Chapter 1: The Wedding Night (New Book...)

  "Oh... yawn..."

  Guo Ye rubbed his eyes and yawned as he followed Cheng Er Niu on the main street to the government office.

  What time is it now?

  The sky was just slightly bright, and there were only a few people on the road, like three or two little cats. Occasionally, early vendors would pass by, greeting them from time to time, saying "Good morning, sir."

  Can't these small traders and peddlers show some respect for Constable Cheng Erniu and Officer Guo?

  It is worth noting that the soap guilds, like Guo Ye's, were mainly responsible for maintaining market order and collecting taxes, often interacting with these small merchants.

  Kuai Yegang's first day as a yamen runner, he was somewhat unaccustomed to the humility of these people, and did not dare to beckon with his hand. However, Cheng Er Niu, this foolish goods, had long been accustomed to it, and received it calmly with his head held high and his chest out.

  Having walked a considerable distance, Guo Ye couldn't help but think of what Cheng Er Niu had said earlier about taking him to a great place. What kind of place could it be that was worthy of such praise from Cheng Er Niu?

  "Then I asked: 'Second Cow, where are you taking me anyway?'"

  Cheng Er Niu smiled mysteriously and said in a low voice, "Don't ask anymore, you'll know when you get there."

  Ignoring Guo Ye, he continued leading the way forward.

  But just because of his smile, Guo Ye saw lewdness in Cheng Er Niu's eyebrows and had a sudden realization - could it be that this kid is taking me to a brothel?

  But this idea flashed by, it's not reliable, which brothel opens its door at dawn?

  Just as he was secretly speculating, Cheng Er Niu suddenly stopped in his tracks and shouted: "We're here, it's right here!"

  He said, pointing with his right hand at a small shop about ten meters in front of the two.

  Guo Ye's eyes were good, and he took a closer look at the sign hanging from the door of the small shop with a bamboo pole. The wind was blowing, and the five big characters "Jenniang Douhua Shop" were written in bold font.

  At first glance, Guo Ye really wanted to raise his middle finger to greet Cheng Er Niu's family. What the hell, so early in the morning you're mumbling and I thought it was something big, but it turned out to be this?

  Isn't it just a tofu brain shop? Are you kidding me?

  Just as he was about to accuse Cheng Er Niu of being mysterious and deceitful, Guo Ye's face suddenly froze, his eyes staring fixedly at the tofu shop without blinking, his gaze becoming rigid.

  A woman suddenly appeared in the shop, without a trace of makeup or adornment, her plain face showing a hint of fatigue as she bustled back and forth.

  At this moment, a line of poetry suddenly popped into Guo Ye's mind:

  The lotus flowers come out of the clear water, and they are naturally without artificial decoration.

  "Cough...cough..."

  Cheng Er Niu let out a light cough, intentionally startling Guo Ye who was lost in thought. He looked at Guo Ye with a teasing gaze, curled up the corner of his mouth and smiled, silly yet mischievous.

  Kuo Yeli suddenly came to his senses and glared at Cheng Er Niu, only to realize that this kid hadn't held in a fart since dawn, and it was extremely smelly.

  People come here to eat tofu but actually they are here to admire the beautiful women.

  Cheng Er Niu pulled Guo Ye to the front, found an empty table at the entrance of the tofu flower shop and sat down. Then he shouted towards the inside of the tofu flower shop: "Jing Niang, bring two bowls of tofu flowers."

  A gentle and soft voice that made Guo Ye's bones feel numb came from inside, saying: "Alright, the two masters please wait for a moment."

  Hiss, hiss! Guo Ye and Cheng Er Niu sat opposite each other, and in their hearts they couldn't help but praise this voice that was truly to die for. It turned out that the beautiful woman who had flashed by earlier was indeed the owner of this bean flower shop, Zhen Niang.

  Before long, Zhen Niang combed her hair into a cloud-like bun, wearing a cyan cloth jacket with wide sleeves and a purple skirt, wrapped around her slender waist like a snake, slowly walked out of the Douhua shop.

  With small steps, she walked up to Guo Ye's table with a bowl of tofu in each hand and said softly: "Two gentlemen, please enjoy your meal."

  Just as she leaned over to put the tofu flower on the table, Guo Ye had a close observation of this beautiful and unparalleled owner of the tofu shop.

  Her hair was as black as ink, with willow-leaf eyebrows and a goose-egg face. Her cheeks were slightly red, and her white face was covered in fragrant sweat. When she spoke, her breath was like the fragrance of orchids that moved people's hearts.

  Guo Ye secretly compared Zhen Niang with Wu Xiuxiu, Wu Xiuxiu was lonely and cold, proud and aloof. In terms of beauty, Zhen Niang was slightly inferior to Wu Xiuxiu, lacking that elegant and refined feeling.

  However, Zhen Niang has something that Wu Xiuxiu doesn't have - the elegance between her eyebrows and the captivating sparkle in her eyes are absolutely unmatched by Wu Xiuxiu.

  Kuai Ye's eyes followed Zhen Niang as she moved, and he softly exclaimed: "What a lovely young wife who can stir up trouble!"

  Zhen Niang had already entered the store and couldn't hear Guo Ye's soft praise, but Cheng Er Niu at the same table wasn't deaf and heard Guo Ye's words clearly.

  He hehe chuckled twice, and said with a smile: "How about it, Brother Guo? I didn't bring you to the wrong place, did I? Zhen Niang is indeed one of the famous beauties in our Longxi County town. She's originally named Yang Wenyi, and she married into our county from elsewhere a few years ago, opening this tofu shop to make a living. Her tofu-making skills are great, and she's beautiful too, so... hehe, business has always been pretty good."

  Her name was Yang Wanzhen, Guo Yi remembered it faintly in her heart, what a good name.

  Cheng Er Niu held the spoon and scooped up the tofu pudding in the bowl, shaking his head and sighing: "Zhen Niang is indeed a good woman, a weak and gentle woman who supports a family, and although she has a reputation for beauty, nothing scandalous has ever been said about her. What a pity..."

  Cheng Er Niu let out a sigh, and Guo Ye stopped the small spoon in his hand, looking at Cheng Er Niu with confusion, asking: "What's a pity?"

  Cheng Er Niu was just about to poke his head out to say something when suddenly another loud shout came from outside the tofu shop.

  "Jiěniáng, jiěniáng, hurry up and bring some silver for your old man."

  As soon as the voice fell, a slender gray-clad man rushed into the tofu shop, followed by two strong men.

  Guo Ye took a closer look at the man in gray who had rushed into the store, with a messy hair and a pale face, dark eye bags and uncleaned eye discharge, it was obvious that this guy must have been up all night without sleep.

  Immediately followed by the sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets, accompanied by intermittent shouting: "Where's the silver? Quickly give me some silver, I lost big time last night."

  Jingniang's voice rang out in time, no longer with the sticky tone from earlier, but more of a terrified and helpless tone, saying: "This morning just opened, where did the silver come from? Didn't you take away all the silver at home yesterday?"

  Then came another barrage of insults and the noise of drawers being rummaged through.

  Guo Ye frowned, and Cheng Erniu took the opportunity to explain: "This is what I said was a pity. This man is Qie Niang's husband, named Hu Pi. Hu Pi is notorious in the county town for being a scoundrel, a complete rogue who indulges in all vices, drinking, whoring and gambling. It's a shame that Qie Niang, such a virtuous woman, can't manage the household no matter how hard she tries, because of this scourge Hu Pi."

  Guo Ye looked at the tofu shop, where Hu Pi was causing a commotion, and heard Zhen Niang's terrified cries. He couldn't help but feel a slight pang in his heart, wondering how such a woman could marry such a scoundrel.

  Cheng Er Niu then used his mouth to greet the two strong men standing next to Hu Pi, saying: "These two must be thugs from the Daxing gambling den. Hu Pi probably lost again last night and borrowed money from the den, only to lose it all. He was brought back early this morning by someone to collect the debt."

  Guo Ye glanced at the two men who were silently following Hu Pi, thinking to himself, "Aren't they just loan sharks from the casino?"

  Bang!

  A crisp sound interrupted the conversation between Guo Ye and Cheng Er Niu.

  Guo Ye and Cheng Er Niu looked towards the tofu shop again, only to see Hu Pi slap Zhen Niang with a loud smack. Zhen Niang was now crouching on the ground, covering her face and sobbing uncontrollably, her heart torn into pieces.

  After slapping him, he jumped up and scolded: "You open the door to do business every day, how can you not have any money? Don't hide it, hurry up and give me the money."

  Then he turned around and smiled at the two men behind him, saying: "Don't worry, don't worry, this woman must have money, I'll definitely beat her until she hands over all the money."

  Two men stared at each other in silence, their eyes fixed on each other's faces, only responding with a cold snort to express the discontent in their hearts.

  Hú Pí continued to drink and scold, continuing to coerce Zhēn Niáng, just for the sake of silver.

  Zhen Niang was squatting on the ground, crying so hard that she couldn't catch her breath, and in fact, she couldn't even take out a single coin.

  Hú Pí's face turned red with rage, and he raised his right hand again to hit Jiě Niáng.

  At this moment, Guo Ye couldn't sit still anymore. What kind of man is this? You're messing with your ancestors' graves!

  Bang!

  Kuang Ye slapped the table and stood up, not only startling Cheng Er Niu who was eating tofu flower across from him, but also startling Hu Pi and the two thugs from the gambling den. Taking advantage of everyone's attention, Kuang Ye angrily shouted: "Stop!"

  Then he walked out of his seat and into the store, facing Hu Pi with a cold voice: "Hu Pi, do you dare to move your hands again? Believe it or not, I'll directly let you go in and eat prison food?"

  Uh...

  Hú Pí looked at Guō Yè, who was wearing a public uniform, and couldn't help but feel guilty.

  This can't be provoked, especially not the officials in the government. Guo Ye really believed this, and his reputation was already notorious outside of Second Street, so others could easily pin a crime on him and he'd be put away immediately.

  But the two gamblers behind him are not good eggs either, if they still owe the gambling house money today, it's likely to be another painful beating.

  These people in the casino, their methods, he's been hanging out with them all day, how can he not be clear?

  He then turned to Guo Shi and pleaded, "Your Honor, can't you just let this matter go? Besides, Zhen Niang is my wife. I asked her for money, I beat her - that's within the bounds of reason and doesn't break any laws."

  Hu Pi's words nearly made Guo Ye's nose crooked with anger.

  Your mom's, what kind of nonsense is this, it won't work on me, you really got some nerve, stupid.

  He then slapped Hu Pi with his right hand, slapping him on both sides of the face, and shouted: "According to what you said, I am a public servant, and beating you is not against the law?"

  Guo Ye's move was ruthless enough, directly hitting Hu Pi's cheek so that it swelled up high, his eyes seeing stars, and he almost couldn't stand firm on his feet.

  The two men standing beside him, who had been silent all along, saw Guo Ye, the half-road killer who suddenly appeared, and inserted a horizontal beam. They couldn't help but feel displeased in their hearts, but they didn't dare to question loudly due to Guo Ye's identity as a public officer.

  Instead, he spoke in a stiff tone: "This Lord, this Hu Pi owes our Daxing Casino money, repaying debts is the natural order of things. What you're doing isn't right."

  Guo Ye looked at these scoundrels who were accustomed to killing, arson, and usury, with no good feelings. He didn't even give them a straight look, and coldly snorted: "What's going on? When did the imperial court issue a law allowing gambling dens to lend money at interest? I'll have to go back to the yamen and ask County Magistrate about it."

  The implication is that these two thugs are being told that Liang Zi has already set his sights on Guo Ye.

  Looking at Zhen Niang squatting on the ground, trembling like a startled deer, Guo Ye's determination to lend a helping hand to this weak woman was strengthened.

  As soon as they heard Guo Ye's words, the two men knew that today's matter had some twists and turns. They immediately asked again: "Master, are you trying to frame Hu Pi for this?"

  Guo Ye didn't bother to answer the question, instead he waved his hand in disgust and drove them away: "Tell the boss of Daxing Casino that it's best not to do things that are devoid of conscience, or you'll bring bad luck upon yourself."

  Two men heard that Guo Ye had already spoken to such an extent, how could they still not understand that today's matter had turned sour.

  However, he still didn't give up and wanted to say a few more words to Guo Ye, although he didn't dare offend someone like Guo Ye who was from the yamen. But Da Xing's gambling den wasn't without its backers either, and it wasn't so easily bullied.

  Before he could finish speaking, another loud crash was heard.

  Cheng Er Niu slammed his fist on the table after finishing his tofu, directly punching a big hole in it. He then yelled at the top of his lungs to the two men: "What are you still standing there for? Do you really want to taste my iron fist? Can't even spend the night in the guardhouse?"

  Two men looked at each other, Cheng Er Niu this bastard notorious outside, even tigers can be beaten to death, what kind of fun is that?

  He could only swallow his pride and leave with a sullen face, casting a threatening glance at Hu Pi as he turned away.

  Hú Pí saw Guō Yè insert a beam to help himself out of the encirclement, but thinking of the eyes of the two Daxing gamblers' thugs as they left, his heart felt uneasy once again.

  Guo Ye looked at Zhen Niang who was squatting on the ground, looking pitiful and couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy in his heart. He wanted to go forward and help her up, comforting her with a few words.

  Who would have thought that Cheng Er Niu suddenly ran in from outside, as if he had thought of something, and whispered to Guo Ye with some helplessness: "Brother Guo, I just suddenly remembered something, it seems you've gotten into trouble again."