Lu Da walked inside while sizing up the group, his mind already racing through numerous possible outcomes. Yet in every scenario, he never considered abandoning Jiang A Yao.
After slaughtering and plucking the pheasants in the courtyard, he noticed the outdoor fire pit hadn’t completely died out. He held the pheasants over the embers to singe off the remaining down feathers around their necks.
Once finished, he carried both birds toward the house under Scarface’s watchful eye.
Jiang A Yao was resting by the charcoal brazier when she heard movement at the doorway. Looking up, she saw Lu Da.
“What are you doing here?”
Her eyes widened in shock as she scrambled to her feet, hurrying toward him.
“I came to check…”
Lu Da’s words were cut off by Scarface’s booming voice. “Your husband here is quite thoughtful – worried you weren’t eating well, he specially brought two pheasants to cook for you.”
Scarface’s teasing tone made others in the room take notice of Lu Da.
So he had come voluntarily, not because he’d been captured.
Jiang A Yao let out a relieved breath and reached for the pheasants. “Let me handle these. When would you ever know how to prepare wild game like this?”
As she moved to take the birds, Lu Da held them back. “I’ll help you.”
Sensing he had deliberately stayed because he needed to speak with her, she didn’t object.
The two went together to the kitchen. Scarface didn’t follow, instead instructing his subordinate to check on them occasionally rather than maintain constant surveillance.
Jiang A Yao searched for ginger to prepare the meat when she noticed Lu Da pulling two root-like objects from his cloth bag.
Her casual glance turned into wide-eyed surprise. “Where did you get these?”
Lu Da answered truthfully, “Dug them up near the mountain while catching the pheasants. They can be used in soup.”
“Of course they can,” Jiang A Yao said. “This is wild yam.”
Lu Da gave a noncommittal hum.
As she began preparing the wild yam, Jiang A Yao asked, “How is Mingzhu?”
Lu Da nodded. “Her spirits are good. She was out of bed this morning, but I made her rest so she wouldn’t overexert herself.”
Mingzhu had been eating well these past few meals, color returning to her cheeks and strength to her limbs.
“You were right – patients need to be able to eat before they can handle medicine.”
“Naturally.”
They continued exchanging mundane conversation until the person listening outside went to report back to Scarface.
When Lu Da detected they were no longer being monitored, he lowered his voice to call her name.
But before he could speak, Jiang A Yao shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. The injured man needs to stay here at least five more days, and they don’t intend to harm civilians. Their leader knows the law well – they’re not bandits.”
She said no more, but this information was enough for Lu Da to understand.
“Take good care of Mingzhu. Just endure for a few more days.”
Once they left, this whole affair would be over.
Remembering Scarface’s words, Lu Da still felt uneasy. He whispered, “Have they… treated you improperly?”
“Don’t be afraid. I came to take you away.”
Lu Da had prepared for the worst-case scenario and was ready to act. He had already made arrangements for Mingzhu – there was nothing for her to worry about.
“Their leader needs a physician. I’m useful to them, so they won’t harm me.”
Jiang A Yao had indeed been very worried last night, but after speaking with the injured man today, she felt much more at ease.
“Go back later and take good care of Mingzhu.”
Although Mingzhu had eaten two full meals, her health was truly poor and couldn’t withstand much strain.
Jiang A Yao was resolute—she didn’t want Lu Da making unnecessary sacrifices—so he had no choice but to agree. Still, he planned to come by frequently to check on her, ready to take her away immediately if he sensed anything amiss.
Though the two pheasants provided plenty of meat, Wild Yam was scarce, so Jiang A Yao threw in whatever she had and stewed a large pot.
She first served a bowl each for herself and Lu Da, then filled a wooden basin to take outside, instructing Scarface to distribute it.
As soon as the basin was carried out, the aroma instantly filled the entire house.
Scarface, upon seeing the meat soup, immediately wanted to serve some to his master but was stopped by Jiang A Yao.
“His diet needs to be light. Don’t give him this.”
Hearing this, Scarface relented and took the basin outside to share with his subordinates.
There were still some leftover steamed buns from the night before, so the men ate cold buns with the hot soup. However, with so many people, they ended up eating more buns and less meat.
After the meal, Jiang A Yao urged Lu Da to return home to avoid complications.
Just as he was about to leave, the two subordinates Scarface had sent to buy supplies returned. The two horses were laden with goods, including plenty of fine rice and flour. Scarface directly gave a bag to Lu Da.
“You can’t go out lately—take this home to eat. Your family has a sick person; no need to refuse.”
It wasn’t that Lu Da wanted to refuse, but even if he took the goods home, he wouldn’t know how to cook them.
But Scarface wouldn’t take no for an answer, so he had to accept it.
This seemed to confirm Jiang A Yao’s words—they didn’t appear to be bad people.
In the afternoon, aside from patrolling the village entrance, Scarface’s subordinates largely stopped controlling the village.
Bolder villagers began venturing out of their houses to investigate. Once one came out, others followed, and soon small groups of three or five were gathered talking.
When they saw Lu Da carrying a bag of fine flour on his way back, they couldn’t resist probing.
Lu Da didn’t say much, and with his intimidating appearance, the villagers didn’t dare ask too many questions.
But as soon as he left, several people huddled together and started gossiping.
“Lu Da came out of the Zhang family’s courtyard—could it be that the Jiang family’s eldest daughter is still in there?”
“Oh my, the person carried down from the cart was so badly injured—could he even survive?”
One woman remarked, “Who knows if he’ll make it? But Jiang A Yao has gathered and sold herbs before—maybe she really can treat him.”
Another scoffed, “With so many men around, who knows if she’s in that house treating wounds or doing something else?”
“Zhao Guizhi, don’t talk nonsense. These men are quite wealthy—they paid silver for our cornbread. They don’t seem like bandits who’d harm people.”
“Exactly, if Jiang A Yao hadn’t stepped forward yesterday, we might all be dead by now.”
“Hmph, she’s just showing off. What farmer doesn’t know a few herbs? What does that have to do with treating injuries?”
The speaker was Zhao Guizhi, the woman who had been slapped by Jiang A Yao last time. She glanced around furtively behind Lu Da’s back and said, “Didn’t you see Lu Da carrying grain back? That’s a bag of fine flour—probably benefits Jiang A Yao got from doing who-knows-what with those men inside.”
As her words fell, the surroundings fell into silence.
No one responded to her at all; instead, their gazes uniformly shifted to someone behind her.
Zhao Guizhi sensed something amiss and turned around, only to see Lu Da glaring at her with a face as dark and menacing as a wrathful deity.