Ye Wanmian immediately knew that he disliked the rough material of these pottery bowls. She gave a cold snort and said, "What? Is there any problem?"
Xiao Jingcheng instinctively wanted to say that such shoddily made bowls were unfit to hold food. But then he remembered that last night, after he broke a bowl, he was scolded by her and even had to swallow a mouthful of sandy rice. So he quickly shut his mouth.
Looking around, his sharp ears caught a cry from the west: "Come one, come all! Take a look! These are silver bowls certified by the Heavenly Hound of Roar! Eating and drinking from them will surely grant you a long life and lead you to immortality!"
Silver bowls certified by the Heavenly Hound of Roar?
Xiao Jingcheng's heart skipped a beat. Seeing Ye Wanmian lowering her head and carefully selecting things, he changed his direction and followed the sound.
"Okay, these will do. Please help me calculate how much it is in total, shopkeeper."
A moment later, Ye Wanmian handed over the selected items. The stall owner grinned from ear to ear:
"Five coarse pottery bowls, five small cups, and two pottery basins. That'll be eighty - six copper coins in total."
Ye Wanmian paid the money and asked, "Can you deliver the goods, shopkeeper? I didn't bring a bamboo basket with me today. I'm afraid I can't carry all these pottery items back by myself."
The stall owner quickly replied, "Of course. Please leave your address, sir/madam. I'll deliver them to you when I close the stall later."
After leaving the address, Ye Wanmian clapped the dust off her hands and stood up. Only to find that Xiao Jingcheng was nowhere to be seen.
Her heart skipped a beat instantly.
Where was he? Where had he gone?
Suddenly, there came a commotion in the distance: "Stop! Stop! Don't run! Quick! Help me stop that thief!"
Ye Wanmian immediately turned her head towards the source of the sound. This familiar scene gave her a bad feeling.
Could it be...
Sure enough, in her line of sight, she saw a man wearing a straw hat nimbly shuttling through the crowd. A group of pursuers were chasing after him and heading straight towards her.
That familiar figure and familiar clothes. Who else could it be but Xiao Jingcheng!
Oh no! Oh no!
Ye Wanmian immediately turned around and wanted to run. But Xiao Jingcheng had already seen her. He shouted, "Bride! Bride, save me!"
Before Ye Wanmian could react, Xiao Jingcheng took a big step, rushed in front of her, grabbed her hand, and hid behind her.
The pursuers behind quickly stopped. Dust billowed everywhere. Ye Wanmian choked and coughed twice. She quickly waved her hand to fan away the dust, thus missing the best time to escape.
"Run! Let's see where you can run!" The leading man's face was very familiar to Ye Wanmian. It was the stall owner who had given a silver bowl to Dahuang for free before.
He gasped for breath, supporting his waist. Pointing at Ye Wanmian and Xiao Jingcheng behind her, he angrily said, "Good! So there's an accomplice here! Return the things from our shop quickly!"
Because of the yellow talisman, the stall owner no longer recognized Ye Wanmian.
The commotion here immediately attracted a lot of onlookers. Ye Wanmian had already come to her senses by now. She looked at the few big men blocking in front of her, then at the common people gathering on both sides to watch the fun. She gritted her teeth hard.
This guy, Xiao Jingcheng, was really good at causing trouble!
But why did this scene seem so familiar!
"Um, what's going on? Can someone explain it to me first?" she asked with a forced smile.
"Humph! You should ask the man behind you!" the silver - bowl stall owner angrily said. "He took the gold bowl from my shop without paying. This is equivalent to theft. If you can't come up with the silver today, I'll take you two to the yamen!"
Ye Wanmian's anger flared up.
Dahuang took the silver bowl because it was just an animal and didn't know any better. But Xiao Jingcheng was a grown - up and was sober. Didn't he know any better either!
The next moment, someone tugged at her sleeve. From behind came Xiao Jingcheng's somewhat aggrieved voice: "Bride, I really like that gold bowl. When you proposed marriage to me and took me in, you said you would let me live a good life. You will definitely pay for it, right?"
What was he shouting about! Who, who was his bride!
Ye Wanmian's face turned green.
Moreover, proposing marriage to him and letting him live a good life. What were these!
"I'm not. I'm not his bride..." Ye Wanmian waved her hand.
Xiao Jingcheng let out a sob: "Bride, I'm just a bit ugly. I can't compare to those handsome young masters. Are you so disgusted with me that you don't even want to admit our relationship in public?"
People around them started to point and whisper.
"Wow, I didn't expect that in this day and age, there are still women who marry men."
"Do women who marry men also need to propose marriage like men do? In that case, this young lady really should treat her husband well. How could she pretend not to know him in public?"
"Exactly. It's really too much."
Hearing the accusations from the crowd, Ye Wanmian waved her hands so fast that they were almost a blur: "You've misunderstood. I really am not. He really isn't..."
The more she explained, the stranger the looks from others became. It seemed as if she really was a heartless bride who had abandoned her husband.
Even the silver - bowl stall owner said, "Don't think that you can get away with pretending not to know him. I'm telling you, if you don't pay today, humph, you'll go to the yamen with me!"
Someone tugged at her sleeve again: "Bride..."
Ye Wanmian suddenly turned around and glared angrily at the culprit behind her. Gnashing her teeth, she said, "If you shout one more time, I'll - "
Xiao Jingcheng whispered in her ear leisurely: "What will you do? Kick me out of the house? Or tell Xiao Yixuan about my existence? Then, very likely, the whole Dongli Town will be flattened by him."
The warm breath blew on her ear. The distance between them was very close, but Ye Wanmian didn't feel any amorous atmosphere at all at this moment. She was so angry that she was about to explode.
Threatening her?!
This guy actually dared to threaten her!
Ye Wanmian tried to grab the gold bowl from his hand: "Give the bowl back. Even if you shout 'bride' a hundred times, I don't have the money for you to squander like this today!"
Xiao Jingcheng raised his eyebrows: "Why not? Qi Wen said that you got a hundred taels from Xiao Yixuan. Buying a gilded bowl is more than enough."
Ye Wanmian stared at him and said righteously: "I've already spent that hundred taels on Master Yuanzheng. I have no money left!"
Xiao Jingcheng: "I don't believe it. When you went out today, you clearly took the fifty taels that the man compensated you with. And your uncle also gave you fifty taels."
Ye Wanmian stared at him with wide eyes: "That was the meeting gift from my uncle. You actually have your eyes on that fifty taels! Absolutely impossible!"
"A horse gets grass for its hard work. I worked hard this morning and beat that man up for you, but I can't even get the bowl I want." Xiao Jingcheng said quietly. "Jiang Mian, I didn't expect you to be such a stingy miser."
Ye Wanmian:???
She also didn't expect that he would be such a stubborn and unreasonable crown prince!