Pastoral Splendor

February is the busy farming season. The men are all busy in the fields, leaving only women and children at home. So, the women who followed the old lady, Lady Sijin, who was the head clerk, were some of the older women from Xiaojia Village. Hearing Yan Ying's eloquent words, they all nodded and said, "What Xiaojia Sanhua said makes a lot of sense."

Some of the more outspoken ones stood on tiptoe and shouted at the registrar, "Sanhua is right. When an official makes a judgment, he needs to bring a warrant to arrest someone. You didn't bring anything, so why are you here to convict Sanhua?"

"Yes, yes, yes, maybe it's a lie!" A woman said, spitting as she spoke indignantly, "We only heard from Old Lady Sijin that she has a cousin who works as a clerk in the prefectural government, but who knows if it's true? Maybe it's a lie!"

"That's right, that's right!" Many people in the crowd echoed in hushed tones. The old lady Sijin was usually very arrogant in the village, always saying, "My cousin from my mother's side works in the Yuzhou government office." Many people had long disliked her, and now they took the opportunity to make a fuss. The clerk Gao's face turned red and white.

"Shut up, all of you!" the village head shouted, turning around and pointing to his nose. "I'm not a fake, am I? I'm here with Lord Gao now, how could I be faking it?"

Seeing that the village head had lost his temper, the several loudly shouting women immediately stopped talking, except for one who was still muttering quietly: "You are not fake, but after being forced to drink four catties of wine by old lady Sijin, you are almost a fake too."

Yan Ying saw the village head making a fuss, but she didn't say anything. She just smiled and looked at the registrar, Gao. Her eyes were bright and there was an indescribable playfulness in them, which made the registrar quite annoyed.

He was already too proud to admit it, and now this little brat had looked down on him. The registrar, Gao, was seething with anger. He huffed and puffed, "Xiao Sanhua, is your father home? Go and call him over quickly. I've already written a contract; I need him to put his fingerprint on it!"

"Who are you? Just because you want my father to put his fingerprint on your document doesn't mean he has to!" Yan Ying slapped the registrar's hand aside. "My father is busy working in the fields; he doesn't have time to deal with you!"

"You, you, you!" Clerk Gao shouted angrily, "Arrest this blind little brat!"

The constables behind her stepped forward in response. They sized up Chao Yanying; the girl was only fourteen or fifteen years old, and quite pleasing to the eye. They genuinely didn't want to arrest her. But who could blame them? Her mouth was too sharp; she had offended the registrar, and would inevitably have to suffer in jail for a few days.

A constable rolled up his sleeves, ready to rush forward, when he heard a panicked voice from behind: "Don't arrest my Sanhua! If you have a problem, come at me!"

Everyone turned around and saw a man in his forties squeeze through the crowd. He looked honest and simple. He walked up to the registrar, stood with his head down, and trembled all over as if he were being shaken. "Master... sir..." Xiao Laoda hesitated and said, "My Sanhua is ignorant and has offended you. Please don't take it to heart."

When Clerk Gao saw Boss Xiao standing in front of him with his head down, looking timid and cowardly, he smiled smugly, took out a document and waved it: "Go up there and put your fingerprint on it, and this matter will be settled. Your feisty girl won't have to go to jail."

Boss Xiao glanced at the document with a puzzled look, and asked hesitantly, "What's written on it?"

"Your family has to give the vegetable garden to Old Lady Sijin, that's all." Clerk Gao handed the document to Boss Xiao, saying, "Hurry up, hurry up, I have to get back."

"The vegetable garden?" Old Xiao trembled. That vegetable garden was something he had painstakingly cultivated, spending a lot of effort to create such a large plot of land. He grew plenty of vegetables there; if his family couldn't finish them, he would take them to Yuzhou City to sell, which helped supplement their income. If he gave the vegetable garden to Old Lady Sijin, his family would lose four or five taels of silver a year. Thinking of this, Old Xiao felt his heart bleeding, his face turned pale, and his lips trembled: "Sir, could you give me less? Half would be alright?"

"How dare you! Who gave you the right to bargain? A life for a life, a debt for a debt. Your girl killed someone's sheep, so of course there should be compensation." The village head roared with a stern face, "Hurry up and put your fingerprint on it, and stop arguing!"

Xiao Laoda was completely bewildered by the shouts from Chief Clerk Gao and the village head. He reached out with trembling hands to take the document from Chief Clerk Gao's hand, but before he could even touch the paper, Yan Ying suddenly reached out a hand, snatched the contract away, glanced at it briefly, and then tore the paper into pieces.

"You brat, how dare you disrupt official business! Quickly, arrest her!" Clerk Gao was so angry he jumped up and down. Several yamen runners glanced at Sanhua, helpless. This little brat really had the guts to be so arrogant. There was nothing they could do; she was the one who wanted to go to jail.

Just as they were about to make their move, Yan Ying shouted angrily, "Who dares to touch me? Take a look at this first!" The constables looked up and saw Yan Ying standing there holding a bronze plaque. The plaque was engraved with heavy cloud patterns and had a large seal script character inside: Yu.

Clerk Gao squinted and looked at it: "What is this?"

"This is the waist token of the Prince Yu's residence." Yan Ying glanced at him, a hint of disdain appearing on her lips. The old lady Si Jin kept saying that her family had connections in the Liangzhou government, but how could a mere clerk compare to the Prince Yu? Our Xiao family has even more powerful connections!

"Registrar Gao, if you dare to touch me, be careful you won't be able to keep your position as registrar and you'll have to go home and starve!" Yan Ying held the plaque and turned it around. The plaque kept turning with her fingers, and the patterns on the brass plaque kept turning, almost forming a continuous piece.

"What?" Clerk Gao's face turned red with anger. "You little brat, how many times have you been out of the village? How dare you spout such nonsense! Where did you pick this up and think you can scare me? So what if you have the Prince Yu's token? Does that mean the Prince Yu will come to your rescue?" He glared at the constables beside him. "Hurry up and arrest her!"

"Yes, sir." Several constables walked towards Yan Ying step by step, and the crowd stirred with a commotion: "San Hua, just admit your mistake and quickly compensate Old Lady Si Jin with your vegetable garden. A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle!"

To her surprise, Clerk Gao did not recognize the sign. Yan Ying was somewhat astonished. As the constables approached, she bent over and assumed a fighting stance. She was determined to make them taste her whirlwind kick if they got too close!

However, fighting so many people alone was quite difficult. Yan Ying frowned, calculating the time. Er Hua should have invited Xu Yixuan over by now, so why hadn't he arrived yet? Could it be that the gatekeeper wasn't letting her in? Yan Ying felt a little regretful. She should have asked Er Hua to bring more copper coins back then.

Several constables leaped towards Yan Ying, and Yan Ying also pounced forward, kicking out with her legs crossed, shouting, "I'll fight you to the death!" Her foot struck one of the constables, knocking him to the ground, but the others pounced and grabbed her arms.

Old Master Xiao was so anxious that beads of sweat dripped down his face: "Sanhua, Sanhua, we can't win against them, so don't be stubborn. Your father would rather give up the vegetable garden than let you suffer in jail!"

"No!" Yan Ying struggled and shouted, "Father, I said I would ask the village elders to estimate how much the sheep is worth, and how much our flower seedlings and vegetables are worth. We'll offset them together, and we'll pay whatever we owe. Old Lady Si Jin should apologize, and we won't skimp on anything!"

"Still being stubborn even now?" Clerk Gao walked up to Yan Ying and smiled disdainfully. "You little brat, you still dare to talk back to me? Even your old man isn't saying anything, so why are you shouting at me?"

Yan Ying was both anxious and angry. She spat at the registrar, saying, "You corrupt official who bullies others by relying on your power, I don't even want to talk to you. Talking to you would be beneath my dignity!"

Clerk Gao bent down and reached for the waist token in Yan Ying's hand: "You say this waist token belongs to the Prince Yu's mansion, I want to see if it's real or fake."

The words had barely left his mouth when a whooshing sound was heard. Before he could even see clearly, Clerk Gao felt a sharp pain in his knee and involuntarily fell to the ground. Old Lady Sijin quickly caught him, saying, "Cousin, be careful!"

A young man in white appeared before Yan Ying as if descending from the sky. He stretched out his hand and exerted a little force, causing the constables to feel as if their fingers were about to break off. They all cried out, "It hurts! It hurts so much!"

"Let go!" the young man hissed angrily. The constables all released their grip. Yan Ying quickly got up from the ground and smiled at Jian Yifei: "Young Master Jian, you've finally arrived."

"Miss Xiao, I'm here too!" A voice came from behind the crowd. Yan Ying turned around and saw several horses behind the crowd. Xu Yixuan was sitting on the tall horse at the front, and behind him were several guards.

"It's good that the reinforcements have arrived," Yan Ying smiled sweetly at Xu Yixuan and pointed to Registrar Gao: "He said your father can't come to protect me."

"If my father can't protect her, then I, the young master, will protect her, is that alright?" Xu Yixuan was furious upon hearing this. He dismounted from his horse, squeezed through the crowd, and rushed to the head clerk, Gao.

...