Chapter 48 The Voodoo Doll? Uncle, we will definitely live to be a hundred years old...
What?
You want to bring your family along too!
Jiang Ge turned to look at Zhu Yuanzhang, and was about to speak to dissuade him from this idea when he saw an old man with a full head of white hair huddled in a corner, silently eating a flatbread and missing his deceased wife.
Never mind.
——
Magistrate Xu straightened his clothes and strode towards the back courtyard of the county government office. He had been tossing and turning at night for the past few days, feeling that the atmosphere in the county government office was becoming increasingly strange. First, a registrar named Zhou Yu arrived, and he was constantly surrounded by people whenever he went out. Then, a kiln worker who called himself "Zhu Chongba" appeared; his entire demeanor was unlike that of an ordinary craftsman. Were these people really all from the mountains?
County Magistrate Xu wanted to have a chat with County Magistrate Jiang, mainly about why there were so many yamen runners and whether "that mountain" really existed.
Confucius once said... You can't treat people like idiots!
In short, he wanted an explanation from Magistrate Jiang; he wanted to hear the truth.
Where did these brave soldiers come from?
County Magistrate Xu walked briskly (though not actually very fast), and as soon as he reached the path, he looked up and saw Hei Fu walking side by side with a stranger.
Who is this person?
......
County Magistrate Xu clenched his small fists silently. This time, he was determined to get to the bottom of this and find out where this person came from.
"Another one?!" Magistrate Xu trembled with anger, nearly dropping his folding fan. He took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and strode forward: "This..."
Before he could finish speaking, the young man suddenly turned around. The instant their eyes met, Magistrate Xu was struck dumb. What kind of eyes were those—sharp as a blade, as if a thousand armies were galloping past wherever his gaze fell. Magistrate Xu felt his legs go weak, and he involuntarily took three steps back, his back slamming against a pillar with a thud.
"Confucius once said..." Magistrate Xu's lips trembled, and a phrase suddenly flashed through his mind: "A dragon trapped in shallow waters is mocked by shrimp." But what kind of trapped dragon was this? It was clearly a real dragon! Its noble aura and its domineering gaze were probably unmatched by even kings and generals.
It's incredibly expensive!
Seeing this, Hei Fu quickly tried to smooth things over: "Lord Xu, this is the newcomer, Huo..."
"I suddenly remembered I have official business to attend to!" Magistrate Xu abruptly bowed, turned, and left. Even after he was quite a distance away, you could still hear him muttering to himself, "Confucius said... Do not look at what is improper, do not speak what is improper... The weather is really nice today..."
Huo Qubing watched the hastily departing Magistrate Xu, his brows furrowing slightly: "This sir..."
Why is that so strange?
Hei Fu smiled憨厚ly: "Lord Xu has always been like this, General Huo please forgive him."
County Magistrate Xu jogged back to his office, slammed the door shut, and clutched his pounding heart. He now understood that those residing in Magistrate Jiang's county office were probably some truly extraordinary dragons!
These people are probably all highly skilled.
Ever since Magistrate Jiang arrived, the commotion has never stopped. Although it's all good news for the country and the people, seeing this new yamen runner today made Magistrate Xu uneasy. Would such a person really be willing to be a yamen runner?
Would Huo Qubing be content to be a mere yamen runner?
The answer is, of course, —
Absolutely impossible.
This prodigy, who was appointed General of the Cavalry at the age of nineteen, had the eight characters "How can I have a home when the Xiongnu have not been destroyed?" Making him patrol the streets daily and resolve neighborhood disputes was more unbearable than having his hands and feet tied. At lunchtime, the novel food smelled delicious, but Huo Qubing didn't even touch his chopsticks, only gazing at the sky in a daze.
Jiang Ge looked at Huo Qubing from afar, his mind clear as day—some people are like the wind beyond the Great Wall, born to gallop freely, and cannot be forced to stay.
Seeing this, Jiang Ge had no choice but to hand Huo Qubing a brochure from the system store as well, pulling out all the stops. She didn't believe Huo Qubing wouldn't be tempted by the things in the brochure.
Besides, even if Huo Qubing wasn't tempted, wouldn't His Majesty the Pig King be tempted?
Um?
His Majesty the Pig was very excited, his eyes practically sparkling.
He especially wanted and liked all of these things, including maps, biographies of Liu Che, and game consoles.
"Liu Che's badge?" His Majesty the Pig frowned. "What does 'baji' mean?" He continued scrolling down, then suddenly stopped.
The Biography of Emperor Wu of Han?
"Tsk." He curled his lip in dissatisfaction. "Who came up with this posthumous title? It's so tacky!"
I don't like him, and I don't even know which emperor of the Han Dynasty he was.
When Liu Che finally turned to the cotton doll (Liu Che version), he stopped and stared at it closely. It was a tiny cotton doll, no bigger than the palm of his hand—round face, almond eyes, wearing a crown, with a small wooden sword at its waist. They even sewed a dragon robe onto the doll; it was a perfect replica of…
The pig was furious. He said that the reason he had been feeling sore back and aches these past few days was because someone was trying to harm him!
As dusk settled, the grand hall of the Han Dynasty remained brightly lit. Huo Qubing sat upright at the lower end, exuding a chilling aura of killing intent. This was his first day back from duty, and the hall was already filled with people—it was less a welcome feast and more an opportunity to probe the truth behind the divine recruitment.
Huo Qubing spun the teacup in his palm, then looked up and met Wei Qing's gaze briefly before looking away.
Just for this one moment.
Wei Qing tightened his grip on the wine cup. Between uncle and nephew, words were no longer needed. They were bound by the strongest bloodline; no words were required, only a glance.
Wei Qing understood what his nephew meant; the future looked bleak.
Wei Zifu's eyelashes cast shadows on the water glass. She didn't engage with the glances of her younger brother Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, but she sensed an impending storm from her brother's suddenly straightened back. She already had a premonition.
Now is not the time to speak.
"Your Majesty," Wei Zifu suddenly called softly, her voice as sweet as snow water, "is the newly offered wine to your liking?"
Emperor Wu of Han, seated at the head of the table, seemed not to hear.
The emperor's long, slender fingers were pressed firmly on the booklet, hovering over a certain page for almost an hour. The candlelight cast his shadow on the wall, making him resemble a lurking, angry dragon. The hall gradually fell silent; even breathing became faint.
Wei Zifu saw it clearly—His Majesty's thumb was stroking a strange picture: a little figure sewn from cotton cloth, wearing a dragon robe, with the character "彻" embroidered on its chest with silk thread!
Is this a witchcraft doll?
No one dares to cross an emperor in a bad mood.
Liu Che was not only in a bad mood. As Emperor Wu of Han, who was on par with Qin Shi Huang, the two had one thing in common: superstition.
Liu Che was even more superstitious than Ying Zheng.
For example, Luan Da, a charlatan, was appointed "General" and even married Princess Wei Chang, Liu Che's daughter, based on his nonsense about being able to summon immortals to earth. Later, when it was discovered that he was a fraud, Zhu Zhu was furious and had him cut in half at the waist.
Liu Che's finger paused, "What audacity..." His voice suddenly became terrifyingly soft, yet the surrounding air seemed to freeze into ice.
How dare anyone openly curse me?
That's incredibly bold!
Liu Che tore off this page. He wanted the sorcerer to perform an exorcism. His breathing gradually calmed his mind, and he looked at the others.
Knowing that Huo Qubing was unwilling to stay in Songyang County to work, Liu Che's fingers gently turned the pages of the "System Mall Manual," stopping at a colorful illustration of "Sweet Potato Planting." The golden sweet potato tubers were plump like a baby's arm, and the small print next to them was alarming: "Yield of forty shi per mu, drought-resistant and locust-resistant."
"To cure illness," the emperor suddenly spoke, the incense in the hall scattering in the shock. "If the Han Dynasty had such a crop, would the starving and freezing people still resort to cannibalism?"
Liu Che wanted to destroy the Xiongnu, but there was an opportunity to recruit immortals and gain advantages, so why didn't he take advantage of it? And with so many good things to offer, why wasn't he the one recruited?
Huo Qubing's gaze lingered on the painting for a moment. The young general had witnessed the tragic scene of starving people for miles around, and the sight of kneeling people gnawing on tree bark along the roadside was more heart-wrenching than the swords of the Xiongnu.
"Your Majesty," he knelt on one knee, his armor clanging, "my sword—"
"Your sword can slay ten thousand barbarian cavalry, but it cannot end the famine of the world." Liu Che suddenly slammed the booklet on the table, startling the officials below. The pages flipped to the potato page, where the North American plant appeared lush and green. "I want you to stay here, not to trap the eagle—but to use these seeds to feed the people of my Great Han!"
Wei Qing gently placed his teacup on the table. He understood the emperor's strategy—high-yield crops were better at defending the borders than famous generals, and only the prestige of the Marquis of Champion could deter the villains.
Let's just keep doing it. Anyway, I can come back tonight, and it's safe.
"You patrol the streets by day and train the troops by night. When spring comes..." The emperor traced a picture of "corn" with his fingertip, "I want to see the Han Dynasty's military farms filled with these golden ears of corn."
Huo Qubing's hands trembled slightly, but he still accepted the mission for the sake of the Han Dynasty.
"I...obey your order."
The palace banquet lights gradually went out, casting two long shadows on the jade steps of Weiyang Palace. Wei Qing suddenly reached out and brushed a fallen leaf off his nephew's shoulder.
"Don't overthink it." The general pressed his palm heavily on the boy's shoulder. "First, bring back the seeds His Majesty wants."
Huo Qubing walked silently under the moonlight. The lamps on both sides of the palace road sometimes lengthened their shadows and sometimes blurred them.
The eunuch holding the lantern stopped before the Xuanwu Gate. As the last ray of light was swallowed up by the vermilion palace gate, Huo Qubing suddenly gripped the jade pendant at his waist.
“Uncle…” His voice was softer than the night fog, “If I were to say…” How could he say it? How could he begin? How could he recount their historical fate?
Wei Qing turned around in surprise, "You're twenty-four and you'll die before me?" Wei Qing suddenly laughed, slapping the boy's back with his rough palm, "You brat, you're strong enough to strangle a horse now, you can't even choose a nice way to curse yourself!"
"You little rascal, you're sure to live to be a hundred."
Huo Qubing's muscles tensed. He saw the lingering air of triumph in Wei Qing's smile, but Uncle... how can I convince you that all of this is true?
“This is no joke.” He suddenly grabbed Wei Qing’s wrist. “I met people from later generations in Songyang County, and this is what they said…”
Wei Qing, his face pale, stared intently into Huo Qubing's eyes, as if trying to rip some absurd joke out of the young general's pupils.
Why so early?
A warm drop suddenly landed on the back of Huo Qubing's hand. He looked up in surprise and saw tears welling up in Wei Qing's red eyes.
“You promised…” Wei Qing’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently, “that you would watch me grow old and gray, that you would break a basin and send me off in my final moments…” His fingernails dug deeply into Huo Qubing’s wrist.
A suppressed sob drifted through the night. Huo Qubing then noticed that his uncle was biting his lower lip tightly.
“We have Magistrate Jiang,” the boy suddenly said.
Wei Qing froze.
“If there are high-yielding seeds, there must also be medicine that can cure diseases.” Huo Qubing pried open Wei Qing’s clenched, white fingers and held them tightly.
"Uncle, we will definitely live to be a hundred years old!"
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Author's Note: From now on, updates will be fixed at 9 AM. Please don't let it get too long! [pity][pity] Please add this to your favorites! [laughing]
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