private matters, and I'd like to ask for your help."

"The boatmen who helped capture Lü Mao tonight were chosen by me because of the time constraints and the fear of leaks. Those who did the hard work were all people I trusted on the river."

"Although Lü Mao has been captured, the case is not yet closed, and it is unknown whether he has any accomplices or remnants. Therefore, it is not advisable to publicize it so as not to cause the boatmen to seek revenge later. However, Magistrate Cen and the Inspector have specially requested a sum of money as a reward."

At this point, he added, "The fact that we were able to catch this person this time is all thanks to the timely discovery by stall owner Song. You deserve the credit and will naturally receive a reward. However, apart from Huazhou, the lion's share will come from the capital prefectural government. Once the case is settled, Kong Fuyang and I will both keep an eye on it and try to get you credit."

Song Miao readily agreed.

Upon learning that such a villain as Lü Mao had been captured, she was overjoyed and said with a smile, "Although it is not the greatest achievement, I am very happy to have contributed a little. I will not stand on ceremony with you, young master. Thank you for your kindness! Such a reward makes me very proud!"

He then asked, "So what is the purpose of this help?"

At midnight, when it is darkest before sunrise, even with lanterns, a single lamp can only cast dim light on people's faces, making it difficult to see them clearly.

But just from that light and cheerful voice, Han Li felt he could already imagine the expression on the other person's face.

When he was doing his job, he was just doing the job. But when he finally caught the person, he was thinking more about how to deal with him afterwards, how to wrap things up, and how to connect with the capital government. On one hand, he had to interrogate the person, and on the other hand, he had to speed up the delivery of the interrogation results to the capital and issue orders to all the prefectures to quickly rescue the other abducted victims. He was not relaxed at all.

But hearing such a voice and seeing such a reaction, his heart inexplicably felt joyful, and for no reason, his face seemed to glow.

His shoulders, which had been tense, relaxed naturally at this moment, and his tone became relaxed without him realizing it. He said, "Leaving aside the others who helped patrol the river, they were hired by the government and they distributed their own money. Outsiders shouldn't interfere. But there were seven main men and ten assistants. I sent someone to knock on their doors in the middle of the night. As for the boatman, I went to tell him myself. I plan to have him come to the official post station after work, firstly to collect his money, and secondly to ask him about some things in detail."

"Since you're here, it's not good to just sit around—could you spare a moment to help prepare some late-night snacks?"

"Of course," Song Miao said with a smile. "It's a small matter. I just wonder when they'll arrive, and if there will only be about twenty people in total?"

Han Li nodded and said, "It's not necessary to do it yourself. You rarely get a break, so you can go out and buy some snacks and a simple drink. It doesn't have to be too complicated."

“But it would be even better if we could have something delicious to eat, wouldn’t it?” Song Miao asked with a smile.

Han Li couldn't shake his head at all. He paused for a moment and said, "If I said no, I would just be being polite, but you rarely get a day off..."

Song Miao found it amusing and said, "Young master, you paid me money, yet you still worry about this and that. Do you not have the surname Han anymore, but instead changed it to Fan?"

She smiled and said, "Don't worry, young master, you think too highly of me—if I'm too busy or tired, I'll say so myself, I won't force myself!"

He added, “It just so happens that the river work is nearing its end. These past few days, Minister Wu and his men have been checking the materials and accounts day and night. The night before last, he specifically told me that he had been eating at the public kitchen for many days and was thinking about the cooking skills of our own little kitchen every day. In that case, let’s make more tomorrow so that when people come back, they can have an extra late-night snack. It’s not just about giving and receiving. So, young master, keep an eye on Young Master Kong and ask him to write the reward application in a nicer way as a return gift. What do you think?”

Han Li readily agreed, saying, "There's another matter..."

He hesitated for a moment, swallowing back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Seeing this, Song Miao asked, "What is it?"

Han Li paused, then changed the subject, only mentioning that Xiang Yuan had succumbed to his injuries.

Song Miao was extremely surprised and hurriedly asked what had happened.

Han Li explained the whole story, and then said, "The investigation is still ongoing, but some officials have already come forward to testify that he secretly informed Lü Mao when he knocked on the door. Also, when they were chasing Lü Mao, he was stopped at the side door and asked him for the key. He claimed that the manager had kept it and that he did not have the key with him."

"But when Lü Mao took off his shirt, a bunch of keys fell to the ground. The homeowner pointed them out, and the key to the side door was among them."

Song Miao simply couldn't understand it, saying, "How could anyone not want to catch such a villain as Lü Mao quickly, but instead help him—to the point of risking their life?!"

Han Li shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's because of business dealings; there are too many entanglements involved."

"The matter concerning this person is still undecided, so let's not talk about him for now to avoid misunderstandings. However, he has a young son named Liang Yan, who is an old acquaintance of yours. I was afraid you would be anxious, so I came to let you know first. But don't worry too much. According to the Xiang family, after Xiang Yuan's seventh day memorial, he will be sent to the capital. At that time, you will both be in the capital, so you will be able to see each other often."

At this point, he turned to look at the eastern horizon, and seeing that it was almost dawn, he quickly said, "It's really too late. You should be resting at this time. I won't say any more, lest I disturb your sleep."

After speaking, he raised the lantern in his hand and, just like last time, lit the way for Song Miao.

Song Miao hurriedly said, "Young Master, you should go back and rest early. I'm the one who has kept you in vain."

The two said their goodbyes and went back to their respective rooms.

Song Miao lived alone, and with the door closed, she had no qualms about going back to bed for another nap.

In the other room, Han Li shared a room with Kong Fuyang. He quietly went back to his room, washed up and rested without making a sound.

Meanwhile, Kong Fuyang, having been busy all day, slept soundly through the night.

He used to get up at the crack of dawn to practice martial arts when he was at the Imperial Academy. Now, knowing that he would have to lead people to check and verify the river the next day and reconcile accounts, he woke up as soon as it was time. He got up, lifted the curtain, and saw that the window was wide open and a person was sitting at a table, writing rapidly with a pen.

Kong Fuyang was immediately startled. He rubbed his eyes, looked closely, and hurriedly slipped on his shoes and got out of bed. As he walked towards the table, he asked, "Zhengyan? When did you get back?"

He added, "I waited for you until midnight, and even prepared water for you to wash up. Did you see that? What happened last night that made you come back so late and then leave again?"

Han Li did not reply immediately, but finished writing a sentence in his hand before replying: "I returned around 1:15 AM. When I got back, I found that the water for washing up had been prepared, the kettle was full of water, and they had also prepared some snacks for me—thank you!"

As he spoke, his pen continued to move, though the speed slowed slightly.

Seeing this, Kong Fuyang couldn't help but step forward and say, "You only got back at 1:00 AM, what are you writing now? Don't you need to sleep? This isn't how you work as a laborer. You think you're something special..."

He was about to speak when he had already walked to the table.

Two pages of manuscript paper lay drying to the side. Kong Fuyang glanced at them and saw the words "Xin Feng" at the top. He couldn't help but exclaim "Eh!" and immediately forgot what he was going to say. He stood there and started reading.

He first craned his neck to look, reading several lines of text. The more he read, the more his head tilted to the side, almost twisting into a gummy bear shape. It was quite sore, so he simply walked to the other side, reached out and picked up the manuscript to read it carefully. After finishing the first page, he hurriedly went to find the second page, then the third. Finally, he skimmed through it from beginning to end, but couldn't help turning back to the very beginning and reciting each word aloud.

Several times he muttered to himself, shaking his head, clearly having already grasped the next sentence, but then he would flip back to reread the previous one.

There were only three sheets of paper, and the characters were quite large—I suppose it was because I started writing before it was fully light and there was no lamp on, so I had no choice but to do so—it was only a few hundred words in total.

But it took Kong Fuyang more than fifteen minutes to read this short article of only a few hundred words.

His memory was quite good; though not photographic, he could remember most of what he read after reading it twice. Even so, he stared at the paper, unwilling to let go. After a long while, he let out a long sigh and said, "I always thought your writing style was sharp and incisive, but it turns out it can be like this too..."

Kong Fuyang thought for a while, trying to find a word to describe it, but he felt that no word was suitable or sufficient.

He was momentarily melancholy, but soon that melancholy turned into sarcasm. He said, "Cai Xiu even said that his writing style is different from yours, and he's been spreading rumors that 'Cai is vigorous and Han is sharp and incisive,' and that they're 'on par.' How could he have the nerve to say that!"

At this point, he suddenly seemed to realize something, quickly flipping to the second page of the paper in his hand, focusing on a particular passage, reading it over and over again, and urgently asking, "Zhengyan, Lü Mao has been captured??? You went to arrest him last night???"

This time, Han Li finally put the pen back on the pen holder, turned around and replied, "I've been caught—didn't I write it down?"

Kong Fuyang stood there, stunned.

He was surprised, delighted, and bewildered all at once, asking, "What's going on? Where did this clue come from? Who is this 'traveling merchant'? How could it be so sudden? I was involved in this case, how come I know nothing about it?"

He had a lot of questions to ask.

Han Li then explained to him everything that wasn't written on the paper: how Song Miao discovered the clues, how she told him, how he went to the yamen, how he persuaded Cen Dezhang and the patrol inspector, how he arranged for someone to go and find a group of familiar boatmen, and how he finally explained the matters to the old boatman whom Lü Mao had chosen early on.

Each and every incident was interconnected; no matter where there was a mistake or oversight, it would have been impossible to capture Lü Mao so completely.

After saying that, he added, "This time, a boatman made a great contribution. When you write your report to the emperor in the future, don't forget to include him in your report."

Kong Fuyang obediently responded, and then, as if gradually realizing what was happening, said, "So that Rui Fusheng is Lü Mao—no wonder Miss Song came to ask me if I had seen the scar on Rui Fusheng's hand!"

He was so regretful he wanted to slap his thigh, filled with anger and rage, and couldn't help but curse, "I was so stupid! That treacherous villain! He clearly had a mole on his hand, yet he was so cunning and ruthless, even willing to cut off his own flesh!"

As he spoke, he gently tidied up the Chinese manuscript in his hand and asked, "Should this copy be sent back to the capital as soon as possible?"

Han Li shook his head and said, "Let's leave it for now and see how many victims we can save later."

Kong Fuyang nodded and was about to go wash up when he suddenly noticed another manuscript in front of Han Li. He couldn't help but wonder, "Why are you still writing—wasn't this manuscript finished?"

Han Li picked up the two pages in front of him, examined them, and seeing that there were no wet ink stains, handed them to Kong Fuyang, saying, "This is a petition for merit. I have written a part of it, and you can take it as a reference."

Kong Fuyang was puzzled and said, "Didn't I say I would write it?"

As he spoke, he took it and looked down at it.

Han Li said, "It's also under your name. You can change it as you like. Once it's finished, it will naturally be your writing. These two parts are the ones I've experienced the most and know the details best. Even if I write them, no one may read them. After all, she has made so many contributions and has such abilities. It would be a pity to gloss over them."

Kong Fuyang, however, had long since lost the ability to listen to what he was saying. He was only staring at the manuscript in front of him. After a long while, he cursed, "How am I supposed to write about other people's work like this! How am I supposed to bring myself to revise it?! You might as well force me to my death!!"

***
Unlike Han and Kong, who got up early and were busy with their affairs, Song Miao, who was on her day off, had a rare and very restful sleep.

Before going to sleep, she thought about the Xiang family again. After hearing Han Li talk about Xiang Yuan's actions, no matter how much she knew that the dead were respected, she still couldn't help but curse that he deserved it.

If Lü Mao were to escape, countless people would suffer greatly.

As for Liang Yan, he must be heartbroken, but Xiang Yuan clearly treated him more as a tool than a friend. A short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one; every cloud has a silver lining.

He is Xiang Yuan's adopted son, and he will likely be busy with keeping vigil and kneeling to welcome the deceased these next few days. I will not disturb him for now. I will wait until the Xiang family is less busy before I go and see if there is anything I can do to help and offer some words of comfort. At times like these, nothing I say will help; time will tell.

Before she could think about anything else, Song Miao fell asleep.

This was a half-sleep, long and deep, without any dreams, and very pleasant. When she woke up, her eyes were already open, and she could hear some birds chirping and cicadas chirping noisily outside.

A good night's sleep leads to a good mood.

Hearing these guys competing to see who could shout the loudest, Song Miao wasn't annoyed at all. After stretching comfortably, she leaned against the headboard with a thick cloth pillow and listened with her ear turned to the side.

I studied the birds’ chatter for a moment—it sounded like three or four birds were arguing, and one of them had won the argument and was now flapping its wings and chirping in circles, looking quite pleased with itself.

I took a closer look at the cicadas' calls—they were quite orderly, calling out almost simultaneously and stopping at the same time, with occasional pauses in between. But the silence would only last a few breaths before one impatient cicada tentatively opened its mouth, and the rest would join in the cacophony.

After carefully evaluating the two versions based on timbre, tone, and pleasing sound, Song Miao mentally scored them and ranked them – the little bird's smugness was still more pleasant to listen to.

After lying down for a while, until her tailbone was a little numb from lying down for so long and her stomach was growling with hunger, Song Miao got up and washed up with satisfaction.

Dabing got up early and saw Song Miao come out. He hurriedly came forward to greet her and said that he had left breakfast for her. He asked Song Miao to remember to eat it and asked if there was anything he could do for her.

Song Miao smiled and thanked her, then replied, "Yes, I really do. I'll make a midnight snack tonight."

She listed a bunch of things, including various beans, lotus seeds, ginkgo nuts, Job's tears, and so on, and told Dabing to soak them first. She also mentioned some fresh seasonings, such as scallions, garlic, and coriander.

After soaking the ingredients and counting everything, Da Bing returned and said, "There's no coriander in the kitchen today, and the scallions aren't the kind you usually use, so I'll go buy some—I'll be back after you've had breakfast!"

But before Song Miao could even eat a few bites of breakfast, Dabing rushed back and whispered, "Wife, Liang Yan seems to be outside—he doesn't look too good..."

(End of this chapter)