Floating Chopsticks (3)
âI heard youâ replied Ye Lang. His expression and tone didnât change.
âThen why enter?!â snorted the officer.
âDoes us entering relate to you at all?â questioned Ye Lang.
Exactly⊠Did it really?
The question lingered in everyoneâs mind. To think about it, it seemed like they werenât related at all. Who was that person? What authority does he have to talk like that?
Who did he think he was? The Duke? The emperor?
âOf course it does, Iâm theâŠâ The officer was at a loss for words.
âWhatâs your role here? The chef?â asked Ye Lang. He was responsible for giving out the porridge, so he might be the head chef or something.
âThe chef? I, Iâm the ration officer hereâŠâ The little officer finally revealed his official name, but it also made him feel embarrassed. He looked at Ye Lang and was about to fly into a rage out of humiliation.
âOh youâre the ration officer, apologies,â said Ye Lang in a gesture of respect for the officerâs feelings. However, it didnât last long.
âBut I donât understand why a ration officer would care if we enter. Do you have the authority to stop us?â asked Ye Lang gently. He didnât ask this with the intention of looking down on him, simply out of curiosity.
However, it sounded different in the ears of others. They thought Ye Lang was mocking him so the officer wouldnât have a chance to recover from this embarrassing incident.
At this moment, the people who were around, including the people who were in the town couldnât help but sneer at him. It seemed like they didnât really like this ration officer.
âI donât have the authority? Why would I not have the authority? Do you know who my brother-in-law is?â In a situation like this, most people take the opportunity to play the family card â Â but it wasnât the best idea.
He was like a dog making threats with its masterâs power.
The people from the town began to curse under their breath. They were able to tolerate this ration officer not because they were scared that they would have no food, as he had no right to take away their portions of the food supply, but because of his brother-in-law.
âI donât!â Ye Lang shook his head.
âBut, does it matter? Can your brother-in-law represent you?â
âUh, of course!â the ration officer replied with uncertainty. This simply made everyone certain that he couldnât.
And at this moment, Ye Lang said, âOh, I see. Then tell me who your brother-in-law is.â
Please donât tell me you believed him!
Everyone broke into a sweat for Ye Lang. How could he even believe such a lie?
âMy brother-in-law, heâs the head of the mercenary group here,â said the ration officer arrogantly.
âOh, head of the mercenary group⊠not the Duke?â asked Ye Lang.
âNo!â
âThen why are you so cocky about it?â asked Ye Lang while smiling.
Everyone was stunnedâŠ
âOf course Iâm..uh..what?â The ration officer didnât know how to react after looking at Ye Langâs smile. He thought Ye Lang was giving a compliment.
As the people around Ye Lang came back into their senses, they all said in unison, âThen why are you so cocky about it?â
The ration officerâs face turned beet red as if he was going to explode at any second. The level of his anger seemed to be at its breaking point.
âYouâre not the Duke, so what rights do you have to restrict our entry? Even if you were the Duke, youâd still have to open the gate for me- and youâre not! If youâre sensible enough, get lost and stay as far away as possible!â said Ye Lang softly.
The ration officer jumped and shouted in a desperate voice, âHow dare you say that, you lowly commoner! Iâm telling you, donât even think of entering this gate today, you have no right!â
âLowly commoner? You could be thrown into jail with what you just said, but Iâm not going to waste my time on a person like you. What kind of qualifications do I need to enter this small town?â scoffed Ye Lang while looking at the ration officer.
The ration officer shouldâve taken note of what Ye Lang had said. With the way he was insulting Ye Lang, he could be prosecuted for it.
There was a universal law in the mainland. That is, if the aristocrats were insulted, the ones who insulted them would be punished. This was because they were upper classes of society, and they should be respected. Also, if the aristocrats insulted others, the aristocrats would also have to be punished, because they should maintain their nobleness!
Of course, this rule had been trampled upon by some powerful aristocrats and only a few people enforced it. However, it would still be disadvantageous for a civilian to insult the aristocrats. And surely it would be worse if a lower-ranking aristocrat insulted a higher-ranking one.
They were mere civilians, the aristocrats would just want to teach them a lesson. After all, they didnât want to be seen fussing over something a commoner said. However, with all the competition among the aristocrats, something like that wouldnât be forgiven easily.
By the looks of the ration officer, he might be a low-ranked aristocrat, though his identity would never be higher than Ye Langâs. Ye Lang mightâve had another title but even he couldnât figure it out what it was. Still, it was there.
Although Ye Family had already left the Soaring Sky Empire, their aristocratic status was still recognized by all countries. And in order to express goodwill to Ye Family, even Ye Lang the thirteenth prince, who could sometimes be a pain, would be forgiven.
At this moment, the ration officer and the others only cared about Ye Langâs tone. He said âthis town was JUST a small townâ. He was either a very arrogant person or someone of special status.
Of course, the ration officer would rather believe the former but Ye Lang might be an arrogant aristocrat.
âHmph, youâre brave for saying that. And do YOU have the authority to speak like that?!â huffed the ration officer. He still didnât linger on the topic of Ye Langâs identity, as if afraid that it would open a can of worms.
âSo what qualifications do I need?â asked Ye Lang faintly.
âYou would need to pay for the entrance fee at the very least. This is the most basic thing. 10 copper coins for those with empire citizenship and 1 silver coin for those who donât!â said the ration officer reluctantly. He felt Ye Langâs identity wasnât that simple, he had a temperament the refugees didnât.
âItâs just an entrance fee⊠and I thought it was something huge. Do you all have your citizenship documents?â asked Ye Lang towards the refugees around him.
In the past, Ye Lang wouldâve already thrown a bag of gold coins at him. But he didnât want to do that now, he didnât even want to give anything more.
This didnât mean that he suddenly realized that he didnât want to be a prodigal anymore. It was because he understood that he should spend his money on where it should be spent on. He could do the prodigal thing later.
When he realized that there were more than a hundred thousand refugees out there, Ye Lang knew he could spend all his money in a recklessly extravagant way. He might even lose all of his familyâs propertyâŠ