Chapter 80
Chapter 80
Song Jin crossed his arms and drawled with a wicked grin, “Well, would you look at that. Seems even children agree our Young Master is frail.”
Ji Yan’an shot him a glance. “You’ve been talking more and more lately.”
Song Jin curled his lip.
Leaning against a pillar, he looked toward the treasures inside the storeroom.
Yes, he had been talking more and more.
He had never been like this back when he was at Aluye’s side.
Perhaps it was because, at his core, he was still a man of the Central Plains after all.
Once the huge vat was moved aside, the hidden chamber beneath it was exposed.
Nanmo jumped down at once. He casually picked up a small chest and opened it. Inside was a box full of gold ingots, stacked in neat rows.
Of course, this small chest couldn’t compare to the large boxes that held silver.
He opened another. It was filled with South Sea pearls of every color, each one large and perfectly round.
Another one opened-top-grade tea leaves.
Another-an entire chest of exquisite mutton-fat jade.
Nanmo: “…”
That rat of a Second Leader really had been hoarding all the good stuff.
The others saw it too, and their contempt for the Second Leader instantly rose.
Of course, they were even more contemptuous of the Chief Bandit.
Song Jin said, “That Chief Bandit really was all brawn and no brains. So much stuff got stolen right from under his nose, and he didn’t even know.”
Nanmo said, “There’s a secret passage here too.”
Jiang Yunsui said, “Let me see! Hurry, let me see!”
“Catch me, Nanmo!”
With that, she jumped straight down.
Fortunately, Nanmo reacted quickly and caught her.
By the light of the fire striker, Jiang Yunsui could also make out the entrance to the secret passage, which was only the tiniest bit bigger than a dog hole.
She raised her little arms and measured it out. “I can crawl through it. Nanmo, you can’t. You’re too big.”
“Ji Yan’an can crawl through too.”
Ji Yan’an’s voice came from above. “You can crawl through it yourself.”
Thank you very much, but there’s really no need to think of me for everything.
“This Second Leader really was a giant rat, stuffing all the good things into his own pockets. That secret passage probably connects to his room.”
They moved everything in the hidden chamber up above.
“Fan He, count it and record it in the ledger.”
Rewards based on merit could be discussed later.
The items in the storeroom naturally had to be confiscated for public use. Mm, the Ji Family’s public use.
What was the Imperial Court, anyway? Did they deserve for him to hand all this over to them?
These things were meant to support the people under his command. Without money, what was he supposed to use to provide for them?
There was also an iron mine, which would ease a great deal of pressure on him.
“Nanmo, go tell the others that any spoils they took from the bandits don’t need to be turned in.”
Nanmo answered, “Yes.”
For this kind of thing, turning a blind eye was enough. Those people followed him for money and profit. With so many things in the storeroom, if he still demanded everything from them, that would be far too greedy.
There was still plenty to deal with inside the stronghold, so they wouldn’t be able to leave anytime soon.
Jiang Yunsui couldn’t understand what Ji Yan’an and Song Jin were discussing. It was mostly official business. Little Mushroom had originally been sitting obediently beside Ji Yan’an, but in less than a minute, her eyes went blank and dull.
She couldn’t understand any of it. Sitting here was pure torture.
So Little Mushroom decided to slip away.
Mm. She slipped off, and no one even noticed.
Yet she failed to notice that just as she happily bounced to the doorway, Ji Yan’an, who was speaking with Song Jin and the others, lifted his head and glanced at her.
But he did not stop her from leaving.
After Jiang Yunsui walked out the door, she planted her little hands on her hips and felt as if even the air had grown fresher.
She didn’t know where to go, so she simply wandered around.
She took a plum from her little satchel and munched on it with loud crunches.
Right now, almost everyone in the entire stronghold was Ji Yan’an’s people. But there weren’t many of them, so the stronghold felt much emptier and quieter.
“Baa, baa…”
Hm? The sound of a sheep.
Jiang Yunsui’s little feet very smoothly followed the sound and carried her over.
Then she spotted Ji Si and Ji Lu, whom she’d been searching for forever, working hard to toss grass into the sheep pen.
Not far away, two women dressed like village wives were diligently chopping up pig fodder.
“Si Si…”
Jiang Yunsui ran over on her little short legs.
“Why are you here? Is this some new activity? I want to try too.”
Ji Si said, “No.”
Ji Lu wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Oh, Little Ancestor, this isn’t an activity. We’re short on hands, so we’re busy feeding the sheep and pigs.”
Who would have thought there were so many pigs and sheep being raised in the back mountain of this stronghold?
Everyone in the stronghold, young and old, had been captured. Once mealtime came, those pigs and sheep started howling from hunger.
The Yaoguang Guard were busy, so the two of them had been unlucky enough to get hauled in as temporary labor to feed the pigs and sheep.
The pigs’ food had to be cooked. They wouldn’t really eat it raw, so two women who knew how to raise pigs had been let out.
“The pig feed is ready too. Hurry up and feed them. Once you’re done, leave at once.”
The two of them truly had never done this sort of thing before.
They carried the pig feed in buckets into the pigpen.
Neither of them noticed Jiang Yunsui curiously following them inside.
Curious Little Mushroom simply had to poke her nose into every bit of excitement.
And then a pig rammed her.
Ji Si and Ji Lu were pouring feed into the trough when they suddenly heard a familiar scream.
They turned their heads and saw Jiang Yunsui being lifted up by a huge fat pig. Her tiny body was riding on the big plump pig’s face, and in her fright, both her hands had grabbed hold of the pig’s large ears.
“Oink, oink, oink…”
With its vision blocked, the pig began charging around wildly, then ran out of the pigpen.
Ji Lu said, “Oh no, the pigpen gate wasn’t shut!”
Ji Si had already chased after it.
Behind him, Ji Lu slapped his thigh. “Just my luck! How does every unlucky thing everywhere manage to happen to her?!”
“Wait for me.”
He hurriedly chased after them too.
Jiang Yunsui cried, “Aaaah! Help! Put me down!”
“Oink, oink, oink…”
The pig might have been fat, but when those four sturdy legs started running, it was genuinely fast.
It was also rampaging left and right, so Ji Si couldn’t catch up for a while.
No one knew whether the pig counted as lucky or not. It didn’t crash into anything along the way, but it carried Jiang Yunsui on a wild sprint all the way to the front of the stronghold.
“What the-what just ran past?”
The patrolling Yaoguang Guard only saw a black blur rush by.
On the verge of collapse, Jiang Yunsui shouted, “Stop running! If you stop running, I can get down!”
But the pig couldn’t understand her.
Ji Si also shot past the Yaoguang Guard with a whoosh.
The Yaoguang Guard looked at one another. “That seemed to be the kid.”
“Was that a pig? Why is she riding a pig all over the place?”
At that moment, Jiang Yunsui didn’t dare let go at all. She was afraid that if she loosened her grip and fell to the ground, the huge fat pig would trample right over her.
Wouldn’t that be the end of her?
“Si Si, hurry! Save me! QAQ”
How was she this unlucky? They had all gone in together, and she hadn’t even done anything, so why did the pig have to ram her?!
Ji Lu said, “Oh no, it’s going to crash into the wall!”
His gaze swept around, and when he spotted a rope, he quickly picked it up and threw it toward Ji Si.
“Ji Si, catch!”
Ji Si glanced back, raised his hand to catch it, then flicked the rope in his hand. It flew nimbly toward Jiang Yunsui.
In the instant before she was about to hit the wall, the rope wrapped around Jiang Yunsui and pulled her over.
Boom…
At the same time, the pig crashed into a wall, and the wall collapsed.
Covered in dust and dirt, Jiang Yunsui was pulled into Ji Si’s arms.
“Cough, cough, cough… So much dust.”
Ji Lu let out a shrill, explosive cry. “Master!!!”
The room on the other side of the collapsed wall was precisely the room where Ji Yan’an and the others were holding their meeting.
Jiang Yunsui’s expression went blank. Had she gotten into trouble again?