Free Web NovelChapter 398: Chapter 155: Peddler (Part 3)
’But that shouldn’t be right. We’ve never met, and we have no quarrel with him.’
The two parties soon went their separate ways. Zhao Jing drove the ox-cart, taking Chen Wanqing toward Qingshui County.
Chen Wanqing turned to look at the peddler walking toward the village. "The man who saved Wanyue was also a peddler," she said to Zhao Jing. "Do you think it could be him?"
Zhao Jing gave a noncommittal reply. "I don’t know. But even if it is him, it has nothing to do with us. Sis, let’s not talk about such unpleasant things. Sit tight. I’m going to speed up so we can get to the county town sooner. Otherwise, you’re in for a rough ride."
"Okay."
The two of them put the matter of the peddler out of their minds, no longer wondering if he was the one who had saved Chen Wanyue.
They thought he was just a stranger who would have nothing to do with them. They had no idea that a vicious tiger lurked in his heart and that he was coming straight for them.
The peddler walked into the village, loudly hawking the wares from his carrying pole.
The Zhao Village was close to Qingshui County, so if anyone really needed something, they could just make the trip themselves. Because the distance was, at most, only about two miles, peddlers rarely managed to sell their goods here. As a result, they seldom bothered coming this way.
After hearing the peddler’s calls for a long while, someone finally emerged from their home.
People casually bought a large needle or a piece of malt candy—small things that only cost a copper coin or two. Since he was here, they might as well buy something to save themselves a trip to the county.
The peddler was naturally a smooth talker. To put it bluntly, he knew how to tell people what they wanted to hear. And since he had come with a specific goal in mind, his words were as sweet as honey.
The peddler was the first to bring up the Holy Decree, the pride and glory of the entire Zhao Village.
Look at any of the surrounding villages—no, look at all of Qingshui County! Which family’s ancestral hall could boast of enshrining such a Holy Decree?
That was a Holy Decree, written by the Emperor himself!
The common folk, who toiled in the fields for a living, only knew that the decree came from the Emperor, so they assumed he had written it with his own hand. They were so thrilled that they burned three sticks of incense to it every day, and some even regularly replaced the offerings of fruit and pastries.
Because of this Holy Decree, the Zhao Village had become famous throughout Qingshui County.
Over the past few days, a steady stream of people from other villages had come in groups to kowtow before the ancestral hall.
They also wanted to enter the ancestral hall to burn incense and make offerings, but Mr. Zhao had strictly forbidden it.
Kowtowing was fine, but allowing them to burn incense and make offerings would smack of accepting bribes. Besides, once he set such a precedent, someone in the village would surely start selling access to the ancestral hall for a profit, which would absolutely not be a good thing for Zhao Jing.
But even so, the people remained deeply respectful of the Holy Decree.
In the last couple of days, they were no longer coming just to kowtow out of admiration and reverence. More and more people came to pray for sons, for wealth, or for safe travels.
It was as if the Holy Decree possessed the divine power of gods and immortals, capable of making wishes come true.
But that is a digression. With his honeyed words, the peddler successfully coaxed the location of the ancestral hall from a group of villagers.
The ancestral hall was just one street away from Zhao Jing’s home.
The peddler made a show of kowtowing as well, then purposefully made his way toward Zhao Jing’s front gate.
He called out loudly, "Rouge, face powder, rattle-drums! Malt candy, clay figures, and wooden hairpins..."
After he had called out several times, the large, glossy black gate finally opened from the inside with a CREAK.
A girl stepped out from behind the gate. She wore a light pink summer tunic, her hair was done up in a floral bun, and her cheeks were fair and rosy. Her large eyes were bright and clear.
Who else could it be but Xiang’er?
The peddler stared intently at the girl. She was about thirteen or fourteen and as delicate and beautiful as a flower. More importantly, she had a successful older brother and a wealthy sister-in-law.
Xiang’er didn’t notice the peddler’s greedy gaze. Her eyes were completely captivated by the pinwheel on his pole, which spun in the wind, and by the faint, sweet fragrance wafting from his wares.
Xiang’er stepped out of the gate and walked up to him. "Do you have any lotus leaf candy?"
"I do, I do! I not only have lotus leaf candy, but also malt candy and pine nut candy. Come take a look, Miss. They’re all freshly made and perfectly sweet."
Xiang’er walked closer and bent down to look at the baskets he had set on the ground.
With nimble movements, the peddler took out several types of candy from his baskets. They were stored in small, palm-sized jars. There wasn’t much of each kind, but every single one looked so fresh it would make your mouth water.
Xiang’er had her own allowance, plus the copper coins she earned from making incense. In the Zhao Village, you could almost call her a wealthy young lady.
With a grand wave of her hand, Xiang’er declared she wanted to buy the entire jar of lotus leaf candy.
But the peddler said, "Miss, the weather’s awfully hot. If you buy this much candy, it’ll all melt before you can finish it. Then it’ll just attract ants and bees, and go to waste. Why don’t you buy a little less for now? I’ll be coming around often, so if you like it, you can just buy more next time."
