Jin Shanyao rode ahead on horseback, holding a vine in her hand.
A man was tied to the other end of the vine. His pants were tied crookedly, his clothes were messy, and his hair was covered with bits of grass. He looked as if he had been pressed and rubbed against the ground.
The way he looked at Jin Shanyao was especially like that of a murderer of his father.
As they approached the government office, the man suddenly flew into a rage, shouting, "You shrew, how dare you report me to the authorities?"
Jin Shanyao abruptly dismounted, nearly pulling the man to the ground with a tug on a vine. "What are you yelling about... You'll regret it when you see Lord Su."
The man laughed angrily, "You'd better release me now, or when you see Lord Su, I'll make sure your life is in danger..."
"Pah..." Jin Shanyao her eyes and led the man toward the government office. The gatekeeper, seeing this, exclaimed, " Shopkeeper Jin... has he dug up his family's ancestral grave?"
"Hmph... Wu Zhuangzi, I don't want to talk to you right now. Go call your master for court; I've caught that pervert."
Wu Zhuangzi glanced at the man. Although he was disheveled, he still had a refined air about him and didn't seem like a pervert at all. " Shopkeeper Jin, are you mistaken? He doesn't seem like one to me either."
"Doesn't seem like anything..." Jin Shanyao glared, her face fierce, and said, "You arrest people based on their faces?"
Wu Zhuangzi immediately realized he couldn't afford to pay the compensation. "Alright, alright... I'll go inform the magistrate right away," he said, glancing at the man before leaving.
Wu Zhuangzi was fast on his feet, and soon he and Su Wenqian came out together.
Upon seeing Su Wenqian, the man's eyes flickered with panic for a moment, then he cried out, "Your Honor, you must do me justice! This girl tied me up without even asking what happened, and insists I'm a pervert!"
"He took off his pants in the street," Jin Shanyao pointed at the man and complained to Su Wenqian.
The man's face flushed red. "I already told you I was in the restroom."
"Why don't you go to the outhouse? Why are you standing by the tree catching birds while you're using the toilet? Don't think I didn't see you. What are you doing, holding a bird in your hand and gesturing at us?"
"Oh my god... there's a child here!" Su Wenqian pulled his sleeve over and covered Jin Shanyao's mouth. Jin Shanyao twice and glared at him.
"What are you doing, stuffing this filthy food into my mouth?"
Su Wenqian's face flushed red, and the man was so shocked that he was speechless. He never expected that a girl would dare to say such a thing. He stammered and tried to explain, but couldn't find the words to say.
Su Wenqian: "Alright, alright, the person has been delivered... I'll take over this case."
Jin Shanyao two fingers, pointed to her own eyes, then to the man, and said fiercely, "My eyes aren't just for show; they're very accurate."
After leaving the government office, Meng Anzhi asked, puzzled, "Auntie, is he really a pervert?"
Jin Shanyao lightly, "I've seen plenty of animals in heat, you can't be wrong."
"But he doesn't look like it."
"All that glitters is not gold... Don't be deceived by appearances," Jin Shanyao with satisfaction, her words perfectly chosen.
Meng Anzhi still couldn't believe that such a refined and cultured man would do such a thing. She planned to keep an eye on the yamen's movements first thing tomorrow morning.
Before the next day even arrived, Wu Zhuangzi ran over. " Shopkeeper Jin... this is a reward from my master for you," he said, placing five taels of silver on the table.
"How did you determine he's a pervert?" he exclaimed excitedly.
Jin Shanyao's gaze was deep and unfathomable as she recalled the past, "Because I once suffered a loss..."
More than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye, inside the Anzhi Hall.
"Auntie... how are you feeling? Does your skin hurt?" Meng Anzhi held a celadon bottle in her hand and scooped out some ointment to apply to Jin Shanyao's face.
Jin Shanyao slumped in the chair, her pretty face covered in a pale paste. "It doesn't hurt... it feels cool and comfortable."
"I added peppermint to it, applied it once a day, and saw results after two weeks."
Meng Anzhi avoided her eyes and spread the ointment evenly. This was her newly developed moisturizing face cream, which left the face soft and smooth after use. Everyone in the Anzhi Hall was using it, and if there were no adverse reactions, she would produce it on a large scale.
Just then, there was a soft knock at the door. Meng Anzhi looked in the direction of the sound and saw Li Yuan standing unsteadily at the shop entrance.
He looked as if all his Qi and Blood had been drained away; his cheeks were sunken, his eye sockets were dark, and his eyes were empty and lifeless—he was clearly in a state of extreme lack of vitality.
When Li Yuan saw the Jin Shanyao, he was so startled that he stumbled and almost fell to the ground. He clutched his chest for a long time before recovering.
Li Yuan moved his parched lips, " Shopkeeper Jin, I want to see my father one last time..." Ever since Old Man Li died, he had been tormented day and night, unable to eat or sleep.
Guilt... was like a worm that gnawed at his heart, relentlessly burrowing into it as time went on, causing him excruciating pain.
Jin Shanyao glanced at the wisp of black energy emanating from Li Yuan and said calmly, "I charge very high fees."
Li Yuan hurriedly pulled a cloth bag from his pocket and placed it on the table with a thud. He looked flustered, his cracked hands constantly twisting the hem of his clothes. "... This is all my belongings."
Jin Shanyao looked at the pile of loose silver coins mixed with a land deed for fifty acres of prime farmland. "Is it worth it just to meet him once?"
"It's worth it... I grew up without a father, and my stepfather raised me. I'm so sorry to him... Shopkeeper Jin, I beg you," Li Yuan said, kneeling down on the ground with a thud.
Startled, Meng Anzhi abruptly moved away.
Jin Shanyao, with his pale face, looked down across the table and his gaze met Li Yuan's, who was looking up and pleading. Li Yuan was so frightened that he let out a howl.
He stared at the two dark eyes on the pale face, swallowed hard, and said, " Shopkeeper Jin... I'm not afraid."
Jin Shanyao her head and sat down in a chair. "You want to see ghosts, of course you're not afraid."
Li Yuan's mind went blank for a moment, then he suddenly stood up excitedly and said, " Shopkeeper Jin agreed to my request?"
Jin Shanyao fiddled with the loose silver coins on the table, then glanced at the land deed... "I'll come find you at midnight tonight."
"Thank you so much Shopkeeper Jin, thank you so much, Shopkeeper Jin..." Li Yuan kept turning back to look at the door, almost tripping over the threshold.
Meng Anzhi spoke only after he had walked away, "Auntie... I want to go see him too," she wanted to ask Old Man Li if he had taken his medicine.
Jin Shanyao saw through her thoughts, pinched her little face and laughed, "Have you gone silly?"
"Ah..."
"What?... Go bring me a basin of water to wash my face."
"Oh..." Meng Anzhi responded, turned around and walked towards the backyard. As she passed the study, a flash of inspiration struck her.
I knocked on the door, and when I opened it, I saw Meng Anci engrossed in reading.
" Anci, let's go out tonight."
Meng Anci was so engrossed in his book that he didn't realize what was happening. By the time he wanted to ask where they were going, the study door had already slammed shut.
Never mind, it must be because she encountered a pervert last time that her sister is afraid to go out alone.
In the evening, Li Yuan was carrying paper money and copper coins back home when Maodou's Mother saw him and asked from across the room, " Licentiate Candidate Li... your father's 100th day is still two months away, isn't it too early to start preparing now?"
Li Yuan said cheerfully, "My father was frugal his whole life, never eating or dressing well. I just don't want him to spend money freely in the underworld."
After saying that, he walked towards his house, which was at the end of the village with few neighbors. Maodou's Mother looked away and turned to see her son drinking well water.
"You're drinking well water as soon as you recover from your illness? If you get sick again, I won't save you. I'll learn from Old Man Li and adopt a son to take care of me in my old age and see me off when I die."