Chapter 12 The suspicion about her identity wasn't limited to just a young Taoist priest…
What's the point of just watching someone mix paint? Xie Cheng was completely baffled.
Because of his unpredictable personality, and because he disliked being constantly questioned, he was a commander who was difficult to understand.
He moved his lips slightly, but ultimately swallowed his words.
Zi Jing glanced at those around him, who seemed hesitant and unsure of what to say. In a rare moment of good mood, he explained slowly, "Someone who speaks a foreign language, a language that has never been seen anywhere in the world. The last person with this characteristic was a woman who had been lurking around my godfather for many years, several years ago. She also knew a secret language that had never been seen before."
"Furthermore, Rong Yune said she wanted to kill my little falcon. Falcons are fierce creatures, common in the Northwest. Ordinary people would avoid them if they saw them, let alone kill them. Who knows if it's not a trick? Does she know something in secret and deliberately use this to test me?"
Zi Jing said quietly, "These can all be called coincidences, but I always feel that this person is not simple."
“Just wait and see.” He turned to Xie Cheng: “If she can really master that peacock blue, it will further prove that her identity is far more than just a simple Taoist priest.”
Xie Cheng's heart sank slightly, and he hesitated, "What if this little Taoist priest Yu Nie is really from Nan Yin, or a spy sent by some small tribe or country?" His face was full of worry: "Wouldn't the commander's true identity also be at risk of being exposed?"
"We'll deal with whatever comes our way, one step at a time." The young man seemed completely unconcerned: "Even if she is a spy, if she is truly capable enough to be of use to me, it's not impossible."
Xie Cheng was not surprised by his words.
The fact that Xuan Ce's army became the number one army in Beiye and guarded the world is inseparable from the young man in front of him.
Selecting capable individuals for promotion was a rule established by Xuan Ce, the commander of the northern border army. Even if someone was an enemy, as long as they were talented and willing to surrender, he would give them a chance to live.
Conquering the world cannot be achieved solely through killing; Huan Xun always upheld this principle.
"Take a nap. In an hour, it'll be time to meet with Magistrate He." After saying this, Zi Jing glanced at the young Taoist priest wearing a cloth turban, and without saying anything more, turned and gracefully returned to his room.
Xie Cheng lingered for a moment, glanced at Yu Nie who was constantly stirring the pot with a wooden spoon before leaving, and then followed him away.
It was a hot day, so Ah Hui went to the kitchen and poured her a bowl of tea.
As Yu Nie tilted her head back to drink her tea, she happened to catch a glimpse of the embroidered gold sleeves fluttering as the young man left.
Lang Xi followed her gaze and turned around to look at her: "What are you looking at, Junior Sister?"
"Huan Zijing." She uttered his name without any hesitation.
Although this captain wasn't a high-ranking official, Zi Jing was, in their eyes, quite amiable and without any airs of authority. But her uninhibited use of people's names so casually startled Lang Xi and A Hui.
Ah Hui quickly tugged at her sleeve and gestured, "Junior sister, be careful with your words and actions. No matter how approachable Commandant Huan is, he is still an official. He is a military general who uses spears and clubs. If you address him like that, you may offend his people."
Yu Nie said, "I know, senior brothers and sisters. I only called him that because I was in front of you. Besides, he's already gone, so he can't hear me."
Lang Xi sighed and replied, "Senior sister knows you are a sensible person, but everything should be done with caution and subtlety."
"I know, Senior Sister, I'll be careful." As she spoke, she looked towards Cui Miaochang's bedroom and asked in surprise, "Have Uncle and that Senior Brother Zhang finished their conversation yet?"
It was quite a coincidence that the person who saved her yesterday turned out to be a disciple of Cui Miaochang's friend. It was truly a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple; family members didn't recognize each other.
"Not yet," Langxi replied, her gaze also turning to the gray-brown curtain, obscuring the view inside. "They probably have something important to discuss, which is why they've been talking for so long."
After listening to the two of them finish speaking, Ah Hui raised her hand and gestured: "This Senior Brother Zhang looks unfamiliar. Is he the newly accepted disciple of that senior master who lives far away in Lingnan?"
Yu Nie stirred the grayish paint, the smell of which was a bit pungent: "Definitely."
The three of them chatted for a while longer, and when Langxi and Ahui saw that she didn't need help, they went about their own business.
Making pigments requires patience. Yu Nie's temperament is just right for this kind of work.
She pulled up a small stool, sat down in front of the medicine pot, and carefully read the blue-covered important matters book in one hand while poking at the firewood with fire tongs in the other. Every now and then, she would glance up to observe the color of the pigment boiling in the pot.
It's as if they wish they had another pair of eyes, because their current pair is clearly not enough.
The midday sun was intense, and the heat was intense. Half an hour later, Yu Nie's little face was flushed red from the heat, and a thin layer of sweat glistened on the tip of her pert little nose.
With a soft rustling sound, the linen curtain embroidered with Bagua diagrams at Cui Miaochang's door was lifted from the inside.
"Rong girl." Cui Miaochang was the first to step out of the room and called out to her, "Go and call your senior sister."
"Alright, Uncle-Master, I'll go right away." Yu Nie put down the book and wooden spoon in his hand, ran to the kitchen door in a few steps, and said to Aunt Liu who was cooking inside, "Aunt Liu, please watch the medicine pot for me. Uncle-Master asked me to go and call my junior sister over."
With the whooshing sound of the bellows, Aunt Liu peeked out from behind it with her round face and said cheerfully, "Alright, go ahead and get busy."
"Thank you, Aunt Liu," Yu Nie said, lifting her skirt as she ran to the front yard.
She had just reached the steps of the main hall when she caught a glimpse of two constables standing outside the alchemy room on the east side. Their hands were on the curved swords at their waists, their square faces were taut and serious.
Besides them, there was also a dark-faced man standing in the courtyard with a sword in his hand, staring at her like she was a thief.
Since they had only met once and were already acquaintances, Yu Nie greeted him cheerfully: "Attendant Lu, why didn't I see you yesterday?"
To her surprise, the stern-faced man ignored her completely and turned his back on her.
It was just a setback, and Yu Nie didn't take it to heart at all. She pursed her lips and turned her head to see Lang Xi seeing the pilgrims out of the hall.
She then smiled broadly: "Junior Sister, Martial Uncle needs to speak with you."
“I heard it, I’ll go over after I see the pilgrim to the gate of the temple.”
"Alright, I'll go back to the backyard first. There's something simmering in the medicine pot." After saying that, Yu Nie planned to go back to the backyard.
Through the paper window of the alchemy room, she inadvertently caught sight of a familiar figure: short and stocky, with a profile resembling a monkey from Mount Emei. Who else could it be but the dignified Magistrate He?
With such a fawning and obsequious air, Yu Nie watched him for a while and thought to himself, "It would be a miracle if Bei Ye didn't fall with such a person in charge of this important border region."
She clicked her tongue lightly, shook her head, and left.
She was completely unaware that in the brightly lit house diagonally opposite, the young man talking to someone was fiddling with a valuable translucent blood amber bead, his eyes glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
He Renzhi busied himself presenting him with one treasure after another, piling them up on the entire table. The items were not large, but each one was of great importance, with even the least valuable one worth over a hundred gold pieces.
“Originally, these things were to be sent to the Captain’s residence, but considering that the Captain is praying for the soldiers and staying at this Taoist temple, I can only bring these small gifts here.” He Renzhi’s rat-like eyes gleamed with shrewdness: “This time, Huaiyuan City was fortunate to have the Captain’s support, otherwise Huaiyuan would have been in grave danger.”
Zi Jing put down the string of translucent blood amber beads and instead picked up the jade thumb ring with interlocking dragon patterns beside him, examining it for a moment: "Magistrate He, you are too kind. You and I are both citizens of Beiye, and we are both in the Northwest. Helping you is helping me."
"Yes, yes... the captain is right." He Renzhi responded repeatedly, secretly lifting his eyes, and then said, "But if the captain hadn't come, it would have been difficult to capture Tuli's army with just the troops stationed in the city."
Zi Jing smiled but said nothing, his gaze fixed on the jade thumb ring.
He Renzhi straightened his back, sitting up slightly, looking completely confident: "Now that Si Jin is under the command of Xuan Ce's army, I presume the captain has already interrogated him?" He leaned forward: "I wonder if the captain has found anything?"
"Not yet." Zijing pretended to be troubled and said, "Yesterday I told the staff in the county magistrate's office that the commander of the Tuli army is going to come and interrogate the suijin in person and is not allowed to transfer the suijin to the county government."
“I know the magistrate wants that sum of money so he can interrogate him and get some information to make amends.” He then changed the subject: “It’s not that I don’t want to help, but that I don’t have the authority to do so.”
He Renzhi's expression remained unchanged, and he nodded slightly, seemingly understanding his predicament. Then, as if to say something else, he looked at Zijing and asked, "Did the commander... say anything else?"
Zi Jing said gently, "He said, the commander said..." He deliberately drew out his words, "He wants to punish you, the county magistrate."
He Renzhi appeared to be admitting his guilt: "As the magistrate of Huaiyuan County and concurrently the military commander, the Rouran people were seven miles away from the city and we did not even notice. This is my dereliction of duty in arranging personnel. It is only right and reasonable for the commander to punish me."
After a moment of silence, Zijing suddenly smiled: "Look how frightened the magistrate is. What crime have you committed? The attack on the city was an unexpected situation, and it is understandable that we could not keep track of the enemy's movements at all times."
“We are all serving on the frontier, and the commander understands.” He changed his tone from solemn to relaxed: “I was just joking with you, sir. The commander has great favoritism towards the county magistrate. I hope the county magistrate will manage Huaiyuan well.”
"Oh dear." He Renzhi wiped his forehead with his sleeve and said with a wry smile, "It was the captain who teased me. He was so scared just now that I almost couldn't breathe."
Zi Jing echoed with a laugh, while Xie Cheng stood to the side, his eyes like cold blades, his lips tightly pressed together, as if he was trying his best to suppress his killing intent and not chop off that rat-faced head with a single blow at this moment.
He Renzhi sat there from noon until late afternoon. He wanted to sit down some more, but then someone came to his house and said that his son, He Chenlao, was suffering from unbearable pain and itching all over his body, as if he had contracted a strange disease.
Upon hearing this, He Renzhi immediately rose to take his leave.
Before returning to the city, Zijing saw him off at the gate of the Taoist temple and casually asked him, "Does the magistrate have any other words he would like me to convey to the commander?"
He Renzhi said sincerely, "Commander-in-Chief is busy with many affairs of state and is also unwell. How could I possibly disturb you?"
Upon hearing this, Zijing remarked, "The magistrate is indeed meticulous," and then watched He Ren board the carriage.
As the silk curtains fell, He Renzhi, sitting upright inside, closed his eyes, a silent, disdainful sneer appearing on his lips.
Seeing He Renzhi walk away, Zi Jing's smile gradually disappeared.
Just as Xie Cheng was about to say something else, a piercing scream suddenly came from the backyard.
A note from the author:
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