"Oh?" The old lady turned her head and noticed Ye Zi’an.
"Oh, I see." The old lady, who had a hearty personality, laughed and said, "I, the old woman, said something wrong. I should be punished, but I hope the child won’t mind."
"You’re too harsh on yourself, ma’am; you also didn’t know."
Ye Zi’an replied indifferently. However, even though his face showed nothing, he was still somewhat unhappy in his heart. He didn’t like anyone who wanted to take Xiaxia away.
Well, young Anzi still had a bit of a jealous streak in him.
"In the future, if you come to the county town, come to the government office and chat with me, the old woman." The old lady said to Yang Chuxia with a smile, "I, the old woman, am bored to death staying in the office every day. I just want to chat with you children and feel like I’m young again."
"If the old lady doesn’t mind, this commoner girl will visit you when she comes to the county town."
"That’s great." The old lady then said, "Don’t call me ’lady,’ just call them uncle and aunt, and call me ’grandma.’ It sounds more intimate."
Although the old lady spoke sincerely, Yang Chuxia didn’t call her that after all. The social status between commoners and officials was unequal to begin with. If they didn’t maintain some distance, they wouldn’t know how they might offend someone later on.
It’s easy for an official to crush a commoner.
Seeing that she insisted on using honorifics, the old lady didn’t press her any further. However, she genuinely liked these two children. She didn’t expect such outstanding children to come from a small farming family.
So, the old lady insisted on keeping the two at the County Magistrate’s mansion for lunch. After lunch, they chatted with her for a while. Seeing that the old lady’s spirits were somewhat unwell, the two said their goodbyes.
This time, the old lady didn’t hold them back, just telling them to come often in the future.
After they bid farewell to the County Magistrate’s mansion, and had arrived at the front of the governmental office, Yang Chuxia thought for a moment and asked, "Brother An, the prisoners are all locked up in the government office’s prison, right?"
"Yes, what do you want to know about that for?"
Yang Chuxia suddenly smiled coldly, "You forgot that my father’s half-brother, who ruined one of his arms, and that Ms. Hua Junior, who crippled your leg, are still locked inside. They owe us an arm and a leg, do you think we should make them pay it back?"
"What do you want to do?"
So, Yang Chuxia and Ye Zi’an went to the place where the prisoners were being held. There were several armed prison guards at the entrance. Yang Chuxia approached them and handed over two strings of coins to the two in front, asking, "Brother Constables, I want to go in and see a few people, may I?"
"Who do you want to see? Give me their names, and I’ll notify them inside." The prison guard who received the money was quite amiable and asked.
"I want to see Yang Xiao’an, Yang Qingwen, and Ye Ziping from Yangshu Village, Wangquan Town, who were arrested. And also Ye Zi’yong and his mother, and a girl named Yang Lichun." She originally wanted to say she was visiting Ye Ziping, but then she remembered that Ye Ziping had been exiled, and Burly Lu seemed to have already been executed.
The prison guard, hearing that they were all from Wangquan Town and Yangshu Village, looked at Yang Chuxia with curiosity and muttered, "What a lousy village—it has so many criminals?"
Though he muttered, he still went inside to report the situation.
Half a quarter of an hour later, the prison guard came out and said, "You can follow me inside, but you can’t stay too long, only two quarterhours."
Upon hearing that she had two quarterhours, it was just enough time for her to visit everyone. So, she smiled and said, "Thank you, Brother Constable!"