Chapter 110 Reconstruction is not about settling in a corner, but about a complete upheaval. ...
"Yes, I'm crazy! We've come this far, and you still want to back down! If I weren't crazy, would I be expected to nod and agree with you? Don't forget why you came to this mountain, and why we all came together in the first place!"
“The women on this mountain, without exception, were all forced into becoming bandits! What they went through, ordinary people would have died long ago! Every one of them was driven to desperation, either just one step away from falling into the abyss, or crawling bloodied and bruised out of it! They were unwilling to die like that, they were so desperate to live that they gritted their teeth and followed you!” Jiang Chiyin said hatefully, “How these corrupt officials oppressed the people, did anyone in the court care? You can forgive all of these things now, you can let them go?!”
The anger that had been raging in He Chan's eyes gradually subsided. She looked at Jiang Chiyin and said, "I never said that I was going to forgive them."
“Yes, I admit you’re right.” He Chan’s eyes flashed coldly. “But by bringing up Huang Zhuo’s matter, you’re forcing me.”
She could have let Yue Yining go, but Jiang Chiyin openly revealed their plot to rebel, intending to force her to a dead end. Therefore, He Chan had no chance of letting Yue Yining and the others go.
The crime of treason is punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. Those who serve in the court are all loyal to the government and would never harbor traitors.
Yue Yining understood instantly, and her fingers gripped the bedding beneath her.
So that's it, it was an uprising, then everything makes sense. She had previously suspected He Chan and Jiang Chiyin's regular departures from the mountain, but now that her thoughts were clear, she suddenly understood.
Yue Yining also possessed other intelligence. After the previous case ended, she reviewed the case files that Shen Liude had copied back and discovered that among the copper ore smuggled by the Suyang Mint, there was a large-scale purchase route pointing to Qinghuai City. She didn't remember much about the names recorded in the transaction ledger, only that they were surnamed Huang.
The name Jiang Chiyin mentioned was Huang Zhuo.
Finally, everything was connected.
There are bandits and outlaws gathered in the mountains outside Qinghuai City. Huang Zhuo is probably the most famous among them. He first bought copper and iron to forge weapons, and then recruited other conspirators to plot a rebellion with him.
He Chan had already been in contact with Huang Zhuo, but now she seemed to be hesitant and deliberating whether to join forces with him.
The case at the Suyang Mint happened about six months ago...
Yue Yining lowered her eyes in thought.
Suddenly, she grasped the hidden secret in her memory, and everything became clear to her, her mind becoming bright and clear.
"etc!"
He Chan and Jiang Chiyin both looked at her. Yue Yining stood up with Xie Qingyu's help, her round eyes wide open.
She stared at Jiang Chiyin in astonishment and said, "Jiang Chiyin... could it be that you are Jiang Hairong's master?"
Jiang Chiyin's expression suddenly changed drastically.
Before Yue Yining could see anything, Jiang Chiyin had pounced on her, her slender arms bursting with immense strength as she gripped Yue Yining's shoulders tightly.
Yue Yining felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, and the face in front of her suddenly magnified several times. Wariness, tension, confusion, and unease flashed across Jiang Chiyin's eyes at the same time. Her shout almost deafened her: "How do you know Hai Rong? How do you know?! Have you seen her?!"
Yue Yining was shaken until she felt dizzy: "Stop for a second—"
A tall figure loomed behind Jiang Chiyin, and Xie Qingyu grabbed her arm and swung it away forcefully.
He shielded Yue Yining with his hand, pulling her a few steps away from Jiang Chiyin, almost half-embracing her. His phoenix eyes were dark and terrifying, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Chiyin like a sharp knife.
He said, enunciating each word clearly, "Get your filthy hands off me!"
Jiang Chiyin was thrown aside, her disheveled hair partially obscuring her eyes that were fixed on Yue Yining. In the dim cave, she stood upright, but her back was slightly hunched.
She spoke softly, her voice trembling subtly: "...Have you seen Xiao Rong?"
"Is Xiao Rong still alive...?"
The person who was just moments ago so arrogantly trying to kill her is now speaking in a pleading tone.
He Chan was also shocked by what she saw.
Looking at Jiang Chiyin, who was hunched over and looked like she was about to break, Yue Yining felt a mix of emotions that turned into a soft sigh.
She raised her hand and patted Xie Qingyu's arm, indicating that he didn't need to worry about her. Xie Qingyu obediently let go of her hand, but as she walked towards Jiang Chiyin, his gaze still followed her back.
Yue Yining looked down at Jiang Chiyin and whispered, "Don't worry, Xiao Rong is still alive."
“In April of this year, I was ordered by the Emperor to go to Suyang to supervise the Suyang Finance Bureau for seven days. I stayed at the Jin family’s residence, and that’s how I met the daughter of the then Lord Jin, whose name is Jin Lingxi.”
"Later, I discovered that the Suyang Mint was suspected of smuggling copper from government mines, and that the copper coins it produced contained lead material far exceeding the permitted levels. I then reported this to the imperial court. The city lord Jin Yuanxiu and other officials involved in the case were dismissed from their posts and imprisoned. They were executed three months ago."
Jiang Chiyin suddenly looked up at her, tears welling up in her eyes instantly. She wept silently, her eyes filled with too many emotions.
Yue Yining felt a pang of pity and softened her voice, "We were able to solve this case thanks to Hai Rong and Ling Xi. Without their help, the investigation would probably not have gone so smoothly."
"I remember your name because Xiao Rong mentioned her master to me, but..." Yue Yining hesitated when she mentioned this, and her voice slowly lowered.
—But Jiang Hairong and she both thought that Jiang Chiyin was dead, that she had died in the prison of the Suyang government.
"She was very worried about you, never forgot you, always thought about you, and wanted to avenge you." Yue Yining gazed at her profile. "Jiang Chiyin, since you are still alive, why haven't you gone back to find her?"
"I've looked for it!"
After yelling, Jiang Chiyin squatted down, her eyes red and filled with tears. She hugged her head, her fingers trembling as she gripped her hair.
She sobbed, her voice broken: "I looked for her... I thought, I thought she was dead..."
Yue Yining asked softly, "What exactly happened back then? You were both clearly alive, so how could you both think the other was dead?"
“…I was indeed imprisoned in the dungeon, but I escaped later,” Jiang Chiyin said in a hoarse voice. “After I was interrogated and imprisoned, the jailers deliberately withheld food from me, and I fainted from hunger after a few days.”
When Jiang Chiyin woke up, she saw the bright red incense curtains hanging above her head and almost thought she had just had a dream.
Su Yang did not issue the absurd order to practice medicine, nor was she expelled from the city or convicted and imprisoned.
But when she looked up, she saw the strange man who was about to pin her down, and the chilling smile on his lips.
It turned out that the Jin family member in charge of the Suyang government office had taken a liking to Jiang Chiyin. He had taken a liking to her during the interrogation, and after imprisoning her, he specifically ordered the jailer to knock Jiang Chiyin unconscious and send her to his bed.
The Jin family had held important positions in Suyang City for many years, and had long since woven an impenetrable net. Female prisoners with even a little beauty and no one to rely on were chosen by officials like livestock, and even if they were played with to death, no one would know.
To the outside world, all that's needed is to say that these women "died of illness," "committed suicide," or "died because they couldn't bear the punishment in prison." Who would bother to investigate the truth? Who would seek justice for their ghosts?
In Suyang's officialdom, whether out of fear of his power or because they had received bribes, they were already tacitly aware of and turned a blind eye to such sordid dealings.
That was the most desperate day Jiang Chiyin had experienced in thirty years.
Having never killed any living being, she pierced the man's throat with the silver hairpin in her hair during the struggle, getting sprayed with blood all over her hands and body, and scrambled out of the Jin mansion.
The rain was pouring down, soaking her completely. She hid in an alley, vigorously rubbing the bloodstains on her hands and body with the torrential rain, and suddenly burst into tears.
She survived, but also killed someone with her own hands.
At this moment, she was filled with hatred and pain. Her life had been marked by a bottomless watershed, and she could never return to her former peace and kindness.
She returned home that night, intending to take Jiang Hairong away, only to find that Jiang Hairong was not home. She had killed an official of the Jin family, and the Suyang government would not let her off easily; she had to leave the city as soon as possible.
Jiang Chiyin, who had fled her home wearing a black robe, had not gone far when she encountered a patrol of soldiers. She was so frightened that she hid in a corner and dared not make a sound, but she happened to hear the whispers of her neighbors.
"I heard that yesterday someone broke into the government dungeon to see a female prisoner, but the guards mistook him for a prison breaker and beat him to death..."
"My goodness, did we run into an official who was in a bad mood?"
Jiang Chiyin felt her blood run cold.
She didn't dare to confront the person directly to get the details. Everyone in the neighborhood knew her as the renowned Dr. Jiang, and they could recognize her as soon as she spoke. "Jiang Chiyin" should be in prison right now.
She managed to sneak out of the city, but she was like a walking corpse.
The torrential rain turned the sky a dark, murky blue.
Jiang Chiyin lost her hometown and her closest relatives.
The world is vast, and she stood in the rain, feeling lost and unsure of where to go.
"Later, I asked someone to inquire about Jiang Hairong in the city, but to no avail. I assumed she was really dead and left Suyang in despair. I drifted south on a ship until I reached Qinghuai."
“Xiao Rong often says that I am a doctor who saves lives and heals the wounded, and in her mind, I am the best doctor in the world, both in terms of kindness and medical skills,” Jiang Chiyin said slowly. “In her eyes, I am omnipotent.”
“I’m so capable, yet I can’t protect anything. I can’t save her, I can’t save myself, and I can’t save anyone else who’s stuck in this mess.”
Jiang Chiyin was initially filled with despair, and later with hatred. She hated not only Jin Yuanxiu, but also the officials in Suyangli who were accomplices. She hated that she had done good deeds for her village and accumulated merit, yet she had ended up like this, with no one ever helping her.
She hated not the evil of people, but the evil of the corrupt bureaucratic system.
Jiang Chiyin never held an official position in her life, but she came into contact with all sorts of people. She had seen ambitious young people just entering the officialdom, as well as cunning and corrupt old officials. She even witnessed the former become the latter after years of immersion in the officialdom.
She vaguely understood that this system had bred people into monsters. If you weren't assimilated, you would be ostracized; if you couldn't tolerate it, you would be eliminated.
No official in such a position can help but do evil, protect evil, or condone evil.
Hemp growing among reeds will stand straight without support; white sand mixed with mud will turn black.
Today it's Jin Yuanxiu, tomorrow it'll be Zhang Yuanxiu. There will always be someone in power, and there will always be someone who dies silently under the weight of power. Corrupt officials are like brothers, while the common people are reduced to fish and meat.
The entire corrupt system has spawned countless parasites and beasts wielding power, nurturing and fostering their evil intentions and greed. It is rotten to the core and beyond redemption. Simply killing corrupt officials is useless; as long as this system exists, evil will continue to breed, and countless ordinary people will become victims of power—a tragic and endless cycle.
This idea gradually became clear, exciting, and deeply rooted in her mind.
Finally, after encountering the wicked Che family in Qinghuai City, he reached his peak.
Unlike He Chan, Jiang Feiyan, and others, Jiang Chiyin, who changed her name and disguised herself, was able to live well as a traveling doctor in the city. Her medical skills were superb, and she could survive and even live a decent life wherever she went.
But she still followed He Chan and came to this mountain.
Because what she wanted was not a peaceful existence in a remote corner, but a complete upheaval.
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A note from the author:
Citation:
Hemp growing among reeds will stand straight without support; white sand mixed with mud will turn black.
—Xunzi, "Encouraging Learning"
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