Chapter Thirty-One: The Reason People Most Like to Believe

  This kind of thing shouldn't have happened in a residential area, especially at night, it's almost impossible.

  In ancient times, when lighting conditions were relatively poor, people had an instinctive fear of the dark and objective difficulties in taking action at night. Nighttime crimes made it impossible for homeowners to determine whether someone was there to steal or kill beforehand. Additionally, the traditional notion that private homes were inviolable led to the deeply ingrained idea that entering a residence at night meant either theft or murder.

  The Tang Code stipulates: "Those who enter someone's home at night without reason shall be flogged forty times. If the owner kills them on the spot, they shall not be prosecuted."

  Moreover, with the curfew regulations in place, visiting neighbors at night was unimaginable back then. Entering someone's home without knocking on the door was absolutely impossible, leaving both of them completely unguarded.

  However, Yang Fan didn't find it unexpected. Rules are rules, and once they're set, they're meant to be broken by someone. Who else but Ma Qiao would dare to barge into his home and break the rule of not entering civilian homes at night?

  Ke Ma Bridge usually wouldn't come to his house easily, and at this time, according to common sense, Ma Bridge should be at home with his old mother doing handicrafts, but the one who came in was indeed Ma Bridge.

  Ma Qiao stepped into the doorway and saw that the room was tidy, with a table in the center. A man and a woman sat opposite each other. He couldn't help but exclaim "Ah!" and hastily nodded his head and bowed to apologize: "Sorry, sorry, I walked into the wrong door..."

  Ma Qiao retreated while speaking, retreating to the door. Just as he was about to step out with one foot, he suddenly saw Yang Fan's appearance and couldn't help but stop in shock. He held a clay jar, stuttering as he looked at Yang Fan, then at Tian Ai Nu, and stammered: "Th-th-this... this young lady..."

  Yang Fan reached out and pressed down Tian Ai Nu's movement that was about to burst out, explaining: "This is my friend."

  Yang Fan stood up and pulled Ma Qiao into the yard, asking: "How did you come?"

  Ma Qiao said: "I'm worried about Xiao Ning, so I went to her place after I got back. She told me you didn't go there for dinner tonight and have some noodles soup. Xiao Ning asked me to come check on you. I was thinking that maybe you gave all your money to me to pay off the debt to my mother, so... I brought half a can of congee over. Who is that girl?"

  "She..."

  Yang Fan's eyes rolled around in confusion and he hesitated before saying: "Oh, she is my cousin, who came to visit me specially."

  Ma Qiao stroked his forehead with his hand and said, "Brother, can you come up with a more suitable excuse?"

  "What?"

  Ma Qiao said weakly: "You once said that your hometown is in Jiaozhi, and you have no relatives in the Central Plains. Now your cousin comes to visit you? From Jiaozhi, alone, traveling thousands of miles to Luoyang to visit you? And you even want to hide her at home like a thief, not letting anyone know?"

  Yang Fan's face turned red and she said in a bad temper: "You know it's an excuse, why say it out loud? Why ask so many questions, just treat her like a thief."

  Ma Qiao held up a clay pot and said with a wooden face: "Have you ever seen such a beautiful woman become a thief?"

  Yang Fan said: "How strange! Why can't a beautiful woman be a thief?"

  Ma Qiao said: "Once you enter the brothel, you don't have to worry about food and clothing. Beautiful women can walk on many roads, become a thief? Ha ha ha, what a huge joke!"

  Yang Fan was afraid that Tian Ai Nu would hear and get annoyed, so he quickly glanced at the door and said in a low voice: "Don't talk nonsense, if she hears you, she'll definitely not forgive you!"

  Ma Qiao snorted twice in disdain and said, "See? You're not happy with what I just said, are you? Come on, confess, who is she?"

  "Are you annoyed?"

  Ma Qiao glanced at the door and squinted his eyes, saying in a low voice: "Is that your sweetheart?"

  Yang Fan's heart skipped a beat, this reason... seemed plausible, so he pretended to be deep in thought and said: "Hmmm..."

  Ma Qiao hastily said: "Really is your sweetheart? Good heavens, such a beautiful girl, quickly say, whose daughter is this, how did you get hooked up with her?"

  Yang Fan knew that if he didn't give him a satisfactory answer, this curious baby would not let go. So, following his train of thought, he slowly said: "This young lady... is the daughter of a merchant I met on the Luo River."

  "Oh?" Ma Qiao changed hands and hugged the vase, perking up his ears.

  Yang Fan said: "It's like this, one day I was passing by the Luhe Bridge, she was sailing under the bridge, we met and fell in love at first sight. After a few encounters, our feelings for each other deepened, so we secretly agreed to spend our lives together. However, her parents looked down on my poverty and loved wealth, they didn't want her to marry a poor man like me, so... she eloped with me..."

  Yang Fan made up a very common plot, but the more common the story is, the more it can satisfy people's curiosity and vulgarity, so Ma Qiao believed it without a doubt. He smacked his lips and said excitedly: "So what do you two plan to do in the future?"

  Yang Fan said carelessly, "What else can be done? Let her stay here. According to the law of the Great Tang, as long as they are over the legal marriage age and both men and women are in love, they will be recognized as a de facto couple, and their parents cannot intervene."

  Ma Qiao pinched his chin, looking suspicious and said: "That's not right... According to the Great Tang law, men must be over 20 years old and women over 15 years old before they can get married. You're only 17 this year, still three years short."

  Yang Fan said: "So, I plan to get by like this for now. After three years, the two of us will not only have become husband and wife, but we'll also have had who-knows-how-many kids. Her parents won't be able to object then, right?"

  Ma Qiao raised his thumb in approval: "This move is ruthless enough!"

  Yang Fan took the opportunity to say to Ma Qiao: "Now her parents are looking for her everywhere, so it's better if you understand this matter clearly, and don't let others know about it again."

  Ma Qiao nodded repeatedly: "Of course, of course. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this even if you kill me."

  Yang Fan let out a sigh and asked: "By the way, how's Ning sister doing?"

  Ma Qiao said: "The old lady was also very indignant when she heard about it. She said that although a man being poor is not a big deal, if he has no ambition, then he will truly be useless for his whole life. As the saying goes, 'men fear entering the wrong profession, women fear marrying the wrong husband.' If her own daughter were to marry such a man, she would never have a chance to rise up in life. She's going to personally go find the matchmaker tomorrow to call off the engagement."

  Yang Fan said with a smile: "That's great."

  The two of them chatted for a while longer, then Ma Qiao bid farewell and left. Yang Fan had eaten until his belly was round and full, so the porridge naturally went back with him as well.

  Yang Fan slipped into the house and saw Tian Ai Nu sitting at the desk, looking like a lotus flower rising out of the water. Her bright eyes were fixed on him with great interest, making Yang Fan's heart feel hairy. He couldn't help but think to himself: "Why is she looking at me like that? Could it be that she overheard our conversation?"

  Tian Ai Nu glared at Yang Fan, whose gaze wandered, not daring to meet hers. With a haughty lift of her chin, she let out a soft "humph" from her nose and stood up with the support of the table: "I'm tired, you clean up these cups and plates!" After speaking, she raised her head and left with an air of pride, like a majestic peacock.

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  The lamp went out, and moonlight poured in through the window frame, flooding the entire room like flowing water. On the ground, it was like a sparse shadow of splashed ink.

  Yang Fan went out again to "play and gamble with leaves", this time Tian Ai Nu naturally wouldn't follow him.

  Last time, Yang Fan found the phrase "Dragon Wu Army sent troops to escort" in the Ministry of War's case records. At that time, the person being escorted was the deposed Crown Prince Li Xian, and the destination was Bazhou, Shu. This had nothing to do with the Lingnan Shaoguan Ba Ganzi he wanted to investigate, but it was the only clue he could find.

  Tonight, he will continue to review the unfinished official documents about Yongchun Second Year. If no other clues are found about Longwu Army's business trip out of Beijing, he will have to investigate this group of people who went to Bazhou, Sichuan Province on business that year. Although the two places are far apart, it is possible for those who went to Bazhou on business to take a detour to Shaoguan to do other things.

  It was another late night of hard work, and as the time approached, Yang Fan rubbed his red eyes and let out a long sigh. As of today, he had already gone through all the official documents from the Ministry of War for the second year of Yongchun, and that year, the only record of the Dragon Martial Army leaving the capital was the escorting of the deposed Crown Prince Li Xian to Bashu.

  It seems he can only start from this clue.

  Yang Fan walked to the window, slightly opening a slit, and gazed out at the dark sky with his eyes full of bloodshot. The sky was still vast and obscure, but this was already the darkness before dawn, and the morning glow would soon appear.

  Yang Fan let out a long sigh, looked back at the piles of documents, and quietly went downstairs, like a nightingale flying into the vast darkness... P: Seeking recommendation votes for support!!!