CH 52

“Did you go drinking?” Yan Mingting closed the door and walked inside.

“The Cheng family hosted a banquet, and Li Yucheng drank a lot,” Zhao Yelan said.

Yan Mingting moved closer and sniffed him: “You didn’t drink? Can you refuse on such an occasion?”

“Of course I can, I just declared in advance that I can’t drink alcohol. The Cheng family won’t embarrass me. Although, I may have to put on a show outside,” Zhao Yelan replied.

“En, anyway, drink less, ba. Your body is indeed unsuitable,” Yan Mingting said with concern.

Zhao Yelan was taken aback: “My body is unsuitable?”

“That’s right, aren’t you prone to colds? Drinking alcohol will hurt your health, ah.” Yan Mingting still remembered what Xiao Gao had told him before, that Zhao-daren couldn’t drink alcohol and would have some strange reactions, presumably because his body didn’t allow it.

Zhao Yelan raised his eyebrows slightly but said nothing. Because this was indeed an excuse he used on the outside world, but occasionally when he was alone, he would have a drink or two to taste fine wine. He was not a big drinker, and it was easy for him to get drunk. It would be unfortunate if he made a fool of himself in front of other people, so in order to keep his composure, he refused all wine offered by others.

Yan Mingting sat on the side, quietly watching him handle business. He had originally wanted to accompany him in his work, but as he watched him, his mind drifted.

The summer was scorching, and it was hotter than in the capital here. Even if ice was placed in a room, it was difficult to cool down the heat.

After Zhao Yelan took a bath, he wore a comfortable thin robe. Jiangnan’s weaving methods were top-notch. The material was slippery but not sticky, light and comfortable, and it would slide down one elbow when he raised his hand, revealing a white forearm. The collar even more faintly concealed the scenery beneath, making a person’s mind wander.

Yan Mingting subconsciously swallowed, feeling inexplicably hot, and picked up the teacup in front of him, draining it in one gulp.

Zhao Yelan couldn’t stop him in time, and said flatly: “You are drinking from my cup.”

“……” All right, it was getting hotter.

Without explanation, Yan Mingting poured a few more cups one after another. After drinking from this cup, he got up and walked behind the screen. There was a block of ice in a wooden tub, and he touched it with both hands. It took him a long time to get relief from the heat.

Zhao Yelan hurried to finish everything, and was about to rest, but found that this person didn’t seem to want to leave.

“Aren’t you leaving?” Zhao Yelan asked, standing in front of the bed.

“It’s not like we haven’t slept in the same room before. It’s not easy for us to meet, so naturally we have to sleep in the same room.” Yan Mingting was about to confidently get into bed, but was stopped by Zhao Yelan.

“It’s fine to stay overnight, but you will still sleep on the floor.” Zhao Yelan opened the cabinet, took out two thin blankets from inside, and placed them in his arms. “Lay them out yourself.”

Yan Mingting was dumbfounded – why couldn’t they sleep together even after expressing their feelings?!

“It’s hot,” Zhao Yelan said concisely.

“I’m not afraid of the heat!” 

“I am.”

“……” Yan Mingting aggrievedly made the bed, took off his robes, and lay down on it. Then he glanced at the person beside him and saw him loosely covering his stomach with a thin blanket. His legs were exposed, and his pair of jade feet were resting on the side of the bed, almost hanging off.

He got up and moved those feet onto the bed, and then took a painless kick.

“What are you doing?” Zhao Yelan looked at him meaningfully.

“I’m afraid you’ll fall.” Yan Mingting had an upright face, but that foot was not upright. It rubbed against his waist, gently lifted his clothes, and pressed on his abdominal muscles.

Yan Mingting’s face turned red in an instant, and he stood abruptly, bumping his head against the bannister and making Zhao Yelan chuckle.

“I wasn’t lying to you, isn’t it hot?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“……Yes,” Yan Mingting replied hoarsely and quickly rolled back to his bed. He thought it was too hot! If they really slept in the same bed, how hot would it be, ah!

Zhao Yelan glanced flirtatiously at his blushing face, and a secret smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

– He, Zhao Yelan, would absolutely never make a decision that would allow him to lose.

In order to reduce the chance of regret in the future, he would firmly hold on to this person, make this person put him first in everything and only place his eyes on him. Even if he wanted to leave, the other party would never let him go like he had this time.

He also knew very well that things that were too easy to get were easy to lose interest in, so he had to hold his heart and hook his soul. He would rather go to hell together than let go of the other person.

At maoshi, Yan Mingting woke up and delicately put away the bed. When he was about to leave, he fell back to the window and looked at the sleeping person. 

When the weather turned hot, Zhao Yelan didn’t sleep well. With his head turned sideways, his neckline was wide open, his hair scattered across the pillow.

It was cool at this time, and Yan Mingting took advantage of the hazy moonlight to cover him with a blanket. As he did so, he secretly pinched his foot to vent his anger, and then quietly returned to his own room.

The inn was still quiet in the early morning, and there were just a few residents in the lobby eating a tranquil breakfast.

After Zhao Yelan finished washing up, he went downstairs and heard Li Yucheng’s eager voice: “Zhao……I’ve been looking for you for a long time, Fu Qian, come down and eat quickly.”

Unruffled, Zhao Yelan sat down and ate slowly, looking outside. The sun was about to rise again, and he searched around for a fan. It happened that Li Yucheng opened a fan and waved it around, and upon closer inspection, the big characters “Number One Dandy in Beijing” were written on it. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

“Do you want a fan?” asked Li Yucheng. “It’s really too hot here, let’s go out and buy one later. I know a store that has excellent fans.”

“You go, I have other things to do.”

“What things?” Li Yucheng asked. Seeing that he didn’t answer at all, he knew he was talking too much and shrugged. “Okay, ba, I’ll go buy it for you.”

After eating, Zhao Yelan went to the market to buy some small things and strolled all the way to Mingye lane, which was a residential area. This was where the water reporter lived.

He used the excuse of shopping nearby to inquire about the market conditions, and asked about the personnel situation as he did so. After most of the day, he had found out the basic situation of the reporter’s family.

Kuang Sheng, 39 years old, a husband with a pair of children who had their own families now and lived separately. He was a dull person, ineloquent, and had an average relationship with his neighbors. Since becoming a water reporter, he had been paid by the court, but his everyday life was still tight.

Zhao Yelan found a teahouse to drink at and sat on the second floor, just the place to view Kuang Sheng’s house.

The courtyard was a bit dilapidated and there was not even a servant. It looked very deserted.

He was an official appointed by the Imperial court. It was really unbelievable that an honest man who lived so poorly would blatantly lie about the disaster funds.

But one thing was for sure – this water reporter who dared to act like this after only being established for one year was probably related to the local officials. He may have a protective umbrella, or was perhaps forced to act, so Zhao Xuan had sent him to investigate the people involved.

Aside from Beijing officials, most of the officials from other places still used people from the former Emperor’s time, therefore some places harbored filth that must be cleaned out.

“Esteemed guest, your tea is here.” The waiter placed the tea in front of him with a smile, and couldn’t help but look a few more times. Yesterday, he had heard on the street that two fellows from the capital had come.

One was Li Yucheng, the grandson of the Cheng family. They knew him well, and he would come to Jiangnan for a while every year.

There was also Fu Qian, who was said to be the most beautiful man in the capital.

The waiter saw that there was no one else around this unfamiliar guest, but judging by his attire and appearance, this person should be Fu Qian without a doubt! As expected of the most beautiful man in Beijing, ah……

Zhao Yelan saw that the waiter was in a daze and hadn’t left, so he shook the tea leaves and smiled slightly: “The tea in Jiangnan is delicious. I wonder if you use spring water?”

“We have several kinds of water, well water, spring water, and honeydew water. Honeydew water is the dew that is taken every morning and night, and then through our special technique, this sweet and delicious water is produced. Esteemed guest, this cup of yours is honeydew water,” the waiter presented.

Zhao Yelan nodded: “But the sun is so strong, can you still collect dew?”

“It is hard to obtain these days and we are using all our stock. It will run out soon, and the last time it rained was a month ago. I hope it will rain soon.” The waiter sighed.

Counting the days, a month ago happened to be the day when the water reporter sent the precipitation results. Perhaps a lot did fall at that time, and he reported it.

“Did it rain heavily last time?” Zhao Yelan asked.

The waiter thought about it carefully and shook his head: “It was drizzling. I was running errands outside and I didn’t need an umbrella.”

Then it appeared to be a false report, perhaps taking into consideration the time difference. It was supposed to rain these days after the report went out. As soon as the disaster relief money arrived in Jiangnan, they would give a half-hearted justification to the Imperial court and put some of the money into their own pockets. Yet they couldn’t, because there wasn’t any more rain.

He sat in the teahouse until the sun was westward, and finally saw Kuang Sheng return to the house. He couldn’t see the real situation from a distance, but he noted the exhaustion evident in his figure.

He found a secluded place and called Yu Dali out to ask: “Have you found anything?”

“My lord, we have been guarding this house for the past two days. We didn’t find any guards, and no one has come to visit,” Yu Dali replied.

It was strange. No matter whether it was instigated by someone, or Kuang Sheng himself had plucked up some courage, knowing that there was no rain these days, the government would definitely come to investigate. Why did they not take any protective measures?

“Continue to have some people stand guard here.” After giving his order, Zhao Yelan returned to the inn.

As soon as he walked into the lobby, he saw Yan Mingting, Zuo Ran, and the others sitting at the table eating.

Upon seeing him, Zuo Ran subconsciously wanted to call out to him, but when he passed by the table without looking over, she remembered Yan Mingting’s instructions and could only pretend that she didn’t notice him.

However, Zhao Yelan sat down at the next table over, ordered a table of good dishes, and took a few bites of each one to try them.

Watching this, Zuo Ran finally had the same inner experience as He Cuizhang and Zhong Yuehong – how could the disparity between people be so huge!

Li Yucheng also came back after some time, carrying a lot of new baubles in his hands. He asked a waiter to take them to the room, leaving only a fan on the table, and was about to speak when he became aware of a pointed gaze.

He turned his head and saw Yan Mingting staring at him while biting down hard on peanuts.

Li Yucheng made a face at him, and graciously took up his fan to fan Zhao Yelan, deliberately showing a good scene of two brothers: “I bought some calming incense for my father. He often uses this and says it works well. I’ll share some with you when we go upstairs. And I specifically bought this fan for you, the pendant is made of jadeite.”

Yan Mingting chewed a few more peanuts. It seemed that when he returned to Beijing, he couldn’t just beat up that Fu Qian, but Li Yucheng also needed to be dealt with.

There was a commotion at the door at this time as Magistrate Yin came to the inn in person. He looked around and went straight to Yan Mingting’s table: “General Yan, have you had dinner early?”

“Why?” Yan Mingting looked at him.

“The General came in a hurry and was busy with those bandits. Now he finally has some clues, so I thought to invite General Yan to a gathering at the mansion, which can be regarded as a way to show our welcome.” Magistrate Yin smiled.

Yan Mingting and Zuo Ran looked at each other, and then Magistrate Yin looked at Zuo Ran.

Fortunately, for the convenience of movement, Zuo Ran had been wearing men’s clothing these days, so Magistrate Yin did not realize that she was the maid who had run off with his daughter.

Zuo Ran was slightly joyful. Magistrate Yin took the initiative to invite them to the mansion. Did this mean that Yin Pinglu had been found safely?

“Oh? I wonder if Pinglu’s condition has improved? We would like to have a nice meal with her too,” Yan Mingting said.

“Ai, I’m afraid that Pinglu’s illness won’t be cured for a while, so she is unable to have dinner with the General tonight.” Magistrate Yin cautiously probed, “However, I will definitely convey the General’s feelings to her. I never thought that the friendship between her and the General was so deep that he actually misses her all the time.”

These words were so ambiguous. Zuo Ran, Yan Mingting, and Zhao Yelan next door felt awkward.

“What does this man mean, ah?” Li Yucheng moved closer to Zhao Yelan, whispering in his ear, “Does he he want Yan Mingting to be his son in law?”

Zhao Yelan didn’t speak, but Li Yucheng received his answer in those murderous eyes and turned to sneer: “Tsk, tsk, tsk, I didn’t expect you, Yan Mingitng, to leave the capital and actually become a sweet pastry.”[1]

Everyone heard this and looked over together.

Magistrate Yin had been purely focused on Yan Mingting, so he sought out Li Yucheng’s figure and said with a smile: “Nephew Li has come to Huaizhou again.”

Who is your nephew! That old thing was climbing the dragon and clinging to the phoenix!

Li Yucheng scolded him bloody in his heart. He and this Magistrate still had somewhat of a relationship. Magistrate Yin was very calculating, and he especially liked to use his daughters’ marriages to benefit himself, so he had climbed all the way to the position of prefectural Magistrate.

The Cheng family originally saw that his fourth daughter was good-looking and belonged to a family of officials, and wanted to discuss a marriage for Li Yucheng. As a result, Magistrate Yin put it mildly – That daughter was still young and not suitable. But in fact, it was clear that Li Yucheng did not have an official position, and his father was an official who didn’t accomplish practical things, so he had no future.

Li Yucheng asked with a false smile: “Magistrate Yin, are you really not afraid that Yan Mingting, an evil star, will kill your daughter?”

Magistrate Yin’s face tightened, and he quickly comforted Yan Mingting: “General Yan, don’t listen to this nonsense. How can you be an evil star, you are clearly a good man that is hard to find in this world!”

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Magistrate Yin would never have imagined that Yan Mingting, an evil star, was born so abundantly handsome and powerful, and still had a friendship with his daughter. He was indeed the better choice.

Li Yucheng said again: “Yan Mingting is already married to Zhao Yelan. Don’t you know him? Oh, you don’t.”

He’s sitting right in front of you, you must be blind!

“I don’t need to speak of Zhao Yelan’s greatness. Be careful of marrying your daughter off. He wouldn’t stop at just harming your daughter, but would ruin your whole family!” Li Yucheng said.

Magistrate Yin paused for a moment with a look of embarrassment on his face. This was indeed a problem.

“Nephew, what are you saying? I never said that I was marrying my daughter off, guard your tongue.” 

You just insinuated and didn’t say it clearly. Li Yucheng rolled his eyes, not bothering to look at him again.

Magistrate Yin ignored him and warmly invited Yan Mingting several times. Yan Mingting wanted to know what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd,[2] and happened to need to investigate the situation at the Sun Mansion, so he agreed.

Magistrate Yin was so happy that he stretched out his hand to lead the way: “Come, come, let the lieutenant generals go too.”

“Ow!” Li Yucheng was suddenly trod upon heavily, and seeing the meaningful look Zhao Yelan shot at him, he understood: “Magistrate Yin, can we go too?”

Magistrate Yin did not expect this fellow’s face to be as big as a biscuit!

Was it not just you who publicly criticized me? Now it’s you again who wants a meal!

Yan Mingting turned his head to look at the expressionless Zhao Yelan, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t stop rising.

“To be honest, I came to Jiangnan this time mainly to show my brother around to see the excitement,” Li Yucheng said.

Magistrate Yin had already noted the gongzi who shared the table with him and saw that his disposition was either rich or noble, but didn’t have a chance to inquire, so he took advantage of this opportunity to closely inquire: “Who is this young master?”

“Look at true power,” Li Yucheng immediately handed the specially prepared fan to Zhao Yelan. “Come on, Fu Qian, tell him your identity quickly and scare him to death!”

Zhao Yelan opened the fan without thinking about it, fanning it in front of himself very elegantly. He was about to speak when he saw the people in front of him staring at his fan with strange, flabbergasted expressions on their faces.

Lowering his head suspiciously, he took a look at the fan and saw the six characters “Most Beautiful Man in the Capital.” 

Zhao Yelan: “……”

“Indeed, he is indeed the most beautiful man,” Magistrate Yin commented sincerely, and wiped away his cold sweat. He had never seen such an ostentatious pretty boy.

Li Yucheng was particularly clever and leaned in to whisper in Zhao Yelan’s ear: “How about my trick? Now he will only suspect that you have a brain problem, not an identity problem.”

Zhao Yelan: “……”

Yan Mingting had already covered his face, going wild with laughter.

[1] A “sweet pastry” can refer to someone who is popular or in high demand. ⮐

[2] Equivalent to “what he has up his sleeve.” ⮐