This Is a Thieves’ Den? Doesn’t Look Like It!
The bearded man suddenly stopped paying attention to the serious injury to his body and began shouting once more. Ban Zou felt irritated by this and wanted to act once more but was stopped by Feng Yu Heng, who asked him: “So what if there is a divine doctor? So what if there isn’t a divine doctor?” After saying this, she did not wait for the bearded man to reply and turned to say to the young woman: “Granny’s injury is basically fine, but she still needs to recover. She must not carry heavy loads, and she should remain in bed laying down as much as possible. Do not let her work while bent over, and she must not be exposed to the cold.” She reached into her sleeve and pulled out three tubes of Voltaren and handed it to them, “Apply it to the injured area three times each day. After this has been used up, Granny should be able to get out of bed.”
While she spoke, the bearded man’s eyes stared straight at the three tubes of Voltaren, and even the five fellows behind him revealed a criminal intent in their eyes. It was as though Feng Yu heng was holding gold in her hands. Huang Quan laughed upon seeing this, “I say, are you mountain bandits or medicine bandits? We are carrying quite a bit of money, but why is it that you show no interest in money and are instead so taken by the medicine?”
The bearded man seemed to have not heard her speak, as he looked at Feng Yu Heng and murmured: “Miss is a divine doctor, right? Miss’ medical abilities are exceptional and can even save an old lady that had coughed up blood, right? Then could Miss come with us into the mountains to treat our madam’s illness? As long as Miss can treat our leader’s madam, we will give you as many treasures as you like! Not to hide it from miss, but if it was not because of the severity of the leader’s madam’s illness, none of us brothers would have gone through with stealing someone else’s wife. This is something that we did while hiding it from the leader. We just wanted a beautiful one, and it would be best if it was someone that could give birth to a child. As long as the leader is happy, he would gradually forget about his current madam. If miss does not believe it, you can ask around. Although we are mountain bandits, we have never bullied the villagers!”
Feng Yu Heng looked at the young woman and saw her nod, thus she knew that the bearded man’s words were not exaggerated. But not harming the villagers did not mean that they were good people, as she asked the bearded man: “You mean to say that if I don’t provide help, you will continue to come out and kidnap people?”
The bearded man let out a snort, “Unless Miss will be staying in the village forever, we will still end up kidnapping people. We can’t be without a madam, and the leader is currently quite depressed. We brothers are not living happily, and it would be better if we made an attempt. If we managed to find someone satisfying, it would be considered as saving the entire family.”
What shitty logic was this? Feng Yu Heng frowned. For the sake of your leader, you go to kidnap the wives of others, and you make it sound quite pitiful. It really was the case that one had to be extremely shameless to find excuses. But the reason that she had not taken fierce measures against them was not that she had a compassionate heart. To Feng Yu Heng, descending the mountain to commit vile acts was enough for her to eradicate the entire family. Although she was not the sort of saint to meddle with these idle matters, since it was a mountain dwelling, there would definitely be a profit! She had been thinking along these lines. She would rob a mountain residence along the way and earn another large sum. Who told her to head in the direction of Ji An Prefecture while thinking about Xuan Tian Ming’s impending battles?
However, she did not do such a thing because she noticed something about the six that had come down the mountains that was different from the usual bad people, especially the force with which they walked. When they stood, they unconsciously stood with their backs straight, and they did not look defeated when they were kneeling. These were not habits that bandits would have. Normally speaking, even if bandits had some sort of bearing, it would just be the leaders that had it. As for the underlings, when caught, the first thing that they would think of would be self-preservation. They definitely would not kneel with righteousness. She had some faint guesses, and whether or not her guesses were correct would require her to investigate personally.
“Then will you be coming with us into the mountain to save them?” The bearded man was a bit anxious, “We really do have a large number of treasures in the mountains. As long as you can treat the madam, you can take as much as you want! Don’t look at how we’re bandits. Our home’s old third is a good man and abides by his word and definitely will not lie!”
Feng Yu Heng laughed, “You’re already kneeling here, yet you still have so much to say. It would be better to stuff their mouths. That will keep me from feeling annoyed.” She waved her hand and gestured for the hidden guards to take care of it, and the hidden guards handled their master’s request very well, quickly finding random pieces of cloth from around the room and stuffing them into the mouths of the six men. The six men continued to struggle, thus they simply chopped them on the back of their necks, rendering them unconscious. They then tossed the people into the yard and kept an eye on them.
Feng Yu Heng did not continue to linger, as she advised the young woman for a while. She then left the yard, but the carriages did not depart, as she said to Wang Chuan and Huang Quan: “I’m going up the mountain to take a look around their mountain home.”
“What are you going there for?” Huang Quan was puzzled then seemed to understand and could not help but laugh: “Could it be that Young Miss wants to bring about the end of their den? This is something this servant is good at. Let’s go together!”
Feng Yu Heng nodded her head but declined to comment, bringing along Wang Chuan as well. Ban Zou watched the three enter the mountain from behind and thought for a bit before giving the hidden guards an explanation and following as well. Eradicate the den? This was not something that only Huang Quan was proficient in. He was also quite good.
The group of four quickly entered the mountains. Wang Chuan was an attentive person and asked Feng Yu Heng along the way: “Does Young Miss feel that those people were lacking a bit in a bandit feel and did not appear to do this sort of thing often?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, but Huang Quan could no longer understand, “They don’t seem like bandits? What is there to looking like one or not? Also, even if they don’t look like bandits, they themselves admitted it. What else is there to say? Bandits are just bandits. Everyone knows that people like this need to be killed. But we are in too much of a rush. What does Young Miss care about this matter for?”
“Just treat it as getting rid of danger for the citizens then.” Ban Zou spoke while saying: “Having not fought enough last night, she has come to fight another round today. Just treat it as a diversion.” He exercised his arms and felt that he needed to let off some steam.
Feng Yu Heng helplessly listened to their exchange and felt that chatting with Wang Chuan was a bit more reliable, as she replied to Wang Chuan: “Indeed, they don’t seem like it. I keep feeling as if they’re soldiers from the army. Their backs were kept straight, and the footsteps were very orderly. Just a glance tells me that it was not deliberate. Instead, it’s something that they had grown accustomed to over a long period of time. It’s not something that could be changed.”
“Soldiers?” The people were shocked, “How could soldiers come here to become bandits?” Da Shun’s treasury was plentiful, and the previous generations of the imperial family had been succeeded rather peacefully. There were no situations where the people and the palace’s wealth were threatened. That was why the money that had been accumulated was very notable. The soldiers and military officers that retired or those that were unable to perform any work would be taken care of. How could there be soldiers that would become bandits? Soldiers that had been through Da Shun’s education system could not possibly have these sorts of thoughts!
The group could not understand it, and Feng Yu Heng did not explain any further. Helpless, they could only continue further into the mountain. They thought to themselves that they would carefully investigate after they arrived at this dwelling.
They had arrived during the day, and hiding was inconvenient. Feng Yu Heng felt a bit of regret over bringing so many people over, but since they had come, they could not be sent back. She thought for a bit then made a very direction decision: “Bang on the door and call someone! We will enter openly!” She did just as she said. Just as the wooden gate with the words “Qing Shan Residence” written on it appeared before them, she raised her voice: “People inside, listen up. We are doctors invited up by old third to treat the madam in the mountains!”
The mountain gate opened to the North. Although it was called a gate, it was actually just a wooden frame with watchtowers on its sides that were rather tall. She figured that they were roughly five meters tall, and there was one person on each tower. The two just looked over toward them.
Feng Yu Heng saw the two looking over without moving, which caused her to frown and call out once more: “Did you hear? We are doctors invited by old third. Has your residence’s madam fallen ill? Why is it that you don’t quickly invite a doctor inside and remain so unreasonable?”
Ban Zou rolled his eyes from listening to this. Is this any way to speak to bandits? Those that know, know that you are an imperial daughter. Those that do not will believe you are a bandit! Look at how orderly they are when standing guard. They stood there with one hand near their leg and the other near the sword at their hip. There was a 20 percent chance that they had adopted the same view.
It was not just the two people on the watchtowers. Just inside the wooden gate, there happened to be a group of bandit scouts passing by. With cloaks on, they all held their spears and marched in an orderly manner. When they heard Feng Yu heng calling for people, someone loudly shouted: “Stop!” Everyone immediately stopped, and even their final footsteps were the same.
Feng Yu Heng’s group of four raised their eyebrows. This time, even Huang Quan could see that these were not normal bandits. If they did not appear in this sort of place, she would definitely have believed them to be a group of soldiers training. There were even flags stuck in the ground. There were red flags, yellow flags and green flags. They should represent three camps, and they should have been designed by these bandits themselves. To be so orderly and disciplined, even the inside of the residence was very tidy. It seemed to be without any trace of disorder that came with bandits.
Feng Yu Heng stared at the group of people that had stopped, and she could clearly see the solid determination that could only be found in a soldier’s face.
Who exactly were these people?
Before she could speak up, the leader of this group faced them and walked over. Five paces away from Feng Yu Heng, he stopped and loudly asked: “You said that you are a doctor? Why have so many people come? Which one of you knows how to treat illnesses?” After saying this, he looked once more at this group and immediately noticed the medical kit in Wang Chuan’s hand and continued: “You are?”
Wang Chuan shook her head, “I am just a maidservant. Our young miss is the doctor. Does your mountain residence have someone called old third? He’s a man with a large beard. He called for us to come.”
“Right.” Huang Quan chimed in: “There were a total of six of them, and they are in the village at the foot of the mountain. Seeing our young miss treat a villager, he spoke of your madam’s situation and begged us to come up and take a look.”
The person was very cautious and took a look behind them, asking: “Where are old third and his group?”
“They’re still in the village.” Feng Yu Heng said, “As for what they did in the village, you can send someone down to take a look if you are interested. As for us, either way, we are standing here. Whether or not the illness is treated is your business.” She spread her hands, “I heard that the madam’s illness is very severe. Who knows how much longer she can hold on.”