Chapter 89#
World 4: You Are the Snow on the Branch#
After returning from the rain prayer, Qin Qing was very exhausted.
996 jumped onto him, wanting to be held, but he staggered a few times and almost fell.
Qin Dehuai and several maids hurriedly supported Qin Qing and gave him a few sips of herbal tea. The weather was so hot, and he had tossed and turned several times at Hukou, suffering a lot of fright. His weak body had long been unable to bear it.
996 said worriedly: “Qin Qing, your soul is damaged, and your body is very weak. Don’t toss and turn anymore, just stay at home with peace of mind. Whether the Tai’an Marquis’s residence is good or bad, Li Suye has seen it clearly, and he probably won’t harm you anymore.”
“If he doesn’t harm me, others will. If I can’t protect the Marquis’s residence, I won’t be at peace even if I die.” Qin Qing held his forehead and whispered wearily.
“Pah! You won’t die! Take that back quickly!” 996 spat on the ground.
Just then, Ye Li returned.
“It’s going to rain.” He pointed outside, his expression extremely complicated.
“What? It’s going to rain?”
Everyone in the living room was pleasantly surprised and hurriedly walked outside to watch the rain. Only Qin Qing was still sitting at the table in a daze, the fat cat hugging his calf, looking up and meowing.
“Little Marquis, it’s going to rain.” Ye Li walked slowly to Qin Qing and whispered.
This was great news, but he was afraid of startling Qin Qing.
Qin Qing raised his eyes slightly and looked at the dark clouds outside the living room.
It was really going to rain.
The originally scorching wind now carried a chill, whistling everywhere in the courtyard, rolling fallen leaves and withered flowers into the air. A ball of purple light flickered in the clouds, which was muffled thunder that had not yet fallen to the ground.
“It’s going to rain.”
With this sigh, bean-sized raindrops poured down immediately, making a loud crackling sound. The heavy rain that had been expected for two months came just like that, catching people off guard.
“It’s raining.” Qin Qing sighed again, blinking his misty eyes blankly.
“It’s raining, it’s raining! That’s great!” Tao Ran rushed into the courtyard, enduring the pouring rain, and let out a cry of surprise. Immediately after, a large group of servants and maids also rushed into the rain curtain, jumping and shouting, expressing their happiness.
Qin Dehuai stood under the eaves, clapping his hands and laughing heartily.
Qin Qing blinked his wet eyes again and said, “Ye Li, help me go and see.”
Ye Li hurriedly drove away the clingy fat cat and helped Qin Qing walk outside. Qin Qing had lost a lot of weight recently, his skin was so thin that it was almost transparent, and his whole person was like an ice sculpture or jade carving.
Ye Li was really afraid that he would suddenly disappear one day, just like the snow that would inevitably melt when spring came.
The two bypassed the jubilant crowd and walked to a secluded courtyard.
There were also a few servants in this courtyard getting caught in the rain, but it was very quiet.
Qin Qing stood under the eaves for a while, then suddenly stepped forward. He also wanted to get caught in the rain.
“Little Marquis, don’t.” Ye Li held his hand, his hoarse voice full of deep worry.
Qin Qing looked up at the heavy rain, then looked back at Ye Li, and said with a smile: “Can I just sit here and watch?”
“I’ll bring you a stool.” Ye Li turned to leave.
Qin Qing waved his hand: “It doesn’t matter, just sit on the steps.” He sat down on his own, took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trouser legs, and stuck his two jade feet into the rain curtain to endure the beating of the raindrops.
Pale blue blood vessels appeared on the snow-white insteps, appearing crystal clear. The pink and round toes curled up playfully, causing a low laugh.
“Heh~” Qin Qing curved his lips.
Ye Li stood aside, his gaze fixed.
Rain curtain, sky water, jade feet, snow skin, and a fragile person like an ice sculpture. He was afraid he would never forget such a scene in his life.
“Why does it have to rain at this time?” Qin Qing raised his head and let out a long sigh.
Everyone was running around telling each other, venting their ecstasy, only he was worried and anxious.
Ye Li lowered his head and withdrew his gaze with a slight panic. He knew what Qin Qing was worried about. Everyone only saw hope, but only he saw the hidden dangers behind it.
“It rained just after pushing those evil Taoists into the water. If there is another drought at this time next year, the rain prayer ceremony will still be held, and there will be more believers. How many people will die then?” Qin Qing shook his head and sighed: “This rain came at the wrong time.”
He looked at the pouring rain with a frown, thinking about things far in the future.
However, just a moment later, he smiled again and whispered: “Three years later, when the canal is dug, there will never be any rain prayer ceremony sacrificing living people.”
Ye Li sat down beside him, responded in a low voice, and his eyes always unconsciously looked at his toes curling up in the rain.
“Little Marquis, you are still young, you don’t need to worry about these things.”
“I am young, but I won’t live long. Who knows if I will still be here in a few years.” Qin Qing mocked himself.
Ye Li’s heart was stabbed fiercely at this moment. Stabbed through, bleeding endlessly.
“Don’t say such things.” Ye Li’s voice seemed to be filled with wind, cold and hoarse.
“I’m telling the truth. That nursery rhyme can spread to such a remote place, it can spread throughout Jiangbei City. The knife to execute me by lingering death is already hanging above.” Qin Qing pointed to the top of his head.
Ye Li stretched out his hand and waved a palm over Qin Qing’s head. The whistling energy split the emptiness there and blew away the bean-sized raindrops.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” Ye Li said in a deep voice.
Qin Qing just shook his head and smiled indifferently.
Ye Li suppressed the fear and panic in his heart and said again: “Stay at home with peace of mind, don’t go anywhere. You will be fine.”
“But I have a lot of things to do.” Qin Qing shook his head.
“Those things don’t necessarily have to be done by you.”
“If I don’t do it, who will? Tao Ran?”
Qin Qing laughed low and said slowly: “You know, asking women to go up the mountain to gather herbs, they might encounter wolves and be eaten. Because of this concern, Tao Ran won’t do it. Asking men to form a patrol team to drive away beasts and bandits, they are more likely to be killed on the roadside. To prevent such casualties, Tao Ran won’t do it either. When building houses, craftsmen might be crushed by boulders or fall from heights. Digging canals is even more labor-intensive and costly, and it is unknown how many people will drown in the river channel at that time.”
“Kind people won’t do these things because people will die.”
Qin Qing looked at the rain curtain and suddenly fell silent.
Ye Li’s heart began to ache densely at this moment. Is kindness like Tao Ran’s really useful? What can she change in this world?
Qin Qing stretched out his hand and caught a few drops of rain: “What she can’t do, I can do, because I am the Little Marquis of the Tai’an Marquis’s residence. I am notorious, extravagant and licentious. It doesn’t matter if I kill a few people. I am not afraid of being reviled, extorted, or cursed. Because I was born a sinner.”
Qin Qing looked at Ye Li and said lightly: “I am a sinner, this is something everyone in the Great Yan Kingdom knows. Sinners will be beheaded sooner or later, so there is no bottom line in doing things.”
After speaking, he narrowed his eyes, a sneer curling on his lips.
The dense stinging pain, sometimes light and sometimes heavy, turned into a severe pain like digging out the heart and liver at this time. If he hadn’t clenched his teeth hurriedly and suppressed it forcefully, Ye Li would definitely have roared in pain.
Qin Qing is a sinner?
Before coming to Jiangbei City, Ye Li thought so too. He even wanted to judge this sinner with his own hands!
But now…
Looking at Qin Qing’s face pretending not to care, watching the mist disperse in his pupils and turn into sorrow, Ye Li couldn’t help hugging the other party tightly.
He overstepped his bounds as Ye Li and lost his composure. He was abrupt with his little master.
“You are not guilty. No one can judge you.” Ye Li said in a deep voice: “I know what you are doing. I know. There are three kinds of people in the world. One kind feels very kind, so they always indulge in this world and consider themselves victims. One kind stands in the middle, can see suffering, and can also see light. And there is another kind of person standing in the sky, detached from the mundane world.”
Ye Li cupped Qin Qing’s cheeks with his palms and looked firmly into his eyes: “Tao Ran is the first kind of person, so she is timid, but she dictates relying on the identity of a victim. Those officials, dignitaries, and royals are the third kind of person. They can look on coldly at all suffering and remain indifferent. You are the second kind of person. You stand in the middle. You want to bring suffering to the light, and you are not afraid of bearing blame.”
Ye Li gently rubbed Qin Qing’s pale face with his fingertips and said softly: “Only people like you can truly change this world, but there are too few people like you. You are not guilty. I know what you are doing.”
Ripples appeared in Qin Qing’s black pupils.
Having done so much, yet still being reviled, cursed, and hated, isn’t he aggrieved?
He was very aggrieved, but he had nowhere to tell.
“Ye Li.” Qin Qing called out in a low voice, as if seeking confirmation.
“Ye Li.” Qin Qing called again, a slight tremor in his voice.
At this moment, he was like a child who had suffered grievances, unable to help calling out when seeing his closest kin, seeking comfort and warmth.
“I’m here, Little Marquis.” Ye Li answered hoarsely, hugging the weak young man tightly.
“Little Marquis, you will be fine. The Tai’an Marquis’s residence will also be fine.” Ye Li stroked Qin Qing’s back over and over again, making a promise with incomparable tenderness.
Ye Li sent Qin Qing back to the bedroom, wiped Qin Qing’s feet clean with his own hands, changed him into refreshing undergarments, and then withdrew sweating profusely.
The heavy rain was still pouring.
Ye Li closed his eyes, recalling the warm snow skin, slender waist, perky buttocks, beautiful butterfly-like shoulder blades, and deeply sunken spine he had just touched…
He opened his eyes, looked at his body that was difficult to hide, and let out a bitter smile of enlightenment.
It turned out that he had unknowingly embarked on the old path of the Supreme Emperor.
A fat cat stood in front of him at some point, staring at him with big eyes in astonishment.
Ye Li hurriedly bowed, covered himself with his robe, then squatted halfway, and smiled bitterly: “You saw it?”
The fat cat bared its teeth and growled low.
“I know you look down on me, always looking at me sideways with the whites of your eyes.” Ye Li said to himself.
The fat cat stopped growling and rolled its eyes.
Ye Li laughed deeply.
“Tell you a secret.” He suppressed his smile and whispered: “I am actually not Ye Li. My name is Li Suye. My real identity is the Fourth Prince.”
The fat cat widened its eyes, still looking like I look down on you.
“I also look down on myself quite a bit.” Ye Li shook his head, his eyes full of remorse: “These days I always think, if I were not Li Suye, but an innocent Ye Li, how good that would be. But just now, I suddenly realized.”
Ye Li’s expression was trance-like for a moment, muttering to himself: “Ye Li can do nothing for Qin Qing, but Li Suye can do a lot. For example—”
He pointed to the sky, and all the panic, anxiety, and confusion turned into cold and sharp ambition at this moment.
“For example, ascending to that position.” He patted the head of the obviously stunned fat cat and strode away.
996 stood in place for a while before scratching open the door with his paws, slipping into the room, jumping onto the bed, and sleeping beside Qin Qing’s pillow.
About an hour later, Qin Qing woke up from exhaustion, saw 996, and subconsciously hugged him, burying his face in the soft and fat cat belly.
996 patted his head and said mysteriously: “Just now I witnessed the awakening of a bootlicker.”
“What?” Qin Qing was stunned.
996 added: “The bootlicker is about to turn into a bootlicking dragon.”
Qin Qing: “…”
996 waved his paw lazily: “Just hold on for a few more years and you’ll be safe. Someone will cover you. Your damn charm is really irresistible, hehehehe~”
Qin Qing: “…”
Ye Li prepared to leave the Marquis’s residence, but he had to find a good time. He walked out of the corner gate in the heavy rain, preparing to contact the secret guards, but saw Ah Niu covered in blood at the door.
Ye Li was startled and rushed forward.
“Were you discovered and ambushed?”
“No.” Ah Niu took off his bloody outer shirt and shook his head: “This is all other people’s blood. Master, this Jiangbei City is rotten to the core, there is no saving it.”
“What happened?” Ye Li asked.
“After you left, I wanted to bring back the two thousand taels of gold of the Tai’an Marquis’s residence. The commander agreed well and sent dozens of soldiers to escort me. But on the way, we were robbed by bandits.”
Ah Niu took out a pair of socks from his arms and threw them on the ground with disgust, “The gold was snatched by the bandits, and those soldiers also scattered and fled, leaving me alone in the forest. I touched the corpses of the bandits who were hacked to death and found that they were wearing shoes and socks exclusively for military households on their feet. They were not bandits at all, they were the garrison of Jiangbei City! They disguised as bandits and snatched the gold! In this place, officials are bandits!”
Ah Niu sighed to the sky, his anger turning into sorrow.
Ye Li took out a short knife and fiddled with the socks on the ground. Sure enough, he saw a small embroidery of a broadsword at the sock opening. This batch of military supplies was allocated from Ye Li’s hands, so he naturally knew it clearly.
“This Jiangbei City is full of demons and ghosts everywhere. What’s ridiculous is that they also say the Little Marquis is a monster.” Ah Niu sneered: “On the way back, I heard a nursery rhyme saying that if the monster is not removed—”
“I already know.” Ye Li said in a deep voice: “I want to restore my identity and deploy my personal guards to suppress this group of demons and ghosts.”
“The Emperor has not given an order. If you deploy your personal guards, I’m afraid—”
“I will handle Father Emperor’s side properly. Let’s go.” Ye Li walked into the pouring rain.
Deep in the rain curtain, mist swirled and smoke billowed, obscuring the road ahead. But Ye Li knew that he could only walk this road to the end and could not turn back.
Shortly after Ye Li left, Jiang Feishi visited the Tai’an Marquis’s residence.
“Mr. Jiang, you came just in time. I want to dig a canal. Come and help me see how to do it.” Qin Qing pulled Jiang Feishi and brought him to the table.
A map was spread on the table, with Hongbo Lake and Jiangbei City outlined in cinnabar.
Jiang Feishi knew what the Little Marquis wanted to do at a glance.
“This won’t do. By then, the Tai’an Marquis’s residence might be reduced to eating chaff and swallowing vegetables.” Jiang Feishi stared at the map, frowning slightly.
“After the nursery rhyme spreads, the Tai’an Marquis’s residence will be in imminent disaster.” Qin Qing lay on the table, resting his chin on his two hands like a flower, his big eyes looking calmly at Jiang Feishi.
“The current Emperor has no way to govern the country, does not think about state affairs, indulges in wine and meat, causing the national treasury to be in deficit for years. And our Tai’an Marquis’s residence has the right to mint coins and is well-managed, with wealth rivaling the country. As long as our Qin family’s property is confiscated, the national treasury can be filled for the Emperor to continue squandering.”
Qin Qing recounted the predicament of the Marquis’s residence.
Jiang Feishi looked out the window and put his index finger against his lips: “Shh, Little Marquis, some words cannot be spoken carelessly.”
“This is something everyone knows tacitly.” Qin Qing smiled sarcastically.
Jiang Feishi also smiled, with the same sarcasm in his eyes.
At this moment, without unnecessary words, they knew they were companions.
“Mr. Jiang, help me with the canal digging. Take the family account books to look at and help manage them. If something happens to me and my father, you empty the Marquis’s residence.” Qin Qing said very calmly.
“Little Marquis, do you know what you are doing?” Jiang Feishi had to suspect that this was a test.
“I know. Since the Emperor wants to rob my family property, I will give him an empty treasury.”
Qin Qing leaned back in the chair, his eyes empty and lost in fantasy: “When that day comes, the official who raids my house will point to the dust on the ground and ask me exasperatedly where the silver has gone. I will tell him that I spent it all.”
“He will ask me: How did you spend so much silver?”
“I will tell him: Don’t you all say that I am the number one prodigal son of the Great Yan Kingdom? Look, this is my prodigal ability. Is it well-deserved?”
Speaking of this, Qin Qing blinked, and suddenly clapped his hands slowly, laughing happily.
He knew the ending of the Marquis’s residence, but he remained optimistic.
Jiang Feishi was also moved by his words, thought of that scene, and laughed heartily.
After a while, Jiang Feishi suppressed his smile and sighed softly: “Little Marquis, I won’t let those nursery rhymes spread. You can live in this Jiangbei City as long as you want, no one can touch you.”
Qin Qing just laughed low and waved his hand, not taking this sentence seriously at all.
“Little Marquis, be careful of your Concubine Tao.” Jiang Feishi said again.
Qin Qing’s smile instantly turned into a dark cloud. He glanced at Jiang Feishi thoughtfully, but did not ask about the source of the news. Of course he knew the true identity of this man, but he didn’t care.
What’s wrong with bandits? Soldiers are more terrible than bandits.
Seeing that he didn’t ask further, Jiang Feishi felt a little relieved, but also a little disappointed.
It was still raining outside. Several young maids ran around in the rain, chasing each other, making bell-like laughter.
Qin Qing turned his head to look at those maids, with envy in his eyes. He was only sixteen years old, younger than those maids. Didn’t he want to live a carefree life?
For some reason, Jiang Feishi suddenly held the Little Marquis’s hand and asked in a low voice: “Do you want to get caught in the rain?”
Qin Qing was stunned, then nodded: “Yes.”
“Then let’s go.” Jiang Feishi pulled the young man to push open the door and strode into the rain.
They crossed the atrium, entered the flower-hung gate, left the front yard, went around to the corner gate, and rushed into the pouring rain. Not far ahead, a blood-stained robe and a pair of socks were soaking, causing Qin Qing to stop.
“Don’t care about anything, just get caught in the rain.” Jiang Feishi held Qin Qing’s hand tightly.
His hand was very warm. Even though it was soaked by the rain, it still carried a hot temperature.
So Qin Qing withdrew his gaze and followed Jiang Feishi aimlessly into the misty rain curtain.
They stepped on the muddy water to a field ridge. Several farmers stood in the field, their heads held high, eyes closed, enduring the falling raindrops.
They didn’t cry, laugh, or move, like mud sculptures, but were surrounded by a pious tranquility.
This was a piety towards life.
Qin Qing stared blankly for a long time, and the anxiety and panic hidden deep in his heart gradually disappeared at this time.
He had done what he should do. Leave the result to heaven.
Qin Qing smiled with relief, then raised his head, closed his eyes, like a withering plant, accepting this long-lost sweet rain with joy.
Jiang Feishi watched him for as long as he stood in the rain, and heavy rain also fell in his deep eyes. Then Jiang Feishi raised his arm, used his palm as an umbrella, and opened it over Qin Qing’s head.
Ye Li was busy outside for a day and a night. When he came back, he brought a dough figurine for Qin Qing.
He wanted to amuse Qin Qing, but unexpectedly found that Qin Qing was very happy without being amused. He seemed to have put down all burdens and returned to the carefree days of his youth.
“I’m going to distribute porridge in the city. Will you go with me?” Qin Qing played with the small dough figurine admiringly.
“Okay, I’ll go harness the carriage right away.” Ye Li left in a hurry without even changing his clothes.
Although it rained yesterday, alleviating the drought, the second crop of grain had not yet been planted, and the people still had no food to eat. In the months waiting for the grain to mature, distributing relief grain was still a necessary means of disaster relief.
Qin Qing looked at his back, his smile slowly fading.
“You said the bootlicker is going to turn into a bootlicking dragon, is it because Ye Li is going to turn back into Li Suye and go back to the capital?” He asked in his heart.
996 dipped his paw in ink and was painting plum blossom prints on paper, humming casually.
“With this porridge distribution, I’m afraid he won’t be able to return to the Marquis’s residence.” Qin Qing sighed.
“Why? What are you going to do?” 996 realized something was wrong.
Qin Qing pondered, “I want him to help me deal with Qi Sifeng before leaving. If Qi Sifeng is not eliminated, I can never be at peace.”
996 blinked, a little confused.
On the other side, Ye Li and Ah Niu came to the warehouse and watched the servants carry grain onto the cart.
Tao Ran rushed out from somewhere, cut open the sack with the short knife in her hand, and questioned angrily: “Is this the rice the Little Marquis asked you to take to make porridge? Why are there stones mixed in it? Why?”
She grabbed a handful of rice with her palm and smashed it fiercely on a servant’s face. The rice grains were mixed with some black stones, causing the servant to cry out in pain repeatedly.
The butler stood aside and persuaded patiently: “Concubine Tao, don’t worry, these stones were dug out from the river channel by us and boiled in boiling water several times. They are clean.”
“Is this a question of clean or not? You use rice mixed with stones to make porridge, you are harming people!”
Tao Ran flew into a rage and refused to let go. The short knife in her hand almost stabbed the butler several times.
Ah Niu tugged at Ye Li’s sleeve and whispered: “Brother Ye, I really can’t understand this time. How can rice mixed with stones be made into porridge for disaster victims to drink? Isn’t this wicked?”
Ye Li looked at Ah Niu steadily and sneered: “The Tai’an Marquis’s residence is not wicked, but you lack brains.”
He stepped forward, snatched Tao Ran’s short knife, and deftly threw a few knife flowers, scaring Tao Ran into screaming and retreating.
“Let’s go, go to the city to distribute porridge.” Ye Li threw away the short knife, lifted a bag of rice mixed with stones and put it on the cart.
He knew what Qin Qing was doing, so he didn’t think Qin Qing was wrong at all.
Watching cart after cart of inferior rice mixed with stones being transported away, Tao Ran could no longer hold back. She quietly found Xiao Dengzi and asked him to deliver a letter for her.
She really couldn’t understand Qin Qing.
Good things and bad things, Qin Qing was doing them all. What on earth did he want to do?