Chapter 119: Innate Advantages and Disadvantages
The next morning, Wan Jing arrived early.
Before Wan Jing could even say “Let’s go,” Li Xiaonan blurted out, “How far is it from here to Linhai Town? Can we get back before noon? Even a forced march wouldn’t be enough, right?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Wan Jing replied, spreading her hands.
This wasn’t something she could manage, nor did she dare to ask.
“I must be home before noon!” Li Xiaonan stated, word for word.
“There’s no point telling me that. You need to tell our Young Lord,” Wan Jing advised earnestly.
“Where is your Young Lord? In the tea house?” Li Xiaonan quickened her pace.
“He’s probably outside the city. I was instructed to pick you up; Shi Gun didn’t say anything else.” Wan Jing followed Li Xiaonan and got into the cart at the alley entrance.
The cart left the city and traveled another three or four li before stopping. Li Xiaonan got out and first saw A Wu and Wang Yuting.
“You two?”
“Why are you here!” A Wu’s surprised exclamation drowned out Li Xiaonan.
Li Xiaonan knew there was no point asking; these two wouldn’t know.
Li Xiaonan’s gaze swept past A Wu to Gu Yan, who was idly flicking his horse whip while mounted on his horse.
“I must be home before noon,” Li Xiaonan called out to Gu Yan first.
Gu Yan nodded at her and pointed with his whip, signaling her to mount.
The horse Gu Yan indicated for Li Xiaonan stood beside his own.
It was a beautiful bay horse, and the saddle was even more beautiful. Li Xiaonan touched the stirrup; it was above her chest, almost at her neck.
“Don’t move,” Gu Yan said, bending down before his voice had finished, grabbing Li Xiaonan by the belt and lifting her onto the saddle.
Li Xiaonan felt as if she were flying, and sitting on the saddle made her dizzy.
“Put your feet in,” Gu Yan tapped Li Xiaonan’s feet with his horse whip.
Li Xiaonan gripped the saddle with both hands, looked down, found the stirrups, and stepped into them, securing her footing.
It was just right, a perfect fit.
“Take the reins, just hold them. Alright, let’s go.” Gu Yan watched Li Xiaonan pick up the reins and urged his horse forward.
Li Xiaonan’s horse immediately followed Gu Yan’s horse obediently, trotting ahead.
After a short distance, Li Xiaonan relaxed slightly and turned to look for Wan Jing.
Wan Jing was to her rear, looking relaxed and skilled as she rode.
“Don’t look around!” Gu Yan’s whip tapped Li Xiaonan’s hand.
Li Xiaonan quickly turned her head back, looking straight ahead.
“Loosen the reins, relax your body, follow the horse’s rhythm. Good, excellent.” Gu Yan gently urged his horse, and it began to run faster.
Li Xiaonan, focused solely on staying seated, was actually managing quite well.
They galloped for a while, and after an unknown distance, the horses gradually slowed and stopped.
Gu Yan dismounted and looked at Li Xiaonan, signaling her to get down.
Li Xiaonan grabbed the saddle and slid off the horse.
She was experienced at dismounting; whenever she rode out with Wang Yuting, she always dismounted herself.
Gu Yan stared at Li Xiaonan, who had tumbled off the horse, and burst into laughter.
“Look at you! Mount up, I’ll teach you how to dismount.” Gu Yan reached out, lifted Li Xiaonan, and tossed her back onto the horse.
“I’ll learn when I can afford a horse,” Li Xiaonan said, lying on the horse’s back and nimbly rolling off.
Gu Yan took a slow breath, suppressing the urge to whip her.
“Where is this?” Li Xiaonan pulled up her sleeve to wipe the sweat from her face.
The horseback ride had made her extremely nervous and exhausted, leaving her drenched in sweat.
“This is Kunshan County.” Gu Yan dangled a handkerchief in front of Li Xiaonan’s nose. “Use this. You don’t even have a handkerchief?”
Li Xiaonan took the handkerchief and wiped her sweat, not answering Gu Yan’s question. “Didn’t we say we were going to Linhai Town?”
“You need to get back before noon, so going to Linhai Town is too late,” Gu Yan said as he walked forward.
Li Xiaonan followed Gu Yan, turning to survey their surroundings.
About a hundred paces ahead, Huang Xianzhou, the County Magistrate of Kunshan County, was hurrying to meet them.
“Find an opportunity to speak with Huang Xianzhou and see if you can gauge whether he holds any prejudice against me,” Gu Yan suddenly leaned in and whispered to Li Xiaonan.
“Ah?” Li Xiaonan was taken aback.
“Sarcastic!” Gu Yan straightened up and said.
“Okay!” Li Xiaonan replied, blinking.
He hadn’t intended to go to Linhai Town in the first place, had he? He had intended to come to Kunshan County all along, hadn’t he?
Huang Xianzhou met Gu Yan and bowed respectfully with a long salute.
Gu Yan nodded slightly, pointed his folding fan at Li Xiaonan, and said with a smile, “Your brother receives a lot of support from Magistrate Huang. You should thank him.”
“Thank you for your guidance, County Magistrate Huang,” Li Xiaonan said gratefully.
“You are too kind,” Huang Xianzhou quickly cupped his hands in return, glancing cautiously at Li Xiaonan.
The Young Lord said “support,” but she thanked him for “guidance.”
This little girl is indeed extremely clever.
“How is the sericulture this year?” Gu Yan walked towards a nearby mulberry grove.
“Thanks to the Young Lord’s blessings, it’s been passable,” Huang Xianzhou followed behind Gu Yan.
Li Xiaonan glanced at Huang Xianzhou. His words and tone were indeed quite sarcastic.
“This is the silkworm farm,” Wan Jing caught up with Li Xiaonan, her hushed voice tinged with excitement.
Li Xiaonan let out a low hum.
She was afraid of all soft, fleshy worms, including silkworms.
“How big are the silkworms now?” Li Xiaonan asked in a low voice.
“It’s only April, they’ve just started hatching,” Wan Jing said, looking around with interest.
“That’s good then,” Li Xiaonan muttered, relieved.
“Come here!”
Ahead, Gu Yan pointed his folding fan at Wan Jing.
Wan Jing lowered her head and hurried forward.
Li Xiaonan hesitated for a moment and didn’t follow.
Wan Jing was on duty.
Wan Jing went into the silkworm farm to see the silkworms, and Gu Yan called over some silkworm farmers to inquire about the silkworms. Huang Xianzhou lagged behind, following. Li Xiaonan looked, then caught up with Huang Xianzhou and said in a low voice, “Thank you for your teachings, County Magistrate. My brother told me about them.”
“You already thanked me just now,” Huang Xianzhou replied in a low voice.
“Just now I thanked you for guiding my brother; now I’m thanking you for guiding me,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
“Miss Li, you are too kind.”
“I am most skilled in Investigation of Things, and my brother’s skills were taught by me. The Young Lord has asked me to teach his accountants arithmetic.” She paused, then looked at Huang Xianzhou and said softly, “I met the Young Lord in Hangcheng. He saw me, but I didn’t see him.”
Huang Xianzhou’s eyebrows shot up, then he quickly lowered them, looked around, and coughed lightly. “Hangcheng and such, don’t mention it again.”
“Yes, I haven’t dared to mention it; this is the only time,” Li Xiaonan’s voice was also very low.
“Your brother’s scholarship is very good; he has made great progress in the past six months.”
“Yes! My brother has been very diligent. He got first place in last year’s evaluation.”
“I know. That Wan Jing?” Huang Xianzhou asked in a low voice.
“She’s just a steward girl, in charge of the Young Lord’s silk clothes and such,” Li Xiaonan replied softly.
“Oh, no wonder she understands sericulture.”
“The Young Lord is a very good person,” Li Xiaonan said, looking at Huang Xianzhou.
“Yes, I can see that. It’s rare.”
“Then why were you being sarcastic with him just now?” Li Xiaonan asked directly.
“Huh? I was being sarcastic?” Huang Xianzhou’s eyes widened.
“Yes? You weren’t being sarcastic? You said something like ‘thanks to the Young Lord’s blessings’.”
“Isn’t that flattery?” Huang Xianzhou’s eyes widened even further. “Wasn’t I flattering him?”
Li Xiaonan stared at Huang Xianzhou. Huang Xianzhou blinked several times and leaned forward slightly. “Do you really think I was being sarcastic?”
“Yes!” Li Xiaonan replied with extreme certainty.
“And the Young Lord?” Huang Xianzhou cautiously nudged his chin towards Gu Yan.
“Yes!” Li Xiaonan affirmed again with certainty.
She was very sure that the Young Lord had just called Huang Xianzhou sarcastic.
“Sigh!” Huang Xianzhou’s shoulders slumped. He raised his hand and slapped his mouth. “Me! Sigh! I clearly! Sigh!”
Li Xiaonan looked at Huang Xianzhou with sympathy.
He had tried to flatter someone and ended up being sarcastic. No wonder, despite his good scholarship and abilities, he had only been promoted from a large county to a medium one, and then from a medium county to a small one.
