The next day, during the Yin hour, the sounds of people getting up quietly could already be heard from the neighboring room.
Soon, the sound of water came from the courtyard.
Mother Yang had also gotten up and gone outside.
In the courtyard, Mother and Second Aunt could be heard quietly giving each other instructions.
Then came the creaking sound of the courtyard gate opening and closing.
Afterward, Mother returned to the room and lay back down, but she kept tossing and turning.
Somewhere nearby, a rooster crowed several times.
Eventually, Mother got up again and went outside.
Wei Ning opened her eyes and glanced over.
People in ancient military households really do start work too early. Even the chickens haven’t started crowing yet, and they’re already leaving for work.
Lost in her thoughts, she gradually fell back into a deep sleep.
She didn’t wake until the sky was completely bright and sunlight streamed into the room.
Wei Ning slowly opened her eyes.
Perhaps she had simply been too exhausted over the previous two days. After getting a good night’s sleep, she felt as though her injuries had already recovered by more than half.
She walked out of the room.
In the courtyard, Wei Ci was sweeping up fallen leaves. The wind had been strong during the night, constantly blowing leaves from the tree outside the wall into their yard.
Wei Zhao was crouching on the ground with Wei Yuan, using a twig to draw pictures.
Everyone else was gone.
“Big Sister, there’s some thin porridge that Grandma left for you in the kitchen.”
Wei Ci noticed Wei Ning standing at the doorway and reminded her.
Ten-year-old Wei Ci was about 1.4 meters tall. She had an oval-shaped face, small monolid eyes, and an elegant, classical beauty about her.
“What time is it? Why didn’t you wake me? Where are Grandma and the others?”
Wei Ning asked as she walked toward the kitchen.
“It’s already the Si hour. Grandma and the others went to the fields. Auntie said you were injured and told us to let you sleep longer.”
Wei Ning nodded.
She scooped some water from the full water jar in the kitchen, rinsed her mouth, and washed her face.
Then she lifted the lid of the pot.
Inside was only a bowl of clear millet porridge water.
There was nothing else.
Helplessly, she picked it up and drank it all in one go. She then washed the bowl and put it away.
“Did they say when they’ll be back?”
Wei Ning asked after walking out of the kitchen.
Wei Ci answered, “They said before noon.”
Then they’ll be back soon. At most, a little over an hour.
Wei Ning casually smoothed her messy hair with her hands, picked up a scrap of cloth, and tied her hair into a high ponytail.
She instructed Wei Ci, “I’m going out for a walk. Watch your younger brother and sister. Don’t open the door for strangers, understand?”
Wei Ci immediately grabbed Wei Ning’s sleeve and nervously said, “Mother told us this place is chaotic and unsafe. She told us to stay at home and not go anywhere.”
Looking at Wei Ci, Wei Ning softened her voice.
The girl was still young, and the upheaval in the family must have affected her greatly.
“Wei Ci, I’m an adult. I want to go out and see if I can find some way to help this family. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I won’t go far. You three stay home and behave, all right?”
After saying that, Wei Ning gently patted Wei Ci’s head and walked out of the courtyard.
“Wei Ci, lock the courtyard gate from the inside.”
Wei Ning’s soft voice drifted back.
Wei Ci finally snapped out of her daze.
Why did I suddenly space out? Big Sister’s eyes seem almost magical.
When she thought about running outside to stop Wei Ning, Wei Ning was already far away.
Wei Ci could only return and close the courtyard gate, locking it securely.
Wei Ning had silently memorized the route they had taken on the night they first arrived.
Following her memory, she quickly headed toward the main street in the western part of the city.
After walking along the main street for about half an hour, she reached the Yinzhou Military Office.
She stood there for a while to confirm her bearings before turning toward the southern main street.
As she walked, she carefully watched the shops along both sides.
Whenever she encountered an inn, she went inside and asked,
“Shopkeeper, have you seen two runners recently? One was younger and rather thin, and the other was in his thirties, of average build, with a face covered in coarse flesh.”
“They stayed here the night before last.”
Some shopkeepers politely answered her. Others impatiently drove her away.
But every single one said they hadn’t seen them.
That can’t be right!
There wasn’t a single inn along the entire southern main street where the two men had stayed.
This was the commercial street closest to the southern city gate.
Could they have gone to an inn in the east or north instead?
Just as Wei Ning was racking her brain and walking back dejectedly, two men staggered out of an alley across the street.
They looked as though they had just woken up from a drunken stupor.
They hoisted the bundles over their shoulders and muttered to each other as they headed toward the southern city gate.
Wei Ning’s eyes immediately lit up.
After searching everywhere, I finally found them. They’re right across the street!
It was those two despicable runners.
She had assumed they would have returned to the capital yesterday, but apparently they had only just begun their journey now.
Wei Ning waited until the two men had gone farther away before crossing the street and entering the alley.
The alley wasn’t large. There were only a few residential entrances.
Signs above the gates read “Spring Breeze Pavilion,” “Crimson Beauty Pavilion,” and so on.
Brothels!
“Hmph. A dog really can’t change its appetite. All day long, they think about nothing but the filthy business between their legs.”
Wei Ning sneered.
She glanced toward the southern city gate before turning around and heading back toward the west.
She silently began thinking of a way to deal with those two men.
“Move! Move! Quickly, everyone, get out of the way!”
A hurried shout and the rapid sound of pounding hooves came from behind.
The pedestrians on the street immediately panicked and scrambled toward both sides.
Wei Ning was pushed along with the crowd and forced back toward the stalls and shops lining the street.
“Neigh—!”
A tall white horse came charging toward them.
It suddenly raised its front hooves high into the air and let out a loud neigh before slamming them down onto the stone pavement.
The rider was caught completely off guard.
Whether he had lost his balance or failed to hold the reins properly, he was thrown from the tall horse.
He crashed heavily onto the blue stone street with a dull thud.
Then came a painful scream.
“Ah!!”
Several people running behind immediately rushed forward.
One grabbed the white horse’s reins and calmed it down.
Another dropped to his knees beside the fallen rider and anxiously checked on him.
Once the horse had been restrained and led farther away, the people who had scattered to the sides began cautiously poking their heads out.
Curious, they gradually gathered around the scene.
Wei Ning followed the crowd closer.
Only then did she clearly see the person lying on the ground.
He was a young man of about sixteen or seventeen, wearing a moon-white fitted robe trimmed with gold patterns.
Beside him knelt a servant dressed in a dark blue coarse-cloth tunic.
The young man curled his body up, lifting his head high as he rolled around and cried out in pain.
“My leg! My leg! It hurts! It hurts so much!”
His brows were tightly furrowed, tears glistening in his eyes, his face full of agony.
“Young Master! Young Master! What do we do?”
“Could he have broken his leg?”
“Someone! Quickly, carry Young Master to Ji’an Hall!”
The kneeling servant anxiously ordered the others.
Two more servants came running over and prepared to lift the young man.
“Ahhh! Put me down! Put me down! It hurts like hell!”
The young man let out another blood-curdling scream.
The two servants immediately released him in fright.
“Why did you let go? Hurry and take him there! Find Doctor Ji! If we delay his treatment, Master will never forgive us!”
The kneeling servant urged them, even threatening them.
The two servants once again moved toward the injured young man.
Having studied some medicine herself, Wei Ning couldn’t hold back any longer.
“He probably broke his leg. You shouldn’t move him. Go to Ji’an Hall and ask the doctor to come here instead.”
Her crisp, youthful voice came from within the murmuring crowd.
The young man couldn’t see who had spoken, but he heard her clearly.
“Don’t move me! Quickly, go get the doctor!”
“Ah! Yes! I’ll go right now!”
The servant kneeling beside him immediately sprang up and ran toward the nearby Ji’an Hall.