Chapter 24: Betrothal Scroll (1)

Chapter 24: Betrothal Scroll (1)

Le Wuya's round of social exchanges yielded substantial results.

Prefect Lyu found him agreeable and granted all his requests without exception.

With no constraints, Le Wuya moved with lightning speed, issuing one decree after another in rapid succession, leaving observers dazzled.

The Xiaofu Coal Mine was raided, rescuing a total of one hundred and thirty-two miners from other regions.

Among them, roughly fifty to sixty percent were homesick and eager to return.

Le Wuya returned their confiscated travel permits, reissued lost ones, and allocated a portion of the silver seized from the Chen estate to compensate them for years of unpaid wages at the local day-laborer rate.

A few miners, suddenly freed and seeing the magistrate's lenience, could not resist the temptation to cheat, claiming half a year to a year more of service than they had actually worked.

But Le Wuya had prepared for this, having already obtained the miner roster from Manager Lu.

For ease of management and to prevent escapes, Manager Lu had meticulously recorded each miner’s name and entry date.

With a kindly expression, Le Wuya singled out the liars and gave them a tour of the prison, showing them the miserable state of the overseers—both senior and junior—who had once oppressed them.

After leaving the prison, he slapped the roster in front of them and threatened, "The mine is still there. If you’re willing to work here a while longer, no problem at all."

These miners were ordinary folk who had merely indulged in petty cunning; they were not inherently wicked.

Before, they feared the fierce overseers most, but the magistrate had thrown those men into jail with a single word, left to await their fate.

If dealing with such men was so easy, then crushing them would be no harder than killing an ant.

Terrified, they begged for mercy, weeping and swearing never to do it again.

Others who had considered exploiting loopholes, seeing the magistrate's sharp eyes and unyielding nature, abandoned their schemes.

Le Wuya ordered them to organize into groups and return home, but he also kept a backup plan.

Wealth often stirs greed. With silver in their pockets, the miners faced threats both from outsiders and from within their own ranks.

To prevent robbery or murder along the way, Le Wuya summoned Deputy Magistrate Sun and Clerk Duan from the Revenue Bureau.

They were to summon each miner individually and ask for a choice: carry all the money on the journey, or take only part as travel expenses while depositing the rest in a nationwide remittance bank called Changyuan, receiving a draft sewn into their clothes for easy transport. Upon arrival, they could cash it at the nearest city.

For those choosing the latter, detailed instructions were necessary—how to redeem the draft and the location of the nearest Changyuan branch.

This task was exhausting, both physically and mentally. Simply explaining that "the bank won't steal your money" was a major undertaking in itself.

While Deputy Magistrate Sun’s eyes spun from overwork, Le Wuya tucked his hands into his sleeves and went to the prison.

From the earlier raid on Jixiang Casino, many gamblers remained unransomed. Now, with the entire Chen clan locked up awaiting judgment, the prison population swelled.

Le Wuya took a walk around and decided it would be a waste to let these able-bodied men rot in jail, consuming grain.

So with a flourish of his brush, he ordered them out to work.

Hearing they could leave, the prisoners' minds began to race.

With open sky above, wouldn’t that be a chance to fly free?

Especially Master Chen and the other wealthy men, who had lived in luxury for decades and found prison fare agonizing—they perked up at the news.

Even passing a message outside would be a boon.

But when they learned what they were to do, they all stared in disbelief.

Le Wuya had devised a scheme that others considered utterly diabolical: make the prisoners clean out all the ditches and drains in Nanting County.

This kind of dirty, grueling work was hard to hire for even at high prices.

In a remote county, ditches and drains were equally filthy and stinking.

Many people, for convenience, dumped their garbage and excrement into them.

Even in winter, when the filth froze, passersby had to hold their noses.

In summer, after a heavy rain, the stench on the streets was as if something had died in your nostrils.

In his previous life, Le Wuya had been sent on imperial tours and knew that many great plagues originated from these inconspicuous ditches.

Water pollution and mold breeding—both deadly.

Cleaning only the main streets and getting rid of beggars was like polishing a donkey turd—a glossy surface with no real substance.

Le Wuya planned to put these prisoners to good, solid use. Anyone who committed a crime in Nanting County, large or small, would face hard labor.

Prisons were funded by the people's taxes, after all; he wouldn't let them lie belly-up in jail as tax thieves.

Tasks like pounding rice or repairing city walls didn't fully utilize their potential.

Le Wuya intended to test this approach with this batch first.

Other officials sought stability, fearing escapes, but he did not.

He had considerable expertise in prison construction.

Boldly borrowing from Pei Mingqi’s prestige, Le Wuya had soldiers with bows watch over the labor.

Prisoners were tied in groups of ten with ropes around their waists, knotted in a special way so that if one tried to run, the whole group was entangled.

Even if all ten conspired to flee, the ropes would slow them down.

Moreover, they reeked so badly that escape would be impossible to hide.

Le Wuya also linked the minor offenders—gamblers—with the Chen family convicts, and encouraged whistleblowing: if anyone detected the Chens trying to send messages and reported it, they could be exempted from labor or have their sentences reduced.

The townsfolk, though unaware of the deeper significance of Le Wuya's actions, found it amusing enough to see the once-pampered Master Chen bent over in a ditch, fishing out garbage.

With so many eyes watching, Master Chen could no longer pull any strings.

Day after day, wearing cangues and stooping to scoop filth from drains—even the stronger overseers couldn't take it. After two days, they feigned illness, refusing to work.

For such stubborn malingerers, Le Wuya had his methods.

He announced: if a group failed to gather enough filth by weight in a full day's work, the entire group would go without food.

After two days of hunger, no one dared play tricks under his watch.

If someone in the group worked too slowly, the others would complain and scold.

The old master-servant bonds quickly evaporated after a few days of labor and short rations.

After being kicked twice by the servant who used to wash his feet for him, Master Chen came up with a new idea.

He gathered a few trusted men and pointed out the sharp stones scattered in the ditch.

He suggested that two people stir up a quarrel within their group, cursing and even fighting, and while the guarding soldiers came to stop them, the others would cut the ropes and scatter in all directions.

But his plan fell through before it even began.

The next day, Le Wuya regrouped everyone, and no one knew which group or ditch they would be assigned to the following day.

Master Chen felt that his opponent was one step ahead, and had no choice but to concede, struggling through the hard labor.

Now, recalling the delicacies and fine wines of a few days ago felt like a past life.

After finishing a day's labor, Master Chen lay in his cell, tears streaming down his face. Struck by a poetic impulse, he picked up a small piece of red brick and tearfully wrote a poem on the wall. But a prison guard caught him defacing prison property and gave him a harsh scolding, forcing him to sheepishly wipe it off with a wet rag.

After reassigning the prisoners to their tasks, Le Wuya finally turned his attention to Master Chen's mansion.

For the past few days, all hands had been deployed to the Xiaofu coal mine. Now that this business was concluded, it was time to proceed with the confiscation of the Chen residence.

The property confiscation was ordered by the Imperial Commissioner, and Pei Mingqi's Deputy General was in full charge.

Pei Mingqi maintained strict discipline in his army. His thirty soldiers stripped down to their thin undergarments in the freezing cold to ensure they couldn't conceal any contraband, and only then were they allowed into the Chen mansion.

Soon the courtyard was piled high with furniture, jewelry, banknotes, letters, and crates of antiques and calligraphy. Large stacks of land and house deeds were packed in exquisite boxes, haphazardly placed in the center of the yard.

The soldiers bustled about, laboring hard to move everything.

In his previous life, Le Wuya had been the one whose property was seized, so he never had the opportunity to witness such a grand spectacle.

Now that he had a good opportunity to watch the excitement, his old habit resurfaced. Pretending to be conducting official business, he walked with a solemn air into the Chen mansion, touching this and that aimlessly.

When Pei Mingqi entered, he saw a group of soldiers busy working, their bare upper bodies steaming with heat. Only Le Wuya, dressed neatly in his official robes, stood under the eaves, toying with a jade abacus.

For some reason, the scene made Pei Mingqi uneasy.

He strode forward rapidly and snatched the abacus out of Le Wuya's hands.

Le Wuya was secretly marveling at the extravagance of this abacus when it was abruptly taken from him. Startled, he whirled around and saw Pei Mingqi's cold face.

Le Wuya: "You startled me. Damn it."

Pei Mingqi's rudeness was a deliberate test to gauge his skills.

In his memory, Le Wuya had been as agile and alert as a wild animal, instantly detecting anyone approaching. Not to mention, he had practically worn grooves into the Pei family walls climbing over them.

But for Le Wuya, that was ancient history.

One was in the capital, the other guarding the border.

Pei Mingqi only knew that Le Wuya had been struck by arrows but survived, unaware that his lung meridian and internal organs had been damaged, leading him to neglect his martial arts for years.

Le Wuya held back the urge to kick him: "General Pei, what are you doing?"

Pei Mingqi attempted to make conversation: "Wenren Mingke, you certainly seem at ease."

Le Wuya: "?"

Le Wuya: "Fine, General Pei, then I'll be off to work."

As Le Wuya turned to go, Pei Mingqi smoothly seized him and whisked him away.

His technique was so skilled and his movements so swift that Le Wuya wondered if he was a bandit rather than a soldier.

Even abducting a woman to be a bandit chieftain's wife wouldn't be this seamless.

Le Wuya shouted angrily, "General Pei, what are you doing?!"

Seeing that the man was as stubborn as a mule, he changed his tactic and shouted, "Fire—"

Pei Mingqi directly covered his mouth.

The soldiers were all elites under Pei Mingqi's command, not stopping or looking away.

Le Wuya was helplessly dragged into a bedroom.

Pei Mingqi tossed him onto the bed and got straight to the point: "I checked your birthday. It's the second day of the second lunar month, right?"

Le Wuya stared at him for a moment, then smiled faintly without answering.

His smile made Pei Mingqi's heart tighten with irritation.

He grabbed the front of Le Wuya's official robe and pulled him close: "...Why did you lie to me?"

Le Wuya had been thinking for days and had already formed a plan.

The fact that he was alive was no coincidence.

And Pei Mingqi clearly knew about his rebirth.

What exactly had he done? Was there a third person who knew?

Had he possessed Wenren Yue's body, and were there any side effects? Could he suddenly leave one day?

How to hide his identity and extract useful information from Pei Mingqi was of utmost importance.

Le Wuya put on an indifferent air and looked up at Pei Mingqi.

His pupils were a tea-brown iris color.

Over the past two days, Le Wuya had thoroughly studied Wenren Yue's body from head to toe, discovering that apart from his hair becoming more curly, the overall changes seemed to have stalled. His eye color hadn't changed much, and under sufficient sunlight, one could still see Wenren Yue's original pupil color.

Only in dim places could a hint of dark purple be seen.

However, the shape of his eyes had slightly changed, with the outer corners subtly elongating, giving a hint of lingering charm, and sometimes a slight tear trough appeared when he smiled.

Le Wuya guessed that this change was like a dyeing process, slowly altering things imperceptibly. Only someone extremely close to him would notice, and others would probably think he had just grown up.

But close ones were hard to deceive.

"General Pei, you ask well," Le Wuya turned the tables. "I happen to have a question for you too. General Pei, don't you know why I became like this?"

Seeing Pei Mingqi's confused expression, Le Wuya said coldly, "I wasn't like this before. But on the night before my night interrogation, changes occurred in my body."

Pei Mingqi: "You mean..."

"I thought the curling hair was due to my recent busyness with cases and lack of time to groom, but even after bathing, it remained the same; the small mole on my lip, I assumed was caused by rising heart fire, yet as days passed, it did not fade. I had my doubts, and then I heard General Pei inquire about my birth date and time for no apparent reason. I did not wish to tell the truth, but who would have thought General Pei would insist on investigating to the end—truly suspicious..."

Wenren Yue, summoning the same authoritative air as when he presided over court, continued: "Earlier, General Pei and I had never met, yet upon our encounter, you repeatedly harassed me, spoke beyond propriety, and tested me with words time and again..."

"I dare to venture a guess: you are practicing sorcery or witchcraft, and some important item has been lost on my person, with the loss being tied to my birth date and time. Am I correct?"

Pei Mingqi's worst fears were confirmed.

Hoarsely, he asked, "Then, are you truly born on the second day of the second lunar month?"

Wenren Yue nodded without hesitation. "Yes, and so what?"

Pei Mingqi felt as if struck in the chest, a tearing pain in his heart.

Le Wuya's soul was truly inside this man!!

When that Taoist Master Lu had given him the small sandalwood incense burner, he had warned that each person has their own fate, and gathering remnant souls to forcibly extend a life was defying heaven.

Every day he kept the remnant soul, it would incur karmic debt upon himself, costing him three days of his own life.

Pei Mingqi cared not for the price; he simply asked woodenly, "Once his soul is fully nurtured, what should I do?"

Taoist Master Lu hesitated, as if ashamed. "...After the soul is fully formed, he—he will naturally be reborn. In the next life, all karmic debts are erased, and he won't recognize anyone from this life."

He added: "Why not let this go? It really does shorten your lifespan. I'm not lying to you. It's true."

Pei Mingqi replied, "Thank you for the warning, but I don't care."

With that, Taoist Master Lu knew Pei Mingqi's mind was made up and did not press further, but earnestly added another caution: "If the incense burner cracks, then he is not destined for you. Do not force it."

Pei Mingqi warily tucked the small sandalwood burner into his robe. "Why would it crack?"

Taoist Master Lu said evasively, "Naturally... because he has found another destined one."

On the day he saw the small sandalwood burner shattered on the ground, he felt no sorrow; he simply repeated the old Taoist's prophecy in his mind, somewhat dazed.

Who was destined for him? Who was not?

None of the other soldiers knew what the small sandalwood burner was. They only knew it was Pei Mingqi's most treasured possession, now inexplicably broken into pieces. They barely dared to breathe, carefully walking around him, afraid they might be kicked if they got too close.

Only the Deputy General, who knew the truth, understood that inside was Le Wuya's soul.

Once, out of curiosity, he had secretly peered through the cracks of the burner, only to find it completely empty.

Seeing Pei Mingqi looking as if he had lost his own soul, the Deputy General felt immense pity and scolded that the charlatan Taoist was likely just putting on an act to deceive people.

He repeatedly urged Pei Mingqi not to think too narrowly—the world was vast; surely there was more than just Le Wuya?

Pei Mingqi felt he was not thinking narrowly.

No, not at all—the more he thought, the more his anger blazed:

Aside from himself, who else dared to have a destiny with him?

With a belly full of indignation, he sought out the Sixth Prince's milk brother serving in the army and sent word to Xiang Zhijie, who was also in the know.

Then, he received orders to come to Nanting, but unexpectedly ran into Magistrate Wenren on the street.

Could this be his new "destined one"?

Wenren Yue had no connection to Le Wuya; the two had nothing in common. The only thing that made Pei Mingqi think of the word "destiny" was his birth date and time.

Upon closer investigation, indeed, except for the different birth year, they were both born on the second day of the second lunar month, the Dragon Head Festival (Longtaitou)!

Although the exact time of birth was not yet known, it was almost certainly the same—both at the second quarter of the You hour (around 5:30 PM)!

Now, Wenren Yue's words had further confirmed his suspicion.

The thought of Le Wuya merged with Wenren Yue set Pei Mingqi's insides ablaze. He wished he could grab him by the throat and make him spit out Le Wuya's soul and give it back.

Yet Pei Mingqi had to forcibly suppress his anger.

He had to find a way to stabilize this man and slowly retrieve the remnant soul of "Little Crow".

Perhaps he had already failed, but he had to hold onto the last shred of hope.

With this in mind, Pei Mingqi pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his bosom and tossed it in front of Wenren Yue.

Wenren Yue saw that on it were some bold, flowing characters.

He had a bad feeling. "What is this?"

Pei Mingqi ground his teeth. "My birth date and time!"

Wenren Yue was bewildered.

"I've already checked—you are not yet married," Pei Mingqi said. "We'll exchange betrothal certificates right now! You will stay by my side, and you are not to go anywhere!"

Wenren Yue: "..."

As far as he could tell, what had appeared by his side today was not a phoenix, but a birdbrain.