Chapter 1509: Rong People
Chapter 1509: Chapter 1509: Rong People
You Ping is injured!
Qin San Lang and Gu Jinli were both startled. You Ping had always operated in the shadows; among the several groups from Peace and Joy Celebration, his skills were the best. For him to be injured meant that the one who hurt him was definitely an expert.
"Come on, let’s go take a look." Gu Jinli took out an acne patch, quickly stuck it on, then tucked away the smelly purse and followed Qin San Lang out.
"Uncle Qin, Aunt Qin, good morning." Sister Yu and Brother Yi were playing in the courtyard. When they saw Qin San Lang and Gu Jinli, they came over to salute and greet them.
Brother Yi even asked, "Aunt Qin, are the spring seedlings doing well? My mother said they have to be hung for three days, and we can’t throw them away early just because they’re plants."
When they delivered the spring seedlings yesterday, Aunt Qin had seemed not to like the way they looked.
Gu Jinli couldn’t help laughing. She patted Brother Yi’s little head and said, "Aunt Qin treasures them very much; they’ve been hanging at the head of the bed. Brother Yi, don’t worry."
"Mm." Brother Yi nodded hard, looking as if the big stone in his heart had finally dropped, an air of precocious steadiness about him.
Sister Yu tugged Brother Yi and said, "Brother Yi, Uncle Qin and Aunt Qin have things to do. Don’t keep asking about these little things."
Brother Yi said in shock, "Delivering spring seedlings is a big thing. Mrs. Han said that back then, Mother only had us after she received spring seedlings. How can that be a small matter?"
Mrs. Han, who was standing by watching them play, flushed old-face red. Little ancestor, this isn’t something you need to say outside.
Uh... Gu Jinli said, "Brother Yi is right, spring seedlings are a big thing. But your sister is also right—Uncle Qin and Aunt Qin have business to attend to now. They have to go out first, and when they come back, they’ll keep watch over the spring seedlings, all right?"
Brother Yi said very sensibly, "All right."
"Good boy." Gu Jinli hurried off after Qin San Lang.
Doctor Dai had gone into the city last night with Village Chief Wan and had not yet returned. At this moment, it was Ye Dakou and Uncle Mu Tong who were treating You Ping’s wounds inside the tent at the Qin Family Camp.
You Ping’s injury was not a knife wound but an arrow wound.
Three four-edged short arrows with barbed hooks had driven straight into You Ping’s back, shoulder, and leg, among which the back wound was the most fatal—if it had been an inch closer to the middle, it would have hit the spine; even if he didn’t die, he would have been left a lifelong paralytic.
"The opponent’s archery is very strong. They went for the kill, yet still wanted to take a live captive." After looking at You Ping’s injuries, Gu Jinli said this, but she didn’t stay in the tent long. She soon went out, waiting to go back in after Uncle Mu Tong and the others finished treating You Ping’s wounds.
The enemy’s short arrows had barbs, which made treating the wounds very troublesome. Fortunately, Ye Dakou’s swordsmanship was good. After cutting open the flesh around You Ping’s wounds, he and Uncle Mu Tong spent three quarters of an hour to remove the short arrows and bandage the wounds.
The process of cutting open the flesh to remove the short arrows was very painful, but Gu Jinli and Doctor Wu had made a very effective anesthetic, so You Ping did not suffer too much.
"Xiao Yu, go in." Qin San Lang came out to call her, then brought her into the tent. He said to You Ping, "Take the medicine, then tell us what you ran into last night."
"Yes." You Ping responded, swallowed the Convenient Medicine San Qi handed him, and began speaking about what had happened last night.
Yesterday, after You Ping brought Er Ping and the others into the city, he divided his men into several groups of two or three and scattered them throughout the city: some went to inns and Carriage Inns to lodge; some went to brothels to drink with courtesans; some went to the beggar encampment in the West City to gather information.
As for You Ping, he took the youngest, Ping Erliu, to the East City, disguised themselves as a housekeeper from a wealthy family, and went to the East City to look for a residence.
The master had said that if the Rong people truly disguised themselves to enter the city to purchase ironware, they might also pretend to be noble Old Masters from wealthy households.
"The master guessed right. When Xiao Erliu and I got to Wenchang Street in the East City, it was just at mealtime. All the residents there are wealthy families. Yesterday was the second day of the second month; nearly every household was stewing mutton. But at the end of the street, two households had a different smell wafting out—there was a smell of roasted mutton."
"The second day of the second month is a festival for eating fresh spring foods, symbolizing a good harvest. You’re supposed to have something fresh from the fields. Around here, we all eat radish stewed with mutton; almost no one would choose to eat roasted mutton at this time. When I smelled roasting mutton, I took note of it and remembered those two households. Around midnight, I took Er Ping and Sanping to Wenchang Street..."
You Ping was very clever. He didn’t let Er Ping and Sanping go inside. He slipped into the residence alone, first stealing some gold and silver to make it look like a thief had broken in, and only then did he move toward the main courtyard, wanting to find out whether the residents were in fact Rong people.
Who knew the residence was booby-trapped. You Ping triggered a trap and was hit. Fortunately, his skills were good; he fought desperately to escape!
Looking at those three short arrows, Qin San Lang said, "There’s no need to doubt it. These barbed short arrows are exactly what the Rong people’s Witch Army uses."
The Rong people worship a Witch God with a wolf’s head and a bull’s head on a human body. In their Royal Court, they keep the Witch God’s envoys, the Wizards. They formed a secret army of Assassins under their command and named it the Witch Army, specializing in assassination, infiltration, and the like—a very formidable force.
Qin San Lang knew about the Witch Army because his father had been targeted for assassination by them several times and had once been struck by such barbed arrows.
San Qi said, "What is this Rong Witch Army doing coming into the city? If they want to fight a war, can’t they fight it openly?"
Uncle Mu Tong glared at San Qi and said, "What do you know of the Rong people’s shamelessness, you brat? Our enmity with the Rong isn’t just a day or two old. We’ve been crossing swords since the former dynasty. The Wizards they keep and call the Witch God’s envoys are in truth just a bunch of poison doctors. In war they specialize in spreading poison. In the former dynasty and in Great Chu, countless soldiers died to the poison of those Wizards."
San Qi was shocked. "Huh? Isn’t it said that you can’t use poison in war? How come these Rong still scatter poison?"
Uncle Mu Tong sneered. "Heh, who told you there’s no poison in war? Not only do they use poison, the Rong even deliberately poison our water sources, and they poison our captured soldiers. Once we exchange for our men and bring the prisoners back, the troops in the main camp get infected. In the end, there was no choice but to burn all the infected soldiers to death."
He had heard all this from Doctor Wu. Elder Wu came from Yuanzi Pharmacy; during both the former dynasty and Great Chu, the doctors from Yuanzi Pharmacy had gone to the battlefield and treated soldiers.
San Qi’s face went pale as he listened. He had always stayed in the south; how could he have known there were such terrifying things in the world?
Gu Jinli suddenly looked at You Ping and asked, "Did you do any cover-up in the city? Those Rong who sneaked in disguised will definitely have a major scheme. Even if you only stole their property, they will probably search the city in secret. If they don’t find anything, they’ll think they’re being watched and will change their plans for the sake of their scheme, and then it will be hard for us to find out what they’re plotting."
You Ping said, "To answer the master, after I escaped, I gave those valuables to Er Ping. Er Ping is about the same age and build as I am and even has his own household registration. If the Rong trace it back to him, his identity is only that of a thief from Daliang Prefecture. Once the Rong see the stolen goods, they shouldn’t suspect that they’re being watched by us and will continue with their scheme."
He added, "We also gave Er Ping three wounds."