Su Nansheng didn't have as well - informed sources as He Jin, so she didn't learn about the result of the refugee incident until the next day.
So when He Xun returned from the yamen, he couldn't find Su Nansheng anywhere. After asking Bitao, he learned that she had gone to Willow Pond Garden.
He Xun was quite surprised. Usually, it was he who dragged her there, but now she went there on her own.
Filled with curiosity, He Xun rushed to Willow Pond Garden.
From afar, he saw Su Nansheng sitting in the pavilion, with her head down, seemingly looking at something.
The wind blew the strands of hair beside her temples. The red jade hairpin slanting in her hair bun, against the backdrop of the blood - red setting sun, gave an air of solitude.
He Xun couldn't help but slow down his steps. As he got closer, he noticed that there was a layer of fish food floating on the lake beside her feet, and a large group of koi were crowded together, scrambling for food.
A smile curved He Xun's lips. He said in a deep voice,
"What, do you want to feed them until they can't swim and then catch them?"
This layer of fish food was almost as much as the relief grain the court allocated to Changming County.
However, Su Nansheng didn't smile. She just gave him a listless look and then lowered her eyes to watch the koi competing for food.
He Xun raised his eyebrows. What was going on?
So he sat down next to Su Nansheng, scooped up a handful of fish food from the basket, and threw it into the water. The lake immediately churned.
Seeing this, Su Nansheng also grabbed a handful and threw it into the lake. The two of them silently threw fish food for a long time.
He Xun glanced at the fish food on the lake surface. Now it really exceeded the amount of relief grain.
"What's wrong?"
They couldn't feed the fish anymore. If they did, the fish would really be stuffed to death.
Su Nansheng looked at the biggest and fattest koi in the group and said in a low voice,
"I'm in a bad mood."
"Why are you in a bad mood?"
He Xun quietly inched closer to Su Nansheng until their clothes overlapped.
Su Nansheng picked up a piece of fish food and threw it at the fattest koi.
"It's so fat and still grabbing food there."
With a loud "pop", the fish food hit the koi right on the head. The koi was so frightened that it flicked its tail and swam towards the dark bottom of the lake.
He Xun spread out his sleeve in front of Su Nansheng to block the water splashed by the koi's tail. He laughed and said,
"Then let's catch it later and make fish - head soup."
Su Nansheng frowned and seriously considered it for a while before refusing,
"No. It's so fat. It must taste bad."
He Xun suppressed his laughter and pulled up the hem of Su Nansheng's skirt that was hanging on the shore to prevent it from getting wet and cold later.
"What on earth is going on?"
"Why wasn't He Jin, the real culprit, punished?"
Su Nansheng was quite depressed when she heard this news.
It was a pity enough that He Jin hadn't been beaten that day. And now she heard that he was hardly punished. This made her even more frustrated.
He Xun looked at Su Nansheng's face, which rarely showed anger. He sighed silently. So this was what was bothering her.
"Ning Weizhi has always disliked Du Wenbai. And He Jin shifted all the blame onto him. As He Jin's superior, Du Wenbai couldn't escape blame. He Jin is just a small registrar. Even the emperor is too lazy to punish him, not to mention that Father's reputation is also involved."
He Xun tried to explain the affairs in the officialdom to Su Nansheng. After all, it wasn't simply black and white here, and not everyone who made mistakes would be punished.
Hearing this, Su Nansheng lowered her eyes and said nothing. Actually, she understood this principle.
She just couldn't accept it. She had guarded the city gate day after day, not to relieve He Jin of his guilt.
Seeing that Su Nansheng was still in this state, He Xun took one of her hands that had been hanging over the water with one hand, and took out a plain white handkerchief from his bosom with the other.
He unfolded it and slowly wiped each of her slender and fair fingers dry. Then he said,
"He's just a fat and useless thing. Why do you care about him? With his character, he'll surely be chopped up and made into fish - head soup one day."
Su Nansheng couldn't help but smile, and her mood improved a little.
Seeing that He Xun was still holding her hand, she wanted to pull it back, but He Xun held on tightly and said,
"I may have another thing that will make you unhappy."
For some reason, Su Nansheng seemed to detect a hint of guilt in his tone.
Just as she was about to ask what it was, she heard He Xun continue,
"Mother is afraid that if he continues to serve in the Jingzhao Prefecture, he'll cause trouble sooner or later. So she wants to find a way to transfer him. I think it's necessary."
Although he didn't want to have anything to do with He Jin for a moment, Mother's concerns were reasonable. They had to maintain the reputation of the Marquis of Anshun's Mansion.
As soon as he finished speaking, He Xun felt the delicate wrist in his palm wriggling to break free.
He didn't let go. Instead, he put his other arm around Su Nansheng's waist, pulled her over forcefully, and held her on his lap.
"Why do you dislike him even more than I do? I haven't finished yet."
However, Su Nansheng didn't care what he wanted to say. Blushing, she said in a low voice,
"Let me go first."
Although she didn't see Feiyu, she knew that Feiyu must be nearby. What would it look like if he saw them like this?
He Xun saw a faint blush spreading from Su Nansheng's slender neck to her fair cheeks, and even the tips of her ears were red. He laughed.
He deliberately hugged her even tighter, leaned towards her neck, and rubbed his nose against her ear.
"He can't see."
Having her thoughts guessed, Su Nansheng felt even more embarrassed. But since she couldn't break free, she buried her head in He Xun's chest and gritted her teeth.
"Then tell me quickly."
He Xun let out another muffled laugh. "I don't want to say it now."
He stroked the red mole on Su Nansheng's neck and said in a low voice, "Shall we go on the boat?"
Su Nansheng covered her ears and didn't say a word. Only the exposed part of her slender neck became even redder.
"If you don't say anything, I'll take it as your agreement."
He Xun's voice was hoarse, which made Su Nansheng feel flustered.
She quickly looked up. "No."
He Xun looked into Su Nansheng's moist eyes. His voice became even hoarser. "Then let's go back to the room."
...
The next day, Feiyu received a rather strange order.
He Xun asked him to catch the fattest koi in the lake of Willow Pond Garden, starve it, and then put it back after it got thinner.
Feiyu looked at the dark lake with a layer of fish food floating on it, on the verge of tears.
The koi didn't even eat the food anymore. Where could he catch the fattest one?
What on earth had the koi done wrong? Had it bitten his master?
...
Knowing that the matter had already been settled, He Jin swaggered back to his post. But his face looked a bit gloomy when he returned.
Su Hele had been waiting at the courtyard gate at the time when He Jin got off work, for fear that he would go back to the guest room again.
Seeing his expression, she quickly showed her concern.
"Husband, is there anything bothering you? Tell me and I'll share your worries."
He Jin frowned and glanced at her, but said nothing. He walked straight into the courtyard.
Share his worries? How could she?
How could he tell her that his colleagues now disliked him?
Those narrow - minded people, seeing that he hadn't been punished, looked at him with hostility.
Some even insinuated that he had fled at a critical moment and was unworthy of being a gentleman.
He had fled at a critical moment?
Did they know the situation at that time? They were just spouting nonsense. They were just jealous of his noble birth and the backing of the Marquis of Anshun's Mansion.