As the Jizhou garrison soldiers who had their horses stolen caught up, they saw a man wearing a blue demon mask standing by the official road, holding a long spear and gazing at the rushing river below.
Mu Shi, who had injured his leg when he fell from his horse, lay sprawled on a pile of rubble by the roadside. Looking at the river, he cried out with tears streaming down his face, “Young Master!”
The Jizhou garrison soldiers, unsure of the situation, raised their weapons while eyeing the blue-masked man with apprehension. Suddenly, he turned to face them, giving them a cool glance before saying, “The villain escaped by jumping into the river. He’s wounded in the waist and won’t get far. You can search downstream for him.”
After speaking, he mounted his horse and rode away, whip in hand. The garrison soldiers didn’t dare to stop him.
Only one sharp-eyed young soldier recognized the horse Xie Zheng was riding, and muttered, “That’s Lieutenant Xu’s horse.”
Lieutenant Xu was the young officer whose horse Xie Zheng had taken earlier.
The soldiers exchanged glances, none daring to speak. After a moment, their leader ordered them to bind the injured Mu Shi and split into two groups—one to search downstream for Sui Yuanqing and the other to escort Mu Shi back to report.
At the gates of Qingping County, the rebelling villagers had been brought under control.
As He Jingyuan led his troops into the city, the County Magistrate smeared blood on his face and wailed as he approached, “Lord He, thank heavens you’ve arrived! If not for you, even if I had laid down my life on the city walls, I couldn’t have stopped the rebels from entering the city…”
He Jingyuan, seated on horseback, observed the blood-covered Magistrate. Though his initial impression of the man hadn’t been favorable, his expression softened as he said, “The people of Qingping County have been spared thanks to your efforts, Magistrate Liu.”
Hearing this, Magistrate Liu felt his prospects for promotion brighten. He continued with even more tears, “I’ve served as Magistrate of Qingping County for three years with unremarkable achievements. Just as I was about to be transferred, the military’s grain requisition incited the villagers to rebel. I was truly terrified. I could only seal the city gates with the yamen runners before the mob arrived, and then appease the crowd by arresting those soldiers who came to oversee the grain collection—a case of a junior official defying his superiors. This bought enough time for your reinforcements to arrive. I beg your forgiveness, my lord.”
He Jingyuan, having earlier heard from the blue-masked man that the Young Master of the Changxin Prince had instigated this unrest, now grew suspicious upon hearing the Magistrate mention the grain collection officers. Eyeing Liu, he said, “Tell me more about these grain collection officers.”
Magistrate Liu then recounted how the officers had come to the county a few days ago, demanding one stone of grain per person.
He Jingyuan exclaimed, “Preposterous! How could Jizhou Prefecture possibly order grain collection at such a rate?”
Magistrate Liu broke out in a cold sweat. “Those officers claimed they were acting on orders from General Wei. I… I didn’t dare interfere. Later, they even placed me under house arrest… When I learned that the farmers were being driven to rebellion, I feared a great calamity. That’s why I had my men arrest those officers.”
Fearing his achievements would be overlooked, Liu made no mention of Chief Wang or Fan Changyu, giving only a vague account of events.
He Jingyuan remained silent, causing the Magistrate’s heart to race once more.
Through the Magistrate’s account, He Jingyuan had pieced together most of the story. The Young Master of the Changxin Prince must have intercepted the real grain collection officers en route to Qingping County, then sent imposters with a fake requisition order. The massacre at Ma Family Village was likely part of their plan to incite rebellion among the county’s residents.
Yet the County Magistrate remained unaware of the officers’ true identities. How then had the masked man recognized Sui Yuanqing?
Could it be that the masked man already knew Sui Yuanqing?
He Jingyuan’s gaze grew more complex as he recalled his earlier suspicions.
He asked the Magistrate, “I noticed a black-clad man in a blue demon mask fighting valiantly on the city walls earlier. Do you know who that was?”
Magistrate Liu, having waited anxiously only to be asked this question, felt even more uneasy. He shook his head and replied, “This… I don’t know, my lord. Perhaps he was a righteous citizen of the city.”
Just then, the soldiers who had pursued Sui Yuanqing and his group returned to the city.
The leader dismounted and saluted He Jingyuan, saying, “My lord, the rebel leader escaped by jumping into the river. I’ve sent men to continue the search downstream. We’ve brought back this captive to report to you.”
He Jingyuan glanced at the bound Mu Shi and asked, “Did you see a man wearing a blue demon mask?”
The small unit leader bowed and replied, “That man was captured by the masked warrior. When we arrived, he informed us that the rebel leader had fled into the river. He then headed downstream, apparently also in search of the rebel leader.”
The young officer whose horse had been taken couldn’t help but grumble, “Then what about my horse?”
A sharp look from He Jingyuan silenced him immediately.
He Jingyuan turned to Mu Shi and ordered, “Lock him up under strict guard. Do not allow him to take his own life.”
The unit leader acknowledged the order.
He Jingyuan then pointed to the young officer who had spoken earlier: “Lieutenant Xu, take a squad and search along the river. Try to capture the villain alive if possible.”
The young officer straightened up and saluted, “Yes, sir!”
After sending Chief Wang to the doctor, Fan Changyu noticed that night was falling and Xie Zheng had not yet returned. Growing worried, she informed Chief Wang that she was going out to look for Xie Zheng.
By now, the city gates were guarded by soldiers from Jizhou Prefecture. Clad in armor and wielding weapons, they looked imposing, causing ordinary citizens to keep their distance.
Fearing that rebels might still be hiding in the city, entry and exit had become extremely strict. Some villagers who regularly came to trade were temporarily detained.
Fan Changyu hesitated briefly but decided to approach and explain the situation, hoping to ask if they had seen Yan Zheng during the pursuit, as his blue demon mask should have been quite distinctive.
Just as she was about to step forward, the sound of unhurried hoofbeats came from outside the city gate. The guards at the gate peered out to see a chestnut horse returning alone.
Meanwhile, Fan Changyu found herself suddenly pulled back by a large hand gripping her wrist.
The soldiers gathering at the gate looked outside, puzzled to see no rider, and remarked, “Lieutenant Xu’s horse has come back on its own?”
A few steps away, Fan Changyu was startled to see the man who had removed his blue demon mask now standing before her in a black robe. Her surprise quickly turned to joy. She had been so preoccupied with his sudden appearance that she forgot he was still holding her hand, and began to chatter, “Where have you been for so long? Those soldiers have already returned with captives. I thought something might have happened to you…”
Xie Zheng listened to her rambling, maintaining his grip on her wrist. He simply said, “I went to search for that villain. The chase took me quite far.”
Fan Changyu immediately realized he must be referring to the cunning leader of the false soldiers. She quickly asked, “Did you catch him?”
Xie Zheng shook his head.
He had searched along the river for over ten li but had not found Sui Yuanqing. Given that the man had jumped into the river wearing full armor and with a wound to his waist, even if he were an excellent swimmer, his chances of survival were slim.
If Sui Yuanqing had truly escaped death, it could only be attributed to extraordinary luck.
Fan Changyu, disappointed to hear that Sui Yuanqing hadn’t been caught, remarked, “They say a thousand-year-old tortoise and a ten-thousand-year-old soft-shelled turtle.’ If that little tortoise managed to survive, I suppose it proves the saying true.”
Noticing how Fan Changyu spoke ill of Sui Yuanqing at every mention, Xie Zheng’s eyes darkened as he recalled Sui Yuanqing’s provocative words before fleeing. He asked, “Do you have a grudge against him?”
Fan Changyu replied, “We didn’t at first. When I heard from you that the County Magistrate had been detained, I wanted to go and drag him out, first to reinstate Uncle Wang as Chief Constable to make things easier for him. Who would have thought that little tortoise was staying at the Magistrate’s residence? I had no choice but to capture him instead, and that’s how we became enemies.”
Xie Zheng lowered his gaze to conceal his emotions. “He’s quite skilled in martial arts. How did you manage to capture him?”
Fan Changyu felt a bit embarrassed about this, feeling it wasn’t entirely honorable, but her honest nature compelled her to explain everything, “There were too many of them, and I was afraid I couldn’t beat them in a fight. I had planned to use sleeping powder, but there wasn’t any in the Magistrate’s residence. So I disguised myself as a maid from the Magistrate’s house and brought that little tortoise a bowl of tremella soup laced with croton seeds.”
She was still wearing the maid’s outfit, with half of her fair wrist exposed and held in Xie Zheng’s grip.
Xie Zheng looked down at her, imagining her wearing these clothes to deliver the soup to Sui Yuanqing. Unconsciously, his grip on her wrist tightened.
The pain in her wrist finally made Fan Changyu realize that he was still holding onto her.
She patted his hand and winced, “Be gentle. That scoundrel on the city wall took advantage of me not having a proper weapon, swinging a ring-pommel saber against my little boning knife. Then he tried to pull me off the wall, injuring his wrist. It still hurts quite a bit.”
Xie Zheng loosened his grip. As he looked down, he saw a circle of bruises on her fair wrist, clearly not from his grasp. There was also a gash on the webbing between her thumb and index finger, with dried blood around it.
A flash of murderous intent flickered in his eyes.
As Fan Changyu noticed Xie Zheng’s silence, she realized her previous words sounded like complaining, which felt a bit affected. She quickly added, “But I got my revenge too. I stabbed him several times, and even kicked him in the face before he ran away!”
Xie Zheng remained silent as he listened, his eyes cold and deep.
Fan Changyu felt he was unusually quiet on the way back and guessed he might be frustrated about not catching the villain. She offered several words of comfort.
Before returning to town, Fan Changyu first went to report to Chief Wang that they were safe, to prevent him from worrying about Yan Zheng’s absence.
Learning they were planning to return to town, Chief Wang said, “It’s already dark, and the snow is heavy. After today’s events, there are bound to be bandits taking advantage of the chaos. It’s not safe to travel in the darkness. We have a spare room; you should stay here for the night and return tomorrow.”
Fan Changyu considered this. Both she and Yan Zheng were exhausted after a long day. She thanked Chief Wang and accepted his offer.
Seeing Fan Changyu arrive, Yu Bao’er ran over on her short legs and asked, “Aunt Changyu, when is my mother coming to pick me up?”
This reminded Fan Changyu of Yu Qianqian’s situation. She looked up at Xie Zheng and asked, “Is Shopkeeper Yu still in jail?”
Xie Zheng leaned against the door frame, shaking his head slightly. His casual gaze fell on Yu Bao’er, hiding a hint of complexity. After a moment, he looked away and said, “The murder case at Yixiang Tower isn’t resolved yet. It’s unclear how the authorities will handle it. Since she entrusted this little one to you, you should look after her until the case is settled.”
Fan Changyu thought that Yu Qianqian had treated her well, so it was only right to help care for Yu Bao’er for a while.
She had previously discussed with Yu Qianqian, thinking the County Magistrate wanted to seize Yu Qianqian’s property to support the rebel prince. Now it seemed that wasn’t the case.
If the authorities handled the case fairly and cleared Yu Qianqian’s name, all would be well.
If the County Magistrate had any ulterior motives, Fan Changyu now had evidence of his misconduct, which she could use to prevent him from troubling Yu Qianqian.
Fan Changyu patted Yu Bao’er’s head and said, “Your mother has encountered a small problem. Once she resolves it, she’ll come to pick you up. For now, you’ll come with me to town and play with Ning for a few days. Is that alright?”
In the past, when Yu Qianqian’s business was busy, she would often leave Yu Bao’er with the family’s elderly servant for care. Sometimes Yu Bao’er wouldn’t see her mother for days.
Though young, she had a very steady temperament. Hearing this, she nodded obediently and asked curiously, “Will Aunt Changyu slaughter pigs?”
Fan Changyu thought for a moment and said, “Maybe.”
Today’s events had left the entire county in turmoil. It was uncertain whether the market would open in the next few days. It might take some time before the market returns to its usual bustle.
Yu Bao’er completely ignored the word “maybe” and, satisfied with Fan Changyu’s answer, was led away by the elderly servant to wash up and go to bed.
Fan Changyu hadn’t had a drop of water since early morning when she went to Yixiang Tower to deliver meat to Yu Qianqian.
Madam Wang, knowing she must be starving, had the servants prepare a meal in the kitchen.
Fan Changyu hadn’t thought about hunger all afternoon, but when she smelled the food, she realized she was famished.
She had been doing physical work all day on an empty stomach, so she ate three bowls of rice. As she was about to start on a fourth, Xie Zheng stopped her hand.
He said, “Don’t eat too much at once after being hungry for so long. It’ll hurt your stomach.”
Fan Changyu reluctantly put down her bowl and chopsticks.
After dinner, Xie Zheng went out for a while. Chief Wang, who often dealt with injuries from his work, kept a good supply of medicine at home.
Xie Zheng asked Madam Wang for some bruise ointment and a bottle of wound medicine.
When he returned to the room, Fan Changyu had just finished washing up.
He saw her wringing out a cloth in the washbasin and frowned, “Hasn’t anyone told you not to get wounds wet?”
Fan Changyu glanced at the wound on her hand, dismissing it casually, “It’s just a small injury, no big deal.”
Then she noticed the ointment in Xie Zheng’s hand and exclaimed, “Oh, you went to get medicine for me?”
Xie Zheng lowered his eyes slightly and said softly, “Madam Wang gave it to me.”
Fan Changyu didn’t question this. “Auntie is so thoughtful, noticing even my small injury.”
Xie Zheng didn’t respond. Leaning against the doorframe, he asked, “Are you going to apply it?”
Fan Changyu thought to herself that his mood seemed to swing between good and bad, but remembering how he had saved her several times on the city wall, she didn’t hold it against him. She tilted her head back and said, “Of course I’ll apply it. It’s the medicine Auntie gave me, it’s the thought that counts.”
Hearing the words “thought that counts,” Xie Zheng glanced at her before looking away again.
Fan Changyu first sprinkled some wound medicine on the webbing between her thumb and index finger. Xie Zheng saw her struggling to wrap the bandage while holding one end with her teeth, so he came over to help her wrap it and tie it off.
However, when it came to applying ointment to her wrist, Fan Changyu realized she had made a foolish mistake.
She should have applied the ointment to her wrist first. The ointment was oily and needed to be slowly rubbed into the skin. Now, with both hands bandaged, she could only scoop up a little bit with her fingertips and slowly rub it in with her fingertips, which was quite troublesome.
Moreover, the oily ointment was very slippery, making it difficult to rub into the skin with just her fingertips.
Fan Changyu was about to close the ointment jar after a cursory application when her wrist was suddenly caught by a large hand.
Xie Zheng’s calloused palm rubbed the undried ointment on her wrist, his tone far from polite: “Are you this careless with everything you do?”
Fan Changyu, stung by his words again, couldn’t help but retort, “It’s not convenient with my hands like this, you know?”
Xie Zheng seemed to pause for a moment, then focused on massaging the ointment into her hand without saying another word.
Her frost-white skin took on a warm jade hue in the candlelight, making the ring of blue bruises around her wrist even more striking, almost shocking to see.
Xie Zheng suddenly recalled the provocative smile Sui Yuanqing had given him after breaking through the crowd.
An inexplicable anger rose in his heart, and his thin lips pressed tightly together.
His palm and her wrist were separated only by a layer of ointment. While the ointment was still wet, the massage felt slippery, but as it was rubbed into her skin, the sensation of his fingers on her wrist became very noticeable.
Whether due to the prolonged rubbing or not, his palm grew very hot, like a branding iron.
Fan Changyu’s brows furrowed, and just as she was about to say it was enough, he withdrew his hand first.
The words on the tip of Fan Changyu’s tongue had to be swallowed back.
Xie Zheng put away the ointment jar and went to wash his hands at the washbasin stand nearby.
Fan Changyu lowered her eyes to look at her wrist, which had been rubbed red. She felt her entire wrist was hot and itchy, and she had to contort her face to resist the urge to rub it against her clothes.
She thought to herself that if she had known the ointment would make her entire hand numb and itchy, she wouldn’t have applied it. It would have been better to wait until they got home and use medicinal alcohol instead.
Xie Zheng turned to see her conflicted expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Fan Changyu shook her wrist and said, “The medicine is taking effect. I’m not used to it.”
The night watchman passed by outside, striking his wooden clapper. It was already the Hour of the Rat (11 pm-1 am), and the entire Wang household was silent.
Without Fan Changyu having to say anything, Xie Zheng went to open the room’s cabinet but found no extra bedding.
Fan Changyu, sitting at the table, saw this too.
At this hour, they couldn’t wake up Madam Wang to ask for bedding to make a floor bed.
After a moment, Xie Zheng turned back and said, “I’m not tired yet. You go ahead and rest.”
Fan Changyu thought to herself that he was fooling no one. He hadn’t slept well for several nights in a row, and this morning he had forced himself to help her sell pork.
Moreover, in this harsh winter, without a brazier, one could freeze to death at night. Did he plan to just sit in the room all night?
Fan Changyu glanced at the single thick quilt left on the bed and volunteered, “Why don’t we… share the bed for tonight?”
Xie Zheng’s heart skipped a beat, and he turned to look at her with furrowed brows. Fan Changyu misunderstood his expression and quickly raised her bandaged hand in reassurance: “Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t have any improper thoughts about you!”