"Although I’ve only seen him a few times in Wenhua Hall," Lord Yuan picked up the hot tea Shao Qing had passed him, "but he often punishes the servant boys around him over trivial matters."
At this time, Xu Guangzeng, Deng Chen, and others were off to "harvest the bandit chief," while Song Jiyun, Magistrate Jiang, and Shao Qing had returned to the County Yamen from Hong Mountain Hollow. After a tumultuous fight, Lord Yuan had freshened up and changed his clothes, now seated on the Arhat bed in the main hall of the back office, letting the doctor take his pulse.
Song Jiyun and others sat around him, waiting for the doctor’s diagnosis.
"Master Jinghu once described him as ’petty and vile,’" Lord Yuan stated calmly, letting Jiang Xiaosi smooth out the sleeve the doctor had rolled up after taking his pulse, and lifted his tea cup to sip some tea, "When he suddenly asked me to meet at Nameless Temple, I knew it was a setup."
Magistrate Jiang couldn’t help but criticize him, "Then why did you go?"
Lord Yuan gave Magistrate Jiang a glance and continued, "Before coming to Jiangxi, I specifically looked into his actions over the years."
The tyranny and arrogance of Prince Ning were well-known secrets among the Jiangxi officialdom, even within the Imperial Court. Otherwise, how could the Emperor mobilize his confidant to investigate him just for smuggling?
"Over the years, he has played emperor in Jiangxi, his word law, calling a deer a horse. My investigation into his affairs has wounded his pride. If he couldn’t recover his standing, how would he be able to continue his tyranny in Jiangxi? It’s better to let him hit a wall and learn some restraint than to let him slaughter indiscriminately, harming innocent civilians."
Lord Yuan withdrew the other arm the doctor had examined and slowly straightened his sleeve.
Shao Qing hurriedly brought over the braised noodle dish from the kitchen to Lord Yuan, "Young Master, you had dumplings when you left, now noodles as you’ve come home. Though it’s not quite authentic, we’ve managed to garnish it with eight condiments. Please make do and have a few bites to play along with the custom."
Lord Yuan nodded.
Song Jiyun was already asking the doctor, "How about it? Is there anything amiss?"
Her eagerness showed through.
Lord Yuan couldn’t help but glance at her.
The doctor, being a local, had heard about the relationship between Song Jiyun and Lord Yuan. He smiled reassuringly, "No worries, no worries. Lord Yuan has a strong constitution; even though he has endured exposure to the elements, it’s nothing serious, not even worth prescribing medication."
Song Jiyun always felt that Lord Yuan was a pampered young master who hadn’t experienced much hardship, less well-versed in practical matters than herself.
She said worriedly, "Shouldn’t we prescribe a few doses of routine pest-control and detoxifying prescriptions? He didn’t return all night yesterday and even roasted two rabbits to eat himself."
Who knows how Lord Yuan managed to devour those two rabbits.
The thought alone made her stomach ache.
The doctor laughed, "Are you referring to deworming medicine, miss? It wouldn’t hurt to prescribe a few doses. There are many forests around here, and Lord Yuan came from the Capital City; the climate is different between the north and south, so it’s always better to be cautious."
Song Jiyun expressed her gratitude and tipped him, then Zheng Quan escorted him to write the prescription.
But when she turned around, she found the room bathed in a quiet stillness, with Lord Yuan, Magistrate Jiang, and the others all looking at her intently.
"What’s wrong?" Song Jiyun asked, puzzled, wondering if she had overstepped her bounds.
She explained, "It’s best to be careful. Young Master Yuan has never drunk raw water; he may not be able to handle the spring water from the mountains."
Shao Qing’s mouth twitched, as if about to say something, but Lord Yuan nodded, "Miss Song makes sense."
Magistrate Jiang gave up on speaking out and instead brought up the topic of his own assassination attempt, "You’re too bold! You knew it was a setup, yet you went alone, don’t you know how Guan Yu died?"
Lord Yuan replied, "I brought a sleeve arrow and hid a Slicer under the horse’s belly."
Magistrate Jiang was exasperated and pressed him, "What good would that do? Hunt rabbits with it?"
Yuan Yunzhong spoke nonchalantly, "I’ve got it under control." He added, "I’ve come back safe and sound, haven’t I?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"You still have the nerve to say that?" Magistrate Jiang sneered, pointing at the inner garment Yuan had changed out of, "Is this what you call safe and sound? Where’s your outer robe? If we hadn’t found your shattered peace amulet, would we not have thought you were murdered? If you hadn’t torn off someone else’s clothes to make trail markers, would we have mistaken the person in that cave for you? Having realized that something was amiss, why didn’t you figure out a way to send us a message?"
Yuan Yunzhong dismissed it, saying, "Neither the Inspectorate nor the Inspection Division, nor the people from the Yamen, stand a chance against the Colonel of the Wang Residence."
The status of the Colonel of the Wang Residence is inherently superior to theirs.
They only fumble nervously around the Colonel of the Wang Residence, and might even lose their lives despite having the upper hand.
Of course, Magistrate Jiang was aware of this.
It was precisely because he knew that he was even more angry.
As he paced back and forth in the hall, he questioned Yuan Yunzhong, "How many men did Prince Ning send to kill you? How come there were the Wang Residence’s Colonel and dead soldiers? By all logic, these types of people shouldn’t appear at the same time, and yet half of them were dead soldiers. It took us quite some time to verify their identities.
"Moreover, Prince Ning has been using these identities to play his game, claiming that the Colonel sent by him was meant to escort you, alleging that you must have offended someone and been backstabed. His Colonel must have been implicated by you.
"Luckily, you are unharmed, otherwise he would certainly have framed you that way. He might even use it as proof to declare to the Emperor that you caused trouble in Jiangxi, incited public outrage, and hence met with such a fate."
He said with bitter laughter, "If he were a bit more cunning, by instigating the Remonstrant Officials to impeach you, I’m afraid even if you died with your whole body intact, you would still end up being branded a treacherous official. At that point, the hundred-year reputation of the Yuan Family might as well be utterly destroyed."
"It wouldn’t get that far," Yuan Yunzhong said lightly, "at worst, it would be a mixed reputation."
As for how many men Prince Ning sent, he said, "I’m not sure about the exact number. I encountered one group at the Nameless Temple, another at the foot of South Mountain, and yet another in Hong Mountain Hollow."
"So many people!!" The people in the room exclaimed in shock, almost in unison.
Yet Yuan Yunzhong still spoke indifferently to Magistrate Jiang, "It was too dark at the time, and I have no idea how many men I killed. Just now, Xu Guangzeng and Deng Chen were in such a panic, fearing they had lost a few heads, I didn’t have time to talk to them. Remember to send someone to inform them, there are definitely some who slipped through the net, and that is an achievement in itself, they shouldn’t miss out on it being fed right to them."
He said with a cold mocking, "I do want to see, with so many dead, how he plans to report this to the Imperial Court!"
The ’he’ naturally referred to Prince Ning.
Magistrate Jiang was livid upon hearing this, "How can you be like this? Who does Prince Ning think he is? He’s just one of the many Vassal Kings of the Imperial Family. You, however, are the long-anticipated sole heir of the Yuan and Wang families. If something happened to you, Madam Wang certainly would be doomed as well. If not for your own sake, think about Madam Wang. You’re not alone."
"Is that so?" Yuan Yunzhong glanced at Magistrate Jiang and remarked, "Didn’t Madam Wang say that without me, she still has you and my two senior brothers? All of you would care for her in her old age, wouldn’t you?"
Magistrate Jiang felt deflated upon hearing this and rubbed his face, saying, "That was said in anger! You’re how old this year, and you still can’t differentiate these things?"
Without uttering a word, Yuan Yunzhong pushed the bowl in front of him forward and said to Shao Qing, "I’m done with the obligations. Serve me something that normal people can eat. Do you have any porridge? Or just boiled rice will do. Isn’t it the season for eating bamboo shoots? Can the cook make Yanzhu Xin? I remember that the cured meat from Jingde Town is quite famous too."
Shao Qing hesitated, caught between wanting to speak and holding back, then finally went out to instruct the servants.
Magistrate Jiang, however, heaved a long sigh, commenting earnestly, "Yunzhong, this world doesn’t revolve only around you. Going it alone is no good. You should trust your teammates, you need someone you can count on to watch your back."
The comment was rather weighty.
The hall fell dead silent.
Yuan Yunzhong’s expression turned somewhat unpleased.
But he drank his tea without moving a muscle on his face or eyes, obviously having no intention of acknowledging Magistrate Jiang.
"Magistrate Jiang!" Song Jiyun suddenly spoke up weakly, "Young Master Yuan, he, doesn’t really know the way!"
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