The First Volume of Qinghe County

  Ximen Qing was momentarily at a loss as to what this was all about, but Pan Jinlian stopped him and called out: "It turns out it's you, Brother Yuan. I'm unable to get away myself, so please help me by going to the street to find my husband and have him take charge of things."

  This brother is also somewhat familiar with Wu Dalang, usually looking for some snow pears to sell on the street, seven or eight out of ten would wait in front of Ximen Qing's house first, selling the good ones at a good price, and only then going around the streets calling out to sell the leftovers. Ximen Qing can be considered his own god of wealth, plus he often walks around in front of the house, how could he not know Ximen Qing's ways? At this moment, hearing Pan Jinlian's summons, Ximen Daifu is lying there with a big smile on his face, without saying a word, afraid to ruin the official's business, where does he dare to move?

  "Sister, you don't know, I just came back from the street, and all the way, I didn't see Big Brother Wu. I'm afraid he was invited by some wealthy family to take him away with his load, so where can we look for him now? Besides, the master is here, and I should be at ease serving him." Yu Ge thought for a moment, then opened his mouth to make excuses.

  People's hearts are separated by a layer of skin, Pan Jinlian didn't know that Yu Ge had so many things to say, and could only respond: "Since it's like this, I can only take responsibility for everything myself. After all, in the end, it was my fault for dropping the fork, which led to all these troubles. Brother Yu, please take care of yourself here, and wait for me to bring back some Anshen Tang with Dang Nian."

  Wu Song wholeheartedly devoted himself to taking care of Ximen Qing, and with a mouthful of agreement said: "Sixth Lady, just go ahead, I'll take care of things here." Turning around again, he drove away the crowd that had gathered to watch the commotion, saying: "Leave! Leave! There's nothing good to see, all of you go back!"

  Everyone watched for half a day, the good show had just been performed halfway, and then he would leave like this? One by one, they said with their mouths: "Let's go, let's go right away." But their feet didn't move at all.

  Ximen Qing saw Wang Po and Pan Jinlian whispering to each other, and was about to get up and leave after they went to heat the An Shen Tang in the back. But Yu'erge wouldn't let him go, and with a hand on Ximen Qing's arm, he earnestly advised: "Master, don't be impatient, Sixth Lady has gone to heat the soup, it'll be ready soon, you can leave after you've had the An Shen Tang."

  What a joke! Just passing by to get some soy sauce, I was hit on the head by Pan Jinlian for no reason, lay down on the chair for a while, and unintentionally touched Pan Jinlian's soft chest. Then, who knows what will happen next? Will Wu Song jump out from behind?! Do I still want my life?! Can't just sit here waiting to die!

  Ximen Qing sat up decisively from the recliner, first letting out a heavy hum, then looking around at the astonished eyes with a flip of his white eyes, and said in an absolute tone: "I come when I want to come, I leave when I want to leave, what kind of bird is this Anshen soup?"

  No matter whether it was Yu Ge or the onlookers, they couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines when they heard this ruthless remark. Ah, how could they have forgotten that Ximen Dafu was such a formidable figure in Qinghe County? His family ran a Chinese medicine shop, and he was either related to or friends with several thousand households in the county. His connections in the government were solid, and if he stomped his feet on the city wall, the entire Qinghe County would tremble - who dared to provoke him?

  That hunter who bought medicine wasn't the one whose whip was cut by Ximen's official?

  Many onlookers who heard this couldn't help but slowly move towards the door, seeing that the official was in a rage, no one wanted to provoke him.

  At this time, a sentence came from somewhere, loud and clear: "The master cannot leave!"

  "Who is so bold?" The crowd turned their heads to look, and Pan Jinlian emerged from behind, carrying a steaming bowl of Anshen soup, her pretty face tense, with Wang Po hastily pulling on her clothes.

  "Master Ximen, today it's all my fault, I shouldn't have accidentally dropped the chopsticks. If Master doesn't drink this bowl of calming soup and leave, I'll be uneasy in my heart. I can only bring our family's eldest son to Master's gate every day to kowtow and apologize." Pan Jinlian said, ignoring Wang Po's reminder, biting her lip lightly.

  Yue Ge was shocked and lost his color after hearing this, how could Liu Niang say such an incautious thing? Is this considered an apology or a threat to Ximen Da Guanren?

  Ximen Qing watched as Pan Jinlian walked towards him with light steps, holding the calming medicine, looking no less than a death god, or rather, Heibai Wuchang holding poison and walking towards him. As for what Pan Jinlian said, he didn't hear clearly at all, and stuttered: "This..."

  The old woman hastily came forward to mediate, saying: "Your Honor, this Anshen soup is also ready, it won't hurt to drink it before leaving. Liu Niang was just talking nonsense, Your Honor shouldn't take it to heart..."

  Ximen Qing coughed twice and was about to make an excuse to slip away when two loud shouts came from the entrance of the teahouse: "Where is the master?"

  "Is my old man here?"

  Immediately, the crowd erupted in a flurry of noise. First, two young servants holding horse whips squeezed in through the doorway, scolding and driving away the onlookers: "What kind of people are you, gathering here to gawk? If you don't leave soon, beware of the whip's lack of eyes."

  Everyone knew that it was Ximen Qing's servant coming to look for his master, and seeing the whip about to fall on their heads, they couldn't bear to watch anymore. They dispersed in an instant, and the tea house suddenly became quiet.

  At this time, a middle-aged man with a shopkeeper's attire walked in from the doorway, his face darkening as he said: "I'd like to see who has eaten bear heart and leopard gall, daring to detain Master Dong!"

  "This isn't the proprietor of the medicine shop, Fu?!" Old Woman Wang hastily stepped forward to pay her respects: "Director Ximen was passing by here and suddenly fell ill with an old affliction. The old woman and Wu's wife quickly supported him into the teahouse to have a bowl of Anshen Tang (a medicinal soup) to calm his spirit, how can you say they're detaining him? This is a prescription from inside the palace, it's the best for calming the mind and soothing the spirit."

  Fu Zhāngguì didn't pay any attention to Wang Po's advances, and walked forward to take the Anshen Tang from Pan Jinlian's hands. He sniffed it under his nose, looked at the color of the medicine, furrowed his brow and coldly smiled: "Although your Anshen Tang recipe is generally correct, the materials used are too poor. Even the main ingredient, ginseng, is just ordinary goods. How can this be given to Master for consumption? You should know that the Anshen Tang prepared at home all use old mountain ginseng aged over 10 years, not to mention adding high-quality pearl powder!"

  These words even surprised Ximen Qing himself, Wang Po's tea house wouldn't use anything good, but Ximen Qing was just a local landlord in Qinghe County, and he was already living such a luxurious life, with even the bowl of Anshen soup being so exquisite, then how extravagant would the emperor be?

  To say that Fu Zhuanggui is just the owner of a small Chinese medicine shop, but earlier he simply smelled it a few times and looked at the color of the soup, and could say how the medicinal materials work, this kind of skill can't be done by any medical professors I know.

  The old woman smiled all over her face and said: "Since there is a better calming tea in the mansion, why bother to keep the official here?"

  Fu Laizi carefully helped Ximen Qing up and felt his pulse: "How are you feeling, Master?"

  Ximen Qing nodded and said: "Just now it was an old illness relapse, a bit of a headache. It's nothing serious now. Thanks for your hard work, Director Fu."

  "After serving as the manager of this pharmacy for so long, I didn't even notice that the master had an old illness, it's really shameful! Fortunately, there was a servant who went to report to the mistress at home, and only then did she send someone to look for me in the shop, that's when I found out that the master had fallen ill again on Purple Stone Street."

  Fu Zhāngguì's face was filled with pain and distress, as if he would have liked to knock himself dead with a block of tofu. This made Ximen Qing look on in shock and horror, thinking that people in ancient times must have been so emotionally intense. He hastily forced out two laughs and said: "Fu Zhāngguì, why be like this? This old illness hasn't flared up for many years, I've even forgotten about it myself."

  As soon as the words fell, Pan Jinlian saw Ximen Qing was about to leave and stepped forward: "Just now it was all my fault, I accidentally dropped the chopsticks, which caused the master's old illness to relapse. This Anshen soup doesn't have to be drunk, as long as the master says what he wants me to do to make up for it, I will follow."

  The woman next to her chimed in, "Sixth Lady, that's not what you said. Director Ximen is a magnanimous person and won't ask for any compensation."

  Pan Jinlian shook her head resolutely: "Mother, I've made up my mind, no need to say more." After finishing, a pair of beautiful eyes stared at Ximen Qing, without blinking.

  Ximen Qing thought to himself, "How can Pan Jinlian be so emotional? What compensation are you talking about? Do you want Pan Jinlian to compensate with her body? Isn't this the path of an adulterer and an adulteress? How can this be? Can your younger uncle let me off?"

  After a moment of contemplation, Ximen Qing's face turned stern, and he let out a cold snort. He stood up from his chair, pointing at Pan Jinlian with his hand: "Today, I was just passing by your house when you hit me with a stick. From now on, I don't want to see you again! Wherever I appear in the future, you are not allowed to approach within thirty steps of me!"

  At this point, Ximen Qing suddenly raised his voice and stretched out a palm with five fingers in front of everyone: "No, fifty paces!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Ximen Qing didn't care how Pan Jinlian responded and strode towards the door. The two young servants put away their whips and respectfully led the way: "Master, the sedan chair is this way..."

  Fu Zhāngguì originally thought that his master would definitely make some demands, even if it was just an excuse to coerce Pan Jinlian into accompanying him for a drink or sleeping with him, but he didn't expect his master to let Pan Jinlian off so easily. Although he didn't understand, Fu Zhāngguì grunted and followed after his master, leaving behind the three people - Pan Jinlian, Wang Po, and Yuan Ge - who were staring at each other in dismay.

  They certainly wouldn't know that Ximen Qing, who had traveled through time and space, was using something he learned from a TV drama in his previous life - a restraining order issued by the court to restrict harassment of the parties involved. Of course, in this era, there were no courts or such restraining orders.

  "What kind of compensation is this?!" Wang Po was confused by Ximen Qing's words: "What kind of compensation is this that Master Ximen is asking for? It's making people not understand."

  Yu Ge sat down on the bench beside him, rubbing his head: "This is really confusing, I only remember that last year, a fellow from the Dong Street Inn came out to pour water and happened to splash some on the hoof of the horse ridden by the big official from the West Gate. Not only was the person almost beaten to death with a whip, but the entire inn nearly got torn apart. And every day, people would occupy the entrance of the inn, how could business go on?"

  Pan Jinlian thought back to Ximen Qing's behavior just now, especially the two touches on her chest, and couldn't help but have two red clouds rise from behind her ears, instantly reddening her face. She stamped her foot and said: "This Ximen Daren was very rude just now, taking advantage of... slave's... must not be good-hearted, who knows what tricks he has up his sleeve? Mother, after thinking it over, it's still best to take husband with me tomorrow to go to Ximen Daren's house to apologize..."

  Wu Song saw Pan Jinlian gesturing with her towering breasts, and only then did he realize that Ximen Qing had taken advantage of the situation to stretch out his lucky claw. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva: "This guy's timing is good, I've been eyeing these great breasts for two or three years but didn't dare make a move..."

  At this time, there were two loud thuds at the door, and a man with a dark face rushed in, opening his mouth to scold: "Fart!"