The next day, at the hour of Mao (NT: 5-7), Fang Linyuan arrived at the Sixteenth Guard Garrison.

With the deterrent effect of yesterday's warning, the roster for the morning shift at the garrison was densely packed. As soon as the hour of Mao passed, the parade ground of the garrison was already full of guards.

This was a scene that the instructors of the Sixteenth Guard had never seen before.

Fang Linyuan sat at the front of the parade ground, flipping through the roster. A head instructor approached him, bowing respectfully and cautiously, "General, all the guards on duty today have assembled. Please give your orders."

Fang Linyuan raised his eyes and asked him, "How do you usually train? Do you still need to consult me?"

The instructor was a bit nervous and embarrassed, unable to speak for a moment.

To his shame, since he was appointed to the Sixteenth Guard Garrison, he had never led troops in training.

Rubbing his hands, he was thinking about what to say when he saw Fang Linyuan lower his eyes again, flipping through the roster. "Since His Majesty has provided you with this salary, it must not be for the purpose of maintaining idle people who can't do anything."

The instructor straightened up hastily. "I understand!"

Fang Linyuan said no more. After half an incense stick's worth of time, the sounds of training began to emanate from various places on the parade ground.

He rubbed his ears, and the roster in his hand flipped to the next page.

His gaze fell on the only name on that page that wasn't circled, and after a slight pause, his finger lightly touched those three characters.

Li Cheng'an.

The Deputy Commander of the Sixteenth Guard Garrison, son of the Minister of War.

He had a brief encounter with this person on the night of the Flower Festival, but he didn't see him yesterday because he was resting.

Today, besides the three who took leave for injury, he was the only one who didn't show up for duty.

When Fang Linyuan arrived at the Sixteenth Guard Garrison just now, he saw someone waiting for him at the gate. The person handed him a token. It was Li Fu, a close attendant of the Minister of War, saying that their young master got drunk yesterday and accidentally fell off his horse, injuring his leg, so he couldn't come today.

The attendant looked embarrassed.

"Does the physician say how long it will take for Li Cheng'an's leg to heal?" Fang Linyuan asked him.

The attendant hesitated for a long time, only saying that it would take about a hundred days to recover from the tendon and bone injury, and no one could be sure.

Fang Linyuan understood their meaning.

Most likely, the young master refused to come at all, and Li Fu was afraid that his child would lose his official position because of this, so he personally came forward to ask Fang Linyuan to take care of him.

Fang Linyuan raised his eyes slightly and looked towards a certain place on the parade ground.

Leading a group in training was Lou Shuo. He was supposed to be the one who was most severely beaten yesterday, but today he didn't dare to take leave and was now practicing boxing with the instructor on the field.

His punches were sloppy, indicating some martial arts foundation, but he looked like someone who had been neglecting practice for years. His punches lacked strength, and because of the stick injury on his back, every move made him grimace in pain.

Fang Linyuan shook his head lightly.

This troublemaker wasn't much of a troublemaker, but Li Cheng'an was interesting.

Yesterday, he had a bit of an outburst, and these aristocratic disciples were more cautious today. Only Li Cheng'an, feeling confident, still wanted to use his father's prestige to intimidate him.

Fang Linyuan smiled indifferently and closed the roster with a snap.

*

The investigation in Rongchang Street was much smoother than yesterday, which was within Fang Linyuan's plan.

News travelled fast among merchants and commoners, and many vendors who had been afraid to set up stalls returned to Rongchang Street to collect compensation. The shops and vendors in Daxuan were all registered with the Ministry of Revenue. After the process was confirmed, it was difficult for anyone to take advantage of the situation.

These vendors, who had previously feared the Sixteenth Guard, now regarded them as generous lifesavers. Even without door-to-door inquiries, the vendors who received compensation racked their brains to recall the situation on the night of the Flower Festival, eagerly providing clues.

On this day, the records of the guards responsible for paperwork were almost full.

But the pockets of those rich kids were starting to feel the strain.

Before lunchtime, Lou Shuo sent away two or three colleagues who came to him looking for silver banknotes (NT: banknotes from ancient times having a value in silver) with a dark expression.

They had no money in their hands, so why would he have any!

Yesterday they were still happy, saying that even if it was a general returning from the northwest, they couldn't avoid taking the money route to get things done. Now? They would spend a little money, and they would have only twenty of the forty military sticks left.

In just one day, Lou Shuo saw his purse shrink, and in less than two days, he gradually couldn't afford to drink or buy precious items. Even the monthly spending he set aside for the courtesans was being used to help these impoverished vendors.

Those people left with their money, while the impoverished became them.

Last night, he went home and found his mother.

His mother had a decree, and she was also a close friend of the palace ladies. He couldn't ignore it after he got into a fight outside. But he didn't expect his mother to look worried and tell him that the general who returned from the border was someone he shouldn't mess with. She told him to behave himself these days and not to cause any trouble.

He didn't get any justice back, but instead his mother lectured him sternly.

With a black face, Lou Shuo could only try another way and ask his mother for more silver banknotes.

This time, his mother had a black face.

"Where did all that money go? Did you go gambling, or did you enchant some brothel singer?"

Lou Shuo explained for a long time, but he didn't get any benefit from his mother.

He usually didn't keep any money on him, and there was no other way. He was afraid that Fang Linyuan would really kill him, and he hardly slept all night.

This morning, he finally managed to get some money.

He had just borrowed money from several people who came to him, and they all praised Brother Lou's generosity. He felt embarrassed to say that the money was borrowed.

It was borrowed from Deputy Commander Li Cheng'an.

Compared to them, Li Cheng'an was still the most capable one, after all, the Ministry of War was chaired by his father, the minister. With his father's intervention, even Fang Linyuan couldn't do anything to him.

Li Cheng'an generously lent him the money and even gave him an extra five hundred taels.

"Next month, my grandmother will come back from the ancestral sacrifices, and then I will return the money to you!" Lou Shuo said.

"No need, just take this little silver and use it." Li Cheng'an's expression was not good, but he said generously.

"Cheng'an, you really saved my life!" Lou Shuo felt genuine gratitude in times of trouble.

Li Cheng'an replied, "Do you plan to continue like this?"

"How else?"

"If he wants to fight, you let him fight, and if he wants money, you scramble to give it to him?" Li Cheng'an looked at him.

Lou Shuo's face turned bitter.

"What else can I do? He has the emperor's decree, and my mother doesn't dare to move against him." He said. "Don't mention me, Cheng'an, aren't you hiding at home now? It's good to hide and avoid trouble. Maybe he'll leave sooner or later."

But Li Cheng'an clenched his fist.

"Wait? I hate waiting the most." He uttered.

"Cheng'an?"

"Just let him wait." Li Cheng'an gritted his teeth.

Lou Shuo didn't know what Li Cheng'an was making Fang Linyuan wait for, but saw him bitting the bullet as if he had some deep-seated grudge against Fang Linyuan.

What could this grudge be?

Lou Shuo pondered in confusion. Now, as he arrived at Rongchang Street, he was still thinking about this matter idly.

Suddenly, someone tugged at his sleeve again.

Another person borrowing money?!

Who was this debt collector again! Even if the God of Wealth let them continue extorting, they would end up beggars. If anyone asked him for money again, they won't get a single cent!

Lou Shuo turned around abruptly.

But it was the old woman who sold flowers yesterday, with her face full of wrinkles, hunched over, looking somewhat timid.

She held a basket, and Lou Shuo, inattentive, found it being pushed into his arms heavily.

When he lowered his head, he saw that the basket was filled with spring flower cakes, looking plain but giving off a tantalizing fragrance.

"What is this..."

"Yesterday, thank you for saving us, we don't have anything valuable at home, so please don't mind the humble gift," the old woman said timidly, looking at him nervously.

For some reason, Lou Shuo saw genuine hope and gratitude in the rugged face of the old woman.

Fang Linyuan saw this scene from afar.

Lou Shuo didn't know where to put his hands, as if he was holding a bundle of dynamite in his arms. The old woman thanked him profusely, saying that her grandson had seen a doctor and his fever had subsided last night.

Children were always hard to raise, and the old woman must have been sincerely grateful to Lou Shuo. This large basket of cakes, still warm, was probably specially made, the old woman had undoubtfully not slept all night.

Lou Shuo was frightened and kept saying, "Take it back, I don't want it, take it back quickly..."

Fang Linyuan covered his mouth with his fist, suppressing the smile that was about to appear on his lips, and walked through the crowd, pressing the old woman's hand that kept pushing the basket into Lou Shuo's arms.

"Granny, we have regulations in the military, he's not allowed to accept this," Fang Linyuan said seriously.

"This..." The old woman looked confused, her actions frozen.

Fang Linyuan glanced at Lou Shuo lightly and said, "If he privately accepts property from the people, he will be punished with military caning."

Lou Shuo almost stood still in shock.

Another beating?! How much does Anping Marquis hate him? Does he have to beat him to death to be satisfied?!

Regaining his senses, he almost jumped up from the spot, saying, "I don't want to accept this, she insisted..."

The old woman also hurriedly explained, "How can you beat this military officer! General, you don't know, yesterday this old woman's stall was knocked down, it was this military officer..."

She waved her hands anxiously, while Fang Linyuan calmly took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and put it in the old woman's hand.

"If he takes it, let it be this time, but it's not to be repeated," he said. "Consider this basket of cakes as a gift from me to him."

The old woman insisted that she couldn't take his money.

"If you don't take this money, then I'll have to deal with him according to military law," Fang Linyuan said sternly.

The old woman was indeed frightened by his words and kept waving her hands, refusing to accept it.

"After a child falls ill, they need nourishment. Take this money back and buy some extra meat for the child," Fang Linyuan insisted.

The old woman thanked him profusely again and again, and it took several rounds of exchanges before Fang Linyuan finally sent her away.

Fang Linyuan glanced sideways at Lou Shuo, who was holding the basket.

"Although these cakes may not be worth much, she genuinely appreciates you," Fang Linyuan said. "Accept them, but don't let her feel indebted."

Lou Shuo was momentarily stunned, then realized, "You weren't really going to punish me, you were just helping her pay for the cakes?"

Fang Linyuan gave him a slightly disdainful look.

This prodigal son wasn't malicious, but his intellect was really not suitable for being an official.

Lou Shuo muttered to himself, looking down at the basket in his hand, "Why thank me? There's hardly any money in it..."

Fang Linyuan glanced casually to the side. "Right now, there's more than just her on this street who wants to thank you."

Lou Shuo didn't understand and followed Fang Linyuan's gaze.

He saw several market vendors surrounding the soldier with the roster, eagerly recounting their experiences from the Flower Festival night, describing the appearance of the bandits with gestures.

There were also many vendors who had gathered their belongings and insisted on giving the passing soldiers something, insisting they had worked hard. These were worthless items like dried fruits or a few early apricots, but the vendors couldn't be dissuaded.

Lou Shuo had never seen the 16th Battalion like this before.

They had always been arrogant, making people stride carefully. The common people feared them, and they acted like kings. But they had never thought that compared to being appreciated and respected, their arrogant days were actually quite meaningless.

Lou Shuo turned his head to look at Fang Linyuan again.

On the day he rode his horse back to the capital, the streets were buzzing with tales of his exploits. At that time, he and his brothers were sitting in a tavern, scoffing at his departure on horseback.

"They're just bragging, what kind of famous general? They're just blowing their own horns."

But now, unexpectedly, he found himself agreeing with those people to some extent.

It seemed that no matter how much they praised Fang Linyuan, it wouldn't be excessive.

His hand unconsciously reached into the basket, and he absentmindedly picked up a piece of spring flower cake and put it in his mouth.

His eyes immediately lit up.

"What's wrong?" Fang Linyuan asked beside him.

But he saw Lou Shuo unexpectedly looking at the basket of cakes, giving them a rare direct glance.

"...They're actually tastier than the ones at Jufang Pavilion," he said. "Why doesn't that old lady come out to sell her flower cakes?"

Fang Linyuan chuckled a few times and looked away.

Meanwhile, Lou Shuo seemed to have discovered a treasure. He stuffed a piece of cake into his mouth and walked towards the squad of soldiers with the basket in hand. "Come, General Fang, have something to eat!"

After taking a couple of steps, he stopped and turned to look at Fang Linyuan.

Fang Linyuan noticed he seemed hesitant to speak.

"If you have something to say, just say it," he couldn't be bothered to drag it out with him.

But Lou Shuo hesitated for a moment, wrapped several pieces of cake in a floral cloth from the basket, and handed them to Fang Linyuan.

"Cheng'an has some opinions about you," he whispered. "Be careful."

*

Cheng'an? Li Cheng'an?

Fang Linyuan was taken aback, then chuckled twice.

Naturally, Li Cheng'an had opinions about him, but he wondered how Lou Shuo found out. However, he never cared about the opinions of young masters like Li Cheng'an, but he was slightly interested to see how Li Cheng'an planned to make him be careful.

Watching Lou Shuo distribute the flower cakes to the soldiers and even to the vendors nearby, Fang Linyuan became somewhat intrigued. He picked up his own portion, intending to taste it.

Just then, a figure in white appeared in his line of sight.

He looked up and saw Lady Su, followed by two assistants, carrying several rolls of fabric.

Was she going to his house?

Lady Su happened to spot him too and gave him a distant bow.

Right, he still needed to ask Zhao Qiang to help him pick out fabrics today. It seemed like a troublesome task.

Fang Linyuan paused in the middle of unwrapping his portion, thought for a moment, then decided to wrap the floral cloth back up and walked over to Lady Su.

"Miss, are you going to my house to deliver fabrics?" Fang Linyuan asked.

Lady Su nodded.

Fang Linyuan responded with a nod and reached out to hand over the package of cakes, smiling as he said, "It's going to trouble you, Miss. When you see my wife later, please pass this package of cakes to her for me."

Lady Su quickly accepted the cakes with both hands.

Fang Linyuan brushed off the crumbs from his hands.

He remembered that Zhao Qiang seemed to particularly enjoy sweets, even carrying sugar with him on regular days, like a little girl.

But these ordinary cakes made by commoners were not even good enough for Lou Shuo, let alone Zhao Qiang, who was accustomed to luxurious delicacies.

But as the saying goes, you can't blame others for being too courteous.

He fulfilled his courtesy, so it would be easier to ask for Zhao Qiang's help in the future.

*

Lady Su carefully carried the cakes all the way to the Marquis of Anping's residence.

She only learned yesterday that the one who saved her life was the renowned Marquis of Anping. No wonder he was so agile and skilled; no group of bandits could match him.

Naturally, the love story between the Marquis of Anping and Princess Huining was known even to three-year-old children.

Lady Su dared not be negligent. She stood in front of the gate with the cakes in her hands. Immediately, a guard came to ask about her purpose. She respectfully replied that she was from the Su family's fabric shop.

Facing such a grand mansion, she felt a little nervous, but when the guard heard her response, he kindly said, "The Marquis instructed yesterday to let you in. Please come in, Miss."

Lady Su nodded gratefully, then followed the maid into the main hall, holding the cakes as delicately as if she were holding dewdrops fallen from the sky.

Before long, a maid announced that the princess had arrived.

Lady Su and her servants immediately knelt down to pay their respects, not daring to raise their heads.

The tinkling of fine jewels could be heard as the colourful skirt of the princess caught the light. Supported by the maids, the princess slowly stopped at the front of the hall, where Lady Su was, and was helped onto a chair by her attendants.

"Please rise," the princess did not speak, but it was her attendant by her side who spoke.

Lady Su quickly stood up.

"I pay my respects to Your Highness," Lady Su said. "I have brought some fabrics woven at home, a small token of appreciation. Please forgive its simplicity."

The princess still did not speak, but one of her attendants stepped forward.

"Her Highness knows about your recent loss and has prepared some silk and gold for you," the attendant said. "It's just a small token of sympathy, and she hopes you will find solace."

Lady Su was stunned, then she saw a heavy purse being handed over to her.

Her nose tingled, tears almost welling up in her eyes. Just as she was about to accept it with both hands, she realized she was still holding the gift entrusted to her by the Marquis of Anping, meant for the princess.

She quickly sniffed back her emotions, swallowing the lump in her throat, and held onto the item with both hands, lifting her head to look at the princess.

But she met the princess's bewitching yet icy and indifferent eyes.

It seemed as if she was assessing her discreetly.

Lady Su was startled, then saw the princess casually diverting her gaze, toying with the translucent emerald beads on her wrist.

Princess Huining was indeed more beautiful and aloof than the rumours suggested, her radiant golden jewellery unable to conceal the brilliance of her countenance. With lowered eyes and eyelashes like raven feathers, her demeanour was as calm as a goddess seated high in a bright hall.

Yes, she had presumed too much.

The princess was extremely noble; how could she scrutinize her like this?

Lady Su hastily explained, "Your Highness, just now, I met the Marquis on the street. He was concerned about Your Highness and entrusted me to deliver this to you."

With that, she lifted the cakes with both hands.

The attendant by her side immediately understood and took the cakes, while another servant placed the purse in her hands.

Lady Su thanked them again.

Then she saw the attendant presenting the cakes to the princess, and immediately a servant brought a silver tray. The rough flower cloth on the tray was unfolded, revealing the slightly deformed cakes inside.

Lady Su was surprised to see the princess, with lowered eyes, revealing a faint smile like the melting snow on mountaintops.

Lady Su was almost dazzled by that smile, quickly lowering her gaze to avoid any disrespect.

She didn't see the moment when the princess smiled, her eyes lightly glancing at her.

Then, she heard the voice of the princess.

"He's always considerate."

It was like celestial music to Lady Su's ears; even the hands clasped in front of her couldn't help but squeeze lightly.

Truly, she was like a divine figure woven from pearls and jade. Lady Su thought to herself. No wonder the Marquis had admired her for so long; the tales of immortal lovers in books were indeed not without basis.

Lady Su sighed inwardly, keeping her head respectfully lowered.

Naturally, in her respectful demeanour, she didn't see the hint of meaning hidden in the princess's eyes when she spoke.

It was like a proud peacock passing by her gracefully, its tail feathers swaying, shimmering with golden light as if by chance.

 

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The author has something to say:

【Pointing Fingers】Princess, jealousy and resentment are great moral deficiencies~

 

Translator : DarNan