028
Yu Baizhou shook his head, clearing his mind a bit, and then looked her up and down before placing the sword against her neck. His tone was stern, "What are you carrying? Where is this fragrance coming from?"
"What's that smell?" Shi Qing, who was standing next to him, scratched his head and sniffed hard. "It does smell nice."
"It's...it's Soul-Sealing Powder." The woman panicked and fell to the ground. "Qing'er knows her mistake, please spare my life, General..."
The Soul-Capturing Powder, made from a rare flower from the Southern Barbarians, is a forbidden drug explicitly prohibited by the imperial court, something even brothels rarely use. Unexpectedly, Governor Lin's residence is indeed filled with many extraordinary individuals.
"We beg the general to spare our lives. We are willing to serve the general like cattle and horses to repay the kindness of sparing our lives."
The wife and relatives of Prefect Lin are still of great use and cannot be touched. As for the remaining servants, Shi Qing has already considered how to deal with them.
What can you do?
Shi Jiu had already ascertained the woman's identity. She came from a poor family and was sold when she was a few years old, eventually ending up in the Lin family mansion. However, she didn't live the life of a young lady; she was merely a "thin horse" (a lowly woman who was essentially a young lady of the Lin family) using the title of a young lady of the Lin family to curry favor with judges and nobles.
There are at least a dozen women like Lin Qing locked up in the backyard of the Lin family mansion.
"Qing... no, Cao, Caomin..." Lin Qing was so nervous that his forehead was covered in sweat, and he stammered, unable to speak. "Caomin can do anything, whether it's working in the fields or being a slave... I only beg the general to spare our lives."
The servants in the Lin family might be spared because of Yu Baizhou's concern, but Lin Qing and the others were different. She knew that if she didn't fight for them, they were just pawns used to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy, and they would surely die.
Only the dead can keep secrets.
"Ha, military campaigns? You think you can do that?"
Lin Qing stood frozen in place, her heartbeat particularly clear in the silent air. "Yes, this humble citizen can," she heard herself say.
"You can? Then can you make decisions for them?" Yu Baizhou stood up, took the medicine from Shi Qing's hand and threw it in front of her. "How to do it is up to you to decide."
"Since you are so bold, you dare to plot against me time and time again."
"I admire your courage. I entrust your lives to you. We either live together or we die together."
Lin Qing knelt on the spot, staring at the medicine bottle in front of her, her hand trembling slightly as she reached for it. "We have to live."
"Thank you, General!"
She slammed her head against the ground, the force so great that her forehead became red and swollen. All she was left with was to be mute; she had been sold from a young age, and once in the Lin family, she became a plaything for the powerful and wealthy.
Having experienced the most embarrassing and painful things, what is there to be afraid of now?
"Deputy General Shi, take her back. And..." Yu Baizhou picked up a bundle from the side and took out a letter from his pocket. The letter was wrapped in several layers of thick cloth, and it was not stained with any of the blood on his body when he took it out.
He lowered his eyes and handed the items to Shi Qing. "The affairs of Shannan Prefecture will probably take many more days to resolve. Take these people with you to Guangping County and hand them over to the military advisor for handling."
"Furthermore, you must personally deliver these two items to Miss Song; you must not entrust them to anyone else."
His expression was serious, as if he were entrusting someone with some important secret.
Shi Qing lowered his brows slightly. "This subordinate obeys."
Lin Qing, who was not far away, felt a chill for a moment when she heard "Miss". Perhaps Deputy General Shi did not notice, but she clearly heard General Yu call out subconsciously just now.
The Soul-Capturing Powder lives up to its name; its fragrance disturbs the mind, causing the victim to see the person who administered the drug as their beloved woman. She had only intended to try it out, without much hope, but she never expected that General Yu would actually fall for it.
She lowered her eyes, wondering what kind of woman she was.
………
Guangping County
Because he was accompanied by more than a dozen women, it took Shi Qing and his troops almost a whole day to finally reach Guangping County.
The city walls were heavily guarded, surrounding the entire city like an iron barrel. The soldiers didn't know what was happening, but military orders were absolute. Even if Deputy General Shi came, he would have to enter the city according to the rules.
If it weren't for the commander's order today, they would have been stuck outside the city for a long time.
As darkness fell, Shi Qing had no choice but to visit Song Ling in Guangping County. Although the epidemic was under control, unexpected situations could still arise. Moreover, the entire city had been placed under martial law last night, and no news had come from the prefectural governor's office since, causing widespread panic among the people.
"This is……"
Song Ling took the casually tied cloth bag with a puzzled look. She carefully opened it and paused when she saw what was inside. She pursed her lips slightly to suppress the corners of her mouth that wanted to turn up.
"The general is truly meticulous."
Shi Qing was completely confused by the two of them and couldn't understand what Song Ling was saying.
However, when the general was mentioned, he suddenly slapped his forehead and remembered something. He hurriedly took the envelope out of his pocket. "Oh right, the general also asked me to deliver a letter to the strategist."
Song Ling took it and casually flipped through it. There was nothing unusual about it. What could be so important that he couldn't entrust it to Vice General Shi?
She frowned and quickly scanned the crooked page of text, but when she saw the last two lines, her hand holding the paper paused slightly, and she stared at them for several moments before looking away.
"Did the general ask you to take those dozen or so women to Military Advisor Wei for disposal?" Song Ling carefully put the letter away. "The general said that if I have time, I can hand them over to him for disposal."
"Wei, the military advisor, still has to worry about matters concerning the southern barbarians, so we won't trouble him with such trivial matters."
"This..." Shi Qing hesitated for a moment, but since the general had to listen to the strategist anyway, he said, "Alright, then I'll trouble the strategist."
That way, he won't have to make another trip.
“Um…right,” Shi Qing’s forehead wrinkles relaxed for a moment, and she acted shy and bashful like a young unmarried woman, “that…I was blind before and offended Miss Song a lot.”
"Shi Qing apologizes to Miss Song."
As he spoke, he was about to kneel down.
Before he could act, Song Ling hurriedly helped him up, saying, "Vice General Shi, there's no need for that. I know you are wholeheartedly devoted to the soldiers, and your caution in all things is a rare quality for a general."
Shi Qing felt a bit feverish; no wonder Wei Yan complained all day that he didn't appreciate kindness and had wronged Miss Song. Such magnanimity, forgiving past grievances—how many people could do that?
He had been thinking about how he should ask for forgiveness if Miss Song was angry with him, but now it seems that he was just being petty.
Just then, Mu Yuan entered on orders, and Song Ling greeted him, "Go with Vice General Shi and bring those women to me."
*
Song Ling sat on the stone table, flipping through the accounts of the prefectural governor's office over the years. The more she looked, the more she wanted to tear that Prefect Lin to pieces.
The common people are starving and resort to cannibalism, but Prefect Lin is doing just that. Relying on his sister, who is a palace concubine, and his brother, who is a governor, his mansion is so extravagant that it's beyond description. The gold and silver in his treasury are probably overflowing.
The more he looked, the colder his expression became.
Even the usually oblivious Mu Yuan could tell that she was in a terrible mood.
He tentatively asked in a soft voice, "Strategist, the people have been delivered."
Song Ling looked up and saw eleven women in total, most of them around sixteen or seventeen years old. If a lecherous official were sitting here, he would surely have commented that each had her own unique charm, whether slender or plump.
The girls that Governor Lin could gather to win over officials must have been quite beautiful and had good figures.
But the person sitting here now is Song Ling, and she frowned slightly.
They're all too thin and frail; in this world, they probably wouldn't survive even a minor illness.
Song Ling was well aware of her physical condition and illness, and never gave up on finding a way to stay healthy and alive. Therefore, she deeply abhorred these acts of deliberately abusing women just to cater to the powerful and wealthy.
"you……"
Song Ling wanted to ask questions, but then she remembered that they had all taken the mute medicine she had sent, and Yu Baizhou had already explained the previous sudden situation in his letter.
Lin Qing led the way, tentatively looking up.
The first thing I saw was an extremely aloof woman. The soldiers around her called her strategist, so this must be the girl General Yu had mentioned.
Suddenly, a sharp gaze swept over, and Lin Qing lowered her head in fright, the burning and pain in her throat becoming even more pronounced.
"How many of them can read?"
"Nod if yes, shake your head if no."
Most of these women came from humble backgrounds. They were either sold into slavery to buy food because their families were poor, or they were abducted by chance and left home at a very young age. Even if they knew a few words as children, they almost completely forgot them.
Although Governor Lin kept them as "skin horses" to curry favor with the powerful, it was only superficially glamorous.
In reality, their food and lodging were worse than those of servants, and all they learned were ways of serving others.
Without exception, they all shook their heads.
Song Ling sighed and gave Mu Yuan a look.
He immediately understood, opened the box that Song Ling had given him earlier, and walked in front of these people.
“Although you have already taken the mute drug, it is not incurable.” Song Ling looked at them coldly. “After taking the antidote, you will recover completely after a few days of rest, but you will relapse and lose your voice again within a year. In addition, it will damage your body and shorten your lifespan.”
"Only after taking it five times can you be fully cured."
She stood up, a strange glint in her eyes. "I'll make a deal with you. You'll work for me for five years, and you can't object to what I do. I'll give you an antidote every year. After five years, you'll be free."
"Of course, I give you the opportunity to refuse. Those who are unwilling may leave now, and I will not stop them."
"I'll give you fifteen minutes to think it over."
After sitting down, Song Ling picked up her teacup, a slow, gentle smile playing on her lips.
………
We'll be there in a quarter of an hour.
"What's your decision?" She looked up and smiled. "Those who want to stay can go to the side to collect the antidote, and those who want to leave can go now."
As a result, no one left.
Staying might offer a sliver of hope, but leaving meant certain death. Whether they starved to death, were humiliated by refugees, or were silenced by the girl's men, none of them would have a good end. Lin Qing thought this way, and so did the other women.
The governor's mansion was a cannibalistic place. Hundreds and thousands of women were selected to enter the mansion, and their survival depended not on the pity of their masters. The slightest mistake could mean certain death.
Song Ling slightly raised the corners of her lips, "Since you've chosen to stay, then listen to your mission."
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