Chapter 86 - 1#
World 4: You Are the Snow on the Branch#
Ignoring Qin Dehuai’s secret winks and Tao Ran’s loud quarreling, Qin Qing went straight ahead and reached a cooperation agreement with Daoist Wuwei.
The rain prayer platform was set at Hukou Waterfall.
“I will go find the sacrifices now. The rain prayer will begin in three days.” Daoist Wuwei emphasized the word “sacrifices”.
He still hoped that the Marquis’s residence would give a sum of silver to redeem the children who were supposed to be drowned. Wasn’t this always the case with the Marquis’s residence in previous sacrifices?
However, this time he was disappointed.
Qin Qing cupped his hands and said with a smile, “Daoist, you must find the sacrifices carefully this time. They must be children born in a yin year, yin month, and yin hour.”
Daoist Wuwei looked carefully at Qin Qing’s faintly smiling face, confirmed that there was not a trace of pity in his eyes, and then left with a sneer.
Fine, since the Marquis’s residence is unwilling to pay, he will find the sacrifices properly. In the past, he just grabbed a few children randomly from the refugees. This time, he would specifically look for them in the homes of good citizens. He could also pick a few children from the local tyrants and gentry, so that these people would blame the Marquis’s residence!
Qin Dehuai knew at a glance what Daoist Wuwei was planning. Once the person left, he said anxiously, “Son, you have caused a big disaster this time! Our Marquis’s residence cannot touch such life-harming things at all!”
Tao Ran was so angry that her eyes were red. She reached out to grab Qin Qing’s collar to question him, but was stopped by Ye Li who rushed over.
“Concubine Tao, please have some self-respect!” Ye Li blocked Tao Ran’s hand, his cold gaze sweeping over her sharply manicured red nails.
These were a pair of beast-like pupils, filled with ferocity and disgust.
Tao Ran was scared into taking a step back, and her beautiful face instantly turned pale.
996, who jumped onto the dining table to steal food: “…Qin Qing, he is becoming more and more like a loyal dog! What happened to being disgusted?”
Qin Qing moved his steps slightly, hid behind Ye Li, and gently tugged at a corner of Ye Li’s clothes.
“Let’s go.” He tugged at the corner of the clothes.
Feeling his heart being lightly tugged as well, Ye Li’s face felt slightly hot. With a push of his arm, he pushed Tao Ran away, turned around to protect Qin Qing tightly, and led him away.
Tao Ran didn’t dare to rush up and tear at them again, so she could only stand at the entrance of the hall and scold loudly: “Qin Qing, you help the tyrant to do evil, you will definitely be struck by lightning! Those twenty children will turn into wronged ghosts and drag you to hell! Your Tai’an Marquis’s residence really doesn’t accumulate hidden virtues. Sooner or later, your home will be raided and your clan exterminated…”
Qin Qing quickened his pace.
Ye Li’s eyes darkened, and his thoughts were chaotic for a moment. If the Tai’an Marquis’s residence was raided, what would happen to Qin Qing? He didn’t dare to think about it.
Only a crisp slap was heard from behind. It was Qin Dehuai who slapped Tao Ran fiercely.
“I know you are angry, but you can’t speak without restraint! You are also a member of the Tai’an Marquis’s residence. What good will it do you if the Marquis’s residence is raided and the clan exterminated?” Qin Dehuai’s exasperated scolding came from afar.
Qin Qing looked back and said silently to 996 in his heart: “This Tao Ran is probably the mole. She never considers problems from the perspective of the Marquis’s residence, but acts superior and despises the lowly. In her eyes, we are like sinners.”
While trotting after Qin Qing, 996 asked breathlessly, “Then how do you plan to deal with her?”
“I need to find someone trustworthy to keep an eye on her for me.”
“I can help you keep an eye on her!” 996 hurriedly volunteered.
“You can help me keep an eye on her, but you can’t cooperate with me to counter her. I still need to find a trustworthy person.” Qin Qing looked back at Ye Li, then shook his head.
At this moment, he couldn’t even find a single person he could trust.
Ye Li was baffled by the look. Meeting Qin Qing’s eyes which revealed loneliness and melancholy, he couldn’t help but panic for a moment.
“Little Marquis, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Qin Qing withdrew his gaze and continued to walk forward.
The wind blew down the fiery red pomegranate flowers blooming on the branches, and Qin Qing avoided these fallen flowers with every step, as if he couldn’t bear to destroy them.
Ye Li noticed this small detail, so he also avoided the fallen flowers on the ground.
Several servants came over, swept the flowers away with brooms, and threw them into a pool of clear spring water surrounding the Marquis’s residence.
If he couldn’t even bear to step on fallen flowers, how could Qin Qing bear to drown so many children? Even if Ye Li was full of doubts, he couldn’t ask at this moment. He chose to believe in Qin Qing.
At night, Qin Qing sat on the steps in front of the Marquis’s residence, holding the snoring 996 in his arms.
Xiao Dengzi sat beside him, holding a vegetable bun in his hand and gnawing on it with satisfaction.
“Little Marquis, don’t worry, I will definitely handle the matter you entrusted to me well.” Xiao Dengzi pointed to the mountains not far away and exclaimed, “Little Marquis, look, what is that?”
Firelight was emerging from the distant mountain forest, followed by earth-shaking roars, as if a group of beasts were going mad.
“Is it the tigers in the mountain forest roaring?” Xiao Dengzi shrank his shoulders in fear.
“It’s people shouting. People are much more terrible than tigers.” Qin Qing whispered while looking at the mountain forest where the fire was blazing.
Xiao Dengzi nodded, remembering those uncles who tried to snatch his family’s land. If it weren’t for the Little Marquis protecting them, their family of five would have all died.
The two looked at the mountain forest from a distance, their expressions somewhat dazed.
After an unknown amount of time, two tall figures walked out of the darkness and gradually came to the open space in front of the Marquis’s residence illuminated by lanterns. It was Ye Li and Ah Niu. They were covered in blood, like two wild beasts that had just eaten people.
Ye Li’s dark pupils flickered with bloodthirsty light under the reflection of the lantern fire.
Xiao Dengzi turned pale with fright and trembled all over.
Qin Qing raised his head, looked at Ye Li who still had a beastly nature, and smiled: “Have the bandits been repelled?”
“They have all been repelled. Many soldiers came halfway and wiped out the bandit troubles on several nearby mountains.” Ye Li walked slowly to the door and looked down at Qin Qing.
On the battlefield, he was a wild beast, and after drinking blood, he was even more uncontrollable. However, seeing Qin Qing’s raised fair face at this moment, his desire for slaughter miraculously calmed down.
“I was waiting for you.” Qin Qing whispered in the night wind.
This most ordinary sentence actually made Ye Li drop the blood-stained broadsword in his hand and let out a deep laugh.
Qin Qing was waiting for him to come back…
His empty heart was filled with something soft and warm, and his eyes couldn’t stop feeling hot.
“Why did the soldiers go to suppress the bandits? Without receiving benefits, they were actually willing to send troops? Last time, the Marquis’s residence sent them fifty thousand taels of silver before they agreed to send a team to patrol nearby.”
Qin Qing cooled Ye Li’s hot heart completely with just one sentence.
Ye Li: “…I don’t know either.”
The imperial garrison only agreed to participate in bandit suppression after receiving benefits? There was such a thing? Ye Li suppressed the anger in his heart and glanced at Ah Niu with dark eyes.
Ah Niu gritted his teeth, hating it in his heart. Damn it, the secret guard sent a message today, and the garrison commander of Jiangbei City clearly acted very actively. It turned out it was all fake!
“It’s good that you’re back. I prepared a late-night snack for you, go eat.” Qin Qing stood up holding 996, his legs went numb, and he involuntarily fell forward.
Ye Li hurriedly reached out to hug him. First, he smelled a sweet fragrance, and soon a soft body bumped into his arms, like embracing a cloud, white and light, which would disperse in an instant.
Ye Li panicked in his heart and couldn’t help tightening his grip on Qin Qing’s waist.
The waist was so thin, as if it would break with a fold.
Ye Li panicked again, hurriedly loosened his hand, then tightened it again, at a loss for what to do for a moment.
Holding tight, he was afraid of hurting Qin Qing; letting go, he was afraid of losing him. What kind of distance was appropriate?
The panic in his heart deepened, causing cold sweat to break out on Ye Li’s forehead. Recalling his hidden identity, an ominous premonition tightly gripped his soul.
If only I were the real Ye Li, how good that would be…
“You got my clothes dirty.” Qin Qing pushed Ye Li away, pointing to the blood spots on his outer robe.
Ye Li lowered his head, suppressing the panic in his heart, and said hoarsely, “I’m sorry, Little Marquis.”
“It doesn’t matter, as long as you came back safely.” Qin Qing turned and walked into the gate, as if remembering something, he suddenly said to Xiao Dengzi, “You don’t need to serve anymore in the future.”
Xiao Dengzi froze on the spot, his face pale, obviously scared out of his wits. Without this job, how could he live!
Ye Li and Ah Niu looked at each other, neither speaking.
“Go to the straw shed to serve food to the workers in the future. I’ll add five hundred copper coins to your monthly salary.” Qin Qing added.
Xiao Dengzi then blinked, and smiled slowly and happily.
Qin Qing pinched his still pale face and asked jokingly, “Were you scared just now?”
Xiao Dengzi nodded honestly: “Scared.”
Qin Qing let go of his cheek, walked into the mansion, and whispered, “Just wanted to scare you, hehe~”
His clear laughter spilled all the way, carrying a bit of playfulness that only children have.
Xiao Dengzi covered his burning cheeks and stared at his back foolishly.
Little Marquis…
“What are you looking at?” Ye Li’s cold voice suddenly sounded in his ear, startling Xiao Dengzi. Xiao Dengzi turned his head and met a pair of bottomless, cold-shining deep eyes.
It was a gaze fiercer than the tigers in the mountains, as if it could eat people.
Xiao Dengzi shook his head hurriedly, saying he wasn’t looking at anything.
Ye Li touched his head and left without saying a word.
The late-night snack was heated and served on the table one by one.
Qin Qing didn’t eat a bite, just sat across the dining table, quietly watching Ye Li and Ah Niu devouring the food.
“The butler sent many people to find your sister.” Qin Qing said slowly, “I asked them to try to find her within half a month, and then send you away.”
Ye Li suddenly lost his appetite, the food tasting like wax.
Ah Niu glanced at his master secretly, not daring to chime in. He could feel that his master’s good mood was ruined.
“Can’t we stay in the Marquis’s residence to work? It’s a chaotic world now, and it’s hard to find a way to live outside.” Ye Li knew clearly that he couldn’t stay in the Marquis’s residence forever, but he still inexplicably asked these words.
Ah Niu suppressed the surprise in his heart and ate noodles silently.
“Staying in the Marquis’s residence, you will have even less of a way to live, because the Marquis’s residence will be raided and the clan exterminated sooner or later.” Qin Qing said lightly.
“Cough cough cough, cough cough cough…” Ah Niu suddenly coughed earth-shatteringly.
The chopsticks in Ye Li’s hand couldn’t stop shaking, and a huge wave was set off in his heart. It turned out that not only was the imperial court guarding against the Qin family, but the Qin family was also guarding against the imperial court. Qin Qing knew his ending early on.
“Everyone in the Great Yan Dynasty knows why the Qin family made their fortune. It is also a well-known secret that the Emperor wants to liquidate the Qin family now. My head will be cut off by someone sooner or later and taken to the capital to be presented to the Emperor.”
Qin Qing pointed to his slender neck.
Ah Niu hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to look more.
A terrifying scene appeared before Ye Li’s eyes. A cold-shining broadsword slashed down at extremely fast speed, followed by a column of blood soaring into the sky, Qin Qing’s head…