Chapter 467: All Sides Are Making Their Moves (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
"You really chopped it up?"
The inner garden of the imperial palace, the cat and dog kennels.
Several eunuchs worked together to move the lifeless body over. Zheng Qiao was tyrannical and frequently killed people, leading to a high turnover of palace eunuchs. These eunuchs were all young, from impoverished backgrounds, and had undergone castration to serve others in order to earn a living.
They had also heard of Yan An's reputation.
At first, I hated this man for aiding and abetting evil, but seeing that only a handful of people in the court were truly dedicated to the well-being of the common people, I realized I had misunderstood. If it weren't for Mr. Yan's persistent efforts, the snow disasters of the past two years alone would have added tens of thousands more souls to the world.
Some of them had indirectly received favors from Yan An, and the thought of dismembering their benefactor's body and feeding it to the wild beasts in the cat and dog kennels was truly unbearable. But if they didn't do it, and the tyrant found out they had disobeyed his orders, their fate would be tens of thousands of times more miserable than Yan An's. For a moment, everyone hesitated, their expressions conflicted, and no one dared to utter a sound.
"How about we burn it?"
One person suddenly made a suggestion.
"Burned?"
Everyone was terrified by this suggestion.
This is utterly devastating!
The eunuch on duty in the cat and dog room whispered, "We...we'll just say that these little beasts are all full and picky eaters, and they're not interested in human flesh for the time being. We're afraid that the human flesh will rot and spoil the little masters' stomachs, so we'll throw this human flesh into the stove and burn it...burning it into ashes is better than it going into the stomachs of those little beasts and into the cycle of reincarnation, isn't it?"
Everyone: "..."
This seems to make sense. Although both approaches are extreme, one should choose the lesser of two evils.
If the ashes are burned, animal bones can still be used to make up the difference.
If the tyrant ever suddenly decided he wanted to scatter his senior brother's ashes for fun, they could easily explain themselves; the risk was less than disobeying orders, and it would soothe their consciences. After a moment's thought, one by one, people agreed. However, this matter needed to be done discreetly.
These eunuchs were the lowest-ranking members of the palace, and no one cared what they did. The assassination attempt on Zheng Qiao had thrown the palace into chaos overnight, allowing them to exploit the situation and carry out the plan. If they weren't worried about getting into trouble, they would have even wanted to erect a memorial tablet in his honor. As dawn broke, the palace, being far from impenetrable, quickly spread the news to every household.
The reactions of those who heard the news varied.
Some were indifferent, some heartbroken, some sneered, some mocked, and some even felt a sense of shared fate, deeply sensing the darkness of the world and contemplating resigning their official posts and retiring to the mountains. Regardless of their state of mind, their fear of Zheng Qiao reached its peak.
ruthless!
That's too ruthless!
Even someone who treated his senior brother with such sincerity was driven to assassination by his brutality. While Yan An's betrayal was certainly wrong, he had been more than kind to Zheng Qiao; even considering their past friendship, he should have been given a proper burial. Instead, he was chopped up and fed to the dogs!
Such a tyrannical ruler should be allowed to retire early.
The news reached the border of Ganzhou in just three or four days.
Calling it a boundary isn't quite right either.
It takes another half a day to actually get out of Ganzhou.
A dirty family of three was resting at a teahouse by the roadside. The woman, dressed in simple clothes and wearing a shabby hairpin, looked haggard and weak, her face sallow, clearly indicating she was either recovering from a serious illness or suffering from a grave disease. Beside her, the boy was also covered in grime, his coarse linen clothes patched dozens of times, emanating a strange stench. Of the three, only the little girl was relatively clean and presentable.
"Mother, have some..."
The little girl looked up at the woman.
The boy said, "Mother doesn't have an appetite right now. You should eat more so you don't complain about being hungry halfway through the journey, or it will be difficult to resolve."
As he spoke, he tore off a small piece of the pancake.
When I broke it open, I discovered that there was actually minced meat inside the pancake.
The boy was startled.
He wanted vegetable-filled pancakes.
Looking up at the teahouse owner, who smiled憨厚ly, the boy instantly understood. Somewhat helplessly, he withdrew the outstretched piece of cake, stuffed it into his mouth, and got up to ask the owner for another serving. The owner said, "It's not for you."
She saw that the little girl was cute, and seeing the woman and boy's appearance, she felt pity and exchanged the pancake for another one.
The boy explained in a low voice, "We appreciate the shopkeeper's kindness, but the child recently lost his biological father..."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper realized his good intentions had backfired, and sighed, "Alas, poor thing, she's still so young..."
In today's world, the loss of an adult male in a family makes their already difficult days even more unbearable.
The shopkeeper hurriedly had someone bring him two vegetarian cakes.
The boy quickly thanked him.
Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from outside the teahouse.
Two men dressed as constables came over.
The boy almost threw the pancake away when he saw it.
He managed to restrain himself, lowering his head and giving way to the two constables. He was originally from a humble background, and even after a year or two of living a life of luxury, some deeply ingrained habits were hard to break. He flawlessly portrayed a commoner terrified of the constables, then calmly returned to his seat. He broke the vegetarian cake into small pieces, soaked them until soft, and fed them to the little girl.
Because the teahouse was doing fairly well and seats were in high demand, the two constables were seated next to them, which made the young man's heart jump. But soon, his attention was drawn to their conversation, in which they mentioned "Yan An".
"The tyrant is getting more and more ruthless..." The tall bailiff finished a bowl of hot orange peel drink.
“…Absolutely! He’s inhuman! No wonder he’s been abandoned by everyone… That’s how we say it, right? He deserves it!” the short constable chimed in. “…He wasn’t even given a proper burial. Is that something a human would do? I heard that the man surnamed Yan used to be an unparalleled scholar in the Xin Kingdom, but now he’s ended up like this… Tsk tsk tsk, having such a junior brother is truly the worst luck imaginable!”
"Sigh, I heard they'd chop him up and feed him to the dogs..."
"It seems his wife and daughters have run away?"
"That's what they say. Sigh, it would be terrible if they got caught... Knowing that person's personality, who knows how they'd humiliate them."
The boy felt a chill run down his spine.
It wasn't because of hearing the news of Yan An's death, but because she was worried that the two people around her might suddenly have their identities exposed...
result--
The woman paused only briefly while serving the tea.
But when I lowered my head close to the earthenware bowl, tears silently fell into it, and the taste was extremely bitter.
The little girl was confused and didn't understand what the neighbors were saying.
"Brother, what's wrong?"
The little girl looked at him with confusion, waiting to be fed.
The boy snapped out of his daze and whispered, "It's nothing."
He endured the agonizing wait, fidgeting constantly. Once they had eaten their fill, the three of them rose and ate some more rations for the journey. Following the woman's instructions, he exchanged his horse-drawn carriage for a dilapidated wooden donkey cart from an old farmer in the village, and built a very simple shed to shelter them from the wind and rain. Despite the bumpy ride, these disguises allowed them to evade numerous searches along the way.
For now, things are relatively stable.
Once they were far from the teahouse, the young man heard a woman's suppressed sobs behind him, her grief like that of a lone goose grieving the loss of its lover. After a long while, as the sobs subsided, the young man asked, "Madam, where do we go next? News of Mr. Yan's affair has reached here, and those chasing us are probably on their way. None of the three of us are capable fighters; if we're caught, not one of us will be left alive..."
As he was speaking, he heard the deadly sound of horses' hooves.
That can't be right—
What you say comes true.
The boy's heart leaped into his throat.
(ω)
Did some of you in the last chapter wonder what kind of knives Gong Xi Chou could eat?
Well—
It's not really a knife.
The orphanage has gained another member...
_(:з」∠)_
(End of this chapter)
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