Chapter 44 Attendant Part 2
Shinjuku naturally wouldn't let this key point slip by, so he asked, "What does this have to do with Yunguang? Please enlighten me, sir."
The people of Wuzhen saw that this young man stood among a group of soldiers, yet possessed an extraordinary demeanor. He was dressed in an elaborate embroidered brocade robe and was not intimidated by the soldiers' fierceness and arrogance. Moreover, he spoke kindly, so they couldn't help but feel a sense of goodwill towards him and began to tell him the story.
Then, Shinju and the others learned that the reason why the oleander by the spring had stood firm was because Yunguang Taoist Temple was behind it.
Logically speaking, oleander is highly poisonous, and planting it near a water source is highly inappropriate. However, if the trees were cut down, the water would soon purify itself and become non-toxic. The townspeople nearby had also considered this plan, but just as they were about to cut down the trees with axes, the town mayor ran out and stopped them. The mayor claimed that the people at Yun Guang Taoist Temple had calculated that cutting down these two peach trees would definitely affect the fortune of the entire town!
The townspeople argued fiercely about it. Eventually, they discovered that people died from the poisonous spring every year, but it was always outsiders who died. The locals knew the truth and never went to the spring to draw water, so nothing bad happened.
Over time, the debate subsided, and the mayor simply erected a monument to warn passersby, and the matter was dropped. To this day, two mayors have come and gone, but the two oleander trees still stand steadfastly by the spring.
The soldiers were deeply moved upon hearing this.
Shinjuku felt as if a fire was burning in his chest, impossible to extinguish.
What a powerful and influential Yun Guang Taoist Temple! They extend their reach so far, controlling such a small town and disregarding human life, all to protect their poisonous spring. And that poisonous spring water might very well be one of the ingredients in the Nourishing Heart Pill.
If there is one, then there must be two, three, and four. The ingredients for the Nourishing Heart Pill are numerous, and Zhen Su couldn't help but suspect that such heinous acts were probably still hidden in various dark corners, yet to be discovered.
When the scarred soldier realized his secret had been exposed, he quietly retreated, attempting to escape. However, Shinju had already moved to block his way.
A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. He thought to himself, if he couldn't be allowed to live, then the only option was to fight his way out! So the scarred soldier immediately drew his long sword, twisted and swung it horizontally. The blade sliced out a large half-circle, scaring the people around him into taking several steps back. Luckily, they weren't cut in half at the waist.
However, he made a fatal mistake—he ignored Shinjuku right behind him. Suddenly, he felt a numbness in the back of his knee, his calf became as soft as silk and collapsed, his knee lost its support, and he fell straight to the ground, unable to get up.
At the same time, with a clang, the long sword fell to the ground. The soldiers immediately surrounded him and forcefully pressed his head to the ground.
The whole thing happened in just a few breaths. No one saw anyone make a move, so they all assumed that the traitor had made a mistake and that's why the knife slipped from his hand.
Just as Shinjuku was about to leave quietly, a soldier grabbed his sleeve.
"Sir, please wait! ...I wronged you earlier. I was petty and said some unpleasant things to you. I was wrong, I'm sorry!" This soldier was straightforward and was the first to step forward and admit his mistake.
Masakatsu was quite surprised. He had encountered a lot of difficulties along the way, but this was the first time someone had apologized to him so sincerely.
Just as Shinju was about to respond, the group of people fetching water, along with other soldiers who had previously spoken up for him during the argument, all gathered around and bowed to Shinju, saying, "Sir, we're sorry!"
Several others were still embarrassed, but ultimately couldn't resist the unease in their conscience and stepped forward to apologize.
Their faces burned with shame and guilt. Although the other party was a eunuch, and a young man younger than all of them, he had ultimately exposed a villain, a traitor, and this matter concerned the survival of their entire group. Although they didn't know why the poison spring hadn't worked, the truth was there, and even if they were unaccustomed to bowing to others, they couldn't be ungrateful.
Their words were so offensive that everyone expected the emperor's close attendant to retaliate with sarcasm. But to their surprise, a gentle smile appeared on his already handsome face. The crowd stared in disbelief, thinking to themselves that they finally understood the meaning of "a smile from a beautiful woman is priceless."
The soldiers were not good with words, but they all wanted to talk to Shinjuku. Just as Shinjuku was about to be overwhelmed by the soldiers, the King of the Dragon King spoke from afar.
"Yan Shang".
Upon hearing his full name, the lieutenant general felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately accepted the order and instructed, "Everyone has rested enough! It's time to set off. The sun isn't too strong right now, but everyone put on your hoods. Send two men to take that villain to town, and then hand him over to the garrison commander to be sent back to the capital. Make sure he doesn't try to kill himself."
Upon hearing the military order, the soldiers regained their composure, some guarding their captors, others packing up, and went about their respective tasks.
Shinjuku looked down at his hands, now covered in black ink, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes. The amount of poison he had ingested this time was quite considerable.
Unfortunately, he didn't have time to go to the spring and pluck both oleanders, and the Poison King would probably send someone to dispose of them soon. Oh well, it's better that they're gone than for them to continue causing trouble.
After thinking it over, Shinju walked toward the carriage where the King of Poison was.
.
Wuzhen Medical Clinic.
The doctor and his apprentice were suddenly handed several silver notes, and they immediately fell silent. They then tiptoed out of the clinic through the back door.
Only a few soldiers with their hands and feet bandaged up remained inside the building.
A soldier lying on a bamboo mat said to the general beside him, "Brother, your method is really effective. Now we don't have to go to the frontier. Who knows if we'll even lose our lives?"
"The package is gone! That information was bought at a high price," a soldier on the other side chimed in.
The general's gaze was indifferent, and his tone was as cold as ice. "It's a pity that there are too few casualties." He had thought that he could paralyze the convoy, but to his surprise, there were only a few wounded soldiers, and the group continued on their way.
"I understand your idea of not blaming the masses. Fortunately, it's just the few of us, so the Emperor didn't punish us."
Lang Jiang did not refute, as he had always disdained sharing his plans with these foolish and spoiled brats.
"Even though I was prepared, my leg still hurts terribly from the fall. I really want to go home! My new concubine has such soft hands, if only she could massage it for me..."
Before the soldier could finish speaking, two men suddenly leaped down from the beam, their movements swift and agile, and subdued the wounded present.
One of them held up a silver waist tag with the character "賿" (scorpion) that gleamed in the sunlight, glared at the officer, and hissed, "Confess immediately! None of you will escape."
"Scorpion...Scorpion Army...Sir, spare my life! I...I don't know anything!!" The soldiers were so frightened that their injured legs had healed, but as soon as they got up, their legs were broken again.
Lang Jiang could no longer remain calm, and his eyes filled with dejection.
Screams erupted inside the clinic, while the doctors and apprentices outside exchanged bewildered glances.
.
The convoy traveled for two days, taking only three short breaks in between, and the entire team inevitably fell into extreme fatigue.
As the convoy entered the eastern border region, due to the relatively backward development of the border area, the wide official roads gradually disappeared as they went deeper into the interior, and were replaced by narrow and rugged dirt roads with unclear signs. The roadsides were full of deep mountains and cliffs, and the scenery was full of dangers.
To prevent ambushes by mountain bandits and for the sake of driving safety, the King of Zhen decided that the caravan would no longer travel at night, but would instead be divided into small teams to carry out missions, while the main force would set up camp to rest.
The temperature difference between day and night is huge in the border region. Even though the King of Zhen was wearing a cloak, he was still not much warmer sitting in the makeshift tent. He had to rub his hands from time to time before he could write.
Seeing this, Shinju went out and fetched a basin of hot water, which he then carried into the tent.
"Your Majesty, please wipe yourself down before you go to sleep."
King Zhen put down the map, looked at the only one who was still energetic in the past few days, walked up to him, lowered his head and said, "I am a little tired, wipe my face for me."
Seeing that King Zhen indeed looked exhausted, his already deep-set eyes appeared even more sunken under the faint bluish-black tinge, Shinjuku immediately dampened a cloth and, with his fingertips, slowly wiped away the fine dust from King Zhen's face, leaving only moisture and warmth.
King Zhen lowered his gaze to look into Masakuni's focused golden eyes, which were so close to his own. His own blurry face and figure were reflected in those eyes, and he had the strange feeling that the other man's eyes were only on him. His throat tightened, and he grabbed Masakuni's wrist.
"?" Confusion was evident in Masakatsu's eyes.
In a short while, the King of Poison came up with many excuses, but in the end, he suddenly didn't want to make any more.
Why make excuses? He just wants to kiss him.
The King of Poison's eyes darkened, and he leaned closer to Shinju's face—
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Author's note: Closed tomorrow...
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