Chapter 9: The Suzaku God of Heaven cannot hear the wishes of the people, only my bell rings...
Yan Jing left Chuntao in the mansion on the grounds that "it is better to travel light and not bring too many people". He rode in the same carriage with Wen Ying, and asked Geng You and several guards to ride in another one.
Just like last time, the two of them sat on either side of the carriage. Yan Jing leaned against the wall and read a book, while Wen Ying leaned on the other side and played with a strand of her hair.
Her long eyelashes blocked her view, and Yan Jing observed Wen Ying's behavior with his peripheral vision.
Chuntao is not as good at martial arts as Wen Ying, and is most likely the person who is good at disguise. Therefore, in order to prevent the last incident from happening again, he keeps Chuntao under guard in the mansion.
Let's see what she will do this time.
Before going out, Wen Ying changed into the same silver-white skirt as him, which made her already fair face look three times whiter than snow.
Slender fingers outline, rotate and wrap, making the well-maintained black hair exude a warm luster under the faint light, like the night sky hiding the stars.
Realizing that his thoughts had drifted away, Yan Jing instantly retracted his gaze and turned his attention back to the paper with black words on a white background.
In the deep color, Wen Ying suddenly thought of the messy and frizzy black hair, and the numb and distracted eyes, as if the soul was taken away by the abyss, leaving only a body chasing the illusory hope.
Wen Ying was born into a family of generals. Although her father came from a poor family, she was able to hold a sharp sword from a master and learn martial arts from a master since she was a child.
Even though he later became an exile, slept under bridges, ate dog food, and picked up garbage, and encountered many setbacks, he still became famous because of the extraordinary abilities he developed from these advantages.
The first target of the commission was a wealthy businessman who bullied men and women. Wen Ying robbed his mansion on the night she killed him, and from then on she no longer had to sleep in the open air.
Compared with the common people who have nothing and have to start from scratch, she is undoubtedly lucky.
So, in today's world where the imperial court is exhausted from resisting foreign enemies and unable to manage the lives of the lower classes, how can the unfortunate people survive?
Soon, Wen Ying got the answer.
As soon as she got off the carriage, she saw a low house - perhaps it could not be called a house. A few wooden sticks propped up patched rags, supporting the sky for a family of three.
Such "houses" fill the open space in front of us. Some people don't even have such conditions. They just use the sky as a blanket and the ground as a bed, curled up to sleep in the sun, their cracked lips swallowing the cold air, their hands and feet covered with chilblains clasped on their fleshless skin and bones.
Most of her clients and targets are wealthy and powerful people who have never lived in densely populated areas in order to avoid officials when they were busy traveling.
This was the first time she saw what the slums looked like.
Wen Ying looked at the scene in front of her and was deeply shocked. She was speechless for a moment.
"Ms. Liu?"
A doubtful voice called her back to her senses, and Yan Jingyazheng's face showed worry: "Are you okay? Do you need to go back and rest?"
Wen Ying looked at his eyebrows and moved her lips slightly, wanting to say something, when she suddenly felt the hem of her skirt being pulled slightly.
"My dear... do you want a child? A newborn, natural born, guaranteed to be healthy..." A woman in tattered clothes and dirty face knelt on the ground, holding a rag swaddling cloth in one hand, looking at Wen Ying with a pleading expression.
The woman herself was naked, but the baby in the cradle had a fair face and was wrapped tightly, showing that the baby was being cared for with great care.
Her request was not for money, but for a chance of survival for her child.
Which mother would be willing to be separated from her child if it meant she couldn't survive?
Wen Ying pursed her lips, lifted her skirt, squatted down, and reached out to hold the woman's hand.
The woman was afraid that the mud on her hands would stain the nobleman's hands, so she stepped back, but Wen Ying caught up with her and held her hands with both hands.
"Leave the child to me. If you miss her later, you can always take her back."
Yan Jing watched Wen Ying's actions, did not stop her, but just silently took a few steps back.
Wen Ying's words made the woman unbelievable: "My dear, is what you said true?"
After receiving a serious look and an affirmative answer, she felt warm liquid about to fall from the corners of her eyes.
She knelt down and crawled a few steps back, kowtowed to the girl repeatedly: "Thank you, my noble lady, you are a really good person, the Suzaku God will bless you!"
Suzaku...God?
Wen Ying frowned when she heard this name.
Is it her unique belief?
Yan Jing took a few steps back.
Wen Ying took the baby from the woman's arms. The people around heard the noise and saw the girl's actions. They immediately understood what had happened and knelt in front of the girl.
"My dear! Her family has a girl! My family is different, my family has a boy!"
"Get out of the way. Your boy is almost one year old! My dear, please look at my baby. My baby is not even full-term yet!"
"Please... take her away."
The dark crowd knelt in a circle, completely blocking Wen Ying's way out.
Everyone held their children and kowtowed madly, and some of them had blood oozing from their foreheads.
Wen Ying understood their thoughts in an instant.
There are too many miserable people in the current situation. Once you exude some kindness, there will be people who rush towards the light like moths to a flame, until the flame is extinguished by the bodies of countless moths.
No wonder the "unparalleled gentleman" was indifferent when faced with the poor women and children kneeling on their backs. He had known that such a situation would occur!
Wen Ying looked to her side suddenly and found that Yan Jing had retreated more than ten steps away from her, just out of the encirclement.
Damn Yan Yunlang, why didn’t he remind her?
What's "as bright as the moon"? It's clearly a bamboo leaf green pit viper with a lot of bad intentions!
Yan Jing looked at Wen Ying, who was in a dilemma as she held the child, and half-closed his eyes.
It doesn't seem like she's pretending. Has she really never thought of such consequences?
She should have been born in a well-off family, or even above that.
I saw that the poor man had already pulled Wen Ying's clothes, leaving black marks on her silver-white skirt.
Yan Jing frowned and coughed lightly.
Geng You, who was standing beside him, understood immediately and led his guards to evacuate the crowd. "Make way, make way. How can you force others to raise your children like this? Do you think you are a cuckoo?"
In the biting cold light of winter, the poor people shrank their necks, timidly withdrew their hands, and slowly dispersed, only occasionally looking back with eyes filled with reluctance and unwillingness.
Wen Ying was still frightened, and in order to prevent such a thing from happening again, she wanted to return her child to her biological mother, but in the blink of an eye she found that the woman had already left in the chaos.
"Miss Liu is a kind-hearted person. I believe the child's mother will definitely thank you." Yan Jing's voice sounded at the right time, earning a glare from Wen Ying.
She didn't care about trying to please anyone or using a honey trap. She held the baby in one hand and poked the man's collar with her other hand. She said angrily, "Master Yan is really going too far. You obviously expected this situation, why didn't you warn me!"
Yan Jing blinked innocently, curled his lips and smiled: "Miss Liu is kind-hearted and wants to do good deeds. How can I stop her?"
"You!" Wen Ying was choked and speechless. She cursed several times in her heart and angrily stuffed the child in her arms into Yan Jing's arms. "In this case, please ask the well-known 'Unparalleled Gentleman' to share the burden with me!"
Having said that, he walked forward without caring about Yan Jing's reaction.
Yan Jing had always known that he had this nickname, but this was the first time he heard someone mention it in front of him. He was stunned for a moment and then subconsciously caught the child.
He lowered his head, looked at the baby who was not crying or making a fuss, and burst out laughing.
The way the girl frankly lost her temper with herself was much more vivid than her usual porcelain-like performance.
A lot cuter too.
"Geng You, carry the child to the carriage and send someone to take him back to the mansion."
Hearing Yan Jing's instructions, Geng You widened his eyes and pointed a finger at himself: "Me?"
After receiving a bone-chilling look, Geng You immediately stood still and saluted: "Yes!"
Wen Ying walked a few dozen steps and suddenly remembered that the reason she came out was to go to work with Yan Jing, and she had no idea where to go.
So he walked back again, but said to Yan Jing with an expressionless face because of anger: "You go ahead!"
I thought the powerful young master of aristocratic family would be annoyed, but Yan Jing just smiled and said, "Okay."
You're not angry at him at all?
Wen Ying couldn't help but wonder if she had taken the wrong path. Could it be that Yan Jing preferred the type of unruly and headstrong young lady?
This shouldn't be the case. When she was reading a romance novel, it clearly said that men love soft, gentle and docile women?
Wen Ying followed Yan Jing while thinking. With the guards with long swords on their waists protecting them, no one around dared to step forward and offend them.
Before Wen Ying could figure out what was going on, she suddenly heard a ethereal ring tone.
"bite--"
The ringing sound echoed in the air, like a stone falling into a lake, splashing countless fragments of memories.
The surging crowd, the fallen woman, the sunken bones...
Wen Ying immediately turned her gaze towards the source of the sound, and what came into view was a tall building.
The white walls and green tiles stand tall like a temple. The steps at the door are spotless. The doorposts supporting the roof are engraved with two lines of text:
"The sky cannot hear the wishes of the people"
“Only my bell can shake the world”
A high platform was erected in front of the building, on which sat a man in a red robe, with small golden bells wrapped around his body. In his hand he held a large and exquisite bell, which, with a slight wave, emitted the same ethereal sound as before.
The red robe was embroidered with phoenix patterns, and from a distance it looked like a ball of gorgeous fireworks.
Wen Ying frowned and couldn't help asking Yan Jing, "Who is that person on the stage?"
Yan Jing looked at the man in red indifferently, his eyes as frozen as dead water.
He replied, "Suzaku God."
There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
There were countless people kneeling under the platform, each holding a golden bell in their hands, exactly the same as the one on the red-robed man.
After the bell rang three times, the man in red robe on the stage put down the bell in his hand, clasped his hands together, and slowly lowered his head.
A tall woman in red stood at the side of the stage and shouted loudly:
"When the bell rings, the people's wishes will be fulfilled!"
As she spoke, she raised the tray in her hand high up, making sure it could be seen by everyone.
The plate was filled with several beautifully packaged glass bottles, filled with golden liquid.
"Today's wish is to be free from all diseases."
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