Chapter 34

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Fan Changyu asked in confusion, “Why would the authorities lie?”

Xie Zheng frowned slightly. Considering she had lived her entire life in this small place and the highest-ranking official she had ever encountered was the County Magistrate, he felt a bit more tolerant of her naive simplicity at this moment.

Her parents might have taught her many life lessons, but they never told her about the deceit and scheming in officialdom.

He patiently explained to her, unusually so, even giving an example: “It’s like when your eldest uncle tried to seize your family’s property and turned to that Master He. Even in a small county government, there are political intrigues. Higher up, at the prefecture and the Imperial Court, the relationships become even more tangled. Factions, colleagues, relatives by marriage, mentors and disciples… Behind every official is a vast web of power and influence. Some cases involve the interests of high-ranking officials. What looks like a simple grievance of common folk can actually be a battleground for those officials.”

Fan Changyu furrowed her brow, thinking for a long while before saying, “You mean, my parents’ deaths might also involve the interests of many powerful officials?”

A hint of surprise flashed in Xie Zheng’s eyes. Turns out she wasn’t as dull as she seemed.

He lowered his gaze. “I’m just giving an example. Maybe the authorities only told half the truth, or maybe it’s all lies. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that the authorities gave you a false version of the truth. What will you do with that?”

This question was indeed beyond Fan Changyu’s understanding. To ordinary people, officials are like the sky above them; a single corrupt official is enough to make people suffer endlessly. After hearing Xie Zheng’s words, she suddenly felt that not all officials were upright and just.

If the entire Great Yin officialdom protected each other, then what they were under wasn’t the sky, but a net that wrapped them tightly, suffocating them.

Fan Changyu was confused for a moment, but her gaze quickly grew firm again. “When Fan Da sought Master He to scheme for my family’s property, I thought about going to a higher official than Master He. The highest official in Qingping County is the County Magistrate, but the magistrate and Master He are in cahoots. I couldn’t count on the magistrate, so I planned to capture my eldest uncle.

The Great Yin officialdom might be bigger, but it’s just that there are more officials above. If I knew any high-ranking officials, I would probably go to the prefecture’s top official to help with my uncle’s case. If Fan Da also went to the prefecture’s top official, and if I still had connections, I would go to the capital’s officials to seek justice. Following this chain of connections to the end, it would ultimately lead to the Emperor.

The highest official in Qingping County is the County Magistrate, and the highest official in the Great Yin Dynasty is the Emperor. When it comes to seeking justice, there’s really no difference between the two. In the end, what determines right and wrong are evidence and ironclad laws.”

She looked at Xie Zheng with clear, fearless eyes. “No matter what my parents’ deaths are tied to, I will investigate. There’s nothing to fear from that vast web of connections in the Great Yin officialdom.”

Her words genuinely surprised Xie Zheng.

He asked, “How do you plan to investigate?”

Fan Changyu glanced at Changning, who was still playing in the yard with the snow. “I’m not afraid of danger, but Changning is still too young. If the people who killed my parents notice us sisters, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to protect her. So before anything else, I’ll send Changning somewhere safe.”

Xie Zheng showed a look of approval. “And then?”

Fan Changyu said, “If I were a man, I might choose to take the imperial or military exams to enter officialdom and personally uncover everything behind my parents’ deaths. But I’m just a girl. I can’t become an official, and I don’t know any high-ranking ones. The only option left is money. It can make even ghosts turn the millstone.”

Xie Zheng supported his temple with one hand. “That’s a good plan, but it sounds like it’ll take years. The money needed to get those big officials to turn the millstone for you won’t be small change.”

Fan Changyu choked up slightly. “That’s the only plan I can think of right now. In the plays, women disguise themselves as men to take the imperial exams, but I don’t have the brains for studying, nor do I have brothers whose identities I could borrow. Unless…”

She scratched her head. “I could sponsor a few poor scholars and hope to get lucky and find one with a conscience. Once he passes the exams and enters officialdom, I’d at least have someone on the inside. It’d probably be much easier to investigate my parents’ deaths then.”

This time it was Xie Zheng’s turn to choke up. He raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, “What if you run into someone like your ex-fiancé?”

Fan Changyu noticed he’d been acting strangely lately, always bringing up Song Yan.

She said, “Can’t we not mention him during the New Year?”

Xie Zheng shot her a sideways glance, pursed his lips, and fell silent, as if his bad temper had flared up again.

Fan Changyu muttered, “As if I’m not unlucky enough already…”

Xie Zheng’s hearing was sharp enough to catch her muttering. The corners of his mouth twitched upward suddenly, and he said, “You can wait on your parents’ case for now.”

Fan Changyu was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Xie Zheng said, “If your parents’ deaths involve many people, there will be those in officialdom who want to cover up the truth, and others who want to investigate it thoroughly. What you need to do now, besides protecting yourself and your sister, is to wait for those who want to uncover the truth to come to you.”

Fan Changyu replied, “But I know nothing about my parents’ past. Even if someone comes looking, they won’t be able to get anything from me or find what they want.”

Xie Zheng thought to himself that as long as he could pry open He Jingyuan’s mouth, the truth about her parents’ deaths would come to light.

But Wei Yanruo knew he was still alive. Even if she sacrificed all of Qingping County or even Ji Prefecture, she would still try to kill him again. Before the situation settles, revealing his identity would only bring disaster.

He said, “You’re underestimating officialdom. Someone will come looking for you.”

Fan Changyu was still confused. After hesitating for a moment, she figured Xie Zheng was probably just trying to comfort her, so she didn’t press further. Instead, she said, “I’m starting to believe that reading more books makes people smarter. Yan Zheng, you’ve read a lot, so you must be very clever.”

Xie Zheng had heard all kinds of compliments before. When it came to flattery, no one was more eager than scholars to heap praise. But he had never taken those words seriously. This time, her straightforward and simple use of “clever” stirred a strange feeling in his heart.

He corrected her, “It’s not that reading a lot makes you clever. Reading helps you understand reason, broadens your knowledge, teaches you when to advance or retreat, and sharpens your judgment. That’s enough for dealing with people and situations.”

Fan Changyu nodded. “My mother used to say the same thing, but I was too immature back then. Making me read was like herding pigs out of their pen for the New Year. Now it’s too late for me to learn.”

At this moment, she truly felt that reading was useful. For example, when Fan Da tried to snatch her family’s property, Yan Zheng didn’t even need to use underhanded tricks. He just found a way to win the case by using the law.

If she were more knowledgeable, maybe she could have sold pork in more creative ways.

She used to think that sugar-coated cucumber was just sugar-coated cucumber. It wasn’t until she helped out with the braised meat at Yixiang Restaurant that she learned they called sugar-coated cucumber “Green Dragon Lying in Snow” there. Giving the dish a fancy name made the price double.

Fan Changyu remembered that when she came back, Xie Zheng seemed to be teaching Changning to read. So she boldly said, “If you have time, could you teach me to read? It won’t take up much of your time. Just tell me what to study, and I’ll read on my own. If I don’t understand something, I’ll come ask you.”

Xie Zheng raised his eyes slightly, surprised by her idea, then asked, “What books have you read so far?”

Fan Changyu thought for a moment and said, “I’ve memorized the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, and Thousand Character Classic.”

As soon as she finished, Xie Zheng’s face darkened.

Afraid he’d think teaching her was a hassle, Fan Changyu braced herself and added, “I’ve also read a bit of the Analects and some of the Great Learning.”

Xie Zheng’s voice was low and quiet: “You mean that Great Learning, right?”

Fan Changyu felt so embarrassed she wished she could disappear. She confessed, “Those two I only skimmed through when I saw Song Yan reading them before. I couldn’t understand the books, and since he treasured them like something precious, I just gave them back without asking what the passages meant.”

After her honest admission, a chill ran through her.

She looked at Xie Zheng and felt his handsome face was suddenly both cold and sour.

Fan Changyu didn’t understand why.

Xie Zheng’s words were like ice shards dropping: “Since you’ve studied the Analects and the Great Learning, the next step is to read Mencius.”

Fan Changyu was completely confused. Did he mean she had actually studied them?

She was clearly saying she’d only glanced at them without grasping their meaning.

What’s more, during lunch, she noticed sharply that Xie Zheng had switched the headband on his head back to his original one.

Fan Changyu didn’t know what she’d done to upset him. She cleared her throat lightly at the table and asked, “This afternoon, I plan to take some cured meat to the county town to sell. I’ll also bring a piece to Constable Wang as a New Year’s gift. Is there anything you want to buy?”

The man who usually never spoke while eating finally said, “We’re out of paper. I used the last of it yesterday writing Spring Festival couplets. The ink is gone too. Buy some paper and ink. The paper should be five feet of clean Xuan paper, and the ink should be pine soot Huizhou ink.”

Fan Changyu’s head spun. “What’s Xuan paper? What kind of ink was that again?”

Xie Zheng furrowed his brows and said, “Forget it, I’ll go buy it myself.”

Fan Changyu felt he was a bit cold and distant. Thinking his injury wasn’t fully healed, she asked again, “I’ll hire a bullock cart this afternoon. Do you want to come along?”

Changning immediately clapped her chubby little hands and said, “Changning wants to go to the market too!”

The big one and the little one both stared fixedly at Xie Zheng. After a moment of silence, Xie Zheng finally said, “Then we’ll go together.”

Changning was so excited about going to the market that running a lap around the yard wasn’t enough. She chased the dogs at Aunt Zhao’s house all the way to the alley entrance before stopping.

Fan Changyu wasn’t just suddenly inspired to sell cured meat in the county town today. In past years, her father would also take a cartload of cured meat to town on this day.

Some families visiting relatives and friends, if they hadn’t prepared New Year’s gifts in advance and the meat market wasn’t open these past couple of days, would usually buy from street vendors along the roadside.

When they reached the county town, Fan Changyu skillfully parked the bullock cart on the main street right in front of the County Academy.

Many students passed through here, and quite a few families, to accommodate their sons studying, had rented houses nearby.

Students would go to pay New Year’s respects to their teacher. Ordinary tea and wine wouldn’t do, and expensive gifts cost too much silver. Buying a strip of cured meat as a New Year’s gift was just right.

As soon as Fan Changyu set up her stall, she made several sales. Xie Zheng intended to head over to the bookstore, but Changning kept standing on tiptoe, looking around eagerly, and asked Fan Changyu, “Sister, can I go with brother-in-law to watch the flower-drum lantern show?”

Fan Changyu said, “Your brother-in-law isn’t going to watch the flower-drum lantern show.”

Changning then looked up at Xie Zheng with big hopeful eyes.

Xie Zheng glanced at the half-sold cured meat on Fan Changyu’s side and said, “Wait until your sister finishes selling, then we’ll go together.”

Fan Changyu estimated it would still take some time to sell all the cured meat she’d brought, so she said, “I’m not closing up yet. If you’re not in a hurry to buy paper and ink, take Changning for a walk. She’s just curious; after a stroll, she won’t fuss anymore.”

Xie Zheng nodded.

Hearing this, Changning grabbed Xie Zheng’s sleeve, walking excitedly ahead with the energy of a little calf.

Feeling the tug on his sleeve, Xie Zheng thought to himself that if this child hadn’t been born weak, she might turn out as fierce as her sister.

Perhaps because the county was going to hold a lantern festival this year, most of the students at the County Academy hadn’t gone home, making the street lively. The more than twenty strips of cured meat Fan Changyu brought sold out more than half an hour earlier than she expected.

When she was closing up, Xie Zheng returned with Changning, who had wandered nearby enough.

Changning had a candied hawthorn skewer in her left hand and a colorful little pinwheel in her right, with syrup smeared all over her face.

Fan Changyu looked on with some helplessness and said to Xie Zheng, “You really spoil her.”

Changning smiled, eyes squinting, “Brother-in-law bought a skewer for sister too.”

Fan Changyu replied, “I’m not a kid, why would I eat candied hawthorn…”

Before she finished speaking, a skewer was already held out in front of her.

Xie Zheng’s expression was calm: “Your little sister said she wanted to buy one for you too.”

Fan Changyu had wanted to refuse, but when she saw he still held a skewer, she guessed he liked sweets. Since he wasn’t taking medicine now, he probably felt shy about eating it openly. Now that he’d pulled her in, she couldn’t say no, so she reached out, took it, and said, “Thank you.”

Fan Changyu ate hers just like Changning: one berry at a time, eyes squinting, cheeks puffed out like a hamster’s.

After finishing one berry, Fan Changyu noticed Xie Zheng still hadn’t eaten from his skewer and asked curiously, “Why aren’t you eating?”

Xie Zheng shifted his gaze from the sugary crumbs at the corner of her mouth to the skewer in his hand, hesitated, then bit off half a berry.

The sugar coating was sweet, and the hawthorn inside was slightly sour. Chewing them together, the sour and sweet blended into a unique flavor.

Changning, who had just bitten off another berry, laughed with her eyes nearly closed. She was clever—by having her brother-in-law buy one for each of them, her sister wouldn’t scold her.

At the street corner, besides the street vendors, a student from the County Academy had set up a stall to paint portraits for passersby.

The family of three eating candied hawthorns across the street really stood out: the man was strikingly handsome, the woman’s smile was radiant, and even the little child with them was irresistibly adorable.

Several scholars kept glancing that way, quickly sketching on their papers.

After finishing her hawthorn, Fan Changyu packed up, ready to take Xie Zheng to buy paper and ink, but suddenly noticed his expression stiffen. He strode toward the stall across the street.

Fan Changyu glanced over and saw only a student selling calligraphy and paintings there.

Worried something might happen, she hurriedly followed with Changning. “What are you doing?”

The student had just finished his last stroke when a large hand suddenly reached out and grabbed the painting.

The man who had been eating candied hawthorns across the street had somehow come over. Grabbing the student by the collar, his face as cold and terrifying as white jade, he demanded, “Who told you to paint this?”

At that moment, Fan Changyu arrived with Changning in tow. Seeing Xie Zheng poised as if ready to strike the student right there on the street, she quickly pried his hand off the scholar’s collar. “What are you doing?”

Xie Zheng said nothing, lowering his gaze to the painting in his hand.

The student’s brushwork was meticulous, but what made the painting stand out was how vividly the characters were portrayed.

In the painting, Fan Changyu was squinting as she ate a candied hawthorn. His eyes were fixed on her face, as if he had been watching her every move. Changning, in front, was biting into a hawthorn berry while looking back at the two of them, grinning so widely her eyes nearly disappeared, a mischievous glint in her expression.

Fan Changyu was surprised when she saw the painting and let out a small “Oh.” She asked the student, “Did you paint us?”

The student, clearly intimidated by the stern man beside the sweet and innocent young lady, quickly nodded. Like a well-behaved child eager to please, he babbled on, “Madam and young master are a perfect match, a pair made by heaven and earth. Even the little miss is so adorable. If you like, consider this painting a New Year’s gift from me to you both. I wish you harmony and happiness, and may you welcome a little prince next year.”

Fan Changyu nearly bit through the skewer holding her candied hawthorn.

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Translator’s Note:
I promised 10ch on my next post in a comment, but I failed… TT^TT please forgive me! No more chapters will be posted this month (still crazy busy) but I will post 10 next month! Or I’m changing my name! òwó