Chapter 105: Fawning’s Second Use
“You were brought by the Dragon Terrace Guard, so your identity is naturally a mystery.”
“No, you must help me. If you don’t help me, I’ll report you all, and we’ll all die together.”
It was obvious that Zhang Min was panicking. Although she knew that this booklet she had fabricated herself would have no effect on the Dragon Terrace Guard, once she was listed in another booklet, she panicked uncontrollably.
To the people in the Royal Hunting Ground, the Dragon Terrace Guard were like aliens, because they simply ignored the people here. As long as no one ran away, they would not interfere with each other.
Yun Ce personally made the best roast suckling pig, the most delicious braised pork, steamed fish, baby beans stuffed with filling, steamed white rice slightly crispy with potba, and a large pot of delicious spring wild vegetable soup. He sent the six most beautiful women that Old Cao could find to deliver them.
In the end, before they even got close, one of them shaved off the hair of the most beautiful woman with a knife. As for those foods, those goldware holding the food, they didn’t even bother to glance at them.
Although it failed, whether Yun Ce, Old Cao, Old Zhao, or the others, they all laughed happily, feeling that the group not killing the beauties was already a victory.
“Hehehe, I saw him swallowing saliva. No one can remain unmoved by the food I made myself.”
“Hahaha, he shaved off the hair on Beauty Ji’s crown, but when Beauty Ji was so scared she fell to the ground, there was a moment of reluctance in his eyes.”
“Hehehe, although there are many things in this world more precious than gold, the most bewitching to the human heart is still gold. When the goldware fell to the ground, that guy seemed to finally realize it was gold.”
1 “What’s next?”
1 “The Dragon Terrace Guard lords are upright and incorruptible, unmoved by external things. Old Liu, continue sending your food, but this time there will be no beauties or goldware. Send a few clean and neat servants instead.”
1 “They don’t want beauties or gold, this…”
1 “Old Liu, although you are a good candidate for being an official, you are still too young. Watch them, this time they still won’t eat, next time we can only send dry rations.”
1 Cong Prefecture’s thirty thousand soldiers wanting to come over would take at least two months. In these two months, I don’t believe they can sustain themselves on their carried dry rations every day for two months?
1 I also heard that those who can become Dragon Terrace Guard are all scions of nobility. Before entering the Dragon Terrace Guard, they lived in luxury. After entering the Dragon Terrace Guard, looking at their current inhuman and aloof demeanor, their superiors probably never treated them as humans during training. What we need to do is gradually awaken the memories of these pampered noble sons.
1 Yun Ce nodded repeatedly, feeling that what Old Cao said was very right.
1 “You actually dare to calculate against the Dragon Terrace Guard?” Although Zhang Min shouted, she seemed utterly collapsed.
1 “How are we calculating against the Dragon Terrace Guard? They are all Great Han soldiers, defending the country day in and day out. Look at what they’ve been doing lately—clearing rebels, searching everywhere for villains, and even catching Doggy to feed so many people. You don’t feel sorry for them, but we do.”
1 Old Zhao scolded Zhang Min. This guy was already a bit advanced in age, with prematurely graying hair and beard, and quite dignified in appearance. When these words came from his mouth, even Zhang Min felt she might have misunderstood Yun Ce and the others.
2 The Dragon Terrace Guard still did not accept the food sent by Old Qiu and the other older ones on Yun Ce’s orders.
2 So E Ji and An Ji lit a pile of fire in front of the Dragon Terrace Guard. E Ji tore the Yi Tree dough into flatbread shapes and grilled them over the charcoal fire. In a moment, the flatbreads puffed up a lot. While the flatbread was still hot, she threw it to An Ji. At this time, An Ji had already chopped the braised pork into mince, added garlic-flavored herbs, broke open the flatbread, and stuffed the meat mince and garlic-flavored herbs inside together.
2 Then four girls carried baskets to deliver the food to the Dragon Terrace Guard.
2 Seeing a young Dragon Terrace Guard take a flatbread from the basket carried by the girl, Yun Ce and Old Cao high-fived and then turned to busy themselves with other things.
2 Neither Yun Ce nor Old Cao hoped to establish relations with the Dragon Terrace Guard; the risk was too great. As long as this group didn’t hate the people here, that was already the greatest victory.
2 Earlier, the group had discussed and unanimously agreed that Great Han could not possibly kill all the people of an entire prefecture. Even if it was previously a protectorate prefecture, it wouldn’t work. Doing so would shake the world and make everyone live in fear.
2 Since some people in Chuyun Prefecture could live while others must die, what this group needed to do now was to try to leave a good impression on the Dragon Terrace Guard and maximize the hope of survival for the people in the Royal Hunting Ground.
2 As for the real offensive, it would come from the Cong Prefecture army side. If the people here in the Royal Hunting Ground were also on the must-die list, Yun Ce and Old Cao planned to seek a way out from the Cong Prefecture army.
2 As long as the Dragon Terrace Guard still had rules, as long as they adhered to rules, they could not be impeccable.
2 Yun Ce distributed a lot of soap to the refugees who came to the Royal Hunting Ground. Regardless of gender, they bathed, washed clothes, and groomed their hair. Even if they couldn’t dress splendidly, they had to ensure they were proper and clean.
3 Those who often kill people when idle know that killing a disheveled vagrant and killing a cleanly dressed person are two completely different experiences. The former brings almost no guilt, while the latter makes one feel like they just killed a person.
3 The people who survived in Chuyun City were basically either from wealthy households or prominent families, and at worst from official families. After being cleaned up, they all looked quite presentable, and one couldn’t bear to kill them, always feeling they still had some use.
3 After those Dragon Terrace Guard accepted the feeding from E Ji and the others, Yun Ce and Old Cao brought a few officials, holding the just revised roster, and delivered it to their hands.
3 Not a single extra word was said. They each held their hands in front of their lower abdomen, respectfully awaiting instructions.
3 After the leading Dragon Terrace Guard finished reading one volume of the roster, he hesitated but still asked the leading Old Cao: “Chuyun Prefecture Shehuo has not been extinguished, is that true?”
3 Old Cao put on a thoughtful expression. After a moment, he said: “On the morning of the tenth day of Deep Winter Month, it was the time when we Chuyun Prefecture officials performed the grand ritual discussion. University Platform Wu presided over the priest at the time. One hour later, we paid respects to Shehuo, praying for the Ancestral Fire to bless our Chuyun Prefecture with prosperous descendants and thriving industries.”
3 At that time, this official personally saw Shehuo blazing fiercely.
3 The middle-aged Dragon Terrace Guard then said: “After the nineteenth day of Deep Winter Month, has anyone else seen Shehuo?”
3 The older Old Zhao stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said: “On the twenty-first day of Deep Winter Month, this official’s young son had a nocturnal seizure and cried incessantly. On the morning of the twenty-second day of Deep Winter Month, this official took the young son to the Shehuo temple, hoping that passing over Shehuo would drive out the evil spirits in the child’s body.”
3 In the end, University Platform closed the Shehuo temple, barring idle people from entering. This official saw the child convulsing and desperately wanted to enter the Shehuo temple, but was driven out by the Prefectural Office’s servants.
4 Old Zhao spoke with vivid details, and many people had seen it, so such news was easy to verify. That middle-aged Dragon Terrace Guard said: “To your knowledge, after that day, who else has seen Shehuo?”
4 Old Cao stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said: “City Lord Pang Bei, Inspector Han De.”
4 The middle-aged Dragon Terrace Guard said coldly: “Why so certain?”
4 Old Cao said with a pained expression: “From that day on, Chuyun City fell into chaos. This official always thought it was the evil consequence of the ten million tribute not being paid on time, a conflict between the people and the government. In the end, I discovered that the source of the chaos was actually City Lord Pang Bei and Inspector Han De.”
4 The ones truly attacking most fiercely were City Lord Pang Bei and Inspector Han De.
4 At the emotional point, Old Cao knelt down with a thud, cupped his hands toward the middle-aged Dragon Terrace Guard, and said: “These two thieves are the prime culprits behind the chaos and armed fighting in Chuyun City.”
4 They must also be related to the Shehuo case the lord is investigating. Please apprehend these two colleagues early to deliver justice for the hundreds of thousands of wrongfully dead people in Chuyun City.
4 The middle-aged Dragon Terrace Guard did not help Old Cao up, but looked at him coldly and said: “City Lord Pang Bei died in the City Lord’s Mansion. Inspector Han De was decapitated on a rainy night. Shehuo has vanished.”
4 Hearing the Dragon Terrace Guard’s words, not only did Old Cao look terrified, but Yun Ce and the others also paled. Yun Ce hurriedly stepped forward and said: “Shehuo takes root where it lands. I have never heard of anyone being able to move Shehuo.”
4 The middle-aged Dragon Terrace Guard said: “The first rain of Flower Festival Month is the only day in the year when Shehuo can be divided and sent afar.”
5 Old Cao hurriedly said: “Chuyun Prefecture has been abandoned by Great Han, the Ancestral Fire must have abandoned Chuyun Prefecture Shehuo. Once Your Majesty’s decree falls, Chuyun Prefecture is removed from Great Han’s three hundred military prefectures and two hundred protectorate prefectures. Shehuo must be extinguished. This is an unchanging truth for a thousand ages. For the lord to seek Shehuo now, could it be…”
5 “Silence!”
5 The middle-aged Dragon Terrace Guard shouted angrily, and Old Cao immediately shut his mouth, but that face full of confusion made people feel unwilling to see it.
5 Coming out from the Dragon Terrace Guard, Yun Ce looked at Old Cao and the others and said: “Brothers, we are all in this together now. Is there anything else I don’t know among this?”
5 Old Cao shook his head and said: “You’d better not know. This is not a good thing.”
5 Yun Ce nodded upon hearing this and didn’t ask more. He followed Old Cao and the others back to the Hunting Palace to discuss the next steps on how to make the Dragon Terrace Guard confirm they were all ignorant people.
5 “You are the worst people in this world. You have no so-called morals at all. A group of you deceive the Dragon Terrace Guard, you pretend to be ignorant to deceive those people, and the Dragon Terrace Guard deceives you all. Tell me, in this big cycle, is there even one good person?”
5 As soon as it quieted down, Doggy began insulting Yun Ce and the others’ behavior in his mind to the extreme.
5 Yun Ce sighed and comforted Doggy in his mind: “We’re just a group of people trying hard to survive. You shouldn’t look down on us.”
5 “Born as humans, we want to strive to live on. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
6 “You care so much about life?”
6 “Yes, life is priceless.”
6 “Since you know life is precious, why did you all kill and harm so many in Chuyun City? Do those people’s lives have no value?”
6 “Get lost. Listen clearly, our own lives are very precious.”
