Wang Yibo clarified the situation according to what Zhao Guisheng had said.

When Magistrate Yin realized that Xiao Zhan was having an affair with "Fu Qian," he sent someone to Beijing to inquire about the man, so this matter spread to the capital.

But by coincidence, Fu Qian had gone out to play with two or three friends, so it couldn't be verified for the time being.

The interrogation of Magistrate Yin after he was brought to the capital was a serious matter. No one came to ask him about this affair, and he thought that the court knew in advance about Wang Yibo pretending to be Fu Qian, so he only confessed his own crimes.

In this way, the matter became a mystery, but the rumors had not stopped. After the rumor spread, everyone chewed on it and added vinegar for taste, and when it was spat back out, it no longer resembled the original version.

There were only doubts at first, but later on, everyone began to believe it.

"So, this matter......is it true?" Zhao Guisheng asked cautiously.

After listening to this, Xiao Zhan fed the medicine to Wang Yibo's mouth and said: "Quickly drink the medicine, and then return my innocence."

"......" Wang Yibo was forced to finish a large bowl, and felt that it tasted bitter. As soon as he frowned, Xiao Zhan placed a small bag of candied fruit in his hand.

Wang Yibo took the candied fruit and said: "It's false, I am that Fu Qian."

"I see. I thought it seemed strange, how could the General let go of you and see Fu Qian instead? Perhaps the rumors stopped after I left Beijing." After Zhao Guisheng received his answer, he grasped the key point and went to take care of things outside with a smile.

Xiao Zhan watched him leave and pursed his lips: "Listen to this kid, he seems to like you a lot?"

"Which of your ears heard such a thing?" Wang Yibo chewed on the candied fruit and reached out a hand to pinch his ear. "I think this ear is useless."

"Aiyo, ouch, take it easy." Xiao Zhan yelled, and when he heard footsteps outside, he immediately gave him a meaningful look. "Please give me some face, Wang-daren, please give me some face."

Wang Yibo released his grip and regarded Yin Pinglu and Zuo Ran with his usual expression when they walked in: "What is it?"

"My lord, Kuang Sheng rushed over. He said that it's raining not only in Pi County, but also in several other counties," Yin Pinglu said happily.

"That's good." Wang Yibo breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Where is Li Yucheng?"

Li Yucheng had not gone to Zhizhou with them, but had evacuated Huaizhou with the Cheng family and headed for Quzhou.

"A letter came from him just now, saying that he will wait for us in Wancheng."

Wancheng was in the north of Pi County, and was also a necessary place to stop on the way to Beijing. If he rushed over from Quzhou, it would take a few days' travel.

"Then we'll rest here a few days before leaving," Xiao Zhan said. "It won't be too late to leave after you recover."

"All right." Wang Yibo still wanted to stay and watch the aftermath.

Fortunately, Zhao Guisheng was not a man who kept to theory without finding practical solutions. It happened that Xiao Zhan had brought many people with him, and with enough help, the city's infrastructure was quickly restored. Letters were sent to other distant officials so that they could send their people back.

On the day of departure, half the city's population had returned.

Seeing that Zhao Guisheng was handling things steadily and practically, Wang Yibo felt relieved. The two exchanged political opinions while walking outside the gate.

Xiao Zhan was a few meters behind with his hands crossed in front of his chest, staring at their backs expressionlessly.

Zuo Ran and Yin Pinglu stood behind him, one on the left and one on the right. Zuo Ran didn't notice anything wrong at all, and said: "Wang-daren and this Wang-daren seem to have a good relationship. But Wang-daren is such a good person that everyone should like him."

"People who appreciate each other will naturally gravitate toward one another." After she spoke, Yin Pinglu saw that Xiao Zhan's expression was not quite right and amended, "But my lord and the General are different, they are a match made in heaven."

Xiao Zhan turned his head to give her an appreciative look: "Since you can speak, you should speak a little more."

Yin Pinglu suppressed a smile and said: "One of you is military and the other is civil. You have mutual respect, and must be with each other till the end."

Xiao Zhan was very satisfied. His chin almost pointed up toward the sky, and he turned to look at Zuo Ran.

"It's my turn?" Zuo Ran hesitated for a long time, and only said, "I wish you a happy marriage for a hundred years, and a baby boy soon."

Yin Pinglu patted her, and she immediately changed her words, using all the idioms she knew: "I wish you a hundred years of harmony, harmony brings wealth, you will have great fortune in prosperity....."

Yin Pinglu was unable to hold back, and laughed out loud.

Xiao Zhan also raised his voice and laughed: "Good, the simplest language brings the most powerful blessing."

Wang Yibo and Zhao Guisheng heard their laughter and looked back at them. Zhao Guisheng asked curiously: "I never had time to ask, who are these two girls?"

"Subordinates of Xiao Zhan," Wang Yibo said.

Although they had not been formally appointed, Xiao Zhan made the decision to take the two of them back to the capital. Zuo Ran had thought about going to the border at first and joining Zhong Yuehong's troop. Yin Pinglu could live in the town and find work, and it would not be a problem for the two of them to support themselves.

But Xiao Zhan rejected her proposal. The first reason was that the world was peaceful now, and there were no more opportunities on the frontier. Even if she joined now, she could at most only obtain the position of a small soldier. Secondly, Yin Pinglu's talents would be wasted. The livelihoods that could be found in the capital were much greater than those in the border towns.

After a final discussion, both of them agreed to go to Beijing. Zuo Ran would serve under Xiao Zhan's command, and Yin Pinglu would temporarily serve as Wang Yibo's accountant.

Wang Yibo's industries continued to grow, and he was about to open up a goods route in Jiangnan. He needed a clever, capable, and trustworthy person at his side, and Yin Pinglu was currently the most suitable candidate.

They would need a place to settle down and live, and residing in the General's Mansion would only cause gossip, so Wang Yibo rented a house in the north of the city to them for a low price, with rent only to be paid annually.

"One of them is Magistrate Yin's daughter?" Zhao Guisheng asked in a whisper.

"En."

"Although she escaped punishment in the Magistrate's case, won't bringing her to Beijing at this time arouse suspicion?" Zhao Guisheng asked.

"The more frank and open you are, the less people will doubt you. And what is there to be suspicious of? Will they suspect that I, Wang Yibo, covet her beauty or riches? Is there anything that I lack?"

Zhao Guisheng was speechless after being refuted, and smiled helplessly: "What my lord says is true, I was worrying too much."

Wang Yibo walked to the carriage, but was pulled aside by Zhao Guisheng.

"Wang-daren, I solemnly apologize to you for my recklessness and ignorance in the past." Zhao Guisheng cupped his hands and bowed to him earnestly. "I read the books of sages in vain and listened to rumors from the outside world, so I regarded you as a treacherous jackal. I used my brush as a weapon to make insinuations and write articles that insulted you. I truly feel ashamed."

"Let this matter go, ba. I myself can't even see who I am, and you outsiders are even more blind." Wang Yibo said, "You are not the only one who criticized me, but you are the only one whose abilities I admire. I hope you can accomplish something here and realize your ambition."

"I will do my best not to let Wang-daren down."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Xiao Zhan watched from afar and felt that his eyes were about to go blind, so he turned to Zuo Ran and said: "You keep talking."

Zuo Ran grimaced and continued to search for idioms and verses: "You and my lord are destined to be together forever and live to a ripe old age, always in peace, with many spacious houses, that, that....."

"That shelter the underprivileged all over the world." Yin Pinglu pressed her forehead as she interrupted her. "It looks like it's time for you to catch up on your homework."

Zuo Ran: Wu wu wu.

After bidding farewell to Zhao Guisheng, Wang Yibo boarded the carriage. Zuo Ran and Yin Pinlu sat in the front to drive, and Xiao Zhan rode at the side as they set off toward the city gate.

After driving a certain distance, the carriage suddenly stopped. "What happened?" Wang Yibo asked.

"Yibo, come out and have a look," Xiao Zhan said.

Wang Yibo opened the curtain suspiciously and saw the people on both sides of the road who were gazing at his carriage.

"Respectfully sending off Wang-daren and General Xiao!"

"Wang-daren, walk slowly and pay attention to safety on the road."

"When will my lord and the General return to Huaizhou and our Pi County, ah?"

"All the soldiers are welcome to come to Pi County again, we will definitely prepare good wine and food to entertain you!"

" — Happy journeys!"

Not many people had come back to the city, but they all came out to see them off at this time. The speed of the group slowed down a lot, and everyone followed them all the way to the city gate.

Xiao Zhan told everyone to send them off from here, and after waving goodbye to them, he got into the carriage and put a jar of wine on the table, saying with a smile: "This is the Thousand-Home wine that everyone gave you."

After Wang Yibo watched the figures of those people drifting away, he looked back and asked in confusion: "Thousand-Home wine?"

"Yes, they didn't have much left at home, so they thought of this method. Everyone scooped up a spoonful of wine from their home, gathered this jar of wine, and presented it to their most admired Wang-daren," Xiao Zhan said.

Wang Yibo stared at the novel earthen jar.

"Smell it, is it fragrant?" Xiao Zhan opened the lid and handed it to him.

Wang Yibo sniffed carefully for a moment: "Fragrant."

"Do you want to have a taste?"

"No." Wang Yibo really didn't want to get drunk and bring himself shame, so he put the wine away. "Since it's such a good thing, it should be preserved."

"Right, right, Wang-daren is right." Xiao Zhan saw through him but didn't reveal the truth.

The boundary of Pi County was between Huaizhou and Zhizhou. There was an official road going north here, and its next destination was Wancheng.

Three days later, the team arrived in Wangcheng at last. With a wave of Wang Yibo's hand, he directly booked the largest inn in the city so that the soldiers could stay comfortably for a few days. This group of people had experienced the most difficult part of the journey.

Wang Yibo went back to his room to rest and change his clothes. Then he found Yin Pinglu and asked her what to eat and drink in Wancheng.

"There are several special snacks in Wancheng, shiba dumplings, linglong bean buns, glutinous rice cakes, and sweet bean cakes."

"Is there anything special about these shiba dumplings?" Wang Yibo asked curiously.

"Shiba dumplings, as the name suggests, are dumplings made with eighteen different ingredients."

"Eighteen kinds?" Xiao Zhan asked from the side. "I've only eaten dumplings with three kinds of ingredients, but none with eighteen kinds. Will so many ingredients not ruin the taste?"

"Thus, it is a test of the cook's skill. It is necessary to chop carefully in order to preserve the freshness and taste of the ingredients," Yin Pinglu said.

Xiao Zhan couldn't wait to sample it, so he looked at Wang Yibo enthusiastically: "Shall we try it?"

"Let's go."

These few people set off immediately and asked around for the best place in the lower city to eat shiba dumplings, then walked toward the east side.

A group of people passed by them at this time, and the leader stopped abruptly, turned around, and chased after them with a fan: "Wang-xiong! Wang-xiong, Wang Yibo, it's me!"

They turned to see that it was Li Yucheng, then turned back around immediately and continued walking forward.

"I thought it would take a while for you guys to arrive, but I didn't expect it to be so soon." After speaking, Li Yucheng found that no one was paying attention to him, and continued to chatter non-stop. "Where are you going? Were you looking for me? Ei, it's a coincidence that we could meet each other on the street, isn't it heaven-sent fate?"

Still, no one paid attention to him. Li Yucheng stopped walking, and seeing them continuing forward quickly, he didn't notice their intentions at all, so he could only send away his few followers and jog to catch up until they stopped in front of a shop.

Li Yucheng wiped away his sweat and asked: "What are you here to buy?"

"Ten servings of shiba dumplings," Wang Yibo said.

"Ten servings?" Li Yucheng counted the number of people present. Including Gao Tan and the girls, there were only six people in total. "Can you finish eating ten servings?"

"One for each of us." Wang Yibo pointed to Xiao Zhan. "He'll have five."

Li Yucheng was dumbfounded, saying: "It's a good thing you're wealthy, ordinary people couldn't afford him, ah."

Wang Yibo suppressed a smile, but Xiao Zhan proudly hooked Wang Yibo's shoulder: "I have someone to spend money on me, are you jealous, ah?"

Li Yucheng wasn't jealous at first, but after hearing what he said, hey, he was really jealous.

Who wouldn't want a walking purse, ah! And such an unparalleled purse it was!

"Wang-xiong, how about you and me join forces to become the richest men in the country!" Li Yucheng said.

"Are you tired of living, kid?" Xiao Zhan rolled up his sleeves in preparation to beat someone up. Li Yucheng was so frightened that he turned around and fled, accidentally bumping into someone and sending them both to the ground.

"Who is walking with their eyes closed, ah? Do you know who I am?" Li Yucheng shouted with bared teeth.

"Fuck your grandma, which grandson is this?" The other party rubbed his bottom as he stood up.

The two stared at each other. When two enemies met, their eyes blazed with hatred.

"Hey! You Fu Qian, you came here to seek death, see if I don't kill you!" Li Yucheng rushed forward at once.

"Bah, I really ran into a leper on the street, today I'll fight with you to the death!"

In the blink of an eye, the two were scuffling on the street.

Wang Yibo and the others looked over and couldn't help but frown. Xiao Zhan stepped forward to separate the two, holding them in each hand like weak chickens as he said: "What's with this noise, don't make fools of yourselves here, fight someplace where no one else is around."

When Fu Qian looked up at him, it was as if he had been struck by lightning: "Xiao, Xiao Zhan?!"

"What?"

Fu Qian looked nearby, and when he saw Wang Yibo, his legs almost went limp in fright.

As soon as Xiao Zhan let go, Fu Qian collapsed on the ground, staring at Wang Yibo in horror.

"What's wrong with him?" Xiao Zhan asked, walking to Wang Yibo's side.

Li Yucheng also came over. He remembered that in the capital, Fu Qian was as frightened as a quail upon seeing Wang Yibo, not daring to make a sound, but it was not as serious as today.

"He seems to be very afraid of you, do you know why?" Li Yucheng asked.

Wang Yibo waved his fan and raised his eyebrows: "He once accidentally saw me interrogating a prisoner."

"Then you're certainly very impressive." Li Yucheng gave him a sincere thumbs-up. "His father is the Minister of Dali Temple, and he's not even this scared of him."

With a pale face, Fu Qian looked between Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo, then stood up in embarrassment and stepped forward to say: "Wang-daren, listen to my explanation!"

Everyone looked at him in incomprehension.

"I never had an affair with General Xiao! I don't know where the rumors came from!" Fu Qian said tremblingly, "I've been away from home, and I didn't know there was such a rumor until I received a letter from my family a while ago!"

Before Wang Yibo could speak, he continued: "You have to believe me, no matter how tall and mighty General Xiao is, how incomparably handsome, dignified in appearance, valiant and formidable, radiant and striking......"

Wang Yibo narrowed his eyes slightly.

Yin Pinglu reminded Zuo Ran from the side: "Remember, these are all idioms."

Zuo Ran: "Okay, okay."

Fu Qian praised Xiao Zhan unceasingly, until his speech changed suddenly: "But I don't like men!"

Wang Yibo heard the shopkeeper announce that the dumplings were ready. Just as he turned around to take them, Fu Qian tugged on his arm and the dumplings fell to the ground.

He glanced down, then raised his head to look at Fu Qian.

"Wang-daren, you really have to trust me! Someone must be framing me, coveting my good reputation! Using the name of the most beautiful man in the capital to bluff and deceive, maybe he deliberately seduced General Xiao! You must catch this man and punish him!" Fu Qian said emotionally.

Wang Yibo looked toward Xiao Zhan: "Hit him."