Chapter 74: Hard to Tell Official from Bandit, Secluded Cultivation, An Angry Visit
Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Hard to Tell Official from Bandit, Secluded Cultivation, An Angry Visit
On a dust-choked official road.
Two groups of people met on the narrow path.
"WHOA—"
Both sides simultaneously pulled on their reins, halting their horses.
"Sir! Those three women are the ones who were kidnapped!" Song Youcai exclaimed, recognizing them at a glance—they were the women knocked unconscious and slung over the four men’s saddles.
Pei Shaoqing immediately ordered, "Surround them!"
"Yes, sir! HYAH!"
The dozens of Jing’an Guards behind him spurred their horses forward, encircling the four men. Some drew the longswords from their waists, while others unslung the Breaking Gang Crossbows from their saddles.
As everyone knows, you have to be fully armed to collect taxes.
The four surrounded men all had grim expressions.
"Everyone drop your weapons and back off! Or I’ll kill her first!" the middle-aged scholar in the lead roared, his eyes wide as he grabbed the throat of the woman on his horse.
Seeing this, his accomplices holding the other two women followed his lead. "Clear the road and let us leave, or all three of them die first!"
With hostages in hand, they had the upper hand.
The four, who had been panicking just moments before, instantly calmed down.
"A joke! You’re the ones who captured them. On what grounds are you telling us to drop our weapons?" Pei Shaoqing sneered.
The four men on the other side were instantly dumbfounded, completely stunned.
’Wait, is that something an official should be saying?’
Pei Shaoqing didn’t give them much time to think. He raised his right hand and said calmly, "My patience is limited. I’ll count to three. Either you let them go, or you die with them. Three."
"Boss." Lost, the other three surrounded bandits all looked toward the middle-aged scholar.
The middle-aged scholar’s face was a mixture of pale and ashen. He stared daggers at Pei Shaoqing. "He must be bluffing."
"Two," Pei Shaoqing counted.
The middle-aged scholar’s breath grew ragged. He ground out through clenched teeth, "I don’t believe he’d really disregard the hostages’ lives."
"One." Pei Shaoqing finished his count.
The middle-aged scholar’s heart clenched. But after waiting a moment and seeing no order to attack, he breathed a sigh of relief. A smug smile spread across his face, pleased that his gamble had paid off. Now, it was his turn to control the situation.
Just then, Pei Shaoqing’s raised hand fell, and he nonchalantly uttered two words, "Fire now."
The middle-aged scholar, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, saw his expression change drastically.
"WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!"
In an instant, a dozen or so crossbow arrows whistled through the air.
"Damn it!" The middle-aged scholar was both shocked and enraged. He cursed loudly, hastily drawing his blade to deflect the arrows, all while trying to prevent the woman on his horse from being shot.
’Shit.’
’Who are the officials and who are the bandits here?!’
He bellowed in frustration, "You bastards! To so brazenly disregard human life! You’re a disgrace to your post as Court officials!"
"Take them down," Pei Shaoqing commanded.
’Mere bandits dare to threaten me into compromising?’
’I used to be a bandit myself!’
The Jing’an Guards charged with their blades drawn, yelling, "KILL!"
Liu Yuheng and Ye Hanshuang also attacked at the same time.
The middle-aged scholar and his three men were completely overwhelmed. They were forced to protect the "Three Yin Women"—who were crucial to their master—while fighting against overwhelming odds, leaving them unable to retaliate.
"Bastard, I’ll take you down with me!" With several wounds already on his body and his eyes bloodshot, the middle-aged scholar tossed the woman from his horse, then leaped up and flew toward Pei Shaoqing, intending to capture the leader to control the rest.
Pei Shaoqing frowned slightly. ’How is it that this guy, the villain, is acting like he’s a hero making a noble sacrifice?’
’He’s making me look like the bad guy here.’
Seeing his opponent appear before him in the blink of an eye, he casually drew the saber at his waist—which had not been unsheathed in a long time—and easily blocked the incoming sword thrust. At the same time, he leaped into the air, engaging his foe in an intense mid-air battle.
When the two landed, the middle-aged scholar’s sword had already been sent flying, and Pei Shaoqing’s saber was pressed against his neck. "Surrender, and you might live."
"If you’ve got the guts, kill me!" the middle-aged scholar said.
"SHLICK—"
With a flick of his wrist, Pei Shaoqing slit the middle-aged scholar’s throat. Blood gushed out. He frantically clutched at the wound, his face a mask of disbelief. "You..."
’He never thought Pei Shaoqing would actually kill him so easily! He didn’t want to die; he was just trying to act tough to gain a little more bargaining power!’
The words he wanted to say remained unspoken. With a THUD, he fell backward to the ground, his eyes wide open, unable to rest in peace.
"Boss!" the other three cried out in alarm.
In the instant they were distracted, the short middle-aged man among them was beheaded by Liu Yuheng’s sword.
The young man dressed in brocade, who looked like the son of a rich family, immediately dropped his sword and shouted, "I surrender, don’t kill me!"
"Wang Mazi!" The thin, mustached middle-aged man glared at him and lunged forward with his sword.
’If they all died, their families would be safe. But if one of them surrendered and leaked the information, everyone’s family would have to die with them.’
"THWACK!"
A crossbow arrow pierced the thin middle-aged man’s head from behind. He staggered and fell to the ground, dead on the spot.
Pei Shaoqing casually tossed the crossbow to a subordinate, squeezed his horse’s belly with his legs, and came to a stop before the surrendered youth in brocade. He looked down on him from his high perch. "Name."
"Replying to you, Sir, this lowly one is Wang Wu. Everyone calls me Wang Mazi," the young man in brocade answered, his head bowed.
There were too many eyes and ears at the scene, so Pei Shaoqing didn’t interrogate him right away. He pulled on his reins, turned his horse toward Tongzhou City, and galloped off, shouting, "Take him back and lock him up."
"As you command!"
Everyone set off again, only this time they had a prisoner, three women, and three corpses with them.
As they were about to reach the city gates, they happened to run into Sun Youliang, who was leading a group of men out of the city to pursue the kidnappers.
"Take the three women back to their homes. Standard-Bearer Chen, you interrogate the survivor and report back to me."
After entering the city, Pei Shaoqing finished giving his orders and parted ways with them, heading back to his residence with Ye Hanshuang and Liu Yuheng.
...
"My dear wife, I found the Poisonous Plant and Soul-Attracting Flower you wanted," Pei Shaoqing said as soon as he entered.
Xie Qingwu, who was reading a book, stood up with a look of pleasant surprise and went to greet him. "Really? Quick, let me see."
Pei Shaoqing took the Soul-Attracting Flowers from his Storage Ring.
"So many!" Xie Qingwu’s mouth fell open in astonishment. "Where did you get them?" she asked in disbelief.
"A friend gave them to me." Pei Shaoqing smiled faintly and took out the Vermilion Bird Grass. "This, too."
"Ah! Vermilion Bird Grass!" Xie Qingwu recognized it instantly. Overjoyed, she said, "This is incredibly hard to find, and there’s so much of it! Husband, who is this friend of yours? They’re far too good to you."
"I’ve always been good at making friends," Pei Shaoqing said with a slight smile. "Let me test you. He grew all of these himself. Can you guess where he’s from?"
"He grew them himself?" A thoughtful expression appeared on Xie Qingwu’s face. She said tentatively, "In the Shu Region, Medicine King Valley is the most skilled in this art. Is he a successor of Medicine King Valley?"
"My wife is truly brilliant." Pei Shaoqing decided he would send someone to Medicine King Valley to inquire and see if it was true.
He was quite interested in Ouyang Rong.
Xie Qingwu’s eyes sparkled. "Husband, you certainly have a wide circle of friends. People from Medicine King Valley are highly respected in both the Jianghu and the Imperial Court. I never expected you to have formed such a deep connection with them."
Medicine King Valley kept to itself, excelling in growing herbs, alchemy, and healing. Generally, no one was willing to make an enemy of them. After all, who could say they would never need to ask Medicine King Valley for help one day? Moreover, Medicine King Valley had a vast network of connections; angering them could easily lead to being attacked by a multitude of forces.
"I suppose it’s mainly due to my outstanding personal charisma," Pei Shaoqing said, his expression unchanged.
"Heh." Xie Qingwu rolled her eyes at him, then turned to the Soul-Attracting Flowers and Vermilion Bird Grass, rubbing her hands together gleefully. "Husband, quickly help me move all of these into the Alchemy Room. We need to use them as soon as possible. Without proper storage conditions, their medicinal properties will fade quickly."
"Alright!" Pei Shaoqing was naturally happy to oblige.
After moving the raw materials into the Alchemy Room, Xie Qingwu said to Pei Shaoqing, "Husband, I’m going into seclusion for the next few days to attempt some alchemy. Just have someone leave my meals at the door. Don’t let anyone disturb me otherwise."
The other ingredients had already been delivered to the Alchemy Room ahead of time.
"Don’t worry, my wife. I’ll have Lady Gongsun instruct the servants," Pei Shaoqing nodded and agreed.
Xie Qingwu said, "You can leave now, then."
"You’re starting right now?" Pei Shaoqing was taken aback.
"Of course." Xie Qingwu was full of energy, her eyes shining. "I can’t wait to start. Besides, it’s been a while since I’ve practiced, so I need time to get back into the swing of things. Luckily, there are enough raw materials that I don’t have to worry about waste."
"Alright. I’ll leave you to it, then. I wish you success, my lady," Pei Shaoqing nodded and turned to leave.
He stood at the door and only left after watching Xie Qingwu close it. Then he went to the dungeon to bring water to the Saintess.
The Shaking Light Saintess could tell who was entering by the sound of their footsteps. She said, "You’re late today."
"Your Highness the Saintess seems to be in good spirits. It looks like you’re getting used to this kind of life. You won’t miss it when you get out, will you?" Pei Shaoqing said as he walked into the cell.
"Who would miss being chained up and kept like a dog?" The Shaking Light Saintess shot him a cold glare, then said calmly, "Hurry up and give me some water."
Having been cleaned up and changed into a fresh set of clothes, her disheveled appearance was gone, replaced once more by a sacred and inviolable aura.
Pei Shaoqing squatted in front of her with the water, catching the faint, pleasant fragrance wafting from her. He was certain Liu Yuheng wouldn’t have given her a sachet or anything of the sort.
’So this is her natural scent.’
This time, he didn’t use a bowl. Instead, he poured the water into his cupped hand and held it out to the Saintess. "Drink."
"You!" The Shaking Light Saintess’s eyes flew wide with fury.
Pei Shaoqing smiled. "You could also choose not to drink."
The Shaking Light Saintess’s face was cold as she suppressed her anger and shame, lowering her head to sip the water from his palm.
’I’ve already lost enough face in front of this man, so what’s a little more? Endure it!’
’In the future, I’ll make him pay it all back tenfold!’
But she soon found that by sipping this way, she could only moisten her lips; she couldn’t actually get any water down.
Helpless, she could only stick out her tongue to lap it up.
Just like a puppy drinking water.
The sound of lapping water was jarringly loud in the prison cell.
Listening to it, the Shaking Light Saintess’s face turned beet red.
Feeling her delicate lips and soft tongue brush against his palm, Pei Shaoqing felt a stir within him.
After this repeated countless times, once she had drunk her fill, the Shaking Light Saintess lifted her head. Her face was so red it looked like it might start bleeding, and she glared daggers at Pei Shaoqing.
Pei Shaoqing gently stroked her beautiful face, wiping away the remaining water and her saliva. He whispered, "If you were just a little more respectful to me, you could avoid this kind of humiliation. A captive should know her place."
"Yes, Young Master. This servant knows her mistake." The fire in the Shaking Light Saintess’s eyes died down. She lowered her head and, suppressing her humiliation, spoke. If a simple change in attitude could spare her from actual humiliation, she felt it was worth it.
But she never considered that this might slowly become a habit.
"Good girl," Pei Shaoqing’s lips curved into a smile. He gave her dewy lips one last gentle touch before standing up to leave.
He had just stepped out of the dungeon when Liu Yuheng rushed over to find him. "Sir, County Magistrate Wang is here. He’s waiting in the main hall and seems very angry."
"Oh?" Pei Shaoqing’s eyes narrowed. He mulled it over for a moment, then said, "Go and do this... and this."
"Understood." Liu Yuheng pressed her lips together and nodded.