Yang Xuanse glanced at the sky, feeling it was getting late. However, he needed to visit a patient, and his silver ingot was too large and needed to be broken down into change. So, he asked, "I'm going to visit a friend. Can you pack some pastries for takeout? Something that looks nice."
A waiter who greeted all sorts of customers daily had to be fluent in understanding various requests. He quickly grasped Yang Xuanse's meaning and immediately said yes. Inviting Yang Xuanse inside, he quickly packed a small basket that perfectly matched Yang Xuanse's perceived status, filled with neatly wrapped pastries.
One silver ingot was equivalent to ten taels of silver, so breaking it down yielded quite a lot of change. The pastries only cost a few dozen copper coins, making it a great deal.
Yang Xuanse felt like he had suddenly become a wealthy tycoon. While musing that it was no wonder everyone wanted to become a government official, he ate a meal at the teahouse.
Afterward, he gathered his things and, making the most of the daylight, asked for directions as he walked toward the jailer's home.
In a place like the Imperial City, anyone who could open a shop or hold an official position had some family connections. Regardless of how big or small those connections were, their living conditions wouldn't be too poor, and they were easy enough to find with a little asking around.
Arriving at the jailer's house, Yang Xuanse realized the man was doing quite well for himself. He lived in a proper house with a gated courtyard. The door was opened by a woman wearing a dress made of decent material. She asked cautiously, "Who is it?"
Yang Xuanse hastily mimicked the salutations he had seen the Crown Prince's guards use. "Good day, Madam. I am a friend of the jailer, here specifically to thank him for saving my life."
Realization dawned on the woman's face, and she invited Yang Xuanse in. He noticed a toddler with cute little hair buns playing in the courtyard. Honestly, the scene looked exactly like an illustration from a school textbook, brimming with ancient charm.
The jailer was still too heavily injured to get out of bed, so Yang Xuanse went into the bedroom to see him.
Upon approaching him, Yang Xuanse immediately said, "Brother, thank you so much for saving me before. I really don't have much to show my gratitude, so I brought some pastries. I hope you won't mind."
"What are you talking about? I'm the one who should be thanking you. The doctor said that without you, I wouldn't have made it until he arrived. Besides... sigh, when you fell ill earlier, it was His Highness and the Prison Warden who called for the physician. But they wouldn't let me mention it, so I took the credit. I've felt guilty about it ever since," the jailer explained, his voice hoarse as he propped himself up against the headboard.
Hearing this, Yang Xuanse was taken aback. "It was... the Crown Prince who called the physician?"
The jailer nodded. "Yes. It was because of their orders that I tried to look after you more, plus you were all alone here... Oh right, since you're out, does that mean the case is solved?"
Yang Xuanse clumsily cupped his hands in a traditional bow. "Yeah, the case is solved, which is why I was let out. I probably won't be able to return home anytime soon either. Brother, if you ever need anything, just look for me. I can't fully repay you for saving my life, but if there's anything I can help with, I absolutely will!"
The jailer didn't take these words to heart; he hadn't saved him for a reward anyway. However, looking out for each other was a good idea, so he asked, "Don't mention it. Let's just look out for each other from now on. By the way, where are you planning to stay for the time being?"
At this question, Yang Xuanse looked a bit embarrassed. "I-I just got out, so I'm not sure where to stay yet. I'm planning to stay at an inn for a few days, then find a house to rent, and look for a job to support myself."
The jailer understood immediately. He thought for a moment before introducing himself properly. "Come to think of it, you don't even know my name yet. I'm Bai Luo. Outside the city is the Bai Family Ancestral Hall, and the village over there, Bai Family Village, belongs entirely to the Bai family. I'll write a letter for you. You can go there and rent a place for a slightly lower price—it's much cheaper than in the city."
That was basically the equivalent of living on the outskirts of the capital. Although it wasn't inside the city, it was quiet, rustic, and everyone belonged to the same clan. With a letter of recommendation, he could live there without worrying about being kicked out at the slightest issue, unlike in the city.
Yang Xuanse immediately expressed his immense gratitude. Truly at a loss for how to thank him, and since he needed his money urgently, he left the grain behind, explaining that it was a reward from the Crown Prince for successfully solving the case.
Bai Luo had no reason to doubt him. Since he couldn't refuse the offer, he accepted it. Yang Xuanse didn't stay much longer.
Taking Bai Luo's letter, he headed straight out of the city, managing to pass through the gates just before they closed, and made his way toward Bai Family Village.
Because Yang Xuanse had brought gifts, Bai Luo's wife gave him two mutton flatbreads before he left. She had a way with words that made it impossible to refuse: "If you don't accept these, little brother, does it mean you disdain your sister-in-law's cooking?"
Yang Xuanse hadn't expected the persuasive tactics he used on Bai Luo to bounce back at him so quickly. But once he was outside the city, he realized how lucky he was to have accepted the flatbreads. Otherwise, wandering the deserted official road in the middle of the night, he would have starved to death.
Bai Family Village was only about three miles from the Imperial City—not very far. There were other villages nearby, all ancestral estates bearing the surnames of prominent families from both the previous and current dynasties.
This was exactly why prestigious families were so deeply entrenched and could afford to ignore imperial authority; with both land and people in their grasp, of course they could do as they pleased.
Fueled by the mutton flatbreads, Yang Xuanse managed to finish the three-mile trek using his fragile body. By the time he reached Bai Family Village, it was already dark.
The village guards called out a warning from afar, and it was only because Yang Xuanse shouted that he had a letter from a Bai family member that he avoided being pinned down and beaten.
Thanks to Bai Luo's letter, Yang Xuanse got his housing sorted out that very night. Rental houses in Bai Family Village didn't have courtyards; it was just a single room with a small attached kitchen, and bathing required going to the village bathhouse.
However, the rent was incredibly cheap—only twenty copper coins a month. Even if he was strapped for cash, he could easily scrape that much together just by doing some manual labor in the village.
Yang Xuanse signed the lease agreement that night and slept rather uncomfortably in the bare house. Early the next morning, he went back into the city to buy daily necessities, especially a lock, pots, bowls, and ladles.
The rent in Bai Family Village was so cheap precisely because it came completely unfurnished; he had to buy everything himself.
It took Yang Xuanse a full month to completely settle in. During this month, he learned the local vulgar slang for cursing people out, fixed up his little house, and found a job doing the bookkeeping at a pastry shop. It was safe to say that, in the ancient Great Yu dynasty, he had finally found his footing.
The thrilling, terrifying events from when he first arrived felt like something he had experienced in a past life. If it weren't for his smartphone and fountain pen, Yang Xuanse would have almost forgotten he was a modern man.
He transferred the keychain plushie to his new set of keys. It was a fluffy Pikachu doll, which had now become his comfort object—his "security blanket"—that he cuddled to sleep every night. Without it, his anxiety about living in this era would keep him awake.
In the blink of an eye, it was the eighth lunar month. Autumn had arrived, and the temperature difference between day and night grew starker. Yang Xuanse figured he should go buy some new clothes.
He had previously bought two everyday outfits for work, as the robes from the Crown Prince's estate were hardly suitable for labor, but he didn't have anything to wear for autumn or winter.
Three days after buying his new clothes, Yang Xuanse was suddenly arrested by the Jingzhao Prefecture right inside the pastry shop where he worked. The entire process was so familiar it was terrifying.
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