Chapter Eight
"Zhang Meng, I'm really going back to my hometown tomorrow. Are you sure you can't take time off?" Jin Yue asked while packing her luggage.
"The superior doesn't agree, I have no choice," Zhang Meng said as she wrapped up the snacks she brought back from Yingyue Teahouse today and put them into Jin Yue's bundle.
"Why don't you ask again? Maybe if the superior is in a good mood, she'll agree," Jin Yue said. She looked down at the bottom of the bed and reached her hand underneath to feel around. "Huh? Zhang Meng, where's that vase of yours?"
"The vase? I used it to arrange flowers as a gift for someone. Why?"
Jin Yue was startled and exclaimed, "How could you give it away? Did you take out the two little snakes I caught this morning?"
Zhang Meng's heart sank: "W-what little snakes?"
"I caught two little snakes and was keeping them in there, with a net covering the top. Didn't you know?!" Zhang Meng's face turned pale: "Young Master Ji..." She hurriedly asked, "Are the snakes venomous? I saw the net and just put it aside without thinking much of it. Why didn't you tell me you put snakes in there!" Just as Jin Yue was about to reply, there was a sudden knock on the door.
"Zhang Meng, come out quickly! Young Master Ji fainted from fright because of the snakes! Miss Zhong is furious and looking for you everywhere!"
In the back courtyard.
The sun was setting, and the sky was already dark. The trees swayed in the wind.
"A Huo, tell me, how should we punish her this time? I, Zhong Ling, have lived for so long, but I've never seen someone as careless as her," Zhong Ling angrily pointed at Zhang Meng.
Zhang Meng lowered her head and said guiltily, "This subordinate has wronged Young Master Ji. Please punish me, superior."
Zhong Huo sat by the stone table with a serious expression. She looked at Zhang Meng and said, "You were indeed careless this time. Fortunately, the snake's fangs had been removed, otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable. But I know you didn't do it intentionally..."
"A Huo, whether she meant it or not, someone like her must be punished," Zhong Ling interrupted.
Ji Ming, rubbing his temples, slowly walked out from the inner room. With black hair and white clothes, he looked handsome and refined, though his pale complexion gave him a somewhat sickly appearance.
Seeing Ji Ming come out, Zhong Ling stopped scolding Zhang Meng and quickly stood up: "If Young Master Ji is not feeling well, please go back and rest first." Ji Ming shook his head: "Ji Ming is fine. Please don't blame Constable Zhang, Miss Zhong Ling." Zhang Meng looked gratefully at Ji Ming: "Young Master Ji, I truly apologize for this incident. I am willing to accept punishment."
In the end, Zhong Huo fined Zhang Meng half a year's salary. Zhong Ling was very dissatisfied, but as Ji Ming spoke up for Zhang Meng, she had to let it go.
Zhang Meng crouched down and picked up the broken pieces of the vase from the ground, placing them on a tray.
Zhong Huo stood behind her: "What's been going on with you these past two days? You weren't this careless before." Zhang Meng lifted the tray and stood up.
"Superior, I'm not sure what's going on either. Maybe I'm just Young Master Ji's nemesis." She turned around, looked at Zhong Huo, and said with some difficulty: "Superior, could you grant me a few days off in the coming days?"
Zhong Huo's face darkened: "What do you need time off for?"
"Jin Yue is about to get married, and I want to attend her wedding ceremony." In the matriarchal country, wedding ceremonies for young men and women were not grand affairs. Most of those who could attend were close friends of the bride or groom, and they had to be unmarried and without a lover. It was also somewhat of a matchmaking event. After witnessing the happy union of a new couple, young men and women might find their own life partners.
Zhang Meng didn't expect to find her other half through Jin Yue's wedding ceremony, but she wanted to join in the festivities.
Moreover, after causing trouble for Ji Ming twice in a row, she felt too embarrassed to face him for the next few days.
Zhong Huo frowned as she looked at her: "Are you that eager to take a husband?"
Zhang Meng shook her head: "It's not that, I just want to join in the fun."
Zhong Huo clenched her fist: "What if some man takes a liking to you?"
"How could that happen?" Zhang Meng waved her hand and smiled, "Who would like someone like me? I think unless I pay a matchmaker to arrange a marriage, I won't be able to take a husband. But I don't want that. I want to find someone myself, someone I truly like." Zhong Huo's dark eyes stared steadily at her, seeming to have something surging within them. She said flatly, "If no one would like you, why waste time attending a wedding ceremony?"
"Superior, I..."
"Constable Zhang, the yamen is short-handed recently."
"..."
Early the next morning, Jin Yue was ready to leave with her bundle on her back. All the sisters from the yamen came out to see her off, including Zhong Huo.
Read ahead full this novel and more female-dominant novels at yuushil<.>com