After a brief silence, Huang Yuanxiang agreed.
But he demanded that Su Xiaoqi throw their clothes to him first.
"Otherwise, how can I be sure you won't deceive me."
Meaning he feared she wouldn't give them the clothes even after he wrote it.
"Don't you understand yet? This is not the time to negotiate terms.
Hurry up, the people from above will be down soon," Su Xiaoqi urged.
She wouldn't agree to Huang Yuanxiang's condition at all if she didn't have anything in hand.
"If you write it, and I don't give it to you, you won't be able to complete the task," Su Xiaoqi stated frankly.
Thinking about it, Huang Yuanxiang no longer dwelled on it.
In fact, he truly didn't have the time to dwell any longer.
Because he faintly heard sounds coming from the hillside.
The person behind the rock hadn't lied to him.
He quickly wrote a few lines with a "swish, swish" sound and immediately held it up, motioning for Su Xiaoqi to come and get it.
Su Xiaoqi, altering her voice, said, "I'm sick, I'll come and get it. You are the son of the magistrate. You saw my face, you're not trying to deal with me.
Hurry up and throw it over, or I'll immediately take your clothes with me."
This scared Zhao Haihua into constantly urging him, "Give it to him, give it to him, don't struggle anymore."
After all, their request wasn't much.
It was just to catch a manager of a gambling house, a small matter.
Zhao Haihua's words had an effect. Huang Yuanxiang threw the ink-dried cloth over.
Su Xiaoqi saw the cloth land next to the rock.
If she wanted to pick it up, she would have to peek her head out.
It seemed Huang Yuanxiang still hadn't given up on investigating her identity.
But Su Xiaoqi was not someone who could be easily dealt with.
She beckoned to Shen Yun.
He handed her a long pine branch.
With a gentle hook, she snagged the silk cloth and then gathered the clothes on the ground, picking out two small undergarments. The rest she handed to Shen Yun.
He glanced at them, took them, and without hesitation, vigorously threw them behind the large rock.
The clothes rained down like scattered flowers, covering Huang Yuanxiang and Zhao Haihua.
They were momentarily blinded. Huang Yuanxiang quickly tore them off, dressed as fast as he could, and rushed behind the large rock.
There was no one there anymore.
He looked around, hesitating whether to pursue.
But then he heard Zhao Haihua crying "woo woo" with her face covered.
Upon asking, he learned that her innermost bellyband had gone missing.
"Damn it all..." Huang Yuanxiang was not originally from Bashu.
Even so, he couldn't help but curse in the Bashu dialect.
It was evident that he was indeed excessively angered.
Meanwhile, Su Xiaoqi, holding the silk cloth and Zhao Haihua's bellyband, ran swiftly behind Shen Yun.
She only stopped when they reached the lakeshore where they had previously roasted chicken.
Su Xiaoqi extinguished the still-burning fire and took out the chicken.
She wrapped it in lotus leaves and handed it to Shen Yun, then continued running.
Shen Yun stopped her beside a viewing pavilion, saying, "No need to run anymore, they won't come."
Su Xiaoqi was panting. She put away the things in her hands, concealing them in her sleeves, and looked around.
This pavilion, being hidden amidst rows of willow trees, had a poor viewing location, so few people came here.
She quickly took the chicken wrapped in mud, broke the mud casing, and opened the lotus leaves.
Goodness, it smelled so good. The aroma of roasted chicken mixed with the fragrance of lotus leaves assailed her nostrils.
Su Xiaoqi, with an empty stomach, couldn't help but lick her lips.
She tore off a chicken leg and was about to put it into her mouth.
Then she suddenly remembered that Shen Yun was also beside her.
She swallowed hard, controlled herself, and turned it towards Shen Yun.
He accepted it.
Su Xiaoqi was displeased.
This person truly didn't treat herself as an outsider.
But the next moment, she immediately narrowed her eyes and chewed happily.
Because after Shen Yun took it, he tore off a piece of chicken meat and fed it to her mouth first.
"Mmm, delicious, so delicious," Su Xiaoqi praised as she ate.
Shen Yun couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile. He tore off a second piece of chicken and fed it to her as well.
"You eat, you eat, there's more," Su Xiaoqi's mouth was full, and her mood instantly improved.
She proactively tore off another chicken leg for Shen Yun and shoved it into his hand.
However, she saw him holding the chicken leg, his other hand with fingers spread, shiny with grease.
Meaning his hands were oily and she should hold it for him to feed him.
Considering Shen Yun had been rather well-behaved just now, Su Xiaoqi didn't fuss too much.
She tore off a piece and fed it to him.
Shen Yun narrowed his eyes, a smile curving his lips.
After the two of them finished the entire beggar's chicken, they cleaned up the bones and scraps and walked towards the other side of the lakeshore.
With their keen hearing and sight, they avoided Huang Yuanxiang and Zhao Haihua, who had put on their clothes and descended from the mountain.
After Huang Yuanxiang left by another route, they came to the place where Su Xiaoqi had fallen into the water earlier.
Quite a few people were still gathered there.
However, the young ladies Su Xiaoqi had seen earlier had all already left.
Only some ordinary local people remained.
They were all discussing how Su Xiaoqi, who had fallen in earlier, might have drifted to the center of the lake and sunk.
The water there was too deep, about two zhang, making it impossible to retrieve.
They could only report to the officials and have the little maid, Xiao Xi, who pushed her, arrested.
Just as the person was being taken away, someone from afar saw Su Xiaoqi and Shen Yun walking over.
Su Xiaoqi pretended to be frightened, leaning into Shen Yun's arms and lowering her head, not saying a word.
Shen Yun then offered a casual explanation to everyone.
He happened to be nearby and came down to rescue his wife in time.
"Oh my, Amitabha, thank goodness, thank goodness," Zhao Haihua clasped her hands together, reverting to her eloquent socialite persona.
She apologized to Su Xiaoqi and also informed Su Xiaoqi that the person who pushed her into the water had already been taken away by government runners.
The eldest daughter of the Su family had also left.
Su Xiaoqi remained silent. Shen Yun explained that she was frightened and had caught a chill, so they were returning.
Everyone expressed understanding.
Zhao Haihua quickly called her coachman and asked him to take them back.
Watching Su Xiaoqi's pretty back disappear behind the carriage curtains, she looked disappointed.
What a pity. If it weren't for the eldest daughter of the Su family ruining things, that old rascal Huang Liangsheng wouldn't have had the chance to feast his eyes on her.
Unfortunately, now she had tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice.
Not only did she fail to accomplish what she intended, but she was also caught by someone with Huang Yuanxiang in a compromising situation in the wilderness, leaving them with leverage.
She patted her chest, realizing she still wasn't wearing her bellyband.
She was furious. In any case, she and Huang Yuanxiang had already agreed.
He would immediately investigate Su Dafu's situation and see with whom he had made enemies.
The person who had enmity with him was likely the one threatening them.
At that time...
Zhao Haihua's face was gloomy.
After being tormented by the old man for five years, she hadn't learned anything except to harden her heart like iron.
However, after Huang Yuanxiang investigated Su Dafu, he was dumbfounded.
Because the more he investigated this person, the more he realized that Su Dafu had a multitude of enemies.
He ran a gambling house, a place that ruined countless people every day, leaving many families destitute.
To single out one person from his countless enemies, as numerous as ants, was akin to a fantasy.
But to let this matter go, not just Huang Yuanxiang, but even Zhao Haihua felt it was unacceptable.
She demanded that Huang Yuanxiang do something.
Since they couldn't find the person who had witnessed their illicit affair to vent their anger on.
Then they would focus their attention on Su Dafu.
This matter was all caused by him.
As the saying goes, every wrong has its source, and every debt has its owner.
This grievance had to be directed at him.
Thus, Su Dafu, who had only been released for less than two days, was re-arrested by the yamen runners and thrown into prison.
This time, he didn't have the same good fortune as before, where his father could bring silver to redeem him.
Huang Yuanxiang, the second young master of the county magistrate's family, had personally instructed that no one would be released, regardless of the amount of silver offered for his redemption.
He had to be tormented severely until their anger was completely appeased.
Su Xiaoqi soon received the news from Shen Yun.
She smiled wryly.
Everything was proceeding according to her plan.
Shen Yun looked at her with admiration.
"You predicted this long ago, which is why you faked your voice. It was still too risky," Shen Yun shook his head.
If Huang Yuanxiang had known she was the one who ruined their plans, it would have been very troublesome for her, even if he was slow to react.
Su Xiaoqi nodded. "This is a big secret. They will definitely investigate thoroughly who broke things up and then retaliate.
If Su Dafu weren't so detestable, I wouldn't have taken such a risk.
Fortunately, nothing went wrong."
Su Xiaoqi spread her hands, indicating that the matter had been smoothly resolved.
Furthermore, Su Dafu was indeed not a good person. Now that he was arrested, setting aside her personal vendetta.
She had also eliminated a scourge for the people.