The Black Horse

Chapter 46

Killing Two Birds with One Stone

Translated by Wook
Edited by sienz

[Warning: This chapter is not for the squeamish or the ones with a weak heart. Proceed with caution.]

The torches were brightly lit on the Tao family’s ship. All the crewmen were summoned. Bai Shiqi, who had changed her clothes, sat in an armchair with her legs crossed. Standing behind her were some burly fellows, her own subordinates who were surrounding her for protection. She looked down and played with the small and cold dagger in her hand, asking: “Boss Tao, is everyone here?”

Tao Shuo sat next to her, but he looked ill at ease. Hearing what was said, he hurriedly stood and answered, like one of her subordinates would: “I’ll let someone check.” Then he ordered his loyal subordinate to move.

“You should sit! Sit!” Bai Shiqi raised her hand and gestured for him to take a seat, while her eyes were following Tao Dayuan, the person who had been ordered to count the crewmen. In fact, ever since they got onboard, the people of the shipping group had been observing in secret, so she roughly recognized some familiar faces. She swept her gaze around and said: “I remember that…there’s an old man in the kitchen, right?”

Tao Shuo: “Dayuan—”

Tao Dayuan suddenly said: “Master, the kitchen helper Old Man Xiang isn’t here.”

“Call everyone over.”

In his adolescence, Old Man Xiang gambled on his life by making a living on the river, and by some misfortune, got his leg broken. Fortunately, he could still count on his cooking skills, and earned money by making food on ships. The Tao family’s ship only traveled twice a month, so he went to find jobs on other ships for the rest of the time.

He was urged by Bai Shiqi’s people, and was shocked upon seeing the corpses on the deck. His eyes trembled as he made his way into the crowd: “Master… For what reason does Master call this small one?”

Tao Shuo: “It’s just Young Leader Bai has asked for everyone to be here.”

Bai Shiqi signaled for her subordinate to begin the interrogation, and let someone drag an injured and comatose pirate out from the dark and tied him to the flagpole. She coldly said: “Wake him up.”

Her subordinate stepped forward and stabbed the pirate in the thigh, and turned the handle of the knife viciously. One could hear a squeal like that of a pig’s as the pirate woke up in pain.

Tao Shuo: “… …”

Everyone else: “… …”

The technique was too simple, cruel, and vicious, but it was much more effective than splashing cold water. Not only did it wake the person up, it also shocked everyone on the Tao family’s ship.

Bai Shiqi got up and stretched her body, then slowly asked: “Which one of you recognizes this person?” Her eyes traversed everyone’s faces one by one, not letting go of the smallest detail: “If I catch someone hiding something, don’t blame me for being rude!”

The pirate saw the scene clearly once he was completely sober. The surrounding torches were brightly lit, and the wound on his leg was so painful. He lowered his head in fright, wishing to hide, but was held by Bai Shiqi’s subordinate by the hair to look up, so everyone could see his face.

Since everyone dared not to speak, Bai Shiqi said: “I think it is too dark for everyone to see clearly. It will be better if everyone comes forward and sees. Anyone who knows the origin of this pirate will be rewarded with silver.”

When the people heard the amount of silver rewarded, many of them were tempted. They waited in line for their turn to identify the pirate. Some of them got scared, because as they got closer, the smell of blood became thicker, and they could see the pirate’s bloodshot eyes. This person, together with his group, had ransacked ships on the river more than once. He had a lot of human blood on his hands, and regarded human life as grass. Today, despite being reduced to fish, his ferociousness had not changed. He glared fiercely at everyone, making a frightened one shiver and ran away in hurry… 

A bolder one stepped forward to take a closer look, and after looking carefully for some time, said: “This person… I remember vaguely that I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

Bai Shiqi became intrigued: “Think about it again, if you can really remember, there will be silver for you.”

Seeing the ten taels of silver, the man racked his brain and thought hard. Taking advantage of the time while he was thinking, Bai Shiqi’s eyes swept across the crowd, and found one person among them who was trembling in fear. That person was short and thin. Everyone else was looking around out of curiosity while enduring the smell of blood, and most of them were rejoicing in the aftermath. However, this person tried his best to evade everything. From time to time, he glanced at Bai Shiqi and the people she brought, then he took a peek at the pirate. He lowered his head and pretended to be curious. He also participated in the discussion with his peers, but it was obvious that he looked uneasy.

The other suspicious person was the old man from the kitchen. He was so eager to hide behind the crowd.

Bai Shiqi asked Tao Dayuan to clarify the origins of these people, including those who had signed a death contract, some hired boatmen, and those who had been taken in under the Tao family’s care. An example of the latter one was Old Man Xiang, who had been taken in by Tao Shuo without a physical contract, and been given rice to eat just like that.

She waved her hand to let the group of people go back to their cabins first, leaving only the shady thin man and Old Man Xiang, as well as the bold boatman, and the shipowner Tao Shuo.

The boatman closed his eyes and recalled what he had heard and seen in recent days, all for the ten silver taels. He suddenly turned his head to look straight at the thin man: “That day when we were at the dock, we got on the ship, and didn’t you say that a relative had come here. Isn’t this the person?”

The short and thin man’s complexion suddenly changed and he yelled: “Bah! Jiang Dadan, you shouldn’t slander people! Surely it is impossible for my relatives to grow this way!” 

[His name literally meant Jiang the Bold One. Tsk, this author and their naming sense haha.]

Jiang Dadan thought of the danger tonight. If it were not for Young Leader Bai’s group on the ship, he would have lost his life on this very ship, so his hatred multiplied : “Since you said that this person is not your relative, it’d be better to tell us who your relatives are, so when the ship returns, we can meet with them.”

The short and thin man, named Chengsun, shouted from being questioned by Jiang Dadan: “For what reason? Can you come and slander my relatives just from your words?”

Old Man Xiang shrank his presence silently, wishing to disappear into the shadow where no one could see.

Bai Shiqi noticed that the tied pirate was enduring his pain while pricking his ears to listen. She had a feeling, and thus made a decision: “It doesn’t have to be so troublesome. Since we’re all idle anyway, why don’t we just investigate carefully.” She got up and drew her dagger down the pirate’s chest. Her dagger was very sharp, and the front of the pirate’s clothes was cut off wherever the dagger went. The pirate’s good and neat clothes were torn, exposing his chest in the cold winter air. Bai Shiqi worked so well that even though his clothes were cut apart, his skin was not hurt. It was rare for someone to have such good precision.

This person was very thin. Adding years of exercise, his waist and abdomen were flat, and his ribs were clearly visible. Bai Shiqi’s dagger was positioned at where his heart was located, and as the cold dagger touched his skin, he moved involuntarily. He helplessly tried to withdraw, but his hands and feet were tied on the flagpole. Unable to retreat, he could only stare at her fiercely with a pair of bloodshot eyes.

Bai Shiqi was a coarse person. With a ‘oh-ho’ sound she laughed out: “What? Do you want to eat me?” Then she made two strokes on the opponent’s face using her dagger, almost shaving his eyelashes: “Do you believe that I can dig your eyeballs out?!” 

Jiang Dadan also shouted: “Dig his eyeballs out!” This gang of criminals had committed many crimes and harmed the people along the coast and those who travelled across the country. They should have been slashed by thousands of swords long ago.

“You dare?!” Even though the situation had reached this point, the pirate was still not willing to give up, even boldly daring to threaten Bai Shiqi.

Bai Shiqi was not afraid of being threatened. She burst into laughter upon hearing his words: “What can’t I dare?” The dagger moved twice, quickly slicing two pieces of meat from his belly. She held one of them in front of his face and said: “Tell me, why wouldn’t I dare?”

Upon feeling continuous pain, the pirate felt annoyed and shouted loudly: “Asshole, son of a bitch, how dare you! Wait for my boss to kill you, even your chickens and dogs won’t be spared!”

Bai Shiqi: “AAAAHH I’m so scared!” She continued to slice another piece out of his belly, raised it up and took a glance, then threw it back down in disgust: “It’s been a while since I practiced my craftsmanship, may your esteemed self bear with me ah.”

The pirate: “… …”

Chengsun: “… …”

Old Man Xiang who withdrew in silence: “… …”

Even Jiang Dadan, who had always been a self-proclaimed courageous person, could not help but quietly moved two steps back, secretly thinking about the dark side of the shipping group, that the young leader had actually been using human flesh to practice craftsmanship: “… …”

Tao Shuo’s face turned pale, and he secretly determined not to be an enemy of the shipping group.

Only the shipping group people lowered their heads and smirked, recalling their young leader’s craftsmanship with raw fish, which was indeed a great help for their group. The young leader had practiced it in order to please the old leader who liked to eat fish. Every year on Bai Zhenting’s birthday, there would be a big live show at the end of the banquet. The young leader had a lot of fans within the group, and having the helmsmans from various regions liking the show brought some benefits for their business.

Bai Shiqi said slowly: “I’m someone with a bad temper. I can do anything to anyone that offended me, such as stir-fry (lamb) eyeballs, or perhaps charcoal grill (pork) meat, split (pork) ribs into five parts, or slice off meat a bit thicker than the one I did before and grill them with a little bit of oil, salt and pepper. It must be fragrant!” Then using her dagger to tap the pirate’s skull she said darkly: “Do you know what (monkey) brain tastes like?”

Tao Shuo trembled: “Young Leader Bai…”

Jiang Dadan: “… …” I will change my name once I return!

Chengsun: “… …”

Old Man Xiang’s, who had been specializing in cooking for many years, had his eyes filled with fear, and moved a little farther away from her.

The fear in the pirate’s eyes grew deeper and deeper, but still snorted: “… Bullshit! I’ve never heard anyone eating brains before!”

But everyone from the shipping group was looking at their young leader’s bullshit as if it was the truth.

Bai Shiqi’s voice was filled with enthusiasm towards delicacies as she retorted: “Did you know? The previous dynasty was chaotic. An old glutton who accompanied the army once wrote a book detailing how to cook human flesh to make it delicious. It was a period of war, and almost everyone went to war, so there were not many people who stayed to do farm work. The military rations came from the common people who were held captive. Old thin men would be the cookfire, womankind were called unenviable sheeps, children cried out until their bones turned soft, while the majority were two-legged sheeps. Compared to real mutton, it was said that the taste is comparable.”

[This is a phrase from 《鸡肋编》by Song Zhuangcuo. Two-legged sheep refers to people who are eaten as food. The translation is not accurate, but should still be okay. From this meaning, womankind is called unenviable sheeps is probably because women tend to be softer, so the demand should be high, as such nobody would want to be a woman in that period… .]

This time, it was not only the pirate and Chengshun who felt nauseous, even the people of the shipping group, who were completely aware that she was merely talking nonsense, changed their complexion. They turned their heads towards the river, pretending not to hear a thing she said.

Bai Shiqi’s voice was passed into the ears of everyone present: “(monkey) Brains are usually eaten raw. You bare a hole into the skull, and pour boiling oil inside, then using a silver ladle, you dig out the brain tissue and eat while it’s still hot. The person should still be alive by that time, but could only wail in anguish and look helplessly as his brains get eaten by others… .”

The pirate bent over and vomited a little, but as he was still tied up, his waist could not be bent completely, so he vomited all over himself. The smell was unpleasant, and coupled with the smell of blood on the deck, was enough to make Tao Shuo, Chengshun, and Jiang Dadan throw up as well… .

The shipping group’s people turned their heads indifferently under the horrible smell, breathed fresh air while facing the wind, and muttered secretly: Someone please come and take the young leader away!

—Even though she does not really eat human flesh, her nonsense skills are more unbearable than cannibalism itself!

The pirate was stripped naked and thrown into the river. He got picked up again only after he was washed twice. Now he was covered in two pieces of worn-out clothes, and ready for another round of interrogation. However this time, he was much more well-behaved. He answered whatever he was asked. His attitude was wonderful.

Tao Shuo listened throughout the whole process. He listened to how the pirate contacted the people of his ship to inquire about the news, spread letters along the way, conspired to murder the people to gain money… Every step was perfectly done. If not for Bai Shiqi who had set out to clean up the river earlier, specifically against the pirates, he feared that perhaps they would’ve become water ghosts in the river already.

His feelings towards this Young Leader Bai was really complicated. On one hand, he was afraid of the young leader’s experience of cannibalism. But on the other hand, he was extremely grateful for Bai Shiqi’s life-saving grace. If he was lucky enough to meet Yu Ang, they would have the same topic to talk about, as their perception of Bai Shiqi was similar.

Chengshun had been scared since earlier, and he did not need to be tortured by Bai Shiqi to spill out everything.

He had been obsessed with gambling since two months ago, and had lost all his savings from many years prior. Coupled with the inducement of some people, he became the pirates’ spy.

Bai Shiqi wrote a statement to let the two of them be detained. She ordered them to be tied and watched carefully, before turning to Old Man Xiang.

Old Man Xiang: “… What is the young leader’s command? Do you need some midnight-snack?”

Bai Shiqi: “If so, then I’m afraid tonight I’ll leave this ship without my life.”

Old Man Xiang gave a gracious smile: “Why is the young leader talking like this?”

Bai Shiqi nodded slightly and immediately called for the men who had gone to the kitchen to cook ginger soup to present a packet of medicinal powder. She opened and handed it over: “Would you like to smell what this is?”

Old Man Xiang’s expression changed slightly, and he looked surprised: “What is this?”

Bai Shiqi: “This was found in the kitchen. Not only that, this thing was also found in your bed. You still don’t want to admit it?”

Old Man Xiang finally no longer looked honest and guileless, and charged straight at Bai Shiqi. Seeing that she had put on a defensive posture, he switched his destination to Tao Shuo. The moment he approached Tao Shuo’s body, he felt unexpected pain in his abdomen. He lowered his head in astonishment, and found that the dagger that Bai Shiqi had been playing with had been inserted into his abdomen. Her voice was close to his ears: “Chengshun is just a pawn to inform the news. I’m afraid you are the last pirate, right?!”

 

She drew out the dagger and kicked him away. Tao Shuo realized that he had escaped death once again, and rushed over in response, then held Bai Shiqi’s arm with trembling hands: “Y-Young… Young Leader Bai… .” He was practically crying.

Bai Shiqi comforted him: “It’s over now.”

Old Man Xiang sat on the ground while clutching his stomach, puzzled: “How did you know that I’m the last one?”

Bai Shiqi looked down at him, changed her usual lazy attitude, and said coldly: “Years ago, five brothers from my group escorted a ship of cargo to the north, but lost their lives and the cargo was robbed. I inspected carefully at the time. There were not many traces of fighting on the ship that were involved in the incident, and my brothers’ skills were not questionable. Their bodies were sunk into the river, and the traces left were too little. At that time I stayed on the ship for three days to think things through, and came to a possibility. They must have been killed in their sleep. Those brothers were brought up by me personally and normally they would’ve been able to conduct themselves well. They never drank nor gambled, and should’ve been able to stay vigilant. So the only possibility left is that their drinking water must have been tampered with.”

She took a step forward: “Xiang Ye, I’ve been looking for you for three years!”

Xiang Ye lifted up his head in astonishment, never expecting that his old butt would be exposed: “… …”

Bai Shiqi: “Actually, you are not very old, just around 30 years old. But your family has always had a problem with white hair. When you left your hometown and wandered to the Jiang River area, nobody knew that you had this kind of illness. The first time you commited a crime a few years ago, you were still a muscular man with black hair, but in just five or six years you’ve turned into an old man. Once you change your name, it is hard to connect that Jiang Yang the big thief is actually the same person as Xiang Ye. What a pity ah… .”

Xiang Ye: “Why is it a pity?”

Bai Shiqi: “It is a pity that Xiang Ye is a glutton, especially for good food. Just now when you heard me talking about various ways of eating human flesh, even though you were pretending to be afraid, in reality you really want to try it, right? I saw your eyes light up and your fingers convulsing with excitement. I was even wondering whether to hand a kitchen knife over to you or not.”

Xiang Ye covered his wound and slowly stood. Without pretending to have crippled legs and no longer bending his waist, he was actually a tall and burly man. Even his voice turned deeper: “ As it turns out, your words before were to kill two birds with one stone, and to frighten those two scoundrels, luring me out at the same time?”

“Mr. Xiang is smart.”

“I’ve learned a new thing!”

Then he slightly smiled: “But no one knows that between Young Leader and I, who is better than the other underwater? Do you dare to compete with me?”

Bai Shiqi was a young hero with unlimited courage. She clapped her hands and laughed: “Why won’t I dare? Mr. Xiang may go first!”

Xiang Ye took a towel to knot the area around his wound. Then he ran a few steps and jumped into the river with a splash.

***

Xiang Ye was born in a fishing village on the southeast coast. According to official information, he had been a psychopath since he was a child. He stabbed his old neighbor to death at the age of twelve. The reason was only because he was trying to lecture him. When he was a bit older, he fought a lot and became an infamous bully in eight villages. As expected of him, by the time he reached adulthood, he became a pirate. He made a living by looting others. He recruited his soldiers and horses from nearby villages. He took refuge in the pirate leader Xiong Shijie, who lived on an island at the time. He became the little ringleader, and lived a happy life.

It had not been long since the pirate’s glory days before troops were dispatched to clean them up. After repeated campaigns by officers and soldiers, Xiong Shijie was defeated and fled overseas. The rest of his people who were cornered sought any means to survive. Xiang Ye himself had secretly returned to his hometown. There were neighbors who tried to tell the authorities, but ended up getting massacred, even their bodies were dismembered and cooked. Investigators vomited on the spot upon seeing the crime scene, leaving with deep psychological trauma.

This guy was a natural sociopath, extremely cruel without empathy, basically a cold-blooded abnormality.

After Xiang Ye’s escape, the authorities issued a marine arrest document. However, several years had passed, and they still had not managed to catch the culprit of the massacre in the small fishing village. As it turns out, he had been lurking secretly in Lianghuai and had been operating on water.

Ever since the death of the several brothers who had gone to escort the cargo to the north, whom she had regarded as right-hand men, as soon as Bai Shiqi was in Lianghuai and heard of the news of the pirates, she decided to personally inspect the vessel and make secret visits. She was even more serious than the local government regarding this matter.

Her hard work paid off. Seeing the crime scenes taught her to look out for clues, and in the end she found Xiang Ye.

She loosened her clothes and was about to go into the water, but all her subordinates desperately wanted to stop her: “Young Leader, this person is cruel and is a deep schemer. Besides, being a pirate, I fear that his skill underwater is not low.”

Bai Shiqi thought of the few subordinates whose bodies couldn’t even be recovered, and felt the blood in her chest burning: “No matter how fierce he is, he’s already wounded. Knowing that he’s already dying, he wants to escape by provoking me. Just wait. I’ll jump down to lure him to appear, you guys look for a chance to kill him!”

She jumped down the river with a splash. The surface of the water calmed down, even the ripples were gone. The subordinates waiting on the boat looked at the water with widened eyes. Even Tao Shuo was worried: “Surely Young Leader Bai won’t be… .” Killed by the criminal, right?

“Shut up!” Someone from the shipping group shouted in rage: “Don’t talk nonsense! Our young leader will live a long life!”

Bai Shiqi had spent the past three years tracking down the murderer of their brothers in the group. Nobody knew how much effort had been spent. You could see in these subordinates’ eyes. If they could help the young leader in tracking down the culprit to placate the family members left behind, even death is worth it!

The people on the ship were staring at the water with their anxious hearts. Suddenly, the water surface churned. Xiang Ye emerged first from the water. The shipping group people were about to kill him, but then Bai Shiqi also appeared to the surface. Taking the advantage of the time he used to stabilize his breath, Bai Shiqi directed her dagger towards his throat. Apparently, the other party also had a dagger in his hand. He evaded backwards, then moved the dagger towards Bai Shiqi’s ribs.

Tao Shuo cried out in surprised: “Young Leader Bai, be careful—​”

The two people were equally matched in the water. After the fight, there were several wounds on their bodies. However, because of the water, the wounds were not too deep. However, Xiang Ye had been wounded since even before the fight, when Bai Shiqi stabbed him pretty deeply with the dagger. Xiang Ye originally thought that Bai Shiqi was young, so her ability underwater must be low. He did not expect her to be more slippery than a fish underwater. He had tried to escape several times, but stopped by Bai Shiqi every single time. The wound in his abdomen had been hurting for a long time, and he had lost a lot of blood because of the water. He gradually lost strength and started to feel dizzy.

He knew that if he could not escape today and fell into Bai Shiqi’s hand, he would meet a dead end. With his exhausted body, came a new idea. His swimming and fighting speed gradually slowed down, causing Bai Shiqi to make several more wounds on his body. He expected her to gradually lower her vigilance and expose some flaws, only to receive another stab in the abdomen, and started sinking to the bottom of the river…

At this moment, the east had started to brighten, and it was easier than before to see things in the water. Bai Shiqi noticed that his limbs were swaying slightly through the chaotic river, not even having the strength to move anymore. She followed him underwater and cautiously approached his body. She discovered that Xiang Ye’s powerless hand could not even hold the dagger anymore, and his body almost touched the silt at the bottom of the river. When she was still looking at him, Xiang Ye’s two eyes suddenly opened round, and used all of his might to slam his body against Bai Shiqi.

The guys on the ship watched as wisps of blood appeared on the surface of the water. Someone finally could not calm down anymore: “This won’t do. I will go down and see for myself!”

Someone took the lead, and three or four people jumped down to take a look.

Tao Shuo closed his eyes and prayed towards the rising sun. Before he finished asking all the Gods and Buddha, he heard the sound of splashing water, and the shipping group people beside him cheered: “Young Leader is coming out…” He abruptly opened his eyes upon seeing Bai Shiqi, whose face was completely pale and still beckoned to the people on the ship to lift something from the water. When he looked closely, it turned out to be Xiang Ye’s head. He was dead, but his eyes were still wide open.

Bai Shiqi half squinted her eyes and tried her best to throw the head towards the ship. She thought that she had used a lot of strength, but in reality, Xiang Ye’s head broke away from her hand and fell into the water with a splash without even crossing half a meter. 

She looked up and saw the golden sunlight over the river, just like that time when her father told her to pick a few playmates to help the second-generation shipping group many years ago. She randomly picked five ignorant children to be her own soldiers. These five children accompanied her and they caused mischief, got in trouble and broke the rules together. They played and laughed with each other, accompanied her to grow up day by day, turning into steady youths.

More people came out of the water surrounding her. Bai Shiqi fell backwards, and was held by someone by the waist. They cried out in surprise: “Young Leader—” Several people lifted her above the surface of the water, only to find that she had several stab wounds all over her body and abdomen. She was drenched in blood, and before she closed her eyes and passed out, she only let out a few words: “Old Man Huang in Baoying…”

The people of the shipping group who were still in the water kept shouting in alarm, while cooperating to get her body on the ship. Someone still remembered about Xiang Ye’s head: “This is something the young leader had risked his life for, we must bring it back.”

The pirate was dead, and the corpses on the ship were still lying around. After Bai Shiqi was carried on the ship, a group of people found clean white muslins and tore it into several pieces to tighten the wound on her abdomen. Someone took the signal flare on the bow of the ship and when the green smoke calling for help was released to the bright blue sky, the little ringleader of the shipping group said farewell to Tao Shuo.

“Your destination is not too far from here. My brothers and I have to leave, so we will not accompany you further. We have to take the young leader to Baoying to find a physician!”

Tao Shuo turned around in anxiety, and urged everyone: “Young Leader Bai’s clothes are still wet. At least change the wet clothes before leaving. What would you do if he gets sick?”

One of them looked solemn and smiled bitterly: “Shipowner doesn’t know this, but the Young Leader has a quirk and doesn’t like others to touch him. If he wakes up and knows that someone has changed his clothes, I’m afraid he will not hesitate to kill us.”

Qiu Ying, the youngest of the five brothers who were already dead, once encountered a group of pirates while escorting the cargo with the young leader. Everyone on the ship died, only the two of them survived and managed to make a bloody way back. However, the young leader was seriously injured and lost consciousness. Qiu Ying changed his clothes, and when the young leader woke up, he was chased by the young leader across eighteen streets. Qiu Ying did not dare to approach within ten steps for a year since then.

This matter became a joke of the brothers in the group. Everyone knew that the Young Leader liked girls, but if a stinky man approached, they’d better prepare a knife— Qiu Ying could still keep his life only because the young leader still had affection for him.

Tao Shuo became anxious: “Look at the situation, why do you still care about such things?”

But the shipping group’s people only found a thick quilt to cover Bai Shiqi. The rest of the people began to clean up the cargo ship, pushing the pirate carcasses into the river to feed the fish, and fetched water to clean the deck. Halfway through, a ship quickly approached, and the people on its prow shouted: “Who called for help?”

***

In a house in Baoying County, Zhao Wujiu had a nightmare last night. After opening his eyes in the morning, he sat on the bedside for a long time to recall the dream. There were a few weird fragments in his mind. But when he reached out to touch it, it scattered and disappeared.

He supported his body using the head of the bed, and moved slowly on the bed. He moved his stiff legs first, and sat down after about ten steps. At that moment, Shu Changfeng opened the door and came with a washcloth in his hand. He said with a smile: “Your Highness got up early to exercise, it will be a huge surprise for Bai Shiqi when she comes back.”

Zhao Wujiu counted the days: “It’s almost a month since she left. Does she not know how to send letters back?”

Shu Changfeng said inwardly: Bai Shiqi is a kite with a broken string. One it flies up to the blue sky, would it still remember thinking of the people so far on the ground? How pitiful for His Highness who had never thought of a woman before to meet the thoughtless Bai Shiqi, the most difficult type of person who doesn’t even think of herself as a woman.

“Your Highness should only care about your health and wounds. Besides, I saw two magpies screaming outside just now. Perhaps Bai Shiqi is coming back.”

[magpies: signifies happiness in Chinese culture.]

Nobody knew when Yu Ang came, but he stood at the door of the room with a gloomy expression: “Those were two crows.”

He had been in a very bad mood recently. He had recovered from his injuries, and went to the street often to get a lot of news, but none of the news were related to him. He was said to be dead, and the officials of Lianghuai were solemn on the outside. They even held a funeral for him, and set up a cenotaph— In any case, even though the person is already dead, and the bones cannot be found, putting on an appearance could never go wrong.

The officials of Lianghuai did this as a show for The Holy Emperor in the capital, while the Yu family also set up another cenotaph in the capital to commemorate him.

Every time Yu Ang thought about this, he felt depressed and his mood got worse. So he ran to vent at Shu Changfeng early in the morning.

Zhao Wujiu did not bother to mediate them either. He was in the middle of washing for breakfast when someone rushed in to report the news: “Young Leader Bai is back!”

“Shiqi is back?” Zhao Wujiu was overjoyed: “Quickly, push the wheelchair over!” He wanted to meet Bai Shiqi at the entrance of the courtyard.

The person who reported the news looked solemn and stopped talking: “Young Leader Bai, he… .”

Zhao Wujiu smiled and said: “Is he being naughty and bringing back another little lady?”

The reporter: “It’s not a little lady. He brought back some accomplices of the pirates who are all tied up…” And his unconscious self.