Chapter 161: Searching for Someone (Bonus Update Seeking Pink Tickets)
When Zhao Ling returned, Fu Tingyun was listening to Zheng San's report: "...They swore up and down that the man definitely isn't near Tanzhe Temple."
After Yu Wei lost track of Zuo Junjie, Fu Tingyun had already anticipated this outcome—Zuo Junjie wasn't a fool, after all. Why would he stay there waiting for her to bring people after him? Asking the freelance gangs for help had just been a desperate attempt.
She couldn't help but feel some regret.
If she had managed to suppress her startled cry when she encountered Zuo Junjie, would things have turned out differently?
At this thought, Fu Tingyun let out a long sigh.
Hearing this, Zhao Ling lifted the door curtain and stepped inside. "What's wrong? Why the sighing?"
At the sound of his voice, joy lit up Fu Tingyun's face. "You're back!" She moved to climb down from the kang.
Zhao Ling hurriedly stopped her. "Don't move, don't move!" Only then did he have a moment to nod at Zheng San, who was bowing to him.
"It's fine," Fu Tingyun said, clumsily getting down from the kang. "Granny Lu came to see me and said I should move around more these days to make the delivery easier." Though they were married, she still felt a little shy saying such things to Zhao Ling.
Since it was Granny Lu's advice, Zhao Ling didn't stop her. Instead, he stepped forward to support her. "No wonder everyone says Granny Lu is amazing. People have to book her three months in advance. Just the fact that she comes to see you twice a month makes hiring her worth it."
Fu Tingyun laughed and poured tea for Zhao Ling.
Zhao Ling immediately took the cup from her and helped her sit back on the kang.
"What were you upset about earlier?" he asked, sitting beside her.
Zhao Ling had been so busy that he couldn't even spare time to accompany her to Tanzhe Temple. She hadn't planned to tell him, but after hearing Zheng San's reply, she knew she couldn't handle this without Zhao Ling's help. After a moment's thought, she recounted the whole incident to him in detail.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Zhao Ling grew anxious upon hearing it.
Fu Tingyun pouted. "You turned down an assignment from the Emperor for my sake. If you knew Zuo Junjie was in the capital, who knows what you'd do!" She clung to Zhao Ling's arm. "No matter how important my matters are, they can't compare to yours. If you ever put your future at risk for me again and make me feel like a burden, I won't tell you anything from now on."
Zhao Ling's heart warmed, and he clasped her hand where it rested on his arm. "Don't worry, I know what to do."
Fu Tingyun then told him about her trip back to Four Happiness Alley. "...I have a suspicion... that my father might be..." Speaking of her own father, her eyes reddened. "He might be involved... I couldn't help but want to test it..." Before she could finish, tears had already fallen.
Zhao Ling quickly wiped them away. "Don't cry. At worst, we'll just set up our own household." Then, with a smile, he added, "Actually, the way we are now, it's practically the same as having our own household! I can't promise much else, but when our daughter-in-law has children someday, you'll definitely know everything!" He teased her to cheer her up.
Thinking of the child in her belly, Fu Tingyun burst into laughter. "You and your nonsense."
Whether it was nonsense or not, as long as it made her happy, that was what mattered.Zhao Ling laughed heartily, playfully pinching her nose: "Crying one moment, laughing the next, like a puppy peeing..."
"You're the puppy here!" Fu Tingyun swatted his hand away, provoking another round of laughter from Zhao Ling.
The atmosphere in the room immediately lightened.
Fu Tingyun called Kou'er in to assist Zhao Ling with washing up and changing into casual spring attire.
Sitting by the kang, Zhao Ling spoke with Fu Tingyun: "The commander of the Five Cities Patrol Brigade was originally from our Feather Forest Guard. We shared drinks just the other day. I figure we'll need local connections for this matter—the Five Cities Patrol Brigade oversees the capital's security, and no one knows the city's underworld better than them. I'll head there shortly, using your lost item as pretext to track down Zuo Junjie."
Fu Tingyun nodded approvingly: "If questioned, just say you couldn't stomach being robbed right in the capital..."
"Exactly my thought." After finalizing details, Fu Tingyun gave Zhao Ling twenty taels of loose silver and two hundred taels in bank notes for his visit to the Five Cities Patrol Brigade.
Yu Wei hesitated: "So much silver?"
"Personal connections matter, but silver still opens doors," Fu Tingyun smiled. "In Huayin, this would suffice to handle a county magistrate. Here in the capital, it might not even be enough."
Yu Wei's guilt deepened further.
Two hundred twenty taels—enough to buy thirty or forty maids like herself.
Biting back tears, she lowered her head.
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Within a month, word came from the Five Cities Patrol Brigade: someone had spotted Zuo Junjie leaving through Chaoyang Gate over ten days prior, with no subsequent sightings in the capital.
Zhao Ling rubbed his temples.
They operated in daylight while Zuo Junjie moved in shadows—how could they possibly find one man in this vast sea of people?
But having committed to this course, he wasn't one to abandon it lightly.
He began negotiating individually with various freelance gangs.
Soon, every underworld figure knew a Feather Forest Guard commander sought a beggar who'd stolen from his household.
Qin Feiyu laughed: "However much your stolen goods were worth, I'll compensate you myself!"
Qin Feiyu—the burly man Fu Tingyun had encountered at Linchun Town's City God Temple. After the emperor's ascension, he'd served briefly in the Feather Forest Guard before being appointed deputy commander at Datong's General Military Headquarters. Now in the capital on official business, he'd gathered close friends for drinks.
Mo Yi bellowed: "This isn't about silver! It's about face! When Imperial Guards get robbed, we must recover our dignity or become laughingstocks for every debt-collecting thug in town!"
As Qin Feiyu shook his head dismissively, Zhao Ling explained: "Normally I'd let it go. But these were my wife's maternal heirlooms..."
Understanding dawned on the group.
Mo Yi's servant came clattering upstairs: "Sir, the madam has arrived in the capital with the young masters and misses."
Mo Yi glared at the man: "No house prepared? Don't know the way? Take them home! Why come here?"
The chastened servant bowed to the company and withdrew.
Mo Yi shot Zhao Ling a smug glance.
Qin Feiyu and Tao Mu stifled laughter behind their wine cups.Zhao Ling stood up, downed three cups of wine in succession, and said with a smile, "I have matters at home to attend to, so I must take my leave. These three cups are my apology to you elder brothers." He then added, "Since Sister-in-law has already arrived in the capital and Brother Qin is also here, why don't we all go to Brother Mo's place tomorrow for some wine? What do you think?"
Before Mo Yi could respond, Qin Feiyu nodded and said, "That sounds perfect!" Then he added, "Brother Mo isn't saying anything—could it be that you're afraid we'll be a nuisance?" As he spoke, he glanced at Zhao Ling with a knowing smile.
"No, no," Mo Yi hurriedly replied. "Tomorrow morning, I'll be waiting at home to welcome you all."
When Zhao Ling returned home and told Fu Tingyun about it, she chided, "This Mo Yi... I just feel sorry for Madam Mo, who must endure so much from him." Overcome with sympathy, she called Yu Wei in and opened a chest, pulling out several bolts of fashionable fabric gifted by the palace earlier in the year. "I'm pregnant and won't be using these anytime soon. Let's give them to Madam Mo."
"Don't worry about Madam Mo," Zhao Ling said with a laugh as he walked over. "When we were leaving, Qin Feiyu pulled me aside and told me that Madam Mo's aunt is Mo Yi's aunt by marriage. Madam Mo grew up in the Mo household, and the two of them were childhood sweethearts. Though her family isn't as wealthy as the Mo clan, in Luyi, they're still one of the top families. She and her brother are the only children, and her dowry might even be larger than Mo Yi's fortune. Besides, she chose this husband herself. Don't be fooled by Mo Yi's bluster outside—when it comes to his wife, he doesn't dare breathe too loudly. All four of their sons are legitimate heirs. Madam Mo knows his temperament well and just lets him have his way."
Before he could finish, he noticed Fu Tingyun stiffen and clutch her stomach.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Ling panicked, his expression changing drastically. "Are you in pain?" He scooped her up and laid her on the kang.
Waves of pain coursed through her body.
Yet, for some reason, seeing Zhao Ling drenched in sweat, Fu Tingyun suddenly thought, "Thank goodness I married a tall, strong man. If he were frail, how could he carry me?"
Yu Wei also panicked.
Granny Lu had said that while the due date was the 28th of April, it was normal for the birth to come a few days early or late.
"I—I'll go get Granny Lu," she stammered, rushing out of the inner chamber.
Fu Tingyun quickly reassured Zhao Ling, "I'm fine. Isn't Granny Lu here? Don't panic!"
"Right!" Zhao Ling replied, gripping her hand tightly with one hand while the other alternated between tucking in her blanket, wiping the sweat from her forehead, and smoothing her disheveled hair. He couldn't keep still, muttering incessantly, "Why isn't she here yet? I told you we should have had her stay in the warm chamber..."
"I didn't want anyone sleeping in our inner chamber!" Fu Tingyun said through gritted teeth, forcing a smile to distract herself, unaware that her face had turned as pale as paper."A-Jun!" Zhao Ling called to his wife, a flicker of fear flashing through his eyes. His voice trembled slightly as he hesitated between calling for the midwife and leaving Fu Tingyun alone. Just then, the door curtain was flung aside with a clatter as Granny Lu, a woman of medium height with the sturdy build of a farmer's wife, strode in.
"Step aside!" Granny Lu barked at Zhao Ling. "Let me take a look!"
Zhao Ling yielded his position to Granny Lu but remained nearby, craning his neck to see.
Granny Lu shot him a glance. "Sir, you'd better wait outside for now."
"Oh!" Zhao Ling responded. After a moment's hesitation, he bent down and whispered to Fu Tingyun, "Don't be afraid, I'll be right outside," before finally leaving the inner chamber.
Fu Tingyun blushed crimson with embarrassment and stole a glance at Granny Lu.
To her surprise, the usually stern Granny Lu wore a faint smile, her voice softening as she said, "Come now, let me have a look!"
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Finally made it to second place, only to be pushed down again...(>_
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