The mountain on the west side of the village was still ablaze, with snow covering the ground, trampled into muddy slush, dirty and flowing everywhere. A few lazy men, arms crossed, strolled through the muddy water, cursing a bit before noticing a figure running in through the main gate.
“San’er, who kicked you out of bed in the middle of the night?”
Laughter erupted around him. The man called San’er shot them a sideways glance, kept silent, and headed into the stronghold with his head down.
Rows of wooden stakes circled the mountain top, enclosing a courtyard with a bonfire as tall as a person in the center. The iron cage was piled with burning wood, occasionally sending sparks flying.
Not far from the house, a few tables were set up, scattered with dice cups and small cards, along with spilled wine and messy dried fruits, looking too shabby to bear.
A few men sat slumped in chairs, clearly just finished with a card game.
“Boss.” San’er searched around and found Zhu Quanyou sitting among them. He quickly approached with respect, “I’m back.”
“Back?”
Zhu Quanyou, looking listless, was quite decent-looking, with regular features and a hint of scholarly arrogance in his eyes, making him more pleasing to the eye compared to the rough men around him. However, his face was ashen, with deep dark circles under his eyes, and his eyebrows were high but drooped into his eye sockets, indicating excessive indulgence and near exhaustion.
“Zang Liujiang took his new wife down the mountain and headed straight for Zang Huan’s house. I was outside and only heard them talking about old matters, nothing about the young master.”
Zhu Quanyou squinted his lackluster eyes, took a drag from his pipe, and pondered while exhaling smoke: “Didn’t mention… The people in the stronghold reported not seeing the kidnapped young master, only a woman…”
Zhu Quanyou had planted a spy in the eastern stronghold, but it was just a small fry, unable to follow Zang Liujiang closely, so naturally, he didn’t know how Yu Huishui came to be there.
“Could it be that they killed him halfway and didn’t bring him back to the stronghold?”
Zhu Quanyou rubbed the stubble on his chin, looking a bit annoyed.
“Damn it, why are we wasting effort finding out about this?” A big man sitting nearby grumbled discontentedly, drunk and a bit out of control.
“… Take him down and give him twenty lashes.”
Zhu Quanyou clicked his tongue, rolled his eyes, and ordered the person beside him. The big man immediately sobered up in fear, begging Zhu Quanyou to spare him.
“Thirty lashes.” Zhu Quanyou shook off the big man’s hand clutching his foot like it was something dirty: “Take him away!”
The big man’s cries gradually faded, and San’er stood trembling beside him, not daring to make a sound. The table of people fell silent, fearing they would be the next to be beaten.
“Look at you, scared.” Zhu Quanyou glanced at San’er: “You came from my cousin’s place, I won’t treat you badly.”
With that, he waved his hand, still listlessly puffing on his pipe: “Go, when you report back to my cousin, be mindful. I don’t have that person here, let him look in the east.”
San’er nodded quickly, about to turn and leave, but Zhu Quanyou called him back.
“Hey.” Zhu Quanyou, thinking about something, tapped his pipe on the table: “What do you think of Zang Liujiang’s wife?”
“His wife?” San’er was taken aback, recalling the girl standing next to Zang Liujiang: “She’s quite tall, looks good, a fair-skinned girl. They say she fell in love with Zang Liujiang at first sight on the mountain and got married the same day.”
“Oh, what good fortune.”
Zhu Quanyou squinted, smiling as he brought the pipe back to his mouth and took a deep drag.
“Find a day, bring his new wife back, and ask her some questions.”
San’er naturally understood what he meant, but thinking of Zang Liujiang’s strong arms, he felt uneasy: “This, this won’t do, boss. If Zang Liujiang comes to kill…”
“Come on.” Zhu Quanyou raised an eyebrow, glancing at him sideways, gesturing with his pipe at the surrounding houses: “When we bring back a woman, which man has come up the mountain to find her?”
He smiled, with a dirty, bloody air, and said: “Who wants a tainted woman?”
San’er still felt it was inappropriate, but he didn’t dare to go against the unpredictable Zhu Quanyou, so he nodded in agreement.
“You’ve worked hard running around.” Zhu Quanyou waved his hand, signaling the people around to start another card game: “Go pick a girl and have a good sleep.”
San’er’s eyes lit up, and he quickly agreed, leaving in a hurry. When he turned into his shack, he found the advisor already sitting inside.
“Did the second master really say that?” After speaking, the advisor sat across from San’er, stroking his mustache, looking at him suspiciously.
“San’er, you’re on the master’s side, don’t forget your roots just because you got some benefits.”
“I wouldn’t dare!”
San’er immediately cried out in grievance: “I’ve been on night watch for days, asked around a lot, and indeed, no young master from a wealthy family was brought in.”
“Besides, kidnapping is for money, why would anyone hide the person?”
This made some sense, and the advisor nodded, shaking his head as he pondered: “Could it really be Zang Liujiang’s doing?”
“Even if it’s not, it has to be, advisor.”
San’er tapped the table, lowering his voice.
“We can’t find the person, we have to give the brother an explanation. Why not take this opportunity to raid the east and take care of Zang Liujiang…”
San’er made a slicing motion across his neck, his triangular eyes wide open.
“Kill him and be done with it.”
The advisor nodded, as this was also the intention of the county master. Zang Liujiang refused to cooperate with them, instead getting along well with those unruly people.
So they couldn’t blame the government for wanting to uproot them.
The advisor gave San’er a few more instructions, then hurried to the county office, needing to relay all this to the master the next day.
“Advisor.”
The next morning, in front of the county office, Fu Ming was waiting at the door with a servant. Seeing the advisor rushing in, he quickly stepped forward to stop him.
“The master is busy, not seeing anyone.” The advisor, seeing it was Fu Ming again, waved his hand impatiently, dismissing him: “Go back and wait for news, we’ll definitely handle it for you.”
“There are not only our young master suffering on the mountain, but also a rich family’s young lady. Are you officials just going to watch?”
The servant, who had been beaten lame a few days ago, now stood protectively by Fu Ming’s side. With a hefty reward, he was no longer timid, even eager for more conflict.
“Rich family’s young lady?”
San’er had indeed mentioned a young lady. The advisor stopped and looked back at Fu Ming: “How do you know?”
“It’s spread all over the village, who doesn’t know?” The servant, with his neck stiff, was about to say more when Fu Ming pushed him aside to stop him.
“We have something to discuss with the master, please convey our message, advisor.”
On the back of the big black horse, Zang Liujiang suddenly sneezed. Rubbing his nose, he thought he must have caught a cold, otherwise, why would he sneeze two days in a row?
“Serves you right.”
Yu Huishui crossed his arms, having been startled by Zang Liujiang’s sudden sneeze, now frowning and looking displeased.
“Slept on a bed board with just a quilt, you’d be lucky not to catch a cold.”
Last night, the only wooden bed in Zang Huan’s house was broken by this thick-skinned guy, causing Yu Huishui to roll to the ground and land on his butt, which still hurt faintly.
But thanks to Zang Liujiang giving up most of the quilt, wrapping Yu Huishui tightly, otherwise, he would have caught a cold today.
Zang Liujiang moved forward, tightening his arm around Yu Huishui, grinning: “Still hurts? Want me to rub it for you?”
“Get lost!” Yu Huishui’s face turned red, and he slapped Zang Liujiang’s head away.
The two were heading to the cloth shop, as two days had passed, and the clothes should be ready. They planned to take them back to the stronghold to save another trip.
As they were playfully bickering, the big black horse beneath them became restless.
“Neigh!”
The big black horse looked at the crowd, its hooves clattering on the cobblestone road, its shiny eyes reflecting a familiar figure, the suspicious person lurking by the wall last night.
San’er was hiding in the crowd, secretly following the two. He thought he hadn’t been exposed last night and should be quite safe, but the horse seemed to have a spirit, spotting him immediately.
“Big Black.”
Zang Liujiang frowned, pulling the reins, glancing meaningfully at the crowd along with Big Black’s gaze: “Don’t make a fuss, let’s go.”
Big Black stopped its clattering hooves, glaring at San’er’s fleeing figure before continuing towards the cloth shop.
“What happened?”
Yu Huishui thought Big Black was startled, feeling a bit nervous, but Zang Liujiang calmed it with just a word, and Big Black settled down.
“Someone’s following us.”
Zang Liujiang flicked the reins, looking down at the puzzled Yu Huishui.
He wanted to warn Yu Huishui to be careful these days, but feared scaring him. After all, the old scoundrel in the county wasn’t making a move for the first time, but he always managed to resolve it.
Not mentioning it should be fine.
Zang Liujiang thought, raising an eyebrow, swallowing all those words back.
Even if someone wanted to harm Yu Huishui, he would stick close by, no need to make him worry.
San’er, who hadn’t gathered any information, hurried back to the west mountain. By the time the sun was high, Zhu Quanyou lazily got out of bed.
A wooden-headed girl wrapped in clothes was walking out of the room, passing by San’er without even pausing, as if he were air.
“Ya’er.” San’er, seeing Zhu Quanyou hadn’t come out, called the girl softly. Seeing her not stopping, he chased after her to block her way.
“Sister!”
“… ” The girl’s neck stiffened like a stone, her wooden gaze moved to San’er’s face, fiercely, like a knife stabbing.
“Don’t call me.”
She finally spoke, avoiding San’er like a pile of garbage, walking away: “You make me sick.”
San’er felt guilty, wanting to chase after her, but Zhu Quanyou’s voice called him from the room.
He didn’t have the guts to ignore it, so he reluctantly glanced at Ya’er’s back and turned towards Zhu Quanyou’s room.
“How’s it going?”
Zhu Quanyou had just put on his clothes, the bed behind him a mess, even with small patches of blood.
San’er glanced at it, feeling alarmed, quickly lowering his head to report everything the advisor had said and what he had seen following Zang Liujiang.
“So precious?”
Zhu Quanyou lit his pipe, biting the gold-plated mouthpiece.
“Yes.” San’er bowed respectfully: “It’s hard to make a move, maybe we shouldn’t.”
“Your courage is as small as a mouse’s.”
Zhu Quanyou glanced at him disdainfully, tapping the pipe on the table with a clatter.
“Go tell my cousin to lock Zang Liujiang in the prison.”