The carriage stopped at the back gate of the Yamen, where there were also two guards present.
Nan Feng was the first to get out of the carriage, then she told the guards that she was looking for Brother Ye.
What she said was Ye's name: "Xia Ye."
One of the guards looked Nan Feng up and down and then said, "Ah, you are looking for Guard Xia? Guard Xia is not here today, he's gone with the county lord to meet the provincial governor."
The provincial governor is equivalent to the leader of a province.
A pang of disappointment hit Nan Feng. She was just about to ask the guard when Brother Ye would be back, but the other guard asked: "Are you Guard Xia's wife who has not yet passed through the door?"
Not yet passed through the door? Wife?
Nan Feng, who before now had been quite composed, almost bit her tongue upon hearing the guard's question.
She thought Brother Ye would, at most, say that she was his fellow villager, or relative or something like that.
How should she respond?