Chapter 103
Chapter 103
Jiang Yunsui was busy fussing with her lemons.
She sliced the lemons and put them into a jar, then added some honey.
Good thing she had brought a whole jar of honey this time.
Still, it felt like something was missing.
Pinching her little chin in thought, she twisted her small body around and headed over to Ji Yan’an and the others.
While they were talking, her little hand reached for Ji Yan’an’s tea.
Because he liked drinking tea, he brewed some almost every day, and it was always excellent tea.
If she only wanted a cup or two, she would not have needed to sneak around like this.
Ji Yan’an would certainly be willing to spare her a few cups.
But this time, she needed quite a lot. Mm, the whole pot.
He won’t notice me. He won’t notice me.
As she muttered inwardly, her hand had already closed around the handle of the purple clay teapot.
Just as she was getting delighted, her hand was pressed down in the next second.
Following the hand that had caught hers, she looked up and met Ji Yan’an’s half-smiling gaze.
Jiang Yunsui silently drew her hand back, hugged her head, and squatted down.
Ji Yan’an rapped her directly on the head.
“Ow!”
“Next time, can you not hit my head?”
Jiang Yunsui hugged her little head and spoke in a timid little voice.
“What if you knock me stupid?”
Ji Yan’an’s clear, gentle voice came unhurriedly. “Do I need to hit you for you to be stupid? You were already stupid to begin with. Maybe a few more knocks would have a good effect instead.”
Jiang Yunsui: “…”
“What do you need tea for?”
Jiang Yunsui snuck a glance at him. “I’m making honey lemon tea. It’s really good.”
Gathering her courage, she grabbed Ji Yan’an’s sleeve and started shaking it, like a little kitten acting spoiled.
“Ji Yan’an, give me this tea, okay? You can brew another pot, please?”
Ji Yan’an said, “Don’t even think about this pot. I don’t have much of these leaves left either. Have Nanshu fetch another kind of tea leaf and brew it yourself.”
Jiang Yunsui gave an “oh.” That worked too, she supposed.
And so a certain Little Mushroom cheered right back up, tugging Nanshu along and demanding that he go brew tea.
Shen Qingzhu took a sip of tea. “Young Master, you’re truly generous. If I remember correctly, everything you brought this time is fine tea, isn’t it? One gram costs at least a hundred taels of silver.”
Ji Yan’an said, “Otherwise, should I really let her take this tea? Would you all be willing?”
“Naturally not. Top-grade Golden Melon Tribute Tea is a tribute item only the imperial family can afford to drink. Only you would be willing to take it out and drink it here.”
Ji Yan’an smiled faintly and said nothing.
At home, he would be reluctant too. At home, he was always so busy he had no time to rest; with tea this good, he would not even have time to properly appreciate it.
Just as they were about to leave, Jiang Yunsui’s fruit tea was finally finished with the cook’s help.
They had even added ice.
They had brought saltpeter with them, so they could make ice on the road whenever they needed. That part was ready-made.
Before long, everyone had an icy-cold cup of honey lemon tea in hand.
One sip, and it was wonderfully refreshing.
“Not bad, little girl.”
Everyone was amazed by this seemingly ordinary iced drink.
None of them had expected that lemons, sour enough to twist a little girl’s entire face out of shape, would become so cool and thirst-quenching after a few things were added and they were steeped in water.
Jiang Yunsui lifted her little chin high in pride.
“I told you it would taste good, didn’t I?”
“This cup is so small. Do we have any bigger cups?”
She gestured a length a little longer than her own palm.
“A porcelain cup made that way wouldn’t be very elegant.”
Jiang Yunsui said, “What’s elegant or not? I’m using it to drink water, not to arrange flowers.”
Ji Yan’an said, “They’ve found porcelain clay over at Nanshan Stockade. When they make porcelain, I’ll have them make a few for you.”
Jiang Yunsui nodded happily when she heard that.
“It needs an extra handle too, like a teapot, so it’s easy to hold.”
“It’d be best if it were made in the shape of a Little Mushroom, and it needs a mushroom cap for a teacup lid.”
Ji Yan’an: …You’re getting more and more demanding.
Nanshu said, “Stop, stop, stop. What on earth are you describing?”
Jiang Yunsui said, “I’ll draw it myself when we get back.”
She couldn’t draw anything too complicated yet, but a cup with simple lines would be fine.
The carriage continued on its way.
However, before they could enter Liaoyang County, they first had to disguise themselves.
Ji Yan’an said, “Starting today, your identity is my younger sister.”
Jiang Yunsui listened with utmost seriousness.
“Okay!”
Her answer rang out loud and clear.
Nanshu emerged wearing women’s clothing, walking out all coy and awkward.
“Young Master, do I… do I really have to dress like this?”
Everyone else looked at him and laughed.
Heh. This time, it was finally your turn to be unlucky.
They would be splitting up this time. After disguising himself, Fan He planned to find a group of villagers, blend in with them, and enter the county town together.
Shen Qingzhu’s identity was that of a traveling doctor, and he would also enter the county town separately from them.
Then there were Song Jin, Nanshu, Ji Yan’an, and Jiang Yunsui, who were preparing to disguise themselves as one family.
Song Jin had a wisp of goatee pasted to his chin and two little mustache strips under his nose, making him look much older.
He was the master of the household. Nanshu would play the madam, while Ji Yan’an and Jiang Yunsui were the children.
Nanmo and the remaining guards would play the household servants.
“Also, please, whatever you do, don’t call me Mother. The moment you open your mouth, my heart starts trembling.”
Ji Yan’an glanced at him.
“Enough. Let’s go.”
In the county town, the highest-ranking official was the county magistrate, and below the magistrate was the County Deputy Magistrate.
After the Liaoyang County magistrate disappeared, all affairs had been handed over to the County Deputy Magistrate.
Unfortunately, this County Deputy Magistrate was not of one mind with Fan He, the county magistrate.
Fan He did have ability. When he first came here, he had been completely alone, without anyone to rely on.
The County Deputy Magistrate had originally been from here and had long since become entangled with the local Li Family.
For Fan He to seize real authority under such circumstances, and even keep the County Deputy Magistrate under his thumb, showed just how capable he was.
It was only a pity that, in the end, he was still too weak.
When Jiang Yunsui and the others’ carriage arrived at the city gate, there was already a line ahead waiting to enter.
Everyone entering the city had to hand over ten copper coins.
Carriages, goods, and the like had to pay even more to get in.
Through the carriage window, Jiang Yunsui saw that the ordinary people waiting in line outside were all skinny, and their eyes held a numbness that went even deeper.
They looked severely malnourished, like refugees.
“Ji Yan’an, why do they look so strange?”
Like walking corpses.
Ji Yan’an glanced outside. “Because they have no hope.”
As for the current state of Liaoyang County, the first signs were already beginning to show.
Fan He, who was mixed in with the crowd, was furious.
By now, he had more or less found out what had happened in Liaoyang County. Ever since he left, Liaoyang County had fallen completely under the control of the Li Family.
They seemed certain he would not come back alive, so they had grown more and more unscrupulous in their actions.
They controlled prices in the city, seized young and able-bodied men in the name of corvée labor and sent them to quarry stone, and amassed wealth on a massive scale.
To say that the people of Liaoyang County were now living in deep misery would not be an exaggeration.
“Damn County Deputy Magistrate. Damn Li Family…”
At this moment, a blazing fire rose in Fan He’s heart.
With the Young Master here, they would definitely be able to bring down Ouyang Can. As long as Prefect Ouyang Can fell from power, the Li Family would no longer be anything to fear.