Chapter 67: No Need to Fear

Chapter 67: No Need to Fear

"Mingchao, this small courtyard doesn't have red plum blossoms in winter or pear blossoms in spring, but we can plant two trees. In just a few years, we can enjoy petals like fire and blossoms like rosy clouds in winter, and in spring, the pear trees will grow tall and lush."

"It's only a street away from the best academy in Changhe County, just a fifteen-minute walk away."

"With the second young master of the Sun family, Sun Ershao, and Huaiqian here, it's both safe and convenient."

"The courtyard we previously considered is ideal for business during the day, but it's too crowded and noisy."

Lu Mingchao pressed her lips together. Although it looks desolate now, with some careful tending, it will soon be full of life.

"Very well," she said.

Xie Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "Mingchao, let's go and rent that shop with a small courtyard that you liked."

Lu Mingchao raised an eyebrow. "We could just rent the shop," she said.

After all, we already have the two-courtyard home near Qingyun Academy.

Most of the people living around here are students from Qingyun Academy, from affluent families. It's quiet and serene, with a faint scent of ink in the air, which seems to soothe the mind.

"You like it," she said.

"And I'm happy with it," he said.

Xie Yan's eyebrows lifted slightly, his eyes sparkling with a carefree, dazzling sparkle.

The toughest times are behind him.

"Having a small courtyard is always more convenient."

After bidding farewell to Uncle Chen, Xie Yan took Lu Mingchao to meet with a broker to finalize the payment and complete the contract.

By the time everything was settled, the languid sun was hanging low in the sky, powerless against the approaching night, quietly waiting to be swallowed by darkness.

The wind seemed to be ushering in the night, blowing more fiercely.

Lu Mingchao tightened her cloak, took out some snacks that the elderly and children usually enjoy from her dimensional store, neatly tied them up, and handed them to Xie Yan to carry as they walked towards the city gate.

The guards at the city gate, seeing the large and small packages in Xie Yan's hands, felt a twinge of annoyance as they remembered the cold wind they had endured outside the Sun residence.

"Five coins per person!" the guard barked.

Lu Mingchao thought: I've seen price hikes, but never like this.

Three coins when entering, five coins when leaving.

Is this city gate made of gold?

"A Yan, I don't want to leave through this gate anymore," she said.

"The magistrate, who is just and fair in his judgments and imprisoned the second young master of the Sun family for two years, surely wouldn't impose such heavy taxes. He must have been deceived."

"Why don't we return to the county office and inform the magistrate directly?"

Ten coppers—it wasn’t that they didn’t have them, but rather that they didn’t want to give them.

Especially when it was such a pointed demand for ten coppers.

Xie Yan’s expression was serious and solemn. “That’s reasonable.”

The officer was baffled.

Seeing the young couple unharmed, he assumed the second young master of the Sun family had simply bungled and lost them.

He had no idea they had already crossed paths.

Stationed at the city gate, he was completely in the dark.

The officer pursed his lips, nervously rubbing his hands, his anxiety growing.

Lu Mingchao sighed and remarked offhandedly, “I wonder how the second young master of the Sun family could be so clear about our whereabouts.”

The officer was stunned, utterly speechless.

He had tried to exploit the situation, only to end up threatened.

“Three coppers.”

“My mistake, three coppers each.”

The officer wanted no further trouble, hoping to learn what had transpired after his shift ended.

Lu Mingchao glanced at the officer, six coppers falling from her palm into the wicker basket.

This officer’s days of ease were numbered.

From the chatter among the onlookers outside the county office, the eldest son of the Sun family had returned.

Could this officer, who had tipped off the second young master of the Sun family, escape notice?

Since someone else had stepped in, why should she and Xie Yan trouble themselves?

Getting on the donkey cart, Lu Mingchao handed the old driver a few extra coppers and a package of pastries.

The old driver glanced at the sky, cracked his whip, and the donkey’s hooves clattered as the cart creaked its way home.

Most villagers from Changxi Village relied on this donkey cart to travel to Changhe County.

They left at dawn and returned by dusk.

“A Yan,” Lu Mingchao nudged Xie Yan’s arm, her hair tousled by the brisk night wind, strands curling around his neck.

“Yes?”

“Does Changhe County have a carriage market?”

As dusk fell, the air felt even colder than when they had arrived.

Xie Yan nodded. “There should be, but finding good horses won’t be easy.”

“I’ll find a way.”

Lu Mingchao shivered suddenly.

The sky gradually darkened, and a ghostly moonlight hung on the horizon, casting shadows of the withered branches on both sides of the road, with mottled tree shadows eerily projected on the ground.

In an instant, Lu Mingchao’s mind raced with images from a thousand horror movies.

Her fingers brushed over the desk lamp flashlight in the convenience store, then she quickly withdrew her hand.

She didn’t want to give the old cart driver a heart attack.

Eyes half-closed, she scanned the rows of shelves, her gaze finally settling on a small red lantern with a hand-held glowing battery.

At first glance, it looked just like a candle flickering inside.

Lu Mingchao took it out and inserted it into the rack behind the donkey cart.

As the cart moved, the night wind blew, causing the small red lantern to sway back and forth.

It only made things creepier!

Lu Mingchao was worn out.

She closed her eyes, leaned on Xie Yan, and silently repeated affirmations to calm herself.

If I can’t see it, I won’t be scared.

The donkey cart rolled on for who knows how long, but when they arrived in the town, Feng Jinyu’s mother and her sister-in-law, Feng Jinyu, were nowhere to be seen.

She was dying to know how Feng Jinyu’s matchmaking had turned out.

Was the Old Scholar a late-blooming eligible bachelor or the worst of the worst?

"The town’s close to Changxi Village—maybe they walked home," Xie Yan said softly, as if he knew what Lu Mingchao was thinking.

The road grew more desolate, and Lu Mingchao leaned even closer to Xie Yan.

Why hadn’t the trip felt this endless and lonely before?

Oh, right, she remembered, she and Feng Jinyu were wrapped in cloaks, chatting and gossiping happily.

She wouldn’t have noticed if the sky were falling or weasels were chatting by the roadside.

Faint, ghostly sobs floated on the wind.

Lu Mingchao’s skin crawled, and she tightly gripped Xie Yan’s sleeve, "A Yan, did you hear that weird noise?"

Xie Yan held her hand in return, "Sobbing—a woman’s voice."

"Mingchao, it’s a person, don’t be afraid."

Like a ray of sunlight piercing through storm clouds, Mingchao, fearless in storms, was scared of ghosts.

This caught him off guard.

Ghosts? In this world? No way.

If ghosts existed, why would schemers with blood on their hands still thrive?

"Mingchao, ghosts aren’t real—it’s just people playing tricks."

Even if ghosts existed, they’d be nothing to fear.

These were Xie Yan's unfinished words.

Lu Mingchao said she wasn't convinced.

Her very existence was strong evidence.

The old coachman added, "It's probably someone rushing home."

The crying grew louder and clearer.

Along with the crying, there was cursing that sounded somewhat familiar.

Suspicious, Lu Mingchao mustered her courage and lifted the lantern toward the sound.

"Feng Jinyu!"

"The cult of legitimate versus illegitimate children"