Chapter 34 Dirty and Smelly
Zhao Xuanxu turned his head slightly and looked at Wen Yao with a smile: "Ayao, what are you doing?"
The coroner's outer garment was made of coarse grey cloth, but when turned inside out, it was a darker shade, almost black. Wen Yao quickly put his outer garment on inside out, lowered his head, and fastened his belt around his waist. "Let's go see what's going on with those tenants."
She looked up at Gao Shaoshan and Wu Peiming, who were sitting stiffly on their horses with their eyes closed for no apparent reason. She walked over, took off the water bag hanging in front of Gao Shaoshan's horse, and poured out the water inside. She said, "Zhao Xuanxu and I will go. You two lead the horses away so that the Xu family won't find us."
The smile on Zhao Xuanxu's lips deepened. He simply pulled off his outer robe and put it on backwards like Wen Yao, then followed her leisurely.
Tenants worked the fields daily, often living close to them, often in hastily built thatched huts on the edge of the fields. Wen Yao had noticed the low-slung houses across from the fields as she rode past them earlier. Now, leading Zhao Xuanxu back up the mountain through the wild woods, she remained silent even as she neared the houses.
It was utterly shabby and shabby. Wet, old straw strung together with hemp ropes served as walls, and the tips of the straw hanging from the eaves were dry, brittle, and withered. She had traveled extensively, and many cowsheds and horse stables looked sturdier than these thatched houses.
Such places were indeed inhabited. Stones were piled at the door, and on a shelf beside them lay earthenware pots and red-stained pans.
Wen Yao didn't try to hide the noise of his approach; the crackling of the branches he deliberately crushed startled the people inside. Two frightened faces timidly peeked out from the edge of the straw. They were two girls, one large and one small, their clothes thin and worn, their gaunt faces shrunken with fear.
When they saw Wen Yao and Zhao Xuanxu, they breathed a sigh of relief, but then became nervous again. The strange man and woman before them were neatly dressed and looked clean and good-looking. It was obvious at a glance that they were from a well-off family in the city.
The older girl clutched the door frame tightly, looked at Zhao Xuanxu and then at Wen Yao, and asked warily, "You, who are you? What's going on?"
"It's not someone, just someone from the Jianghu." Wen Yao saw that they were afraid, so he didn't move forward. He stopped and bowed. "We were going to Yanling City, but the journey was too long, our water bag was empty, and our mouths were really dry. We saw a family here, so we came over to see if we could ask for a drink of water."
Two pairs of eyes stared at Wen Yao and Zhao Xuanxu cautiously for a while, and finally the older girl stepped out.
She was short, looking no more than a dozen years old. The younger girl behind her immediately followed her after she left, hugging her waist from behind. Her eyes, sunken due to her thinness, continued to look at Wen Yao and Zhao Xuanxu with a hint of curiosity.
The older girl pulled out a clay pot from the shelf, revealing a floating piece of wood and swaying water. Wen Yao approached and handed over the water bag with both hands: "Thank you, young lady, thank you, thank you."
She tied her black hair with a red rope, her eyes were smiling, and even the human skin mask could not hide her sharp and unrestrained look.
The girl's face suddenly flushed a little. She couldn't help but secretly glance at Wen Yao again, then lowered her head to fill the water bag and handed it to Wen Yao, and asked in a low voice: "Are you from the Jianghu?"
"That's right." Wen Yao took the water bag and threw it to Zhao Xuanxu, saying with a smile, "Sell medicine to make a living."
"Oh." The girl looked like she wanted to say something else, and she nervously pinched the corner of her clothes to block the little girl, but in the end she bit her lip and lowered her head.
Wen Yao groaned and pulled out a handful of sweet osmanthus candies he had grabbed when he left the house. "You two ladies gave me some water. I'll trade you some candies, okay?"
"No, no, no." The girl glared and waved her hands back desperately: "Water is free, but sugar is expensive!"
"We've been walking all the way here and we're almost dying of thirst, but candy can't quench our thirst." Wen Yao was sincere. He reached out and grasped the girl's thin wrist, gently spreading her curled fingers and slipping the candy inside. He smiled slightly and said, "Are you and your sister the only ones home?"
Wen Yao's fingertips were covered in a thin layer of calluses, warm and dry. The aroma of sweet osmanthus candy filled the air, and the girl felt her palms warm, and then her face, and her heart pounded under the smile of the man before her.
She lowered her head, and her sister hugged her waist tightly from behind, whispering, "Dad and Mom have gone to the fields, I...I can't go out."
Why can't I go out?
At the end of the year, after paying their rent, the tenants would share their grain with the landlord. Most families would bring their entire family to help, hoping to have more grain left over. These two girls were not young anymore and could do some work, so why couldn't they go out?
Wen Yao soon found out why.
Suddenly, a muddy, drunken laugh echoed from a distant ridge. Many people, their chaotic footsteps treading over the branches and leaves, were rushing towards them.
The two girls' faces turned pale in an instant, their lips trembled a few times, and the fear in their eyes was mixed with tears of fright, which they could not hide.
The older girl suddenly turned around, picked up her younger sister with great effort, and ran to the nearby desolate forest. Halfway through, she stopped again, turned to Wen Yao with a faint cry and said, "You should leave quickly. They come here to arrest strangers these days."
The smile on Wen Yao's face disappeared. Looking at the blue and purple marks on the girl's arms revealed as her sleeves slipped down, she felt as if a stream of icy water passed through her heart, and a bad idea came to her mind.
You can't be such a beast.
Cold anger instantly filled his chest.
Wen Yao said nothing, quickly walked forward, picked up the two girls, and leaped onto the tall, straight tree trunk before him. Zhao Xuanxu was naturally skilled in Qinggong, and he slowly and carefully closed the water bag and easily squatted on the branch next to Wen Yao.
The sudden feeling of weightlessness nearly made the two girls scream. Fortunately, they reacted quickly and, after recovering, gritted their teeth and swallowed the sound, covering their mouths and staring intently at the four men who swaggered into the thatched hut below.
The men, dressed as servants, all appeared drunk. They kicked over a clay pot on the floor, sending water spilling all over the floor. One of them walked into the room, looked around, and when he didn't see the two young women, he immediately started yelling obscene words.
He kicked over a nearby shelf, and a bamboo basket rolled out. A bundle of crisp, firm leafy vegetables fell out, landing on the ground covered in dirt and dust. "Damn it! Two little bitches! I made this trip for nothing!"
The people beside him were also a little disappointed, but seeing his frustrated look, they laughed and winked: "Free fun is gone, you can only pay for the drinks and go to Baihualou to find women!"
The others followed suit, laughing and cursing, and the crude and obscene language was harsh and unpleasant to the ear.
Wen Yao felt the two girls trembling in her arms, and drops of moist, cool liquid fell onto the back of her hand. She freed one hand and pressed the two girls' heads against her chest. After the others had another commotion in the room and trampled the bundle of greens into a pulp, she gently dropped them to the ground with them in her arms.
The older girl's face was covered with tears, but she still didn't say a word. She just turned her head and hugged her sister tightly.
Wen Yao squatted down and said softly, "Have you thought about reporting to the police?"
"It's useless." Sobs, choked with pain, escaped the girl's teeth. She was trembling all over. "They are the master's family, and the city officials are in cahoots with them. It's useless. Our land was taken away by the master, and my parents are old. If we don't stay here, we will starve to death on the streets and won't survive this winter."
The little girl clutched her sister's sleeve tightly, looking up at the seemingly powerful Jianghu sister in front of her, and whispered softly, "The uncle next door was dragged to repair the wall by them and fell to his death. My brother sneaked out to see the high official in the city, but was beaten with twenty boards and driven out. Those people came and pushed my brother into the water and asked my aunt to watch. My brother couldn't swim, so they threw rocks into the water, and the water was full of blood... My father and uncle dared to go to the water in the middle of the night and secretly fished my brother out with a bamboo pole. My brother's body was swollen."
The girl was very young, and her voice was clear and crisp as she described these brutal and violent crimes. Cruel and devilish behavior had become commonplace among the tenants of Yushan Villa, and it was far more terrifying than Wen Yao had imagined.
She was speechless, unable to utter a word. After a while, Wen Yao squatted down, gently touched the two children's heads, took out all the remaining candies and handed them to them: "You two put some leaves and branches outside. If you hear someone coming in, don't make a sound and run to the woods quickly."
Wen Yao paused, looking at the trampled and tattered vegetables on the ground. His gaze lingered for a moment on the platycodon that tied the vegetables together. "It's a pity that these vegetables can't be eaten."
The older girl wiped her eyes, quickly squatted down, and picked up the leaves. "It's okay, the vegetables grew in the ground anyway, just wash them. You... you're amazing, you're the second person I've ever seen that's this amazing. Do all people in the martial arts world know martial arts?"
"The second one?" Wen Yao smiled: "Miss, have you ever given water to others?"
The girl clutched the vegetable leaves, the tears on her face dried, but her eyes were still red and swollen. She looked at Wen Yao, her rapid breathing slowed down, and she shook her head gently, saying, "It was a prince, he's also a man of the underworld, and we knew each other before. He sent us this vegetable. He's a very kind man, as capable as you."
Wen Yao's gentle smile remained unchanged as he patted her head: "You are not wearing enough. Go inside quickly to avoid catching a cold. Be careful before your parents come back."
The sisters huddled together, holding candies they had never tasted before, and looked up at the good-looking brother and sister walking away along the path.
After leaving the desolate forest, Wen Yao took a deep breath, calmly raised his hand, and slammed a tree to the side. The tree trunk, half the thickness of a man, exploded, hitting the ground with a loud thud, and dust flew up.
"Why don't we just chase him and kill him?" Her eyes were sharp, and a thick murderous aura lingered in them. "That beast deserves to die."
"Okay." Zhao Xuanxu agreed without blinking. He took the water bag and walked forward a few steps, but didn't hear Wen Yao catch up. He turned back with a little confusion: "What's wrong?"
Not going to kill people?
Wen Yao closed his eyes and said in a deflated tone, "We still have to check the Hell King's Poke. Let's not make any other noises for now."
Zhao Xuanxu stared at Wen Yao for a while, then walked over to her and raised his hand to stroke her back, gently smoothing it down. He offered sympathetic advice: "What's the big deal? Break their legs and throw them into the water. If they're not dead, we can deal with them together after this is over."
Wen Yao closed her eyes for a moment, then suddenly opened them and looked at him, her brow furrowed, a rare hesitation in her voice: "Just now... the bundle of vegetables in the room and what that girl said made me suddenly think of someone."
"Oh." Zhao Xuanxu raised his eyebrows: "Knife?"
"You think so?" Wen Yao's brows relaxed. She reached into her sleeve and found a broken knot hanging from her fingertips. She waved it in front of Zhao Xuanxu and said, "This is the knot used to tie up the boxes used for escort missions. It's the same knot used for the food Xiaodao gave us last time."
Wen Yao had also worked as a caravan escort. When she took the bundle of vegetables from Xiaodao's hand, she had already guessed what he did for a living.
"He's a prince, a man of the Jianghu who knows martial arts, and we knew each other before. The keywords are too obvious, it's hard not to think of him." Wen Yao sighed: "How could it be such a coincidence that he lives next door to us?"
Gao Shaoshan and Wu Peiming were still waiting at the intersection leading down the mountain. When they saw the two men coming back, Zhao Xuanxu looked calm, but Wen Yao, who rarely had a serious face and didn't say anything, knew that something must have really happened to those tenants.
The four of them parted at the intersection, and Wen Yao and Zhao Xuanxu returned to the courtyard. Zhao Xuanxu poured Wen Yao some water and waved toward the densely leafed tree outside the house. Qianying leaped down from it and knelt respectfully at his feet.
"Go to Baihua Tower and find the four servants from the Xu Mansion." Zhao Xuanxu was too lazy to recall what they looked like. "If you can't recognize them, take Wu Peiming with you. Break their legs and throw them into the water. They'll never stand up again."
Qianying nodded seriously and left.
Wen Yao took a swig of warm tea, but it still couldn't quench the burning anger in his heart. His fingers squeezed the teacup, making a creaking sound. "The land tax exemption for Tianshui officials, and the Xu family forcibly seized the land of self-cultivating farmers and forced them to become tenants. How much land tax must have been reduced in the fish scale register? Wasn't the Ministry of Revenue under the King of Qin before? And they couldn't even discover this?"
"The magistrate of Yanling County is a disciple of the Xu family." Zhao Xuanxu gently brushed aside Wen Yao's fingers and held out the cup. As someone who had been in the imperial court, he was used to seeing all this dirty, smelly stuff. "If they were sent back to the government office, it wouldn't be difficult for them to revise and inflate the land tax figures. They're also encroaching on official and private land, illegally selling tea and salt, and imposing layers of taxes... It's not uncommon. Otherwise, how could they have become so fat and greedy just relying on the court's salary?"
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