Chapter 35

Chapter 35

There were no Horse Bandits left inside the town. All that remained was to head to the exits outside town and deal with the few Horse Bandits keeping watch there.

“Mo’er, this is the prescription. Take your sister to get the medicine. Leave the rest to me. Once you’ve bought the herbs, send them back at once.”

Xiao Che handed the prescription to Xiao Jingmo, then stuffed all the gold beans he had on him into his hand.

Xiao Jingmo remembered seeing an apothecary on the way here and was about to head over when Jin Bao tugged him back.

“Second Brother, Baby knows where the medicine is.”

The reason Jin Bao had been able to lure over so many wild dogs earlier was because an old physician had given her a certain powder. The powder could drive wild dogs mad and make them bite people.

It had happened while Jin Bao was leading those two men around in circles. She had darted into a dead-end alley, then had a sudden idea and climbed up onto a nearby residence. Unexpectedly, the house had long fallen into disrepair. Her foot went straight through, and she dropped from the roof, landing right on someone’s bed.

There were people hiding under the bed. When they heard the noise, they were scared half to death, thinking the Horse Bandits had come to tear their home apart. They huddled beneath the bed, not daring to move. It was not until Jin Bao climbed down from the bed that the person realized she was only a little child and crawled out.

The owner of the house happened to be an old physician. When he heard Jin Bao say that her daddy was killing the Horse Bandits, he immediately thought of a family in town that raised dogs specifically to supply wealthy households with dog-meat hotpot. So he gave Jin Bao a pouch of medicinal powder. As long as she sprinkled the powder into the dogs’ kennels and opened the gate, the dogs would go mad and bite people everywhere.

The old physician had never expected Jin Bao to go by herself. He had told her the method because he wanted her to relay it to the adults.

These common folk had no weapons in their hands. Forget killing people; some of them had never even killed a chicken. If they went, they would not be able to help and would only get in the way.

All they could do was think of other ways to contribute.

He was a physician, and there were only so many methods he could come up with.

Either use medicine to poison the Horse Bandits, but that required the bandits to eat something first, or use medicine to control something else and make it attack the Horse Bandits.

And so there came the sight of Jin Bao being chased wildly by a pack of rabid dogs.

Before going to look for Xiao Jingmo, Jin Bao had already tested it. She lured the wild dogs over to the two Horse Bandits, and in an instant, those two Horse Bandits were torn to pieces by the maddened dogs.

Jin Bao brought Xiao Jingmo to the old physician’s house.

“Old Grandpa, this is my Second Brother. Don’t be scared. The big bad people have all been killed by my daddy and Second Brother. You don’t have to hide anymore.”

Jin Bao had brought such wonderful news that the old physician and his wife were overjoyed. They immediately tried to kneel to the two of them.

“Elders, please don’t.”

Xiao Jingmo quickly supported the old couple and then explained why they had come.

To his surprise, the old physician’s eyes reddened after listening.

“By rights, our benefactors saved our entire town, and I ought to give you these medicines for free.

“It’s just that my shop was seized by my adopted son and his family. They won’t allow the two of us old folks inside. I don’t even know how they are now.”

Only then did Xiao Jingmo learn that the old man had picked up a child twenty years ago. Since he and his wife had never had children, they treated the child as their own and even passed on everything he had learned in his lifetime without holding anything back. Who would have thought they would raise an ingrate?

After the child’s biological parents came looking for him, they conspired together to force the adoptive parents out, seized the ancestral home, and drove the old couple into this rundown house.

No wonder Jin Bao’s foot had gone through the roof. It seemed no one had repaired this house in years.

Thinking of the only shop on the main street, Jin Bao’s tightly clenched little fists slowly loosened, and her mood eased. She had seen it in the vision: everyone in that shop, young and old, had been killed by the bandits. Not a single one had survived.

When the old physician heard this news, for a moment he did not know whether to rejoice or grieve.

After all, that was a child he had spent decades of effort raising.

He was an ingrate, and ending up like this could be called deserved, even satisfying. But human hearts were made of flesh.

A faint trace of sorrow still lingered in the old physician’s heart. His wife, however, clapped her hands in delight.

“Serves him right! Even the heavens couldn’t stand that ungrateful beast’s behavior. We couldn’t punish them, but didn’t Heaven take care of them for us?”

Then again, if not for their adopted son’s conduct, the old couple might very well have died in that shop too.

It could only be said that this was truly Heaven’s will. In the unseen, everything had its arrangement.

The old physician could not help them himself, but he was acquainted with another physician and led the two of them to a different apothecary.

It was the other one from Jin Bao’s vision.

This time, they successfully obtained the medicines they needed. Seeing that Xiao Jingmo’s prescription was mostly for treating external injuries, and moved by gratitude for their righteous deed, the physician voluntarily gifted them ten boxes of wound salve and a hundred-year-old ginseng root as well.
Xiao Jingmo looked down at the medicine in his hands, and at last understood why his father cared so deeply for the common people.

They were worth it. They knew gratitude, and they carried righteousness in their hearts. For the first time, Xiao Jingmo felt the sincerity of being repaid by the common folk. They were the most endearing people of all.

After bidding farewell to the doctor, Xiao Jingmo immediately took the supplies back to the secret chamber.

It was not until the first pale light of dawn that Xiao Che returned.

“Husband, how did it go? Are you hurt?”

Pei Wanqing had worried the entire night. Only now could she finally breathe easy.

Xiao Che took his wife’s hand, and the two walked in side by side.

“I’m fine. All the Horse Bandits have been wiped out. I went to check the damage in town. This time, thirty percent of the people were either killed or injured. The wealthy households on the eastern side of town suffered the worst. Only Wang the Rich’s household survived.”

When everyone heard this, they all fell silent.

Xiao Jinghao suddenly sighed. “Looks like it’s better not to divide places into territories after all.

“They copied the capital’s way of doing things and split one town into ranks and classes.

“Well, now look. The Horse Bandits killed the rich first, and wiped them all out in one go.

“The poorest people were the ones who survived instead.

“So what if they had money?

“If the people are gone, there’s no one left to spend it.”

Hearing Xiao Jinghao’s words, Xiao Jingmo’s lips curved. “Third Brother, what you said does make some sense. But from ancient times to now, have you ever seen a rich man willingly lower his status and mingle with poor commoners?”

Xiao Jinghao snorted. “Everyone talks about scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. They’re mere merchants, yet they still look down on farmers. They eat the food the common people grow while trampling on the dignity of those same people. They are worse than pigs and dogs.”

“The order of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants comes from Confucian thought. The grain farmers grow is the pillar of the nation. Only with enough food can the foundation of the state remain stable. That is why agriculture was valued and commerce suppressed.”

Xiao Jingmo had intended to explain it properly to Xiao Jinghao, using the chance to let his younger brother learn a little more history.

“That’s enough. You’re getting off topic.”

Xiao Che coughed once, and everyone immediately fell quiet.

But Xiao Jingmo kept turning Xiao Jinghao’s words over in his mind. It seemed this third brother of his had grown.

Lu Shuangshuang fed medicine to the two officers, while Xiao Che and Xiao Jingmo each applied medicine to one of them.

After working through the night, no one had closed their eyes. Now that drowsiness washed over them, they left the secret chamber and each found a room in the residence to rest.

They slept until sunset clouds filled the sky.

Zhu Laosan thought he was dead. Weakly, he lifted an arm and tugged at his wound, only to find that it still hurt.

He looked around the room and found the surroundings completely unfamiliar. There was also someone slumped over the corner of the bed.

As soon as he moved, the person at the bedside woke as well.

“Officer, you’re awake.”

Xiao Jingmo rubbed his eyes and sat up straight.

“What happened to me?”

Xiao Jingmo then told him everything: how they had saved him and how they had saved all the people in town.

This merit was more than enough to make the road ahead easier for his family.

He was no fool. If he could win benefits for his family, he absolutely would not let someone else take the credit.

This was one point where he could not learn from his father. Xiao Che had instructed Xiao Jingmo not to say too much, but Xiao Jingmo felt he could not afford to say too little.

And as for Xiao Che’s leg ailment having healed, he had already found an excuse for that too. The timing had not been right before, but now it was perfect.

“So your father’s leg ailment has already healed?”

Zhu Laosan suddenly remembered the figure he had seen through his haze. No wonder it had looked so familiar. Now everything matched up. It had been Xiao Che.

“That’s right. Aunt Lu is a doctor, and she has been secretly treating my father all along the journey.

“Originally, my father hadn’t fully recovered yet, but in order to save you, Officer, he risked crippling both legs again and never once backed down. He snatched you right out from under the Horse Bandits’ blades.”

Zhu Laosan was deeply moved by what he heard. Unfortunately, he had no strength at all and could not get out of bed, so he could not even thank Xiao Che in person.

What delighted him even more was that his younger cousin was still alive.

Just then, the clatter of iron chains came from outside the door. Immediately after, Lu Shuangshuang walked in carrying a bowl of medicine.

“Officer, you’re awake? Time to take your medicine.”

Zhu Laosan’s face was full of gratitude. He reached to his waist, took out a ring of keys, and handed it to Xiao Jingmo.

“The Second Young Master’s family are the saviors of both Li Si and me.

“From now on, as long as we brothers are here, we will escort the Xiao Family safely to the Northern Frontier.

“Now that we’re already far from the capital, you can remove all the shackles. None of you will need to wear them again.”

The corners of Xiao Jingmo’s lips lifted.

His plan had worked.