Chapter 13: If There Is No Road, Dig a Tunnel

In a small room in the corner of the post station, Meng Changqing found Lady Wen.

Lady Wen was currently assigning her servants to set up beds for the soldiers.

"Lay out all the newly purchased bedding. I'd rather have two extra sets than let them freeze."

"Mother, I have something to tell you."

Lady Wen turned around. Seeing the truly remarkable expression on her face, she stepped out of the small room and asked, "What happened?"

Meng Changqing let out a deep sigh. "Returning to the city today, I saw the city gates blocked by refugees. I had to detour to the West Gate just to get in. Did you know? Those refugees are all people from Beishan County."

Lady Wen's eyes shifted slightly. "When we were in the capital, I suspected this wouldn't be a good place. Going back twenty years further, the entire Liangzhou region was in constant turmoil. How many years did the Meng Army fight here before finally pushing the front lines out of Liangzhou?"

"Do not be impetuous. No matter what happens with Beishan County, your mother and I will stay by your side." Lady Wen placed a hand on Meng Changqing's shoulder. "Mother believes that with your talent, even if it were a wasteland, you could build a city."

Meng Changqing sat down right there on the steps. After a moment of thought, she said, "Mother, you should stay in Liangzhou City for now."

"I refuse, and if I said that to your mother, she would certainly refuse as well," Lady Wen said. "We have already traveled from the capital to Liangzhou; how much difference can it make to go from here to Beishan County?"

Meng Changqing lowered her eyes. "I am only afraid of making you suffer alongside me."

Just as Lady Wen was about to continue persuading her, she saw Bafang running in frantically from all directions. "Young Master! That child you brought back is in trouble!"

Lady Wen: "What child?"

"I picked up a child at the city gate." Meng Changqing composed herself, stood up, and walked toward the post station's main hall, asking Bafang on the way, "What's wrong with him?"

Bafang said rapidly, "I got the child a bowl of noodles. He was eating them when Doctor Hu came over to check his pulse. After checking, he stuck a few needles into him, and the child immediately started vomiting. He vomited until he looked unrecognizable. Doctor Hu said he's afraid he might vomit himself to death."

By the time he finished speaking, Meng Changqing had reached the main hall.

The floor was covered in vomit, a mixture of yellow and white.

The child lay limp in Laicai's arms, needles stuck in his body, still retching.

Xiao Dai brought in a basket of dry mud and covered the vomit. "Young Master, please step aside so you don't step in it."

"Doctor Hu." Meng Changqing walked around to behind him. "What is wrong with him?"

"What's wrong? If he's eaten a stomach full of mud, how can he not be dying? If he doesn't vomit it all out, eating anything else will just hasten his death." Doctor Hu had a cloth covering his nose and mouth, holding needles in his hand, ready to strike another needle into the child at any moment.

Just as the child looked about to vomit himself into unconsciousness, Doctor Hu drove a needle into the Hegu acupoint.

He then held another needle ready in his hand. "The more he vomits now, the better his chance of survival."

Lady Wen followed them in. Seeing how extremely thin the child was, and how he seemed to be trying to vomit up his very heart and lungs, she felt a deep sense of pity.

This child must be from Beishan County; no wonder Changqing was sighing so heavily.

Finally, the child had nothing left to vomit. Doctor Hu held up his chin and poured a bowl of sweet soup into him.

"Doctor Hu, how is the child?" Lady Wen asked.

"It's up to his fate. As for the mud in his intestines, he can only try taking medicine to see if it can be expelled." Doctor Hu pulled the needles out of the child. "If it can't be expelled, he'll be dead sooner or later. Do not give him anything to eat in private; I will arrange whatever he needs to eat."

Lady Wen expressed her thanks. "Thank you for your trouble, Doctor Hu."

Doctor Hu gave her a reluctant bow, then turned to Meng Changqing. "You, come here."

Meng Changqing followed Doctor Hu to his room. While he was washing his hands, she poured him a cup of hot tea. "Did you need something?"

"I heard from Bafang that the child came from Beishan County?"

Meng Changqing: "Most likely."

"If you ask me, you should persuade your mother to beg the Emperor to move you to a different location," Doctor Hu said. "If she pleads, the Emperor will surely change it out of consideration for the opinions of the court officials. If that doesn't work..."

Meng Changqing pushed the teacup toward him. "One can only plead if there is sentiment to leverage. My father passed away many years ago. While in the capital, His Majesty looked after me many times; that bit of old loyalty between monarch and subject has long since been exhausted."

"Don't blame me for not warning you, but how hungry must a person be to resort to eating dirt?" Doctor Hu said. "In that area, I fear there isn't even grass or tree bark. There are things I didn't want to say, but since it has come to this, I must warn you. The place you are going is the frontier of the frontier, and in... such a situation. If you manage it poorly, they will call you incompetent; if you manage it well, they will accuse you of colluding with the enemy and treason. How will you protect your family's lives?"

Meng Changqing said, "When a ruler commands a subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die. Once the imperial decree is issued, I will naturally do what I must, seeking only to have a clear conscience."

Doctor Hu felt a sense of frustrated exasperation. "Why are you so blindly loyal at such a young age!"

"Please don't be angry."

"Why should I be angry? It won't be me who dies when the time comes." Doctor Hu directly ushered her out. "Just don't come to me with your head severed, asking me to treat you. I can't fix that."

Meng Changqing was kicked out.

Looking at the closed door, Meng Changqing praised herself: her acting skills had certainly improved!

In this world, anyone could be blindly loyal, but she would not be.

She understood what Doctor Hu meant; he was simply telling her not to crave power and to withdraw as early as possible.

But would the plunder and persecution of those in power toward those below stop just because the subordinates yielded?

No.

If she discarded the identity of Meng Changqing and lived under a pseudonym, who knew what hardships she would encounter in such a life?

In this world, to live with even a modicum of dignity, one could only learn to use the strength of others against them at the right moment.

"Changqing." Liang Jiuqiu stood beside Lady Wen, looking at her with concern.

"Don't worry, there's always a way when the time comes." Meng Changqing led them back. "If there truly is no way, we'll just dig a tunnel!"

Meng Changqing did not sleep well that night.

She dreamed of a group of skeletons surrounding her, kneeling and begging: "Please, please cut some flesh for us. If we don't eat soon, we'll starve to death!"

Cold sweat poured down Meng Changqing's face, and she sat up startled in the middle of the night.

Upon waking, she couldn't remember the contents of the dream, only that she had had a nightmare. Seeing that it was still deep into the night, she intended to go back to sleep, but unexpectedly, Xiao Dai came to knock on the door.

"Young Master, someone from the Prefect's office is here. They say Lord Wei requests your presence."

Meng Changqing immediately got up to dress. "Brother Dai, help me wake Master and Lord Bai."

"Yes."

By the time Meng Changqing emerged fully dressed, the other two were already standing in the courtyard with their weapons ready.

As soon as she stepped out, the piercing cold air rushed against her face. She quickly wrapped her face with a scarf. "What time is it?"

Xiao Dai added charcoal to the hand warmer. "The bells have just struck. It is the beginning of the Yin hour."

The beginning of the Yin hour is three in the morning.

In this era, people usually only went out at this hour to commit murder or arson.

Xiao Dai stuffed the hand warmer into her hands. "The Prefect's office is pressing urgently. I'm afraid there isn't enough time to hitch a carriage. Young Master, can you ride a horse?"

"Changqing will ride with me," Xi Bei said. "I can shield him from the wind."