Chapter 187: The Wonton Stall on the Streets of Anding

The sunset sank behind the city gate's flying eaves, and the dark purple twilight mist drifted over the bluestone road, dyeing the streets of Anding City into a flowing amber.

Cooking smoke rose in curls from between the grey tiles of every household, mixed with the charred fragrance of roasted lamb and the wheat scent of steamed buns, weaving into a dense net in the evening breeze.

"Give me your wife, and I will cover her with a quilt..."

"Brother, don't misunderstand me..."

"I didn't hold her hand..."

"Actually, you don't have to be so..."

"So fearful and trembling..."

"I just feel heartache for her tear-stained face..."

"You give your wife to me, and you will be free and easy alone..."

"Let me take the blame for your fake love!"

Chen Yan walked with his hands behind his back through the streets of Anding, humming a tune about shifting love.

The lanterns under the eaves of the teahouses lit up one after another, their orange halos swaying on the mottled brick walls.

The storyteller slapped his wooden gavel, startling the swallows returning to their nests under the eaves, as they brushed past the wine flags hanging from the taverns.

Sounds of guessing games and pipa strings drifted from the taverns, mixed with the sweet fragrance of freshly brewed rice wine wafting out of the carved windows.

The clapper of a wonton seller came from the end of the alley, the light sound of a wooden spoon stirring bone broth echoing in response to the tinkling of the night watchman's copper bell.

Yuwen Ze, walking on the right, sniffed the fragrant air and asked curiously, "Brother, have you thought of a countermeasure?"

"No," Chen Yan shrugged and replied truthfully.

"Then why does your mood seem quite good, Brother?" Yuwen Ze asked, puzzled as he sized up Chen Yan's expression.

Yuwen Ze could not understand, nor did he grasp or comprehend the state his brother was in...

The Inspector had died; that was a thorny, major problem!

"People, you know, always keeping a string pulled tight will easily snap it..." Chen Yan said unhurriedly, laughing casually. "It's better to come out for a walk, clear your head, and see if there are any new ideas!"

"That makes sense..." Yuwen Ze nodded, quite agreeing with this statement.

Just as he was preparing to learn to relax his mood, he suddenly heard Chen Yan change the subject: "Ze, what do you think the girls in the brothels of Anding taste like?"

As he said this, Chen Yan pointed toward the east, where the wind-blown places were soliciting customers.

For some reason, he inexplicably missed the days of watching legs at Wuyi Square...

That was a mysterious place; after ten o'clock, every hour, the clothes the girls wore would become less and less. By three or four in the morning, they were really just wrapped in a piece of cloth when they went out.

If I am rich, I am lecherous; if I am powerful, I submit; if I am seduced, I comply; if I am not beaten, I confess first.

"???"

Facing this sudden change in style, Yuwen Ze was full of question marks. He twitched the corners of his mouth and reminded him, "Brother, isn't it inappropriate to seek pleasure at a time like this?"

"Just teasing you..."

Chen Yan looked at the serious Yuwen Ze, a curve appearing at the corner of his mouth. He patted his shoulder and laughed, "We came out to forage for food, to taste the delicacies on the streets of Anding!"

As long as there is rice in hand, one can find a 'cluck-cluck' anytime. Chen Yan had not yet been so blinded by lust that he lost his mind; he knew the priority of things...

However, he just saw this silly younger brother pulling a long face and looking worried, so he wanted to make fun of him!

When the four of them passed by a wonton stall, Yuwen Ze sniffed lightly, hooked by the drifting fragrance, and said, "Brother, these wontons smell so good!"

"Then let's eat this..."

Chen Yan smiled indifferently and shouted, "Boss, four bowls of wontons!"

"Alright, the four of you please sit, they'll be ready right away!" The wonton stall owner smiled broadly and responded quickly.

The four of them sat around a mottled old square table on low wooden stools.

Yuwen Ze glanced at the bustling street and, as if remembering something, said, "Brother, walking on this street, I have a puzzle that the more I think about, the less I understand..."

"Tell me about it." Chen Yan said nonchalantly.

"You say that Jingzhou is governed in an orderly fashion, the people are healthy and the goods are abundant. Wouldn't it be an exaggeration to call it a place of good governance and harmony?" Yuwen Ze looked into the distance, taking in the scene as far as he could see from left to right, and asked.

After a pause, he changed the subject: "But in such a place, why are there bandits?"

Regarding this puzzle, Yuwen Ze was completely baffled, especially when walking on this street, the puzzle deepened...

Logically speaking, banditry and theft run rampant only when people are starving, when natural disasters are continuous, when people are in deep water and suffering, when the people are destitute, and when there is war and chaos...

Who would do such head-chopping work when they can survive and even live quite well?

This goes against common sense!

"Well asked!"

Chen Yan snapped his fingers, looking at Yuwen Ze with full approval, and sighed, "Ze, your insight has improved greatly..."

This question went straight to the heart of the matter and grasped the key point!

"Then what is your view on the strange phenomenon in Jingzhou, Brother?" Yuwen Ze, having received affirmation, asked impatiently.

"I don't know either..."

Chen Yan shook his head with a smile and said in a low voice, "That's why I asked you to come out and walk on the street!"

Yuwen Ze had discovered the same puzzle, and naturally, Chen Yan had discovered it too...

But he also could not provide a reasonable explanation for this.

Undoubtedly, this was far more thorny than the problem in Qinzhou!

"So Brother had long since noticed this problem and wanted to come out to find ideas..." Yuwen Ze suddenly realized, thinking to himself.

No wonder he said that at this juncture, his brother was not thinking of countermeasures in the post house, but instead called him out for a walk on the street...

"Guest, the piping hot wontons are here!"

"Four guests, please enjoy!"

The wonton stall owner carried a wooden tray and placed the four bowls of wontons on the table with a smile.

After several hours of mental exertion, Chen Yan was already starving. He immediately scooped up a wonton with thin skin and a large filling, took a bite, and asked, "Boss, what did you add to the wonton filling?"

"The taste is quite unique!"

There was a lingering fragrance in Chen Yan's mouth that he had never encountered before...

"Judging by your accent, you are from out of town, right?"

The wonton stall owner wiped his hands with a coarse cloth and explained with a smile, "This is a unique spice from our Jingzhou; it is very nourishing and refreshing..."

"We are from Fengxiang, here to travel in Jingzhou..."

Chen Yan nodded, smiled indifferently, and said, "I see the prosperity in Anding City, the people living in peace and contentment, and everything in order. It's no less than the capital, Chang'an!"

He wore an expression of surprise and accident.

"That is because we in Jingzhou have a very, very good parent official!"

Hearing this, the wonton stall owner blurted out, "Thanks to his diligent governance day and night, we have the grand occasion of Jingzhou today!"

When mentioning that "parent official," a bright luster shone in the wonton stall owner's slightly tired eyes...

It was a reverence that could not be expressed in words!

"Oh?"

Chen Yan raised an eyebrow, swallowed the wonton in his mouth, and said, "I'd like to hear more about it!"

"Who is this blue-sky official?"

"I would also like to pay my respects!"

His reaction seemed to be one of piqued curiosity...

"He isn't talking about Ming Shaoxia, is he?"

"With Brother's intelligence, how could he not guess it?"

Yuwen Ze, who had been silent, watched all this and muttered in confusion, "No!"

"Brother is fishing for information..."

Obviously, his brother was not completely ignorant, but wanted to ask for the most truthful evaluation of Inspector Ming Shaoxia from the mouths of the common people on the street.

"It is our Jingzhou Inspector, who loves the people like his own children!"

The wonton stall owner's gaze was firm and decisive.

After a pause, he continued excitedly, "You wouldn't know, guest, but in the years that Inspector Ming has governed Jingzhou, our lives have visibly improved. We common people can finally eat our fill..."