The man with the round face was led away resentfully. The surrounding commoners cheered, while the official maintained his dignity with a straight face. It wasn't until the round - faced man and his followers disappeared from sight that the yamen runners dispersed the onlookers. Then the official quickly dismounted from his horse, walked up to Butterfly Flower with a smiling face, and respectfully presented the item in his hand.
Unexpectedly, Ji Feiyu beside him was quick - witted. She snatched it right out of the official's hand. Taking a look, it was a token with the character "Imperial Decree" written on it. This was the credential of an imperial envoy. When shown in necessary situations, it was as if the emperor himself was present.
Seeing this, Butterfly Flower said, "Stop fooling around!" Then he reached out his hand to her. Ji Feiyu guessed what he was going to do when she saw his pretentious look. Her mind worked quickly, and she said, "My lord, I'll help you keep this!"
The official immediately bowed and saluted, "Oh, I didn't know that the imperial envoy was here. I failed to welcome you properly. But this token..."
What he wanted to say was that the credential of an imperial envoy was as solemn as the presence of the emperor himself, and it really shouldn't be taken away casually by a woman.
Butterfly Flower naturally understood his meaning and immediately said, "It's all right. This lady is even more noble than I am." As he said this, he glanced sideways at Ji Feiyu, deliberately teasing. Although this was true, Ji Feiyu still couldn't help rolling her eyes at him. Fortunately, with the hat shading her face, others couldn't see her expression clearly.
However, once these words were spoken, they were extremely intimidating. The official's legs went weak in fear. He clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "Oh! I was blind and failed to recognize a great person. Please forgive me!" Although he performed the proper etiquette, he was secretly speculating about the identity of this woman who was more noble than an imperial envoy and could still travel outside in the Great Yong Dynasty.
Butterfly Flower said with a smile, "Forgive you? What's there to forgive? I was ordered to inspect Miyun, but I was forced to fight on the street in Miyun. If this matter reaches the emperor's ears, do you think you can still keep your official hat?"
Although Butterfly Flower was smiling at this moment and his tone was gentle, these words made the official break out in a cold sweat. He immediately knelt down with a thud and said, "I deserve to die for my crime!"
Seeing Butterfly Flower scare a proper official like this, Ji Feiyu couldn't help finding it funny in her heart. But thinking about what had just happened, she got angry again. She then added, "Just now I reported something to my lord. Does my lord believe it now? How do you plan to deal with that person?"
Thinking about this lady's identity and what had just happened, the official was even more frightened. He kowtowed and said, "I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have doubted you. It's all because that person was so glib - tongued that he confused me. I'll go back and make sure that villain who can't say a decent word won't be able to speak ever again."
Butterfly Flower said casually, "My lord, please get up quickly. Don't kneel here. You should go and deal with that person earlier to atone for your crime. Although that person has been a scourge to the people for a long time, I can see that you are a reasonable person. If you handle this case properly and make me happy, I might even put in a good word for you."
Hearing this, the official immediately said, "Yes, yes, yes. I'll go back and try this case right away." Originally, because of his interest relationship with that person, he wanted to let that person off. But now it seemed that he had to handle the case impartially. Moreover, he had to make sure that person couldn't speak ever again so that he could keep his official hat.
Seeing that the official was being sensible, Butterfly Flower waved his hand to let him leave.
After the official had gone far away, Ji Feiyu took out the token with a sneer and said, "You act like an imperial envoy quite well! Tell me, where did you get this?"
Seeing this, Butterfly Flower tried to grab it, saying, "Give it back to me first!" Ji Feiyu wouldn't let him succeed. She immediately moved the token further away. Butterfly Flower chased after her, and Ji Feiyu continued to back away. They chased each other like this for a while. Butterfly Flower said anxiously, "Yu'er, if you keep teasing me like this, I won't care about the propriety between men and women. I'll just grab you and take it!"
Hearing this, Ji Feiyu stopped teasing him. She smiled and handed the token in front of him, saying, "How stingy! I'll give it back to you. But you're really brave. You even dared to steal this from Yong Yaxuan. If he really minds this, ten heads of yours won't be enough to be chopped off!"
Butterfly Flower snatched the token and said angrily, "Do you think I'm the kind of person who only does sneaky things in your heart? I tell you, I didn't steal this token. Yong Yaxuan gave it to me himself!"
Ji Feiyu was about to praise him for being sneaky, but she was stunned when she heard what Butterfly Flower said. She couldn't help asking, "He gave it to you? When? Why did he give this to you?"
Butterfly Flower said, "Just when we separated before. When he asked me to take good care of you, he quietly threw something to me. I was still in a daze at that time, and he left before I had time to react. After he left, I took it out and had a closer look later, and then I realized what it was..."
Ji Feiyu didn't expect Yong Yaxuan to do this. In the past, he had always been serious and solemn when dealing with government affairs. It was absolutely impossible for him to casually give such an important thing as the credential of an imperial envoy to someone. But now he had given it to Butterfly Flower, which showed that he trusted Butterfly Flower extremely. But... why was this so?
Seemingly seeing the confusion on her face, after putting away the token, Butterfly Flower said, "Why did he give it to me? Naturally, it's because of you! Since you want to roam outside, you'll inevitably encounter officials. You're different from before. Now everyone has to show you some respect. You have to give way to the officials now. Do you understand? If you, as a commoner, encounter a situation like today's, you'll surely be the one who suffers in the end! He thought of all these for you, so he gave this to me. With this, you'll truly be free in the Great Yong Dynasty. You don't have to look at anyone's face wherever you go."
Ji Feiyu didn't expect Butterfly Flower to see this matter so clearly. For a moment, she understood Yong Yaxuan's good intentions. Indeed, with her serious - minded personality, it was really easy for her to offend officials, especially when she encountered unfair things.
Not yielding or compromising to evil forces could be regarded as an advantage of hers, but in the current situation where she was outside the palace, it had become a shortcoming. After all, it was easy to cause trouble, but difficult to clean up the mess.
Actually, in today's incident, she could also tell that the official was partial to the round - faced man. If Butterfly Flower hadn't taken out the token in time, she might really have asked the official a series of three detailed questions. She would have asked why he colluded with the bully, why he didn't enforce the law impartially, and whether he didn't feel ashamed to the people for doing so.
Of course, in the end, she didn't get to be that serious - minded inquisitor. And of course, she got a better result than asking those three questions herself. But all of this was thanks to Yong Yaxuan.