Pastoral Splendor

"Young Master, Master!" Clerk Gao cried out with a mournful face, "I have always worked diligently in the prefectural government and have never done anything wrong! Today, I was bewitched and wanted to help a relative. I listened to others and came to Xiao Family Village to uphold justice! I will never do it again. I will make impartial judgments and never listen to other people's nonsense. Please forgive me, please forgive me!" As he spoke, he struggled to kowtow, but he could not lower his head.

"Your Highness, let it go. This kind of person isn't worth your time." Jian Yifei looked at the clerk Gao's face, which was swollen all over, and a few strands of his white beard had fallen to his feet, fluttering up and down with the breeze. His eyes were pleading, making him look quite pitiful.

This person wasn't exactly a heinous criminal; he just wanted to come to this small mountain village to support his relatives. Besides, Miss Xiao did kill someone's sheep, and in the countryside, a sheep is considered a valuable asset.

Jian Yifei looked at the registrar Gao and said, "You say you're the registrar of the prefectural government, and you're already this old, how come you're still so clueless? If you want to support your relatives, you can't do it this way by bullying others! Let's leave it at that for today. You can't act so recklessly again. If the young master and I see this again, we won't let you off easily!"

Clerk Gao nodded repeatedly, touching his cheek with one hand, feeling a burning pain there. Today he had lost both face and substance. Being beaten was not enough; if the yamen runners saw him in such a disheveled state, how could he ever walk around in the prefectural government again!

The village head secretly slipped out with the registrar, but Jian Yifei grabbed his arm. Trembling, he bowed his head and asked, "M-Sir, is there anything else?" The young master Xu was very respectful to this young man, calling him "Master" repeatedly. The village head was already confused and didn't know who he was. Being grabbed by the arm made him even more nervous.

“As a village head, you should properly mediate disputes in the village. How can you just parrot what others say? You don’t even know the situation, yet you come here and spout nonsense. How can you expect the villagers to believe you?” Jian Yifei gave him a disdainful look: “This is the first time. If I see this a second time…” He curled his lips, bent down to pick up a small stone, and flicked it hard. The small stone shot straight into the big tree in front of Old Master Xiao’s house and embedded itself deeply in the trunk.

The village head was so frightened that he was trembling all over and could barely speak: "I, I, I know! I will never dare to do such a thing again."

Watching the clerk and the others stumble and scramble out of the courtyard, Xiao Laoda blinked, still unable to believe it for a long time. He had thought that his family's vegetable garden was doomed, but unexpectedly, a benefactor came to help him. He gratefully wiped his eyes and knelt down to kowtow to Xu Yixuan and Jian Yifei, but Jian Yifei grabbed him and said, "Father, there's no need for such formalities."

Xu Yixuan nodded repeatedly beside him: "Helping the weak and oppressed is what this young master should do!" He smiled and turned to Yan Ying, his lips curling up: "Miss Xiao, would you like to have stir-fried minced pork with pickled bamboo shoots today?"

Yan Ying glanced at Xu Yixuan and smiled: "The pickled bamboo shoots aren't ready yet."

Xu Yixuan's face immediately fell, and she muttered, "So you two sisters were lying all along."

"I'm not lying. Once the pickled bamboo shoots are ready, I'll naturally invite you over to taste them." Yan Ying was already making plans in her mind. If she wanted to promote her pickled bamboo shoots, she would have to use Xu Yixuan as a selling point. She had to win him over properly. "Let me think about what delicious dish I can make for you today."

Xu Yixuan immediately beamed and nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice: "Okay, okay, I knew you were skillful and would definitely let me have a good meal."

Yan Ying spread her hands at him: "Give me the money. Can't you see what our family is like? Do you think we have money to buy groceries?"

Xiao Laoda trembled in fright, grabbed Yan Ying's hand, and said shakily, "Sanhua, don't be like this, didn't you..." He blinked, about to say that Sanhua still had a few taels of silver saved, but Yan Ying interrupted him, "Last time, it was silver given by the young master. I bought some rice and grain, and it's all gone now. Mother just gave birth to Qihua, and my eldest sister is back. We don't even have the silver to buy them meat..."

Yan Ying glanced at Xu Yixuan and smiled somewhat embarrassedly: "Young Master, our family is poor, please forgive us."

Hearing Yan Ying's words, Xu Yixuan felt a pang of sadness in his heart. He reached out to touch his purse, but his hand froze. Since birth, Xu Yixuan had never worried about money. He never needed to carry any money with him when he went out. If he saw something he liked, someone would naturally pay for it. He had originally wanted to be generous in front of Yan Ying, but he didn't expect that there was nothing in his purse except for bullets.

He glared at the guards and asked, "Do you have any silver on you?" Seeing that the guards remained silent, he grew impatient and said, "Hurry up and hand it over, or I'll pay you back double when we get back to the manor!"

A guard immediately pulled out a small silver ingot from his pocket: "Young Master, I just received my monthly allowance, so please give this to this young lady to buy groceries."

Xu Yixuan took it and looked at it, then frowned: "Why is there only such a small amount of silver?"

Just as he was about to lose his temper, Yan Ying took the silver from him and said, "That's enough, that's more than enough."

The silver weighed about four or five taels, enough for more than ten people to have a sumptuous lunch. She winked at Erhua and Sihua: "Take the young master up the mountain for a while, and come back in half an hour. By then, the meal will be almost ready."

Hearing that they were going to the mountains for fun, Xu Yixuan was very interested and glanced at Jian Yifei: "Master, are you going?"

Jian Yifei glanced at the enthusiastic Xu Yixuan and shook his head: "I'll just help this young lady out; it must be hard for her to cook all by herself." He looked at the guards and shouted sternly: "Keep a close eye on the young master; there can't be the slightest mistake!"

Yan Ying silently praised him from the side. Although Jian Yifei was only sixteen or seventeen years old, he had a very calm demeanor. If he hadn't dressed simply, unlike Xu Yixuan who was dressed so luxuriously, people would have thought he came from a prestigious family just by looking at his expression and attitude. They would never have guessed that he was just a guard of the Prince of Qin's mansion.

"Do you want me to go grocery shopping with you?" Jian Yifei glanced at Yan Ying, a slight blush creeping onto her face.

"No need. Just come to my house and do some chores. Fill the water tank and chop the firewood in the backyard." Yan Ying ordered Jian Yifei without any politeness: "If you have time, wash the rice and start a fire to cook."

Walking briskly, Yan Ying clutched the silver and headed out of the village, pondering what dishes she should prepare for this young master. Her eyes darted around; as a prince, what expensive dishes hadn't he tasted? But as long as she knew his tastes, even the simplest fare would be made to earn his praise.

Last time, when she prepared the lamb three ways at the villa, Yan Ying had already observed that Xu Yixuan was very interested in salty and spicy food. He was happily eating spicy lamb chops with both hands, his fingers covered in oil. Yan Ying thought to herself that the more prestigious and wealthy a family was, the more they paid attention to health. Xu Yixuan must be used to eating bland food, which was why he showed such interest in salty and spicy dishes.

Today… Yan Ying weighed the silver coin in her hand, and made up her mind. She couldn't spend all the silver at once; she had to keep some for herself. She might as well cook some cheap dishes for Xu Yixuan. Anyway, he was used to eating big meals, so he might be happy to eat some low-class dishes occasionally.

Thinking of this, Yan Ying smiled and her eyes crinkled. She could earn another tael or two of silver today. Although it wasn't much, it was still silver. Even a little bit of meat on a mosquito's leg was still meat, let alone this shiny silver. She walked to the village entrance with a smile. There was a butcher's board there, with half a pig hanging on an iron hook. Next to it was a long row of vendors selling odds and ends. Yan Ying glanced at them and saw that there were a few vegetable vendors. There weren't many vegetables left on their stalls.

This is a place where several villages meet, so people occasionally sell vegetables here. Today happens to be market day, so there are more vendors. However, it's almost lunchtime now, so there aren't many people walking around in front of the stalls. Most of the vendors have their heads down, looking at their goods, their heads drooping heavily.

When the butcher saw Yan Ying approaching, he quickly straightened up. However, after looking her up and down, he noticed that she was poorly dressed, with sleeves that were too short and hanging on her forearms, revealing a section of her snow-white wrist. He couldn't help but feel a little discouraged and said lazily, "Little girl, do you want some meat cut?"

"Yes." Yan Ying nodded and smiled at the butcher: "Uncle, cut me five catties of lean meat, ten catties of fat meat, and ten catties of bones. Oh, and I also want your pig's trotters. I'll take everything on the table."

The butcher's eyes widened in disbelief. He couldn't believe his ears. He had no idea that this little girl was actually rich. She really didn't flaunt her wealth! His thick beard twitched with delight. He sharpened his cleaver on the cutting board a few times and then bent down to cut meat for Yan Ying.

After buying the meat, Yan Ying bought a steamer of tofu next door. Seeing that there were spices for sale, she bought some cinnamon, star anise, five-spice powder, Sichuan peppercorns, and nutmeg, as well as a few common dishes. She wandered around and bought a few interesting things here and there. Seeing that there were sugar figurines for sale, thinking of Liu Huaye and the others, she decided to buy a handful of sugar figurines as well.

When Yan Ying returned to her front door, she saw Xiao Wangshi looking around at the intersection with her grandson. Yan Ying ignored her and strode towards her own yard, but Xiao Wangshi grabbed her arm and smiled as she leaned closer to Yan Ying: "Let Grandma see what you bought."

Xiao Wangshi's little grandson also stared longingly at the sugar figurine in Yan Ying's hand, drool dripping from his mouth: "Grandma, I want that sugar figurine!"

Yan Ying frowned, then gestured towards the village entrance with her lips: "They sell them over there, ask Grandma to buy some for you!"

"Oh dear, don't you have a handful? What's wrong with giving one to your little brother?" Xiao Wangshi reached out to take the sugar figurine from Yan Ying's hand, but Yan Ying dodged it, glaring at Xiao Wangshi and saying, "When your precious grandson has something delicious, do you ever think of sending some to Wu Hua and Liu Hua? Now you want to take away their snacks? Dream on! Don't you have money? Go buy some yourself!"

"Wuhua and Liuhua are just little girls, how can they compare to my precious little darling?" Xiao Wangshi's small, beady eyes flashed with a fierce light: "Hmph, you heartless older sister, you don't even know to hurry up and give your own brother a sugar figurine?" She glanced at Yan Ying and saw that her hands were not empty. She thought to herself that she might be able to snatch a sugar figurine, or at the very least, she could drag a piece of meat from her basket.

Xiao Wangshi jumped up and reached out to snatch the sugar figurine from Yan Ying's hand. Before her hand could even touch Yan Ying's arm, there was a whoosh of wind, and a leaf flew towards her wrist. Before Xiao Wangshi could figure out what was happening, she felt a numbness in her wrist, and her entire wrist became limp and powerless.

Jian Yifei stood at the door, his face ashen as he stared at Xiao Wangshi: "You have no shame! You dare to steal someone's things in broad daylight! You're over fifty years old, how can you still be so shameless?"

Yan Ying glanced at Xiao Wangshi, strode into her own courtyard, and smiled at Jian Yifei: "Let's go inside and ignore her."

Jian Yifei nodded and followed Yan Ying back to the courtyard. He pointed to a pile of finely chopped firewood and asked Yan Ying with a smile, "I think I haven't forgotten how to do these rough jobs."

Seeing the firewood neatly stacked to the side, Yan Ying inwardly praised Jian Yifei. "Having strength is great," she thought. "What would have taken her half a day to do, Jian Yifei finished in such a short time." Looking at the many small bamboo shoots still in the yard, their white, tender leaves swaying in the water in the basin, she glanced at Jian Yifei in surprise: "You're really quick!"

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