Wife, Don't Be Like This!

Chapter 38 - Song Yun Enters the Trap

That household guard was named Zhao Hu.

He was tall and sturdy, with a solemn expression, faintly exuding an air of slaughter.

Although Song Yan hadn't been at the Luo Mansion for long, and had spent most of his free time busy with his own affairs, he had gradually become familiar with the mansion's household guards, servants, and handmaidens. At the very least, calling them by name was not a problem.

The other household guard was named Zhang Long. Unfortunately, the Luo Mansion didn't have a Wang Chao or a Ma Han.

Song Yan's state of mind was very relaxed. Even after hearing he was being followed, he wasn't the least bit nervous. He just strolled slowly forward.

"How strong are they?"

Zhao Hu replied proudly: "Just rabble waiting to be beheaded."

Are you Guan Yu? You see everyone as just rabble waiting to be beheaded!

Song Yan smiled: "How many?"

"Six."

After a pause, Song Yan blinked his eyes: "Um, let me just confirm... Of course, I'm not afraid of dying. So, you two can really handle them, right?"

Definitely not because I'm afraid of dying. This is called 'following my heart'... no, that's not right. It's called being cautious.

"I alone am sufficient." Zhao Hu curled his lip, his tone as if he were possessed by Guan Yu.

Even if he and Zhang Long weren't their opponents, there were others. The Grand Princess places extreme importance on the Young Master-in-law. In the entire Luo family, the level of security for the Young Master-in-law is not the least bit inferior to that of the two young masters, Tianshu and Tianquan...

As for the Third Young Master, he doesn't need it. What the Third Young Master needs is an old scholar who can restrain him and keep him from causing trouble.

With that, he was relieved. It wouldn't be Yang Shi. Song Yan could roughly guess. Yang Siyao's purpose in coming to the Song family should be to restore Yang Shi's lost reputation and help Song Zhen secure the position of Heir Apparent. At a time like this, Yang Siyao would restrain Yang Shi and not create unnecessary trouble.

In fact, there were quite a few people all around looking in their direction, and some were muttering and exchanging words. Unfortunately, Song Yan had no idea how Zhao Hu had managed to lock onto those six people from within this chaotic sea of gazes.

Perhaps it was because of Gu Banxia and Kong Chan. One mature and charming, graceful and moving; the other playful and cute, lively and nimble.

Lu Xun once said, "Beauty moves the heart."

The two beauties naturally attracted more gazes.

It was also possible that his wedding was too high-profile, and quite a few people in Ningping County recognized his face.

Fine whispers were carried in the wind to his ears.

Perhaps because of his diligent cultivation with Gu Banxia during this period, his internal force had grown considerably. Although he couldn't compare to Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, he could still intermittently hear some of the content. Most of it was rumors related to him. After all, for a 'chongxi'* marriage to actually make someone better was probably a first. This kind of gossip could still arouse some people's interest.

[N: Chongxi (冲喜): The superstitious practice of arranging a joyous event, like a wedding, for a gravely ill person in the hopes that the festive energy will drive away the sickness.]

Occasionally, people dressed as scholars would pass by and cast disdainful glances.

Song Yan paid it no mind, but the face of Kong Chan beside him grew uglier and uglier. Her cheeks puffed up, and she glared huffing and puffing at two young men who had just passed by. It looked like she really wanted to rush up and give the two of them a good punch with her little fists.

"What's wrong? Who made our Little Chan angry?" Song Yan chuckled as he ruffled Kong Chan's hair and asked curiously.

"Who else but those poor scholars? They have no ability themselves and can't produce a good poem, so they come and question the Young Master-in-law..." Kong Chan said, puffed up with anger, standing up for Song Yan.

Song Yan instantly understood. It was most likely about the events at the Song Prefecture night market. The line "From now on, the misty rain falls on Ningcheng; one person holds the umbrella, and two walk together," although not an absolutely top-tier line, was still catchy and quite evocative.

And the line "A lonely person stands alone, in the light rain, a pair of swallows fly" was even more incredible. Who knows how many single men and women often pondered this poem, looking at their reflections and pitying themselves.

And because of these two lines of poetry, Song Yan had also gained a bit of fame.

But after the initial heat of discussion gradually passed, some information about Song Yan was slowly dug up, followed by all sorts of doubts.

Never had elementary schooling, imprisoned since a young age—what kind of learning could he have? Thus, some people speculated that these two lines of poetry were not written by Song Yan, but perhaps by another young master of the Song family.

Then, for some unknown reason, someone claimed with certainty that it was Song Yun.

And Song Yun did not come forward to deny it, which in those people's eyes, was considered a tacit admission.

As for why Song Yun would write a line like "A lonely person stands alone, in the light rain, a pair of swallows fly" to mock himself, and why he would know in advance that he was going to lose his fiancée, those scholars subconsciously ignored this point.

For those scholars, compared to Song Yan, they were more willing to believe that this poem was written by Song Yun…

After all, for a youth who had been imprisoned in the backyard for years, hadn't read many books, and possibly didn't even recognize many characters, to be able to casually recite such a fine line—where would that leave the faces of them, scholars who had studied hard for ten years?

Before long, Song Yan's public reputation among the scholars had completed a magnificent 180-degree turn. Every time Song Yan was mentioned, they would probably spit out the word 'shameless'.

Just like those two scholars who had just passed by. If not for the tall and sturdy Zhang Long and Zhao Hu by his side, they would have at the very least spat at him.

Song Yan also knew about these things, but he didn't care much. After all, matters that didn't concern life and money were things he had never paid much mind to.

Kong Chan was still huffing and puffing: "That Song Yun is also shameless. He doesn't even come out to clarify. He clearly wants to falsely claim these two lines of poetry..."

"Let him be."

Song Yan chuckled. Sure enough, Song Yun, who was not greedy for money, not lustful, and quite intelligent, ultimately could not escape the trial of 'fame'.

Has he entered the trap?

I'm not afraid of you being greedy for fame, I'm only afraid you won't enter the trap. Once you're in, it'll be difficult to get out again.

The smile on Song Yan's face deepened. This time, the target was no longer servants like Cui'er, Yang Guifang, or Zhang Xiaoshan. This time, it was a genuine legitimate son of a Duke... hmm, whether he's a biological son is hard to say. In short, the eight sons of the Song family, Yang Shi, and Song Hongtao—the whole family must be neat and tidy.

Temporarily suppressing the thoughts in his heart, he ruffled Little Chan's hair again. Song Yan smiled:

"The Young Master-in-law doesn't even care, what are you getting angry for? Let's go, time to buy eggs."

The people following them seemed to be simply tailing them, or perhaps it was because the county town was crowded and it wasn't a good place to make a move. There were no unusual actions along the way. Things like assassinations or sneak attacks did not occur.

By the time he returned to the Luo Mansion carrying the lard, eggs, and sulfur, Zhao Hu was nowhere to be seen.

……

"Young Master."

A teahouse.

A private room.

Song Yun sat by the window, his gaze sweeping over the bustling crowd on the street below, his expression indifferent. In the room were six other people, all in different attire. There was a hawker, a porter, and a rascal.

Turning his head back, Song Yun's fingers rubbed the bottom edge of his teacup. He murmured in a low voice: "How did it go?"

"We found Song Yan. He was followed by two handmaidens, one is Gu Banxia, the other is Kong Chan, and also two household guards. However, because he stayed within the county town, there was no opportunity to make a move, so we had to give up."

Song Yun nodded: "You did very well."

He wanted to quickly send Gu Banxia to Fang Jun to curry favor with the Fang family.

He also wanted to kill Song Yan, but he wouldn't bring trouble upon himself.

Making a move in public within the county town would inevitably cause a sensation. At that time, there would be a full-scale investigation, and who knows what kind of messy things would be uncovered.

"How strong are those two household guards? If we really were to make a move, are you confident? You weren't discovered, were you?" Song Yun took a sip of tea, but it was already cold.

"Young Master, rest assured, of course we weren't." The man dressed as a hawker, who was the leader, patted his chest with a smug expression.

"The six of us brothers are all ranked martial artists. Those two household guards are just rough fellows with sturdy bodies."

"We tailed them the whole way, and those two didn't notice a thing."

The advantage is with us. It's a guaranteed win.

Song Yun nodded with great satisfaction. Then he pulled out a finely crafted piece of paper from his bosom and handed it to the leader opposite him:

"Arrange for one person to keep watch near the Luo Mansion."

"If Song Yan leaves the city, make your move."

It was a cut-apart bank draft worth ten thousand taels.

In this world, bank notes appeared relatively early. It's just that it wasn't like in the TV dramas, where you could go to a jewelry store, slap a bank note on the table, and the shopkeeper would eagerly bring out the most precious jewelry in the shop.

In reality, bank notes did not circulate.

They were merely proof of withdrawal. Almost all merchants would not accept this kind of thing.

On one hand, using a bank note was quite cumbersome. The essence of a bank note was a contract between the depositor and the bank, made on special paper. After the contract was written, it would be cut in the middle. The depositor would take one half, and the bank would keep the other half. When withdrawing money, the two halves of the bank note had to match perfectly. This was the first step. The person withdrawing also needed to accurately state the time the contract was made, the witnesses, and even a special secret code. If there was a problem with any of the steps, the bank would not give out the silver.

Even if a thief stole a bank note, it was worthless.

On the other hand, the bank also charged a storage fee. Even if you knew all the secret codes and details, the money you withdrew would be reduced.

Therefore, only those who had too much spare silver and found it inconvenient to store it would put their silver in a bank for safekeeping.

"Regardless of whether you can kill Song Yan or not, you must place this bank note at the scene. Understand?" Song Yun said slowly.

The name at the top of that bank note was, strikingly, Yang Miaoqing.

His mother.