No matter what, Seventh Young Master had set aside his cases and rushed here specifically to teach her how to respond in the palace. He certainly wouldn't harm her.
Moreover, everything he said was the absolute truth, so there was no need to feel uneasy.
Ying Xiaoman's anxious heart settled, and she happily split the peeled tangerine in front of her into two halves, one for each of them.
"Seventh Young Master, don't just focus on peeling tangerines. You should eat some too."
The evening passed most pleasantly.
Yan Rongshi sat in the small courtyard for half an hour, practicing the dialogues he had taught with Ying Xiaoman several times. She answered fluently, and he praised her approvingly: "Well done, Xiaoman."
Ying Xiaoman sincerely replied, "Seventh Young Master is a good teacher."
A half-moon hung high overhead, its soft light filtering through the gaps in the phoenix tree leaves, illuminating the tranquil courtyard. The two people sitting opposite each other gradually fell silent, gazing at one another.
"The Ministry of Justice provides three meals a day at the office. You should eat more," Ying Xiaoman said, carefully examining the contours of the young man's face in the moonlight.
"You've gotten thinner again. Did you not eat dinner at all tonight, coming straight here after finishing your case?"
Her guess wasn't far off. Yan Rongshi didn't deny it, merely saying, "The sooner I see you, the sooner I'm happy."
The moonlight illuminated the half-open courtyard gate. Sui Miao stood at the entrance, hesitating whether to enter or not.
Ying Xiaoman spotted him and warmly invited, "Sui Miao, come in and have a tangerine with us."
Sui Miao thanked her. As he stood by the table eating a tangerine, Yan Rongshi asked him, "Is everything prepared next door?"
Sui Miao replied, "Everything is ready. The house search revealed nothing unusual. Five people will stay there regularly."
Ying Xiaoman: ?
She asked puzzledly, "But it's not convenient for you to stay there, right? The Shen Family has already rented the place next door and is supposed to move in from their tents in the next couple of days."
"The Shen Family won't be moving in anymore," Yan Rongshi patiently explained to her. "We've found a better place for them. The property agent signed a new lease with them today."
Ying Xiaoman was stunned for a moment. So, the neighbors to the left had changed from the Shen Family's wife to the Yan Family's guards?
"Is the Yan Family arranging for people to live next door because they're worried about the escaped assassins?"
These days had passed peacefully, with a small team of imperial guards closely protecting the three members of the Ying family, but they hadn't even seen a shadow of the assassins.
The mother and daughter of the Ying family privately murmured that with a million people in the capital, the two escaped assassins were truly like drops in the ocean.
If they were talking about risk, shouldn't the officials from the Ministry of Justice investigating the restaurant be in more danger? The imperial guards should be closely protecting Seventh Young Master instead.
"This place needs extra attention, but it's not because of those two escaped assassins."
Yan Rongshi pondered for a moment, put down his tangerine, and stood up, gesturing for Ying Xiaoman to follow.
Ying Xiaoman was puzzled as she was led out of her own house and around to the neighboring courtyard.
The two square courtyards side by side were almost identical in layout. The vacant one on the left had just been thoroughly cleaned by the people Yan Rongshi had brought. Even the blue bricks paving the courtyard ground had been pried up one by one for inspection. There was nothing unusual.
The long wooden table in the center of the courtyard had been wiped clean, with a lamp hanging high above it. On the table sat a golden wine pot and two jade cups.
Ying Xiaoman wandered around the three empty rooms of the main house, and when she came back to the courtyard, a plate of tangerines had been added to the table. Yan Rongshi was still sitting leisurely at the table, unhurriedly peeling a tangerine.
If it weren't for the absence of her stepmother and Azhi in the main room, and the addition of the wine pot on the table, this scene would have been almost identical to the one in the Ying family's small courtyard.
Ying Xiaoman looked for a while, then suddenly seemed to understand something. Holding back a smile, she sat down next to him and whispered in his ear, "I know why you rented the courtyard next door."
"Why?" Yan Rongshi handed her the peeled tangerine and poured wine into the two empty cups. The fragrant aroma of the wine filled the jade cups.
Two ounces per cup, not too much. He pushed one jade cup towards Ying Xiaoman.
"This is Yuqing Spring wine confiscated from Yuqing Tower. We probably won't be able to drink it again in the capital. Last time at the restaurant, you seemed to like it after a few sips, so I brought some more tonight. It's just a pot of wine worth eighty wen, hardly 'misuse of public property,' so drink without worry."
Ying Xiaoman did indeed enjoy the lingering fragrant aftertaste of Yuqing Spring. The two raised their cups under the moon and clinked them gently.
"Why are you asking me? If I were in my own courtyard, with my mother watching, she'd tell me to put it down after just a few sips of wine. Look." She emptied the jade cup of beautiful wine in front of him, licking her lips.
"This counts as the first cup. After I finish the second cup, my mother would start urging me to stop. Last time you brought some sweet and sour grape wine, and the cups were so pretty, but I had barely finished the second cup when my mother started nagging."
Tonight, in the neighboring courtyard, naturally there were no elders to nag.
Yan Rongshi filled the second cup of wine. "Tonight, this whole pot of wine is yours. Drink as many cups as you like."
After they each finished their second cup, Ying Xiaoman happily licked her wine-moistened lips and handed over the empty cup.
As Yan Rongshi slowly poured her third cup of wine, he said, "It is indeed convenient to drink without elders next door. However, the main reason for renting this neighboring house is not for the convenience of drinking. It's because this house is on Hetong Lane."
What's wrong with Hetong Lane?
Ying Xiaoman took a sip of wine and looked at him with bright eyes, questioning.
"These two houses on Hetong Lane are involved in a recent case. They were confiscated and registered in May, but unexpectedly became rental properties in July. It was my oversight earlier, not paying attention to this place sooner to warn you all."
Ying Xiaoman actually quite liked the location of this house on Hetong Lane. She thought for a moment and asked, "Is it because the old servant next door is too troublesome?"
"It's not because of the old servant. The case this house is involved in, you've actually heard about before. But that night you were anxiously waiting to give your statement in the small courtyard of the Ministry of Justice, and I mentioned it casually. You heard it casually, and neither of us paid much attention at the time."
"Come to think of it, Eighth Young Master is very familiar with this house on Hetong Lane."
Yan Rongshi said calmly, "The house you just rented on the right side was where Eighth Young Master used to send his confidant, Yan An, to secretly leak information about my movements to outsiders."
Ying Xiaoman: !!
Her eyes widened. "What a coincidence!"
It wasn't really a coincidence. There weren't many options for the Ying family when renting a short-term house from the government, given their requirements for a good location near the butcher shop, a quiet and nice courtyard, and an affordable price.
Yan Rongshi was in the middle of an interrogation today when he heard that a palace lady official was looking for Ying Xiaoman to teach her etiquette. He decided to come over to check on the situation. When he inquired about the Ying family's new residence and heard the words "Hetong Lane," he immediately felt something was wrong.
He immediately sought out the property agent, quickly asked about the situation, and on the spot paid off the "twenty-four for one" debt owed by the Shen Family, telling them to move back to Seven Scholars Lane. Then he rented the courtyard next to the Ying family's in Sui Miao's name.
"It's fortunate that the left side was empty."
As they spoke, both jade cups were emptied again. Yan Rongshi refilled them, and Ying Xiaoman drank a whole cup to calm her nerves, then filled her empty cup again herself.
Yan Rongshi was still cautioning her: "The deaf and blind old servant isn't involved in the case. But since the house on the right was used by Yuqing Tower for half a year as a communication point, we can't rule out the possibility of unknown individuals coming to the door. To be on the safe side, go back and discuss with your mother about switching the two courtyards. Your family should move to the left side as soon as possible."
"Oh... alright," Ying Xiaoman said.
As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt they were inappropriate, but how?
She tilted her head and thought for a moment, vaguely recalling the serious faces of her two aunts, and said hazily, "Yes."
Yan Rongshi was pouring wine when he heard this vague "Yes." His gaze immediately turned to the face of the young lady beside him, scanning it.
Their eyes met, and Ying Xiaoman said, "What are you looking at me for? I've already said 'Yes.'"
The two were sitting close, and their breath was filled with the sweet fragrance of wine as they spoke. Yan Rongshi carefully examined the charming, flushed face before him in the lamplight. Her usually bright eyes were now hazy, as if a thin mist had settled over the sea at dawn.
He weighed the wine pot. As they had been chatting and drinking, they had unknowingly almost emptied the entire pot.
Yan Rongshi raised his hand and waved it in front of Ying Xiaoman, spreading his five fingers:
"Xiaoman, count, how many are these?"
Ying Xiaoman immediately grabbed his hand and counted each finger.
"One, two, three, four, five!" she shouted happily, "Five fingers! Seventh Young Master, you haven't lost a single finger!"
This shout was loud, and Sui Miao, who was guarding outside the half-open courtyard gate, twitched the corner of his eye and instantly turned to close the gate.
The young lady's grip lost its measure after drinking, and Yan Rongshi quietly took a breath, coaxing her: "Xiaoman, you counted very well, I haven't lost a single finger. Now you can let go of my hand."
But how could Ying Xiaoman be easily persuaded to loosen her grip once she had his entire palm in her hand?
After a few attempts at persuasion, she held on even tighter. Her alcohol-flushed cheeks began to heat up as she lay on the long table. As if cracking open a claw, she pried open his five long fingers one by one, pressing them against her burning cheeks.
"Seventh Young Master," she mumbled with closed eyes, "pour me some more wine. While mother's not here, I'll drink a few more cups."
Yan Rongshi counted the drops as he poured five into the empty cup, just enough for one small sip. Handing her the cup, he coaxed, "Here's the wine, loosen your grip and take the cup. This is the last sip for tonight. After this, I'll take you back."
The tightly clutching hand finally let go, switching to hold the wine cup instead.
Ying Xiaoman drank the five drops that barely covered the bottom of the cup in one gulp. Licking her moistened, glistening red lips, she complained, "There's hardly anything to drink. You're just like my mother, not letting me drink."
Yan Rongshi raised his hand to block her as she reached for the wine bottle, moving it further away before helping her to her feet.
"Now I understand why your mother doesn't let you drink too much. Last time with the grape wine, the amount was small, but strong wines like Yulouchun are easy to get drunk on. It's not good for a young lady to be drunk. Can you stand up?"
In truth, Ying Xiaoman wasn't completely intoxicated. Her current state was somewhere between tipsy and very drunk.
As she was helped to her feet, swaying unsteadily, she was actually still conscious, watching with open eyes as the wine bottle was moved to the corner of the table, visible but out of reach.
After a few failed attempts to grab it, the bottle was moved even further away. Slightly displeased, she raised her hand, placing her palm over the lips of her husband who was still quietly asking her questions.
The hot, soft palm touched equally soft lips, and Yan Rongshi's half-finished question came to an abrupt halt.
Ying Xiaoman's voice was now muffled, her vision blurry.
The warm yellow glow of the lanterns around them fell into her eyes, resembling a field full of spring flowers blooming in March.
She thought she was speaking very fiercely.
"Don't nag me," she said, covering her husband's warm, soft lips, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world:
"You spend all day judging cases in the government office, I can't see you from morning to night, I miss you so much it hurts, but I don't nag you. I just drink a few cups of wine, why do you have to nag me?"
Yan Rongshi sat on the wooden stool beside her. Ying Xiaoman was standing, while he sat, his hand supporting her lower back.
Now it was his turn to keep quiet and listen to Ying Xiaoman's rambling, sentence by sentence.
"We have to leave by the end of August at the latest. You said 'okay', but can you really come with us? What about the cases you're judging?"
"My mother says you should burn some paper money at the grave, offer a bottle of wine, and let father take a good look at you. But what if father doesn't like you? What if he appears in a dream and says you're his enemy, the one he wants to kill, what should I do then? My mother says father is old and confused, tells me not to listen to his nonsense, but how can I not listen..."
The half-drunk young lady mumbled on and on, not knowing if she was speaking to the person beside her or to herself. Her words were soft and quick, muttering many things in one breath.
She paused, trying to remember hazily, "Where was I..."
Yan Rongshi raised his hand to wipe the mist from the corner of her eye.
"You were talking about the struggle in your heart. You love me, but you also respect your adoptive father. You don't want to trouble me, but you also don't want to disappoint your father in the afterlife. With the return to your hometown approaching, your heart is anxious."
Ying Xiaoman nodded repeatedly, "Yes, that's right."
A hand guided her to sit down, but instead of the hard wooden bench, she felt something warm, radiating human heat.
Ying Xiaoman sat dazedly on her husband's lap, tilting her head back. The familiar, faint scent of incense that surrounded her was now mixed with the sweet smell of wine she loved.
A familiar voice spoke to her slowly, sentence by sentence.
"I'm speeding up the investigation. I promised to go with you to your hometown to pay respects at the grave by the end of August, so I'm accelerating the interrogations, working day and night, trying to get results sooner and close the case earlier. As long as the case is closed within a month, we can set out on our journey. I haven't said a single word to placate you."
"Mmm..."
"Relax, smile. A pure-hearted girl like you should be carefree and happy all the time. Not everything in this world requires difficult choices, there's always a way to have both. Let's keep looking. Don't cry."
Ying Xiaoman felt herself falling asleep.
However, her drunken dream was very different from her usual ones.
They were clearly in their own small courtyard, but her mother and younger sister were not there, allowing her to embrace the Seventh Young Master for a long time in the empty courtyard.
The two of them kissed passionately under the starry sky, their young and fervent emotions, usually suppressed, now surging forth with each rapid heartbeat, spreading intense passion everywhere.
Dreams travel thousands of miles with the wind.
Soul and dreams are one with you!