Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 114 Found it

Xie Yuyan looked into Wang Yan's hand; it was a painting of a jade plum blossom, accompanied by dogwood.

When she was a child, seasonal flowers were popular in Daliang, but she preferred to wear jade plum blossoms with dogwood. She wore them not only during the Lantern Festival, but also when going out or on ordinary holidays.

Why did Wang Yan take a liking to this painting?
“These are meant to be used as seasonal flowers,” Xie Yuyan said. “If Lord Wang likes them, we will send one to you once Sanhe Village has finished making them.”

Wang Yan said, "Then let's exchange them for the finished flowers."

After Wang Yan returned to Daming Prefecture, he seemed to be quite different from before.

"When will you go to Baode Temple, sir?" Since he insisted on the design, she asked him when he would fulfill his promise.

Wang Yan put the note away and said, "Tomorrow at 9:00 AM."

Once the time is agreed upon, the deal is done.

As for anything else... there seemed to be nothing more to say. Xie Yuyan waited for Wang Yan to take his leave.

To everyone's surprise, Wang Yan sat down again: "My lady, please call the cat over. I haven't seen it in a long time."

Xie Yuyan took out a string of bells from her sleeve and shook them gently. A clear sound rang out immediately. A moment later, the window was pushed open a crack, and a furry head squeezed in first, followed by its round body and a raised tail.

Wang Yan took out dried meat from the pouch at his waist.

The dried pheasant meat made the cat wrinkle its nose, then looked at Xie Yuyan with pitiful eyes.

Xie Yuyan nodded, and the cat ran over and "whoosh" jumped onto Wang Yan's lap, skillfully burying its head in Wang Yan's palm and happily biting into the jerky.

Xie Yuyan looked closely and noticed that the cat seemed to prefer the dry meat strips to the dried fish.

"What is it made of?" Xie Yuyan asked.

Wang Yan stroked the cat: "We hunted a pheasant in the forest, took two pieces of meat from its breast, and roasted them to make jerky."

“I take it to Wangjiazhuangzi to stay for a while every year.”

He paused slightly at this point.

“There’s a grove of trees outside the village where it catches birds. It brings them back but doesn’t eat them; it waits for me to roast them for it. In winter, there are no birds to be found in the city, and it’s really craving them.”

The atmosphere was somewhat strange. She deliberately ignored where the cat had come from because she didn't want to return it, and Wang Yan seemed to have forgotten to ask for the cat back as well. The cat had even come to regard this place as its home.

After finishing a piece of pheasant meat, the raccoon licked its lips, wanting another piece.

Wang Yan reached out and stroked the fur on the cat's back: "It can't eat anymore. It's an old cat that's over ten years old. Eating less is good for it and will help it live a few more years."

The person I finally found, though she is very old, I still want to stay by her side!
Wang Yan stood up, holding the cat, walked to Xie Yuyan, and gently bent down to return the cat to her.

Their eyes met again.

Xie Yuyan seemed to see something deep in Wang Yan's eyes, but that expression was fleeting, and she couldn't decipher its meaning, so she could only let it disappear without a trace.

"Remember, tomorrow at 9:00 AM."

After Wang Yan finished speaking, he turned and walked outside.

Xie Yuyan held the cat in his arms and looked at the lotus pouch that Wang Yan had left on the table.

Wang Yan suddenly seemed to have some unfathomable thoughts.

"Miss."

Mother Yu interrupted Xie Yuyan's thoughts: "The Salt and Iron Bureau and the county government arrested Xie Chongjun and also found a suspicious person in the mine."

"The general from the Salt and Iron Bureau was injured as a result."

"It could be the same thug who sneaked into Sanhe Village that day, intending to harm the old lady."

Xie Yuyan said, "Lord Wang's men have been keeping a close watch on him. That person can't escape." They haven't made a move yet because they want to see how many clues they can find by following that person.

Even if you arrest someone like that, it's very difficult to get any confessions out of them.

……

When He Tan waited until Wang Yan came out of Shi Yong's house, he stepped forward and asked, "What did you get out of Miss Xie?"

Wang Yan did not answer, but said, "I'm going back to the yamen."

"Go back to which yamen?" He Tan asked. "We caught someone in the north city, knocked him unconscious, and threw him into the county jail. Ding Peng was even injured in the process. We'll go and interrogate him; perhaps we can find something." "Brother, go ahead," Wang Yan said, looking at Wang Zheng. "If we're short-handed, let him come along."

He Tan reached out and patted Wang Zheng on the shoulder: "Your older brother scared you. Go back and rest! He couldn't even get a cat back, how dare he blame you?"

Wang Zheng's eyes widened in astonishment: "Wasn't the cat a gift from my elder brother to... Madam Xie?"

He Tan laughed out loud: "How could he bear to part with it? The cat ran away on its own." This matter will probably make him laugh for years to come.

Wang Zheng realized he might have been mistaken. Could it be... that Madam Xie wasn't... his sister-in-law? What should he do then? Wang Zheng suddenly felt extremely sad, as if a sister-in-law had been forcibly taken away from him.

That spot used to be empty, and he never thought anything of it.

Now... after he put Madam Xie inside, he'll leave some space...

It's so painful, like it's being torn apart.

If you want a cat, how can you not want a person?

Wang Zheng whispered, "Brother, think of a way to get Li Nu home!" If Li Nu really doesn't want to go back, then just marry Madam Xie along with her, and that will solve everything.

Wang Yan was clearly not in the mood to talk to Wang Zheng about these things: "If you're not going to the county jail, then come back with me."

Without waiting for Wang Zheng, he left Sanhe Village and headed straight for the patrol office. Upon arriving at the office, he didn't speak to anyone and went directly to his residence in the back courtyard.

Sang Dian rushed back upon hearing the news, but before he could report the events of the past few days to Wang Yan, he was locked out.

Wang Yan entered the inner room and used his personal key to open the hidden compartment behind the antique shelf.

There weren't many things in the compartment, except for a finished lifelike flower.

The paper in his hand was unfolded, and a pattern exactly like that of a living flower came into view.

The girl stood smiling in front of him back then.

"Why aren't you wearing flowers in your hair today, it's a festival?"

"Then I'll give you mine!"

Then she tiptoed and placed the flower in his hair.

……

For the next few years, he searched for an identical lifelike flower, but unfortunately he never found one.

Perhaps from now on, he will see this flower on other people's heads all the time.

He had once imagined that if they met again someday, he could present her with the lifelike flower, and she would recognize him. Now it seemed unnecessary to do so.

I do not know how long it has been.

The door was pushed open, and Wang Zheng quietly walked in, carrying a freshly brewed cup of hot tea.

"Big brother."

Wang Zheng called out, but his elder brother, looking at the official document in his hand, did not respond. He put his tea on the table, glanced at the paper with the lifelike flower drawing, and saw the paper.

"Big brother, you've drawn this again..."

Wang Zheng's voice stopped abruptly. This wasn't his older brother's painting, but it depicted the same thing.

He was closest to his elder brother. His brother appeared serious, but he never hid anything from him. The lifelike flower was something his brother had obtained when he "met a fairy."

"Brother, have you found the person who made these flowers?" What he really wanted to say was, had his brother finally found the "immortal's" trail?

Wang Yan then came to his senses. He glanced at Wang Zheng, folded the paper, and put it into the secret compartment along with the flower.

"found it."

Wang Zheng was even more delighted: "Then, can you see that person again, brother?"

If one of them is forgotten, then it doesn't count as meeting again.

However, she won't get away so easily this time.

"Have Sang Dian deliver a letter to Abbot Zhiyuan. I will go to the temple to find him first thing tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)