Miao Chu

Chapter 52 Mediation
He Qi turned to look at Zhu Jie'er.

The latter pretended not to see anything, still staring longingly at Song Miao, and then took off a small purse from her waist and offered it to Song Miao, saying, "Sister, can I trade this for some fried eggs with you?"

The purse was no bigger than a child's fist, yet it was embroidered with dragonflies standing on lotus flowers with dewdrops in gold thread, along with a pond, lotus leaves, pavilions, and even two lines of poetry. It was exquisitely made of the finest silk.

Regardless of what's inside, the embroidery alone is worth enough to buy hundreds of eggs.

Before Song Miao could refuse, a maid who followed behind her was startled and said, "Miss, you have a weak stomach, you can't eat random things!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhu Jie'er blinked her eyes and tears immediately fell. She opened her mouth and began to wail, calling out "Seventh Brother" again.

He Qi quickly said to the maid, "It's alright to eat an egg or two. If your aunt asks when you get home, just say I was watching over you and that's when you ordered it!"

Before the girl could speak, the old woman who had spoken earlier quickly said, "It's alright, Seventh Master and I are both here. Your brother just fell off the carriage and broke his foot. He can't move at all. I've been looking for liniment in the carriage for half a day, but I haven't found any. You should go back and check on him first!"

Sure enough, two little girls pulled her aside, insisting on taking her out.

The maid had no choice but to go. As she walked, she kept muttering to herself, glancing back at Song Miao, looking at the furnishings inside the door, and staring at the signboard of the Song Family Restaurant.

As soon as she left, Zhu Jie'er's tears stopped as if by magic, she didn't even bother to wipe them away, she just held the purse up a little higher and urged Song Miao to accept it.

Song Miao didn't dare to answer. She went to look at He Qi first. Seeing that the latter nodded helplessly, she smiled and closed Zhu Jie'er's hand, pushed it back, and said, "It's just a fried egg. You don't need to bring anything to exchange for it. I'll treat our Zhu Jie'er to it."

As she spoke, she indeed took an egg, cracked it into a bowl, and beat it.

Seeing that Zhu Jie kept touching the jasmine flower tucked in her hair, she asked, "How about I make Zhu Jie some jasmine flowers and fry them into eggs? They'll smell delicious."

Zhu Jie'er was so excited that she kept asking questions, first how to stir-fry jasmine flowers, and then whether eating them would turn her into a jasmine fairy with a fragrant body.

He Qi quickly pulled her aside and instructed, "Don't move around. If you disturb the stall owner Song while he's frying the eggs, the flowers won't smell good anymore."

Zhu Jie'er immediately shut her mouth, clutching the small purse, looking very nervous.

Song Miao picked some jasmine flowers, removed the stamens, calyxes, and stems, leaving only the petals that retained the shape of the jasmine flowers. She blanched them lightly in salt water, mixed them with egg liquid, and added a small spoonful of the milk that Bei Zhi had brought back. She then quickly stir-fried them on both sides in a hot pan with hot oil.

This time she used vegetable oil and stir-fried very lightly. As soon as the eggs solidified, she took them out and served them to Zhu Jie'er. It was a small plate of tender scrambled eggs with the fragrance of jasmine and a hint of milk.

Holding the plate, Zhu Jie kept praising, "It smells so good," "I love jasmine," and "The flowers are so beautiful." She happily thanked him and sat down on the cushion next to He Qi.

He Qi teased her, "Give your seventh brother a bite?"

She hesitated for a moment, looking very troubled, but finally actually took out her chopsticks and offered a bite.

He Qi wasn't joking; he actually took the plate from the table and accepted the bite of food from his sister.

The brother and sister sat side by side eating jasmine flower scrambled eggs.

This time, the scrambled eggs were different from the previous ones with bamboo shoots and fried eggs. They were very fluffy, more tender and smooth than any scrambled eggs He Qi had ever eaten before. The egg flavor was accompanied by a faint milky aroma and the fragrance of jasmine.

It has a very fresh taste and a very pleasant texture.

One bite isn't even enough to fill a gap between your teeth!

He couldn't help but glance at his sister's bowl and asked, "Can Zhu'er finish this? We're going to visit the Tian family later, will they offer you some food? Do you need your brother's help?"

Zhu Jie quickly showed him with her actions that she didn't have enough to eat either—after finishing the last bite of the fried egg, she revealed the bare bottom of the bowl, glared at He Qi, put the bowl down, and then kept praising Song Miao, saying that she had never eaten such delicious scrambled eggs before and that she would ask her family to fry them for her with jasmine flowers every day from now on.

After praising her, she wanted to chat with Song Miao, asking how her cooking could be so delicious, and also asking if, besides jasmine, other flowers could be used to stir-fry eggs, when to stir-fry them, and if she could come and play while they were stir-frying.

She asked a few questions, and Song Miao answered them one by one, counting many flowers. Seeing that the child was actually taking notes seriously, she finally smiled and said, "Actually, there is another flower called the Golden Bird Flower, which is also very suitable for stir-frying with eggs. The petals of this flower are very sweet, and the calyx is a little crispy, but it is only found in Yunnan and is not easy to find in the capital."

Zhu Jie'er listened intently and asked, "What does a goldenrod look like?"

Song Miao described it to her, and finally said, "I've only eaten it a few times by chance, and the taste is indeed unique."

When the children asked questions, Song Miao answered, and He Qi listened patiently without interrupting. After they finished talking about flowers, He Qi made an excuse, took his sister's hand, and said goodbye.

In front of Zhu Jie'er, he dared not say much. But when he went out, he desperately tried to wink at Song Miao, his eyes lingering on the bamboo basket on the ground filled with bamboo shoots, and another basin of ingredients that he didn't recognize, which were soaking in water.

There was still a lingering smell of smoke in the room. After seeing the brother and sister off, Song Miao didn't rush to close the door, even though it was broad daylight.

She took the bamboo shoots and slowly peeled them. Then she took a thick needle and pierced the peeled bamboo shoots vertically a dozen or so times, intending to make stuffed bamboo shoots for herself.

The pomelo peel had been soaking for too long, so it's good to use it for fermentation as well.

Leaving aside Song Miao preparing these two dishes, on the other hand, Han Li and Qin Zong took a detour and returned to the entrance of Suanzao Alley. After asking the people still guarding the place, they were told that several policemen had brought out a young woman pushing a cart that morning.

Upon learning that the young woman who had been taken away lived in the house opposite the one he was watching, the inspector Qin Zong had invited became anxious and hurriedly said, "Don't underestimate those hooligans. There are many people in the patrol station, and if you pay enough money, they might be able to help spread the word."

He then said to Qin Zong, "You revealed your identity last night. If that young lady gets questioned by the patrol officers, it will make the neighbor across the street more wary and harder to catch her."

Qin Zong was questioned repeatedly by Han Li. Although he felt uneasy, he had been busy all night and felt that he had not made any mistakes. He felt somewhat wronged. Now that the inspector said the same thing, he panicked. Fearing that he had done all his work in vain, he urged himself to hurry to the patrol post.

In order to save time, he even summoned a patrolman from the neighborhood to take a shortcut.

However, when the group arrived at the location, they thought it would take some effort to find out the information, but the first person they asked knew the so-called "sour jujube alley stall owner".

"Is it that Miss Song who sells glutinous rice and shumai?"

The police officer being questioned immediately became wary. Seeing the badge Qin Zong showed, he was still uneasy and asked, "Are you from the Kyoto Prefectural Government? What do you want with her? What did she do wrong? Is it serious?"

His words revealed a deep concern.

Coincidentally, this man was the same police officer who was in charge that morning.

When he learned that the students were very worried because breakfast was late and the stall owner had been taken away by the police, he breathed a sigh of relief and told them the whole story, only saying that Miss Song had come to report to the authorities yesterday and that he had invited her here today for questioning.

Finally, he added, "Stopkeeper Song is a living, breathing person, and his stall is naturally adaptable. He can set up his stall wherever business is good; he doesn't have to be confined to the gate of the Imperial Academy!"

He added, “For example, her food was selling very well here today—but she’s already gone back. She only asked a few questions and nothing else.”

They then asked the group what their relationship was with the students of the Imperial Academy.

Knowing that Miss Song was alright and had already returned home, the group didn't say much and took their leave.

As soon as they stepped outside, Qin Zong said, "What the constable said wasn't entirely true, but it was somewhat believable. It seems that this matter doesn't have much to do with the neighbor across the street." Han Li remained silent.

The patrol inspector standing nearby couldn't stand it anymore and said, "You're thinking too simply. You shouldn't believe even a fraction of his nonsense. If an ordinary person comes to report to the authorities and is neither dead nor injured, and nothing is stolen, the patrol station won't bother them for ten or eight years. If someone hadn't pulled some strings behind the scenes, why would they have come to arrest someone so early in the morning?"

Qin Zong suddenly realized what was going on, but couldn't help asking again, "But they captured people, then quickly released them without causing them any trouble, and even bought all the food they sold. What were they after?"

The inspector said, "Isn't it difficult to arrest someone and bring them to the patrol post? But it's strange to release them so early. I'm afraid that young lady has some tricks up her sleeve."

He added, "We'll have to go there anyway, we'll find out soon enough by asking."

At this point, Han Li, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, "Perhaps there aren't that many reasons, it's just that the glutinous rice and shumai she makes are really delicious."

Qin Zong exclaimed in surprise, "Huh?"

The inspector beside him chuckled, looked Han Li up and down, and said, "I only found out last night when Qin Zong mentioned it that Brother Han is the one who scolded Minister Cao's family for their cockfighting last time. My wife was very angry when she heard your story—since you study so well at the Imperial Academy and write such good articles, you should be working at the Censorate. Why did you come to our capital prefectural government office?"

He added, “The left and right patrol officers are always out in the wind and rain. They usually only catch a few petty thieves and criminals. They don’t even have two major cases all year round. Even if they do, they don’t end up in our hands. They all go to the Provincial Criminal Division.”

As he spoke, his tone gradually took on a different, more nuanced quality: "We men who do odd jobs, no matter how hard or tiring it is, no one sees what we do. How can we compare to you guys who can wield a pen? You can say a few words so easily, without even moving your buttocks, and the word will spread throughout the city and beyond. Even the Emperor has to look at those words over and over again."

Qin Zong didn't think anything of it at first, but when he heard the rest, he realized something was wrong, and it was too late to stop him.

He had always known Han Li's temper and knew that he was someone who would not tolerate the slightest grievance. If he were to turn on him to his face, who could out-argue him?
But this inspector is indeed quite capable; he's just too stubborn and proud, otherwise he wouldn't have remained an inspector for so many years and never been able to climb the ranks.

He was hoping to learn a few tricks, but if Brother Han scolded the real worker away, he would have to find someone else, which would be troublesome.
Embarrassed, Qin Zong quickly advised, "Inspector Xin, Brother Han is not only a skilled writer, he used to..."

"You mean, he worked for officials from other states for two years before?" Inspector Xin laughed. "I know. He hasn't even reported for duty yet. Judge Qin gave instructions early on, saying that this newcomer, Han Li, is no ordinary student. He told his subordinates not to order him around casually, and if he needs anything, they should call on him and not refuse, but to lend a hand."

As he spoke, his laughter grew even more sarcastic: "Can the outlying states compare to the capital? Outlying states might only have a few petty thieves a year, while the capital has countless complicated cases every day?"

"I've been working in the prefectural government for over twenty years, and this is the first time I've heard of a student being transferred here who isn't being used by us, but rather we're being used by him—I bet when I was working there, there were still people in the womb!"

“I have a bad temper. I say what I mean to your face and I won’t do anything underhanded behind your back.” He rested his hand on the cane at his waist. “I came out today not for any small benefit, but because I heard that there are indeed problems with that house.”

"To order me around, you can't just rely on being able to write a few neat words."

After he finished speaking, he glanced sideways at Han Li.

Qin Zong knew something was wrong and quickly stepped forward to stand between the two.

However, contrary to his expectations, Han Li did not show any anger. Instead, he said, "Is it Inspector Xin Feng?"

"What, you're going to write down my name so you can go and complain to Master Qin?"

Xin Feng snorted coldly: "Go ahead and sue me, without even asking around. Have I ever been afraid of any official? Even if the Prefect of the Capital comes..."

He paused, about to speak again, but then heard Han Li say, "I know Inspector Xin's name and many of his deeds. When I visited yesterday, Master Qin gave me a separate introduction, saying that among the many inspectors in the Left and Right Patrol Offices, Inspector Xin is the most meticulous, the most capable, the most down-to-earth, the most unafraid of hardship, and never afraid of difficulties."

After Han Li finished using the word "most," Xin Feng slowed his pace considerably, slightly turning his body to look directly at Han Li instead of glancing sideways. He then gave a soft "humph" and said, "You don't need to say nice things about me here..."

"In the first month of the third year of Guixin, a group of masked thieves robbed a house at night and even killed the homeowner. Many others investigated but found nothing. Only Inspector Xin worked day and night, even skipping the Lantern Festival, and chased after them for eight days. Finally, he cornered the thieves in Xiangfu County."

"The inspector, leading only two county constables, faced seven or eight ruthless bandits. He refused to yield an inch, even after being slashed twice. If he hadn't been so courageous and resourceful, how could he have kept the bandits at bay until the officials arrived to help, forcing them to surrender and clearing the victim's name?"

"Such merit cannot be achieved by Han simply writing a few words."

As the person in front of him slowly recounted his proudest achievements, praising and extolling him, Xin Feng felt an itch not only in his heart but also in his throat.

He coughed lightly twice and said, "What's the point of talking about things from so many years ago? Now I'm just a lowly inspector..."

However, she couldn't help but puff out her chest.

Han Li continued, "Official Qin specifically instructed me that after I arrive at the yamen, I should consult Inspector Xin as much as possible, whether there's anything to discuss or not. Don't be afraid of losing face; although the Inspector is a bit straightforward, he's an upright person..."

"I have been traveling and studying with my teachers for several years. Although I have seen others handle cases, my experience is still shallow. I have only gained some fame because I have written a few articles. But I am young now and have a long road ahead. Today I am here on temporary assignment, but I also hope to learn from you all and do something real, so as not to waste my time."

"I'd rather strike a golden bell once than break three thousand drums—I'm shameless, and though I may be a bit presumptuous, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble Inspector Xin to give me some guidance in the future."

As he spoke, he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect.

Inspector Xin was so startled that he quickly put down his baton, stood still, and bowed respectfully.

After he finished bowing, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

—This guy's just trying to fool me, isn't he? And he's doing it so sweetly, who could resist?
However, after muttering to himself, he couldn't help but think: Even if he's just trying to fool me, he's new here, how would he know all these things about me? It's probably really because Judge Qin specially introduced me.

Then I thought: So the higher-ups know how capable I am, but why don't they ever promote me?

I thought to myself: He spoke so solemnly just now, and I could tell he really respected me. Why should I argue with a student? His writing is so good; he's a master of the pen. He can not only criticize Cao Cao but also praise people. He praised me like that. If I give him a hand, it will only bring good things in the future. Why was I so sarcastic just now?
After thinking about all this, he felt awkward. He coughed a few times and said, "Brother Han, I, Lao Xin, am a bit blunt. It's not directed at you. If you're willing to learn, just come to me if you don't understand anything. If you need help, just call out. Even if you don't know how, we'll teach you a few times. You're so smart, you'll learn it all!"

He was a little embarrassed by the sudden change, scratched the back of his head, and said, "I'll go take a look at the front."

Seeing that Xin Feng indeed quickened his pace and took the lead, Qin Zong, who was staring in disbelief, couldn't help but turn around and ask, "Brother Han, when did you become so good-tempered and so good at praising people? How come you've never treated me like this before?"

He then asked, "I had no idea that Inspector Xin had such a story. Why didn't Fourth Brother tell me?"

"If you were to capture a few bandits and get slashed a couple of times yourself, I'd still be this lenient with you," Han Li said calmly. "A man who does the work does the work; his blood and sweat weren't shed in vain."

Just then, Xin Feng returned, looking rather embarrassed. He first smiled at Qin Zong, hesitated for a moment, and then said to Han Li, "Brother Han, may I speak with you in private?"

Han Li readily agreed, and sure enough, the two walked to the side.

"Brother Han, what else did Judge Qin say about me? Did he say anything about what I, Old Xin, did wrong, or what I did right?"

After mustering his courage for a long time, Xin Feng finally asked the question.

After decades of hard work and struggle, he's still just a patrol inspector. How could he possibly not want a promotion?

He'd already lost face once, so he wasn't afraid of losing it again. After all, he was just on temporary assignment, and besides, he usually cursed either the prime minister or the imperial relatives, so he figured they wouldn't bother with him!
Here, Han and Xin were talking alone, while Qin Zong walked alone behind them, his mind blank.

—Of all things, I invited these people myself, and they all seemed difficult to talk to. It looked like they were about to start arguing. At first, I thought I would try to mediate and show my ability to take charge and mediate. But in the end, it seemed like I had nothing to do with them, and it was as if they were the ones who were all in the same boat.

How long have you known each other? You've only exchanged a few words!
Thank you so much to the beautiful rich lady and book friend 20250308195026824 for sending me these amulets! =3=
Thank you to my sweetheart at the bookstore for this little gift :)
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(End of this chapter)