Chapter 105 "People need to be well-fed to have the energy to work..."
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Fifteen minutes later.
Woodshed.
Ma Qingmei brought in some white porridge and pushed open the door, only to see Pei Xuan sitting alone by the window.
She paused, then asked, "...Where's Jiang Ling'er?"
"They're gone."
"Gone???"
Ma Qingmei hurriedly put down the white porridge and looked out the window. There was only a clear breeze and a bright moon; where was anyone?
It's clear they've been walking for quite a while.
Ma Qingmei assumed Jiang Ling'er and Pei Xuan had argued and parted on bad terms, but when she turned around, she saw Pei Xuan leisurely drinking his plain porridge. It was nothing special, yet he treated it as if it were a delicacy, even smiling broadly as he reached out to ask her for another bowl.
"Miss Ma, could you please give me another bowl?"
Ma Qingmei was taken aback for a moment, then quickly ladled out a bowl and handed it to him: "...Oh, okay."
Thank you.
The young Taoist priest thanked her before accepting the porridge, showing the utmost respect and courtesy to this lowly stable girl, whom everyone looked down upon, even more so than the old scholar in town.
Ma Qingmei really couldn't understand why Jiang Ling'er called him "the stinky rogue Taoist priest"...
Next, she watched with some surprise as the young Taoist priest drank three bowls of plain porridge in succession before putting down his chopsticks and smiling at her.
"People need to be well-fed to have the energy to work."
Ma Qingmei was waiting to ask him what work he wanted to do when she suddenly saw him casually throw the bowl away, and the bowl landed upside down on the threshold.
Ma Qingmei: "???"
Pei Xuan walked over, lifted the overturned bowl, and pulled out a small brown insect from it.
Ma Qingmei was stunned: "This is..."
Pei Xuan stared at the small insect in his palm and chuckled: "Still so careless, you don't even know you're being followed."
As he finished speaking, he mercilessly crushed the insect with two fingers, handed it to Ma Qingmei as a thank-you gift, and said with a smile:
"This insect is not very useful except for finding people over long distances, but it is excellent for making medicine."
Ma Qingmei took it with suspicion, only to later learn that this insect, which Pei Xuan had described as of little use, was actually a treasure of Danxia Cave, and it took ten years to cultivate just one.
When the topic of medicine came up, Ma Qingmei suddenly remembered something and mentioned the old blood stasis in his body. She was shocked when she took his pulse. The young Taoist was not as weak as he appeared. On the contrary, he had extremely terrifying internal strength.
"Unfortunately, the veins are blocked. Restoring one's internal strength is neither difficult nor easy; it's just that the mental illness is hard to cure..."
Pei Xuan, while wiping the dirt left on his fingertips from crushing the insect, suddenly interrupted her:
"Could Miss Ma please do me another favor?"
Ma Qingmei paused, noticing Pei Xuan's indifferent expression, as if he wasn't interested in what she was saying...
No, she hadn't expected Pei Xuan to be completely indifferent to her affairs.
The thought only flashed through her mind briefly; Ma Qingmei quickly dismissed it and said seriously:
"you say."
The young Taoist priest, as was customary, curved his handsome eyebrows and said first:
Thank you.
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Lian Sheng, led by the True Lord of Wenshan, wandered around until they arrived at the most alluring and ecstatic place in the entire city of Jinling—
Brothels and pleasure quarters.
Fengyue Tower is a rare haven from the Jin army's invasion.
It wasn't because the guards were particularly powerful, but because the Demonic Sect's Kong Wu was based here, and the Jin soldiers, out of some respect for Kong Wu, hadn't yet searched this place.
However, not searching now doesn't mean I'll never search again.
Wenshan Zhenjun was clearly a frequent visitor here. He grabbed Liansheng and, ignoring the guards' attempts to stop him, made his way unimpeded to the top floor of Fengyue Tower—the most exquisite women's boudoir.
"Sister Liu, Sister Liu, where are you? Come out quickly!"
"Oh dear, what's the rush? Are you in such a hurry to be reincarnated? Here we come."
A graceful figure emerged from behind the screen, with peach blossom eyes and a lotus-like face. Her steps were like lotus blossoms, and even before she reached him, a delicate fragrance wafted from her.
Liu Yirong.
Fengyue Tower... no, it's the most famous and unique courtesan in the entire Jiangnan region.
Normally, when Wenshan Zhenjun saw Liu Yirong, his eyes would practically glued to her, but now he only glanced at the maid behind Liu Yirong and said in a gruff voice:
"Bring the wine!"
The maid glanced at Liu Yirong, and at Liu Yirong's prompting, went over to pour wine for the old Taoist priest.
Everyone knows that Liu Yirong, a renowned beauty from Qinhuai, commands a fortune for a single night. Ordinary people cannot even reach her Zhaixing Tower, and this old Taoist priest, reeking of alcohol, is naturally not allowed to climb up either. Normally, Liu Yirong would have already ordered the guards to kick this man out, but with the Jin army entering the city, the situation is special, and she does not want to cause trouble, so she has endured it for the time being.
Fortunately, the old Taoist priest seemed to have changed his ways today; he didn't lay a hand on her, but instead stared intently at the girl he had dragged up with shining eyes—
His hands were bound, and he lay on the ground with his head bowed.
"So, you've found a new love, haven't you, old Taoist priest, and you won't even glance at me?" Liu Yirong nodded thoughtfully, walked to the fallen girl's side, lifted "her" chin with two fingers, met the girl's startled eyes, paused, shook his head, and sighed.
"Such a beautiful girl...what a pity."
The "girl" who fell to the ground was none other than Lian Sheng.
For some reason, Wenshan Zhenjun, whom Liansheng had entrusted to Zongshan Zhenjun, suddenly appeared in front of him and kidnapped him here. Although the acupoints on his body had been released, his hands were bound and his mouth was stuffed with a strip of cloth. Liu Yirong was the first stranger he had seen, so he could only desperately ask her for help.
However, in Liu Yirong's eyes, there was only deep pity.
Liu Yirong glanced at the girl's tearful eyes, then glanced at Wenshan Zhenjun's ugly, pig-like appearance out of the corner of her eye, and sighed deeply in her heart, "What a waste."
Without hesitation, he let go of her hand and stood up.
Seeing her like this, Wenshan Zhenjun immediately put down his wine cup and went to greet her:
“Sister Liu, Sister Liu, how can anyone compare to you? He…”
Wenshan Zhenjun paused, then stopped talking. He naturally wouldn't reveal that Liansheng was a man disguised as a woman; the fewer people who knew about it, the better.
He simply said, "This man is a treasure! Whether I can amass a fortune depends on him!"
His courage to enter Liu Yirong's boudoir, which was known as the Star-Picking Tower, was also due to this reason.
"And what I, the old Taoist, possess is none other than Sister Liu's, isn't it? As long as you serve this old Taoist well..."
As he spoke, Wenshan Zhenjun reached out a hand to put his arm around Liu Yirong's waist, but she subtly avoided it: "My lord is joking."
Liu Yirong covered her mouth and laughed, while giving her maid a wink.
The maidservant, receiving a signal, quickly walked away.
As the effects of the alcohol took hold, Wenshan Zhenjun shouted loudly:
"Where's the madam? Where is she? Take that little girl away, don't let her get in the way of me and Sister Liu!"
Liu Yirong's eyes turned cold. Just as Wenshan Zhenjun was about to forcefully embrace her, a maid's voice came from outside:
"Miss Kong Wu is here."
Wenshan Zhenjun was startled awake, looked around, and quickly pointed to the inner room, saying to Liu Yirong:
"Please trouble you, Sister Liu, to take that girl into the inner room."
The next sentence was spoken to Lian Sheng, who had fallen to the ground: "Don't make a sound!"
Liu Yirong was also extremely afraid of Kong Wu, so she didn't say anything and helped Lian Sheng, who had fallen to the ground, to hide behind the inner room.
Just as they closed the door to the inner room, Kong Wu walked in.
Kong Wu glanced at Wenshan Zhenjun: "You're looking for me?"
As he sat down and poured himself a cup of tea, he gave a cold sneer:
"It's a wonder you're still alive, old Taoist. I thought you'd been torn to pieces by those righteous sects."
Wenshan Zhenjun grinned maliciously with a lewd grin:
"Those weaklings who are all show and no substance dare to mess with me? Even if Yuan Wenkang, Lu Qingyuan, and Master Ma joined forces, they wouldn't be a match for Grandpa!"
Kong Wu gave a cold laugh, too lazy to expose him. Two consecutive days of setbacks had made her expression grim, wearing down her last bit of patience.
She simply couldn't believe that a living person could just disappear.
Kong Wu stared coldly at him, an aura of killing intent emanating from the small boudoir:
"Has the person been found?"
"If we haven't found it..." For the first time, True Lord Wenshan wasn't intimidated by Kong Wu, "How dare I invite Lady Kong Wu?"
Kong Wu ranks among the seven great assassins of the Demonic Sect, hence she is addressed as "Lord Kong Wu".
Kong Wu paused upon hearing this, then her expression instantly brightened.
The murderous aura vanished in the blink of an eye.
Kong Wu even poured herself a cup of tea in a very good mood and pushed it in front of Wenshan Zhenjun.
"Drink it. Drink this cup of tea and then we'll talk properly."
Wenshan Zhenjun accepted the tea and laughed heartily, sitting face to face with Kongwu for the first time to drink tea.
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Meanwhile, Lian Sheng hid in the inner room, peeking out through the crack in the door—
Kong Wu and Wenshan Zhenjun were drinking heartily when another person entered.
It was a tall, thin young man with his back to them, so Lian Sheng couldn't see him clearly through the crack in the door. He could only see the three of them sitting opposite each other, drinking tea.
Wenshan Zhenjun's voice was loud and clear, as if he were puzzled:
"Lord Kongwu, now that we've found that monk, why be so fixated on Jiang Ling'er? She's just a..."
"She dared to play tricks on me, I'll kill her!"
With a sudden angry shout, the teacup in Kong Wu's hand instantly turned into fine powder.
Even Lian Sheng and Liu Yi Rong, who were hiding in the inner room, were so shocked that their hearts were pounding so hard they felt like they were about to jump out of their chests.
Everyone fell silent, except for the third person who acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to drink his tea.
"You don't need to lift a finger." The man was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "She will do as you wish."
Kong Wu paused, narrowed her eyes, and looked at the person:
"...How so?"
“As long as Jiang Ling’er dares to open the secret passage…” The man turned his head to look at Kong Wu, placing the teacup on the table. His eyes were filled with madness, and he coldly uttered four words with a single sip of his lips, “She will surely die.”
The man turned his head to the side, and Lian Sheng was able to see his face clearly...
The moment he saw her true face, Lian Sheng abruptly raised his eyes, his pupils dilating in shock—
It was Zhao Xiao!
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That night.
The Prefect's Residence.
As expected, the prefectural government was heavily guarded, and the dignified prefect of Jinling was being held under house arrest by the Jin people.
Jiang Ling'er used the elusive footwork, like a nimble swallow or a swift black cat, to silently eliminate the Jin soldiers one by one before finally infiltrating the prefect's residence.
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Before Jiang Ling'er even saw him, she heard a deep, masculine voice, like the desolate moonlight spreading throughout the room.
"My heart is like ashes, my body like an unmoored boat."
Jiang Ling'er paused and peered into the house.
"The great roc soars, shaking the eight corners of the earth; it collapses in mid-sky, its strength failing. Its remaining wind stirs for ten thousand generations; it travels to Fusang, its left sleeve hanging."
The man's voice gradually grew mournful, each word like the weeping of a cuckoo, each syllable striking the heart and moving the soul. Jiang Ling'er couldn't help but lighten her steps and walk towards the sound.
The voice suddenly rose in pitch, carrying an indescribable, tragic sob, like sand being churned:
"My hair bristles with rage, I lean on the railing as the rain subsides. I raise my eyes, gaze at the sky, and roar with fierce passion. Thirty years of fame and glory are but dust and dirt, eight thousand miles of road are but clouds and moon. Do not idly let your youthful head turn white, only to be filled with empty sorrow!"
This is Yue Shuai's poem, which Jiang Ling'er knows.
She had heard the old镖头 (bodyguard/escort) recite it countless times, so naturally she knew it too.
Even a three-year-old child could do it; there probably wasn't a single patriotic Song Dynasty person who couldn't.
Jiang Ling'er subconsciously joined the mournful male voice in reciting in a low voice:
"The shame of Jingkang remains unavenged; the hatred of the subjects, when will it end! I will drive my chariot, shattering the Helan Mountains. With lofty ambition, I will feast on the flesh of the barbarians when hungry, and laughingly drink their blood when thirsty. I will wait to reclaim our lost lands and return to the imperial palace."
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Ling'er finally stepped into the house and saw the person clearly.
The man stood on a chair, hung a long white silk ribbon from the beam, wrapped it around his neck, and tied it in a knot.
The cold moonlight outside the window cast its light on the weathered, refined, and sorrowful face of the Prefect of Jinling, his face streaked with tears.
"It is my incompetence, Song Shiliang, that has led me to occupy a position without performing my duties, failing to live up to the imperial salary and the people of Jinling... allowing the Jurchens to lead their troops into the city..."
"It's my fault, Song Shiliang, that I'm useless! It's my fault, Song Shiliang, that I deserve to die!"
As soon as the Prefect of Jinling finished speaking, he kicked away the chair under his feet. In the instant his head was hanging from the beam, he suddenly felt weightless and plummeted down, as if his long ribbon had been cut.
Song Shiliang landed on the ground, looking at the newcomer with a blank expression: "You...who are you?"
"Uncle Song, it's me."
The newcomer pulled off her mask, revealing a pair of almond-shaped eyes fixed on him:
"Jiang Ling'er".
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The author notes: ① It is from Su Shi's "Self-Inscription on a Portrait at Jinshan"; ② It is from Li Bai's "Deathbed Song"; ③ and ④ It is from Yue Fei's "Man Jiang Hong".
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