"Why is he staring at you like that?" As she turned her head, she caught sight of Luo Linhao still inside the room, his gaze fixed on Ye Zi’an. His expression was difficult to describe, a mix of anger and a touch of resentnt.
"Pfft, he lost the contest, that’s all!" After throwing out this comnt, Ye Zi’an continued to chat with Yang Chuxia, "What do you think? The bracelet for the boy is nice, isn’t it? It’s engraved with his formal na, now even if the child gets lost and soone sees these characters, no one would dare pick him up."
"Get lost, you bad mouth!"
"It’s the truth, isn’t it? With the na bestowed by imperial favor, it’s clear he belongs to our family. Here in Wangquan Town, anyone who sees it will either return it to us or not dare to pick it up at all." Ye Zi’an felt his reasoning was sound; who in recent years in Wangquan Town didn’t know of the Yang Family and the Ye Family?
Tsk tsk, finally finding an opportunity to needle soone, Luo Linhao pursed his lips and humd, "That’s such short-sightedness. This is Wangquan, a backwater where not even birds would bother to poop. Try losing it in the Capital City and see if anyone would pick it up!"
At last, seeing Ye Zi’an’s crestfallen expression once more, Luo Linhao cheerfully went downstairs. But imdiately after, he grew annoyed again, thinking he needed to prepare sothing else, sothing that would surpass his cousin’s gift.
~~~~
One day, Ye Zi’an put his two sons in a small cart and pushed them under a large tree in the courtyard. He felt the room was too stuffy even with ice placed inside. It was better outside where the air was fresher, and in the cool evening with no sun and a gentle breeze blowing, it was quite comfortable.
He also brought along his sons’ chamber pots, water bottles, and a palm fan, among other things. While reading a book, he used the fan to swat at the small flying insects near his sons and would occasionally stop to play with their fingers or shake a rattle to grab their attention.
Tsk tsk, the picture of a doting dad.
"Young master, County Magistrate Shen has sent a ssage," soone announced.
"Oh? Has Ye Ziping’s execution been decreed?" Right after the banquet, he had the traveler sent to the county office.
County Magistrate Shen had then followed the lead and managed to capture Hei Mao and several others.
"They’ve been captured. Ye Ziping has been sentenced to beheading, and among others involved in a rape case have also received death sentences. As for the rest, they’ve been sentenced to exile," Ye Yi reported, looking down but glancing at the children in the cart; they looked so adorable with their bright, lively eyes.
"A rape case that caused injury or death?"
Ye Zi’an just asked one question. He wondered why County Magistrate Shen would issue such a verdict. According to the laws of Great Zhou, rape cases didn’t usually result in long sentences, especially those that weren’t reported by victims; usually a few years in prison was the extent of the punishnt.
Even adding theft to their charges, by the law they shouldn’t be sentenced to death. He worried such judgnts might draw criticism.
"No!"
Ye Zi’an paused for a mont, "Is it because we were the ones who delivered him?"
"Not at all!"
"Then what’s the reason? Do you know? If you know, just say it," Ye Zi’an said, noticing the odd expression on Ye Yi’s face, which seed hesitant.
Ye Yi spoke softly, "The day we ca back, when I went to report to the county office, I encountered soone who, I heard, was the new County Governor. At that ti, I thought he and County Magistrate Shen seed to be at odds. A County Governor daring to be so bold with his superior..." At this point, Ye Yi seed embarrassed but continued, "I found it strange, so I did so checking and found out that this County Governor is a relative of the Prefectural Magistrate of Funan."
A County Governor? As soon as Ye Zi’an heard this, he felt sothing was amiss. For many years, the position of County Governor had been virtually redundant, with almost every county lacking one. Why had Quanya suddenly gotten a County Governor? Seeing Ye Yi stop again, he ordered sternly, "Explain it all at once!," his impatience clear. Leaving the story half-told was simply tantalizing.
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