☆, Chapter 253 Liu Da is in charge
It's called a new house, but it can't really be considered one, because it was originally Tu Li's house.
After Tu Li confessed her crime that day, the village head was thinking of reporting it to the authorities for processing. Unexpectedly, Tu Li took the medicine beforehand, and before they could go to the authorities, she was already dying.
The people of the small fishing village felt very aggrieved. This person had harmed their entire village, and now that he was dead, they still had to handle his funeral arrangements. They were filled with resentment and planned to destroy the house after burying him, but Zhou Mujiao stopped them.
She, Zhao Yunjing, and Li Changyi moved in, and the remaining room was used as a consultation room. A curtain divided it into two cubicles: the front for consultations and the back for examinations with a small bed. The original main hall was used for meetings.
For the first two days, the villagers were averse to the building and refused to go near it. But then they saw that many people were going in and out of the pharmacy every day, and the village head was applying eye compresses there every day. After applying the compresses, the village head felt that his eyesight had improved a lot, so he forced his family members to come for a check-up. Then neighbors, and neighbors' neighbors, one after another, and in a few days, the villagers were able to freely enter and leave the pharmacy.
Today we are to negotiate with the villains of Fuxu Mountain. The villagers moved into the mountains early this morning, leaving only a few strong men in the village to keep watch. If the situation turns against them, they will immediately come back. Moving now is a way to preserve their strength.
Anyway, it's not that they're cowardly. After all, the negotiations failed, and the small fishing village and Fuxu Mountain will have to clash sooner or later. There's no use in being cowardly. They can't have the whole village leave their homes and live elsewhere. First, they have nothing of value, and second, they have no other skills besides fishing. They can't even farm properly. If they go elsewhere, they'll probably only be able to become beggars or sell themselves to wealthy families as long-term laborers.
With the villagers relocated, Zhou Mujiao's pharmacy had no patients, and she was no longer needed to negotiate with the bandits. So she held a case analysis debate, reviewing and analyzing several difficult cases she had encountered along the way, and exploring a better and faster method.
The debate was in full swing, with Dr. Chen and Dr. Lin each arguing their points. However, Dr. Chen was no match for Dr. Lin in verbal sparring. Despite having a valid point, he was constantly being suppressed, which made him so frustrated that he slammed his fist on the table and yelled, "You bastard! If you keep bastarding, I'll tear your mouth apart!"
Lord Qian was brought in at this moment. He was startled, thinking that this was Zhao Yunjing's way of putting him in a difficult position. His expression became somewhat subtle. However, the person who brought him here said that this was a medical analysis meeting organized by Doctor Zhou.
Doctor Zhou was Zhao Yunjing's wife. It was only when Lord Qian met Zhao Yunjing and Li Changyi at the Mingtang that he finally equated the two identities.
Lord Qian only brought three or five attendants with him today. He felt that if he came in now, it would be like a lamb entering a tiger's den. He regretted not waiting for the people from Fuxu Mountain to arrive before coming in. However, he also thought that if he did not come sooner, he might be considered to be in cahoots with Fuxu Mountain.
Although this is true, they still have to pretend on the surface and come here to see how the negotiations are going. If the negotiations go well, Zhao Yunjing will probably not bring it up in order to maintain the balance of power among the various parties in Zhangcheng. If the negotiations break down, Zhao Yunjing only has so many people, so at worst they can just kill Zhao Yunjing and Li Changyi and then go on the run.
Little did he know that Zhao Yunjing would immediately strip away his fig leaf the moment he saw him: "Lord Qian, where do you rank among the Ten Evils of Fuxu Mountain?"
Mr. Qian was stunned on the spot.
Li Changyi put down his teacup and scoffed, "I made a bet with Brother Zhao earlier. Brother Zhao bet that Lord Qian is one of the Ten Great Villains, while I think Lord Qian is just a small fry. Lord Qian, tell me, did Brother Zhao win, or did I win?"
Lord Qian turned pale and it took him a long time to manage to utter a few words: "Your Highness, you really like to joke."
Li Changyi laughed heartily, and Zhao Yunjing laughed too. Lord Qian was caught in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat, and was in great agony. After the two finished laughing, he quickly handed over a list: "Your Highness, Lord Zhao, this is the list of the Ten Great Villains of Fuxu Mountain, along with their respective preferences and weaknesses. Please take a look."
Zhao Yunjing glanced at it and handed it to Li Changyi. Li Changyi looked at it a few more times, but only a few times, without even turning to the second page.
"Lord Qian, I was thinking that if you were still of some use, I would lend you a hand. But when a person is truly willing to degenerate, even a god can't save him! Do you think we would confront you directly if we didn't have the correct list? Brother Zhao, it seems your reputation isn't big enough. These people are just playing with you like a fool."
Zhao Yunjing smiled faintly: "My wife once said that there are many species in this world, and we should be more tolerant and acknowledge the diversity of these species."
Lord Qian didn't understand any of this talk about species, but he could tell that the other person was mocking his stupidity. In that instant, he felt a surge of murderous intent, and if he had a sword, he would have already stabbed him.
"Someone, give Lord Qian a seat."
After Lord Qian sat down, Hu Peiran, He Jiu, Xie Jiang, Song Chengyu and others also came over to sit down, surrounding Lord Qian like stars around the moon, everyone with a smile on their face.
A short while later, a guard came to report that several leaders from Fuxu Mountain had arrived, and Zhao Yunjing had them brought in directly.
Of the ten villains of Fuxu Mountain, seven were men and three were women. Three of them came today, two men and one woman. Zhao Yunjing ignored the two men and looked at the only woman in the hall.
The woman wore a moon-white dress, with a graceful figure and a beautiful face. She had almond-shaped eyes and willow-leaf eyebrows, with a slight frown between her brows, revealing a hint of melancholy. She looked to be under thirty years old and seemed like a well-bred young lady raised in seclusion. Yet, she was the leader of the Ten Evils of Fuxu Mountain.
Liu Shuangmei sized up Li Changyi with a critical eye. After staring at him for a while, she could only think four words in her mind: "Nothing special."
When she stared at Zhao Yunjing again, she initially thought that apart from his good looks, there was nothing special about him. But when their eyes met, she was so intimidated by his gaze that she subconsciously looked away!
"Chief Liu, Fuxu Mountain must have already discussed and reached a conclusion regarding my proposal." Zhao Yunjing said calmly, "I am very pleased that you are able to admit your mistakes and correct them, and that the imperial court will not need to send troops, saving a considerable amount of provisions."
Liu Shuangmei said coldly, "Lord Zhao, are you so confident that we've come here to agree to your offer of amnesty? To be honest, we don't lack the 'peace' you speak of. In this vast Dongyue Prefecture, there is no place more peaceful than our Fuxu Mountain."
"Yeah?"
Liu Shuangmei continued, “The brothers of Fuxu Mountain do not have to perform corvée labor or pay taxes. They live off the sea, and whatever they catch is theirs to eat. Unlike on land, where you have to pay 60% to the landlord before you can farm, and the remaining 40% is neither enough to eat nor enough to starve. Such a life is not appealing to me.”
"Then may I ask, Master Liu, what kind of life would attract you?"
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