179, To Fengping County (4 more updates)
Fearing Xie Zhinuan might decline, Li Hengyi hastily added another sentence, “Anyway, I’m only here to recuperate, so if you feel uneasy about it, just cook me a meal once we reach the county town, and whether you stay at an inn or with me at the posthouse is up to you!”
“Okay!” Xie Zhinuan agreed.
Having both achieved their objectives, the two of them chatted idly for a few more moments, and they agreed on a time to depart the next morning before Xie Zhinuan took her leave.
Li Hengyi ordered Yuanbao to prepare the carriage.
“Do we need to make arrangements over at the county town?” Yuanbao asked.
Li Hengyi, caressing the warm jade Xie Zhinuan had left behind, pondered for quite a while before saying, “No need, I think she can handle it herself. I won’t interfere, lest I offend her!”
Yuanbao quickly agreed.
He thought to himself how unusually agreeable his master had become.
Then looking at the jade pendant in Li Hengyi’s hand, Yuanbao muttered, “The quality of this jade pendant is really good!”
“Blood-colored warm jade, rare in this world!” Li Hengyi whispered.
Even the imperial palace had only three pieces.
Yet Xie Zhinuan had taken out one that was even better in quality than those in the palace.
What secrets did she hold?
“Yuanbao!”
“Present!”
“Send someone to secretly protect her, not a moment’s absence…” Li Hengyi said, pausing briefly, then continued, “They need not stay too close, just ensure her safety is all!”
With the money borrowing matter settled, Xie Zhinuan was in high spirits.
Upon returning, she was even humming a tune.
Thinking of Li Hengyi, although her initial impression of him had been poor, she found him to be a rather nice person after getting to know him.
She knew gratefulness. Since he had helped her so much, it wouldn’t make sense for her to show no appreciation.
She took a jar into her space, filled it with spiritual spring water, sealed it properly after taking it out, and planned to bring it to the county town the next day.
She had already decided that the braised meat shop she would open would use jars to store spiritual spring water and pour it into the water well, making the meat more delicious and ensuring no shortage of business.
Dawn broke.
It was a new day, and Xie Zhinuan got up with everything already packed. She instructed Shaniu to load the jar on the carriage, “Be careful, don’t break it!”
“Mhm!”
Shaniu responded.
While Xie Zhinuan was preparing breakfast, she instructed Aunt Chen to take care of buying Jiji grass.
Aunt Chen smiled, “Don’t worry, Miss, I’ll handle it well!”
Xie Zhinuan believed Aunt Chen would do a good job.
To avoid hustle and bustle on the road and because the food at roadside tea houses was mediocre, she also steamed some buns to take with her and planned to buy several pounds of braised meat in town for the journey.
When departing, she discovered that Li Hengyi’s party had two carriages.
“?” Xie Zhinuan was puzzled.
Yuanbao whispered, “We’ll be troubling Miss Xie on our journey!”
Xie Zhinuan suddenly understood, pointing to the other carriage she asked, “Is the inside set up for cooking?”
“Exactly!”
Xie Zhinuan tilted her head and thought for a moment, then realized that Li Hengyi must certainly have silver with him, and his likely reason for accompanying her to the county town was to enjoy the meals she cooked.
While she understood this, she didn’t expose it.
Thus, when Li Hengyi invited her to share a carriage, she didn’t refuse. On the contrary, she took out a book, intending to ask Li Hengyi about any words she didn’t recognize.
After boarding the carriage, she handed over the promissory note she had written in her spare time that morning to him, and Li Hengyi accepted it with a slight look of surprise.
This trip to Fengping County might feel different because of her mood, or perhaps because she might never return, Xie Zhinuan opened the carriage curtain to look at the home that was growing further and further away.
She pursed her lips and exhaled a breath.
Lowering her head, she concentrated on reading the book, asking Li Hengyi, who was studying a game of Go, about the characters she didn’t recognize.
Xie Zhinuan watched for a while, then after a bit of thought, she suggested, “How about we play a game?”
She also knew a bit of Go; her skills were passable, not particularly impressive, but good enough.
Chapter 180