Chapter 5 Punishing the Man Enveloped in Sweetness
"Dr. You, it really hurts so much, it hurts so much..."
Tie Pinggu leaned against You Mingjiang's chest, choking back tears, as she recounted the man's atrocities.
“That man, he didn’t treat me like a human being at all. I was like a pig or a dog, only fit to eat spoiled food and sleep in rotten places. He would hit me whenever he raised his hand, curse me whenever he opened his mouth, and sell me off whenever he wanted…”
"Over the years, I've hated this man to the core, but I also hate my father. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be living in this bottomless abyss of hell..."
Tie Pinggu's voice was filled with sobs, each word like a handful of salt, harshly sprinkled on the still-bleeding wound.
"This too shall pass..."
Yu Mingjiang's eyes welled up with tears. He gently patted Tie Pinggu's back, but for a moment he couldn't find the right words to comfort her. He seemed so clumsy for the first time.
Tie Pinggu covered her face tightly, letting out desperate sobs.
The sound of crying struck You Mingjiang's heart hard.
You Mingjiang didn't know how to comfort her. She thought to herself: Tie Pinggu has suffered so much, how could she not shed tears? What good would a dry word of comfort do?
You Mingjiang could only hold her and wait for her to finish crying.
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Seeing that Tie Pinggu's emotions were becoming increasingly unstable, You Mingjiang was worried about her health and dared not let the little girl continue to cry like this.
She quickly took out a bottle of avocado flower water and gently swirled it around Tie Pinggu's nose.
After a short while, Tie Pinggu's eyes became unfocused.
In a daze, she vaguely sensed that Doctor You had left the house.
She returned shortly after, and then it seemed there was a mule cart in the yard. Immediately afterwards, Doctor You picked her up and placed her under the canopy of the mule cart.
Tie Pinggu fell into a deep sleep.
"Go to sleep. When you wake up, everything will be alright."
You Mingjiang raised her hand and gently tucked the stray hairs from her forehead behind her ear. What she was about to do didn't need to be known by Tie Pinggu.
·
You Mingjiang turned and went into the man's kitchen.
The stove was blackened, and the rim of the pot was stained with grease. You Mingjiang ignored this and rummaged around for a while, finally finding several tightly sealed earthenware jars. Opening them, he found they contained golden beeswax. In the corner was a large wooden bucket filled with bee-attracting solution.
The beeswax in the earthenware jar was cleaned up, and anyone with a discerning eye could tell that it was the result of Tie Pinggu's hard work.
This man doesn't deserve to own these things at all!
The thought of Tie Pinggu's long-term torment at his hands filled You Mingjiang with rage.
It's time to let this anger die down.
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inside the house.
The man's body lay in the corner.
You Mingjiang slowly put on his gloves and squatted down next to the man's corpse.
His gaze fell on the honey-cutting knife that had pierced the spleen.
She pursed her lips and reached out to grasp the hilt of the knife.
She gently shook it first, and feeling that the blade wasn't stuck too tightly, she suddenly pulled it out.
The man, who hadn't closed his eyes even in death, had his head tilt slightly to one side with the force of the impact. His lips parted slightly, and a trickle of dark red blood slowly seeped from the corner of his mouth.
"Don't worry, I'll give it back to you later."
You Mingjiang smiled gently, then stabbed him a few more times.
One, two...
With each cut, dark red blood splattered out.
The man's body was stabbed and left a bloody mess.
After an unknown amount of time, You Mingjiang finally stopped cutting.
She said, "Here you go."
He held the honey-cutting knife between his middle and index fingers, twirled the blade between his fingers, and then inserted it into the corpse's spleen.
You Mingjiang stood up and went straight to the kitchen.
·
She rolled up her sleeves and carried the earthenware jar containing beeswax and a large bucket of bee-attracting water into the house.
You Mingjiang stretched out his right hand, grasped a piece of beeswax, and with a "crack," the beeswax shattered into pieces.
He raised his hand and sprinkled fragments of beeswax around the corpse.
Circle after circle, like a bee building its nest.
After doing all this, she held the rim of the bucket with one hand and lifted the bottom with the other, pouring the bee-attracting water over the corpse from head to toe.
She watered it with extra care, leaving no spot untouched, especially those hideous wounds.
The corpse looked like a blood gourd. This large bucket of bee-attracting water itself had a faint sweet honey scent. So the cloying honey aroma mixed with the pungent smell of blood created a stench that was both sweet and foul.
You Mingjiang seemed oblivious to the smell, instead carefully closing each door and window, checking them one by one, leaving no gaps. Once she had finished, she took a jar of tung oil from her bamboo medicine basket, and then found a boar bristle brush from the woodshed, dipping it thoroughly into the tung oil.
Then, holding a brush in one hand and supporting the door and window frame with the other, she carefully applied tung oil along the seams of the doors and windows.
The doors and windows coated with tung oil had a slight sheen.
You Mingjiang's expression was surprisingly calm.
She put on a face mask and a thick raincoat, wrapping herself up from head to toe, leaving only her cold eyes exposed. Then she walked out of the hut and headed towards the apple orchard on the back hill.
Along the way, the wind rustled through the trees, carrying a faint scent of earth.
You Mingjiang does not advocate killing.
But she was a very principled person and loved to spread the truth.
She always liked to show those wicked people who didn't understand the truth what the Virgin Mary's truth was.
Upon arriving at the apple orchard, You Mingjiang squinted, looked around, and quickly located the boxes of bees.
With both hands pressed against a beehive, his fingertips trembled slightly, as if he could truly feel the intense agitation of the bees inside through the rough wooden box.
These bees were the culmination of Tie Pinggu's hard work, but now they have become the source of her pain.
What she has to do is cut off all of this.
You Mingjiang took a deep breath and carried the bees one by one to the man's house, placing them steadily around the house.
She crouched down, staring intently at the hive opening, slowly opened the lid with both hands, and then immediately retreated.
At this moment, lured by beeswax and stimulated by tung oil, the buzzing of bees inside the house grew louder and louder...
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After listening quietly to the sounds inside the house for a while, You Mingjiang hung a brass lock on the house.
After doing all this, she scooped water from the water tank to wash her hands.
First, rub your blood-stained hands repeatedly in wood ash, then rinse them carefully with soap and water. Finally, find a jar of rice wine in the kitchen and pour it onto your hands to thoroughly remove the fishy smell.
You Mingjiang stood there and thought for a moment.
The man's courtyard was in a remote location, quite a distance from the other houses in the village. It would take two or three days before the villagers noticed anything unusual about the place.
So, she drove the mule cart home with a clear conscience, carrying the drowsy Tie Pinggu.
Before leaving, she packed all the grains, honey, pickled vegetables, cured meat, and seasonings from the man's kitchen into a bamboo medicine basket and took it with her.
Seeing the kitchen overflowing with food, You Mingjiang was furious.
The man had no shortage of food, so what difference would it make if Tie Pinggu had an extra bowl and chopsticks? Yet he was so vicious and cruel, constantly beating and scolding Tie Pinggu, behaving no differently than an animal.
Consider this food as compensation from the man to Tie Pinggu.
From now on, let's use these ingredients to nourish Tie Pinggu's body; they will surely make her healthy and strong.
.
·
Summer night, the heat is thick.
You Mingjiang drove the mule cart along the road, and soon he was drenched in sweat from the heat.
A few crows perched on the treetops.
Perhaps smelling the blood, a few of them flew over and circled around her car awning.
Its incessant chirping is quite annoying.
You Mingjiang fanned himself with his hand; his palm, which was holding the reins, was sweaty and sticky.
"It's so hot... Let's walk along the river, it'll be cooler there."
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The moon climbed to the treetops.
Moonlight filtered through the leaves, casting its glow on the shimmering surface of the river.
The young man folded his clothes on a rock, wearing only a shirt and trousers, his upper body bare, and slowly walked down into the river.
Immersed in the cool river water, which washed over his waist and abdomen, the effects of the herbal remedy were neutralized.
"Splash—"
He scrubbed himself vigorously, as if he were angry with someone. Starting from his neck, his hands seemed to be filled with all his strength, his palms rubbing his skin hard, making a "crunching" sound, as if he were scrubbing off a layer of skin with each stroke.
Before long, my neck, shoulders, and back were all rubbed until they were bright red, as if they had been roasted by fire.
But he seemed oblivious, still immersed in his own world, in that nameless anger.
Only in this way can he feel better.
His chest heaved violently, and anger surged within him, threatening to completely devour his reason.
He was just a hair's breadth away from drawing his sword and killing that shameless woman!
.
Among all the possessions Xue Guo handed over to him, besides 800,000 taels of silver, there was also one of Xue Guo's women.
He raised his hand and slapped the woman to the ground.
The woman stripped naked and walked around in front of him, trying to seduce him.
She even secretly added aphrodisiac to his tea.
The sight of her pale, white body made him dizzy and agitated.
He was trembling violently, and a surge of scalding heat, like magma, rushed up from his abdomen to his throat.
But this was by no means a desire; it was vomit rising from my stomach.
The young man felt an indescribable nausea and vomited so violently that he almost threw up his internal organs.
Although the vile woman failed, he experienced the devastating trauma of betrayal for the first time.
Whether it's a man's betrayal of a woman or a woman's betrayal of a man;
Whether it's betrayal of family, betrayal of friendship, or betrayal of love.
All forms of betrayal enraged him.
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The young man scooped up a handful of water and splashed it on his face.
Water droplets slid down and dripped into the river.
"Rolling around—"
A mule cart slowly drove along the path by the river.
It was an old but sturdy mule cart.
The mule pulling the cart had a straight back and glossy coat, and its steps were steady and firm; the canopy hung low, completely obscuring the interior, making it impossible to see what was inside.
The driver was a young woman.
As the mule cart passed by the river, the young man caught a faint smell of blood.
As an assassin, his sense of smell was extremely keen. He could faintly detect the mixed smells of medicine, honey, and wood ash, as well as a faint trace of blood.
He couldn't help but have doubts.
Lu Xiaojia narrowed her eyes and looked over coldly.
His gaze fell on the low-hanging car roof, scrutinizing it.
.
The driver seemed to notice and slightly raised his head.
In an instant, the young man's eyes met hers, and he recognized her immediately.
It was the itinerant doctor You that I met in Kaifeng that day.
That Dr. You, who was known for his unwavering dedication to saving lives.
Seeing her is like drinking a bowl of pickled mustard greens, bamboo shoots and tofu soup on a cold winter's day—it's refreshing and appetizing.
Was she there to treat someone, or was she hiding something she was up to?
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She wore a red headband, a short blouse and a long skirt with a yellow belt, and shoulder straps, dressed like a simple lady-in-waiting. The young man's eyes were glued to her, and he looked her up and down endlessly.
The mule cart moved at a leisurely pace, always maintaining a distance from the riverbank.
Yu Mingjiang's hand, which was gripping the reins, suddenly tightened.
She wondered to herself: Why is this person staring at me?
Could it be... that you've discovered something fishy?
.
Inside the wagon's canopy, Tie Pinggu groaned softly in her sleep. You Mingjiang deliberately drove the mule onto the pebbles, the "crunching" sound drowning out the noise inside the canopy.
She was thinking about Tie Pinggu and knew she couldn't stay there any longer. Of course, You Mingjiang neither caused trouble nor was she afraid of trouble.
With his right hand gripping the silver needle and his left hand tightening his grip on the reins, You Mingjiang glanced casually at the young man in the river, preparing for the worst.
The young man, shirtless and with his arms crossed, stood in the river, looking at You Mingjiang, and suddenly called out, "Hey."
You Mingjiang frowned, then met his gaze openly.
Water droplets slid down his taut abs, but the young man neither dodged nor avoided them. "Have you seen enough?"
“Hmm,” You Mingjiang said calmly, “So-so.”
generally?
The young man was taken aback, clearly not expecting her to say that.
Realizing what she meant, the young man curled his lips into a half-smile and said, "...Then don't look! Watch out for your bad luck!"
"You speak so glibly, yet you have quite the big mouth! It seems your liver yang is rising, making your head spin..."
You Mingjiang had a smile on her face, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
She's not some lecherous woman.
As if anyone would want to see him!
With a flick of her wrist, the silver needles hidden between her fingers whizzed past the young man's waist. "I'll give you a few acupuncture needles to help you catch your breath. No need to thank me—"
The young man paused, his gaze falling on the side of his waist where the silver needles had been, and he reached out to touch the slightly stinging skin.
Seeing him still in a daze, You Mingjiang lifted the straps of his arms, revealing a small section of his pale honey-colored arm, lightly shook the reins, and drove the mule cart away.
Her voice could still be heard from afar: "Buy some gentian, scutellaria, alisma, and angelica... Please take good care of yourself and try to control your temper, lest you become irritable and your mouth even stinky!"
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far away.
The village lights twinkled, and a few barks could be heard.
I had a good argument with someone, and that really helped me calm down.
The young man bent down and picked up the clothes from the shore.
"Dr. You..." He paused, wondering what to call Dr. You.
The young man frowned slightly, gazing in the direction You Mingjiang had left.
But the mule cart had long since disappeared.
His gaze was somewhat dazed, his mind racing, but he couldn't recall a single trace of her name.
With a self-deprecating laugh, the young man quickly dressed and fastened the sheathless sword at his waist.
"Whatever her name is," he muttered to himself. "This world is vast; we'll meet again if fate allows."
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A note from the author:
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[Pink Heart] Update 25.3.31: Recreating the riverside first encounter of the Lu-You couple [Pink Heart]
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