Chapter 87#

World 4: You Are the Snow on the Branch#

The rain prayer ceremony was suddenly suspended, and the people below the stage had to disperse one after another.

A large group of Taoist priests jumped onto the altar and hurriedly transported the twenty children and a box of gold away.

Looking at the steady lower bodies and bulging temples of these Taoist priests, Ye Li whispered in Qin Qing’s ear, “They are all martial arts practitioners.”

Qin Qing turned his head and also whispered in Ye Li’s ear, “Do you think they are Taoist priests or bandits?”

The sweet fragrance wrapped in the warm and humid airflow sprayed on his ear, making Ye Li flustered and distracted. He was stunned for a while before saying hoarsely, “That Qingxu Temple is probably a bandit den.”

“Not just bandits, but also human traffickers. Children are always missing nearby, and it must be related to this Qingxu Temple. If this group of evil Taoists is not eliminated, how can Jiangbei City have peace?” Qin Qing finished saying this coldly, then stood up and said goodbye to Daoist Wuwei with a smile.

In the afternoon, the group returned to the Marquis’s residence.

Qin Dehuai sat in the front hall, with a small box placed by his hand.

“Father, could it be that the garrison commander is unwilling to assist the Marquis’s residence?” Seeing that the small box had not been sent out, Qin Qing couldn’t help frowning.

“He agreed, but he was unwilling to accept this box of gold ingots.” Qin Dehuai stroked his short beard, his face full of doubt: “He is a person who won’t release the hawk until he sees the hare. Why did he change his nature this time? As soon as I proposed asking them to help keep an eye on Qingxu Temple and attack it at the appropriate time, they agreed readily and even sent out a thousand elite soldiers. In the past, when asked to send a patrol team of two hundred people, they would ask for fifty thousand taels.”

“Because there is a big Buddha suppressing behind the scenes.” 996 looked sideways at Ye Li standing aside.

Ye Li looked at his nose, his nose at his heart, hiding his merit and fame deeply.

Qin Qing pretended to be astonished, then smiled faintly and waved his hand: “Perhaps by raiding Qingxu Temple, they can get more benefits.”

Qin Dehuai thought it made sense, so he felt relieved.

Ye Li lowered his head even more, feeling anger and shame in his heart. He couldn’t see what the court officials and garrison troops had done in Jiangbei City at all, but the Marquis’s residence with a bad reputation was actually protecting the people of Jiangbei City.

“Father has worked hard. I asked the kitchen to stew pork stomach soup for Father.”

“Son has worked hard. I asked the kitchen to stew bird’s nest for you.”

The father and son spoke at the same time, saying almost the same considerate words, and couldn’t help holding each other’s hands and laughing heartily.

This family was far from the licentiousness imagined by the outside world, and this father and son were definitely not people who oppressed the villagers.

Ye Li deeply felt the horror of rumors, but what frightened him even more was the malice hidden behind the rumors.

Who on earth was secretly framing the Tai’an Marquis’s residence? No, actually even he himself came to harm this father and son secretly. If he hadn’t followed Qin Qing home and seen everything happening in the Marquis’s residence with his own eyes, his prejudice against Qin Qing would probably still not be eliminated, right?

Then in the near future, he would destroy the Marquis’s residence with peace of mind, take away the death-exemption gold medal and the right to mint coins, treat this unjust case as a great achievement, and bring it back to the capital to please his father, the Emperor.

Should the grudges of the older generation really be avenged on Qin Qing? Will there really be a day in the future when the dagger is revealed, and it won’t end until death?

Ye Li clenched his fists, his heart aching uncontrollably.

At the same time, Xiao Dengzi knocked on the door of the side courtyard carrying a food box. Two servants let him in. After a while, Tao Ran’s loud quarreling stopped abruptly, and soon resentful crying was heard.

Xiao Dengzi comforted Tao Ran patiently and meticulously, and gradually gained Tao Ran’s trust.

Two days later, Jiang Feishi came to visit with a box of ointment.

“This is the hair nourishing cream prepared by women’s hands. Does the Little Marquis want to try it?” Jiang Feishi said with a smile.

“Have many people gone to Liu Family Village recently to ask for the recipe of the hair nourishing cream?” Qin Qing opened the lid, smelled the creamy translucent paste, and couldn’t help praising, “It smells very good.”

Not as good as your body fragrance, Little Marquis. Jiang Feishi teased in his heart, but smiled gently and elegantly on his face, “Yes, anyone in Jiangbei City with some spare money has come to ask. I didn’t hide anything, I said everything that should be said.”

Qin Qing chuckled twice and sighed with emotion: “If so, presumably before long, the women of Jiangbei City will no longer have to worry about their livelihood.”

“Yes, the wealthy families in Jiangbei City will fight to hire female workers, just like the cloth merchants in Jiangnan fight for embroiderers.”

“Will the tea picked by women be clearer? Will the spices prepared by women be richer? Will the skin nourishing cream boiled by women be easier to use? There are really many things women can do.”

Qin Qing held the box of hair nourishing cream, lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then sighed: “In this chaotic world, men want to survive, and women also want to survive. Otherwise, where will the harmony of yin and yang and the endless cycle of life come from?”

Jiang Feishi chuckled: “What the Little Marquis said is true. So will the Marquis’s residence also hire female workers to pick tea, make spices, and make skin nourishing cream in the future?”

“Yes, after all, I am a licentious and extravagant Little Marquis. The things I use are naturally the best.”

Qin Qing’s words amused Jiang Feishi.

“Licentious and extravagant?” He chewed on these two words playfully and couldn’t help smiling sarcastically.

Ye Li, standing behind Qin Qing, was also evaluating these words, his face feeling a little hot! Once he was also one of those who believed the rumors and hated Qin Qing.

Qin Qing extended his hand, white as jade, under Jiang Feishi’s eyes and smiled jokingly.

“Look at my skin.”

Jiang Feishi looked closely, a trace of heat flashing in his eyes. Would such ice muscles and jade bones melt under his gaze?

Ye Li also looked closely, his Adam’s apple rolling up and down involuntarily. He thought of cream, of suet jade, of ice and snow, and also of delicate flower buds. All the most beautiful associations could be piled on Qin Qing.

Qin Qing untied the golden crown on his head, let down his black hair that reached his ankles, twisted a strand of it, and sent it under Jiang Feishi’s eyes.

“Look at my hair again.”

Jiang Feishi’s fingertips moved slightly, suddenly wanting to take this strand of satin-like black hair and play with it around his fingertips.

Ye Li moved his steps slightly, involuntarily taking a step forward, wanting to see this jade person with loose long hair and snowy skin more clearly. He wanted to get close, and even more wanted to possess…

As soon as he moved, Jiang Feishi raised his eyes and glanced over warningly.

Ye Li returned a sharp gaze, his face dark.

The eye contact between the two happened in an instant, and the hostility that burst out collided fiercely and then disappeared silently.

Qin Qing was completely unaware, wrapping a strand of his hair around his slender index finger like a jade carving, and chuckled lightly: “There is no need to publicize the benefits of these recipes to the outside world. I just need to stand out to be the proof. In the future, the women of Jiangbei City will live more and more smoothly.”

“Who wouldn’t envy the Little Marquis’s appearance and demeanor? Besides, the recipes we gave are also excellent. Only the Little Marquis would be willing to speak out that ancient hair nourishing recipe in public.”

Jiang Feishi praised with a smile.

“I just mentioned it slightly at the time, and you knew what I wanted to do.” Qin Qing suddenly leaned closer, stared into Jiang Feishi’s eyes and asked, “Mr. Jiang, can you read minds?”

Jiang Feishi looked back unblinkingly, shook his head and whispered, “No, it’s the Little Marquis who has a pair of talking eyes.”

Both leaned towards each other, their straight nose tips almost touching, and only each other’s figure was reflected in their eyes.

Ye Li: “…” Damn it! Just talk, why get so close?

Jiang Feishi felt his soul being drawn away, and then falling into the Little Marquis’s whirlpool-like eyes. These watery and clear peach blossom eyes could not only talk, but also hook the soul!

Jiang Feishi leaned back, pretending to be calm, releasing a wisp of hot breath from his nose.

Qin Qing was still looking at Jiang Feishi, with flickering light in his eyes.

Ye Li slowly clenched his fists: Damn it, what’s so good about a pretty boy!

A layer of sticky fine sweat appeared on Jiang Feishi’s palms. Facing anyone, even the Emperor, he could be calm and indifferent, but facing the Little Marquis, he felt more and more flustered.

If I keep looking like this, I’m going to be abrupt with you, Little Marquis. Jiang Feishi laughed secretly in his heart, his scarlet tongue tip licking his thin lips unbearably.

Qin Qing finally lowered his eyelids, hiding the inexplicable light in his pupils.

996, nestled in Qin Qing’s arms, was so scared that his hair stood on end: “Meow! This bandit leader looked like a snake just now!”

Qin Qing rubbed 996’s head and joked, “He probably wanted to eat me just now.” After speaking, a faint smile of amusement slowly spread across the corners of his lips.

“He wanted to eat you? Then I’ll skin him first!” 996 didn’t understand this suggestive sentence at all, and angrily extended his sharp claws.

Qin Qing grabbed 996’s eager claws and looked up at Jiang Feishi: “Today for the rain prayer, I plan to go with my long hair loose.”

Jiang Feishi immediately understood his meaning, leaned forward slightly, suppressed the heat in his heart, and pretended to be gentle: “I wonder if this commoner has the honor to apply the hair nourishing cream for the Little Marquis personally?”

Before Qin Qing could answer, Ye Li couldn’t hold back.

“This hair nourishing cream must be picked, prepared, and boiled by women personally to be effective. Naturally, it must also be applied by women. I’ll go call a maid.”

He was about to take a step when he heard Qin Qing laugh low.

“What must be picked, prepared, and boiled by women personally is all fake. This recipe is effective no matter who takes it.”

Finally, Qin Qing handed the hair nourishing cream to Jiang Feishi and said, “Trouble you, Mr. Jiang.”

“It’s just a small effort.”

Served by the maid, Jiang Feishi washed his hands seriously, then took the hair nourishing cream, dipped a little with his fingertips, warmed it into a hot liquid in his palm, and then carefully applied it to Qin Qing’s hair.

Ye Li stood in place, staring at Jiang Feishi, anger rising in his heart.

Why did this Jiang Feishi say it was a small effort? Asking him to nourish Qin Qing’s hair, was that tiring? That was his honor! This person is so shameless!

Ye Li secretly held his breath several times before suppressing the anger back to the bottom of his heart.

He involuntarily looked at the strand of hair held in Jiang Feishi’s hand.

Qin Qing’s hair was long and thick, with a texture like satin. Not the very light and thin kind of satin, but heavy and smooth satin. Gently combing it with a comb would turn it into a black mirror, reflecting brilliance and shadows.

At this moment, these hairs were moistened strand by strand, dyed with strong fragrance bit by bit, pouring down like water.

Ye Li hurriedly retreated a few steps, almost mistakenly thinking that these water flows would flow to his feet and be trampled.

He was so fascinated just by watching from the side. What did Jiang Feishi, who personally applied moisture and luster to these hairs, feel?

Ye Li glanced at Jiang Feishi. This person looked very calm on the surface, and his movements were very slow, but his breathing was a bit heavy, obviously suppressing some emotions, and his eyes flashed with greedy light like a snake.

Could it be that this person also prefers men? Ye Li narrowed his eyes, and the anger in his heart instantly soared.

However, thinking carefully, he didn’t know what exactly he was angry about. Qin Qing liked men, and Jiang Feishi also liked men. Wasn’t it natural for ambiguity to arise between them?

Ye Li’s face was livid, his breathing was rapid, and his hands suddenly made a clicking sound. This was the friction of bone joints caused by clenching his fists too hard.

The drowsy Qin Qing didn’t notice this slight noise, but Jiang Feishi, who was seriously applying the hair cream, suddenly glanced at Ye Li and then hooked his lips into a smile.

This was an extremely provocative smile, and the greedy eyes like a snake emitted a chilling fierce light. Jiang Feishi quickly locked onto his enemy with the intuition of a beast.

Ye Li’s handsome and unparalleled face also became fierce and ferocious in an instant.

Damn it, a mere commoner dares to covet a jade person like Qin Qing. It’s really insubordinate and audacious!

After struggling for a long time, Ye Li thought he finally found the point of anger, so the manic and restless emotions were expressed more righteously. He pressed his palm on the hilt of the knife, revealing a threatening cold light in his eyes.

Qin Qing rested his chin on one hand, shaking his head, and had already fallen asleep groggily. The little fat cat held in his arms also held a small dried fish in its mouth and let out a thin snore.

Jiang Feishi reached out and waved lightly in front of Qin Qing’s face a few times. Confirming that the other party would not wake up for a while, he held up a strand of water-like hair and kissed it lightly on his lips.

The strong fragrance and the cool touch confused his heart. He originally intended to make this malicious guard reveal his true colors, but he indulged himself first.

He wrapped this strand of hair around his finger and smiled inaudibly and ambiguously.

The maids were all guarding outside the door, and only Ye Li standing opposite witnessed this scene with his own eyes.

Jiang Feishi could feel the two gazes that almost pierced through his body without looking up. That was a gaze of jealousy to the point of madness and resentment to the extreme. If gazes could kill, Jiang Feishi would have been cut into pieces by the other party long ago.

Jiang Feishi still wrapped the water-like hair around his finger and looked at Ye Li with a smile.

Ye Li drew the short knife from his waist without thinking.

“Little Marquis, the rain prayer ceremony is about to begin.” Jiang Feishi suddenly called out softly.

Qin Qing shook his head and slowly woke up.

Ye Li gritted his teeth and could only sheath the knife extremely unwillingly.

Damn pretty boy, sooner or later I will kill you!

An hour later, Qin Qing sat on the rain prayer platform holding 996. His full head of black hair was not tied up, and after being teased by the wind, it emitted a soft light like satin.

Ye Li’s livid face had not recovered until now.

Qin Qing didn’t know why, but he didn’t ask further. He just leaned back and whispered, “Look at these dignitaries. Who really cares about the life and death of dozens of children? They are all looking at my hair.”

Ye Li bent down, pretending to listen, and then raised his eyes to scan the people in brocade clothes standing in the front row. Sure enough, they were all looking at Qin Qing’s hair with prying and envious eyes.

Several noble ladies whispered to each other and had already started discussing.

Even the Qi family’s young lady, who usually pretended to be simple, tilted her head and pricked up her ears at this moment to listen to the discussions of these noble ladies, trying to find the secret of raising such a head of black hair.

Indeed, no one cared about those children.

“Look at these people.” Qin Qing said again.

Ye Li bent his waist lower, his ear almost touching Qin Qing’s mouth. There is a word called “submissive”, which is perfect to describe him at this moment.

Ah Niu coughed, trying to make his master maintain a little dignity, but unfortunately his master chose to ignore his existence.

Qin Qing’s gaze swept over the dark crowd below the stage and said slowly: “Those who really care about the life and death of the children are just their relatives. Unless it happens to oneself, no one can experience that kind of deep pain. So if we stand out and tell them that praying for rain is useless and drowning children violates the law, they won’t listen. Everyone only cares about their own interests, just like there are people who only care about my hair at this moment.”

After speaking, Qin Qing smiled sarcastically, curled a strand of hair with his fingertips, and circled it casually.

Ye Li stared blankly at this strand of hair. After an unknown amount of time, he straightened up and looked at the dark crowd below the stage.

Yes, preaching is useless to these people. The dignitaries want black and beautiful hair, while the common people want a heavy rain to pull them out of despair.

As long as rain can be prayed for, who cares about the life and death of a few children?

Ye Li looked at the twenty bamboo cages placed aside. The children in the cages had cried themselves to exhaustion. But the Taoist priests guarding them all had indifferent faces.

“Human joys and sorrows are never connected due to different classes.” Qin Qing sighed at this moment.

“But Little Marquis, you understand.” Ye Li said hoarsely.

Qin Qing shook his head and didn’t speak.

Daoist Wuwei, who was dancing wildly with a peach wood sword, shouted loudly at this moment, “The time has come, bring up the sacrifices!”

Many sacrifices were moved onto the altar one by one by the tall and sturdy Taoist priests, including the box of gold ingots.

The lid was open, revealing a glittering golden light inside.

The people below the stage cheered excitedly, shouting repeatedly that it would definitely rain this time, and it was impossible not to rain.

Daoist Wuwei rolled his eyes, handed three sticks of incense to Qin Qing, and asked Qin Qing to kneel before the statue of the Dragon King and pray until all the sacrifices were thrown into the waterfall.

“If the Little Marquis’s prayer is not sincere, the Dragon King will not send down life-saving rain to Jiangbei City.” When saying this, Daoist Wuwei deliberately raised his volume so that everyone could hear.

He knew that the so-called rain prayer ceremony was all a big show, and the Dragon King was nonsense.

Because of the appearance of two thousand taels of gold ingots, the people below the stage had extremely high expectations for this rain prayer. They felt that with such a large amount of treasure offered, the Dragon King would definitely send rain.

But just in case, Daoist Wuwei had to find someone to take the blame. If it rained, naturally everything would be fine. If it didn’t rain, it would be because Qin Qing was not sincere when praying.

He only needed to spread it a little to portray Qin Qing as a monster and destroy him with rumors.

The vicious plans in his heart popped out one after another, making Daoist Wuwei reveal an excited smile.

Qin Qing took the three sticks of incense and was about to walk towards the statue of the Dragon King, but Ye Li suddenly said: “The incense ash carries high heat when falling, which will burn the back of your hand. Little Marquis, be careful.”

When keeping vigil for the Supreme Emperor, Ye Li had been burned by incense ash several times. He didn’t want that kind of pain to happen to Qin Qing.

996 jumped onto the table aside, licked the tea in the cup, and snorted: “What happened to being disgusted? Now you’ve turned into a bootlicker just the same!”

Qin Qing looked back with a smile, strode to the statue and knelt down.

“Offer the sacrifices!” Daoist Wuwei shouted excitedly.

This time, it was still in the previous order: first the roasted whole sheep, then the roasted suckling pig, and then the box containing fifty taels of silver and two thousand taels of gold.

Actually, Daoist Wuwei wanted to throw the gold and silver boxes down first, but he couldn’t let others see the clues, so he had to endure it.

Two Taoist priests closed the box containing gold ingots and carried it to the edge of the altar with some “difficulty”.

Ye Li waved his hand at this moment, sending out a burst of energy.

A gust of wind suddenly blew on the stage, sending dust into the eyes of the two Taoist priests. While they closed their eyes and turned their heads, Ye Li flicked two stones, hitting the heels of the two Taoist priests.

The two Taoist priests cried out in pain and fell forward, dropping the box. The box contained two thousand taels of gold, weighing nearly two hundred catties in total, but it overturned so easily. The lid opened, and many golden ingots rolled out from inside.

“The gold fell, the gold fell!” Someone below the stage shouted nervously.

However, in the next instant, another gust of wind blew, blowing those gold ingots to roll slowly, rolling past Daoist Wuwei’s terrified eyes, rolling past Qin Qing’s pure white robe corner, rolling down the stage, and being caught by the people praying for rain.

“The gold ingots are fake! Made of paper!” A commoner crushed the gold ingot fiercely and shouted loudly.

“What, why are the gold ingots made of paper?” The crowd below the stage immediately erupted into angry questioning.

Daoist Wuwei hurriedly shouted: “It’s the Tai’an Marquis’s residence faking it! There are no gold ingots at all!”

Qin Qing threw away the three sticks of incense in his hand, his bewitching face covered with a layer of frost.

Qi Siyu was trying hard to think about how to use this accident to nail the Tai’an Marquis’s residence, but a group of soldiers suddenly rushed onto the high platform, pinned Daoist Wuwei to the ground, and the Taoist priests of Qingxu Temple were also held at knifepoint by broadswords.

The garrison commander of Jiangbei City walked out of the crowd, followed by a column of soldiers. The soldiers carried many boxes, each filled with shining silver. The most dazzling one was the first box, which actually contained gold ingots!

“Hmph, the gold ingots of the Tai’an Marquis’s residence are all here!” The commander picked up a gold ingot and let the surrounding people check the four characters “Tai’an Marquis’s Residence” engraved on the bottom.

“All the gold and silver here were found in Qingxu Temple! They were also collected by local gentry or villagers for each rain prayer ceremony. If you don’t believe it, you can come and see for yourself. Whoever provided the sacrificial silver has a mark branded on the bottom, which can be checked easily. These sacrificial silvers have never been thrown into the water to offer to the Dragon King, but were replaced with paper ingots and went into the pockets of these evil Taoists of Qingxu Temple!” The commander said loudly.

The surrounding people were stunned. Several gentry among them squeezed to the commander’s side, picked up the silver ingots to check, and found their own family’s emblem, immediately showing anger.

Qin Qing looked up at the sky and said coldly: “No wonder every rain prayer was fruitless. It turned out that you, an evil Taoist, embezzled the Dragon King’s offerings, causing the Dragon King to be angry with Jiangbei City, bringing years of floods and droughts, and killing countless people! You are guilty of terrible crimes!”

Didn’t Daoist Wuwei want to frame Qin Qing? Then Qin Qing would put a bigger blame on him.

Angering the Dragon King and causing natural disasters—I wonder if Daoist Wuwei can bear such a huge blame.