“Hmm.” Chu Yun patted Magistrate Chen on the shoulder.
“Not good!” Shen Yi suddenly realized something. He hurried over to Magistrate Chen and gripped his shoulders: “Where is Hao Tian’s home!”
If the Empress was the mastermind, given her personality, she would never let Mo Li go, and even Hao Tian would be implicated!
Magistrate Chen tried hard to think: “It seems to be in a small village north of Jiangnan. I don’t know the exact location because by the time I took office, Magistrate Hao had already resigned.”
Shen Yi immediately turned around and ran toward the main door of the study.
When he was half a meter away from the door, it was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and a ray of sunlight shone on Shen Yi’s pale face.
“Magistrate Chen, I wonder if you have considered it yet.”
Li Dequan walked in. Seeing Magistrate Chen standing at the desk writing, and scanning the large study without seeing anyone else, he sat down leisurely on the grand chair beside the desk.
Li Dequan: “As long as you submit to Her Majesty the Empress, you won’t need to worry about the disaster victims; you only need to wait to be promoted and get rich.”
In the corner of the rafters, Chu Yun held onto a beam with one hand while wrapping the other arm around Shen Yi’s waist to keep them balanced.
To prevent Li Dequan from seeing him, Shen Yi pressed himself tightly against Chu Yun. They were so close they could feel each other’s breathing.
Magistrate Chen set his brush on the inkstone and asked: “May I ask, Eunuch, how should the disaster victims be dealt with?”
“Hehe, of course, the faster, the better.” Li Dequan set the tea cup he had been drinking from on the table. “Isn’t it simple to just create a plague and kill them all? When the time comes, just push the corpses together and burn them with a fire. It’s so much easier. Furthermore, the cleared-out space can be used for farming, and then rented to others at a high price to collect rent. Isn’t this a perfect solution that satisfies both sides? You, although you are an official, your brain needs to be flexible; otherwise, how can you make money?”
Magistrate Chen gripped his hands tightly under his sleeves, plastering on a smile: “Please, Eunuch, let me think about it more.”
“Hmph, do you still need to consider such a simple matter?” Li Dequan was clearly a bit unhappy, but thinking that Magistrate Chen would be the one to take the fall this time, he suppressed his anger. “Fine then. I will give you one more day to consider. If you still don’t agree by then, you know what I will do.”
“Naturally. Thank you, Eunuch Li.” Magistrate Chen lowered his head in flattery.
Until the study door was closed again, the two jumped down. Magistrate Chen opened a window behind the bookshelf and whispered: “There is a small path out of here that leads directly to the back courtyard of the mansion. There are no guards there. Hurry and get out, don’t let anyone see you!”
“Alright, thank you.” Shen Yi nodded at him, braced his hands on the windowsill, and leaped out.
After leaving the mansion, the two rushed toward the north.
Suddenly, thick, billowing smoke rose into the sky, startling the birds and beasts into scattering, making the already gray sky even dimmer.
Shen Yi used all his internal energy to rush forward, his unease growing ever stronger until he saw the burning house before him. The immense shock made even breathing painful.
The thatched cottage crackled as it was consumed by flames; even the flowers and grass in the courtyard were not spared.
The sky grew dark, and then a heavy snow began to fall, filling the sky.
The white snowflakes fell, extinguishing the great fire and also dyeing Shen Yi’s hair white.
He pushed open the courtyard gate and walked into a ruin covered in snow.
He searched around once but could not find their remains.
Perhaps they were burned to ashes, or perhaps they had vaporized.
No matter which result it was, he could not accept it.
With eunuchs in power, the imperial court corrupt, the Empress playing the tyrant, and the Emperor wallowing in wine and women, was there no other path for the Chu Kingdom but destruction?
No, he still had a way.
They say you become what you eat; you cannot become superior by enduring hardship—only by eating people can you succeed. (1)
Shen Yi walked aimlessly into a small town, his eyes hollow, like a zombie. Chu Yun followed close behind him, never leaving his side.
Two small children ran past, turning into an alley.
“How long has it been since you bathed? You’re so dirty!”
“You still dare to block with your hands? Do you know who my godfather is! I’ll make you regret this!”
Shen Yi walked over and saw several gorgeously dressed youths punching and kicking a beggar. The beggar was sitting on the ground, taking the beating while emitting ambiguous, muffled wails.
“Beat the stinky beggar to death, for daring to be wild on my turf!” One boy made a move to kick him over, but his collar was grabbed by Shen Yi.
Shen Yi was in a bad mood, so his expression was a bit more serious: “Little brat, did your parents not teach you that hitting people is wrong?”
The boy struggled violently: “Put me down!”
The other boys, seeing their leader captured, became timid and dared not act impetuously.
Shen Yi was already in a bad mood, and being provoked by this brat made him feel even worse. Chu Yun took the child from Shen Yi’s hand and opened his mouth wide: “I like eating children the most!”
The boy froze, then his lips trembled, and he burst into tears: “Wuu wuu, you guys are bullying me!”
Shen Yi lifted his chin, manually “muting” him: “Try spouting nonsense again, I dare you. Believe it or not, I won’t let you go home!”
The boy snorted his nose forcefully, sobbing: “I… I…”
Shen Yi: “Apologize to this uncle, and I’ll let you go.”
The boy instinctively said: “I won’t! Why should I apologize to this dirty”
Shen Yi raised his hand higher, and the boy was left hanging in the air. He was terrified to the point of screaming: “I apologize! I apologize! Wuu wuu wuu wuu, Mommy! I want my Mommy!”
Chu Yun set the boy on the ground. The boy sat down, sniffing forcefully, and said reluctantly: “I’m sorry.”
The beggar waved his hand, signaling the boy to get away from him.
The boy, having never suffered such grievances, rubbed his eyes and ran out of the alley.
The other children, seeing this, looked at each other and also ran out.
Shen Yi took a bottle of golden sore medicine from his pocket and handed it to the beggar: “This is medicine for bruises; if you are in pain, you can apply some.”
The beggar received the medicine and pressed his palms together to express his gratitude, his mouth still emitting muffled sounds. He pushed aside the long hair covering his face, and the moment he saw Shen Yi and Chu Yun, he was stunned. After a while, he got up, and while walking inside, he waved at the two of them.
Shen Yi and Chu Yun looked at each other and walked inside together.
At the end of the alley was a dense forest. The three of them walked along a small path and soon arrived at a cave. Passing through the cave, outside was a more lush cherry blossom forest. It was currently spring, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom; there was pink everywhere.
Not far away were a few thatched cottages. The beggar led the two into a courtyard and pushed open the gate to see Hao Tian and Mo Li.
Hao Tian was sitting in a wheelchair, drinking the soup spoon-fed to him by Mo Li.
Hao Tian heard the sound of the gate opening and lifted his eyes to look. Seeing the three people enter, his face lit up with a smile when he saw Shen Yi and Chu Yun: “Young Master Shen, Crown Prince.”
Mo Li turned his head to look, and upon seeing them, he said in surprise: “You’ve come! We were just talking these last few days about when you would arrive; I didn’t expect you to come so soon.”
“As soon as something happened in the disaster area, we rushed over. This uncle led us here.” Shen Yi looked at Hao Tian’s legs and asked curiously: “Why are you here? And what happened to Magistrate Hao’s legs?”
Mo Li: “As soon as Magistrate Chen took office, we felt the danger, so later we moved here with the fellow villagers. We just didn’t have time to call the other victims to move in, sigh… Magistrate Hao’s legs were injured while fleeing; we didn’t dare call a doctor, so we just had to endure it.
“This uncle is someone we rescued; we often mentioned you to him, so he recognized you.”
Shen Yi breathed a sigh of relief: “We thought you had died in the fire; fortunately, you are still here.”
Mo Li and Hao Tian also appeared quite shocked.
Hao Tian: “We didn’t know about that matter… Has that person finally lost patience…”
Shen Yi asked: “The Empress?”
Mo Li: “No lie, it is the weapons forged by the Empress. She wants to rebel!”
Shen Yi nodded: “I guessed it was her.”
Chu Yun asked: “Are Magistrate Hao’s legs serious? I can call a doctor to come in.”
Hao Tian smiled: “It’s nothing; it doesn’t hurt anymore, it’s not a big problem.”
Shen Yi immediately turned serious: “That won’t do. I’m going out now to invite a doctor to come take a look; if a leg injury isn’t treated, it’s easy to end up crippled.”
Helpless, Hao Tian could only concede: “Then hurry and return quickly.”
Shen Yi waved his hand: “Understood.”
The beggar uncle handed the golden sore medicine to Hao Tian, pointed at the bottle, and then pointed at Hao Tian’s leg, signaling for him to apply it.
Hao Tian: “Thank you, Uncle, but my leg injury won’t heal with golden sore medicine.”
The uncle scratched his head, nodding to show he understood, and left immediately to find medicine for leg injuries.
He had just closed the courtyard gate when he heard footsteps behind him.
He turned to look, and his cane instantly dropped to the ground.
The boy pointed at the beggar and said in a babyish voice: “Godfather! It was them who bullied me!”
Li Dequan narrowed his eyes and smiled: “Truly, one wouldn’t find this even with iron shoes, it comes to one without any effort. Magistrate Hao, we meet again.”
The beggar stared at the soldiers behind Li Dequan, trembling as he picked up his cane and blocked the courtyard gate.
Mo Li’s expression was very grim: “Eunuch Li, I will go with you, just don’t make things difficult for Magistrate Hao and the others.”
Li Dequan laughed in his shrill voice, eyeing them sideways: “Young Master Mo jokes. This humble servant came to collect the corpses.”
“I bring the Empress’s decree: Jiangnan has suffered countless casualties due to the plague; I am now to dispose of the bodies, and it must be done properly!”
Li Dequan pointed his hand at the courtyard: “Kill them all.”
With the army pressing down, many disaster victims chose to flee for their lives, but having not eaten for a long time, where would they have the energy to run? They could only crawl on the ground, moving slowly.
A black figure appeared before the army. The advancing soldiers stopped immediately upon seeing that it was Chu Yun.
After all, who didn’t know the current Crown Prince with his white hair and blood-red pupils?
The leading officer, Gui Li, asked: “Crown Prince, please do not block the path.”
Chu Yun scanned the area with icy eyes and shouted: “I ask you, what is the purpose of being a soldier?”
The soldiers looked at each other and said: “To… protect the nation…”
Chu Yun: “Are you worthy of the four words ‘protect the nation’?”
Morale began to waver.
Chu Yun’s gaze was like a torch: “If the soldiers trust me, then do not obey the Empress’s decree. I will take responsibility for today’s events alone.”
The atmosphere among the soldiers fell into a dead silence.
Gui Li sternly reprimanded: “This is the Empress’s decree, all soldiers do not listen to his one-sided words!”
The army was slow to move. Gui Li realized something was wrong and cursed: “Do you want to go against the Empress?”
Still, no one paid him any mind.
After a while, one of the soldiers shouted: “Follow the Crown Prince’s arrangements.”
The other soldiers heard this and immediately echoed: “Follow the Crown Prince’s arrangements.”
Chu Yun nodded, his black hair whipping in the wind, and commanded: “All soldiers, follow Me.”