......
Dinner was indeed noodles, as expected.
Inspector He watched the student wash her hands, only allowing her to sit at the table once they were clean.
He never imagined there would come a day when he'd have to teach a student about hygiene.
He thought of the giant black ant, with its shiny exoskeleton, hard antennae, thin waist, and many legs. The hair on his back stood on end.
Such a fine lady, why would she play with such a thing?
Inspector He gazed at the sky, speechless.
He lowered his head to eat his noodles.
For dinner, not only had Mrs. Jiang personally cooked, but Jiang Er had also helped in the kitchen.
A gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, but he showed no hesitation.
The Jiang family kitchen wasn't far, and it was set up very brightly, with an open section.
As night fell, candles were lit.
When Inspector He returned, he saw under the lantern light a handsome man with his hair tied up meticulously, kneading dough, while a woman chopped green onions nearby.
It was a very domestic scene.
This kind of feeling was absent in his own household. His wife, also from a noble family, would certainly never cook personally, nor would he.
Perhaps in his memory, his mother had cooked for him.
Maybe a very, very long time ago.
His servant boy Jizi said that Commander Jiang had spent the whole day at home, cuddling with his wife, hardly looking at official documents or receiving guests. In the afternoon, he even went to water the vegetables in the yard, personally picked some wild onions, and in the evening, he kneaded dough himself.
Inspector He thought to himself that while he was busy helping to look after children, Jiang Er was leisurely enjoying marital bliss. He felt somewhat cheated.
Oh well, at least the noodles were quite tasty.
Looking at the little girl sitting across from him, who had washed her hands clean and was now slurping noodles, was quite a pleasing sight.
Sitting together, Inspector He didn't feel out of place at all.
The atmosphere in Jiang Er's home was very good, harmonious and happy, completely at odds with the rumors.
Rumors said Jiang Er was a ruthless killer, cold and heartless, but at home he moved slowly, kneaded dough, and even needed his wife's help to peel a clove of garlic.
After dinner, Inspector He even took a walk with Jiang Er.
Jiang Mianmian followed behind, strolling leisurely.
By the time they returned from stargazing, it was quite late.
Unexpectedly, someone came looking for them.
The visitor seemed somewhat flustered.
Commander Jiang didn't try to avoid Inspector He, and Inspector He didn't excuse himself either.
He had come looking for trouble in the first place, so why should he avoid it now that it had arrived?
The visitor was County Magistrate Huang.
County Magistrate Huang was very obedient in front of the Commander, and didn't even recognize the bearded man as Inspector He, thinking he was just one of the Commander's advisors.
"Sir, Old Lady Jiang went to the county office to beat the drum and file a complaint, saying you've kidnapped her granddaughter."
Commander Jiang didn't even furrow his brow.
"Is Jiang Wan missing? I remember I always told you to take extra care of them."
Magistrate Huang wiped the sweat from his forehead.
From the heat, and also from fear.
"She's been missing for a few days, but we didn't notice. Old Lady Jiang only came to report it several days later."
Commander Jiang smiled and said, "My niece is exceptionally clever. All my children's brains combined can't match her shrewdness. If she wanted to run away with someone, it would indeed be difficult to keep her in check. But is Old Lady Jiang trying to falsely accuse me again? I can't be wrongly accused anymore. If she says I kidnapped someone, then I must actually kidnap someone to show her."
Inspector He: ......
Magistrate Huang: You're absolutely right, sir.
......
That night, Jiang Wan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
She was thinking about how, with Young Master Liu's help, she had escaped from Ming County.
Yet because of her, Young Master Liu was now lingering in Jingzhou.
Every day she stayed in Jingzhou, her heart grew more panicked.
But unexpectedly, she had seen her cousin Chu Xi.
This time, she was determined to leave with her cousin.
But how should she appear? How could she get away from Young Master Liu?
It seemed as if heaven itself was helping her.
After her cousin disembarked from the boat, she thought it would be impossible to find his whereabouts in the vast sea of people.
But surprisingly, they happened to be staying at the same inn.
She hadn't seen Chu Xi again, but she recognized the guard by his side.
Heaven was truly on her side.
She wanted to leave without saying goodbye, but worried that Young Master Liu would search for her everywhere.
So she decided to leave a letter.
She thought of writing many things, but felt it would leave too many traces.
In the end, she wrote on a piece of letter paper: "May you achieve success in the imperial exams and win the hand of a beautiful bride."
As she wrote, she accidentally spilled some tea on it, leaving what looked like tear stains.
The letter paper was soaked.
She even carefully used her left hand to write, making the handwriting merely neat, far inferior to her usual right-handed script.
Jiang Wan didn't replace it with a clean sheet. After she finished writing, she packed her things and left under the cover of night.
During their stay, they hadn't just been talking about love. Jiang Wan had obtained a new identity and travel permit.
She was now called Liu Qingqing.
When she took on the Liu surname, Young Master Liu's face had reddened slightly, feeling very happy.
With the new identity and travel permit, she could leave.
She had already scouted out a location during the day.
She chose a new inn, disguised herself, and then waited for the chance to meet Chu Xi.
Although Young Master Liu kept professing his love and promising to marry her, Jiang Wan still didn't believe him. She felt he lacked resolve and couldn't follow through. A young man who had been pampered all his life and never faced setbacks.
Once he encountered difficulties, he might end up like her father.
Now separated from his wife and children, still reciting Buddhist scriptures.
Weak and evasive.
She hated such men.
Everything went smoothly.
Jiang Wan left the inn without Young Master Liu noticing. No one chased after her. She arrived at the pre-arranged inn and was in the process of checking in.
At that moment, she encountered the man who had guided them into the city last time.
She couldn't remember what he said his surname was.
Feeling somewhat flustered, she lowered her head to avoid him, thinking he hadn't seen her.
When she returned to her room at the inn, it was somewhat shabby and seemed to house a mix of characters, but this was just an ordinary inn, not a Jiang family property.
Jiang Wan entered the room, checked the table, and looked at the water kettle. There was still water in it. She poured herself a cup and took a sip, suddenly feeling that the taste was off. Then she felt dizzy and collapsed.
Before losing consciousness, she seemed to see the man who had guided them into the city. She remembered now, he said his surname was Jia, and to just call him Xiao Jia.
......
The next day.
Someone had spread a rumor.
Inspector He, while staying at Commander Jiang's house, had actually taken Commander Jiang's young daughter as his disciple.
People thought Commander Jiang was too cunning.
He was actually using his young daughter to curry favor with Inspector He.
It was said that Inspector He was impartial and incorruptible, and loved to report to the Emperor. One report from him could lead to the execution of nine generations of a family.
No one expected that he would be deceived by Commander Jiang.
It's not like he's the only one with a daughter. Everyone has daughters. In these times, children were quite numerous, after all, there were no contraceptive measures. It was just a matter of whether they could be raised or not.
On this day, many thick-skinned uninvited guests came to Commander Jiang's house.
Jiang Mianmian's classmates came to play with her.
To be honest, Jiang Mianmian's popularity wasn't great.
Firstly, she didn't like playing with kids her own age.
Secondly, Jiang Mianmian didn't have impressive social skills; she was naturally a lazy homebody.
Of course, no one dared to bully her. After all, the Shangqiu Academy they attended was established by Commander Jiang. Pangya, the chubby girl who accompanied Jiang Mianmian, was also quite intimidating, being very fat and sturdy.
Guests are always welcome.
Today, Jiang Mianmian was quite happy to have her classmates over.
After all, she and her newly acquired teacher viewed each other with mutual dislike.
This relationship was a bit tiring to maintain.
Having classmates help share the burden made things much better.
Speaking of young ladies in ancient times, they were quite precocious in some ways.
After all, they would marry and have children at the age of junior high school students, so they had to mature early.
In front of Inspector He, those girls were subtly trying to show off their best sides.
Inspector He looked at the group of little girls in red, green, and blue dresses before him and felt dizzy.
He felt his reputation had been damaged.
Yet he still had to maintain an authoritative appearance.
Governor Wu's daughter, who was also Jiang Mianmian's classmate, was very polite in front of Inspector He.
She asked Jiang Mianmian:
"How did you do on the last literature exam?"
Jiang Mianmian happily replied, "I got a D-minus. I was lucky, almost didn't pass."
The little girl sighed and said, "I didn't do well, I only got an A-minus."
Jiang Mianmian's eyes widened in agreement, "You only got an A-minus? You spend so much time studying every day, working so hard, and you only got an A-minus? If I were you, I'd bang my head against a wall and die."
The little girl: ......
Inspector He: ......
