The Living Yama (Part 3)

Xiong Tu, panting, said, "I would like to trouble Qing Niangzi to take my token to Changning Army and inform Deputy Commander Zhou that the Yixi salt smugglers are causing trouble. He knows what to do."

I looked him over and asked, "Where is the token?"

Xiong Tu's face was as pale as paper, and his deep voice carried a hint of embarrassment: "The left lining of my inner garment. I'm a little weak, could you—" Before he could finish speaking, his eyes closed slightly, as if he had exhausted even the strength to speak, with only his chest rising and falling weakly.

Without saying a word, I lifted the covers and started from the inner lapel tie under his arm, pinching all the way down to the waist of his undergarment. Sure enough, I touched a hard object that looked like a seal. Just as I was about to reach out and take it out, I suddenly heard a long neighing of a black horse coming from outside the courtyard.

I breathed a sigh of relief, quickly withdrew my hand, pulled the blanket back, and said to Xiong Tu, "Wait a moment!" I got up quickly and ran to the door.

"Lady Qing!" It was Wei Ji, Guo Cheng, and a squad of archers from the patrol office who arrived.

"You've finally arrived!" I beckoned Lin Zhong over and asked him to lead the patrol officers to Daqingyan to inspect the scene. Then I said to Wei Ji, "Prefect Wei, come with me quickly."

I led Wei Ji to Feng Qiao's house, where Liu Yu was administering acupuncture to Xiong Tu. As he finished removing the needles, he instructed, "Remember that the injured person must rest in bed and not exert any more energy."

Wei Ji nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, Doctor Liu."

"It's alright." Liu Yu turned and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

Xiong Tu slightly raised his eyelids and weakly asked, "Who is this—"

Wei Ji walked to the bedside, took his hand and bowed: "Wei Ji, the prefect of Yuezhou, pays his respects to Lord Xiong, the prefect of Luzhou."

"Ji Zhou, it really is you!" Xiong Tu's eyes lit up, and he struggled to get up.

Seeing this, Wei Ji quickly grabbed him and said, "Be careful!"

"You've come at the perfect time!" Xiong Tu's eyes blazed with malice as he gritted his teeth and said, "Take my imperial insignia and immediately go to the Changning Army to summon three battalions of elite troops. Push them along the Eight Pavilions Road, one pavilion at a time. I want those salt smugglers to die without a burial place!"

“Botong, calm down,” Wei Ji said earnestly. “In this turmoil in Yixi, many disaster victims have been caught up in it, and we must be cautious in suppressing the rebels.”

“Ji Zhou, you don’t know this, but these salt smugglers are equipped like government troops. If we don’t wipe them out, they will surely cause a great disaster.” Xiong Tu reached into his robes and rummaged around inside.

Wei Ji pressed his hand down and said, "Bo Tong!"

Xiong Tu's eyes flashed coldly: "Prefect Wei, are you going to disobey orders?"

Wow, he really is a "living Yama"...

Without making a sound, I walked to the bedside, chopped Xiong Tu on the back of the neck with a hand chop, quickly tore open his clothes, picked out the military seal, and threw it to Wei Ji.

"Sigh." Wei Ji sighed softly, tucking the talisman into his robes. "He's still seriously injured. You went too far."

I glanced at the unconscious Xiong Tu and said dismissively, "It's alright, Liu Yu is here, he won't die. Leave this to me, go do your thing!"

Wei Ji took his leave, and I stayed in the house until the middle of the night. I noticed that Xiong Tu was showing signs of waking up, so I used the same trick again and knocked him unconscious once more.

Unexpectedly, Feng Qiao came running over early in the morning with a worried look on his face. It seemed the "Living Yama" was about to wake up again, and he asked me what to do. I was worried about accidentally hurting him, so I had Huai Xu go to Yanziping to ask Liu Yu for advice.

Liu Yu drafted a prescription and repeatedly instructed that this medicine should not be taken for a long time, otherwise it might damage the brain.

On the evening of the third day, Guo Cheng passed by the inn and brought good news to everyone—Wei Ji had used a combination of suppression and appeasement to quell the rebellion at Yixi.

Overjoyed, I remembered that Xiong Tu had been in a coma for several days, so I quickly told Huai Xu to stop giving him the medicine tonight and to burn the prescription written by Liu Yu.

Early the next morning, I was feeding the chickens in the yard when Huai Xu and Feng Qiao excitedly rushed over to deliver the news—Xiong Tu had woken up.

The "Living Yama" was very dedicated to his work; the first thing he asked me when he saw me was, "Have the salt smugglers been brought to justice?"

I nodded and replied, "The bandit leader has been captured alive, and the head of the Criminal Investigation Department has taken him to Zizhou for questioning."

Xiong Tu's face showed a look of relief, but then his brows furrowed again, and he asked, "What happened to those rioters who followed him?"

I chuckled slightly: "Your Excellency, where did all these rioters come from? They are just starving people who have been deceived by bandits."

"The salt smugglers tricked them—saying that joining would bring food and clothing—and they all rushed over. Poor commoners, unless they were truly desperate, who would risk their lives to oppose the government?"

"This tactic is just like how Feng Qiao was tricked into joining the fake Celestial Masters sect back then. When people are desperate, their minds aren't so clear."

"Now that the bandit leader has been captured, the refugees who followed him have not yet committed any serious crimes. Lord Wei has taken charge and distributed some seeds and rations, ordering them to return home immediately. The people have already dispersed."

After hearing my words, Xiong Tu frowned and exclaimed, "Foolish! Ji Zhou is foolish! The southwestern barbarians are fierce and lazy by nature. Once they taste the sweetness of success, they will definitely repeat the same trick when they have the chance again. Time and time again, they will extort the government and make endless demands!"

I said with a stern face, "Lord Xiong, so you don't even consider us Liao people human beings in your eyes, is that it?"

Xiong Tu's expression hardened, and he cupped his hands, saying, "I apologize! I misspoke, and I hope Lady Qing will forgive me."

I snorted coldly, "I won't see him." Just as I was about to leave, Feng Qiao ran over and said, "Aunt, Lord Wei is here!"

Perfect timing! Let's quickly grab this "living devil" and get him out of here...

I glanced at Xiong Tu and instructed Feng Qiao, "Bring the Prefect here."

A moment later, Wei Ji entered, clasped his hands and bowed to Xiong Tu: "Lord Xiong, are you all better?" He then turned to me and said, "Thank you for taking care of the Prefect these past few days at Qingcheng Inn."

"Lord Wei, you flatter me." I replied with a forced smile. "Lord Xiong has secured the borders and brought peace to the people. We, the southwestern barbarians, are deeply grateful to him. How could we dare to accept another word of thanks? I will take my leave now. Please continue your conversation, gentlemen." After saying this, I retreated outside, leaving the door slightly ajar. The sounds of the two arguing could be heard from behind me.

"Wei Jizhou! Where did you get the money and food for disaster relief?"

“Naturally, it comes from your Luzhou government treasury.”

"You, what right do you have to take my grain?!"

"Here, I'm returning your official seal and insignia. You were the one who forced it into my hands that day."

"I ordered you to mobilize troops from Changning Army, not to procure grain from Luzhou!!"

"Lord Xiong clearly ordered me to transfer grain. Lady Qing was also present that day and can serve as a witness."

"You bastard Wei Ji, I'm going to report you to the authorities!"

“Xiong Botong, don’t turn your back on me. During the Yixi Rebellion, I saved you so much military pay. You shouldn’t impeach me; you should recommend me instead.”

After a short while, Wei Ji returned to the front of the hall, took my hand and bowed deeply: "This time, the salt smugglers colluded with the border refugees to cause trouble. It was thanks to Qing Niangzi's timely discovery and proper response that a major disaster was averted. On behalf of the people of Yuezhou, Wei Ji expresses his gratitude to Qing Niangzi for her kindness."

"Why are you being so polite with me, Prefect Wei?" I lifted my eyelids, lowered my head and fiddled with the abacus in my hand. "If you really want to thank me, then quickly take that person from the inner room away."

Wei Ji coughed lightly and said in a low voice, "I offered to escort him back to Luzhou, but he said there are imperial physicians here and he wants to wait until he recovers before setting off."

"What?!" I looked up abruptly, glaring at Wei Ji, and said in exasperation, "Doesn't he like peace and quiet? You might as well send him to a Taoist temple! This place is always bustling with people; it's not suitable for recuperating!"

“I have mentioned Qingfeng Temple and Junlian Town to him, but he only wants to stay here.”

"No—" I clicked the abacus beads loudly, "Take him to Liu Yu's place, whatever you do, don't leave him in my shop!"

“I have thought about it,” Wei Ji said apologetically and sincerely. “Although Yanziping is close, it is, after all, a place where exiled people from the ‘Rongguan’ camp reside. There are also many Liao people seeking treatment from Liu Yu. If we are not careful, a dispute may arise, and innocent people may be implicated. This is what neither of us wants to see.”

What Wei Ji said was not without reason.

I shoved the abacus aside and muttered, "I'll settle this score with you another day!" With that, I turned towards the courtyard and called out loudly, "Feng Qiao, see the guest out!"

Watching the two leave the inn, he felt resentful thinking about how he would still have to face that "living Yama" day and night for many days to come: It's all Lin Zhong's fault for picking up such a thing!

The newly inserted hollyhocks in the bamboo tube were bright and dazzling. I angrily plucked one off and looked for Lin Zhong. Suddenly, I saw him get up from his usual corner and walk silently toward the door. I aimed at his profile and threw the flower.

Lin Zhong tilted his head, caught the flower, and slowly walked over, putting it back into the bamboo tube: "Master, this flower didn't offend you."

I retorted angrily, "You've offended me!"

Lin Zhong glanced at me and turned halfway around: "I said I'd bury it, but you wouldn't agree."

"How dare you talk to me like that?!" I grabbed the abacus to hit him, but he didn't dodge. So I switched hands halfway and slapped him hard across the shoulder and back. It hurt so much that I yelled, "Ouch! That's going to kill you! Why are you so tense?!"

Lin Zhong lowered his eyes and said softly, "You used too much force."

"I—" I pressed my temples, "Huai Xu! Go and pluck all the newly sprouted hollyhock seedlings to make soup! Don't leave a single one!"

Around noon, Huai Xu came skipping over and said, "Godmother, look—"

She opened her palms, revealing an egg in each hand. I laughed and said, "Wow, all that millet I've fed you these past few months hasn't been for nothing."

"Godmother, add these two freshly laid eggs to the hollyhock soup for dinner, and add a few drops of sesame oil. It will be delicious!"

Back then, Liu Yu came to consult a doctor and specifically advised that "Living Yama" was deficient in both qi and blood. If he only ate two meals a day, he would probably need to recuperate for quite some time. It would be best to add an extra lunch to aid his recovery.

Thinking of this, I quickly said, "No need, the original flavor of the sunflower soup is the best. Give these two eggs to Feng Qiao and have him steam a bowl of egg custard in the kitchen and send it to his wife in his room."

"Ah—" Huai Xu's drawn-out voice was filled with resentment, "Are you going to give him both of them? Can't we keep one for ourselves to try?"

"Sigh—" I sighed, "If I want him to leave sooner, I have to let him recover from his injuries as quickly as possible; if I want him to recover quickly, I have to give him more good food."