99 Chapter 99. Frame-up
The bailiff of the magistrate’s office hurriedly ran into the back hall. He ran so fast that he fell two times and didn’t even care that his hat had fallen off. Because he was too afraid, his shouts had changed pitch.
“Panicking, what’s wrong with you?”
When old Qin saw how flustered the bailiff was, he scolded him with a black face. The bailiff ignored old Qin’s scolding and knelt on the ground, pointing outside the Yamen as he reported in a sobbing tone,
“Elder Qin, things are bad. The barbarians have attacked Jin City, burning, killing, and plundering. They’re about to attack the government office.
“What? The barbarians have attacked the city?”
Old Qin was shocked. The people from the Guang and Bai armies had just escorted Bai Yin away, and the city guards had just changed to a new Lieutenant. How did the barbarians attack?
Even if they attacked the city, would the city protection Army be so easily defeated? He didn’t even hear the sounds of fighting.
“Is it the new Lieutenant who opened the city gate to let the barbarians in?”
The bailiff cried as he reported. He hoped the cold girl and the bearded man were still in the government office. Then, they would be able to chase away the barbarians. Now, they were counting on old Qin and the others. Could they still live?
Old Qin closed his eyes and sighed. He thought he had caught the Wan family off guard, but he failed at the last step.
“All of you, run for your lives!”
Elder Qin sat on the chair calmly and ordered the Yamen runners to leave.
“Elder Qin, your subordinates will escort you out.”
Li Wu bowed to old Qin, anxiously urging him to get up.
“No need. I’m going to die with this city.”
Elder Qin sighed. It would be useless even if he managed to escape. Like general Xiao, he would be charged with conspiring with the enemy. He might as well die in the government office and be labeled as a loyal soldier. The memorial had probably already reached the capital by now.
“Old Qin.”
Li Wu’s eyes were red with anxiety, and he wanted to take old Qin away by force.
“All of you, leave. Li Wu, I have something to say to you.”
Old Qin looked at Li Wu with a sullen face. Li Wu had no choice but to order four guards to protect him outside the door.
“Old Qin.”
Li Wu’s heart ached as he looked at old Qin. He had been by the old man’s side for so long that he knew that today’s situation was a dead end.
“Hurry back to Su province and tell the female miracle doctor and her friend not to wait for me. Give the thousand-year-old Lingzhi to the female miracle doctor. This is the key to my secret room. There is a black wooden box in the cabinet of the secret room. Please don’t open it. Give the wooden box to the big-bearded friend of the female miracle doctor.”
Old Qin took out a key and passed it to Li Wu, quickly giving him instructions.
“Old Qin.”
Li Wu burst into tears. Old Qin smiled and patted his shoulder.
“I don’t have much time left. Whether I die a few days earlier or later doesn’t make a difference. Don’t be sad. Don’t stay here any longer and leave quickly. You must complete the task I gave you, or I won’t die in peace.”
Old Qin’s eyes were determined, and he was determined to die.
Li Wu refused to leave, so old Qin used a dagger to force his neck. Li Wu had no choice but to cry and leave, ordering the four guards to protect old Qin.
Not long after Li Wu left, the barbarians attacked the mansion. They wanted to capture old Qin alive, so the four guards protected him with their lives. Old Qin held a dagger and was ready to commit suicide, but he was stabbed in the neck by a needle and fainted.
Ji Shuisheng and Su Qing didn’t know what had happened to old Qin. When they passed by Jiang City, they didn’t enter the city and continued to move forward without stopping.
For the past few days, Su Qing had been steaming dry food. She would make a lot each time, enough to last two days. She saved time on cooking and sped up his journey.
They dared not get close to the city gate when they arrived at Jiang City. They walked through the small path and waited around Jiang City before returning to their original way.
After going around Jiang City and returning to the path that led to the Jingshi Dao, there were more disaster victims. They walked mechanically, their eyes looking ahead with a dull and listless expression. Their expressions were terrified and sad, like a group of walking dead.
Su Qing and the rest had just stepped onto the main road when a woman stumbled from the crowd and ran straight toward Ji Shuisheng. Her hair was messy, and her face was covered in dirty mud. She only had a pair of eyes left, and the back of her dress had a large bloodstain. The stench of her body could be smelled from afar.
The woman couldn’t care about her sorry state anymore. She looked at Ji Shuisheng as if she had seen her Savior,
“Benefactor, I’ve finally found you. Please take me with you!”
Ji Shuisheng didn’t even recognize who this was. The woman registered herself:
“I was high scholar Ding’s concubine. I was later kidnapped and sold to a brothel. It was my benefactor who saved me.”
Ji Shuisheng only remembered when she mentioned the name. His face instantly sank, and his voice was cold and emotionless,
“Go away.”
“Benefactor, you have to save me until the end. The barbarians have invaded Jin City and will soon arrive. I’m just a weak woman, and I really can’t live. I can be a slave, or a servant, to live.”
High scholar, Ding’s concubine cried and knelt on the ground. At this moment, she no longer intended to seduce Ji Shuisheng. She couldn’t even save her life, so who else could she seduce?
“What did you just say?”
Ji Shuisheng’s expression changed drastically when he heard that the barbarians had captured Jin City. Su Qing was also moved when she heard that Jin City had been captured. She wondered if old Qin had escaped.
“The barbarians have conquered both Yu City and Jin City. They have committed all kinds of evil, such as burning, killing, and pillaging. The dead have already turned into mountains.
High scholar ding’s concubine was in tears. She had heard all of this. There had been more and more refugees in the past few days. Half of them were actual escapees, and the other half were people who had been forced to leave their homes after being killed by the barbarians.
Was Yu City also captured?
Hearing high scholar Ding’s Concubine’s words, the women who had lost their husbands no longer regretted coming out to escape. Staying in Peach Blossom Cove was a dead end. They would either die in the hands of the earth dragon, be killed by the Barbarian race, or be forced to death by the Imperial court. As ants, they would be trampled to death sooner or later.
Ji Shuisheng’s face darkened as he rejected high scholar Ding’s concubine,
“We don’t take in outsiders. You can go ask the other teams!”
“Please accept me, I beg you, please accept me!”
Seeing that Ji Shuisheng was not willing to take her in, high scholar Ding’s concubine knelt on the ground and kowtowed fiercely, refusing to leave no matter what.
“If you don’t leave, don’t say I whipped you.”
...
Ji Shuisheng’s face darkened. He whipped the stone on the ground with the horsewhip in his hand. The rock flew across the face of high scholar Ding’s concubine with the sound of the wind. She was so frightened that she covered her face with her hands and sat on the ground in despair, crying.
When high scholar Ding’s concubine saw Ji Shuisheng and the others leaving, she followed them because she knew that if she was left alone, she might be captured and sent to a brothel like the Jadeite tower.
As long as she did not join the team, Ji Shuisheng could not be bothered with her. He looked for old master Qiu with a severe expression to discuss.
“Old man, we have to change our route again. The barbarians will continue to attack the capital city after taking Jin City. It’s hazardous for us to take this route.”
“Shuisheng, you can decide.”
Old master Qiu had no objections at all and let Ji Shuisheng make the decision.
Ji Shuisheng walked in front of Su Qing, and Su Qing looked at him quietly.
“Jin City has been conquered, and we don’t know if it’s good or bad for old master Qin. Are we still going to Su Province?”
