Chapter 34 Ambiguous Rain

  The master of the Yang family often goes out, and the servants in the house have long been accustomed to it. Xiao Qi got up early, combed and dressed the young master, prepared clothes and various travel items, packed a large saddle bag full, and finally stuffed a stack of treasure notes into his close-fitting pocket, meticulous and considerate, like a gentle little wife, the usual rough and careless appearance was nowhere to be seen.

  Peng Ziqi also made her own preparations, disguising herself as a man. Some things used by women were not suitable to be seen by others, so she could only take matters into her own hands and be self-sufficient. She also packed a horse bag, which was carried out and tied to the back of a horse. With everything ready, Xia Xian and Peng Ziqi bid farewell to their family members and left the mansion.

  Yang Wenyuan usually only brought one attendant when going out, and this time was no exception. However, previously it was Yang Wenyuan bringing Zhang Shisan, but this time it was Xia Liu bringing Peng Ziqi. The two left the mansion and first went to the prefecture yamen, where Xia Liu met with Feng Zongqi and only said that Wang Ye was eager to collect wealth and wanted him to contact the goods source immediately. As for the plan to open up mining and gold extraction, he would present it when he returned.

  Feng Zongqi calculated the journey and nodded after a moment, saying: "You go, I told you that person, this official has not had any dealings with him, but the source of the information is absolutely accurate. You find him and just follow my method to contact him, he will help you get in touch with the goods."

  That Shangyu County merchant, Xia Jiu, had already determined that he was also a member of the Jin Yiwei. Such a large and secretive spy organization, with agents having no lateral connections or knowledge of each other, it was only natural. So he didn't think that Feng Zongqi was hiding anything from him. He casually agreed and said: "Yes, I understand, Young Master Peng is still waiting outside, I shouldn't linger for long, so I'll take my leave."

  Feng Xihui's face revealed a hint of weirdness: "This kid has been with that Peng girl day and night, yet he still can't tell she's a woman disguised as a man?" But his mouth said: "Alright, although that Peng young master is skilled in martial arts, it's still best to be careful on the road. Don't worry, the government hasn't relaxed its efforts, all three classes and six rooms of the capture heads are hunting for the murderer."

  Xia Fu nodded and was escorted out of the government office by Feng Xihui himself, where Peng Ziqi helped him mount his horse and they galloped away.

  "The person you want to see is named what, doing what business, can make you Yang Gongzi not decline the distant road, looks like this business profit is rich."

  The two men left Qingzhou and headed west, having been on the road for several days. As they spent more time together, their initial dislike of each other gradually faded away. Even when they were in a hurry and felt stifled, Peng Ziqing would also take the initiative to chat with him.

  "That person..."

  Xia Bian's face revealed a strange expression: "That person does business in a very miscellaneous way, he is very capable in Yanggu County, his name is... Ximen Qing..."

  The first time Xia heard Feng Xihui mention the person he was going to contact, she was startled. At that moment, she forced herself to remain calm and didn't reveal an unusual expression in front of Feng Xihui. Ximen Qing, a merchant from Yanggu County, this coincidence is quite strong, right? Or did Shi Nai'an, aka Shi Dage, slack off and casually inserted some characters he had heard about into the novel "Water Margin" as extras? Maybe it's really like that, Shi Nai'an was indeed a person from the late Yuan to early Ming dynasty.

  Since there is Ximen Qing, I wonder if there will be Pan Jinlian, Wu Dalang and Li Ping'er... Hehe, this trip is still very much anticipated.

  Peng Ziqi didn't ask what business Ximen Qing wanted to cooperate with, and she didn't ask more questions. People who do big business rarely follow the rules, and some secrets that are not good for others to know are normal. She didn't notice that in the past, as long as Xia Jiu showed a little strangeness or hesitation, she would immediately think of the woman's aspect, but since she followed Xia Jiu, she had never seen him have any indecent behavior in this regard, and her impression of him had changed unknowingly.

  She raised her head to look at the sky, it was already late afternoon, the sky was gloomy, leaden clouds were like ink, and the air was also humid and oppressive. It seemed that there would be a heavy rain soon. She said: "Let's hurry up, don't spare the horse's strength, looking at this situation, it will start raining in a moment."

  Xia Yu glanced at the sky and whipped his horse to speed up, the two of them hurriedly rushing into Putai County Town just as a heavy downpour started, and they had no choice but to take shelter under the eaves of a civilian residence.

  Opening the horse bag, Xia Yu found an umbrella inside. Peng Ziqi had little experience traveling far and hadn't prepared any rain gear. The wind blew and the rain fell slantingly, if they used the umbrella, it would probably be blown inside out in this heavy rain and they would still get soaked to the bone. Xia Yu frowned and said: "We're done for, looking at this situation, it won't stop anytime soon."

  Peng Ziqi said irritably: "Do you need to say it, what should we do now?"

  Xia Fu smiled wryly and said: "What else can we do? You watch the horses, I'll go find an inn. After finding an inn and borrowing a raincoat, I'll come back to pick you up."

  Peng Ziqi said: "The heavy rain is vast and endless, no one asks for directions, it's so late now, when will you be able to find an inn?"

  Xia Fu spread out his hands and said helplessly, "Then what's your brilliant idea? Horses can sleep standing up. Why don't we just make do with a night under the eaves?"

  Peng Ziqi gave him a clever and white glance, muttering: "Who is with you?"

  She turned around and knocked on the door, and an old man answered. He was a bit hard of hearing, and with the heavy rain outside, he cupped his ear to listen as Peng Qizhi spoke loudly for half a day before finally cracking open his toothless mouth in a smile and saying loudly: "Oh, oh, yes! There's room, there's room! My son and daughter-in-law have gone back to her parents' home, so it's just me at home."

  Peng Ziqi glanced at Xia Xun with a pleased expression and said loudly to the old man, "Sir, we two want to stay in your house for one night, is that okay?"

  The old man trembled and said: "Oh, oh, such a big rain, I think you also have nowhere to go. Want to stay in my house for one night, okay, okay, but only one room, okay?"

  "This..." Peng Ziqi hesitated for a moment, Xia Liu immediately stepped forward and said loudly: "Alright alright, thank you old man!"

  Peng Ziqi glared at him fiercely, but couldn't find a suitable excuse to shirk off, so he had to stand aside with a huff.

  "Oh, okay, okay, then the two young men can come in." The old man said politely, but still stood at the door with a mysterious and inscrutable smile on his face, like the Mona Lisa's smile. Xia Jiu felt somewhat puzzled, while Peng Ziqi growled beside him: "Give us money!"

  Xia Xun suddenly enlightened, busily pulled out several treasure notes from his pocket, just wanting to identify the denomination, Peng Zikai had already snatched them away, stuffed them all into the old man's hands, and then stared at him with a vengeful look, making Xia Xun cry and laugh. The old man was overjoyed, hastily stepped aside to let them in, the old man leaned on the table under the lamp light to take a closer look at the treasure notes, when he turned around again, his face had changed from Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" to Van Gogh's "Sunflower", smiling brightly.

  "Heh heh, heh heh heh, you two young men, I'll get the old man to tidy up the room for you in a moment. There's already prepared food at home, and I'll warm it up for you too. However... as an honest family, we can't casually take in people with unknown identities. Your route permits, please show them to me for verification..."

  Peng Ziqi took out the route guide given to her by the patrol officer, while Xia Chou produced a certificate of Xiucai identity issued by the educational administration. The title of Xiucai is not permanent and those who have passed the Xiucai examination must take an examination every three years. Those who perform poorly will be stripped of their Xiucai title. Yang Wenyu had just passed the Xiucai examination a year ago, so this certificate was naturally valid. With this Xiucai identity, according to the Ming dynasty law, one can travel freely throughout the country without needing to be verified by each local patrol officer.

  The old man examined the official seal and stamp on their documents under the lamp, then returned them to them. He said warmly: "Ah, this is still Master Zhu's household, I'm so sorry, it's a great honor for my humble abode to have Master Zhu stay with us."

  The old man wiped the chair with his sleeve and said, "Master Zhusun, please sit down. That young fellow, there's a stool in the corner of the wall, take a rest." Then he turned to Xiaojian and said, "My family just had a wedding, my son got married three days ago, today he and his wife came back home, and the room is empty. I'll go clean up their room and change the bedding for you..."

  The old man muttered to himself and pushed open the door curtain, entering the right house. Xia Chou rubbed his hands together and sat down at the table in a big way, looking at Peng Ziyu sitting in the corner of the wall, smiling and saying: "Ah ha, the new couple's room ah, this is good, can also get some auspicious air."

  Peng Ziqi gave him a glance, snorted in disdain and thought to herself: "You think you can share the same room as me? You're not good enough, just wait and see!"

  Xia Liu didn't see her go out, so she poured herself a cup of cold tea and slowly drank it. Peng Qi Qi got up with a huff and walked out the door again, tying the horse under the corridor and then going to unload the saddlebags and saddle. Xia Liu saw this and slapped his forehead, hurrying out to help her unload the horse together. Peng Qi Qi looked at him with some surprise, not expecting that this young master would actually be willing to do such manual labor. Those scholars who had passed the imperial examination were people she was familiar with - they would point to the mountains and rivers, discussing grand theories and taking on the weight of the world as their own moral obligation. But when it came to actually doing something with their hands, it seemed like a great shame to them. This Yang Xu was an exception.

  Two people unloaded the horse's package and carried it into the house, then took off the two saddles and put them behind the door of the main room. Peng Ziqi also took out some bean cakes from the horse's package, broke them up and fed them to the horses. After finishing this task, the old man had also tidied up the rooms for his son and daughter-in-law, came out smiling and said: "I'll go heat up some food for you two, we have everything ready at home, you two just eat something first..."

  It's late at night and it's still raining.

  The old man returned to his room, and Xia Xiu and Peng Ziqi held the lamp, shoulder to shoulder, with a strange air, and stepped into the new house.

  Although the old man had already tidied up, the room was still filled with a joyful atmosphere. The red double happiness characters, red window paper, and red bedding made the small room appear completely red, and the faces of the two people also took on a layer of crimson color.

  Peng Ziqi didn't say a word, he just quietly sized up this new house.

  Xia Liu looked at the two pillows placed side by side on the kang and clapped his hands, laughing: "Fortunately, Young Master Peng is clever, haha, otherwise I'd still be wandering around in the wind and rain."

  Peng Ziqi bit her cherry lips, which were shallow and hadn't turned red from the bite, but still looked moist and delicate, shining with a captivating light under the lamp: "I'm not used to sleeping with people."

  "Just make do for one night."

  Peng Ziqi looked at him coldly, her face as frosty as a beautiful face.

  Xia Jiang rubbed his hands together and asked on purpose: "Are you sleeping inside or outside?"

  Peng Ziqi's small face was like a peach blossom after the rain, bursting forth with two bright red clouds, somewhat shy, somewhat annoyed, and somewhat... uneasy.

  "Then are you going to sleep on the bed or on the floor?"

  Peng Ziqi gave him a sideways glance, with a hint of tender reproach in her eyebrows and eyes that was quite endearing. However... however, her slender fingers were placed one by one on the hilt of the knife, then slowly tightened, and a cold killing aura slowly rose up.

  Xia Liu patted his nose and dryly said: "I think I'll just go to the main house and make do for a night."

  Peng Ziqi slightly raised his chin, looked up at the roof, and made a gesture of disdain.

  Xia Dashiye carried a set of bedding and pillows out, and when he reached the door, he suddenly turned back and said: "It's raining today, it's a bit cool outside, remember to cover yourself with a quilt tonight."

  Peng Ziqi was stunned by his unusually gentle tone and looked at him in a daze.

  "Sleeping don't kick off the quilt, and also, don't open the window, today it's windy, rain will seep in."

  Peng Ziqi was so touched by his care that he got goosebumps all over, and couldn't help but shiver as he said: "I'm not a kid anymore, do you still need to take care of me? Get out."

  Xia Liu nodded solemnly: "Mm-hmm, and also, if you need to get up at night, please keep your voice down a bit. People can't sleep when there's even the slightest noise..."

  Before he could finish speaking, a pillow came flying towards him. Xia Yu quickly dodged and escaped, secretly laughing as he spread out the bedding on the ground.

  It's a great pleasure to tease this arrogant little girl. At his core, he is an optimistic person who never gives up on finding joy in life, just like the fable of "a drop of honey": A man was hanging alone in a well, with wolves waiting above and snakes lurking below. He clung tightly to the branch that kept him alive, but it was being gnawed by mice. Death was imminent, yet all he could do was savor the sweetness of the drop of honey on the branch. This is the meaning of life.

  In the room, Peng Qi looked at the auspicious character on the headboard, then looked at the pillow that had been thrown to the ground, and walked over with a blush to pick it up. As he listened carefully for any movement outside, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of ambiguity envelop his entire body, and couldn't help but feel a flush rise to his cheeks...

  On the street, several suspicious figures wearing raincoats and holding lanterns to ward off the rain hurriedly passed by in a mule cart. The person leading them stopped at an alley entrance, looked around cautiously, and with a slight wave of his hand, led the group into the alley, disappearing from view. As the mule cart went by, the horse under the eaves let out a snort, uneasily shifting its hooves several times. Peng Zhiyi lifted his head, listened intently for a moment, and seeing that there was no further commotion, lay back down on his pillow.

  The patter of raindrops outside the window is really annoying on this rainy night.

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  Peng Mei Mei tosses and turns, can't sleep at night seeking recommendation votes, gotta give it your all for the recommendation votes~~~