Shen Yu led the group at the front, while Lin Yanxi and Shen Muzhou stayed behind to watch the tea stall, hoping to find a way to rescue the people.
Watching Shen Yu's spirited departure, resembling a hen ready for a fight, Lin Yanxi nudged Shen Muzhou with her elbow and asked doubtfully, "Why don't you go with him to see? I don't know how many people are guarding there, can he beat them?"
Shen Muzhou and Lin Yanxi observed the situation in the tea stall from the opposite corner. He clasped his hands behind his back, leaning slightly against the wall, his head tilted down as he looked at her.
"He won't fight with them."
Lin Yanxi shrugged and didn't bother with Shen Yu's affairs anymore.
Shen Yu led a group of people to the well, only to be stopped by several individuals holding long sabers, dressed in the same official uniforms as those who had blocked the tea stall earlier.
"Hey, you, don't you know you have to pay to drink water?" the leader said.
The refugees behind Shen Yu looked enviously at the stone-lined well, their eyes gleaming. They took a few steps forward, but the officers drew their sabers, scaring them back.
No matter how much they swallowed, it was futile. Their throats were burning with thirst, and not a drop of saliva could be produced.
Shen Yu curled his lips in disdain, "The court has already reduced the taxes for opening wells, why should we pay to drink water?"
The man impatiently waved his hand, unwilling to argue. "Looking at your attire, you're clearly a rich young master. Don't tell me that. If you don't pay, you can't drink from this well. There's water by the river, you can drink that."
As they had traveled, there was no water left in the river. The dry riverbed was exposed, and the murky water mixed with mud and sand was undrinkable.
Seeing the sword at Shen Yu's waist, these people feared trouble and quickly surrounded him with more officers.
An officer pointed at Shen Yu and asked fiercely, "What? Do you want to fight?"
Shen Yu looked at the surrounding officers. They were not unbeatable, but it was unnecessary.
He smiled and said, "Fighting is too tiring. That's for uncivilized people. Don't you just want money?"
"Come, come! Today, I, Shen... I, will treat everyone to water, drink as much as you want!"
The officers pointed at the well behind them and laughed mockingly, "You look well-dressed, I didn't expect you to be such an idiot. Do you know how much a bucket of water from that well costs?"
Before Shen Yu could answer, he sneered, "One tael of silver per bucket. Can you afford it? Such boasting, and you say drink as much as you want. Hmph!"
Shen Yu's call attracted many thirsty commoners, though most were just there to watch. If they could get a drink, it would be the best.
He untied his money pouch and poured the gold leaves onto the ground.
The officers and the onlookers were stunned. The gold leaves fell to the ground with a crisp sound. The officers quickly controlled the crowd and eagerly scrambled to pick up the gold leaves.
These people had already squeezed the citizens of the county dry. They hadn't seen loose silver in a long time, let alone gold leaves like these.
Shen Yu looked down at the officers scrambling for the gold leaves at his feet and asked, "Is that enough?"
The officer held the gold leaves in his hands, his face beaming with smiles, "Enough, enough."
He quickly signaled the other officers to step aside and clear the well.
Shen Yu looked at everyone and said, "Don't crowd, line up. Everyone will get water today."
The commoners, excited, knelt and kowtowed. Shen Yu was flattered by their calls of "benefactor." He looked at these people in hardship, and a ladle of water could save a life.
But this ladle of water had become a means for the officials to accumulate wealth and a lure for those with ulterior motives to abduct people.
Shen Yu clenched his fists, thinking of Shen Qingyun. Was all of this truly related to you, my imperial brother?
Beside him, an officer greedily clutched the golden leaves. He held one up to examine it, and suddenly noticed an imperial crest engraved on the bottom. His smile froze, and he looked up at the wealthy young master in front of him in fear.
"You, stay here and keep an eye on him." The leading officer said this, stuffed the gold leaves into his pocket, and hurried away.
The officer ran all the way, not daring to stop for a moment. After about half an hour, he turned into the county magistrate's mansion. Upon entering, he ignored everything else and shouted, "Bad news! Master, bad news!"
When he ran into the magistrate's study, he pushed the door open and discovered that besides the magistrate, there was a man in a black cloak standing in the room. His back was to them, his black robe and hood obscuring his face, making him unrecognizable.
The county magistrate glared at him and pulled him to his knees, saying, "How dare you! An adult is here, don't be so flustered!"
The officer was a confidant of the magistrate. Although he didn't know the full story, he generally knew they took orders from the man in the black cloak. He quickly knelt and said, "Greetings, sir. It was my rudeness. I have an urgent matter to report."
The magistrate glared at him and grumbled, "Get out, we'll talk about it later."
The officer looked at the magistrate with difficulty and had no choice but to obey. He got up, bowed, took two steps back, and was about to leave the study when the man in the black cloak stopped him and asked, "What is the urgent matter?"
He looked at the man in the black cloak, then at the magistrate, and lowered his head, not daring to speak.
The magistrate urged, "The adult is asking you, so speak!"
The officer, bent over and not daring to look up, replied, seeing that the magistrate had told him to speak. "There are several lavishly dressed outsiders in the county. They... they seem to be from the palace?"
The magistrate broke out in a cold sweat and exclaimed, "What? Are you sure?"
The officer, kneeling on the ground, looked uncertain. "I'm just guessing. Those people went to the tea stall first and caused trouble, advising people not to drink tea. Then they went to the well and threw a lot of gold leaves, buying the well to provide free water to the commoners."
"The person who threw the gold leaves seemed to be very familiar with court affairs. He said the court had reduced the taxes for opening wells. And he claimed to be Shen... and the gold leaves he scattered had... had an imperial crest."
The magistrate grabbed the gold leaves from his hand and held them up, turning them in the sunlight to examine them closely. Finally, he found a very small crest at the bottom. He was so scared that cold sweat poured down his back, and his mind went blank.
If it were just about extorting money by opening wells, he could have covered it up. At worst, he would lose his position and be reassigned. Along the way of exile, there would be opportunities to bribe and negotiate. But if the matter of the tea stall led to the pit prison and the illegal manufacturing of weapons, it would be a death sentence, and his entire clan would be wiped out.
"Let me ask you again, do those people already know about the tea stall incident?" the magistrate asked, grabbing the officer's collar.
The officer was so scared he dared not speak. The magistrate urged, "Speak!"
He then stammered, "He, they, they probably don't have evidence, just suspicion."
The magistrate stared blankly and released his collar. He closed his eyes tightly, his mind in chaos, and said despairingly, "It's over, it's all over."
The man in the black cloak still had his back to them. He slowly extended an arm, palm facing up. The magistrate quickly handed him the gold leaf. The man in the black cloak took one look and clutched the gold leaf in his hand.
"You should know that the warden of the Ghost City pit prison has always coveted your position. The master hasn't moved you because you are useful. If you handle this poorly and cause trouble for the master, then you and that trouble will disappear together."
The magistrate grabbed the officer and said, "Quickly notify Li An. Tell him the fish is sold out today. Go!"
---
Lin Yanxi and Shen Muzhou waited by the corner of the wall. They stood for a long time. The sun shone warmly on their bodies, making them feel lazy. Her forehead rested lightly against the outside of Shen Muzhou's arm, her eyelids slightly closed.
She yawned tiredly, her voice like a cat's meow, very delicate. She kept her eyes closed, exhausted from the past few days of bumpy travel.
The young man was half a shoulder taller than her. He clasped his arms, holding a sword exuding a strong killing aura. But when he looked down at the girl, the corners of his lips curved into a faint smile. His gaze was gentle and lingering, but when he looked at the tea stall in the distance, it became cold again.
"Shen Muzhou, don't you think the sun is particularly comfortable today? Very warm," the girl said, her forehead still resting on his side, her voice lazy and soft.
He looked up. The sunlight filtered through the layered leaves, casting faint, swaying golden halos on her. Suffering from a cold illness for many years, he had forgotten the feeling of the sun's warmth on his skin.
It was as if he was born to endure the cold alone in the darkness, and he was used to it. But he met Lin Yanxi. The warmth and brightness that the sun could not give him, Lin Yanxi could.
A dull pain spread from his chest to his entire body. He gritted his teeth and endured it for a while before forcibly suppressing the residual poison. He had to return to Zhihai Tower as soon as possible to get the antidote.
Meng'er had said that the residual poison of the aphrodisiac would only act up when his heart was moved...
He lowered his gaze, concealing the complex emotions.
"Mhm."
After a long pause, he finally responded, exhaling deeply. She did not reply.
People gradually left the tea stall. An official rode a fast horse, his face flustered as he scanned the area. He then entered the tea house. They saw him go in, but not come out.
One, two, three...
He silently counted the people leaving the tea stall.
The young girl resting with her eyes closed beside him seemed to be startled by something. She rubbed her stiff neck and looked at Shen Muzhou. He was staring intently at the people coming out of the tea stall opposite them.
"One hundred."
Shen Muzhou whispered the number softly, and then no more refugees emerged from the tea house.
"One hundred people? Not missing?" Lin Yanxi poked her head out from behind him, looking towards the opposite side for a long time.
Unfortunately, everyone from the tea stall had indeed left.
Shen Muzhou frowned and walked out from the corner, staring at the tea stall. "An officer went in just now."
This meant someone had gone in to tip them off.
Shen Yu returned from a distance. Before he could speak, Shen Muzhou asked faintly, "Is the matter resolved?"
He proudly raised his head and said, "Of course. With my fifth prince's help, is there anything I can't accomplish?"
Lin Yanxi's gaze swept from his head to his feet, finally landing on the shriveled money pouch tied to his waist. She raised an eyebrow and teased, "It seems everything has been resolved."
Shen Yu awkwardly tucked the pouch further inside. "How about you? How many people came out?"
Shen Muzhou replied, "One hundred."
Lin Yanxi's small face turned stern again. Her childlike, delicate features looked somewhat serious.
"Those people must have discovered we were investigating. There's no point in lingering here any longer. I should return to Ghost City to find the楼主 of Zhihai Tower."