Chapter 604 - Mountain Tiger
Anchang Court was surrounded on all sides. After Ji Yunshu escaped, Qiao’er, Zhuang’er, and even s.h.i.+ Zijin were captured. Madam Wen also immediately sent people to give chase.
When Little Xiyue knew that Ji Yunshu had safely left, she finally loosened her grip. She looked at her mother with red eyes. She couldn’t believe what had just happened!
“Mother, didn’t you say you really like Big Brother? Why do you want to kill him?” She choked, sobbing.
However, Madam Wen continued to ignore her.
“Why? Big Brother treats me well. He’s a good person. Mother, why do you want to kill him? Why?”
Slap! Unexpectedly, Madam Wen slapped her small white face. “You’ve ruined everything!” She scolded.
This was the first time that Little Xiyue was slapped in her life. Each finger of the hand imprinted on her face could be seen distinctly. She sniffed and cupped the mark. Her large eyes welled up with tears of surprise and shock. She peered at her mother who stood tall in front of her. She didn’t feel sad, but rather felt like she was looking at a stranger. She had never seen this side of her mother before!
After a long time pa.s.sed, she finally spoke, “‘Both Confucius and Mencius’ teachings state that sages and men of virtue consider filial piety the priority. However, the ‘Early Cla.s.sics’ state that virtue does not distinguish between those of different status, and should not be directed by filial piety. Big Brother has done no wrong, yet mother wants to kill him. Is this daughter wrong to honor the ‘Early Cla.s.sics?’”
I This young girl, Xiyue of Wen family, was known for her wit and intelligence, and had read tens of thousands of books. It was not surprising for her to say these words!
Madam Wen was shocked at her own actions. The hand she used to slap her was still trembling. She closed her eyes and gentled her fierce expression. “Xiyue…” she spoke lightly, filled with immense remorse, “Mother did not do it on purpose. You won’t be able to understand why, but mother does not want to kill him, but to protect him instead.”
“You’re lying!”
“Mother didn’t lie to you.” She wanted to reach out to the pet.i.te Xiyue, but the latter looked at her as though she saw a demon. She cried in a high pitched voice, “You’re a bad person!” Then, she ran away covering her face.
Madam Wen felt vexed at this! But— this was not the time for her to be guilty. She approached the captured s.h.i.+ Zijin, and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. You have been secretly protecting Teacher Ji. I didn’t have the time to thank you.”
s.h.i.+ Zijin glared daggers at Madam Wen, looking as if she wished her eyes could shoot blades coated with the most lethal poison at her.
“You don’t need to look at me like this. Your young master will be fine. Besides, if anyone dares to kill him, I will be the first to kill that person.”
Who the h.e.l.l was she? Suspicion surfaced in s.h.i.+ Zijin’s heart. She kept cold and silent, continuing to glare at the woman in front of her.
Madam Wen dodged her gaze and went towards Qiao’er and Zhuang’er, who were scared out of their wits. They were s.h.i.+vering all over, and their brows were covered in cold sweat with frightened, round eyes. Who wouldn’t be afraid of death?
Madam Wen then ordered the people who had been restraining them. “Don’t hurt them.”
“Yes!”
Eh? Qiao’er and Zhuang’er looked at each other. Their fear subsided by half.
Just in front of them, Zuo Yao had captured everyone in Anchang Court with his county government officials and a group of martial experts that he had summoned out of nowhere. The guards were not worth mentioning; they were all tied up together. Tang Si was among them. Mo Ruo was nowhere to be found.
n.o.body expected that Zuo Yao would switch sides after Jing Rong left with his men. They captured everyone that was with Jing Rong. Fortunately, they didn’t kill them.
“You dogs.h.i.+t official, you’d better not let this grandma live, otherwise I will definitely take your dogs.h.i.+t life.” Tang Si yelled.
Zuo Yao’s usual boot-licking, flattering and treacherous face was now much livelier than. He ignored Tang Si and looked at the group of people tied up on the ground and asked, “Wasn’t there another person?” He was asking about Mo Ruo.
No one answered.
“This official doesn’t have the…” He did not get to say the last word, ‘patience’, when Tang Si mocked him. “What official? You’re a dogs.h.i.+t thief. It’s not enough to dismember you into five pieces.”
“You still have the guts to talk back?”
“Pah! This grandma is telling the truth. Listen carefully, since you decided to collude with a gang of thieves to steal relief money from the imperial court, you have no qualifications whatsoever to be a court official! Just you wait, you guys will die in disgrace!”
Zuo Yao gnashed his teeth furiously. From his deep-set eyes, it was obvious he was reigning in his anger. “Miss Tang, you are not someone of Great Lin, so you should not have been involved in this dispute. I will give you a chance to tell me where that lad named Mo is. As long as you tell me, I’ll let you go.”
Tang Si rolled her eyes, then she smiled. “Okay, come over here. I’ll tell you if you come over here.”
As expected, Zuo Yao moved over.
“Closer.”
He moved closer.
“A little closer.”
He moved even closer. Tang Si then spit on his face energetically and laughed. Zuo Yao was furious as he wiped the saliva on his face with his sleeve.
“You’re seeking death!” He raised his hand to hit her but he put it down again. His face was red with anger.
Tang Si spoke with disdain, “Dogs.h.i.+t official, it’s only right that I give you a chance. If you let us go now, it won’t be too late. When the prince charges back in here with his men, you can still have a chance to live. Otherwise, I will tear you to pieces and throw you down the mountains to feed the wolves!”
“Prince?” He jeered. “Who knows whether he can come back alive.”
…
Ji Yuns.h.i.+ really didn’t know how to ride a horse. In the past, Ji Pei had merely brought her riding a few times, but luckily her body still remembered what to do. After she escaped, she rode straight to Si Family Silks in the suburbs.
She was now outside the front gates. It was heavily guarded. The guards were dressed in stark black armour with a tiger’s head emblazoned on the left side of their chest and raised shoulder plates. They also had red cloth wrapped around their necks and heads, and wielded a longsword. With their eyebrows as sharp as needles, the guards looked strict, handsome and vigorous. But this uniform was neither of the Great Lin generals and soldiers, nor was it of the frontier officers.
Ji Yuns.h.i.+ held tight on the reins as she got the horse to move faster. She had nearly fallen off the horse’s back on that b.u.mpy road. She was exhausted. Her stomach was also churning and her face looked pale. She almost felt like she had motion sickness.
The soldiers immediately pointed their sharp swords at her, but they didn’t kill her immediately. Ji Yuns.h.i.+ pursed her pale lips and clenched her fists. She glanced around before taking out an object from her sleeve and held it tightly in her palm. She raised her arm up, holding it at the same level as her shoulders!
She looked down with cold resolute eyes and commanded, “Get out of the way!”
Those people didn’t withdraw their swords and refused to let her in. Ji Yuns.h.i.+ knew that if she took another step forward, the swords would pierce her a thousand times. She pinched her long, slender eyebrows together. At the last moment, her clenched fist loosened. A blood orange jade pendant fell from the palm of her hand, prevented from falling to the ground by the ta.s.sel hooked around her fingers. She let the jade pendant swing gently in the air under the palm of her hand.
The orange jade pendant was carved with a tiger on one side and had ‘Xu’ on the other. When these people saw the jade pendant, their sword shook a few times. They involuntarily stepped back several steps and looked at one another. It was as if they had seen a mountain tiger!