Chapter 22: To fail in one's attempt and lose even more

“There’s no way you didn't see them.” Scruffy Mao gave them a suspicious look.

When he had seen Xie Ninglan and her daughter separate from the group earlier, he had immediately dispatched Gouzi to extort money from them. He assumed the Xie household must have prepared plenty of travel funds for their protection; with Gouzi’s skills, he should have been able to squeeze at least a few taels of silver out of them.

But to his surprise, Gouzi had gone and never returned, as if he had vanished into thin air.

“He clearly went to find the two of you, so how could he not have run into you? You must be lying. Speak, where is Gouzi?”

*Where? Where? He went to find your granduncle to hold your grandmother's leg!*

A flicker of impatience flashed in Xin Nian's eyes.

Why were these people so annoying? She had been so well-behaved, causing zero trouble along the way, so why did they keep coming for her? She might as well just kill them all and be done with it.

Staying close to her daughter, Xie Ninglan was the first to sense the shift in her child's emotions.

Seeing her daughter's body tense up inch by inch and her fingers begin to move slowly, her heart skipped a beat, and she cried out inwardly, *This is bad.*

If she were to slaughter all the bailiffs right in front of everyone, it wouldn't be much different from committing treason...

They were only a day's journey from the capital. If the Emperor learned of this, he would undoubtedly mobilize the capital guards to hunt down these rebels in a heartbeat.

While their immediate family could escape without much issue, doing so would drag down the local residents of the Xin household.

Those people had the old, the young, and the small; they hadn't broken any heavenly laws, and there was no need to implicate them.

Xie Ninglan quickly took her daughter's hand, wondering how to resolve this, when Liang Guang approached with the elder bailiff, Xiao Jia, and several others. His face was grim as he barked, "What is the commotion now? You all lack energy for traveling, yet you have plenty of energy for causing trouble."

He raised a large hand, pointing toward the circle of people. "It seems you aren't tired enough. We'll walk an extra five miles tomorrow."

At these words, the exiles immediately erupted in complaints, chattering all at once to explain, "Officer, it wasn't us causing trouble."

"Yes, yes, Officer! It was the Xin family clashing with the bailiffs. This has nothing to do with us..."

Liang Guang frowned and glared at Xin Wenyuan and the others. "What happened? You, explain."

"Officer, Officer!" Xin Wen'an hurriedly squeezed forward, cupping his hands in explanation. "The women are ignorant; when trouble arises, they can only cry and fail to explain things clearly. Actually, it's like this..."

Xin Wenyuan glanced at the third brother who had interrupted. This fellow was usually a chatterbox who drove people mad, but today he actually acted a bit like a proper third uncle.

Once the sequence of events was explained, Liang Guang understood. He relaxed his brow and looked at the furious Scruffy Mao. "What did you have Gouzi do to that mother and daughter?"

The question hit the mark directly, leaving Scruffy Mao stammering, unable to answer.

How could he say he sent Gouzi to find Xie Ninglan and her daughter to openly demand favors? Naturally, he couldn't say that.

Seeing his pathetic state, how could Liang Guang not understand the reason?

He had been looking for an excuse to pressure Scruffy Mao, and here the man was, walking right into it.

Liang Guang let out a cold snort, feigning a righteous and solemn demeanor. He criticized him sternly, "Old Mao, you aren't a newcomer. There are certain rules you don't need me to tell you; you know them well."

"Even though they are exiles now, we still have to follow the rules. Maintain a certain distance from the female exiles. If you're good and I'm good, everyone is good."

"We aren't far from the capital yet, so don't go causing trouble for me. Don't forget that your evaluations for this journey are in my hands. It's easy to see who performs well and who doesn't! Once we return to the capital to report, I will be reporting everything one by one."

Scruffy Mao gritted his teeth, filled with resentment.

*Damn it, you brat! You take your bribes and then talk about 'everyone being good'? You take so much silver from the Minister's manor that your hands go soft, yet you don't even bother to share a few scraps with your brothers below.*

If he had received any money, would he have had to sneakily send someone to extort that mother and daughter?

Scruffy Mao's yellowed teeth ground together with a creak, but on the surface, he had to maintain a submissive, nodding posture.

"Yes, Leader Liang is right. I will surely discipline my subordinates in the future. But regarding Gouzi... what do you think? A person can't just vanish into thin air, can they?"

Liang Guang cast a sidelong glance at Xie Ninglan and her daughter. Seeing that their prison clothes were covered only in dirt and dust and lacked even a trace of blood, he sneered, "Old Mao, you don't actually think that mother and daughter killed your brother and buried him, do you?"

Wasn't that ridiculous? Two helpless noblewomen having such capability would be nothing short of a miracle.

"Enough, enough, stop the nonsense. That fellow usually loves a bit of wine. Maybe he got drunk and fell into a pit somewhere and can't climb out. All of you, go search the perimeter again." Liang Guang waved his hand and turned to lead the men away.

"Everyone get some sleep. We set off at the hour of the Tiger tomorrow."

"Leader Liang, Leader Liang!" Scruffy Mao followed unwillingly, gesturing wildly. "Something really might have happened to Gouzi."

"What could happen to a drunkard? Have you searched upstream and downstream? Was there blood on the ground?"

"We sent people to search both, but there was no blood."

"Heh." Liang Guang couldn't help but scoff. "Suspecting others without even finding blood? What, is Gouzi going to turn into a kite and fly away?"

The bailiff Old Zhang, following behind them, couldn't help but chuckle.

As the farce came to an end, Xin Nian's medicine happened to be ready.

Once it had cooled slightly, Xin Wenyuan hurriedly brought the medicine and forced it down his eldest son's throat.

Xin Wen'an walked over to take a look. "I never heard that the sixth girl could practice medicine and brew decoctions."

"You haven't heard of plenty of things. My daughter just prefers to keep a low profile," Xin Wenyuan grumbled, using a piece of coarse cloth to wipe the spilled medicine from his son's lips.

The old father held his son's hand, muttering, "Son, you must get well quickly. Your mother and sister are both waiting for you."

Xin Wen'an curled his lip. "He was treated with the best soups and medicines in the manor for three days and still didn't wake up. Do you think your daughter can perform a miracle with just one bowl of medicine?"

Xin Wenyuan shot him a look and said irritably, "You're such a blunt person. Too much nonsense! Unpleasant!"

"Me!" Xin Wen'an was exasperated. "Am I not telling the truth?"

Xin Wenyuan pulled half a hard, coarse rice cake from his robe and stuffed it directly into his third brother's mouth. "Just eat it and shut up."

If it weren't for the fact that this man could actually help the family in critical moments, he wouldn't bother with him.

Xin Wen'an pulled the cake out of his mouth and looked at the fourth brother in confusion. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"I saw you haven't eaten enough these past two days. I'm being kind by sharing half with you. If you don't want it, give it back."

"Bah! It's already in my mouth, how can I give it back? Don't you find it disgusting! And 'I'? Whose 'I' are you?"

***

Under a banyan tree upstream of the stream, a figure was stretched long by the moonlight.

The shimmering moonlight fell upon the plain-colored sleeves, appearing as if filled with watery light and shadow, bright and ethereal.

Zhu Yan knelt before this person with his head bowed low, not daring to lift it even a fraction. He could only hear his own heart thumping like a drum in his chest.

*Too terrifying, too terrifying.* He didn't even dare to ask questions.

If his master hadn't suddenly appeared by his side, he—he—he would have been discovered by that murderous little girl!