In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

Yanhe then lifted the rear curtain of the carriage and glanced over there.

Unexpectedly, after what happened before, someone outside has come up with a new method today.

The knife wasn't drawn, but the moves were even more persistent than if the knife had been drawn.

She said softly:

"This means they've switched to a softer approach since the hard approach didn't work."

Yang Xuan nodded, signaling Cui Shenxian not to rush.

He then spoke, his voice not loud, but loud enough for everyone in front and behind the shop to hear clearly.

"What's your name?"

The minor official in the blue robe was taken aback, and quickly bowed again:

"I am merely a servant running errands for the magistrate; I am not worth offending his ears."

"Just call me and I'll run errands."

That makes it even more interesting.

They wouldn't even give their names.

Yet the matter was handled so meticulously.

Yang Xuan smiled.

"He didn't even give his name, yet he speaks so confidently."

"It seems your family's head has truly thought things through for me."

Upon hearing this, the man's smile deepened.

"No, no, I wouldn't dare."

"It's just a small token of my appreciation."

Yang Xuan lifted the carriage curtain, leaning half his body out, his hand still holding the medicine cloth that hadn't been properly put away.

The sadness is real.

The weariness on her face was genuine.

But the words he uttered were anything but soft.

"Since it's your kind intention, I won't let it go to waste."

"Leave the hot soup."

"Leave the clean water."

"If there is any clean hay left, leave it as well."

"As for supplementing documents, re-filed documents, and requesting approval again, I won't trouble you with those."

The smile on that person's face froze for the first time.

"I don't understand what you mean, magistrate."

"I truly have your best interests at heart."

"With your injuries like this, if you rush onward and something goes wrong along the way, wouldn't that be..."

"Something went wrong?"

Yang Xuan interrupted him directly.

Who will bear the responsibility for any mistakes?

The person didn't respond immediately.

Yang Xuan didn't give him a chance to catch his breath, pressing down directly:

"Yesterday, Yongxing Post Station inspected my travel permit, official document, and list of attendants, and also examined my injuries."

"The time limit, number of vehicles, number of people, and whether members of the imperial family and their families accompanied us were all recorded."

"If you really care about me today, then leave a trace and let me pass."

"Or, write a new record right in front of me."

"Make it clear: it is your shop that wants me to stop, wants me to make up for the shortfall, and wants me to get another stamp."

"Make it clear again that if this causes a delay, whose deadline is missed and who will be held responsible."

There was complete silence in front of the car.

The smile on that person's face had begun to fade.

That's the hardest part.

He can offer advice with a smile.

They can use the pretext of "doing what's best for the injured" to get closer to the injured.

But he would never dare to actually write the words "I am the one who kept you" on a piece of paper.

Once it's written down, it's no longer a matter of gentle persuasion, but rather a matter of officialdom keeping officials in check.

Those who remained were the ones who had been summoned to their posts and had brought members of the imperial clan with them.

He, a mere errand boy, couldn't possibly shoulder this burden.

The people behind him may not be willing to openly confront him either.

The man paused for a couple of breaths, then tried to soften his tone.

"The magistrate has misunderstood."

"I have absolutely no intention of forcing you to stay."

"There are many rules along the way, and the local prefectures and counties will investigate very thoroughly. I thought I'd fill in the gaps for the magistrate first, so it will save me a lot of trouble later..."

Cui Shen finally stepped forward and cut to the chase:

"I have already stayed at Yongxing Post Station."

"If you write a new article here that is inconsistent with the previous one, the investigation will only be more thorough."

"If your head of household truly understood the rules, he wouldn't have come up with such an idea."

"Unless, what he wanted was not to save us trouble in the first place."

"Instead, it's leaving a thread for those behind us that can entangle us."

The official in the blue robe's expression changed completely.

Previously, he was still smiling obsequiously.

The smile had already faded, and now it was just a dry, frozen expression on his lips.

Yang Xuan did not continue to pursue the attack.

That's enough.

The thing this kind of person fears most isn't being scolded.

You peeled away his facade of kindness without making things too serious.

Because if he doesn't break the facade, he'll still have to keep acting.

If he continues acting, he can only follow the path you've given him.

Yang Xuan leaned back against the car wall, lowering his voice.

"As I just said, if you are truly kind, I will accept the water and fodder."

I will remember this kindness.

"But the documents will not be changed, the time limit will not be altered, and the lodging location will not be moved."

"I'm leaving today."

"If you're willing to offer to deliver water for a while, then your shop is considered courteous."

"If you don't want to, that's fine too."

"Cui Shen, retrieve the copy of yesterday's entry from Yongxing Post Station."

Cui Shen immediately pulled out a folded copy of the transcribed text from his bag.

He deliberately didn't hand it to the person, but instead unfolded it in front of the car.

The document was densely written with the time, number of people, list of the injured and sick, and the list of accompanying persons.

The most eye-catching thing is the six characters "Imperial Princess Accompanying".

Yanhe also got off the car at this time.

She didn't say anything harsh, but calmly stood on the side of the main vehicle.

Her presence alone is more effective than ten sentences.

The minor official in the blue robe had just tried to use the "family members of the imperial clan" as a pretext to drag people away.

But when the person actually stood in front of him, he didn't dare to say a word.

Because this is no longer just a title on paper.

They are living, breathing people.

He knew perfectly well that this was the kind of person he should never have gotten involved with.

Yanhe looked at him and asked only one question:

"You just said that you wanted to ask the prefecture for approval on behalf of my husband."

"Are you in charge of the state?"

Sweat immediately appeared on the man's forehead.

"No... I wouldn't dare."

"Then who are you speaking for?"

This question is asked more lightly.

But the man's back was stiff.

He used to be able to fool people by saying he was "thinking about the patients."

Now, when asked "for whom," they can't say a word more.

To say that you were being nosy is to be ignorant of the rules.

To say there are people behind you is to imply that you've betrayed those people.

Neither of these two paths leads to a solution.

Afu's eyes lit up as he watched from the side.

He then understood.

It turns out that this method of stopping people with a smile isn't impossible to break.

It's not enough to just go up there and give them a good beating.

Instead, you have to force the other party to peel away the facade of "I was just being kind" little by little.

After a moment, the minor official in the blue robe finally lowered his head.

"It's the petty person who's meddling."

"In that case, we dare not delay the magistrate's journey any further."

"Water and fodder, I'll have someone bring them right away."

Yang Xuan didn't make things difficult for him anymore.

He simply said:

"Go."

After that person left, the people inside the shop moved quickly.

In no time, hot water, hay, and two bags of freshly changed water were brought out.

They even brought out a courier horse, saying they could lend it to them to cover half the journey.

Afu was still somewhat dazed while answering the call.

"My lord, they've already admitted it?"

"recognize?"

Yang Xuan leaned against the car wall and closed his eyes.

"It's not an admission."

"The rope wasn't put on properly, so we have to let go for now."

"A person who truly admits their mistake wouldn't have set up the venue and prepared hot soup in advance last night."

Cui Shen, who was standing to the side, put away the assistant recorder and added:

"This person isn't here to stop us from dying."

"They came here to leave us a crack."

"As long as we agree to stay or agree to submit the supplementary documents, we can claim that it was all voluntary."

"By then, if anyone continues to delay, supplement, or investigate, we won't be able to suppress it like we did with Yongxing Station."

Upon hearing this, Uncle Wen's face darkened.

For a moment just now, he genuinely considered letting Yang Xuan take a half-day break.

After all, the injury is real.

The road was really difficult to walk.

But now that I think about it, if I had actually agreed to that, the road ahead would probably have been even more difficult.