Chapter 88#
World 4: You Are the Snow on the Branch#
Qin Qing’s questioning made Daoist Wuwei’s face turn pale, unable to answer.
Such a huge blame was thrown at him, instantly stunning him. The people below the stage, incited by these remarks, thought of the floods and droughts of the past few years, thought of their relatives who starved or drowned, and thought of their current desperate situation. The bitterness and hatred in their hearts were instantly ignited.
“Kill this evil Daoist to sacrifice to heaven! Kill him!”
Someone shouted, and the killing cries below the stage instantly shook the sky, anger soaring. Countless arms waved in the air as fists, and countless ferocious faces released deep-seated hatred.
These desperate commoners were like vengeful ghosts, demanding the lives of the Taoist priests of Qingxu Temple.
Qin Qing said that unless it happens to oneself, no one can understand that kind of deep pain. Now, Qin Qing’s words made everyone feel that deep pain.
The atrocities of Qingxu Temple hurt not only those children and their relatives, but everyone in Jiangbei City.
The shouts of killing soared into the sky, actually drowning out the roar of Hukou Waterfall.
Daoist Wuwei was sweating profusely with anxiety and hurriedly cast a pleading look at the garrison commander of Jiangbei City.
No one knew that Qingxu Temple and the local garrison actually had a relationship of interdependence and collusion. The money extorted by Qingxu Temple from local gentry and wealthy households in the name of praying for rain, as well as the profits from buying and selling children and women, were all split equally with the commander.
The silver hidden in Qingxu Temple was just a drop in the bucket for Daoist Wuwei; privately, he had amassed an unknown amount of gold, silver, and treasures. And only he knew where those treasures were buried.
For the sake of this treasure, the commander would protect him no matter what.
Even if he was sentenced to be beheaded, the commander could easily find a refugee to replace Daoist Wuwei and let him escape.
This was a plan discussed long ago, precisely for the arrival of this day.
Receiving Daoist Wuwei’s look, the garrison commander of Jiangbei City immediately shouted: “Every family has its rules, and every country has its laws. Daoist Wuwei has broken the law, and naturally, the laws of Great Yan will punish him. How can you use lynching?”
He had already received orders from the Fourth Prince to catch this group of evil Taoists. So taking them back for interrogation was only natural, right?
Even under the Emperor’s nose, the commander could use the trick of deception to save Daoist Wuwei, so why would he fear a prince?
Thinking this way, the commander waved his hand and scolded sternly: “Disperse, disperse, this official wants to take this evil Daoist away for interrogation!”
A group of soldiers raised their unsheathed swords and slashed at the commoners who tried to climb onto the altar. They usually drank and ate meat with this group of evil Taoists, calling each other brothers; they were all acquaintances.
The commoners were beaten down, fell to the ground, and were almost trampled to death in the chaos. Some were beaten until their heads bled, crying and begging for mercy.
Qi Siyu, who had planned to climb onto the altar to be a hero, now had her clothes torn and her hair messed up, and could only scream repeatedly. Qi Sifeng was still on the periphery and couldn’t rush in at all.
Gradually, the commoners below the stage dared not make trouble anymore.
The garrison commander of Jiangbei City then found a bundle of rope and asked the soldiers to symbolically tie up this group of evil Taoists and string them together.
That meddlesome Fourth Prince was observing secretly somewhere unknown; the commander had to at least put on a show of enforcing the law impartially.
Qin Qing stroked the fat cat in his arms, standing aside and watching this chaos. Everyone’s expression, eyes, and movements were taken into his eyes.
He looked down the stage. Several pairs of blood-red eyes were looking at Daoist Wuwei, and also at him. The hatred contained in those eyes was deeper than the sea.
What Qin Qing wanted was this kind of hatred, the hatred that would destroy heaven and earth, abandon life, and drag the enemy to hell together.
He looked at these eyes silently, and then lowered his eyes to look at the twenty cages aside.
“Commander, let the relatives of these children come up and take them home.” Qin Qing made a reasonable request.
The garrison commander of Jiangbei City hesitated for a moment and then agreed.
“Who are the relatives of these children? Come up quickly and take them away.”
The crowd surged for a while, and then several women with eyes red from crying climbed onto the high platform and ran eagerly towards the bamboo cages. Immediately after, dozens of men and women climbed up, shouting the nicknames of their children.
Several pairs of resentful eyes stared at Qin Qing.
Qin Qing knew that his idea of giving Daoist Wuwei the idea to sacrifice twenty boys and girls must have incurred the hatred of these people.
But it didn’t matter; what he wanted was this hatred.
Qin Qing retreated a few steps, stretched out his small hand, and tightly grabbed Ye Li’s sleeve.
“Protect me.” He whispered.
Ye Li was stunned for a moment, and an uncontrollable sense of mission surged in his heart. At this moment, he completely forgot his true identity. He was not Li Suye, he was Ye Li! A desperate refugee taken home and cared for by Qin Qing, willing to lay his life under the other’s feet because of Qin Qing’s kindness.
Ye Li hugged Qin Qing’s slender waist and leaped with him onto the Dragon King statue placed high aside.
At the moment they leaped into the air, a middle-aged woman pounced over, the short knife in her hand stabbing fiercely into empty air. She actually wanted to take advantage of the chaos to kill Qin Qing!
Ah Niu, standing aside, broke out in a cold sweat. Before he could recover, several more women pounced on Daoist Wuwei, letting out resentful shrieks: “I want you dead!”
It turned out they were not willing to let Daoist Wuwei go at all. What laws or no laws, they wanted this evil Daoist to disappear forever right now!
The soldiers wanted to stop them, but were blocked by dozens of men who surged onto the high platform. The women used fierce force and caught them off guard, finally pushing Daoist Wuwei off the high platform in a very short time.
“Ah!” The miserable scream was swallowed by the turbid waves.
Falling down together were more than a dozen evil Taoists strung together.
The sound of waves roared, the water surged, annihilating all sins.
996 was stunned: “Meow! You knew this would happen long ago, that’s why you called people up, right?”
Qin Qing quietly watched the rolling muddy water surface without speaking.
Yes, from the very beginning, this was the result he wanted. Can the law punish these bad people? No. Having stayed in Jiangbei City for more than ten years, he knew too well what the law was.
There was no law here, only collusion between officials and bandits, making life unbearable for the people.
In his fixed gaze, a pair of warm palms covered Qin Qing’s cool eyes.
“Don’t look.” Ye Li’s deep voice rang in his ear with indescribable tenderness and careful care.
Qin Qing closed his eyes, relaxed his tense body, and leaned into this broad chest. The feeling of safety and silence lingered like a breeze. He could feel Ye Li lowering his head and gently sniffing his hair; his breathing was slow, but it couldn’t hide the suppressed heaviness.
This person loved him but dared not say it, only quietly releasing a trace of heat in his heart when he closed his eyes.
So at this moment, Qin Qing hooked his thin lips and smiled easily.
He turned around, his eyes still closed, but gently hugged Ye Li’s waist.
“Take me home.”
The world is so turbid, I just want you to take me home. You can take me home, I know.
This trust had been inexplicably rooted in his heart since the moment they first met. Qin Qing always kept asking—Ye Li, will you harm me?
But he already knew the answer—No.
Ye Li looked down at the person snuggling in his arms, and the satisfaction in his heart was like the waves of Hukou, surging one after another.
He hugged this person silently, flew down from the high platform, and landed like a swallow on the earthen slope dozens of meters away.
Looking back, the garrison commander of Jiangbei City was roaring angrily. But the law does not punish the masses. All the surrounding commoners were cheering, shouting that the evil Daoist had been sacrificed to heaven, begging the Dragon King for rain. What could he do?
It was just another rain prayer ceremony, only the sacrifice was changed from children to the evil Taoists themselves.
No one pursued the use of living people as sacrifices in the rain prayer ceremony before, and no one would pursue it in the future.
Ye Li ran for a while holding Qin Qing, and finally found the carriage of the Tai’an Marquis’s residence.
After putting the person into the carriage, he suddenly froze, and his big hand covered Qin Qing’s eyes again.
“I’ve already seen it.” Qin Qing said lightly.
The fat cat held in his arms stared blankly at the roof of the carriage, as if it could read.
Qin Qing pulled down Ye Li’s hand and also looked at the roof of the carriage. There was a line of words written in blood—The Tai’an Marquis’s residence brutally kills young children and will suffer heavenly retribution! One day your home will be raided and your clan exterminated, and you will be cut into pieces!
Qin Qing blinked, and for some reason laughed softly: “So everyone knows the ending of the Tai’an Marquis’s residence.”
996 hugged Qin Qing in fear: “No! I will definitely help you avoid the disaster!”
Qin Qing shook his head, then lay on the low table and closed his eyes wearily.
Ye Li hugged him and said in a deep voice: “Let’s change to another carriage!”
These words must have been written by the relatives of those twenty children. Daoist Wuwei died, and they blamed all their hatred on Qin Qing. They would still seek opportunities for revenge!
Ye Li knew what Qin Qing was doing from the beginning. Whether Qin Qing was good or bad, he knew best.
“Let’s go.” He held the weak young man in his arms.
“Just take this carriage. I’m sleepy.” Qin Qing turned around and pressed his face against Ye Li’s chest.
“Your heartbeat sounds very nice.” He murmured wearily and slowly closed his eyes.
Ye Li’s heartbeat was rapid, but exceptionally strong. This vigorous vitality was exactly what Qin Qing needed. He was attached to this embrace, just like a plant attached to the land.
Ye Li dared not move rashly. He loosened his hands and embraced the person in his arms with the most comfortable strength. His eyes turned red because his heart hurt too much.
What raid the home and exterminate the clan, what cut into pieces! Who gave them the right to judge Qin Qing! Who gave it?
Ye Li suppressed the anger in his heart and said heavily: “Let’s go.”
The coachman apologized in a low voice: “I went to the toilet just now, I didn’t know those words—”
“Let’s go!”
Ye Li didn’t want to hear these explanations.
The carriage then wobbled away.
Ah Niu stuck in the crowd: “…” Master, did you forget something?
The carriage wobbled along the bumpy road, and not far ahead was the Tai’an Marquis’s residence.
Ye Li leaned against the carriage wall, with a delicate and soft young man lying on his chest. The young man’s jet-black long hair poured down like water, flowing over Ye Li’s body, and a bunch was gently held in his hand.
Every bump made Ye Li hug the young man tighter, for fear that the other party would be bruised somewhere.
Thinking of the day he first came to the Marquis’s residence, watching helplessly as Qin Qing bumped his head full of bumps in the carriage, Ye Li couldn’t help showing an expression of pain and regret.
How could he be so stupid to be blinded by false appearances?
While Ye Li was thinking wildly, a stone suddenly hit the carriage window, making a dull thud.
Qin Qing’s eyelashes trembled, and he slowly woke up.
Immediately after, there were a few more thuds, and more stones hit the carriage like raindrops.
“Why are you smashing the carriage? Watch out or I’ll whip you with the horsewhip!” The coachman’s scolding came from outside the carriage.
Qin Qing opened his eyes, fully awake. He looked out through the gap in the curtains, only to see a group of children jumping and following the carriage, with candy in their mouths and stones in their hands, looking extremely happy.
“Tai’an Marquis’s residence is greedy, embezzling the world’s wealth! Three years of floods and three years of drought, the nation’s fortune will be cut off if the monster is not removed! Tai’an Marquis’s residence is greedy, embezzling the world’s wealth! Three years of floods and three years of drought, the nation’s fortune will be cut off if the monster is not removed…”
The children sang these nursery rhymes repeatedly, but they didn’t know what kind of murderous intent was hidden in these rhymes.
Qin Qing retreated suddenly, his face turning pale.
996 was trembling all over with anger: “Meow! If this nursery rhyme spreads, the entire Qin family will be executed by lingering death!”
Qin Qing clutched Ye Li’s sleeve tightly.
Ye Li hurriedly covered Qin Qing’s ears and let him lean in his arms.
These children all grew up in the countryside, how could they make up such nursery rhymes? Where did the candy in their mouths come from? It was taken from the people who taught them, right?
These children all came from nearby villages. Their parents received wages from the Marquis’s residence to support them, but they were doing evil deeds to harm the Marquis’s residence!
Who said there is justice in the world? Ye Li didn’t see justice, only injustices one after another.
The feeling of heartache flooded like waves. Ye Li covered Qin Qing’s ears tightly, revealing an expression of extreme anger.
Who is harming Qin Qing? If he catches them, he will definitely kill them!
“Run faster!” Ye Li ordered the coachman in a deep voice.
The horse indeed ran a little faster.
Suddenly, those ear-piercing nursery rhymes disappeared, replaced by the children’s loud crying. Ye Li lifted the curtain and looked out, only to see Jiang Feishi and a group of villagers catching these children, prying open their mouths with bamboo boards, taking out the candy and throwing it on the ground.
“For a few pieces of candy, you sold the Tai’an Marquis’s residence that saved your whole family? Such people who forget righteousness for profit, unfaithful and unfilial, don’t say you are descendants of our Liu Family Village.”
Jiang Feishi had a sneer on his face, and the bamboo board in his hand slapped fiercely on the mouth of the oldest child.
The child’s parents stood aside, first bowing repeatedly to apologize to the Marquis’s carriage, and then said cruelly: “Mr. Jiang, hit harder, let this ungrateful thing learn a lesson!”
Several other children were also carried aside by their respective parents, pants pulled down and beaten heavily.
Crying replaced the nursery rhymes, spreading throughout this country road.
Ye Li kept watching this scene until the carriage turned a corner before withdrawing his gaze.
Qin Qing lay on Ye Li’s shoulder, looking out with misty eyes, and then hooked his thin lips and smiled quietly.
Even if this smile was for Jiang Feishi’s defense, Ye Li no longer felt sour. As long as Qin Qing could be happy, anything was fine.
“Our Little Marquis is finally back.” Tao Ran, who was released from the side courtyard, sat in the living room mocking.
Qin Dehuai took out a fan to fan his sweating son.
Ye Li naturally took the fan and fanned vigorously.
996, who climbed onto the table to eat pastries, sneered: “Hmph, bootlicker!”
Tao Ran had been locked up for several days and had long suppressed a stomach full of anger. She immediately asked: “I heard that someone wrote a curse with blood in your carriage? Do you know who cursed you?”
Qin Qing lay on the table, turning his small face towards Ye Li, closing his eyes and dozing in the wind.
Tao Ran couldn’t stand his carefree appearance and reminded: “It was written by the parents of those twenty children! They hate you, and they hate the Tai’an Marquis’s residence!”
Qin Dehuai hurriedly defended his son: “Stop arguing, we had a plan long ago. Those twenty children will be fine.”
“How can they be fine? Did they deserve the fear these days? Couldn’t you just give the gold to those evil Taoists directly without using the children as sacrifices, and still pit the evil Taoists to death? Children are not tools for you to retaliate against bad people!”
Tao Ran became more and more angry as she spoke, and stepped forward to push Qin Qing.
Ye Li waved the fan in his hand gently, and Tao Ran’s arm was actually cut with a blood mark by the not-so-sharp fan edge.
Tao Ran covered the wound and exclaimed.
Qin Qing opened his eyes, looked at her with disgust for a while, and then said: “Those evil Taoists have long opened up connections with various government offices in Jiangbei City, do you know that?”
Tao Ran vaguely knew some. Daoist Wuwei had wide connections and a deep background, and was treated as a guest of honor wherever he went.
Qin Qing straightened up and said again: “These days I helped Ye Li look for his sister everywhere, and found that many children wandering to Jiangbei City disappeared inexplicably near Qingxu Temple. Do you know about this?”
Ye Li’s hand fanning the wind paused.
Tao Ran shook her head in a trance. She really didn’t know about this.
Qin Qing stood up, walked to the door, and looked at the scorching sun outside: “In the past, most of the children Daoist Wuwei threw into Hukou were wandering children, and some were girls actively sold to him by poor farmers. Do you know about this?”
Tao Ran nodded, looking a little dazed.
“Those twenty children from good families have parents and relatives who care about their life and death. Did the orphans drowned in the past deserve to die?”
Qin Qing turned back to look at Tao Ran and asked, “Who cares about those missing orphans?”
Tao Ran opened her mouth, wanting to say I care.
“Do you care? But what do you use to save them? Daoist Wuwei was caught by the soldiers, but as long as he spends some silver, he will be released sooner or later. As long as he changes his name, he will resume his old trade. What do you use to stop him, to stop the government from helping the tyrant?” Qin Qing seemed to see through Tao Ran’s heart.
Tao Ran couldn’t answer. She was just an ordinary woman, she couldn’t do anything. Even saving people, she could only spend the Marquis’s silver.
“The hatred of the parents of those twenty children is the knife I need. I know this knife can kill Daoist Wuwei, thereby completely putting an end to this evil. Now do you know why I did this? I did it to save more orphans who cannot speak for themselves and no one cares about.”
Qin Qing picked up the cup and took a sip of herbal tea.
“Hate me all you want, it doesn’t matter. I admit, I did use unscrupulous means. But from now on, no more children will be thrown into Hukou as sacrifices, and no more orphans will die inexplicably in Qingxu Temple.” He put down the teacup and said calmly.
Tao Ran opened her mouth, brewed for a long time, and then closed her mouth tightly. She didn’t know what else she could scold.
What Qin Qing did seemed cruel, but the result was good. Where did the beggars on the street with broken limbs and cut tongues crawling come from? They all came from places like Qingxu Temple. But who can save them?
Qin Qing couldn’t save them, because the broken limbs and cut tongues could never grow back. But Qin Qing saved many children who would suffer the same destruction in the future…
Tao Ran shook her head, feeling unprecedentedly dazed. She couldn’t distinguish what was right and what was wrong now.
Qin Qing looked back at Ye Li and comforted: “Don’t worry, I’ve checked, your sister wasn’t caught by Qingxu Temple.”
Ye Li’s hand fanning the wind trembled.
Qin Qing’s tenderness weighed a thousand catties, making him unable to bear it. The sister was fake, the background was fake, and those suffering experiences were also fake. When the truth is fully revealed, can Qin Qing still treat him like this?
996 squatting on the table suddenly sneered: “Qin Qing, look at Li Suye’s expression, it looks like a disaster is imminent.”
Qin Qing glanced back at Ye Li and hummed aggrievedly in his heart: “Serves him right for lying to me!”
He never took Tao Ran’s scolding and misunderstanding to heart because this person was not important. But Ye Li really made him sad.
“My son! You have been wronged!” Qin Dehuai suddenly stood up and hugged Qin Qing, crying with old tears: “You have done so much for Jiangbei City, but all you have attracted is resentment. Father’s heart aches for you! How about we hand over the right to mint coins and the death-exemption gold medal, and hide anonymously! Father was really scared today, Father doesn’t want anything to happen to you!”
Qin Dehuai became sadder as he spoke, tears and snot covering his face.
Qin Qing didn’t mind the dirt, took out a handkerchief to wipe Qin Dehuai’s face, and said helplessly: “Father, do you think the Emperor will let us go if we hand over the death-exemption gold medal and the right to mint coins? No, the Emperor blames us for the sins committed by Aunt. With identity documents and travel permits, we will be found wherever we hide. Let’s just leave it like this. Spending all the family’s money before dying will be worth it.”
Qin Dehuai waved his hand and cried: “Spend, spend, spend, spend however you like!”
“I want to build a road extending in all directions to transport grain.” Qin Qing said along the way.
“Build!”
“I want to buy grain, the more the better.”
“Buy!”
“I want to open a factory and ask nearby villagers to come to work.”
“Open!”
“I want to expand the Marquis’s residence and recruit craftsmen widely.”
“Expand!”
“I want to dig a canal to divert water from Hongbo Lake in the south city to Jiangbei City.”
“Dig!”
Qin Dehuai paused for a moment and shouted hurriedly: “Wait, wait, wait! Do you know how much silver it costs to dig a canal to divert water from Hongbo Lake?”
“I know. This canal will take three years to dig. Buying land along the way, hiring workers, and bribing the government will almost empty the Marquis’s residence.” Qin Qing said calmly.
“If the Marquis’s residence is emptied, how will we live?” Qin Dehuai asked tremblingly.
Qin Qing briefly talked about the children singing nursery rhymes and asked back: “Father, do you think we still have a way to live?”
Qin Dehuai was so scared that his eyes went straight. After a long while, he slapped the table hard and said decisively: “Dig! Opening a canal to irrigate dry land is something the government should do. Now that the government is doing nothing, let’s father and son do it before we die. Accumulate some hidden virtues more or less, so that my son can be reincarnated into a good family in the next life. No need to be rich and noble, just safe and sound.”
“Father. It’s already very good for me to be your son in this life.” Qin Qing buried his face in his father’s arms and secretly shed a few tears.
Qin Dehuai hugged his son’s weak body, stroked his slightly cool hair, his heart aching like being twisted.
“My son, you are only sixteen years old!” This long sigh soaked the father’s heart blood.
The fan in Ye Li’s hand fell to the ground with a clatter, and he could no longer pretend. Regret and fear urged him, telling him to turn around and leave in panic.