Chapter 63: Endure a Moment Longer

After Zhao Jin ran off, it suddenly struck him — those two men had clearly been out all night, freezing for hours. Whatever shady business they were up to, when he had nearly finished his lap and returned to his starting point, he spotted those same two men again.

The pair hadn't expected Zhao Jin to come back around either. After shooting him a vicious glare, they turned and left. Zhao Jin froze for a second, then it clicked — those two had been watching his family's house all night.

Who would come and stake out the Zhao household? Zhao Jin found it strange, but he didn't rush back to report it. Instead, he kept running his laps without giving anything away. This time, a little farther off, he spotted the two men again. By then, the young men had probably figured out that Zhao Jin was running in circles, and they hurriedly left the area.

What was there worth watching at his house? Zhao Jin couldn't puzzle it out no matter how hard he thought. Before breakfast, though, he quietly told Zhao Zhentang what he had seen.

Hearing Zhao Jin's account, Zhao Zhentang was quite surprised himself. He strode straight out the door to take a look, and after coming back in, said in a low voice, "Don't tell your mother. I'll find someone to look into it today."

The reason Zhao Jin had told Zhao Zhentang alone was precisely to avoid frightening his mother. He nodded at once.

After breakfast, Mu Shulan was in no hurry to go home. Grinning, she tagged along with Zhao Jin to martial practice. Only after stepping outside did Zhao Jin remember that his wrist guards had cracked and he needed new ones. He told the girl to wait at the door a moment.

Unexpectedly, as he stepped inside, he overheard his parents talking. He Cuihua was saying, full of worry, "If little Lan keeps on like this, how can we feel at ease taking her as a daughter-in-law?"

"I told you back then not to let your imagination run wild — it's far too unreliable. Besides, the kids are still so young. Why are you wasting your energy worrying about this?" Zhao Zhentang was clearly impatient.

"Why shouldn't I worry? Old Zhang at your yamen just last year got his son…"

Seeing Zhao Jin walk in, the couple dropped the subject.

As Zhao Jin headed out the door, he twisted his mouth wryly. People really did marry early in this era, he thought. He was already as tall as a grown man, yet he was only fifteen, and his family was already thinking about settling him down.

He and Mu Shulan chatted as they walked, soon leaving the street in front of his house. Turning the corner, they reached that "commercial street." Though most of the shops lining both sides were now closed, and Zhao Jin had left early enough that the two open general stores hadn't yet opened for business, the street was cold and deserted.

In front of the shop that the monk Runan had been eyeing yesterday sat two men. This early, in this cold — who would be sitting here? And judging by their cotton-padded robes and decent complexions, they weren't refugees fleeing the spring famine either.

The moment Zhao Jin turned onto this road, he noticed these two odd characters. To his surprise, the two men also perked up at the sight of Zhao Jin and his companion. The seated pair exchanged a glance, then pretended to be indifferent.

What was going on? Zhao Jin frowned slightly, but Mu Shulan beside him hadn't noticed anything amiss and was chattering away happily.

The two men remained seated in front of the shop without moving. As Zhao Jin passed by, he looked straight at them — he wanted to see just what was off about these two.

To his surprise, when he looked over, they weren't looking at him. Zhao Jin caught on immediately: these two were staring at Mu Shulan.

Zhao Jin tugged the girl, used his body to shield Mu Shulan, and signaled her to pick up the pace. Though the girl hadn't yet grasped what was happening, she obeyed Zhao Jin instinctively, and they quickened their steps together. Looking back, the two men had already stood up and were following.

The two men in front of his house that morning, and now the two men stationed here — they were being followed for no apparent reason, and the target was Mu Shulan.

The only lead he could think of was yesterday, on the way home, when they had run into Runan the monk and his group on this very road, and those men had stared at Mu Shulan without the slightest restraint.

Although tales of forcibly seizing beautiful women were common in storytellers' scripts and popular novels, in reality such things were extremely rare. If anyone actually tried to seize someone by force, common folk would raise a huge ruckus and file suit at the yamen. Even if the officials wanted to show favoritism, they still had to consider public opinion among the commoners and the gentry. As for a daughter from a respectable, well-off family like Mu Shulan, no one would dare make an open move — anyone would have to consider her elders and her background.

That was how things normally stood, yet they had been spotted just yesterday, and today men had been sent to shadow and stalk them. Those people's boldness was simply outrageous.

Zhao Jin and Mu Shulan walked briskly for a stretch, opened the door, and entered Zhao Zhenxing's courtyard. Only after they had barred the gate from inside and fetched the long spear from the house did Zhao Jin breathe a sigh of relief.

Standing in the courtyard, spear in hand, Zhao Jin stood stunned for a moment, then couldn't help bursting out laughing. Beside him, Mu Shulan asked, baffled, "Brother Xiaojin, what are you laughing at?"

"We did something foolish. When we ran into them on the road, we should have gone straight home. My dad and I could have seized them together. Now that we've come here, we're isolated and without help instead," Zhao Jin said with a laugh.

"I'll go find my father today and have these villains arrested." Mu Shulan, surprisingly unafraid, said this through gritted teeth.

Zhao Jin had spoken just now partly in jest. With the long spear in hand, he felt considerably more at ease. But the girl's fierce words piqued his interest, and he asked with a grin, "Your family isn't the government — how would you arrest anyone?"

At this question, the girl looked a bit troubled and said quietly, "Brother Xiaojin, my father told me not to tell outsiders about family matters. Can I not say?"

"If it's not convenient to talk about, then don't. It's nothing!" Zhao Jin said with a smile. Everyone had their secrets — there was no need to press.

That morning in the courtyard, Zhao Jin practiced for a little over half a shichen before stopping. He began sorting out his weapons, sharpening the spearhead the way his uncle Zhao Zhenxing had taught him, checking whether the connection between shaft and head was loose, and also tucking that short blade into his waistband.

Though Zhao Jin's martial practice time was short, he stayed in the courtyard longer than usual. By noon, Mu Shulan couldn't help saying, "Brother Xiaojin, I'm hungry. Let's go back and eat!"

"Bear with it a little longer. In a bit, I'll lead you out. Don't make a sound — just follow me. We'll either go home or head straight to the freight yard and get some snacks." Seeing how serious Zhao Jin was, Mu Shulan immediately fell silent and just nodded.

The girl rarely saw this expression on Zhao Jin, and instinctively she didn't dare act spoiled.

Zhao Jin watched the sky, silently calculating the time. He waited roughly until the hour he normally went to the freight yard for lunch, then picked up his long spear and led Mu Shulan out of the courtyard.

The moment they stepped out, they saw two men stand up at the street corner — unmistakably the same two who had been following them all morning.

The men also saw the long spear in Zhao Jin's hand. They didn't dare follow too closely, but neither did they give up, always hanging far back.

Mu Shulan kept glancing back, her pretty face frosty with fury. As she walked, she gnashed her teeth and said, "Those blind, wretched curs — they actually have designs on me."

Zhao Jin shot a glance at the girl beside him, his pace never slowing. Inwardly, he reflected that Mu Shulan was sweet and well-behaved around him and his parents, but in her own household, she already carried herself with the air of a young miss. That wasn't surprising, though — Master Mu was now every inch a local magnate, so naturally his daughter's status rose along with him.

After reminding her not to keep turning her head, Zhao Jin quickened his pace.