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Published at 10th of April 2022 07:16:14 AM


Chapter 415: The Magistrate Was Free from Affectation

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Yan Xu held a banquet to entertain the imperial envoy and his people in the mansion, yet in fact, only Mo Junyang and Shi Qingxue attended it.

Mo Junzhan was nowhere to be seen.

Yan Xu was in doubt, and the answer he got was that the ninth prince was injured a few days ago and hadn’t recovered, so he didn’t want to go out but stayed in the room to heal his wounds.

This answer was too normal, and it sounded untrue.

However, Mo Junzhan was always bad-tempered and couldn’t be offended. Moreover, he didn’t like Yan Xu, so Yan Xu was happy as he didn’t need to cope with such a nobleman who was difficult to handle, and he put this subject aside after saying only a few words.

After the rice wine and dishes were served on the table, Yan Xu toasted to Mo Junyang first and said politely, “Your Excellency, since you came to Jiangzhou, I have been always busy with work and didn’t invite you to dinner. I propose a toast to you. Please accept it.”

Afterward, he drained the cup with one gulp seriously.

Mo Junyang glanced at Yan Xu and then at the wine cup in front of him, remaining still.

Yan Xu felt nervous under Mo Junyang’s glance and couldn’t help but provoke him. “Your Excellency, do you look down upon me, a Rank-5 petty official, so you don’t want to accept my toast?”

Although anybody with discerning eyes could see that Yan Xu provoked, what he said was true.

The subordinate proposed a toast to him for the first time, and if he didn’t drink, the former would be embarrassed.

However, before Mo Junyang said something, Shi Qingxue moved away the wine cup in front of him and spoke with justice. “You can’t drink!”

Look, she was so bold with sufficient reasons.

Before Yan Xu retorted, Shi Qingxue glared at Mo Junyang in a rage. “You have just recovered. How can you drink alcohol? Won’t you joke about your health? Will you leave me alone?”

At the moment, not to mention Yan Xu, even Mo Junyang was surprised.

However, Mo Junyang reacted soon and coughed twice to cooperate with her. He looked as if he were weak and then smiled at Yan Xu apologetically. “Lord Yan, well…”

Yan Xu got furious but still had to pretend to be polite. “Your Excellency, you haven’t fully recovered, so you can’t drink alcohol. It’s my negligence.”

Shi Qingxue’s eyes rolled and she stated, “Lord Yan, since you know that you are wrong, shouldn’t you drink three cups to punish yourself?”

Lord Yan’s face almost stiffened as he had smiled for a long time, but Shi Qingxue showed an innocent and harmless expression, while Mo Junyang looked at him indifferently. Even though Yan Xu wanted to lose temper, he didn’t dare to. He lowered his head and told a servant to pour three cups of rice wine. Then he drank all of them.

When Yan Xu couldn’t see, Shi Qingxue restrained her innocent expression, with nothing but coldness in her eyes.

Huh! The people who dared to bully her man should be prepared to accept her revenge.

It was up to her whether it would be a small trick or a fight.

Mo Junyang’s feelings were opposite to what most people guessed. He was in a better mood and couldn’t help but smile faintly even though he seldom showed his emotions.

He grabbed Shi Qingxue’s hand under the table and smiled at her silently when she looked at him.

He seemed to say, “I am fine.”

Shi Qingxue’s fighting spirit finally slackened a bit, and she returned to be the obedient and adorable young lady. She quietly sat next to Mo Junyang, ate food and drank tea meekly.

Anybody would think that it was a pleasant image after seeing that.

However, after they saw Shi Qingxue’s fighting capacity and Mo Junyang’s deterrent force, nobody dared to look at her.

A normal banquet became embarrassing for no reason.

Yan Xu lowered his head and drank several cups of rice wine before he could finally calm down with difficulty. He picked up the wine cup again and smiled at Mo Junyang with hypocrisy. “Your Excellency, since you can’t drink wine now, please eat more dishes. I specially told the chef in the mansion to cook the delicacy in Jiangzhou for you. Especially these double cooked pork slices are tasty and refreshing, with endless pleasant aftertaste.

“Come on, Your Excellency. Please have a taste.”

Afterward, Yan Xu pushed the dish of double cooked pork slices to Mo Junyang.

When the dish was put in front of Mo Junyang, the meat’s aroma spread at once, and it could make his mouth water.

Shi Qingxue stared at the double cooked pork slices which were dyed dark brown with soy sauce or other seasonings, with some images flashing in her brain, and she suddenly felt that her gut rebelled.

Nevertheless, as there were so many people present, she had to restrain her urge to throw up. She remained still and let her pretty face be forced to turn pale.

Mo Junyang found something wrong with Shi Qingxue first and knew what she was thinking about. He just felt sad and regretted it as he shouldn’t be soft-hearted and agree to bring her here, which made her suffer.

King Rui’s heir gritted his teeth and prepared to find a chance to punish Yan Xu. Otherwise, how would he make up for his sweetheart’s suffering?

However, Shi Qingxue had suffered, so he couldn’t waste all the previous efforts.

Mo Junyang could do nothing but grab Shi Qingxue’s trembling hand with more strength. He spoke to Yan Xu emotionlessly. “I have just recovered and can’t eat too oily food. I am afraid that I don’t have the fortune to eat this delicious food. Lord Yan, please eat more.”

While speaking, he pushed the plate with double cooked pork slices back to Yan Xu.

Yan Xu turned pale in an instant and showed his panic uncontrollably.

Mo Junyang pretended that he didn’t see it and then urged impassively, “Lord Yan, why don’t you eat? If the meat goes cold, it will have a fishy smell.”

What he said sounded normal, and he seemed to chat casually, yet Yan Xu had a guilty conscience and felt more scared and restless after hearing that.

Yan Xu stared at Mo Junyang and wondered if he had found something.

However, Mo Junyang always looked emotionless, and the others couldn’t notice any emotions from his poker face. Yan Xu had to restrain his fear and expressed tentatively with caution, “I don’t like eating meat. I have made a wish in front of Buddha to quit meat, so I don’t dare to eat this meat as I am afraid that I will offend Buddha.”

This reason was perfect, and it made the fact that Yan Xu didn’t eat double cooked pork slices become reasonable.

However, which high-ranking official could be so spotless?

The common people might be like this, but he said the nice words at the table that people didn’t say at the imperial court, which was too laughable.

Shi Qingxue glanced at the wine cup in front of Yan Xu and picked up her teacup with a faint smile, taking a sip. She didn’t say anything, yet it was enough to make Yan Xu feel so embarrassed that he wished to find a hole to hide himself.

Fortunately, Yan Xu was thick-skinned. Even though the couple mocked at him, he showed a smile again soon and started to have a small talk. “Speaking of which, Your Excellency, you have been in Jiangzhou for some days. Do you miss your family?”

His hidden meaning was, “Can you go back to the capital as soon as possible?”

Mo Junyang looked calm. “His Majesty told me to finish the job, and I have no command over myself.”

In another word, “I won’t leave until I find the evidence against you.”

“Your Excellency, it’s a tough job to you. Jiangzhou is always peaceful, while the common people have just suffered in the flood and epidemic disaster, and a thousand things wait to be done, so there is nothing that you can report to the imperial court. Please don’t blame me.”

Yan Xu intentionally showed that he was baffled, seeming to show off in front of Mo Junyang as he hid himself well and nobody had found it. In fact, he had the plan to sound out if Mo Junyang had found the evidence against him.

However, if he could be seen through so easily, he wouldn’t be Mo Junyang.

Mo Junyang didn’t even frown but said slowly after quietly listening to Yan Xu saying a lot of superfluous words, “It doesn’t matter. Anyway, it’s almost time to return to the capital.”

Shi Qingxue was confused.

Yan Xu was speechless.

Mo Junyang would either remain quiet or reveal big news as soon as he started speaking.

The other two were shocked.

Shi Qingxue stayed silent for a while and then suddenly laughed.

Mo Junyang’s behavior of giving a candy after punishing somebody was wonderful. Looking at Yan Xu turning pale with fear, she felt happy.

Yan Xu wasn’t in the mood to guess if what Mo Junyang said was true. He just thought, “Damn it. Mo Junyang must have guessed what I have done and will rake things up against me soon. What should I do? Is it too late to kill him now?”

In the end, Yan Xu restrained his flurried expression, and cruelty flashed in his eyes. Soon he concealed it and thought that nobody noticed it.

He didn’t see that when he lowered his head, Mo Junyang and Shi Qingxue exchanged tacit glances.

After the three finished dinner with a lukewarm attitude, Yan Xu showed a polite expression and invited Mo Junyang and Shi Qingxue to enjoy the moonlight in the backyard. In fact, the delicacies were left on the table, and none of them ate anything.

Shi Qingxue looked up at the crescent moon. It was the first ten-day period of the seventh lunar month, so the moon could hardly be seen in the starry sky, and she didn’t know why they enjoyed the moonlight.

However, all of them knew that Yan Xu had ulterior motives while enjoying the moonlight, so they had no objection.

There was a square table for eight people in the backyard, with delicate snacks on it.

After the three sat down, the maids hospitably poured tea for them, and it looked harmonious.

Yan Xu prepared for a long time and then stated unhurriedly, “Today I heard that you would return to the capital. Although I don’t want you to leave, I can’t say anything. I prepared a few gifts. Please accept them, Your Excellency.”

As soon as he finished his words, seven or eight government workers carried heavy wooden boxes and came in one after another, putting the boxes in front of Mo Junyang.

The wooden boxes were heavy, and when they were put on the ground, a layer of thick dust rose seemingly, so they must have a lot of weight.

When Shi Qingxue was curious and wondered what Yan Xu wanted to do, she saw that the workers opened the boxes, and the bright stuff was dazzling under the light even at night.

They were gold and silver.

Even though Shi Qingxue had seen a lot of occasions and been rewarded many times, she was in a daze facing the gold and silver ingots in the big boxes.

She had only one thought. This magistrate was so straightforward and free from affectation.




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