Chapter 35：You Have to Listen to Me

Ye Jiayao couldn’t help but feel dejected whenever she thought of that stupid donkey. That guy was undercover for more than half a year, and now that he has successfully accomplished his mission, he must have been promoted to a higher position. Ayy, had I known he was a prince and a "Mr. Perfect", I would have tried harder to keep him. Alas, how could she have known? Whatever, what’s passed has passed. There’s no point in dwelling on what could've happened.

Ye Jiayao hung Helian Jing’s clothes on the back of the chair and laid down next to him.

"Why don’t you take off your clothes? Your clothes are also wet." Helian Jing stuck his finger out and poked at Ye Jiayao’s shoulder which was stained with water.

"Go to sleep and mind your own business." Ye Jiayao slapped his hand away and turned around to sleep. Bringing this guy along is quite troublesome. I shouldn’t let him catch on that I’m a girl.

Helian Jing made a face and stuck his tongue out at her back. You brat! I’ll let you have your way. Once you know my real identity, I bet you’d be kneeling in front of me.

This outing was seriously not going as smoothly as he planned. He originally wanted to follow his older brother who came to Shan Dong to suppress the bandits, but his mother forbade him. He barely managed to sneak out, and after all the trouble he went through, he arrived yesterday only to find out that his older brother had already left. His older brother had already gotten rid of the bandits' nest and was already escorting the head bandit back to Jin Ling. Helian Jing did not want to go back despite not catching up with his older brother, so he came to Ji Nan to travel around. He didn’t know that he would have such unlucky encounters on his first day.

Usually, it would only be his older brother who would scold him. Who else would even dare to breathe loudly near him? However, today, he was yelled at and told off by that brat and also left out in the pouring rain. When has he ever been so irritated before in his sixteen years of life? It was all thanks to that one person.

So, I’ll just tolerate all I can for now and we’ll see what happens when we get back to Jin Ling. Heh heh.

The man next to him let out a loud snore. Helian Jing covered his ears and shifted towards Ye Jiayao, putting his head next to her shoulders. A hint of fragrance drifted towards him. In this space filled with all sorts of nasty smells, this fragrance was welcome and his breathing finally became less strained.

Helian Jing slowly drifted to sleep as he lied by her side.

The sky gradually became brighter and people in the hostel started to wake up one by one. Ye Jiayao was awoken by the noise but found that she couldn’t move because of some snoring guy who was bear-hugging her.

Ye Jiayao pinched the arm that was across her chest hard.

"Ah… What is this? There’s a bug biting me!" Helian Jing was sleeping soundly but the pain made him sit straight up.

Ye Jiayao sat up and slowly said, "Get up."

Helian Jing rubbed his arm and saw that it was red and swollen. "What was it that bit me so hard?" he muttered curiously.

Ye Jiayao threw him his clothes. "A man shouldn’t whine about little things like these. You're so annoying."

Helian Jing wrinkled his nose. This guy was even more menacing than his older brother. He let him, a prince, sleep in this run down place, and did not even allow him to complain about being bitten by an unknown bug.

After they left the hostel, Ye Jiayao immediately purchased some rations and daily necessities which cost a little less than six hundred copper pieces.

The shoe shop that sold a pair of shoes for ten copper pieces caught Ye Jiayao's eyes and she dragged Helian Jing over to it. She lifted his leg and compared it with a pair of cloth shoes before turning to the salesman, saying, "This pair will do."

Helian Jing did not want to change into the cloth shoes. "My own shoes are comfortable. Why should I change? The bottom is so rough, it'll be uncomfortable."

Ye Jiayao was too frustrated to talk. He couldn't just have fancy blue satin shoes because all of the clothes he was wearing were too short for him. People might think that he just stole them.

"Are you going to change or not?" Ye Jiayao glared at him. She didn’t want to argue about how he styles himself this early in the morning.

Helian Jing could only silently resent her. His shoes were clearly more comfortable, but why did he have to change? Did he find it uneasy to stand with someone who was clearly well dressed?

"Fine, fine, I’ll change. Why are you always so fierce? You might not be able to find a wife at this rate," Helian Jing mumbled as he changed his shoes.

Ye Jiayao snorted with contempt. I don't need a wife, buddy. I just like to be fierce to keep men that needed scolding, like you, in line.

Ye Jiayao put his satin shoes away. "Let’s get out of this city."

Helian Jing walked a few steps, his spirits lifting as he found out that the cloth shoes were quite comfortable. He caught up with Ye Jiayao with just three steps.

"Yao… Jin Yao…"

Ye Jiayao frowned. Does her name sound really that bad? Why did it sound so awkward when he called her?

"Call me brother Jin. You are little Jing," Ye Jiayao told him.

Helian Jing scoffed, "You’re shorter than me! How could you be older? What makes you the older one and me the younger one?"

Ye Jiayao waved her hands dismissively. "Height has nothing to do with age. I’m more competent than you, so you have to listen to me."

Helian Jing objected, "How can you be so sure that you’re more competent than I am? At best, you just have a few more taels than I do."

Ye Jiayao smirked. "Haven’t you heard? Those who have more money are older. If you're not convinced, then don’t follow me!"

Helian Jing took a deep breath. Keep calm, keep calm.

"Fine. Since you have more money, then you could be the older one," Helian Jing acquiesced. Once we get to Jin Ling, you’ll see who the boss is.

Ye Jiayao was not fooled by his affirmation. She smiled tauntingly and said, "Once the boss, forever the boss. Little Jingjing, one should know how to be grateful. Not everything is about seizing power."

Helian Jing was certain he threw up in his mouth a little bit. Little Jingjing? Even his mother would not call him by such a gross nickname!

The mismatched pair then headed south after leaving the city and spent the night in an old temple. Helian Jing ended with a heap of mosquito bites while brother Jin’s skin was still white and smooth without even one red spot. Helian Jing consoled himself at the thought that his blood was simply rarer and the mosquitoes were able to tell good from bad.

The second day, they arrived at the town of Xin Yi.

Ye Jiayao studied the town with curiosity. This was the town that first-in-charge wanted to get rid of. Apart from being absolutely busy and having more people, there was really nothing special about it.

"I’ve been here before. There were corpses hanging on the town square and I heard they were the bandits of Hei Feng Gang," Helian Jing said, finally finding a chance to prove that he was not as ignorant as he seemed.

Ye Jiayao’s heart turned cold. "Really? Let’s go and see."

Maybe there will be someone she knew.

Helian Jing was a bit taken aback. Wasn't he afraid? It’s quite a horrifying sight.

"Let’s go," Ye Jiayao urged.

There were a dozen poles erected in the center of the square with a corpse hanging on each pole. Ye Jiayao recognized the body that was hung the highest in the center – second-in-charge, Sheng Wu.

He was hated by the people for his bad reputation and he had also tried to make a move on her before. He was definitely an evil person and deserved to be whipped and have his corpse up on the street. However, Ye Jiayao could not feel any hate for him at this moment. In fact, she even felt sorry for him. Second-in-charge was a horrible person, yes, but that night, it was him who had protected her from the rain of arrows.

"Why are your eyes red? Too scared? I told you not to come and look but you insisted," Helian Jing mocked.

Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes and turned to leave, not wanting to argue with him again.

So many days have already passed but the corpses were still on the streets. Did they want to warn the people, or did they just want to show off their achievements? Are the people of Xin Yi Town all nice people?

"Will we be eating something better today? I only had one tasteless steamed bun yesterday." He Lian Jing quickly followed after her.

"Eat, eat, eat! Is that the only thing you know how to do? This is only the beginning and you already can’t take it. We don't even know if we could afford steamed buns tomorrow." Ye Jiayao was in a foul mood.

Helian Jing responded gloomily, "You’re so stingy! Why do you have to bring up all that other stuff?"

Ye Jiayao did not want to stay here any longer and bought some salt before continuing on their way.

Helian Jing was confused. Why would he buy salt? To dip the steamed buns in?

Just as the two left the square, Xia Chunyu and Feng Chaolin arrived.

Xia Chunyu glanced at the corpses on the poles and ordered, "Take them down! The smell will get worse since the weather is too hot."

Feng Chaolin signaled to his subordinates and someone immediately went up to undo the ropes.

"Has a suitable place been arranged for the rest of the people from Hei Feng Gang?" Xia Chunyu asked.

"Those who wanted to leave have been released and those who wanted to stay have already been placed in a proper spot," Feng Chaolin answered.

Xia Chunyu nodded. "Xin Yi has made the correct choice this time. The imperial government will definitely give out rewards accordingly. I hope brother Feng will continue to promote benevolence, righteousness, and also continue to do virtuous deeds, which will benefit the village. One day, the Feng family will definitely become a distinguished family and bring blessings to the later generations."

That was also a warning to Feng Chaolin to not to step on the path of Bai Chongye. Feng Chaolin had always been neutral, so if there were no restraints put on him, one day, his ambitions might swell and become even more difficult to control than Bai Chongye.

"Feng will keep what my lord has said in mind," Feng Chaolin replied solemnly.

Two subordinates carrying the broken corpse of Sheng Wu passed in front of Xia Chunyu. He remembered how Yaoyao died because Sheng Wu abducted her and his hatred rose. "Throw his corpse to Luan Zang Gang to feed the wild dogs," he said coldly.

Quite a few days had already passed and he would still often think of her. Whenever he thought of her, he would feel bad and regretful. He would never be able to see her again, hear her laugh, or her sarcastic quips. He would never be able to make up for all the wrongs he had done to her. There was no second chance for them and it made his heart ache with longing.

Song Qi came running over, saying, "My lord, everything has been prepared."

When Xia Chunyu lifted his head, the sad look in his eyes had already disappeared. He turned to Feng Chaolin and said, "Let’s part here, until next time."

Feng Chaolin bid him farewell.

Ye Jiayao bought a bottle of Sichuan pepper, and also settled on the ceramic jar on the side, while Helian Jing looked on with despair. Will we be eating Sichuan pepper in steamed bun dipped in salt from now on?

From behind, there was the sound of horse hooves clattering. Helian Jing instinctively turned his head around just in time to see a valiant man riding past him on a pure white horse.

Umm…

Isn't that Xia Chunyu, the prince of the noble family Jing An?