Chapter 16: Tonghua
After spending two days at the villa, Feng Qi grew restless. Early in the morning, Wen Ning’an saw Feng Qi changing into plain clothes and couldn’t help but ask, “Where are you going? An inspection in disguise?”
“Something like that. I’m going to check on the dam at the Tonghua River, without notifying Xu Binghua or bringing an entourage.”
Wen Ning’an said, “I’ll go with you.”
Feng Qi thought for a moment before replying, “You should rest well at the villa. I’ll go by myself.”
Wen Ning’an then looked at Feng Qi in silence.
…
…
“Fine, fine.” Feng Qi finally surrendered.
That look…
It’s just too much.
As Feng Qi watched Wen Ning’an also being attended to by servants while dressing, he noticed something different about his waist.
“Yixin, where is your jade pendant?”
Wen Ning’an took the tray from the servant, indicating he would do it himself, and then said, “I gave it away.”
Feng Qi’s face fell. He asked darkly, “Who did you give it to? When?”
Wen Ning’an was startled and immediately tried to soothe him. “Don’t misunderstand. The jade pendant is with a child, a pitiful child I met yesterday.”
After hearing Wen Ning’an’s explanation, Feng Qi raised an eyebrow, seemingly in thought.
“Did the child come to find you afterwards?”
Wen Ning’an shook his head.
“Then I’ll have Fu Che go and check on him later.”
Wen Ning’an asked doubtfully, “What’s wrong?”
Feng Qi didn’t care about the child’s life or death, but he didn’t want Wen Ning’an to be unhappy.
Feng Qi, who had finished dressing, walked over to Wen Ning’an, smiled, and stroked his cheek. “You don’t often stay in the palace, and after coming of age, you’ve spent most of your time on the battlefield. On the battlefield, love and hate are clear-cut, a world of flashing blades. So there are many things in the palace that you may not know.”
Wen Ning’an smiled. “There are intrigues in the military camp, and on the battlefield, it’s not just open spears, but more often hidden arrows. There are many things on the battlefield that you don’t know either.”
“We will slowly get to know each other in the future. We will always be together. When you go on a campaign, I will go with you. When I am in the palace, you will also accompany me.”
Having the tables turned on him, Wen Ning’an’s earlobes turned red, and he turned his head away slightly. Seeing this, Feng Qi laughed a few times and, taking Wen Ning’an’s hand, walked out of the room together.
Originally, Feng Qi had planned to travel light on horseback, but now that Wen Ning’an was with him, he had the servants prepare a comfortable and spacious carriage. Most importantly, it was a carriage that could block the sun.
They used a four-wheeled carriage, so they arrived at the Tonghua River a little later than Feng Qi had expected.
The two walked side by side along the riverbank. Feng Qi had patiently listened to Xu Binghua’s detailed explanation of the dam the other day, and now it came in handy. He explained it to Wen Ning’an along the way, causing Wen Ning’an to look at him with admiration in his eyes.
After listening for a while, Wen Ning’an asked curiously, “So, has the court found anything about those floating corpses?”
“They’ve found the source. They say people died in the upstream village, and the bodies were thrown into the river.”
Wen Ning’an felt that something was wrong. “Why would the bodies be thrown into the river instead of being properly buried after people died in the village? Would the families of the deceased be willing?”
“It wasn’t a natural death,” Feng Qi explained patiently. “There was a murder in that village. A young man killed seven people in a drunken rage and then, fearing his crime would be discovered, threw the bodies into the river to hide the truth. He was just unlucky to encounter a reverse tide, and the bodies were discovered by the court. Later, during the court’s investigation, the young man finally confessed his guilt and is now being held in the Ministry of Justice’s prison.”
“An ordinary young man, drunk, could kill seven people?”
“The young man had some martial arts training.”
Wen Ning’an nodded.
Feng Qi said, “If you think there’s anything suspicious, I can accompany you to the Ministry of Justice’s prison to see the young man, or we can go to the village to have a look. I trust your intuition. If you say there’s a problem, then there is.”
“Huaitian, you seem to be very concerned about this case?”
The Son of Heaven, yet he has to personally investigate and understand it.
Feng Qi sneered. “I’m not very concerned about this case, but I’m very ‘interested’ in this project. It’s being supervised by the Xu family. I’m just waiting for them to show their true colors. Besides…”
“Let’s just say I’m accompanying you on a tour. It’s better than staying in the villa all day. If I’m with you, anything is suitable, isn’t it?”
Wen Ning’an smiled faintly and said no more. It was Feng Qi who took the initiative. “Since we’re already here, why don’t I take you for a walk around the upstream village?”
“Alright. We can just walk there.”
“We’ll use the carriage.” Feng Qi had a shadow guard go and inform the driver.
Wen Ning’an grabbed Feng Qi’s arm. “Huaitian, there’s really no need to go to so much trouble for me.”
“Who said it was for you?” Feng Qi raised an eyebrow. “It’s for myself. I am the Emperor, my body is invaluable. I’m feeling lazy and don’t want to walk now. Is that not allowed?”
“…”
Tonghua Village didn’t have a large population, nor was the village large. After the two of them got out of the carriage, they became an oddity in the eyes of the few villagers passing by.
Wen Ning’an looked at his and Feng Qi’s clothes—smooth fabric and intricately patterned belts. He thought to himself that they were still too luxurious, completely out of place with these common people dressed in coarse cloth.
“Young masters, who are you looking for?” an old man in his seventies or eighties asked, leaning on a cane as he hobbled over to them.
“Not looking for anyone,” Feng Qi shrugged. “It’s almost noon. Look at my brother here, he was sunburned before, so he wants to avoid the harsh sun and find a teahouse for some shade and a cup of tea.”
The old man shook his head. “This village of ours is so dilapidated, not like the places you two are from. There are no teahouses here, but the villagers are always happy to have you visit, if you two don’t mind.”
Wen Ning’an smiled. “Of course we don’t mind.”
The two of them walked around the village. As the old man had said, there were indeed no teahouses or inns, only a few scattered stalls selling daily necessities, and the houses were very simple.
Feng Qi frowned. He hadn’t known that there was such a poor place in the capital, right under the Son of Heaven’s nose. Being near a river and a forest, shouldn’t it be a prosperous place by common sense?
Rumble—
Feng Qi looked at the sky. The blue sky had turned gloomy at some point, covered with dark clouds, a black mass pressing down like an advancing army. A cold wind brushed against their cheeks, lifting the hems of their clothes slightly.
“Yixin, we really have to stay here now. Looking at this, it’s going to be a downpour, and the dirt roads here are extremely slippery. We won’t be able to go back by carriage.”
Wen Ning’an nodded. He didn’t mind.
A cold wind swept by. Not far away, a woman from a household hurriedly came out to collect the clothes hanging on a bamboo pole into a basket.
Seeing Wen Ning’an and Feng Qi, the woman shouted, “Oh my, young masters, it’s about to rain. Why are you still outside? It wouldn’t be good if you got your clothes dirty!”
One of the young men rushing home passed by and shouted to the woman with the basket, “Auntie Qiu, those are outsiders. They just came to our place to ask for some tea.”
“I see!” Auntie Qiu put down her basket, came to the fence, and opened the gate for Feng Qi and Wen Ning’an. “If you two don’t mind, come and sit in my house! I still have some tea and snacks.”
Wen Ning’an nodded slightly and smiled. “Thank you, Auntie Qiu.”
Auntie Qiu saw that Wen Ning’an was handsome and elegant, cultured and polite, but not like a weak scholar. She took a liking to him and hurriedly pulled him into the house.
Feng Qi, who was ignored at the side, raised an eyebrow slightly and followed the two of them past the fence.
Although the house was simple, it was very clean. Auntie Qiu invited the two of them to sit at the table while she went to the front hall to prepare tea and snacks. Wen Ning’an had originally declined, but Auntie Qiu insisted on hosting them.
A little girl stood by the door of the front hall, half of her body exposed, staring at the two uninvited guests in her home.
“Mother, the two big brothers are so handsome…”
Auntie Qiu came out with a tea tray, laughing heartily. “They are indeed handsome! May I ask if you two young masters are married? My eldest sister’s daughter just turned eighteen this year and is as lovely as can be! The girls from our small place wouldn’t dare to aim high, but it would be wonderful to be a concubine for you two young masters! I see you two are either rich or noble, so you must be like those masters in the capital with three wives and four concubines, a house full of beautiful wives and concubines, right?”
Feng Qi pointed at Wen Ning’an. “Yixin here has not yet taken a wife, nor does he have a single concubine in his residence.”
Auntie Qiu was delighted and was about to say something when she saw Feng Qi continue, “Because his husband is me.”
…
…
Wen Ning’an felt as if his cheeks were about to burn up.
Auntie Qiu looked at the smiling-but-not-smiling Feng Qi and the flustered Wen Ning’an, unable to react for a moment.
So he’s not married, but he’s already been married off…
Male wives were very common among the nobility, and it was gradually becoming so among the common people as well. So, Auntie Qiu shifted her target to Feng Qi. “In that case, my third sister’s youngest son is nineteen this year and is also very handsome. Is the master interested?”
Feng Qi: “…”
Wen Ning’an let out a “pfft” of laughter.
Feng Qi said with a straight face, “If I marry someone else, Yixin will get jealous and cry. So I can only accept your kind offer in spirit.”
Wen Ning’an’s smile froze on his lips.
“Oh my!” Auntie Qiu seemed to be tired of their sweet talk and finally gave up on the topic, instead asking them where they were from and making small talk.
Wen Ning’an said to Feng Qi in a low voice, “What nonsense are you talking…”
Feng Qi smiled smugly.
Wen Ning’an was helpless. This person is truly… truly fooling around!
