“Come, let me help you pack your things!”
“Thank you, Brother Zhao!”
Aside from the pile of books that Old Zhang sent earlier, Zhang Fang also received gifts from Manager Wei in the last two days, so he had quite a bit to carry.
“You can’t take all this by yourself. How about leaving your things here while you go home to inform your family? They can come and help you move everything,” Zhao the jailer suggested, genuinely considering Zhang Fang’s situation.
“If you could help me hire a carriage, I’d like to go straight home,” Zhang Fang said, unable to tolerate the smell he carried and eager to get back for a proper bath!
“Sure! Just wait here!”
Seeing Zhao the jailer come out, Du Jiu Niang hurriedly approached and asked, “Why hasn’t Zhang Fang come out?”
“He’s feeling unwell and needs to hire a carriage to go home,” Zhao the jailer replied as Zhang Fang had told him.
Du Jiu Niang thought to herself that Zhang Fang really made a lot of money with this story! Not only could he take out twenty taels to pay off his debts but also had extra money to hire a carriage!
“Can I at least go in to see him?” she asked, trying to stop Zhao who seemed to be in a hurry.
“I advise against it; he’s not feeling well. I wouldn’t dare to go near!” Zhao the jailer shook his head with a mysterious expression, directly bypassing Du Jiu Niang and leaving in a hurry.
Du Jiu Niang looked surprised. Could it be that Zhang Fang caught some disease in jail? Was that why Zhao the jailer was so keen to get rid of him?
After hesitating for a moment, she decided not to leave. She needed to see Zhang Fang no matter what!
When Zhao the jailer returned to the jail and saw Du Jiu Niang still there, he informed Zhang Fang, “Brother Zhang, Du Jiu Niang hasn’t left yet. She probably won’t let you off easily. Should I put some cinnabar on your clothes? When you see her, cough heavily so she’ll think you’ve caught some serious illness and won’t dare to approach.”
Zhang Fang had the same plan. He complimented, “Brother Zhao is really clever! Thank you for helping me!”
“You’re too courteous!” Zhao the jailer found the cinnabar and applied some to Zhang Fang’s clothes, nodding in satisfaction, “Perfect!”
As long as someone didn’t look too closely, it was hard to tell it was fake. At first glance, it looked like a bloodstain.
Zhao the jailer went out to call Du Jiu Niang in; she could hear the intense coughing even before he got closer.
“Cough cough cough…”
It sounded like he was trying to cough up a lung, the coughing was quite severe.
Walking in the dark prison, Du Jiu Niang felt a surge of fear. Suddenly, she stopped, feeling a bit timid.
Zhao the jailer turned back to look at her and impatiently urged, “Hurry up!”
Du Jiu Niang gritted her teeth and had no choice but to follow.
Seeing Zhang Fang sitting in the cell, coughing violently, he quickly hid his hands behind his back when he noticed someone had arrived, avoiding eye contact with Du Jiu Niang.
This reaction raised Du Jiu Niang’s suspicion. Looking closer, she saw bloodstains on Zhang Fang’s clothes that didn’t seem like whip marks, and she asked Zhao the jailer in a low voice, “Did you torture him?”
“He’s not a criminal! Just owes some debts and is temporarily locked up; we wouldn’t need to resort to that! If you have something to say, say it quickly! I need to get him out of here!” Zhao the jailer’s expression looked quite irritated.
After noticing these details, Du Jiu Niang couldn’t help but suspect that Zhang Fang had indeed contracted some serious illness in jail. It might be contagious! Her face turned pale, and some makeup fell away.
“Cough cough cough…” Zhang Fang got up and walked toward Du Jiu Niang.
Seeing this, Du Jiu Niang was so frightened that she turned and fled, as if pursued by a ghost, running at full speed.
Zhao the jailer tried hard to stifle his laughter while chasing after Du Jiu Niang.
“Why are you running away!” he shouted after her as he reached the entrance.
Du Jiu Niang, dressed in a skirt, nearly tripped over herself in her haste, stumbling slightly but fleeing without looking back.
Zhang Fang had already made it outside, and Zhao the jailer returned, chuckling, to tell Zhang Fang about Du Jiu Niang’s reaction. He then helped Zhang Fang load his things onto the carriage.
“Brother Zhang, take care!” After saying this, Zhao the jailer felt it sounded strange and immediately corrected himself, “Don’t come back again!”
“Alright!” Zhang Fang smiled back at Zhao the jailer.
Upon getting into the carriage, Zhang Fang instructed the driver to take him to the street. Enduring the disdain and contempt of the passersby, Zhang Fang bought quite a few items on the street with his foul odor before finally heading home outside of Pingyue Village.
There was a road outside Pingyue Village; although carriages occasionally passed through, they wouldn’t stop here. Today, however, a carriage entered Pingyue Village, stirring up the local gossip. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the carriage, eager to discover which relative of theirs was inside.
As they moved further, the carriage couldn’t go past anymore and had to stop there.
“Hey! Isn’t that Zhang Silang?”
“I heard he was locked up in jail!”
“The Zhang family has been making a huge fuss lately, saying they were going to sell their granddaughter to bail out Zhang Silang. And now he’s out!”
“Surely the Zhang family doesn’t know about this?”
Given how much the elder Zhangs favored their youngest son, if they knew Zhang Silang was coming home today, they would surely be anxiously waiting at the village entrance! Clearly, Zhang Fang returned by himself, and his family was unaware!
Someone stood up and ran toward Zhang Fang. Without hesitation, they asked, “Zhang Silang, I heard you were in jail! What did you do?”
Others followed suit, crowding around Zhang Fang to gossip.
“I heard you went to a brothel and then got locked up! Is that true?”
“Your father said you gained the county magistrate’s favor, is that true?”
“Your family is selling their niece to get you out! Did you know about this?”
Listening to their inquiries and accusations, Zhang Fang felt somewhat annoyed yet remained calm and patient in his responses: “Indeed, I was imprisoned for visiting a brothel. Now, I’ve gained the county magistrate’s favor. Fellow villagers, can I please go home first?”
These people never expected Zhang Fang would admit to such a thing! Initially, they intended to mock him for being a poor family supporting a scholar who foolishly visited a brothel, but Zhang Fang’s last statement left them speechless.
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