Chapter 373 Xiu Niang? Embroiderer!
They saw off Magistrate Diao and Master Shandao.
Ouyang Rong returned to Yinbingzhai.
I looked around, but the study and bedroom were empty.
The white-haired girl was no longer in the courtyard.
Remembering something, Ouyang Rong turned around, left Yinbingzhai, and went to the back kitchen.
He returned home earlier tonight because he had invited Master Shandao and Magistrate Diao to dinner.
I glanced at the hourglass; it was only 8:30 PM.
Along the corridor, Ouyang Rong pondered again about Li Zhengyan and the others leaving Longcheng and heading to Yunmengze to go boating.
Because of his previous stay in Xunyang City, he paid special attention to the past traces of Li Zhengyan and others.
The logic is simple: if Li Zhengyan, Wei Shaoqi, and others had already reached a consensus and were preparing to raise the banner of rebellion when they first set off from Yangzhou to head south, it would be a simple matter.
So, each stop on the journey south must have had important arrangements.
Going to Yunmengze to go boating was definitely not for pure purposes.
"The Peach Blossom Spring... The Peach Blossom Spring Map... Could it be that we are searching for a Peach Blossom Spring, the Peach Blossom Spring in Yunmeng Marsh?"
Ouyang Rong muttered to himself.
The wind chimes in the corridor awakened him from his thoughts.
We arrived at the kitchen.
There was a group of maids and cooks in the kitchen, and Ye Weilai, who was small in stature, was among them.
The women were chatting and laughing around Ye Weilai, who was wearing an apron, her waist-length silver hair was tied up with a jade hairpin, and styled into a woman's sideburns.
Ye Weilai smiled as she washed the dishes. Some of the women, being gossipy and curious, asked her about the daily life of the male host, Tanlang, such as whether his special fetishes were true. Ye Weilai lowered her head, keeping them in suspense... The women chattered away.
The sound of Ouyang Rong entering the kitchen drew their attention, and the maids and cooks blushed and retreated.
“My love.”
Ye Wei turned her head, wiped her apron with her small hands, and happily greeted them.
"It's okay, you can continue."
Ouyang Rong nodded and walked over, glancing at Ye Weilai who was washing dishes at the sink:
"Why are you so late?"
"Sister Xie just arrived and had some food."
Ouyang Rong was taken aback. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Ye Wei rolled her blue eyes and whispered:
"Sister Xie saw that you were entertaining guests and told me not to disturb you. She was also busy, so she sent a letter for me to pass on."
"When the eldest lady saw that Sister Xie was also hungry, she invited her to eat with her. I made some more food, and Sister Xie ate a bowl of rice with the eldest lady before leaving."
Ouyang Rong glanced at her: "The Prince's mansion has indeed been busy lately, which is good."
Ye Weilai said earnestly, "Sister Xie also asked me if my husband has been going to bed on time lately."
Ouyang Rong gave a wry smile.
Seeing a strand of silver hair slip down Ye Weilai's forehead on her earnest little face, swaying and tickling her nose, causing the girl to lower her head and sway slightly, Ouyang Rong reached out and helped her hair behind her ear.
My fingers touched her slightly hot earlobe.
Ye Wei looked at her hands, which were stained with water and oil, and buried herself in washing the dishes.
"The letter is in my bosom, I can't free my hands." She was as thin as a mosquito.
Ouyang Rong nodded, reached into his robe, took out an envelope, and glanced at it. It was from his teacher, Xie Xun.
He put the letter away, but didn't leave.
It was quiet for a while.
I rolled up my sleeves, went over, and helped her wash the dishes.
The technique was surprisingly skillful.
Ye Weilai couldn't help but glance at Ouyang Rong:
"Tanlang can do this too? Isn't this the 'refined water' mentioned in books? Scholars don't touch it."
"The book also talks about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. Do all scholars take it seriously?"
Ye Weilai was speechless.
Ouyang Rong suddenly asked, "Then how come you're so skilled at it, Wei Lai Ni?"
"I am a woman, so naturally I know how to do these things. Actually, I didn't know how to cook back in Longcheng. To be honest, I went to the cook to learn how to cook so that I could please Madam and make you notice me."
Ouyang Rong nodded:
"It seems he has learned quite a bit from the cook."
Ye Weilai's body stiffened slightly.
Ouyang Rong remained calm and continued washing the dishes. He even reached out and took the damp cloth from Ye Weilai's paused hand to wipe the oil stains from the bowl.
After a moment, Ye Weilai turned her head, her small face showing a complicated expression: "My lord has never asked, so I thought he had forgotten."
"Today I heard people talking about Yunmengze again, which reminded me of Rongzhen's words."
He paused for a moment, then asked, "Rong Zhen isn't wrong?"
Ye Weilai hesitated for a moment, then nodded, then shook her head:
"I know some sword moves, but I don't know their specific names. The person who taught me didn't say. I don't know the name of the move called 'Virgin Split Observation'."
"The person who taught you was the cook, wasn't she?"
"Hmm." Ye Weilai said softly, "I asked her for advice on pastries before."
Ouyang Rong asked, "Is it the mute cook who cooked at the Deer Garden back in Longcheng?"
Ye Weilai nodded: "Does Tanlang know her?"
Ouyang Rong smiled. How could he not know? When he woke up at Donglin Temple and came down the mountain, he had suspicions and went to investigate.
They discovered that the pretty mute girl named "Xiuniang" in the underground palace was actually their own cook, who could cook spicy dishes. It was also very likely that when Ouyang Rong was seriously ill, she took care of him under the alias Zhao Xiaoniangzi, and may have even been bullied by him in his sleep.
Ouyang Rong had quietly discovered this long ago, but...
"I know her, but I don't know if she teaches swordsmanship, or the swordsmanship of Yunmeng Sword Marsh."
"Looking back now, I still know too little."
Ye Weilai buried her head in guilt.
Ouyang Rong asked, "Did she lose a little finger?"
"Um."
Ouyang Rong asked again, "Is she really the Yue Maiden? A female cultivator from Yunmeng Sword Marsh?"
"It should be..."
"When the Digong Dam flooded, I was injured and unconscious, and the Digong Dam was in grave danger. Was that Yue woman who drew her sword as she passed by?"
"Yes...yes."
"So she's also a powerful Qi cultivator? I get it. Back in the Deer Park, there was a period when I slept soundly, and when I woke up in the morning, the pungent smell of dogwood on my face was left by her. She came by in the middle of the night and touched me?"
"Um."
Ouyang Rong's thoughts flowed like a spring, and all the doubts he had held in his mind came together. He silently gripped the rim of the bowl, and with a thud, the bowl shattered. Ye Weilai was so frightened that she quickly grabbed his hand and checked on him with concern.
"Oops, sorry."
Ouyang Rong withdrew his hand, ignoring the wound, and stared intently at Ye Weilai:
“My junior sister mentioned that one night there was a noise in my room. She came to check and found me fast asleep, but you were awake. She heard you talking in your sleep… Later she even misunderstood my fetish… Was she in the room that day?”
"Yes...yes."
"I understand now, it turns out it's all the same person."
Ouyang Rong suddenly fell silent.
"I'm sorry, my love."
Ye Weilai lowered her head: "She wouldn't let me speak, and even begged me."
"Why...why wouldn't she let me?" Ouyang Rong's voice was a little loud, but he lowered it after realizing it. He took a deep breath, turned his head, and carefully washed the bowls and chopsticks in his hands.
"Isn't she the Yue woman? What connection do we have? Why does she keep appearing by my side? Could it be some kind of debt of gratitude? But why can't we talk about it?"
Ye Weilai whispered, "Her name is Xiu Niang."
“I know her name is Xiu Niang.” Ouyang Rong frowned.
Ye Weilai was taken aback.
Just as Ouyang Rong was about to speak, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and he realized something:
“You…you write it down.”
Ye Weilai dipped her fingers in water and wrote the character "绣" (embroidery) on the kitchen counter.
Ouyang Rong stared at the boy, muttering to himself:
“This embroidery…the embroiderer…so this is the embroiderer, I remember now…but why is there a different character for Xiu on the roster of the Tianji Nursing Home? Was it intentional or accidental?”
Ye Weilai asked curiously, "What's the 'Xiu' character?"
Ouyang Rong kept his eyes straight ahead and wrote it down.
Ye Wei frowned: "This... is about right."
“No, not nearly so…” Ouyang Rong raised his hand, pointed to himself, and said self-deprecatingly, “I overthink things, I like to get stuck on details, and I end up in dead ends. Now, I know who she is…”
Ye Weilai nodded silently: "She mentioned that she had been a child bride, but was later kicked out of the house..."
Ouyang Rong suddenly laughed, put down the bowl, wiped his hands, turned and walked out the door.
Ye Weilai called out to him with concern, clarifying on behalf of the embroiderer:
"My love, she said the matter of the child bride was a misunderstanding, and the reason was..."
Ouyang Rong waved his hand: "I know. If it weren't a misunderstanding, why would she come back to take care of me, and even possibly save me..."
Ouyang Rong gave a self-deprecating laugh, took a few steps, and then suddenly stopped:
"Is she a very skilled doctor?"
Ye Weilai shook her head: "I don't know."
Ouyang Rong nodded and left.
Back at Yinbingzhai, he wiped his face and calmed down.
What can now be confirmed is that this embroiderer was the child bride that his mother, Zhao, had chosen for him from her maternal home.
She was later sold to a wandering Taoist priest, and through some unknown opportunity, she became a female cultivator in Yunmeng Sword Marsh, possibly even a member of the Queen's Palace, and had a close relationship with the Great Queen.
Now that she's come back to him, it seems she's giving without expecting anything in return, and even doesn't care about the misunderstanding and the hurt she suffered.
But to be honest, from Ouyang Rong's perspective in this life, it was clearly himself, his aunt, and Zhao's mother who owed her.
He had a headache. This kind of selfless dedication was certainly touching, but it was also a burden that could easily be imposed on others.
However, the mute embroiderer probably knew this very well, which is why she instructed Ye Weilai not to tell Ouyang Rong.
Right now, it's Ouyang Rong's own fault for insisting on finding out every strange detail.
Sometimes it's better to be a little oblivious in life; if you understand too much, you can't keep deceiving yourself.
Ouyang Rong rubbed his face.
His only question now is that he saw the embroiderer both times he woke up in the underground palace.
I used to think it was a coincidence, but now I see it's all part of a scheme.
So, was it Master Shandao, the passing miracle doctor, or the embroiderer or the outside help she sought that truly saved him?
Ouyang Rong now holds a very skeptical attitude towards Master Shandao.
Because when it comes to things that are unreliable, Master Shandao is very reliable.
However, given the embroiderer's act of doing good deeds anonymously, if it really was her who saved him, Master Shandao and Xiufa probably wouldn't even know of her existence, and might even think that it was because of the superior medical skills of their Donglin Temple.
No wonder I woke up in the middle of the night both times in the underground palace...
Ouyang Rong was somewhat troubled by the truth of the matter.
This is about how much I owe that young girl.
If it's just about quietly approaching him in the middle of the night, cooking for him, and pretending to pass by and draw your sword at Di Gong Gate, then the favor owed isn't too great. At least Ouyang Rong wouldn't have to risk his life to repay it. He could simply repay it sincerely if they met again in the future.
Treat each other with kindness.
Although we can't be husband and wife, we can still take care of each other like family.
If she were to save his life twice, or even more, Ouyang Rong felt he would owe her a huge debt of gratitude. It was more than just repaying a debt of gratitude; it was an obligation, a debt that could not be repaid even with one's life…
Suddenly burdened with a potentially heavy debt.
Ouyang Rong's eyes held a complex expression.
I tossed and turned all night.
The next day.
Ouyang Rong, sporting dark circles under his eyes, went to his shift.
Yan Liulang and Chen Canjun couldn't help but glance at it a few more times, their expressions strange, and they reminded each other:
"The magistrate is in charge..."
Ouyang Rong ignored him with a stern face.
He looked somewhat absent-minded throughout the day, and it wasn't until two days later that he felt a little better.
On this day, after inspecting the surroundings, he stood on the city wall, the river breeze brushing his face. Seeing the gradually solidifying and impregnable defenses of Xunyang, he pursed his lips and gazed at the once bustling Xunyang Ferry and the thousands of people moving about in Xingzifang.
Ouyang Rong suddenly remembered Li Zhengyan's army's efforts to persuade civilians to surrender along the way and to avoid harming them.
To be honest, this strategy of spending a fortune to buy horse bones, without harming the city in any way, was indeed brilliant; it was a psychological attack.
This man is a wise one; he wants to destroy the heart of the Great Zhou, not the lives of its people.
Even if it's an act, you have to praise it.
Not long ago, Ouyang Rong expressed some disappointment that Wang Junzhi's so-called "uniting" was merely to fight for the throne.
However, Ouyang Rong did not have much enthusiasm or anticipation for the current Great Zhou Dynasty.
In his eyes, both sides were of the same nature. Ouyang Rong's only reference standard was how to resolve the issue with low intensity and without disturbing the people.
Ouyang Rong was dutiful in his duties as the Prefect of Jiangzhou, but he was not a loyal subject of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
One question to ask oneself is whether Ouyang Lianghan was loyal to the emperor or to the people and the nation.
The conflict between Li Zhengyan and the Great Zhou Dynasty was a civil war, a struggle for legitimacy.
It wasn't about defending against foreign invaders.
So, in this critical moment, should Ouyang Rong use the entire city's inhabitants as leverage to gain the empty reputation of a righteous gentleman defending the city alone? Or should he even create a scene of utter devastation, with people running out of ammunition and food, and resorting to cannibalism, which would incite the Kuangfu Army to fight to the death, leaving them with no weapons for ten days after the city fell?
Ouyang Rong had a scale in his heart.
In the afternoon, Ouyang Rong went to the main hall of Jiangzhou and met with Wang Lengran as usual to inquire about military affairs.
The Jiangzhou Zhechong Prefecture only had about a thousand soldiers.
A Zhechong Prefecture had a total of 1,500 active soldiers. 1,000 of them had been sent to support Hongzhou, but they suffered a major defeat and returned. Apart from those who surrendered, 300 or 400 of them fled back and regrouped.
Therefore, Jiangzhou Zhechong Prefecture could only send out a little over nine hundred soldiers.
In the past few days, with the arrival of reinforcements from Yangzhou and other places, more than two thousand new soldiers have joined the garrison.
Currently, the main camp outside Xunyang City has a total of three thousand soldiers, roughly equivalent to the strength of two military commands.
Although it couldn't compare to the 20,000 victorious soldiers Cai Qinjun claimed to have, only experts knew that it was an exaggeration.
The term "victorious soldiers" refers to soldiers who are capable of performing simple combat tasks.
The soldiers of Zhechongfu were professional military households, born into good families, not the kind of victorious soldiers temporarily conscripted.
Therefore, Cai Qin's main force, namely the local militia, currently numbers only about four thousand, probably less than five thousand. Adding in miscellaneous victorious troops, the total number is only about twenty thousand.
If it's a major battle and we control the terrain well, it should be three thousand against five thousand, with the disadvantage on our side. But if it's just about defending the city and waiting for the imperial army to come to our aid, three thousand men are indeed enough.
Moreover, with the Prince of Xunyang in the city, serving as a pacification ambassador and stationed in Xunyang, the morale of the army and civilians was not bad, and they were not pessimistic about the reinforcements. The imperial court could not possibly sell out the Prince of Xunyang.
This was the prevailing opinion in Jiangzhou, and morale among the troops was stabilizing.
That morning, the Jiangzhou government suddenly received news that Cai Qinjun's army was blocked in Jiangzhou. Zhao Rushi, the county magistrate of Jishui, had beheaded the county magistrate and county assistant who wanted to surrender the city, and organized the local militia to defend the city. They were putting up a fierce resistance against the rebel army.
When news of Cai Qinjun's obstruction reached Jishui County, the county was already surrounded and requested assistance.
The entire Jiangzhou Hall was taken aback. Wang Lengran was overjoyed, while Ouyang Rong frowned slightly. Officials gathered in the Jiangzhou Hall to discuss matters...
Scroll back, there's still one more chapter, "Chapter Eighty-Six," everyone, don't forget! It was posted on time today, and it's been moved up...
(End of this chapter)
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