Chapter 25: Another Encounter with Nangong Shu

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After the Second Mistress visited and Miss Shangguan came for tea, no one from the Ji Manor visited again.

Meanwhile, Su Jiu and the gang lounged around in the yard for two days and were bored out of their minds. They wanted to go out again.

Nanny pulled Su Jiu back in vehement refusal. The trouble she had caused in Jingqin Restaurant was scary enough, they couldn’t go out again.

“What if we don’t go to Jingqin Restaurant this time?” Su Jiu negotiated politely.

They had been in the city for almost ten days. During this period of time, Nanny took care of them every day, cooking and cleaning for them. She was considerate and gentle and everyone gradually grew familiar with her. Su Jiu thus grew closer to her.

Except for the four of them, Nanny was the first to treat Su Jiu well.

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Although Su Jiu had developed a heart of stone a long time ago, she could feel and be grateful to someone who was kind to her.

However, Nanny shook her head. “Even if you don’t go to Jingqin Restaurant, you can’t go to other places either. The marriage between the Su family and Ji Manor is huge news in Shengjing. The people are watching. If you go out and cause any trouble, Ji Manor would definitely catch wind about it.”

“If I stay any longer, my hair is going to grow like a caveman’s!” Hu Dapao sat on the ground and grumbled.

“Exactly! Ever since we came to Shengjing, we only ever went to a Jingqin Restaurant. We don’t even know where Drunken Joy Pavilion’s door is!” Ah Shu echoed.

“Hush!” Su Jiu, Chang Huan, and Hu Dapao told Ah Shu at the same time.

Ah Shu merely harrumphed, but sure enough, he went aside with his arms crossed.

Qiao An stood under the osmanthus tree with his hands behind his back, a frown on his face. “The problem is that there’s no news from the Ji Manor. Are they really not intending to marry Miss Su?”

Su Jiu leaned against the tree trunk and crossed her arms. “Even if the Ji family does not want to marry Miss Su, they might also send news of her actions to the Su family. We should wait. But we shouldn’t be stuck in this yard. Even I can’t stand it, let alone Dapao!”

In the past, when they were in Yuhu Mountain, they either went out to commit robberies or fought with the Eight Dragons Gang every day. Although they were often hungry, they lived a carefree lifestyle. Now trapped in this small yard, enduring ten days pent up inside was their limit.

Qiao An looked at Su Jiu and said with a smile, “It’s not impossible to go out if you want to. Miss Su can’t go out, but Master Su Jiu can.”

“What do you mean?” Nanny asked.

Chang Huan hung upside down from the tree and remarked joyfully. “Does Master An want Chief to dress as a man again?”

Su Jiu’s eyes brightened. “That’s a good idea!”

She was tired of wearing a dress every day, and wanted to change back to men’s clothes at once!

Nanny nodded her head hesitantly. “Let’s try it then!”

Miss Su would attract a lot of attention if she went out with a group of men, but no one would bat an eye if Su Jiu dressed as a man.

Nanny found a set of men’s robes for Su Jiu, and a little makeup disguised her overly delicate appearance. After a moment, a handsome young man came out of the house.

Su Jiu’s own aura was cold so that even if she looked exquisite, she could pass off as a handsome young man.

As for Su Jiu personally, pretending to be a man was better than being a woman, and there were no flaws.

Qiao An looked at her with a smile and nodded. “Well, now we can go out!”

Chang Huan jumped up and down around Su Jiu, with admiration in his eyes. “My little master looks good in everything!” he flattered her and Ah Shu and Hu Dapao looked at him with disdain.

This time, Nanny was left behind, and the five drove out in the carriage.

Before leaving, Qiao An finally smiled and instructed Nanny, “We’ll come back soon. Stay in the yard and don’t walk around. Although this Shengjing is closely monitored it is inevitable that there will be gangsters. It is better to be careful when you’re alone!”

Nanny smiled awkwardly, “Master An, rest assured that I won’t step out, not even half a step!”

She didn’t have to go out if she wanted to encounter gangsters, there were already five bandits in this yard! Qiao An was warning her not to run away when even in Shengjing they could kill her!

Oblivious to her inner thoughts, Qiao An nodded. “Good!”

Nanny’s face remained the same as she sent the five out. After coming back, she looked at the empty yard, thought about it, and slowly returned to the house for a while.

——

This time, Su Jiu came out without the shackles of her identity. She was overjoyed, and did not sit in the carriage, but with Chang Huan on the shaft of the cart as they drove.

“Chief, where are we going?” Chang Huan asked.

Seated in the carriage, Qiao An knocked on the door. “Address her as Young Master.”

“Yes, Young Master!” Chang Huan chuckled.

Despite the bumpy ride, Su Jiu smiled. “We can go anywhere we want!”

Shengjing was so big that one would need more than one day to finish seeing all of it. Last time, they went to the busiest Jiqing Street, so this time, they went to another street.

It rained yesterday, although the weather has cleared up, the air was still cold. Pedestrians were wrapped in warm clothes and traveled in a hurry along the street.

The carriage crossed the long street, as they saw a father and daughter begging near a wall as soon as they turned the corner.

Both were ragged and disheveled, and the little girl looked about ten years old. She was only wearing only a thin coat in the cold weather, with shoes woven from hay on her feet, her toes bare.

The little girl seemed to be ill, snuggling up in the arms of a man, trembling profusely.

The man was only about forty years old. He bowed his head and hugged his daughter tightly.

“Stop!”

Su Jiu ordered, and the carriage stopped in front of the father and daughter.

Hearing the sound of the carriage, the man slowly raised his head from where he knelt on the ground, and said hoarsely, “Master, please give me some coins, my daughter is sick, and she will die without seeing a doctor!”

Su Jiu frowned. It turned out that even the prosperous Shengjing also had beggars.

“Master An, how much money do we have?” Su Jiu turned her head and asked.

Qiao An pushed the door open and poured out the money from the purse. They had a total of 46 taels and a few coins.

Ji Manor had given them a total of 100 taels. They had spent 52 for Chang Huan to buy the mask, and bought groceries, leaving these 48 remaining.

Su Jiu took five taels and put them in the man’s raised hands. “Bring her to a physician and buy her something to eat with the rest of the money,” Su Jiu said kindly.

The man looked at the taels in his hand in surprise. He looked carefully at Su Jiu, knowing he had met a kind man and then bowed lowly on the ground. “Thank you, Young Master! I am willing to do anything for you in return for your kindness!”

Su Jiu had heard these words countless times and did not take it to heart, but instead said, “Hurry up and take your daughter to the physician!”

“Yes, yes!” The man staggered up with his unconscious daughter in his arms, clasped the five taels in his hand, and hurried to the physician.

The wind seemed colder as Su Jiu got into the carriage and they went on.

—–

After a stroll, the sun was blazing, indicating it was noon.

Hu Dapao began to clutch his stomach and exclaim that he was hungry.

Su Jiu turned to see that there was a tavern next to her and called for Chang Huan to stop. They then got out of the carriage and went inside.

The outside of the tavern looked unimpressive but there was plenty of space inside. The layout was simple and clean. There were more than a dozen tables in the lobby and a wooden ladder on the left that lead to the second floor. There was a door behind the wooden ladder that seemed to connect to the backyard.

Although the tavern could not be compared with Jingqin Restaurant, business was still very good. It was full of people, only a table by the door was still empty.

The five sat down, and the waiter immediately came over and asked, “Gentlemen, what can I get you?”

“Just make it simple!” Qiao An said with a smile.

“Our signature dish is beef noodles. Would you like to try it?” the waiter asked warmly.

Su Jiu nodded. “We’ll have five bowls of beef noodles and five pots of wine!”

“Alright!” The waiter stepped down and shouted to the cook at the back, “Five bowls of beef noodles, five pots of wine!”

The tavern was crowded and noisy, but there were two customers, a man and a woman sitting by the window, that were keeping very quiet.

The man was dressed in black, and he sat tall and straight. He exuded a cold and majestic aura that was at odds with the noisy atmosphere. Opposite him, sat a beautiful woman in green, her own aura carefree, waiting for her noodles to be served.

Facing the door, the woman happened to see Su Jiu and the gang coming in. “What a handsome young man!” she said with a chuckled.

The man did not turn his head, but took a sip of tea and asked softly, “Didn’t Father arrange for you to learn the zither today? If we return and you get reprimanded for running out, don’t make me plead for you.”

“Brother!” the girl whined. “The month you went out on patrol I was bored out of my mind. Father and Mother forced me to practice the zither every day, but I didn’t want to learn at all. I just wanted to practice my sword!”

The man laughed, and his handsome, cold face grew gentler. “Girls can’t go to the battlefield, so it’s better to learn something gentle and elegant,” he said.

“Ugh!” the girl sighed. “If only I had been born a man!”

At this time, the waiter served their noodles, and the girl inhaled its scent happily, “I have been thinking about this smell for a month!”

“Then eat more!” The man picked up the beef in his bowl and put it in the girl’s bowl.

The man who spoke was Nangong Shu, the West Guard Great General, who had just returned from North Camp. The lady was the only daughter of the Nangong family, Nangong Bi.