CH 3

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The long line fell silent unknowingly, from the time the group entered the Tongming Gate to the moment they entered the Yeting Court. In just a moment, there was no sound in the entire Tongming door, and it seemed that a needle could be heard falling on the ground.

After waiting for the people to leave, Wen Mingtang picked up the rice ball she had prepared last night and took a bite. She didn’t know if it was because of the cold, but she always felt a little hard to swallow.

Different from the cold rice balls, the team became bustling again, and the murmurs of discussion at the front came to her ears, allowing Wen Mingtang to piece together the identity of the official in scarlet robes.

Lin Fei, Tanhua Lang 1 in the 19th year of Pingguan. Zhong Tanhua was only sixteen years old when he passed the Palace exam, and this year he had just turned 20. And now he was an official of the fourth rank, the Shaoqing 2 of Dali Temple 3. It was not too much to say that he was young and promising. But aside from this identity, he had another identity. He was the second grandson of the Duke of Jingguo, with his father holding the title of Marquis of Jingyun, and his mother being the di 4 daughter of the Zheng family from Xingyang.

Indeed, the former possessed outstanding abilities, while the latter enjoyed a noble lineage.

There was no shortage of ability and background, such a son of gold and jade,5 naturally had nothing to do with them, the maids and palace servants who were waiting in line to leave the palace.

The chattering voices dissipated quickly, the beauty was there to just look at, the more important thing was to wait in line to leave the palace.

Zhao Sishan predicted well, when it was Wen Mingtang’s turn, it was past noon. Handed over the document approved by Ye Ting and the identity badge in the palace to the examiner, and after checking that it was correct, the palace man pushed the document in front of her, pointed to the lower right corner of the document, and said, “Sign your name, and you can leave.”

Wen Mingtang picked up a pen and wrote her name in the lower right corner, then turned and walked out of Tongming Gate.

What she didn’t know was that when one of the examiners saw the name she wrote with a pen, he didn’t put it aside as before, but couldn’t help picking it up, looked at it carefully, and sighed: “This calligraphy is really good!”

The document was here, and Wen Mingtang’s past can be seen at a glance. Although she was also a descendant of the family who was convicted, she was only eight years old when she entered Yeting. An eight-year-old girl who works all day long still has time to practice calligraphy?

“Her surname is Wen.” Although the examiner at the side was surprised for a moment, he soon returned to normal, “Think about the official surnamed Wen who was convicted that year.”

After being reminded, the person from the Yanxing Palace immediately understood, and couldn’t help feeling: “So that’s the case! It’s not surprising when you say that!”

This insignificant episode was quickly forgotten by the two palace servants.

Wen Mingtang also walked out from Tongming Gate all the way and set foot on Chang’an Avenue outside Tongming Gate.

Standing on the blue bricks and stone tiles of Chang’an Avenue, Wen Mingtang looked back at the Tongming Gate she had just walked out of, and couldn’t help stretching out her hands to compare.

Looking at the tall palace walls, they are actually not that thick, but how many people were trapped inside.

Shaking her head and smiling, Wen Mingtang walked forward.

Chang’an Avenue was as prosperous as the original owner’s childhood memories, with shops, restaurants, and taverns lined up, the cries of hawkers and the chatter and laughter of passers-by bring the memories of years.

Wen Mingtang was in a daze for a moment, reached out and patted her chest subconsciously, as if to comfort herself, and to comfort the body itself.

After she calmed down a little, she lifted her foot and walked forward.

Now that she has come out, she will have a lot of time to visit Chang’an Avenue in the future, so there was no need to rush this moment.

But she didn’t eat lunch, she only had time to eat a cold rice ball. Right now, she was really hungry.

It was just past meal time, and many restaurants stopped cooking. Wen Mingtang had to ask one by one and finally found a wonton stall that was still selling. She bought a bowl of wontons in clear soup for ten coins, and then… after taking the first bite, she frowned.

The soup was really clear, poured directly with plain water. The vendors who make wontons are not unaware of this. The plain water was tasteless, and there was no salt, so they simply sprinkle all the salt into the wontons. Salty and bitter wild mustard greens and a little bit of minced meat together made up this bowl of wontons in clear soup, and more than half of what they made was still there.

Sure enough…the restaurants next to it were sold out for lunch, but there was a reason why it couldn’t be sold.

After eating two wild mustard wontons that were bitterly salty, Wen Mingtang took a deep breath when she ate the third mustard wonton with a hair in it, finally put down her chopsticks, got up and left.

Eat this wonton again, the poor cold rice ball in her stomach will come out.

However, thinking of the brother and sister-in-law that Zhao Sishan was talking about, Wen Mingtang felt that it would be better to be prepared, so she went to the market before going to Zhao Ji Restaurant.

When she came out of the market and walked to the door of Zhao Ji restaurant, it was not time to eat on time at dusk.

Wen Mingtang walked into Zhao Ji restaurant, there was no one in the hall, only Zhao Sishan’s elder brother Zhao Dalang was cleaning the table.

Having previously seen her when he had gone to Zhao Sishan to seek pity and ask for money, there was no need for a formal introduction.

Wen Mingtang greeted Zhao Dalang, and said with a smile: “Uncle Zhao, I came out of the palace today.”

Zhao Dalang gave her a dry laugh, glanced at the direction of the curtain behind him from the corner of his eye, and upon hearing the movement, Liu shi opened the curtain and came out from behind.

Wen Mingtang looked at Zhao Sishan’s description of a bitter melon face, bulbous nose, and mung bean eyes with a smile, and called: “Auntie.”

In the past, Liu shi, who came to the palace to look for Zhao Sishan and who was always polite to Wen Mingtang next to Zhao Sishan, seemed to be a different person at this time. Hearing this, she immediately sneered and said, “Don’t call me Auntie, my brother doesn’t have any niece named Wen. Come in!”

Seeing her sudden change of attitude, like flipping through a book, Zhao Sishan had already predicted that. Therefore, it was not surprising to Wen Mingtang, who simply smiled and followed Liu Shi inside.

Her indifferent behavior was naturally an eyesore in Liu’s eyes. When entering the backyard, the black dog raised in the backyard saw its owner and immediately jumped up enthusiastically.

Liu shi raised her foot and kicked the black dog, cursing: “You shameless thing, what kind of autumn wind is coming to the door! Why don’t you leave?”

The black dog who was kicked for no reason yelped twice in pain, causing Zhao Dalang and Liu’s daughter Zhao Lian to feel distressed: “Mother, what are you doing? Where did Amao provoke you?”

Wen Mingtang’s expression didn’t change when she heard Liu’s accusations and scolding, but Zhao Lian who ran out of the house saw her and happily called her “Sister Wen” and said, “You’re here…”

Before she finished saying hello, Liu shi interrupted her: “What are you doing in a daze? Why don’t you set up a table for dinner?”

After sending Zhao Lian away, Liu Shi said to Wen Mingtang coldly, “Come in!”

The front of this Zhao Ji restaurant was the facade, and behind it was the place where Zhao Dalang’s family lives. There were three rooms in the yard at the back, one for sundries, one for Zhao Dalang and his wife Liu, and one for Zhao Lian.

Wen Mingtang naturally lived in the same room as Zhao Lian.

Although Zhao Lian’s bed was not big, it was not a problem to sleep two girls, Wen Mingtang and Zhao Lian.

Wen Mingtang put down the burden and was about to follow Liu shi to eat, but Liu shi said, “Miss Wen walked all the way from Tongming Gate to this place, I’m afraid she’s already sweating all over. Why don’t you wash up first before eating.”

Although it was not yet summer, Wen Mingtang was indeed sweating after walking for most of the day, so it was just right to wash up.

But, was Liu shi so kind?

Wen Mingtang smiled, and looked at Liu Shi whose eyes were rolling wildly in front of her, but obediently agreed.

Sure enough, when Wen Mingtang washed up before going to eat, the plate of wild mustard greens and braised crucian carp on the dining table were all empty. Liu shi looked at her with a half-smile and said, “Miss Wen has been washing for too long. All the dishes are gone!”

Zhao Dalang on the side seemed to be deaf, without raising his head, he just picked up the mountain of wild shepherd’s purse and braised crucian carp in the noodle bowl without saying a word, Zhao Lian’s face turned red, and she couldn’t help saying: “Mother…”

Today, the staple food of Zhao’s evening meal was noodles, served with a plate of vegetable dish of wild shepherd’s purse, and a plate of meat dish of braised crucian carp.

She had just served the dinner table, and before she had time to serve the rice bowl, Liu shi divided the wild shepherd’s purse and braised crucian carp into three portions, and poured them into the bowls of the three of them without any explanation.

She just wanted to say that Wen Mingtang hadn’t eaten yet, but Liu shi gave her a hard look and told her to shut up and just eat.

But… how can I eat this? Under Liu shi’s gaze, she barely took a few bites and saw Wen Mingtang come out after washing. Zhao Lian’s face turned even redder, and she couldn’t help but said, “Sister Wen, the one in my bowl hasn’t moved yet…”

Before she finished speaking, she heard a “snap”, and the chopsticks in Liu shi’s hand slapped the table, and she said with a sneer, “What did you say, Ah Lian? Your elder sister Wen is from an official family for generations, and she is well-educated and reasonable. How could she go and grab food from other people’s bowls?”

Compared to the accusations and cursing at the black dog Amao before, this sentence now had more meaning.

It meant that she and Zhao Sishan want to rob her shop? But from the beginning to the end, the shop could not be said to belong to the Liu family, not even Zhao Dalang’s. Zhao Sishan’s name was written in the contract of the shop.

Wen Mingtang smiled as if she didn’t understand Liu shi’s insinuation about the identity of the offended officials. She just smiled and asked Liu: “Auntie, what else do you have to eat?”

The shop was in Zhao Sishan’s name after all, even if Liu Shi doesn’t like her, she still had to maintain a certain level of courtesy. So upon hearing this, Liu Shi smiled and said, “There’s still a handful of noodles left. They might have a bit of soot on them, but if Miss Wen doesn’t mind, you can wash them and cook them again.”

Liu’s behavior made Zhao Lian’s face almost drop in embarrassment.

Seeing that Wen Mingtang responded with a smile and entered the kitchen, she finally couldn’t help it and said to Mrs. Liu: “Mother, you are too much. Auntie and Sister Wen…”

“You talk too much!” Liu shi glanced at Zhao Lian’s noodle bowl, which had not moved a few chopsticks, and said, “Hurry up and eat the meal, and help clean the table later!”

Afraid of Liu’s temper, and seeing that her father Zhao Dalang was silent, Zhao Lian didn’t dare to say any more, but just looked at the mountain of wild mustard greens and braised crucian carp in the bowl, and pulled it twice, not wanting to stuff it into her mouth at all. : “The mustard greens are astringent and salty, and the crucian carp is very fishy. I really can’t eat it.”

Now was time for dinner, but there was a reason why there was not even a single customer in Zhao Ji’s restaurant. Even though there were a few dishes taught by Zhao Sishan, Liu shi and Zhao Dalang were really not cut out for this job. So the customers who come to the restaurant usually come once and then stopped.

Although the location of this street was a bit interior, the restaurants on the side of the street were all doing well when it was time for meals. Only Zhao Ji’s restaurant was getting worse since it opened. Unpalatable cooking had become Liu shi’s heart disease. Right now, hearing Zhao Lian dislike the unpalatable food, she thought of her speaking for Wen Mingtang again and again today.

The anger in Liu shi’s heart came up all at once, and she slapped the chopsticks on the table, cursing: “If you can’t eat it, don’t eat it! Go away and eat clean noodles with your good sister Wen! “

You can’t starve to death without eating a meal! Liu shi intends to teach Zhao Lian a lesson: so that she can understand who was her own and who was an outsider!