Shen Ziqin and Bai Junxing talked for a long time.
Shen Ziqin’s plans had already been laid out, some of which could be shared with Bai Junxing, while others were not yet convenient to discuss.
He needed two or three days to set the stage, but the arrangements had already begun. Neither side’s affairs would be neglected-everything was proceeding smoothly within his expectations.
Bai Junxing: “The men the prince lent me have discovered that the Yuzhou bandit gangs have become a serious problem. The tenant farmers are living in terrible conditions, with extremely heavy taxes, barely able to feed themselves. They’re called tenants, but they’re clearly forced laborers. What Yuzhou shows me openly is all staged with hired actors. I suspect that in places I can’t see, refugees have already formed large groups.”
Shen Ziqin nodded: “The bandit gangs have grown powerful, and Magistrate Cao completely turns a blind eye, never sending memorials to the court. Privately, he’s likely in collusion with them.”
Shen Ziqin put down his teacup: “Don’t worry, I’ve brought plenty of people on this trip. We’ll certainly uncover more evidence.”
With the consort and princess traveling together, there were naturally plenty of attendants, which was both reasonable and proper-no one could find fault with it.
Bai Junxing certainly didn’t doubt Shen Ziqin’s abilities. With Shen Ziqin’s arrival, his burden was significantly lightened, but his worries still couldn’t be dispelled: “Yuzhou was originally prosperous. I thought that even if they were greedy, they wouldn’t be so heartless… I really didn’t expect things to have deteriorated to this extent.”
The common people were the ones suffering.
Bai Junxing was a good official who cared deeply for the country and its people. Shen Ziqin himself didn’t have such lofty thoughts, but he admired people like this.
After their discussion, Hei Ying took advantage of the night to escort Bai Junxing back. As a Supervising Censor, Bai Junxing still needed to maneuver among Yuzhou’s officials, making them lower their guard and believe he was just there to build his credentials, posing no threat to them.
The next day, Commander Yin Lie followed Shen Ziqin’s orders and sent several men to teahouses and restaurants to spread the news.
Many people were curious about the caravan that had arrived yesterday. When they heard it was Prince Qin’s consort coming to recuperate, and that he had brought a princess with him, the news spread quickly until everyone knew.
A cart pusher delivering goods to a shop heard this news and passed a message to an honest-looking butcher as he passed by his stall.
After being passed through several hands, about two hours later, the news reached Flying Tiger, the leader of the Flying Tiger Gang in a deep mountain outside Yuzhou city.
“Prince Qin’s consort has come to Yuzhou to recuperate, and brought a princess with him…”
As he read the note, a large man immediately stood up: “Brother, this is an opportunity! Prince Qin fights enemies abroad. Though he’s said to be ruthless in battle, he must be different from Yuzhou’s corrupt officials-he’s a hero protecting the country. We could appeal to him about these dogs!”
The bandit gangs of Yuzhou were widespread, with the Flying Tiger Gang being just one medium-sized group. What distinguished them from other bandits was that they had originally formed under the banner of robbing the rich to help the poor, and now sheltered many refugees.
Those who tried to report to the imperial court from Yuzhou never succeeded. A Supervising Censor had arrived a few days ago, but he spent his days mingling with those corrupt officials, likely cut from the same cloth.
As for Prince Qin’s consort…
Flying Tiger crumpled the note: “It’s the consort who’s come, not Prince Qin himself. And he’s here to recuperate-a sickly person would struggle just to take care of himself, how could he handle other matters?”
A gang member scratched his head: “What about the princess? We could speak directly to her-she’s a member of the royal family.”
“The princess is just a child of a few years. What would she understand!”
The gang member deflated but remained unwilling to give up, clenching his fists in anger: “Is there really nothing we can do about those corrupt officials!?”
Flying Tiger thought for a moment: “Let’s send someone to test Prince Qin’s consort first.”
They didn’t want to miss an opportunity, but they hadn’t forgotten the brothers they’d lost by mistakenly trusting corrupt officials. Since then, they had become much more cautious.
The next day, they began their test.
Their first step was to figure out the shopping routes of the servants from the consort’s estate. Then they had a thin man pretend to faint in front of them at an opportune moment.
Flying Tiger and his men waited for news at their mountain hideout.
Half a day later, the man who had pretended to faint returned.
“How did it go?” A gang member jumped up to ask. “Did they take you back to the estate to care for you and ask questions?”
The man replied: “No.”
Flying Tiger’s eyes narrowed sharply: “So they just left you by the roadside?”
“Not that either,” the man scratched his head. “They took me to a medical clinic in the city, left money for medicine and a meal, then left without saying anything.”
Flying Tiger was stunned, and the gang members looked at each other in confusion.
…It seemed they had some compassion, but not much.
They hadn’t disregarded human life, but they also hadn’t gone out of their way to help, asking if the person had some hardship or why they had fallen on difficult times.
The gang member said dryly: “Well, at least the consort’s people seem somewhat kind-hearted. We need to think of another way to approach him.”
Their hideout’s rare literate strategist said: “They’re not hiring from outside, delivery people can’t enter the residence, and the consort never shows his face. It’s difficult.”
Flying Tiger felt a headache coming on. He frowned: “Let me think about it…”
He thought from day to night but couldn’t come up with any good ideas.
That night, as he tossed and turned with a headache, someone suddenly rushed in from outside: “Report-!”
Flying Tiger sat up, grabbing his large knife: “What happened?”
The messenger was out of breath, his face full of shock and disbelief. Before he could catch his breath, he stammered: “Re-re-report! Three people have come to the hideout, and one of them claims to be, to be… Prince Qin’s consort, Shen Ziqin!”
With a “clang,” Flying Tiger’s knife and jaw hit the ground simultaneously.
He stared in disbelief, the shock transferring to his face: “You said who came? Say it again?”
Shen Ziqin stood in the night forest. This evening, both stars and moon were dim. In the pitch-black forest, the tree shadows danced like ghosts and beasts, eerie and terrifying, seemingly ready to tear fragile humans to pieces at any moment.
Shen Ziqin casually played with the love knot beneath his jade pendant, idly wondering what Chu Zhao might be doing while he waited.
Probably sleeping soundly.
He was working diligently to bring Chu Zhao to Yuzhou sooner, always working at night to avoid the eyes and ears of Yuzhou officials, sacrificing his precious sleep time.
The sacrifice was too great.
He’d add it all up and settle accounts with Chu Zhao later.
Yet Chu Zhao hadn’t sent him a single letter.
Wooden blockhead.
Shen Ziqin had given the prince another nickname. In the past few days, he’d come up with enough nicknames to fill a basket.
Whether these nicknames would be dropped depended on Chu Zhao’s future behavior.
The tassels of the love knot felt cool and delicate in his hand. Shen Ziqin’s jade-white fingertips lightly twirled the red string. In this deep mountain forest, he was as beautiful as a soul-stealing spirit.
This was Flying Tiger’s first impression when he strode out and saw Shen Ziqin.
“My goodness, how can someone be so beautiful, just like a spirit!”
The followers who came out with Flying Tiger were also stunned, their imposing manner completely collapsing.
Shen Ziqin saw the arrivals, released the red string, and smiled gracefully at them: “Are you the leader of the Flying Tiger Gang?”
His smile made all the mountain bandits collectively draw a breath.
Could he really be a soul-stealing spirit?!
Flying Tiger was the first to regain his senses-a leader is still a leader. He gripped his knife and stepped forward: “That’s me! You say you’re Prince Qin’s consort? What proof do you have?”
Shen Ziqin had brought only Hei Ying and Bai Xiao with him. Actually, he had only wanted to bring Bai Xiao, but Hei Ying was worried and insisted on coming along.
In the unusually quiet tree shadows behind them, guards were hidden, completely silent.
Shen Ziqin responded calmly: “This white-haired young brother beside me-surely you’ve seen him leave the estate with your own eyes. Your spies are too obvious; it would be difficult not to notice them.”
Flying Tiger had completely recovered from his amazement at Shen Ziqin’s appearance. He put on a serious face and became alert, realizing that this beautiful person who looked like he couldn’t lift a finger might not be so easy to deal with.
Flying Tiger twisted his mouth: “Not only did we send spies, others did too. The bandits from Feng Mountain, and those corrupt officials in Yuzhou-they all did. Why did Prince Qin’s consort specifically seek me out?”
His gaze swept over the three people as he gripped his knife: “And bringing just these two people-aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to leave once you’ve come?”
His last words were filled with murderous intent. Bai Xiao’s eyes narrowed, but Shen Ziqin patted his head, so Bai Xiao remained standing in place without moving, though his eyes remained fixed on Flying Tiger.
Flying Tiger had emerged with a large group, approaching aggressively. Some had their machetes resting on their shoulders. From any perspective, Shen Ziqin’s group of three looked like lambs entering a tiger’s den, fish on a chopping board.
But Shen Ziqin showed no fear, as if he had just come for a spring outing.
“My subordinates have some skills,” Shen Ziqin said gently, stroking Bai Xiao’s head. “They discovered that the Flying Tiger Gang is founded on ‘righteousness’ and has done many heroic deeds. Wolves can emerge from rich households, and heroes can be found among outlaws. I’m truly curious-what did the heroic Flying Tiger Gang intend by having someone pretend to be a beggar and faint at my doorstep?”
At these words, Flying Tiger was immediately shocked: He even knew about that!
They must have been followed all the way to the hideout entrance, and they didn’t even know when they were being tracked!
Prince Qin’s consort had skilled people around him.
And though he was reportedly too ill to see anyone, that was clearly a pretense.
Flying Tiger unconsciously tightened his grip on his knife-not to intimidate others, but as a gesture he made when nervous or sensing danger.
Though they clearly had the absolute advantage, facing Shen Ziqin, they had the illusion of having nowhere to hide.
Shen Ziqin withdrew his hand from comforting Bai Xiao and smiled gently at them: “Since we dared to come, doesn’t the leader dare to invite us in for a seat?”
Though smiling, there was an indescribable pressure, as if he were in the clouds, untouchable.
The gang members didn’t dare to breathe, just waiting for Flying Tiger to speak.
The clouds in the sky slowly moved, revealing a sliver of moon that had been hidden for a long time. The moonlight gently poured down, illuminating Shen Ziqin’s silver robe hem.
After a moment, Flying Tiger finally spoke.
“Follow me.”
Shen Ziqin smiled faintly and followed Flying Tiger into the mountain hideout with Hei Ying and Bai Xiao, his expression unchanged.
However, Flying Tiger didn’t take them to the main hall to sit. Instead, he led them all the way to a courtyard behind the mountain. He pushed open the door and called everyone in the courtyard to get up.
In the courtyard where wooden cabins crowded together, doors kept opening, and people gradually came out until the yard was filled.
Shen Ziqin looked at the people before him and fell silent.
There were elderly, weak, women, and children, as well as young men. What they had in common was that they were all emaciated, reduced to skin and bones, dressed in rags, looking like walking corpses with dull and bewildered eyes, with no spark of life to be found.
Shen Ziqin had read the original story and knew about the misery of Yuzhou’s refugees, but reading a few lines of text was ultimately different from seeing it firsthand.
When these people stood vividly before him-breathing and moving, not words but living people-even Shen Ziqin, who had prepared himself, felt as if he couldn’t breathe.
The rich feast while the poor freeze to death.
He came to Yuzhou not like Bai Junxing with a noble heart concerned for the country and people, but simply treating everything as a step to save Chu Zhao. Even now, he didn’t consider himself a person of Great Qi.
But looking at these people reduced to skin and bones by the hardships of the world… Shen Ziqin clenched his palm tightly.
He wanted to look away but couldn’t.
A child stared at him with wide eyes. Though born into suffering, he still retained a bit of innocence not completely worn away by the world.
…When Chu Zhao first arrived in this world, he hated the entire era because of Emperor Cheng’an. Later, why was he willing to risk his life and face danger on the battlefield?
Was it because he too had seen living, breathing people who belonged to this era?
Shen Ziqin looked at them, with Flying Tiger’s voice in his ears.
“These are newly gathered refugees. Prince Qin’s consort, outside they say Yuzhou is prosperous and flourishing, but we common folk can’t see it! What we see are starved skeletons and soil stained with blood and tears!”
“The corrupt officials of Yuzhou exploit the people. After farming, they can barely keep enough food. Granaries full of rice are sold by officials colluding with bandits and corrupt merchants for silver. Good families who can no longer survive become refugees, and they allow bandits to burn, kill, and plunder, leaving people with no way to live!”
As Flying Tiger spoke of these heartbreaking matters, the refugees began to cry again-first with quiet sobs, then some couldn’t hold back, and the crying gradually grew louder.
Standing amid the cries, Shen Ziqin couldn’t help but pull his robe tighter-it was a bone-deep cold that no clothing could block.
“Though I’m just a bandit, I disdain doing such things. They don’t even fear divine punishment-ptui!” Flying Tiger’s eyes blazed as he looked at Shen Ziqin. “Prince Qin’s consort, are you someone who can save them?”
Shen Ziqin looked at the child who kept staring at him, walked forward with an open palm, and offered the preserved fruits he had been carrying.
The child stared at him eagerly, hesitating at first, but ultimately unable to resist the tempting aroma, reached out and took the candy, stuffing it into his mouth all at once.
Shen Ziqin said softly: “Eat slowly, there’s no rush, no one will take it from you.”
The child swallowed it whole, blinked, and said quietly: “Thank you, fairy brother, you’re so beautiful.”
…You really don’t need to thank me, Shen Ziqin thought gently. I didn’t come to Yuzhou for you all originally. I don’t deserve your thanks.
Bai Xiao pressed his lips together, stepped forward, and took out all his preserved fruits to distribute among them.
Though he had experienced hardship as a child, living with the prince and consort meant he could have candy every day, making him far luckier than these children.
Shen Ziqin stood up and looked at Flying Tiger.
“I am,” Shen Ziqin said.
I am the one who can save them.
#
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
