Strong Winds Return Home

Liu Meng didn’t think he was a “hero.” What he understood as a hero was someone who rode a horse to roam the world, intervening when he saw an injustice, and driving dozens of ruffians away with a loud shout, wise, brave, and carefree. Sending out a kite dummy and pretending to be a ghost, worrying every day that someone would find out, how could that match up with a “hero?” He could at most be counted as a “person.”

Liu Xian’an had already come out of the temple, just in time to hear this modest sentence. He had previously only read about people in books who were beautiful without knowing it, but Liu Meng’s remarks could also qualify as being a hero without knowing it, so he said: “To be willing to help others is saintly, to take action is to be brave, to ignore rewards it to be righteous, to devise schemes is to be wise, and to be compassionate is to be benevolent. Little Brother Liu was willing to make preparations for Xiao Hua, who has no blood relation, and relocate his family to the end of the world. Not only is he wise and brave, but saintly and courageous, with wisdom and benevolence. Can this not be considered a ‘hero?’”

Hearing this, Liu Meng was stunned. It turned out that those great scholars talked like this. No wonder Zhuge Liang could use his tongue to compete with Confucians. Ordinary people could really not stand up against this rhetoric.

Liang Shu asked: “How is he?”

Liu Xian’an said: “The poison is so potent that it cannot be cured, but he won’t die immediately. He should be able to wake up after a while.”

He didn’t say that he was dying of illness, but that he was dying of poison. The people around could hear the abnormality, and Liang Shu said: “Poison?”

“This person has been poisoned for many years, but the poison is not fatal and only causes discomfort. It is easy to detoxify, but no matter how easy it is to detoxify, the residual toxins accumulated in the body are not a small dose. If it were another old man, he would have died long ago, but Yu Cong’s body is much stronger than that, so he was able to hold on until now before collapsing.”

“He’s been poisoned for many years?” The common people were speechless when they heard this, and their first reaction was that Yu Zhong had done it! After all, it was not uncommon for such a son to wait for his father to die because of the family property. Yu Zhong pointed at Yin Die and cursed: “The only pills my father takes year-round are the ones you made. No wonder he’s been sick for the past two years. You started as soon as you came to the house and conspired to use Wan Yuan at the time, so he immediately felt comfortable the next day. It turns out it is because of this!”

Yin Die had collapsed on the ground. There was no telling which bones had been broken by Gao Lin, but he was wriggling like a worm.

Tong Ou stepped forward and slashed open the skirt of his clothes with his sword, and it turned out to be the totem of the Baifu Sect again. Before the common people could riot, Yu Zhong smacked his thigh and howled: “Father, you said that you believed in the religion of prolonging life, how could it be such a thing?”

“Save your throat, ba.” Tong Ou put his sword back into its sheath heavily. “You will have plenty of time to cry in the future.”

Yu Zhong met his gaze and felt a chill on the back of his neck. He wanted to argue more, but someone suddenly came out from the temple and shouted, “Doctor Liu, Yu Cong just woke up and fainted again!”

Liu Xian’an hurried over: “Why did he faint again?”

The guard said: “Maybe he laid down in the wrong place.”

There were many Buddha statues in the temple, dignified and glaring. Just as Yu Cong opened his eyes tremblingly, he saw gods and Buddhas all over the ceiling staring at him in a circle and was so frightened that his soul practically flew out, and with a kick of his legs, he passed out.

When the common people heard this, they couldn’t help but laugh. And after being amused, they were worried about the little girl just now, so they followed the team in the direction of the government office. Liu Xian’an half crouched in the carriage to administer acupuncture for Yu Cong. He was concentrating so much that even though it was a cold day, there was a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead. The old guard next to him had met him a few times while patrolling the streets, and considered him half an acquaintance, so he whispered: “Doctor Liu, why save this kind of person? In any case, since his son confessed, there’s no chance that the Yu family will get away with it.”

“I want to revive him.” Liu Xian’an turned the silver needle in his hand. “Even without any testimony, he should face the punishment he deserves in person. Otherwise, if he just dies like this, he would have lived a life of glory through evil, which is contrary to the fairness and justice that all righteous people in the world strive to maintain.”

Yu Cong was spellbound, and sought out the Dao of Longevity all his life. At this time, he finally met a genuine miracle doctor who could prolong life, but on the eve of his death. This absurd karma made even the old guard sigh with emotion. It seemed that people should not be too conscienceless throughout their lives.

Liu Xian’an asked: “That Dan-daren, what sort of official is he?”

The old guard gave a hehe and said: “Dan-daren, to be honest, can’t really be considered a corrupt official. Because if you’re greedy, you have to do things for others, and you have to bother to weave a network of relationships. He’s really too lazy to do this.” But he didn’t say the second half of the sentence, that he was too lazy to be greedy, but was simultaneously too lazy to do practical things for the common people.

Not seeking merits, but seeking a lack of faults, it didn’t matter if this sort of official was placed at the feet of the Emperor, but when placed at the southwestern border where cults were frequent, how could the common people not suffer? With a wave of his hand, Liang Shu signed a transfer order, sending Dan Qing to Yunling in Qingzhou, to raise horses — these were not important war horses, but red ponies used in sacrificial ceremonies. He would be a dispensable idler, suitable for such a dispensable lazy person.

In the end, Yu Cong was stabbed alive by Liu Xian’an. The sad thing was that after the matter had come to this point, he still firmly believed that Yin Die was an envoy of the gods. Yu Zhong burned with rage, and didn’t know how his father’s brain had developed this way. Seeing that life and death were at stake, why not rush to blame Yin Die?

He couldn’t care less anymore, and confessed to Liang Shu that he had agreed to the absurd matter of a living sacrifice because he wanted to save his father. But in fact, deep down in his heart, he hated Yin Die to the extreme. In order to make this statement more credible, he said that he had prepared poison and bought a killer, planning to eliminate the harm for the common people after the sacrifice, so as to prevent Yin Die from doing more unconscionable acts.

The poison and the killer were real, and there was corresponding evidence, because he had indeed planned to kill Yin Die previously. Liang Shu nodded slightly and said: “Good, if Young Master Yu is willing to hand over everything without concealment, then I will promise to spare your life. But it is impossible for you to stay in Huaizhen City. How about going to Yunling in Qingzhou with Dan Qing to raise horses? Hmm…..if he is the horse raiser, then you will be the groom.”

Yu Zhong was overjoyed, and hurriedly kowtowed to express his gratitude. He had always heard that this prince killed people without blinking an eye, and thought that he would die at this time, never entertaining the thought that he could live. As long as he could live, why would he fear that he could never leave that Yunling horse farm?

So he tried his best to ingratiate himself and follow Liang Shu’s wishes, picking out a few wicked things that Yin Die had done and said. Among them, there was indeed the kidnapping of women and children, who were sold to other places. But he was not like ordinary traffickers, who knocked them unconscious and kidnapped them in a secluded place. Instead, he got close to the men of these families, and brainwashed them to believe in a doomsday salvation doctrine, making them willing to sacrifice their most beloved family members with both hands.

Liu Xian’an gave a slight sigh. All living beings suffered, and heresy was truly abominable.

Yu Zhong spoke eloquently at one end, while at the other end, Yin Die kept silent. Gao Lin was born in a military camp, and had no gentlemanly rules. Picking up a leather whip, he whipped the cunning villain until his entire body was dripping with blood. He stepped on his chest with one foot and crouched down, saying: “You and I both know that shit was just a pretense to make money. Now that you’ve fallen into my hands, your wealth is certainly gone, and your life is forfeit, but if you give up your co-conspirators, you can at least suffer less.”

Yin Die lay there with no waves in his eyes.

“What, are you afraid that if you give them up, they will kill your family? Ridiculous. It turns out that you, a bastard who specializes in wife-killing, also has family members.” Gao Lin lifted his foot and stood up, saying condescendingly, “But not for long. Chengbi Village on Eighteen Ridges Mountain. They live there, right?”

As if struck by lightning, Yin Die struggled to get up: “You!”

“The garrison here has been secretly investigating you, and the search has been quite detailed.” Gao Lin said, “Don’t worry, if your family members did nothing wrong, then they might not necessarily be executed. At least your son, who is less than one year old, can survive. But if you keep clenching your teeth like you are now, without any meritorious deeds, then that would really implicate the whole family. Not to mention the one-year-old, the one-month-old will also be executed. The specific process is roughly like this, first we’ll cut off your flesh as punishment, and then his.”

Yin Die’s chest heaved violently.

Gao Lin threw the pen and paper heavily in front of him.

The trial for this case went on for seven consecutive days, and after those seven days, the testimonies of the two were compared one by one, and each was convicted. Yin Die was beheaded at the execution grounds, and before the execution, he had already been beaten to the ground by the onlookers. Yu Zhong was locked in a prison cart and escorted all the way to Qingzhou, but before he got ten li away, his head also flew.

When Gao Lin returned to report this matter, Liu Xian’an was beside Liang Shu, talking to him about Yu Cong’s condition. He was unavoidably surprised upon hearing this, and said: “I thought the prince really wanted to preserve his life.”

Liang Shu nodded: “This lord said so, and he has always kept his word.”

Gao Lin answered: “Right, but I’m such a rebellious person, and preferred to go against the prince. Please punish me, Your Highness.”

Liu Xian’an: “…….”

In the end, he was fined a day and a half’s salary. As for why this small amount was still deducted, it was because the penalty was originally three days, but His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was magnanimous and didn’t want to see the lieutenant general cry, so he generously gave him a discount.

Liu Xian’an said: “So the prince is this kind of person.”

Liang Shu grabbed his hair band: “What kind of person?”

Liu Xian’an said: “Very natural and unrestrained.”

Liang Shu smiled and said: “I thought you were going to say that I don’t keep my word.”

Liu Xian’an shook his head and insisted, “Just natural and unrestrained.” It was fair to repay kindness with kindness, grievance with grievance, nobility with nobility, and wickedness with wickedness.

Liang Shu released his grip: “How is Xiao Hua?”

“She is in good health, but doesn’t like to talk and is afraid of meeting people. However, Commander Tong and Aunt Liu are accompanying her, and the little girls in the city also bring fresh fruits to visit her every day. A-Ning says that she is much more cheerful. Even Aunt Mu Cuihua brought a bowl of chicken soup over at noon today. The common people are kind. A city should be like this.”

“Let Tong Ou stay with his daughter for a few more days without disturbing them. He will still be busy in the future.” Liang Shu asked, “What about Yu Cong?”

“His life is also pretty good.” Liu Xian’an said, “It seems that he still has the mentality of becoming an immortal who is about to ascend to the holy land.”

“In recent years, due to the cult’s ways, he has been running among the children all day long. How many girls has he jointly harmed with Yin Die in secret? A pile of bones was just dug up in the back courtyard of Yu Manor recently. How can this old bastard still want to become an immortal?” Liang Shu said, “Let’s go, follow me to see him.”

Liu Xian’an agreed, and trotted two steps to keep up. The dauntless general from the Northwest military camp walked, and the soft-boned lazy person from the Jiangnan waterside pavilion also walked with perhaps seven or eight times the number of steps. But Liang Shu didn’t slow down, and instead lengthened his strides — just because he felt that the other party following along hurriedly like a duckling just out of its shell was rather cute.