When Gu San and Gu Si returned home, the rest of the family had already retired for the night. The two brothers cleaned the fish they had caught and left them in the kitchen, placed the joy money they had picked up on the table in the main hall, washed their hands and feet, and went to bed.
Lying in bed, Gu Si pulled the gold hairpin from his robes. He rubbed the top of the pin, feeling a round, smooth gemstone, while his mind remained filled with thoughts of the bride who had passed them earlier.
He wondered which man was lucky enough to marry such a beautiful bride.
He sighed again. Judging by the scale of the wedding procession, he knew the woman couldn’t have come from an ordinary family. The intricacy of the bridal gown alone must have made it quite expensive.
Not to mention all those household servants and the jewelry in her hair. Even though he had only caught a single glimpse, she clearly looked like a daughter of a prestigious family.
He sat up in bed, walked to the table, and lit the oil lamp to examine the gold hairpin closely. Gradually, he actually saw the bride smiling at him from within the metal.
Gu Si shook his head and chuckled to himself. He was clearly overthinking things to the point of hallucinating.
He rubbed his eyes and concentrated on the hairpin once more. This time, a human face truly emerged from the gold. It blew a puff of air toward him, and his world plunged into darkness.
A long time later, Gu Si jolted awake. He frantically felt around his body and did a thorough self-check. Only after confirming he was fine did he breathe a sigh of relief and pat his own face with both hands.
“That scared the life out of me. Thankfully, it was just a dream.”
He looked at the hairpin lying quietly on the table. Treating it like a dangerous beast, he retreated several steps, then quickly scrambled back into bed and hid under the covers, shivering.
...
Back in the county seat, Gu Qingyun had no idea what was happening to her cousins from the other branch of the family. At that moment, she was patrolling the night while drinking soy milk her mother had boiled for her. It had a bit of red sugar in it, making it warm and sweet.
Beside her, Bai Fan let out a couple of chuckles. He took a sip from his own water pouch and gave Gu Qingyun a thumbs-up.
“The soy milk Auntie boiled is delicious.”
When they were patrolling the streets, they had passed by Gu Qingyun’s house. Her mother felt sorry for them, having to stay out in the bitter cold, so lately she had been finding various ways to prepare different drinks for them every day. Sometimes it was ginger tea. Bai Fan had a sweet tongue, and since he was with Gu Qingyun every day, he had gradually become well-acquainted with the Gu family.
Bai Fan patted his stomach and called out to her, “Sister Yun, once we finish this round, let’s go to the clerks' kitchen in the yamen for some noodles. My treat. It’s already the Zi hour.”
Gu Qingyun paused and shook her head in refusal.
“No. Doing it once in a while is fine, but I can’t let you keep spending your silver. I know you’re generous, but that’s no way to spend your money.”
Bai Fan smiled. “Sister Yun, if you say it like that, I’ll be too embarrassed to accept the tea Auntie prepares for me every time. Let’s not be so formal with each other.”
“It’s not about being formal. It’s about the proper way for people to interact so that everyone feels comfortable,” Gu Qingyun said in disagreement.
Bai Fan waved his hand dismissively.
“Fine, I’ll do as you say, Sister Yun. Let’s hurry back. If we’re too late, the side dishes in the kitchen will probably have been finished by the other Constables, and we won’t get anything.”
The lantern oil was consumed exceptionally fast in winter. The pair had only reached Apricot Blossom Street when the lantern could no longer provide light. After a few desperate flickers, the wick finally went out.
Apricot Blossom Street and Yongan Street faced each other, separated by a stone bridge with a gurgling stream flowing beneath it. Many families from both streets would wash their clothes and vegetables by this little river every day.
This small river was a branch of the Hei River. Small boats would occasionally carry passengers from the Hei River side via water transport.
Thinking of the springy noodles made by the head chef of the clerks' kitchen and his homemade spicy sauce, Gu Qingyun and Bai Fan walked back even more urgently.
Suddenly, the fast-moving Bai Fan collided head-on with a figure coming from the opposite direction. The collision caught him right on the bridge of his nose, and the pain made him stagger back several steps, clutching his face.
“Ouch! Who is it? Don’t you have eyes when you walk?” the man opposite them spoke first. Gu Qingyun immediately stepped forward and grabbed the dark shadow.
“Don’t move. Sneaking around the streets in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Come with us to the yamen.”
She pulled the rope from her waist and tied the man up directly. It was too dark for Bai Fan to see clearly, but he knew that anyone wandering the streets at this hour certainly wasn’t a good person.
He walked up to the man indignantly and gave him a punch. He struck his fire starter, and a weak light illuminated the scene. He looked at the black bag on the ground and sneered.
“I figured as much. Turns out he just stole someone’s silver.” He picked up the bag, and the clinking of coins was music to his ears.
“Sister Yun, I didn’t expect we’d catch a petty thief today. And it looks like this guy stole quite a lot.”
Bai Fan opened the bundle. Inside was not only silver but also gold rings, bracelets, and various other items. There were even several silver neck rings that children wore to ward off evil.
Gu Qingyun frowned at the contents. She wondered which poor family had been struck by such a thief; they had likely lost every valuable thing they owned.
Gu Qingyun looked at the thief, seeing a man in coarse cloth clothes with a jacket full of patches.
His hair was a mess, and he remained immobile under his bindings. Noticing Gu Qingyun’s gaze, the man knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
“Officers, please forgive me this once! I won’t dare do it again. I was truly so poor that I couldn’t afford to eat, which is why I took the risk and became a gentleman of the rafters. I swear, this is my first time doing this. Please, show some mercy and let me go like I’m just a puff of wind.”
“I don’t want any of this stolen loot. I’ll give it all to you two officers as a tribute.”
Gu Qingyun listened to his incessant chattering with indifference before finally speaking.
“This silver belongs to the victims. As minor officials of the imperial court, how could we take stolen goods? What do you take us for?”
The thief, looking at her righteous expression, really wanted to spit at her. She made it sound so nice, but while people like him were secret thieves, these Constables were basically open robbers.
They collected protection fees every day during their patrols. If they were so capable, they shouldn't collect those fees; yet here she was, putting on an act of purity.
Gu Qingyun had no idea what the thief was thinking; otherwise, she would have given him a beating for slandering her and ruining her grand, radiant, and upright image.
She waved her hand and looked at Bai Fan.
“Enough. Don’t waste time. Let’s get back to the yamen quickly. Aren’t you hungry? Just throw this person into the cells for a couple of days. Our job is just to catch people; we don't care about anything else.”
Bai Fan burst out laughing.
“Sister Yun is right. Today was just this thief’s bad luck to run into us. A man with his strength actually doing petty thievery? How disgraceful.
Who knows how many households he’s stolen from or how many people he’s harmed. It’s almost New Year’s. If we hadn’t caught this scoundrel, the victim’s family would have been left with nothing, and they wouldn’t even have been able to celebrate the holiday.”
Gu Qingyun fully agreed.
“Yes. Isn’t the point of our night patrol to ensure the peace of this area? We must live up to the trust people place in us.”
Rate on N.U.
