QWAPMP Chapter 98

Chapter 98 Eunuch Little Husband

Upon reaching the county town, the carriage stopped at the entrance of the clinic. Yan Ye originally intended to go in alone, but Song Yi followed closely behind. Therefore, he stopped his steps, “Oh right, can Brother Yi help me with a favor?”

Song Yi’s nose bumped into a wall of flesh, a scent of ink wafted into his nostrils, forcing him to stop as well. He slightly tilted his head up to look at the smiling man, “What favor?” A faint blush rose on his cheeks under the veil.

Yan Ye raised a hand to tidy his veil, which had been disarranged from the bump, “Today I brought some account books to the inn ahead, and I need to send them there for me first. Later, after the shopkeeper finishes verifying the accounts, it will be convenient for me to pick them up when I go there, and it won’t delay our return time.”

Song Yi didn’t really want to go, because he wanted to enter the clinic to hear what the doctor said about Yan Ye’s hand. However, since Young Master Yan had already asked, Song Yi didn’t know how to refuse and could only agree.

He would deliver the account books and then rush back immediately.

Song Yi’s plan was well-intentioned, but Yan Ye’s thinking was more thorough.

Since Song Yi was someone he sent to deliver the account books, the shopkeeper, upon hearing that he would also come later, would politely keep him for a cup of tea before letting him go, and also ask Song Yi if there were any discrepancies in the account books or if he had any dissatisfaction.

As Yan Ye expected, the manager of the inn immediately rushed out to receive Song Yi when he heard that the account books had arrived. He invited him into the inner room for tea, asking implicitly about how quickly the accounts were checked this time and whether the young master felt there were any problems.

Song Yi hid his impatience. This person was Yan Ye’s subordinate, and he couldn’t just walk away by showing displeasure. He could only say that he wasn’t clear and that he was just running an errand to help deliver things.

By the time Yan Ye returned after getting a prescription at the clinic, Song Yi had just managed to get away from the shopkeeper. As he was about to leave, he ran into Yan Ye returning.

Song Yi instinctively pursed his lips, his eyes looking at his hand with concern. He regretted not going to find him sooner.

At the clinic, Yan Ye merely discussed the injury briefly with the doctor, fabricating a story about a brother whose hand was crippled from a beating. Since his brother’s hand was disabled, he had been depressed and unwilling to go out, which was why he had no choice but to seek medical help for his brother.

The doctor was so moved by their brotherly affection that his hands trembled. Countless expensive medicinal ingredients were written in the prescription. Just when he thought he could make a fortune, Yan Ye took the prescription and left.

“How was it? What did the doctor say? Can your hand still hold a pen?” Song Yi asked worriedly.

Seeing his concern, Yan Ye smiled, “It’s much better.”

Song Yi hadn’t heard the doctor say it himself, so he still didn’t quite believe it. However, just as he was about to ask further questions, the inn shopkeeper discovered the young master had returned and quickly came over to greet him. Song Yi could only purse his lips and follow him in again.

“Prepare a table of food for us, no alcohol needed.” Yan Ye instructed lightly. He entered the private room with the shopkeeper. Not long after sitting down, the two began discussing official business, all related to the inn’s operations.

When the waiter served the first dish, Yan Ye’s voice suddenly stopped. The shopkeeper cleverly found an excuse, “Young Master, please eat first. I will go down and prepare the old account books of income and expenditure for you.”

Yan Ye wasn’t very hungry. He had just heard the shopkeeper talk about the inn’s recent business situation and found that the inn’s business had not been good in the past few months. He needed to find out the reason.

“Brother Yi, you eat first. I’ll leave with the shopkeeper for a bit.” Seeing that the person hadn’t started eating, Yan Ye first used his untouched chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish and place it in his bowl, afraid that the young Ge’er might be thin-skinned and wouldn’t dare to eat first.

Song Yi instinctively tried to get up. Yan Ye put a hand on his shoulder, signaling the shopkeeper with his eyes to leave first.

The shopkeeper immediately recognized that the young man was a Ge’er and deliberately closed the door on his way out.

Yan Ye took off his veil and placed it aside, his tone teasing, “Can’t bear to be away from this young master?”

Song Yi was startled by his words and sat up straight. After a long while, he said blankly, “No, I, I’m waiting for you to come back here.”

“Then remember to eat first, don’t wait for me to come back to eat, understand?” When Yan Ye went out, he added more dishes to his bowl.

Song Yi looked at the departing back of the man, slowly picked up his chopsticks with his fingers, and ate the food in his bowl bit by bit. However, his thoughts were not in this room at all, as if they had followed the man out.

The young master Yan from the county town, his words were sometimes frivolous and sometimes gentle, completely different from the dissolute young masters from the capital. And he, a son of a wealthy family, why was he so kind to him, a Ge’er he didn’t know at all?

Song Yi’s heart was a tangled mess.

There were too many old accounts at the inn. This Fuzhou Inn was an old establishment. Business used to be good, but now it had suddenly declined. It would take Yan Ye some time to investigate.

“Why are the purchase accounts different from three months ago?” Yan Ye picked up two purchase account books and asked the shopkeeper with a faint smile, making it hard for the person to guess the deeper meaning in his words.

“Young Master, is there a problem?” The shopkeeper widened his eyes, took the books, and examined them carefully. Aside from the handwriting being different, he didn’t see anything else.

“Was the person in charge of purchases replaced by someone else three months ago?” Yan Ye picked up the account books from the other two months and showed them to the shopkeeper.

“Yes, Young Master, it was replaced by Steward Chen’s nephew three months ago.” The shopkeeper frowned. In fact, he was unwilling to change at first, but Steward Chen had asked Madame to intervene, so he had no choice.

Therefore, when Little Jiang, who had always been in charge of purchases, left, the shopkeeper even gave him an extra three taels of silver as compensation.

“Then didn’t you notice that ever since he was replaced, our inn’s business has been getting worse day by day?” Yan Ye took a light sip of tea, his tone not heavy, but it made the shopkeeper’s forehead break out in sweat.

“This, Young Master, I’m sorry. I will immediately send someone to the kitchen to investigate now.” The shopkeeper realized where the problem lay and cursed himself for being muddle-headed, for not having discovered it sooner, and having to wait for their young master to find out.

Yan Ye shook his head, “No rush. First, tell me whose connections this newcomer relied on to get into the inn.”

Business at the inn was good before, so they wouldn’t have replaced someone for no reason. He could only uncover the trickery involved.

“Reporting to Young Master, Steward Chen pushed his nephew into the inn three months ago. At the time, I originally disagreed because Little Jiang hadn’t made any mistakes, and I couldn’t just drive him away. But Steward Chen mentioned it to Madame at the time, and Madame…”

The shopkeeper stopped there, not wanting to say too much. To speak more would be to imply that he, a subordinate, was sowing discord and stirring up trouble between the young master and Madame, his mother.

Yan Ye had only been in this world for a few days and hadn’t met the original owner’s mother, nor did he have any so-called feelings for her.

He didn’t have many emotional attachments. They were heartlessly taken away by someone back then. Now, even if they were found, they weren’t complete, and he had no spare emotions for others.

Yan Ye curved his lips into a smile and said to the shopkeeper, “Make him spit out the silver he embezzled. The person came from wherever they came from, and they should go back there. Remember, this young master is a businessman, not a philanthropist.”

If he allowed this to continue, one person would be replaced today and another tomorrow, and the Yan family’s business would be ruined by these people.

On the other side, Song Yi, who had eaten his fill, had put down his chopsticks and was sitting quietly in the private room waiting for Yan Ye to return. He nervously touched his stomach, wondering if he had eaten too much.

“Cousin, why didn’t you tell Aunt when you came back? If I hadn’t come to the inn today, I wouldn’t have known you were back.”

Before the person arrived, her voice did. A light and pleasant female voice rang out from outside the private room. The next second, the door was pushed open.

Seeing that the person sitting in the room was not her cousin, the young woman’s face instantly fell. She looked at the waiter with displeasure, “Didn’t you say my cousin was in this room? Why is it a young Ge’er?”

When she said “young Ge’er,” her tone carried a strong sense of disdain. In the Da’an Dynasty, the status of a Ge’er was even lower than that of a woman. Although Ge’er and women both married, because Ge’er were not as capable of bearing children as women, wealthy families were rarely willing to marry a Ge’er as their main wife. However, those main wives were willing to help their husbands take Ge’er as side chambers, also because it was difficult for Ge’er to have children. If they couldn’t give birth to a son or daughter, the family fortune would all belong to the main wife’s children.

The waiter dared not offend this young lady and bowed his head, saying, “This young master came with the young master. This humble one also doesn’t know why the young master suddenly disappeared.”

“Is that so?” The girl was half-skeptical and looked at the person sitting there again, “I ask you, where is my cousin?”

Song Yi didn’t know who the woman was, but hearing her asking for her cousin, he guessed she was Yan Ye’s cousin. Although he disliked the way she looked at him, thinking it was better to avoid trouble, he answered the woman’s question, “He went with the shopkeeper to check the accounts.”

“Then did he say when he would be back?” The woman asked in dissatisfaction. If only she had known her cousin would be at the inn today, she would have come earlier. Oh right, she wondered if her makeup looked good today.

Before Song Yi could answer her next question, the woman said to the maid beside her, “Xiao Cui, how does my makeup look today? Is anything smudged?”

“No, Young Lady. Your makeup looks especially beautiful today, radiant and charming. The young master is sure to like it when he sees it.”

“You have a sweet tongue.” Lu Yishuang said with satisfaction. Then she instructed the waiter who brought her over, “Alright, you can go down first. Also, don’t tell Cousin I’m here. I want to give him a surprise.”

From the conversation between the maid and the young lady before him, Song Yi learned that in addition to being Yan Ye’s cousin, this woman also liked Yan Ye.

Which woman would worry about her makeup if not to see the person she loved?

Song Yi couldn’t describe the sour feeling in his heart. He lowered his eyelids and sat silently to the side.

After the waiter left, Lu Yishuang entered the room and sat down in the seat Yan Ye had left, with the demeanor of a host. A hint of extremely unfriendly smile hung on her lips, “Looking at your coarse cloth clothes, you must be a countryside Ge’er who came with my cousin from the village, right?”

From the woman’s first sentence, Song Yi knew she was trying to intimidate him and stir up trouble.

Song Yi wasn’t a young Ge’er who could be scared off by a few words. He put away his complex emotions, raised his eyes, and smiled, “Yes. Fortunately, Young Master Yan didn’t disdain me and brought me along.”

His single sentence both admitted that he was a countryside Ge’er and didn’t explicitly state his relationship with Yan Ye, making it easy for people to misunderstand as soon as they heard it.

A woman raised in seclusion, her emotions showing clearly on her face, Song Yi didn’t believe she could be very intelligent.