WTYTIAAN Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Alice was right about one thing; the carriage business was indeed bustling today, and many nobles couldn’t rent a carriage.

It wasn’t because there were too many people renting, but rather because there were only so many high-end carriages. It was first come, first served. The later nobles couldn’t book high-end carriages, but they weren’t willing to settle for lower-grade ones, so everyone was stuck.

This had nothing to do with Yan Yunqing. Many minor nobles were still willing to pay to rent medium to low-end carriages. He had just returned the previous carriage and was immediately hired by a minor noble from Ermakwei City.

This minor noble wasn’t qualified to attend the Twenty-Third Prince’s birthday banquet. His wife’s family had latched onto the influence of the Twenty-Third Prince’s mother’s family, and so they were brought along due to this nepotistic connection.

This noble lord was an extremely wealthy, pot-bellied, short, and stout man. He stuck out a beer belly, his bow tie fastened to the highest point, his stomach bulging out, making the shirt buttons tremble as if they would burst open with a big movement.

He leaned on a cane and walked strangely, as if deliberately slowing down. His high-heeled leather shoes thumped on the floor. He glanced at Yan Yunqing, raised his chin arrogantly, and said, “Then you shall serve me.”

Yan Yunqing looked at the other party’s slightly sparse hair, fixed into a curve with hair wax, and really wanted to say to this noble lord: No matter how much you raise your chin, you can’t change the fact that you’re not as tall as me.

Beside the lord was a slightly taller noblewoman. She had a high bustle behind her, wearing a dress, with a furry shawl around her neck, holding a jewel-encrusted feather fan, half-covering her lower round face, revealing her narrow eyes as she lightly glanced at Yan Yunqing. “What are you standing there for? You should feel honored to serve our Morphie Family.”

As she spoke, she waved her feather fan, and the jewels hanging on her wrist and fingertips made Yan Yunqing’s eyes hurt.

He lowered his head slightly, making a gesture of invitation. “Lord, Madam, please get on the carriage.”

“Tsk, really doesn’t know how to read people.” The lord was very dissatisfied that Yan Yunqing didn’t actively crawl down to act as a footstool for him, but he didn’t dare to get angry in front of so many other nobles or noble lords, so he could only grumble discontentedly, “Must be a commoner from a small place, truly destined to be poor for life.”

The noblewoman leaned halfway on the lord’s shoulder, gently patting the lord’s chest, making his belly tremble again and again. “Let’s not bother with such commoners from small places. Let’s go, my lord. I can’t wait to see my cousin, the prince.”

Yan Yunqing: …

Yan Yunqing continued to remain silent, playing the part of a taciturn coachman, but in his heart, he was sighing: How many layers of relationships did they have to pull to make a forty or fifty-year-old noblewoman a cousin of a newborn prince?

Cousins through eighteen generations of ancestors, right?

Yan Yunqing didn’t help them when they got on the carriage, watching them climb onto the carriage slowly like clowns wearing those tight formal dresses.

Alas, he was just a coachman from a small place, who didn’t know how to read people’s faces, and didn’t know how to please nobles. Could they expect him to help?

Of course not!

Yan Yunqing, with a bad intention, didn’t say a word of greeting and swung the whip, driving the carriage skillfully as soon as the two had climbed onto the carriage but hadn’t sat down yet.

Several exclamations came from the carriage behind, followed by a series of swaying.

The corners of Yan Yunqing’s mouth quietly turned up, but his voice was still simple and honest, with a hint of concern: “Lord, Madam, are you alright? The road is a bit bumpy. Please hold on tight!”

Yan Yunqing pulled the reins and made another sharp turn.

A string of flowery curses came from the carriage.

Oh dear, this was also the first time he had driven this carriage, and he wasn’t very familiar with it yet~

Yan Yunqing was intermittently deaf and couldn’t hear anything at all!

Outside the royal palace, the guard looked at the noble lord’s pale face and scrutinized him suspiciously for a long time, questioning him three or four times before finally letting him pass.

Inside the royal palace, Yan Yunqing finally slowed down and drove slowly to the designated place. Carriages weren’t allowed further in; all carriages had to stop here.

Yan Yunqing found an empty spot and drove the carriage into it, raising his voice, “Lord, Madam, we’ve arrived.”

The carriage was quiet for a while before there was finally a response. Two people dressed in ‘magnificent’ attire supported each other as they got out of the carriage. The lord clutched his chest, about to vomit towards the flower bushes on the side.

Yan Yunqing reminded him in time, “Lord, we’re already inside the royal palace.”

You can’t just vomit here. Before they even enter the banquet hall, they’ll be kicked out by the guards for being disrespectful, and he’ll be dragged out with them.

The noble lord’s face turned from green to white. His chubby chin covered his neck, making it impossible to see if his Adam’s apple moved, but Yan Yunqing clearly saw something surging up, which the noble lord forcefully swallowed back.

Yan Yunqing: … Ugh.

He was about to throw up.

As a result, the madam was still worriedly patting the noble lord’s back. Yan Yunqing felt that the mouthful the lord had swallowed was about to come back up again.

Yan Yunqing leaned back tactically and pulled the noblewoman’s hand to prevent her from patting the lord until he vomited.

“What are you doing!” The noblewoman shrieked, shaking off Yan Yunqing’s hand. “Who allowed you to touch me? You lowly commoner!”

This shout attracted the attention of others, and several guards walked over.

“Madam, what’s going on here?”

The noblewoman, with her sharp fingernails, pointed at Yan Yunqing. “It’s him, this lowly coachman, who can’t even drive a carriage properly, causing my lord to feel unwell. He did it on purpose!”

Yan Yunqing looked innocent. “It wasn’t me. I’ve been driving like this for so many years. Why is it that other lords and madams are fine, but you two have a problem?”

“Lord, Madam, maybe you should consider that you haven’t ridden in a carriage much over the years and aren’t used to riding in such a high-end carriage for a while?” Yan Yunqing patted the horned horse next to him, saying with great pride, “This old fellow is a horse carefully trained by our carriage business. It’s top-notch steady when pulling a carriage!”

Everyone present subconsciously looked at the horned horse that Yan Yunqing was patting. Indeed, horned horses were the most docile breed of horse. How could a carriage pulled by a horned horse not be stable?

“Besides, the ground in our capital city is the flattest. It’s usually impossible to be bumpy.”

Everyone thought, that’s right, the roads in the capital city were already very flat, especially this one leading to the royal palace, which was specially renovated. The muddy roads outside couldn’t compare.

Yan Yunqing pretended to be simple and honest. “Lord, Madam, if you’re like this, you should choose a carriage pulled by yoyo horses in the future.”

Yoyo horses were a smaller breed of horse, reaching only two-thirds the size of a normal horse when fully grown. They were docile, not easily startled, and ran slowly, making them the most suitable breed for children learning to ride. Some nobles would even have a children’s carriage pulled by yoyo horses custom-made for their children.

Hearing Yan Yunqing’s words, several nobles watching the fun couldn’t help but cover their mouths and laugh. Wasn’t he blatantly saying that they were worse than children?

How embarrassing.

The noblewoman’s face alternated between red and green, almost as bright as a traffic light. She should go stand at the intersection and cosplay a traffic light to direct traffic.

She pointed at Yan Yunqing, unable to say a complete sentence for a long time: “You, you… you!”

Without the noblewoman making trouble, the noble lord finally swallowed the foreign object stuck in his throat. He opened his mouth and scolded, “Enough!”

His mouth was so close to the noblewoman that a sour stench came out of his mouth, making the noblewoman dizzy and nauseous.

This was terrible. The noble lord had just recovered, and couldn’t stand such a sound. His stomach churned, and he almost felt like vomiting because of the sound.

His face was pale, and he found that there were already many people surrounding him, and even several nobles were watching the show from afar. He knew that now wasn’t the time to continue to entangle. He grabbed the noblewoman’s wrist, resisting the urge to vomit. “Let’s go, let’s go.”

After saying that, the noble lord glared fiercely at Yan Yunqing, his eyes wishing he could eat Yan Yunqing alive.

Seeming to have decided to come and make trouble for him after the banquet, Yan Yunqing tilted his head innocently. It was really difficult for an honest and simple coachman like him!

Watching the noble lord and noblewoman walk away, Yan Yunqing smiled ingratiatingly at the several guards. “Sorry, I don’t know why the lord and madam were so angry.”

One of the guards looked at Yan Yunqing sympathetically, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him in a low voice: “It’s okay, these noble lords are the hardest to serve. We all understand.”

Saying that, he glanced at the carriage behind Yan Yunqing, making sure there was nothing unusual. “Alright, since the lord and madam you sent have gone in, you go over there and wait. The other coachmen are over there.”

The guard pointed in a direction, which was an inconspicuous small bungalow. “There are also patrolling guards there. We can’t give you anything else, but it’s no problem for you to ask them for a cup of hot water.”

Since the Twenty-Third Prince’s birthday, the major nobles were invited to celebrate, but these small people who served the nobles and the royal family weren’t qualified to celebrate together. Smart coachmen knew they had to wait all night, so they had long prepared dry food and water bottles. When they got here, asking for a cup of hot water to mix with the dry food was a meal.

They were all earning hard-earned money.

Yan Yunqing nodded and bowed, and handed each of the guards two copper coins. The money wasn’t much, but they didn’t earn much from a trip as coachmen, and the outer guards didn’t get much reward money anyway. They were happy to get some offerings from the coachmen.

The guard who took the money looked at Yan Yunqing with even more kindly eyes, and whispered another piece of information, “In a while, the head palace maid next to the Queen will come to give out rewards. Remember not to go too far when the banquet is about to begin.”

A glint flashed in Yan Yunqing’s eyes, and he put on a grateful expression on his face. “Okay, okay.”

Watching the guard walk away, Yan Yunqing casually threw a few Flame Emblems into the nearby bushes. The number wasn’t large, but it could cause some commotion.

Yan Yunqing lowered his head and walked into the small bungalow. As expected, he saw several coachmen sitting together in twos and threes, chatting. He walked in very quietly. No one greeted him, and he was happy to be relaxed. After sitting for a while, he stood up and asked the guard standing at the door.

“Sir, may I ask where I can relieve myself here?” Yan Yunqing looked embarrassed, as if he was embarrassed.

The guard looked him up and down. He was about to say no when he was handed two copper coins. He immediately changed his expression. “There isn’t one nearby. You have to go a little further in, but it’s under martial law now. Running around will be treated as a suspicious person.”

“Then can this sir accompany me on a trip?” Yan Yunqing showed a pleading expression. “I can’t hold it anymore. I promise I’ll be right back!”

The guard hesitated. He also knew that the head palace maid next to the Queen would come to give out rewards after the banquet started today, and he didn’t want to leave here. He would lose too much if he missed it.

Yan Yunqing continued to guarantee, “I’ll definitely be quick, and I’ll definitely be back when that important person comes to give out rewards. I’ll give you half of my reward, sir?”

The guard was tempted. “Then it’s a deal. You have to be quick.”

The guard led Yan Yunqing towards the washroom in the royal palace that was for the guards to use. Yan Yunqing kept his eyes on the yellow dot on the mini-map. After confirming that the nearest patrolling guard had just passed and turned the corner, he stepped forward and knocked out the guard who was leading the way.

The strength used was a bit too much. The guard didn’t make a sound and passed out.

“Sorry, sorry.” Yan Yunqing apologized to the guard, quickly tied up the guard, threw him into the bushes, and stuffed a piece of cloth into his mouth. “I don’t know how much the palace maid’s reward is. I’ll give you a round number as compensation.”

Saying that, Yan Yunqing took out ten gold coins and stuffed them into the chest of the unconscious guard, patting him for him. “Learn a lesson. Don’t be so greedy next time. It’s easy to get ambushed by bad people. You’re not Kudo Shinichi, and it’s hard to survive being ambushed.”

Unconscious guard: “…”

Yan Yunqing made sure he wouldn’t wake up too early, and disguised himself as the guard, straightening his clothes and returning to the door of the original small bungalow, standing guard in the guard’s manner.

No one questioned him. In the middle of it, several patrolling guards called him to go drink some water together, but Yan Yunqing refused sternly. “Today is a very important day. I must be responsible for the safety here.”

The guard who called him to drink water pointed at him and scolded him with a smile: “I still don’t know what you’re thinking. Well, you just wait here. When Lady Magina comes, remember to have someone come and notify us.”

Yan Yunqing was disgusted. “I know, I know, hurry up and go.”

He waved his hand, pretending to shoo people away.

The several guards didn’t suspect anything else and left here.

Yan Yunqing continued to watch his nose with his eyes, and his nose with his heart. The sky gradually darkened, and finally a palace maid appeared within Yan Yunqing’s field of vision.

Yan Yunqing was overjoyed and stood even straighter, standing guard conscientiously.

Magina walked over and looked at him. Her serious face showed a hint of satisfaction, and she looked through the window at the bungalow a few times. “Has nothing happened? Today is a very important day. If something goes wrong, the Queen will blame you.”

Yan Yunqing said ingratiatingly: “My lady, isn’t that for sure? We wouldn’t dare to have any problems!”

Magina nodded. “Okay, seeing how hard you’re working, I’ll give you an extra reward.”

Yan Yunqing took it and looked at it. Good heavens, was the reward only twenty silver coins? This was still a double reward.

It seemed that he had overestimated the Queen’s generosity. You say you’re a Queen, and your mother’s family is the richest in the country, but is it okay to give out so little reward money?

As expected of a merchant who earns black-hearted money, capitalists should be hanged on lampposts!

Yan Yunqing pinched his nose and accepted the reward. He had lost nine gold coins and eighty silver coins in this trip.

Magina also gave out rewards to the coachmen inside. The coachmen received even less reward money than the guards, only three silver coins per person.

After Magina finished giving out the rewards, Yan Yunqing pretended to have just remembered. “Oh, right, there are still a few people in our shift who just went to drink water. Can I trouble you to wait a little while?”

Magina frowned. “Drinking water with so many people together? Then who will patrol?”

Yan Yunqing smiled ingratiatingly: “Isn’t there still me? Or would you like me to point you in the direction?”

“Hmph, I want to see who these people are who like to slack off so much.” Magina snorted and motioned for Yan Yunqing to point the way.

Yan Yunqing pretended to lead her forward two steps, confirming that the coachmen in the bungalow behind him, who were rejoicing over the reward money, couldn’t see this corner, and then grabbed Magina’s neck with his backhand.