Chapter 60. The words "Sui County" had recently reached his ears...
"Who...who are you? Where am I?" After spitting out several mouthfuls of seawater, the boy finally regained some consciousness.
Before him stood a very handsome man, even more handsome than the scholar in their village. However, the man's lips were pursed, and his brows were furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly, making him look quite fierce.
The fierce man in his eyes was undoubtedly Shen Guitang, who was not in a good mood at the moment.
Shen Guitang flipped the boy's eyelids again, then stood up and said coldly, "You're awake. You're fine now. You can get out of here."
The boy's gaze followed the man upwards, and he then noticed that there was a girl standing next to the man, completely soaked.
Remembering his teacher's instruction not to look at what was improper, he quickly looked away, but then suddenly remembered the clean face he had seen across the water when he thought he was going to die at sea.
That girl must be his savior.
Shen Guitang finally turned around and looked at Hengbo, who had made himself look so pitiful. Heaven knows that when he saw this person plunge into the sea, his heart almost stopped.
He knew she was sensible, but he still couldn't help feeling anxious, because he really couldn't afford to lose anyone else.
He took off his outer robe and draped it over her, then brushed aside her hair, which was as black as seaweed entwined around her forehead. His voice was low and hoarse, with a hint of gritted teeth: "Little Princess, please have a little pity on me."
Like a quail, Hengbo dared not utter a sound, wrapping her outer garment, still warm from the man's body, tightly around herself, but still couldn't help sneezing.
Shen Guitang: ...
The seawater backflow into Bin County happened yesterday. Even if the county government was not affected, a whole day has passed, and the government, no matter how slow-witted, should have realized it by now.
But in this vast expanse of sea, not a single yamen runner was to be seen. Shen Guitang's expression was somewhat gloomy: "Let's go to the county government office first."
At this very moment, within the ancient brick walls of the courtyard, beneath a weathered wooden plaque, Luo Lian, the magistrate of Bin County, paced back and forth in the hall, his mind troubled. Beside him, the two assistant magistrates of Bin County also wore worried expressions.
Outside the solemn gate, hundreds of simply dressed people blocked the road in front of the county government office, with knocking and wailing echoing everywhere.
"My lord, this can't go on any longer!" The Left County Magistrate cut Luo Lian off, his eyes, which hadn't closed all night, were dark with dark circles.
The Right County Magistrate also chimed in, "Yes, sir."
Luo Lian flicked his sleeves. "Do you think I don't know we can't delay any longer? But what can we do if we go out? Right now, the people need rice and flour, but do you think you don't know what the situation is like inside the granary?"
Quzhou had suffered from floods in the past, so each county town had a public granary to prepare for famine years. In recent years, many county magistrates had used the pretext of maintaining the public granaries to collect taxes from the people. Now that the disaster had actually occurred, the people naturally thought of the public granaries first.
The county magistrate sighed dejectedly: "Is it really true that nothing was left behind?"
Luo Lian sneered, as if mocking his naivety: "Given the appetite of these Japanese pirates, what are you still dreaming about?"
Japanese pirates have long occupied Quzhou, yet despite recent disturbances, no major wars have broken out. Isn't this because of the annual tributes from the various counties below? However, in recent years, the pirates' appetites have grown ever larger, resulting in increasingly heavy taxes on the people...
"Alas," both the left and right county magistrates sighed deeply. They understood the principle of raising a tiger to cause trouble. However, when the atmosphere in the whole of Quzhou was like this, they could at least muddle through their lives by following the example of their superiors.
As for those who thought themselves clear-headed, weren't they all long ago victims of the Japanese pirates? Their graves are now overgrown with weeds.
"Let's wait for the governor's message. We'll just follow his instructions," Luo Lian finally decided.
However, things didn't go as he wished.
"My lord, something terrible has happened!" A minor official rushed in to deliver the message.
Luo Lian was already in a bad mood, and seeing him like this made her even more impatient. She scolded him, "Such a flustered state, what kind of behavior is this!"
"Sir," the clerk gasped, "two people have broken in!"
"What?!" Luo Lian and the two county magistrates were both incredulous. "Who is so bold as to trespass on the government office!"
Before the clerk could reply, a stranger's voice came from ahead: "I am Shen Guitang, a mere sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Works. I wonder if I am qualified to step into the Bin County government office?"
Luo Lian's expression turned serious. Following the sound, she saw a handsome man followed by a girl holding a sword walking slowly towards the main hall where they were.
Luo Lian, a local county magistrate, was only a seventh-rank official, not to mention that officials in the capital were more prestigious than local officials.
Luo Lian felt a chill in her heart, hoping that this person was a friend rather than an enemy.
He smiled ingratiatingly: "Lord Shen is naturally an honored guest of my humble county office, but I am currently very busy and I am afraid that I may not be able to entertain you properly."
Shen Guitang chuckled at Xie Ke's words, as if he didn't understand the unspoken meaning: "Lord Luo, you are too kind. Guitang has come here specifically to share Lord Luo's burdens."
"Lord Shen, could it be that you were entrusted by the Prefect?"
Shen Guitang understood perfectly well that this was Luo Lian testing his stance, yet he still said, "I'm sorry to disappoint Lord Luo, but I am naturally acting on His Majesty's orders."
Luo Lian and the other two were taken aback upon hearing this, a look of apprehension flashing in their eyes. However, this person had so easily revealed his stance; it was unclear whether he was simply a naive young man who couldn't see through the situation in Quzhou, or whether he had some powerful backing.
The Right County Magistrate wiped the cold sweat from his brow and tried to smooth things over: "Prefect Li is loyal to His Majesty. This is either entrusted by Magistrate Li or ordered by His Majesty. There is no conflict between them."
Countless people outside the county government office have not had a drop of water since the seawater flooded in. Thinking of this, Shen Guitang had no patience to deal with them anymore: "I am not here to chat idly. I just want to ask Lord Luo whether this disaster will be relieved or not? If it will be relieved, how should it be done?"
Luo Lian exchanged glances with the other two, and said carefully, "Lord Shen, you may not be very clear about the situation in Bin County. Our Bin County has a small population, and most of the people rely on the sea for their livelihood and do not engage in production. Now that we have suddenly encountered a great disaster, we should open the granaries to help the people. However," he pretended to be troubled, "our county's public granaries were recently looted by Japanese pirates, and we really cannot produce so much grain now."
The two county magistrates on the left and right quickly chimed in, "Yes! Those Japanese pirates are utterly despicable."
Shen Guitang watched quietly as the three of them put on their clumsy act, and finally spoke, "The granary has been robbed, yet you gentlemen did not report it in time. In that case, it should not be too much to ask that we use the grain stored in your homes to solve this urgent problem."
Luo Lian dared not refuse and quickly agreed, "There are so many refugees that even if I emptied my own house, it wouldn't last more than a few days."
Shen Guitang said in a calm tone: "Since it was the Japanese pirates who stole the grain from the granary, they should not be short of grain, right?"
...
As they left the county government office, Hengbo grabbed Shen Guitang's sleeve: "You believe their nonsense?"
Shen Guitang sighed helplessly: "In any case, it is a fact that they have no food on hand right now. And we can certainly continue to investigate, but the people cannot wait that long."
Hengbo remained silent. The most important thing now was indeed to resettle the refugees, but there was still a small loose end to be settled before that.
"Huh? I, I...you, you?" The boy, pulled out from behind the corner by Hengbo, was flushed red and couldn't utter a coherent sentence.
The child followed them all the way from the beach to the county government office, thinking he hadn't been discovered, and kept trying to find corners to hide in.
Noticing Shen Guitang's unfriendly gaze, the boy quickly explained, "I meant no harm, it's just that I... I really have nowhere else to go."
As if afraid the two wouldn't believe him, he spilled the beans and told them his whole story: "I'm not from here. I live in Chenjia Village, Sui County. I was kidnapped by Japanese pirates."
It turns out that the child's name is Chen Yu. His ancestors have made a living by farming in Chenjia Village. A few years ago, a scholar came from Chenjia Village. The scholar opened a school in the village to teach the children to read and write.
A few days ago, he left home as usual to go to school, but halfway there someone suddenly covered his mouth and nose and he fainted after a few breaths.
After he woke up, he was moved around to several places before finally being transferred to a large ship by the sea. Then, the tide came in, and he was lucky enough to be washed ashore. He clung to a plank for the night before being rescued by Hengbo.
Shen Guitang frowned. It wasn't that he didn't believe the child's words, but there were indeed many suspicious points: "You said that the Japanese pirates traveled thousands of miles to move a child like you from Sui County to Bin County," he said with a half-smile, "what is it about you that they covet?"
In addition, the name "Sui County" has been appearing in his ears so frequently lately that it's hard not to notice it.
The boy scratched his head, equally puzzled. "The farthest place I've ever been since I was little is the county town, and my dad and grandpa are both farmers in the village. I—" He seemed to suddenly realize something, disbelief flashing in his bewildered eyes, and he quickly stopped talking.
Shen Guitang immediately noticed the change in his eyes. "Oh? It seems you really are somewhat unusual."
The boy covered his mouth in terror and turned to run back.
The horizontal wave wouldn't let him have his way. Before he could even take two steps, he was instantly airborne, with only his two short legs flapping wildly in the air.
The boy turned his head, tears welling up in his eyes: "Pretty sister, please let me go, I really can't tell."
Hengbo ignored his repeated pleas and then coldly and ruthlessly pressed the little chick in front of Shen Guitang.
Sensing the dangerous gaze of the man in front of him, the boy closed his eyes with a look of resignation, as if he were offering his neck for execution.
Shen Guitang clicked his tongue and then asked, "Where is the Japanese pirates' lair?"
Since this unfortunate kid said he was moved to multiple locations, he might know where the Japanese pirates' stronghold is in Bin County.
It wasn't that he wasn't curious about the child's identity, but as he and Hengbo had said, he had waited for so many years, and patience was the last thing he lacked.
"I don't know, eh?" The boy opened his eyes. "You're asking about the Japanese pirates' lair?"
He actually knew that.
...
Outside a quiet tavern, Hengbo was hiding in a tall banyan tree, intently observing the movements inside.
It's so quiet here, almost deathly quiet, which is quite unusual.
Staying in the tree would only be a waste of time. Remembering Shen Guitang's parting words, Hengbo gritted her teeth. She would just go in and take a look, and if she found anything wrong, she would run away immediately. That shouldn't be too risky, right...?
Passing through the front yard piled with wine jars, one finds several corpses lying scattered in the main hall, all with their hearts and lungs pierced directly by sharp weapons. The angles of the wounds are consistent, indicating they were killed by the same person. Furthermore, the hall is still neatly arranged, showing little sign of struggle, suggesting the killer's martial arts skills far surpassed those of the corpses.
Hengbo frowned; she seemed to have gotten herself into some trouble again.
As they ventured deeper, the stench of blood grew stronger, indicating that these people had likely been murdered recently, as the bloodstains on the ground had not yet dried. Furthermore, most of the bodies were facing inwards, suggesting that the killer had launched a surprise attack from the outside.
However, the weapon used by the murderer was very similar to the bayonets scattered around the corpses...
Could the murderer also be Japanese?
Before Hengbo could analyze any further, the scene before her eyes immediately revealed the answer when she reached the innermost room.
A woman's knife was pointed directly at the chest of a strangely dressed man, while the man's knife had already pierced through the woman's abdomen.
The strangely dressed man was clearly a Japanese, while the woman was dressed in Jin Dynasty clothing and looked like a Jin person.
Several strands of the man's hair had been cut off, while the bloodstains spreading across the woman's white dress resembled eerie flowers slowly blooming.
At this moment, the two who were already locked in a final battle finally realized the intrusion of the third person and turned their attention to Hengbo.
Hengbo:……
Regardless, let's kill the Japanese pirates first.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 00:09:21 and 23:38:06 on March 20, 2024!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: JOJO (2 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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