Rebirth of a Star General 102
Riding the Wind
In the deserted courtyard, there were countless skeletons hidden under the mud.
Song Taotao didn’t dare to give a second look and turned away. She was inexplicably frightened.
When the last corpse was moved out, there was almost no leftover space remaining in the entire yard. Even the red-armored soldier in Xialing County who has seen countless miserable scenes, couldn’t help but feel chills in their hearts after seeing this.
“This…this…” Yuan Baozhen was also speechless.
“What does Lord Yuan want to say?” Xiao Jue said slowly, “Or is it still a misunderstanding in the Lord’s mind?”
“How could it be a misunderstanding?” Before Yuan Baozhen could speak, He Yan said, “This is Sun Zhixian’s own house. If someone is burying female bodies here without telling Sun Zhixian, it’s okay to say that a person could hide this one or two times. But tens or even hundreds of them are buried here like this. No wonder the assassins got in so easily. The gate of the Sun mansion is probably made of paper. Even the guards of the Sun family are all deaf and blind.”
Sun Xiangfu was sweating like rain. He didn’t know how Xiao Jue learned about this hidden crime. He gritted his teeth for a moment and argued, “These are just the family servants who committed crimes and were buried here after being beaten to death. This…all big families often do this.”
He Yan sneered, “I also come from a big family, and the ones I have seen do not have as cruel behavior as you. If these are the servants who’d committed crimes, I would bother to ask Master Sun to show their wrong deeds. I think it would be probably recorded somewhere on what they did wrong and were punished to death. Besides, the corpses on the ground are all women… Master Sun, are these all maids from your mansion? You are a seven-rank magistrate, with hundreds of maids in the mansion, you really are more powerful than His Majesty!” At the end of her words, her eyes turned sharp and her tone became stern, making it difficult for people to retort.
As soon as these words came out, Sun Xiangfu knelt down and cried out loudly, “No! No! This official is wronged! This official is wronged!” He repeated these few words back and forth, but he couldn’t tell why he was being wronged and was already in a dire state.
He Yan’s anger didn’t subside. She felt that the person in front of her was really hateful. When she fought Ding Yi last night, Ding Yi once said that every Buddha statue in the house was a dead person. She initially thought it was only a joke Ding Yi said to frighten her, but now it seems to be true. How ridiculous?
The Sun father and son did a lot of evil in Liangzhou and abducted countless women. Anyone who showed the slightest disobedience, or if they simply got tired of those women, they would take their lives easily. Those who were buried in the backyard of the Sun family are considered fortunate, at least they had their whole bodies. Who knows if there were more pitiful people who were thrown into mass graves after they died, and even got their corpses eaten up by the wolves, leaving no trace of their bodies.
How arrogant and inhuman this is!
Song Taotao’s heart was filled with chills. If she hadn’t met He Yan that night, would she be like these women, becoming dirt, buried in the dark and rotting underground?
Her eyes were red, and she said in hatred, “It’s too disgusting. We must avenge these girls!” As soon as she finished speaking, she felt that her arm was poked by someone, and she turned sideways to look and found that He Yan was winking at her, motioning her to look at Yuan Baozhen.
In an instant, Song Taotao understood what she meant, and then shouted to Yuan Baozhen, “Uncle Yuan, I have suffered such a serious crime this time. The only person who I trust here is you. You have to be the judge for me! “
Song Taotao’s father was once Yuan Baozhen’s boss. Yuan Baozhen prided himself for being close to the Song family. It was naturally impossible for him to ignore Song Taotao’s words, so he wiped his sweat and said with a smile, “That’s natural.”
“General, this corpse is a little different.” A red armored soldier said.
He squatted down, picked up a handkerchief to wipe the face of the body clean, revealing the face. Among the female corpses, this body was the only male. He looked like it was not long after his death. He had an expression as if he was horrified.
“Tsk,” spoke Xiao Jue. He stood still and said slowly, “It seems that Lord Yuan’s guard has been found.”
The male corpse that was dug up was none other than Ding Yi, whom Yuan Baozhen could not find in the early morning.
He Yan, “…”
After killing Ding Yi last night, she didn’t even bother to collect Ding Yi’s body and just left. It was just that later Xiao Jue discovered her identity and talked about Ding Yi’s death. She thought that this was probably done by Xiao Jue’s men — dragging Ding Yi out and burying him here, only to dig him out in front of Yuan Baozhen. At this moment, He Yan had a trace of sympathy for Yuan Baozhen.
Yuan Baozhen’s lips trembled, and he was speechless for a while.
“The county guards are loyal and righteous and have found many female corpses hidden in the backyard of Sun’s house. They are most probably buried in the ground by Sun Family.” Xiao Jue looked at him with a smirk, “Lord Yuan, don’t you feel pity for your guard who died in vain?”
“You bullshit!” Sun Ling roared and stood up, but was pinned down by the soldier beside him. He still struggled unwillingly and shouted, “I didn’t kill him! This is slander! I don’t know why he is here, I did not kill him—”
His voice was hoarse from shouting, and it sounded particularly shrill in the quiet yard. Xiao Jue frowned and said indifferently, “Block his mouth.”
The soldiers took rags and stuffed them into Sun Ling and Sun Xiangfu’s mouths. At this moment, they could only whimper and whine.
“Lord Yuan,” Xiao Jue looked at him with a faint smile, “What are your plans?”
Yuan Baozhen’s heart was filled with hatred, as he knew that Ding Yi could never be killed by Sun Xiangfu’s men. The man in front of him already knew everything, but he was unable to refute, so he had to squeeze a few words from his teeth, “I request the General for advice.”
“Sun Xiangfu and his son are overbearing in power, greedy and tyrannical. They going around scraping people’s wealth, food, and livestock. They abduct the innocent daughters that caused this scatter of corpses.” He said, “For such a vicious and extremely evil person, Lord Yuan as an imperial envoy, you should be responsible for investigation and correction. This matter should not be tolerated. I have informed the county governor of Xialing County about this matter and will report this matter to the Emperor together with Lord Yuan. As for Lord Yuan,” he stared at Yuan Baozhen with a hint of ridicule, “whether it’s an open verdict or secret impeachment, it’s not for me to intervene.”
Yuan Baozhen almost couldn’t catch his breath.
He clearly said that “it’s not for me to intervene”, but this matter has been dominated by him from the beginning to the end. Even though Yuan Baozhen wanted to do something, Xialing County has already been informed and he couldn’t avoid it. The recommender of Sun Xiangfu and his son was Minister Xu’s protege. Minister Xu’s proteges were all over the Great Wei, but for the Prefect of Liangzhou, it was Minister Xu who had lost face, and, in order to avoid suspicion, the new magistrate would never be Minister Xu’s men.
Minister Xu completely lost control of Liangzhou. Now, how could he trouble Xiao Jue?!
Once he returns to Shuojing this time, Minister Xu will not spare him. Yuan Baozhen felt hopeless.
Xiao Jue turned to look at the maidservant who was shivering on the side and said calmly, “Say what you know. It will save you from serious crimes.”
This was to ask the subordinates of Sun Mansion to expose the sins of Sun Xiangfu and his son.
The family’s servants were still a little hesitant, afraid that Sun Xiangfu and his son may escape from the predicament and return to retaliate. Instead, the maids were overjoyed and stepped forward to answer. As a woman in Sun’s house, there was no way out. Even if you are beautiful, talented, and gentle, the best thing was to be given to your master as a gift or perhaps a few more years to live. More often, they were killed by father and son after they get tired of playing with them, turning into a handful of mud.
Women lived here as if they were in prison, not knowing when the day of execution will come. Suddenly, there was a glimmer of life, and they couldn’t wait for Sun Xiangfu and his son to die immediately. There was no room for turning back. Therefore, everyone exposed the sins committed by the Sun family, making the people listening shudder, only to feel such a ruthless person should be taken to hell, and suffer God’s wrath.
Fei Nu and the head soldier of Xialing County recorded the sins while Sun Xiangfu and his son were dragged out. Then, Xiao Jue turned and walked out.
Yuan Baozhen was still frozen in place. He suddenly encountered such a mess and had no one to discuss it with. His thoughts were confused for a while, and when he was at a loss, he saw the person that made him grit his teeth and walked calmly.
The moment he passed by, Xiao Jue stopped suddenly, the young General bent his lips and whispered in a voice that only two of them could hear, “Lord Yuan wants my life, but I hope you remain alive. Keeping you alive would make Xu Jingfu more uncomfortable than if you are dead.”
He stood up straight again, smirked, and said calmly, “When you return to Shuojing, please send my greetings to Minister Xu. Lord Yuan, I wish you a smooth journey.”
After that, he turned and left.
Behind him, someone exclaimed, “Lord Yuan! What happened to Lord Yuan? Lord Yuan?”
Yuan Baozhen fainted. He Yan looked back, Xiao Jue’s figure disappeared beyond the flower wall, and no trace was seen again.
This matter… was so far settled.
…
The prefectural house was sealed up by soldiers from Xialing County. The original magnificent house was now covered with seals, and lanterns were torn in a mess. The place looked depraved. Song Taotao saw many female corpses in the yard and felt very unwell. After He Yan comforted her for a long time, she finally calmed down. When Song Taotao felt some sleepiness, she laid down to take a nap, He Yan greeted the Chi Wu who was protecting Song Taotao and went to Xiao Jue.
She still has some doubts that were not cleared.
Xiao Jue was talking with Fei Nu.
Sun Xiangfu and his son had committed countless evils, and the maidservants had exposed them one after another. It was unnecessary to count them all. The sins they committed were enough to die more than ten times. Such heinous acts were rare in the entire Wei.
Cruel people having power, for ordinary people, is tantamount to annihilation. Jackals, tigers, and leopards may be terrible, but they are not as vicious as a human heart.
“Uncle!” He Yan shouted while standing at the door.
The conversation between Xiao Jue and Fei Nu came to an abrupt end, He Yan walked in, and Xiao Jue raised his eyebrows, “Still calling me uncle?”
He Yan, “…General.”
He said it as if I like to call him uncle. It was obvious that she was the one being taken advantage of and was unwilling.
“You aren’t accompanying Miss Song? What are you looking me for?” he asked.
He Yan hesitated and asked, “Why did you spare Yuan Baozhen when you dealt with the Sun family and his son today? You already know that Yuan Baozhen is the one who wants to kill you.”
The father and son of the Sun family are indeed hateful, and even death is not enough for them, but after all, the person who attempted to assassinate Xiao Jue at the banquet was the Imperial Envoy, Yuan Baozhen. Ding Yi was dead, but Yuan Baozhen could still return to Shuojing alive. Why would Xiao Jue be so kind?
“I won’t kill him here because he will die once he returns to Shuojing.” Xiao Jue looked out the window, “Sooner or later, it’s just a matter of time.”
“Where are the others?” He Yan asked, “The Sun family and his sons in Liangzhou city can cover the sky with one hand. There must be some accomplices.” Sun Xiangfu’s supporters were still entrenched in Liangzhou. Why didn’t he catch them all at once?
Xiao Jue, “If the water is clear, there will be no fish. Miss He, you are too naive.”
Fei Nu stood silently aside as if he hadn’t heard the conversation between the two of them. The trees outside the window grow lush, and such a gorgeous house, who knew that so many sins would be buried here.
In fact, Xiao Jue’s goal has never been Yuan Baozhen.
The banquet in the Sun Palace was an ill-intentioned banquet, and he had known it a long time ago. The appearance of Yuan Baozhen was for sure for assassination, and he was also aware of it from long ago. He came to Liangzhou City this time not to participate in a cat-and-mouse game, but to hold this Liangzhou City within his palm.
Leading the recruits to Liangzhou garrison was to temporarily avoid the edge and avoid Xu Jingfu’s eyes and ears. But that old dog Xu’s proteges were all over Wei, and the wind of selling official titles was prevalent throughout the country. Sun Xiangfu of Liangzhouwei was also one of them. Yuan Baozhen came by Xu Jingfu’s order. So that he could kill Xiao Jue as his superior, but if he was unable to, he could join hands secretly with Sun Xiangfu, as Sun Xiangfu directly took orders from Shoujing. It would be easy to make ambushes with Liangzhou Guardian.
Even if the fly can’t kill the giant elephant, it will be irritating if it keeps being noisy in the ear.
On the night of the banquet, He Yan became “blind”. In the next few days, Xiao Jue disappeared. Everyone thought he was out of the house. Ding Yi followed him. In fact, Ding Yi was following Fei Nu who was in disguise. Xiao Jue has always been in Sun’s Mansion.
Sun Xiangfu did a lot of evil and had many contacts with many big households in Liangzhou. The big households “gifted” gold and silver with Sun Xiangfu and Sun Xiangfu guaranteed them “ease” in Liangzhou City. He also took care of his superiors and subordinates, and all the things he received or gave out were all recorded in the account books.
Xiao Jue found the account books and stole them. In which, he also had other discoveries.
There were countless girls who Sun Ling killed over the years, and all of them have been thrown into mass graves. In the past two years, likely because they had done too many evil deeds and had ghosts in their heart, and they suffered from frequent nightmares. The Sun family invited the Taoist priests to come and see them. They said that they would bury the woman who died in Sun Ling’s hands in the northwest and use the Buddha statue to suppress them.
So that was why there was the corpse mountain and the Buddha statues in the backyard.
Xiao Jue originally planned to use Song Taotao to punish the sins of the Sun family and his son. With this discovery, even if Xu Jingfu or his people came to protect Sun Xiangfu, he would be helpless.
The first few days were spent identifying the people associated and, searching the account books, and the last day was the real deal, and he did nothing much. He picked a few people on the account books and listed the relevant ones in the booklet one by one. The record was copied and distributed to each mansion.
The handles of the giant gentry of the merchants in Liangzhou City were already in his hands. In the future, whoever the new prefect of Liangzhou is, whether it is Xu Jingfu’s man, will be helpless.
Liangzhou City, from today, was his.
The thing about Yuan Baozhen was that he miscalculated his direction. The assassination at the banquet was never taken seriously by Xiao Jue. What he wanted has always been Liangzhou City.
It was just a mistake, that He Yan’s appearance and weirdness attracted all the attention of Yuan Baozhen. In a certain way, He Yan has also become a bait, but this bait has a hook on it and opened the mouth of the prey who was following the taste, and things went so smoothly.
When he was silent, He Yan was also thinking.
Xiao Jue had already expected what happened today. She asked, “The reason why you let Yuan Baozhen go is so that he will be abandoned and punished by his master since he messed up this errand, and his master is Minister Xu.” She paused and asked, “Minister Xu, is it…? Is it the current prime minister Xu Jingfu?”
As soon as these words came out, even Fei Nu couldn’t help but glance at He Yan in surprise.
She actually said it so directly. The meaning of what she said hinted that she didn’t know Xu Jingfu. But who knew if she was lying?
“Miss He cares about the court matters so much. Does your father know that?” Xiao Jue said calmly.
When he answered that, He Yan knew that Minister Xu in Yuan Baozhen’s mouth was really Xu Jingfu.
“Although my dad is only the captain of the city gate now, Minister Xu is the current prime minister. It seems like a difference between the sky and the ground, but the general also knows that he should not bully the young and poor. I am sixteen this year and have beaten Liangzhou guards, and there is no rival yet,” she said without shame, “In the future, I can’t say for sure if I’ll be able to do meritorious deeds. But I may become an official higher than the General. What is Minister Xu? I also have a brother who is younger than me. To speak clearly we are like the rising sun, while he only has a few years left. When my brother and I grow up to the age of the General’s, who knows if there would be still a Minister Xu in the world?”
Fei Nu coughed and choked.
Based on He Yan’s words, in all likelihood, she is not Xu Jingfu’s person. How could Xu Jingfu tolerate such a treacherous thing as his underling? If He Yan could live till now, it’s probably all luck.
Xiao Jue chuckled when he heard the words, “You don’t know whether you will live or die like this. You may not live as long as Xu Jingfu.”
He Yan said in her heart that Xiao Jue had guessed wrong, she has already lived one more life than Xu Jingfu, and it’s clear who has lived more.
“The General does not need to be so guarded against me,” He Yan looked at him, “I have the same enemy as you.”
“Who knows,” he said indifferently, “Xu Jingfu would also bother to have an entanglement with a city gate captain.”
“The captain of the city gate naturally can’t climb up to Minister Xu, but the dog bit someone, and the master should also be held accountable.” He Yan sighed, “My enemy is Minister Xu’s subordinate, and it can actually be regarded as Minister Xu himself. She laughed, “I have the same enemy as the General. We should be friends. The General doubts me over and over again, which makes me very sad.”
Xiao Jue glanced at her, her appearance was not half sad.
“Then, you will always be disappointed,” he said, “I don’t make friends, let alone making friends with crooks.”
He Yan, “…”
This man is very good at arguments and is as stubborn as mule! He Yan was really itching to spite out her anger on him.
“The General,” He Yan held back her anger and asked, “What about the corpses in the courtyard of the Sun Mansion?”
Those corpses have been indistinguishable for a long time, only bones were left, and some could still be seen. It was not a solution to pile all of them in Sun’s Mansion.
Xiao Jue looked at the tree outside the window, and the shadow of the tree shook slightly. After a while, he said to Fei Nu, “Notify the people in the city to come and identify the corpses.”
…
The people of Liangzhou City learned that the General of the Right Army had led people to seal the gate of the Sun Mansion and detained the Sun father and son. Everyone clapped their hands and cheered. The more daring one, ran to the door of Sun’s house to spit and yell. The less daring stood timidly not far away. When the soldiers passed by, they pulled a person and asked cautiously, “This military master, was Sun Zhixian really…really caught?”
Liangzhou has been in the dark for so many years, and finally, it’s dawn.
It was always a good thing for the Sun family to confess their guilt. The prefects were crying loudly, and those who had lost girls in their homes, or knew that their daughters had been taken away but were powerless, came to the house to identify the dead after hearing the news.
The women’s bodies were laid out in the courtyard, filling the three courtyards. Although it was autumn, it still smelled strange. He Yan followed Fei Nu and saw a mother who was held by a girl looking for her daughter who was missing for three years among the corpses, and a young man dressed as a scholar holding his wife who was taken away on the wedding night bawling and crying.
He Yan saw a dark man in a white cloth coat holding a female corpse and sobbing, “Sister, Sister! Brother is here, Brother will take you home…” The voice was so sorrowful that it brought listeners to tear up.
The little girl in his arms was small, not more than twelve or thirteen years old, and still a child. If the child is mischievous at home, at this age, she would still like to catch and fight crickets. Now that small body was curled up into a ball, no longer reflecting the lively figure of the past — a flower withered before it even bloomed.
He Yan raised her head to look at the sky, feeling that a cry almost broke through the sky. There was nothing more tragic in the world than this.
Fei Nu looked at her with some surprise.
Girls are soft-hearted, so it was hard to see such a scene, just like Song Taotao, who was already hidden in the house and couldn’t bear to look again. He Yan stood here with sadness in her eyes, but she didn’t cry at all.
He Yan had seen too much farewell in life and death. How many men on the battlefield were the eldest son of the family when they went out, and the husband of a wife, and when they came back, they became shovelful ash. People lived in the world, and sorrows and joys are indispensable.
These girls were bullied when they were alive and imprisoned when they died. They had a miserable life. Now, they were finally free and returned to the embrace of their families. Their family would always remember them and mourn or shed tears for their experience.
What about her?
He Yan wondered in a daze, is there such a person who would cry for her death, who will miss her when she isn’t there, and feel the hurt from her pain? The family of her previous life personally sent her to the grave, and even if she wasn’t dead, she was being used. Was there even a moment when she got the sincerity of her family?
“Young Master.” Fei Nu’s voice interrupted He Yan’s thoughts, and she turned her head to see that Xiao Jue came out at some point.
He asked, “Are all the corpses recognized by their family members?”
Fei Nu shook his head, “There are still 23 unclaimed.”
Some of the girls who were taken captive to the Sun’s house were not from Liangzhou, like Song Taotao. Once they are separated from their families, it was like a farewell of forever.
“Bury them.”
He Yan was startled and raised her eyes to look at Xiao Jue.
He was standing like a jade, in the desolate courtyard, like the autumn sword hanging around his waist, sharp, calm, and reassuring.
“Master, bury where?” Fei Nu asked.
“Outside Liangzhou city, there is a peak platform called Chengfeng.” Xiao Jue looked into the distance and seemed to see something else through the branches in the courtyard. His expression was calm and his tone was indifferent, but within that indifference, there was a trace of compassion that was not easily detectable. He said, “These women couldn’t help themselves before they were alive, like a caged bird or a ponded fish. By burying them there, I hope that they will be free to ride in the winds in the next life and yell at the lakes and mountains to their heart’s content.” 1
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