378 Zhang Zhan Was Scared
Similarly, Madam Qin, who had already arrived at the Yongding County office, did not sleep.
The county office was brightly lit. Madam Qin sat at the head of the table, and Zhang Zhan sat at the side uneasily.
Madam Qin glanced at him. “Are there thorns on the stool?”
“No…” Zhang Zhan smiled awkwardly.
“I remember that when you were young, you even dared to splash water on me. Now, your courage has actually shrunk?”
At the mention of his reckless childhood, the smile on Zhang Zhan’s face became even more awkward.
At that time, he was a youth who knew no fear. At that time, Madam Qin was not Madam Qin yet. She was the eldest daughter of Duke Yong Manor and the person everyone respected.
Zhang Zhan’s brother had once been engaged to Madam Qin. Zhang Zhan wanted to take a look out of curiosity, but he saw Madam Qin whipping someone.
The person who was whipped cried. She looked pitiful and begged for mercy, but Madam Qin refused to let her off.
Whip marks quickly appeared on the young lady’s body.
At that time, it was the sixth year of Minghua. Madam Qin was only a delicate young lady.
But because High Duke Yong was a general, Madam Qin was also in high spirits when she was young. It was said that her martial arts skills were superb.
The person who was beaten up by Qin Feng was a distant cousin of his Big Brother, so she was naturally his distant cousin.
Seeing him, she cried and shouted, “Little Zhan, Little Zhan, quickly call your Big Brother over. I’m going to be beaten to death. Boohoo—”
That distant cousin was usually especially gentle. Every time she saw Zhang Zhan, she would always bring him many fun things, so Zhang Zhan liked her very much.
Of course, he thought that Madam Qin was just acting mighty. He picked up a glass of water beside him and splashed it at her.
He even shouted at her, “You’re too unreasonable! You’re not even officially engaged to my brother, but you’re actually acting like the mistress of the house already. When you marry into our family in the future, won’t you still have to ride on our heads and lord over us?!”
Actually, this was also what Zhang Zhan usually heard from his family.
Although their Zhang family was also a prestigious family, they were still far inferior to the martial families of the country. Therefore, logically speaking, Madam Qin had married into a lowly family.
It was precisely because of this that everyone in the Zhang Manor was a little uneasy, afraid that they would bring in a little ancestor. They could not beat her or scold her, and they even had to let her beat them up and scold them.
Moreover, Madam Qin was famous. Everyone was afraid of her!
His words were very serious, and the surrounding people were stunned. Even the distant cousin who was beaten up did not speak.
Some servants wanted to go forward and pull Zhang Zhan over.
Only Madam Qin smiled. She looked at her disheveled cousin in the distance and then at Zhang Zhan.
“So that’s what your family thinks. Very good, very good.” The young Madam Qin waved the whip in her hand—
Zhang Zhan was scared out of his wits. He immediately closed his eyes and waited for his skin to be torn apart.
Unexpectedly, the whip hit the stone table at the side.
The bang was especially loud.
“In that case, the marriage will be annulled.”
The next day, Duke Yong Manor sent someone to visit and said that the marriage that they had originally verbally agreed on would be nullified.
Not long after, they heard that the eldest daughter of Duke Yong Manor had married into the royal family.
This was because not long after the war in the entire Great Chang ended, the national treasury was empty. People were still struggling to survive. The royal family was especially low-key when handling the marriage and did not invite anyone outside at all.
Therefore, they still did not know who Madam Qin had married.
However, this did not affect Madam Qin’s actions outside.
Zhang Zhan was the most miserable. His Big Brother was originally the young top scholar back then and had just become a top scholar not long ago. He was happily waiting to marry Madam Qin.
In the end, after being conferred the title of top scholar, he was sent out by the Emperor to work. When he returned half a year later, he found out that not only was the woman he was originally promised gone, but she had also married someone else.
His brother was so angry that he hung Zhang Zhan up and beat him up for two hours. He almost did not want to be an official anymore.
Recalling the past, Zhang Zhan’s face turned green and white. He even felt that after so many years, Madam Qin was going to come and take revenge on him again.
“At that time, I was young and ignorant. Madam, you’re a magnanimous person—” Zhang Zhan tried his best to squeeze out a smile.
Madam Qin: “You don’t have to be afraid. I’ve long forgotten about it.”
Zhang Zhan: “…” If you didn’t take the initiative to mention this matter, I’ll really think that you’ve forgotten.
After scaring Zhang Zhan, Madam Qin got to the point.
“Regarding that little girl from the Hu Family Village, tell me in detail how much you know. Don’t think of hiding anything. If anything doesn’t match the information I have, I don’t mind letting your brother follow you to be a county magistrate.”
When Madam Qin threatened people, her tone was especially calm, as if she was only talking about the weather.
Zhang Zhan’s head was covered in cold sweat.
Although he did not know who Madam Qin’s husband’s family was, which of the surviving royal families was easy to deal with?
Although it sounded a little difficult to pull his brother out of the cabinet, Zhang Zhan really did not dare to take the gamble since the other party was Madam Qin.
After dismissing the people around him, Zhang Zhan told Madam Qin everything he knew.
He omitted his embarrassing experience in the Hu Family Village and only started from the time he was appointed as the Imperial Envoy and arrived at Yongding County.
He spoke for more than two hours. When night came, he could not help but yawn.
“This is all I know. I can’t find anything else.” Zhang Zhan did not dare to say that the Xie Manor was really a blank piece of paper. They could finish investigating everything in half a day.
After all, that Old Master Xie was an idiot. The original seventh-grade officials had all gotten their positions through “donations”.
Now, he seems to have been promoted and transferred to another city. He did not know where he was stationed currently.
The reason why he did not pay attention to the Old Master of the Xie family was because Little Ah Yu had already arrived at the Wang Family. He naturally did not pay attention to what happened after that.
“The Xie Manor of Dongning County has joined Duke An Manor.” After Madam Qin finished speaking, she did not care about Zhang Zhan’s reaction and chased him out.
“Alright, go ahead. Don’t tell Huai’er that I was here.”
Zhang Zhan: “…Yes.”
How did he suddenly become a spy?
Not only did he have to help the mother hide it from her son, but he also had to help the son hide it from his mother.
He was afraid that one day, the boat would suddenly overturn and the two of them would exchange information and discover that they were hiding from each other.
At that time, would he be treated as a great contributor or treated as something else?
In the middle of the night, Zhang Zhan suddenly felt goosebumps appear on his arms.
“I can’t think about it anymore. I can’t think about it anymore. I won’t be able to keep my job as an official anymore if I continue thinking!” Zhang Zhan trembled fiercely and hurriedly returned to his room to sleep.
Only Little Ah Yu seriously began to learn how to control her mental consciousness under Meatball’s command.
For example, she would hide all the things she imagined.
In order to not let others guess her thoughts.
[From now on, you have to work hard not to let me know what you’re thinking.]
At the same time, Meatball would try to purify the Myriad Spirit Water and strive to make a rough version of the nutrient fluid.