Chapter 987

Pan Yun and Xue Shao exchanged a glance, thanked the girl, and headed for Piaoxiang Pavilion.

Piaoxiang Pavilion was merely a restaurant, unlike Ping’an Inn, which offered both lodging and meals; it did not provide accommodation.

For Pan Yun and Xue Shao, money had always been important—even though Pan Yun now lacked nothing, she remained frugal.

In Pan Yun’s words, every silver tael she saved might save a life, so when they saw the size of the inns on either side, they immediately turned their horses into an alley.

As they looked around, someone approached: “Are you three looking for lodging?”

Xi Jin nodded: “Yes, do you know where we can find cheap lodging?”

“At my place—my family owns the house, it’s cheap, just fifty cash per night for a guest room.”

Xi Jin frowned: “That’s still too expensive.”

The man’s gaze swept over their horses, and he stared blankly: “Too expensive? Go ask at Shunlai Inn across the street—second-class rooms cost a hundred cash.”

“If we could afford Shunlai Inn, would we be sneaking down alleys?” Xi Jin now had a sharp sense of danger: “We need to see the room first. If it matches Shunlai’s second-class standard, then we’ll negotiate.”

The man glanced at the sky and reluctantly agreed, rising to lead them deeper into the alley.

“Don’t worry—my mother and daughter-in-law cleaned it themselves, it’s spotless, no worse than Shunlai’s second-class rooms. Fifty cash—you’re getting a steal.”

Xi Jin, carrying his pack behind them, said: “We won’t accept that price until we’ve seen the room.”

The house stood at the alley’s end, with a small courtyard inside. Pushing open the gate, they saw three rooms on each side, a central parlor, and two doors opening from either side of the parlor—splitting the two main rooms into four separate chambers.

In the courtyard, three bare-chested men bent over a well, scrubbing clothes. Seeing the landlord return with guests, they looked up.

The landlord stepped forward and slapped their bare backs twice. “Put your clothes on! I’ve told you a hundred times—don’t strip in the courtyard. What if a female guest sees you?”

One of the men, medium-built with a long face and arched eyebrows, wrung out his wet clothes and stared boldly at Pan Yun: “We have female guests here?”

“Go, go, go—of course we have female guests! Put your clothes on!”

After scolding them, the landlord hurried back to guide the three, leading them to the two rooms on the left of the parlor. He smiled: “These two. The ones across are also second-class. Look—each has a bed, a table, a window, and a washing area. Isn’t this better than second-class?”

Seeing all three silent, the landlord grew uneasy and hurried to add: “Don’t listen to them—we’ve had female guests before. Miss, you’ll be perfectly safe here.”

Pan Yun nodded.

Xi Jin muttered: “She’s the safest one, honestly…”

Xue Shao glanced at Xi Jin and said to the landlord: “Fifty cash is too high. Twenty.”

The landlord: “...Are you trying to slaughter a pig?”

Xue Shao smiled: “I see the side rooms are dormitories—each holds nearly ten men, right? This courtyard is a den of rogues. You’re the ones benefiting by hosting us. This is a private lodging—unless you’re brought by family or friends, who’d dare stay here?”

Xi Jin: “Exactly. We want comfort, but safety comes first. At a Zhenggui inn, dorm beds cost five cash per person.”

The landlord sized them up: “I’m impressed—you three wear fine cloth, your horses are fat and strong, yet you haggle over a few cash…”

Pan Yun corrected him: “It’s thirty cash, not ‘a few.’ And we’re renting two rooms.”

Xue Shao sighed: “Landlord, we’d love to be generous, but travel is hard—we’re short on funds. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be staying in a private lodging.”

The landlord instantly understood, then asked curiously: “Did you run into bandits on the road?”

All three sighed in unison, saying nothing.

The landlord saw their expression and sighed: “You’re from Zhangzhou, aren’t you? There are plenty of mountain bandits there.”

Xue Shao asked immediately: “Why so many mountain bandits there?”

“Ah, they all came from the sea. After the maritime ban was lifted, pirates rejoiced—but before they could raid merchant ships or fishing villages, the imperial navy sailed out to crush them. With nowhere left at sea, they slipped ashore and took over the mountains as bandits.”

Xue Shao and Pan Yun: ... So the sea pirates had turned into mountain bandits—essentially the same profession.

In the end, the landlord agreed to twenty cash per room—but only if paid upfront.

It wasn’t that he distrusted them; it was that they’d mentioned bandits, and he wondered if they still had money.

Xi Jin pulled out his money pouch, counted out forty cash, and as the landlord left, muttered: “Do we look like people who’d skip payment?”

Xue Shao pushed him into the room: “Get inside and settle. We’re going to Piaoxiang Pavilion for dinner—earn some cash, learn about Haiyang County.”

Their essentials were on their persons; the pack was just a decoy, holding only two sets of clothes. So even here, they could safely leave their luggage and go out.

The three left the alley and began wandering the streets.

Haiyang County was the seat of Chaozhou Prefecture, but far less prosperous than Quanzhou or other places, and its customs differed greatly.

The entire county had only two main roads; the busiest was the one they now walked—running north-south.

Less than five hundred meters north of Piaoxiang Pavilion stood the county magistrate’s office; directly opposite it was the prefect’s office.

The prefect’s office looked decent, but the county magistrate’s office was dilapidated. Most magistrate offices had notice boards in front of plazas, but Haiyang’s lacked space for a plaza—the notice board stood alone, covered with a dozen scattered notices, its top-left and bottom-right corners torn away.

Pan Yun and Xue Shao stepped closer to read them. Of the dozen notices, one announced the emperor’s general pardon due to a wind disaster in Quanzhou; the rest were all wanted posters.

Pan Yun’s fingers itched. She tore down one, glanced at the description, and considered returning to her old trade.

Xue Shao seemed to sense her thought: “Are you planning to catch bandits for the bounty?”

Pan Yun: “If you don’t say it and I don’t say it, who’ll know I’m the State Advisor?”

Pan Yun skimmed all ten wanted posters in one glance and neatly tore them all down.

She folded them and tucked them into her robe, patting them: “The cheapest reward is twenty taels, the highest is a hundred. If I catch them all, we won’t just cover our expenses on this southern inspection—we could make ten more trips and still have enough.”

Xue Shao hesitated, then said: “If you catch them all at once, the county office won’t have enough cash—they’ll haggle.”

Pan Yun, who’d only done this twice before, stared in disbelief: “Bounties can be discounted?”

Xue Shao nodded matter-of-factly: “Discounts are standard. The more you catch, the bigger the cut.”

Pan Yun: ...

Seeing her silence, Xue Shao asked: “Still going to catch them?”

Pan Yun grumbled: “Of course. Once I’ve seen them, how can I let them go? Letting evil go free is harming the good. What if the karmic debt falls on me?”

Xue Shao laughed aloud: “Then I’ll help you.” Xi Jin, meanwhile, was engrossed in the prefect’s notice board, waving them over excitedly: “Young Master, come look—there’s a notice here!”

The guards at both the prefect’s and county offices had been watching them. The county guard stayed silent; the prefect’s guard couldn’t hold back. He stepped forward, hands on hips, pointing at Xi Jin: “How dare you make noise before the prefect’s gate? Want a beating?”

Xi Jin resented it but fell silent, still waving frantically at Xue Shao and Pan Yun.

Xue Shao glanced at the guard and walked forward.

The guard merely watched from the gate, not advancing.

Xue Shao clearly looked like a scholar—the office avoided provoking scholars; trouble could easily follow.

The county guard saw this and sneered at the prefect’s guard, eyes full of contempt.

The prefect’s guard shot him a furious glare.

Xue Shao reached the prefect’s notice board and raised an eyebrow: “That’s an interesting notice.”

Pan Yun stepped forward: “Huh? A martial arts contest for marriage?”

She peered at the prefect’s gate and raised an eyebrow: “This is the prefect’s office—why is a marriage contest notice posted here?”

Xue Shao: “I don’t know.”

If you don’t know, you ask.

Pan Yun tore the notice down and approached the guard: “Brother guard, why is this marriage contest notice posted on the official notice board?”

The guard’s eyes widened at her tearing it down. He stared straight at Xue Shao behind her: “You—you tore it down?”

Pan Yun waved the notice: “I tore it down. Why are you looking at him?”

The guard snatched the notice from her hand with a sharp slap: “You’re not a man, and you’re not here to be a son-in-law—why tear it down? Put it back!”

But before she could, he ran back to reattach it himself.

Pan Yun followed him, seeing how carefully he handled it, and asked: “Is this family so terrifying that no one dares take down the notice?”

She spoke right behind his ear, making him jump. He turned, annoyed: “This is for a son-in-law who moves in. Would you do it?”

Pan Yun stroked her chin: “If the family is wealthy, the bride is beautiful, and her character is good—why not?”

“But the Feng family doesn’t want just anyone. They want someone who can fight, read, and write, and isn’t ugly. Who with those talents would become a son-in-law?” The guard glanced at Xue Shao, sizing him up: “You’re handsome, Master. Even if you can’t fight, the Fengs might still marry their daughter to you. But…”

The guard glanced back at Pan Yun: “What’s your relationship?”

“I have no interest. Goodbye.” Xue Shao cut him off, pulling Pan Yun away.

Pan Yun’s curiosity had just been sparked; she was reluctant to leave.

Xi Jin was equally reluctant: “Young Master, aren’t you curious? Who puts a marriage notice on the prefect’s board?”

“Yes, yes, aren’t you curious?”

“I am,” Xue Shao said, glancing at them both, “but why waste time with him? Are you planning to bribe him for information?”

Pan Yun: “A handful of copper coins solves everything. Why pay more?”

“Exactly! I already had the coins ready, waiting for your signal.”

Xue Shao: “We’re going to Piaoxiang Pavilion. Ask there. Why pay?”

Pan Yun realized he was right. Seeing Xue Shao quicken his pace, she hurried after him: “Should I change clothes to get better information?”

“No,” Xue Shao said. “The further south you go, the looser the restrictions on women. You don’t need to dress as a Daoist to sit with us.”

Xue Shao was right—women were present at Piaoxiang Pavilion’s poetry gatherings, and in considerable numbers.

Young, unmarried ladies mostly occupied the second floor, leaning on the railings to watch the scene below.

Married women came with their husbands or sisters and sisters-in-law to observe.

They were livelier, clustering in groups to gossip about the scholars coming and going.

As soon as Pan Yun and Xue Shao entered the pavilion, every woman’s eyes turned to them.

They scanned the room and settled into a corner on the first floor. Xi Jin stood behind Xue Shao, about to call a server for tea and snacks, when a server immediately arrived with a tray: a pot of wine and two plates of pastries.

Xi Jin hurried to say: “We haven’t ordered yet.”

The server pointed upstairs: “These are from Lady Lin and her daughter.”

All three looked up. A group of girls were giggling together; one young woman with her hair pinned up waved a round fan at Pan Yun and Xue Shao, smiling and nodding slightly.

Xue Shao said nothing. Pan Yun smiled, bowed in return, and asked the server: “Who is the Lin family?”

The waiter immediately recognized them as outsiders and smiled: "The Lin family is from the household of the Prefect of Chaozhou."

Pan Yun suddenly understood, told the waiter to go up and thank them on their behalf, and when the guests had left, asked Xue Shao: "Which Lin?"

"Lin Xian, from Guizhou Si. He has been serving as Prefect of Chaozhou for five years, but due to mediocre performance, he has never been promoted."

"Mediocre performance?"

Xue Shao: "He’s neither outstanding nor negligent. Since taking office in Chaozhou, he has achieved no major accomplishments, but also committed no major errors. The Ministry of Personnel once evaluated him and rated his performance as 'good,' so he was allowed to remain in post."

As an Imperial Censor, Xue Shao was expected to know something about every official under his inspection.

But this knowledge was mostly official in nature.

Yet even official records could reveal many issues.

Pan Yun looked up at the second floor and said with deep implication: "This place is truly interesting. I like it."

Xue Shao smiled and said: "The south lacks the rigid etiquette of the capital, and also the arrogance of Nanjing and the Jiangnan region. Instead, it has more liveliness and casualness. When you said you wanted to come here, I thought you’d enjoy it."

"Have you been here before?"

Xue Shao said: "During my travels for study, I passed through Liuzhou Prefecture. I came south from Chaozhou all the way to Guangzhou, then entered Liuzhou via Pingle Prefecture."

Pan Yun: "No wonder you picked up a bit of their accent when ordering the fish balls."