Gu Yun had just dropped off the book chest at the bookshop when he headed to the market to buy vegetables.
Lin Yue would not be returning for lunch, but he still needed to eat. Since he was already buying ingredients, he might as well purchase the evening’s vegetables too.
However, Gu Yun did not understand the weighing scales used here, nor did he know what tricks the vendors might play with them. So after entering the market, he did not rush to buy anything. Instead, he stood to one side observing which stalls were favoured by elderly customers.
Yesterday, they had bought vegetables together with the landlord’s family. By coincidence, he happened to run into them again today.
After watching for a while, Gu Yun quickly found a stall to his liking. Squatting down with the bamboo basket he had borrowed from home in hand, he picked out a large basketful of vegetables.
Ancient times were unlike the modern world. Every season had its own produce. Although the variety was limited, everything was fresh and exceptionally clean.
The vegetable seller was overjoyed at the sight and threw in a handful of dried spring onion leaves for free.
In total, Gu Yun spent twenty-five wen.
When Lin Yue left that morning, he had given him some money, though not much. It was not that Lin Yue was stingy, but rather that Gu Yun himself did not want to carry too much.
If he carried too much money on him, he would worry about accidents and become anxious.
After buying the vegetables, Gu Yun still did not hurry away. He first asked the vendor how to use the scales, then went to the street behind the market and bought the garlic seeds, spring onion seeds, and coriander seeds he had long been thinking about. Originally, he had also wanted onion and fennel seeds, but after considering that the jar was not large enough to plant so many things, he painfully gave up on the idea.
Once he had wrapped up the seeds properly, he headed home, only to run into the landlord’s family again on the way.
They were there buying meat, specifically a slab of streaky pork with a good balance of fat and lean meat.
Catching sight of Gu Yun, the woman seemed to recall how the landlord had told the tenants that the family barely scraped by on rental income. She promptly tugged up the sackcloth draped beneath the bamboo basket and covered the meat.
Gu Yun’s gaze lingered briefly on the contents of the basket before he casually looked away again. Smiling faintly, he greeted her.
Seeing this, the woman brushed aside a few strands of hair hanging by her cheek and walked over. As she asked what vegetables he had bought, she also complained that vegetable prices kept rising.
Since Gu Yun had never bought vegetables before, he was rather surprised. “They keep going up?”
“Yes!” the woman replied. After hearing what vegetables he had bought, she said, “Last year, those would have cost only twenty-eight wen. Before that, perhaps even twenty-five wen would have done. I truly don’t know why prices have risen so sharply.”
Gu Yun thought to himself that rising food prices were either related to the heavens or to human affairs.
The woman continued, “What does your husband do? How’s the income? Did you pay taxes this year in Zhuyang? If not, the village head will come collecting taxes next month. There are all sorts of taxes. I cannot say exactly how much, but I know it will be a huge sum. If you still haven’t registered your household, hurry and do it at the yamen. Otherwise, if the village head finds out, you’ll be fined…”
Gu Yun frowned.
The woman smiled. “Our county is already much better than some others. Some counties have to pay far more than we do! I heard that even beggars have to pay money there. If they cannot pay, they get beaten and driven out of the county.”
As they chatted, the two reached the street in front of their residence.
The woman suddenly stopped and tugged at Gu Yun’s sleeve. “Look, aren’t those people watching our courtyard?”
Following her gaze, Gu Yun looked over and saw several men seated inside the wineshop to their left. While drinking, they kept their eyes fixed on the slightly shabby courtyard tucked amongst the surrounding houses.
One of them looked somewhat familiar. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Jailer Feng.
Why was he here?
Magistrate Wang…
A bad feeling immediately rose in Gu Yun’s heart.
At that moment, Jailer Feng seemed to sense someone watching him and turned his head. Gu Yun reacted swiftly, turning his face away at once and pretending to look elsewhere.
Two ordinary women. One of them could not even be seen clearly, but that did nothing to lessen the utterly plain impression she gave off.
Jailer Feng quickly withdrew his gaze and resumed staring towards the courtyard.
“What’s wrong?” the woman asked sharply, having sensed something amiss.
Only after confirming the danger had passed did Gu Yun straighten himself again. Yet he understood that the moment he entered the courtyard, trouble would inevitably follow. So he stopped where he was, handed the vegetable basket to the woman, and asked her to help carry it back.
“Hm?” the woman responded.
Gu Yun said, “I forgot to buy something.”
“What did you forget?”
Gu Yun hesitated awkwardly. “This… it’s a little difficult to say.”
The woman suddenly burst into laughter. Nudging him lightly with her shoulder, she lowered her voice and said, “Your monthly bleeding came? Go on then. Do you know where to buy those things?”
Gu Yun froze for a moment, rubbed his ear, then gave a faint nod.
“Hurry along!” the woman urged.
Gu Yun left immediately.
The first thing he had to do was inform Lin Yue, otherwise Lin Yue might walk straight into the trap after finishing work.
He was not worried about making a wasted trip to the worksite. Judging by the time, the midday break should already be over, and Lin Yue ought to be working.
More importantly, he needed to discuss countermeasures with Lin Yue. But exactly how to bring up the matter required careful thought, lest he accidentally expose his true identity.
Previously, when Gu Yun had encountered Magistrate Wang and the others, he had never imagined they would continue pursuing him so relentlessly.
Right now, he was “a woman”, Lin Yue’s nominal wife. Aside from resembling that fugitive who had caused the yamen to lose two constables, he had no connection whatsoever.
But he had underestimated a county magistrate who had spent many years navigating officialdom, and he also did not understand just how significant Lin Yue was to the other man.
…
Under the bright sunshine, the sounds of bricklaying and mortar mixing echoed all around.
Standing at the entrance to the worksite, Gu Yun peered inside but did not see Lin Yue. The heavy smell of sweat that rushed towards him made him unconsciously wrinkle his nose.
The old master craftsman was using an ink line to inspect whether his apprentice’s wall had been built properly. Catching sight of Gu Yun from the corner of his eye, he walked over.
He still remembered Gu Yun.
Gu Yun greeted him politely and properly. The old master craftsman asked whether he had come looking for Lin Yue.
“Is he not here?” Gu Yun asked.
“Brother Lin had something to deal with. He’ll come later,” the old craftsman replied. “Someone came by earlier to tell me.”
After thinking for a moment, he added, “That man carried the air of an official about him. Looked like someone from the yamen. I reckon Brother Lin is there right now. But the fellow spoke very politely to me, so I doubt Brother Lin was dragged into the yamen for committing some crime. More likely someone there asked him to handle a matter. Lin-niangzi, there’s no need for you to worry.”
The old master craftsman tried to reassure him.
After thanking him, Gu Yun turned and headed towards the yamen.
He could not help wondering why Lin Yue had gone there.
Still, he was not especially surprised that Lin Yue had dealings with the local yamen. Previously, he had already seen people from the yamen come looking for Lin Yue, carrying a thin letter.
Recalling what Lin Yue had said that morning:
“I have something to do at noon. I won’t be coming back for lunch.”
Gu Yun wondered whether the matter was connected to the yamen.
Lin Yue felt like an enormous mystery, frustrating beyond belief, yet impossible to make sense of no matter how hard one tried.
Filled with unease, Gu Yun quickly reached the street near the yamen.
At that moment, a chaotic flurry of footsteps sounded behind him.
Gu Yun hurriedly stepped aside, only to discover that the people rushing over were none other than Jailer Feng and his group, the same men who had been squatting at the wineshop earlier. Their expressions were ugly as they ran towards…
That was… The Feng residence?
They were running towards the Feng residence?
Startled, Gu Yun instinctively lowered the head he had just raised upon recognising them.
Before he could understand what was happening, he saw thick black smoke rising above the Feng family estate.
Gu Yun immediately abandoned the idea of looking for Lin Yue and quietly followed after them instead.
Once he reached the vicinity of the Feng residence, he finally understood why Jailer Feng and the others were so panicked.
The Feng residence was on fire.
Blazing flames engulfed the entire compound. Even standing some distance away, Gu Yun could feel the scorching heat rolling towards him.
oh 🤨