Chapter 97: Between Us

In front of the Shang residence.

“You don’t have to do this, do you?”

Yang Xin looked speechlessly at the young miss of the Shang family in his arms.

The latter had completely wrapped her lovely face in the hood of her fur coat, leaving only her beautiful eyes exposed, observing the surroundings like a vigilant, peeking kitten. Fortunately, the heavy snowfall meant the alley was empty, and the gate of Xu Guangqi’s house behind them was shut. She finally let out a sigh of relief, turned her head, and glared fiercely at Yang Xin…

“Don’t tell anyone!”

She said.

“I was just giving you a ride on the way. It’s not some big secret!”

Yang Xin said.

In fact, the little girl had been like this the whole way, bundled up tightly. With few pedestrians on the snowy road, no one else had seen them so far. Besides, nothing really happened—he had just held her while riding for less than ten li. The little girl was very light, probably not carrying much weight. Last time, he had been too rushed to notice her figure.

“Pah, everyone knows your bad reputation!”

The young miss of the Shang family said.

As she spoke, her face flushed again. Clearly, she was aware of Yang Xin’s scandals. If someone saw this scene, she would just be filling the spot left by Wang Wanqing, who had recently returned south.

Her words reminded Yang Xin again of the issue of two-timing.

He let out a long, deep sigh.

Then he grabbed the fur on the back of the young miss’s coat…

“You get down first!”

She struggled and protested in a low voice.

Clearly, this manner was humiliating to her. Being lifted by the back by Yang Xin made her feel like a kitten he kept. The thought of being held by him, flailing face-down, made her wish she could turn around and bite him.

“So troublesome!”

Yang Xin said helplessly.

Then he dismounted first.

The young miss of the Shang family timidly stretched her leg to reach the stirrup, but Yang Xin’s stirrups were set for his own height. Relatively petite, she could only barely touch them with her tiptoes. Sitting on the outside of the saddle, she grabbed the horse’s mane to dismount but instantly missed her footing. At the same time, the horse, annoyed by the pull, shook its neck and broke free from her grip. The poor young miss screamed as she fell backward into the snow. Yang Xin quickly reached out to catch her from behind, but his hands landed inappropriately, grabbing places they shouldn’t. The young miss shrieked as if stung by a bee, thrashing like a caught fish. Caught off guard, Yang Xin slipped on the snow and fell backward. The young miss tumbled down with him, then screamed and rolled over. Yang Xin also rolled, and in an instant, they faced each other, one on top and the other below…

“Ah!”

The young miss of the Shang family let out a sharp scream.

Just then, the gate of the Xu residence opened.

Xu Guangqi, an old man, and a middle-aged man walked out while talking, then froze at the sight of the two on the snowy ground.

“Well, I said she fell off the horse, and I was just trying to catch her. Between us, it’s pure. Do you believe me?”

Yang Xin said with an innocent expression.

The young miss of the Shang family immediately stopped screaming. Still pinned under Yang Xin, she also turned to look at the three men, and her gaze suddenly fell on the middle-aged man’s face…

Both their expressions changed instantly.

“Hurry up and get up!”

Xu Guangqi shouted angrily before the man could speak.

Yang Xin got up as quickly as possible, and the young miss of the Shang family did the same. She immediately lowered her head, ran to her front door, pushed open the slightly ajar gate, and rushed inside. The middle-aged man continued to stare at Yang Xin, his eyes filled with killing intent. The latter gave an awkward smile, clearly already guessing who this was.

“Is this gentleman Righteous Yang?”

The old man broke the awkward atmosphere.

“Uh, yes, I am. May I ask how to address you, sir?”

Yang Xin said.

“This is Minister of War Huang, and this is Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, Shang. Hurry up and pay your respects!”

Xu Guangqi said irritably.

Because of Yang Xin’s relationship with Chen Yujie, Xu Guangqi was considered an elder. Yang Xin quickly stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

Of these two men, the latter was the young miss of the Shang family’s father.

It had to be said, this was extremely awkward—pinning his daughter on the snow and letting him witness it. Fortunately, Vice Minister Shang had good self-restraint. Someone with a worse temper might have grabbed a big stick already. Of course, it might also be that Vice Minister Shang knew he couldn’t win in a fight. As for Minister of War Huang, he was remarkable—the actual commander of the capital’s three major garrisons. His official title was Assistant Administrator of the Capital Garrison. The nominal commander of the three garrisons was the Supervisor of the Capital Garrison, currently Chen Liangbi, Marquis of Taining, a descendant of Chen Gui, who oversaw the construction of Beijing during the Yongle era. However, civil officials wouldn’t allow this position to be truly controlled by military officers, so the role of Assistant Administrator of the Capital Garrison was created. Now, this originally auxiliary civil official had become the actual head of the three garrisons, commanding twenty-one of the twenty-six Imperial Bodyguard units, excluding the Imperial Guard and the Four Guards of the Imperial Stables.

This Minister Huang was Huang Kechan.

From Fujian, a neutral faction, he had recently been transferred from the position of Minister of War in Nanjing with authority over military affairs. He was one of the actual regent ministers after Zhu Changluo’s death. The true casting of Red Barbarian Cannons in the Ming dynasty began with him. He recruited craftsmen who had fled from Luzon to cast Red Barbarian Cannons and used them in the defense of Liaoyang.

“Vice Minister Shang, your daughter went out of the city to enjoy the snow. Her carriage accidentally slipped into the river. I happened to pass by, so I lent her my horse to ride back.”

Yang Xin explained separately.

Shang Zhouzuo’s expression softened a little.

Of course, if he knew that Yang Xin had actually carried his daughter back the whole way, he probably would have looked for a big stick. But based on Yang Xin’s explanation, he automatically imagined Yang Xin leading the horse and escorting his daughter back. Then, when she dismounted, she accidentally fell, and Yang Xin hurried to help, causing them both to tumble. That wasn’t a big deal. Instead, he should thank Yang Xin. As for the issue of them grabbing each other, it truly wasn’t worth mentioning. Although history books often mention Ming dynasty feudal etiquette, in reality, during summer, women could often be seen sitting under roadside trees with their skirts undone to cool off. The idea that women never left their inner quarters, and that being touched on the hand meant they had to marry or die, was pure nonsense…

When was that certain masterpiece written?

It was from this very period. If the social customs weren’t truly like this, how could the author, Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, have written his great work?

He couldn’t have relied on imagination alone, could he?

There were also works like “Three Words” and “Two Slaps,” which clearly depicted the openness of the late Ming era. Yet modern people don’t believe these descriptions from people who lived in that time, preferring instead to believe later research. It’s like foot-binding. Although excavated Ming dynasty female corpses and shoes show no signs of the “hoof-like” binding, people still insist that Ming dynasty women all had “three-inch golden lotuses.”

“Then I must thank Righteous Yang!”

Shang Zhouzuo said.

After saying this, he bid farewell to Huang Kechan and Xu Guangqi behind him and returned home.

“You are a troublemaker of the highest order!”

Xu Guangqi said to Yang Xin.

“This can’t be considered causing trouble, can it?”

Yang Xin said innocently.

“I’m talking about yesterday’s incident!”

Xu Guangqi said.

“What does yesterday’s incident have to do with me? The Imperial Guard were carrying out duties by imperial order. Those who obstructed the Imperial Guard, at worst, could be charged with rebellion; at best, it was still unlawful obstruction. Even if they carried the Memorial Tablet of Confucius, does that change the fact that they obstructed the Imperial Guard? If carrying a tablet worked, then if I held a tablet of the Heavenly Emperor, couldn’t I even scorn the emperor? The Imperial Guard driving them away was reasonable and lawful. No matter how you argue, they were the ones who broke the law. Even if His Majesty is benevolent and lenient towards scholars, not holding it against them, it doesn’t change the nature of the incident. Do they dare to twist right and wrong, claiming that the Imperial Guard driving them away was the crime?”

Yang Xin said.

“Righteous Yang, we are not those impulsive scholars!”

Huang Kechan said with a smile.

He meant that a young fox like Yang Xin was still inexperienced in front of old foxes like them. Did he think they didn’t know what he was scheming?

“Then you should understand even better how this matter should be handled.”

Yang Xin also smiled.

He was telling Huang Kechan that making a big fuss wouldn’t be good for them. The Wanli Emperor showed leniency to scholars worshipping Confucius only to win over the gentry. But he was the emperor; this realm was his. Imperial authority must be above the gentry—this was a matter of principle. If scholars, spoiled by favor, forgot their place and insisted on making imperial authority submit to the gentry and Confucius override the emperor, then even with Wanli’s patience, he wouldn’t tolerate it.

If they made a big fuss, it would become a question of whether the royal family or Confucianism should submit to the other.

The outcome went without saying.

On the contrary, making a symbolic gesture, giving each other a way out, and continuing this ambiguous coexistence was the truly smart solution.

“I underestimated you!”

Huang Kechan said.

“But you probably can’t control the situation, right? Do you know the greatest sorrow of smart people? It’s being stuck with teammates as foolish as pigs. Yesterday, Wang Wenyan almost cornered me. It’s just a pity that behind him were teammates as foolish as pigs. And you are similarly useless. Knowing how this matter should be handled is pointless. There are simply too many foolish teammates behind you; they’ll still ruin things. So this struggle has probably just begun. If nothing unexpected happens, they are already igniting His Majesty’s anger. You need to remember, he is ultimately the emperor. He can kneel in the Confucian Temple and kowtow to Confucius because Confucius is dead. But he will never allow Confucian disciples to place Confucius above his head. Literary Sage? Only what the emperor grants is a Literary Sage. If the emperor wants to kick him down, he’s just a pile of old bones. Confucianism is not a religion, and the Kong family is not the Pope of the Vatican!”

Yang Xin said with a cold laugh.