Chapter 1218 - 894: Taking Action
After that, it was several consecutive days of relentless wind and snow.
Heaven was sealed by ice and snow.
The nameless little village outside the city was sparsely populated, and now covered by heavy white snow, the entire village seemed to be buried. The flimsy wooden doors could hardly keep out the bitter cold, and everyone was huddled inside their homes, trembling as they watched the faint embers in the fire pits.
Of course, what made them tremble wasn’t just the bitter cold.
In such weather, they suddenly heard a rumbling sound amid the howling wind, causing the ground to shake, as if the houses were teetering on the brink of collapse. The villagers were terrified, wrapped in the only thick cotton clothes they had, pushing open the doors to look out. Upon seeing the scene, they were immediately dumbfounded.
A squad of soldiers had charged into the village.
These men were clad in armor, looking fierce and sinister. Upon arrival, they kicked down the fences of several households. The villagers felt heartbroken but dared not speak, only watched with wide eyes as the soldiers, riding on horseback, rampaged and roamed about the village, blocking both the front and back roads within no time.
It seemed there were also guards stationed around the village.
Followed by someone shouting: "Come out, everyone get out!"
The villagers had lived honestly their whole lives. Except for the plague last year, when they saw some soldiers come to arrest people, and the recent unexpected incident, they rarely witnessed such sights. All were scared stiff, hardly daring to breathe, as they emerged from their homes and gathered at the largest vacant plot in the village. The snow here was knee-deep, the crowd stood trembling, clueless about what was happening, each as anxious as a startled bird.
Soon, all the villagers were driven here, surrounded by soldiers with flashing swords and knives, which scared everyone into trembling.
Then they saw a person on horseback coming to the front.
This person was different from the other soldiers, wearing a thick fox fur coat, which was evidently valuable, suggesting he was a high-ranking officer. But his face lacked one eye, wrapped with thick gauze. Because he was originally thin, with hollowed cheeks, and thin lips, he appeared somewhat mean and heartless, looking even more ferocious with such appearance.
Especially when he rode on horseback, slowly circled around these villagers, his gaze condescending, like looking at meat coldly on a chopping board.
After a while, the man said: "Are you the villagers from Jiang Yu’s village?"
Upon hearing this name, all the villagers took a deep breath.
They naturally knew about the new family with the surname Jiang that moved here two years ago. That old man Jiang Yu would drink and eat meat freely, and it turned out he was someone who practiced, sitting and chanting sutras in his house every night. No one had ever seen someone like him, all regarded him as a joke. However, he was quite nice, often inviting guests when he bought wine and meat back. The villagers rarely got to eat meat throughout the year, so despite thinking he was odd, they got along well with him, especially the children who loved going to his house, eating meat and listening to his stories.
Last year, his son returned.
That young man named Jiang Xian seemed capable. After all, in such tumultuous times, anyone who could trade horses all over the place couldn’t be too bad, nor poor. Plus, he was good-looking, many young girls in the village had a secret admiration for him, but he happened to hook up with influential people in the city, breaking many young girls’ hearts.
Unexpectedly, a few days ago, a squad of soldiers came to the city and took Jiang Yu away.
The village was in turmoil, unable to fathom what had happened. And now another squad of soldiers came. But since the person was already taken, what could they want with the villagers?
The crowd was in turmoil, not knowing how to respond. At this moment, the oldest person in the village, leaning on his cane, his white beard swaying in the wind, came trembling out of the crowd and bowed, saying: "Lord, our village has been here for decades, generations have lived here, Jiang Yu only moved in two years ago. His home is in the three houses on the east side of the village, but he has already been taken."
The prestigious official coldly said: "So, you are indeed from his village, right?"
Everyone instinctively took a cold breath.
The way he spoke suggested the soldiers weren’t looking for Jiang Yu today, but for them.
The old man, knowing denial was futile, could only stammer: "Yes, Jiang Yu did indeed move here two years ago. We are – we are indeed from the same village, but we are not familiar with his family."
Hearing this, all the surrounding villagers babbled: "Yes, we are not familiar with his family."
"We have never spoken to them."
"We have no idea about what they have done."
"Please, Lord, discern the truth."
The man on horseback squinted his remaining eye a bit, gazing down at the panic-stricken faces, his eyes lacking any warmth, as if looking at ants struggling for survival under his feet. After a while, he sneered, saying: "Since you are indeed from the same village, then this will be easy to handle."
In the blink of an eye, it was the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month.
Listening to the howling wind outside, gradually waking up from a midday nap, Shang Ruyi just finished tidying up her clothes when she heard Tushere reporting that Doctor Du had come for a consultation.
Shang Ruyi couldn’t help but frown: "Why is he here again?"
Admittedly, unless summoned by the harem concubines or a prince and princess, normally, the Imperial Physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau only came once on the first and fifteenth of every month. But ever since Du Ruoming was promoted, he often came to Qianqiu Palace.
Of course, he had legitimate reasons. Firstly, because the Imperial Grandson was still young and needed frequent care, plus with the severe cold weather lately, many in the palace caught cold and fell ill, so he had to be diligent, thus coming for a consultation and diagnosis for King Qin and Princess Qin every two or three days. Since Yu Wenye was often away, Shang Ruyi mostly dealt with him.
Seeing Shang Ruyi looking somewhat impatient, Tushere quietly said: "How about, the lady tells him that the Princess is still resting and sends him back?"
Shang Ruyi thought for a moment and shook her head: "Never mind, let him come in."
Tushere turned and went out, shortly returning with Du Ruoming.
This man was quite courteous, upon entering he paid respects to the Princess Qin, Shang Ruyi also forced a smile and exchanged a few pleasantries, then extended her hand for the diagnosis. Confirming there were no major health issues, she prepared to offer him tea then send him away.
Du Ruoming sat down, looked around cautiously and smiled: "Might I ask where the Young Master is?"