CH 44

Chapter 44 – Harming Others Is Harming Oneself

However, upon hearing the news of her death, Li Jing’er felt a little sad.  After all, no matter how wicked Chen Yulian was, she was also a mother of two children.

What will become of the children after her death?  But who can she blame for her crimes?

Initially, she wanted to harm others but instead, she brought harm to herself.  Most probably, she had never spared a thought for others in her life!

“When she died, her skin was not wholly intact, she was naked and had bite marks all over her body……..uh, it was horrible…….not a piece of good skin was found on her body………”

Chen Yulian was gang-raped by seven to eight men until she died.  Her body, legs, mouth, and even her rear were filled to the brim with semen and her body was covered all over with filth.

When she died, she had a weird happy smile on her face and her eyes were wide open.  She died at the moment when a woman was at the height of ecstasy and a white stream of saliva dripped from the corner of her mouth.

It could be seen that she was willing and she was enjoying the pleasure of wanton sex with the men.  Perhaps it was one after another or with everyone together, in pursuit of extreme pleasure and entanglement of the flesh, so crazy that she no longer cared and only craved for the men’s thrusts.

She had sex with all the men and her lower body was ripped apart due o the great intensity.  The big bed in the stone house was covered with her blood before she died and the blood stains were a ghastly sight.

“Her brother must be very sad!”

No matter how willful or wicked she was, she was still his biological sister and no one would want to see their family members die.

“Feeling sad is inevitable but if she didn’t die, I will kill her even if I had to turn against Lord Zhenfu.”

How could she be so selfish to lead the enemy up the mountain to harm his wife and children?

Xiao Jingfeng who still had lingering fear in his heart showed a slightly ferocious expression on his face.

When he saw the door had been chopped down to wooden strips, his heart seemed to be squeezed by an invisible hand……..almost to the point of being crushed to bits.  He was so scared that he did not dare to enter and stood outside the door for a very long time.

Soft groans were coming from inside the house and it was a woman’s voice.  He rushed in angrily and shot an arrow through the throat of the man who was straddling the woman.  The man fell backward with his face facing upwards and he did not even have the chance to grunt in pain.  It was Agulie and there was a treacherous smile on his face.

At that time, Xiao Jingfeng walked forward with difficulty thinking that the tortured woman was his wife.  The pain was like a knife cutting through his whole body and it was so painful that he fell to his knees.

Suddenly, one of the soldiers who had been to the stone house before shouted.  “It’s not Sister-in-law!”

It felt like he had died and come back to life again.  He quickly checked to confirm the identity of the woman.  When he realized it was not Jing Niang, only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

“It’s alright.  Since she is already dead, let’s not think about it.  It can be said that she deserved the retribution.  The children and I are fine, so there’s no need to worry too much.  We still have to carry on with our lives……..”

Li Jing’er who was holding his hands suddenly had a sour feeling in her nose and was a little moved.  The matter was already over but his hands were still trembling with fear.

“Jing Niang, I can’t live without you.  You’re my life, I……..never leave me, promise me…….”

He choked up as he spoke and there were tears in his eyes.

“Mm, I won’t leave you!  I’ll accompany you forever and will be your wife for the rest of my life.”

She will accept him………and his bunch of top-notch family members as well.

“Mm…….”  He hugged her and did not release her for a long, long time.

He was afraid of losing her, so he had to hold her tight.  Therefore, Xiao Jingfeng is now like a frightened bird.  He becomes flustered the moment he can’t see his beloved woman and feels as though his heart is dying again.

He was frightened by Chen Yulian’s death and thought of the woman who died tragically on the stone bed.  If that had been his wife, what would he do?

“Jingfeng, does Agulie’s death means the peace talks had broken down and war is about to resume?”

The pro-war faction of Country Feng must be angry and will vow to carry on fighting.

He nodded and hugged her in his arms.

“Agulie was killed by me but the other men died for unknown reasons.  They were all foaming at the mouths before they died.”

Upon hearing this, Li Jing’er smiled proudly.

“They must have drank that pot of soup.”

“Soup?”

“It was the pot of Eight Treasure Bamboo Fungus Chicken Soup that we didn’t finish the day before.  Just before leaving, I threw in a handful of poisonous mushrooms that were meant to poison mice.  That kind of mushroom will cause hallucinations, excitement, and blood vessels to expand and make people think of………uh, doing that kind of thing.  Eating a small amount will cause numbness to wounds but consuming a large amount will cause foaming at the mouth, convulsions all over the body, and finally, the person will end up choking on his own vomit and suffocate to death.”

Whether the mushrooms will become fatal or not will depend on how they were handled.

And that amount will certainly kill the mice and they will die from ejaculation inside the body.

“You have helped us to solve a problem.”

The other side is not easy to deal with and if they really want to fight, they will inevitably suffer casualties as well.

“But now it had given rise to another problem.”  She smiled wryly.

Xiao Jingfeng kissed her on the lips and satisfaction rose in his heart.

“The war will happen sooner or later, it’s unavoidable.  General Chen Rong had already requested backup on food rations.

“So you’re leaving?”  She grabbed his hand and was reluctant to part with him.

“Mm……”   He responded with difficulty.

“I’ll wait for your return.”  Her words carried sadness.

A man would not shed tears easily until sadness is extreme.  With tears in his eyes, he looked into the pupils that reflected his figure and smiled.

“I’ll come back, wait for me.”

“Alright, I’ll wait for you……..”

It was the only thing she could do………and it was to wait.

***☆☆☆***

Three months later, everything was ready and the army set off.

It was spring, the Third Month of the lunar calendar, the time when peach blossoms were in full bloom, butterflies were dancing and bees were gathering honey.

Li Jing’er did not go up the mountain anymore but she could not forget the gushing spring in front of the stone house.  Before Xiao Jingfeng left, he used the excuse of training his troops and brought a thousand of his men to hunt in the mountain and instructed everyone to bring a bucket of spring water down from the mountain. The spring water was poured into a small pond that was dug in the front courtyard.  He also hunted a lot of birds and wild animals, sold them, and left a large amount of money for the family to use.

Li Jing’er who was not used to being idle used the money to buy ten acres of sandy land by the river.  After hiring some people to clear the land, she raised fish, shrimps, crabs and planted lotus roots.  When the fish and shrimps grew big, the ducklings she raised were released into the water and they swam in groups to help fertilize the lotus plants.

When autumn arrived, it was the harvest season.  She harvested lotus roots, fish, and shrimps including crabs, and made a fortune.  The ducks that had grown big were not sold off and instead, she started a winter roast duck restaurant that opens for business only in winter.

When the succulent and plump roast ducks became popular, she thought of the rabbit.

Xiao Jingfeng fought in the war for more than two years.  By the time he returned, there was an additional chubby little boy who could already run and walk in his family while Li Jing’er had become a supplier of rabbit fur and a wholesaler of rabbit meat.

***☆☆☆***

Twelve years later.

“Li Jie Yuan*, why don’t you sit for the Zhuang Yuan Examination*?  With your aptitude, you will surely be able to rank among the top three positions.  You will be favored by the Emperor and in the future, the high-ranking minister posts and generous earnings are inevitable.”

(Li Jie Yuan – Li is a surname and Jie Yuan is a title given to the top scorer in the provincial examination.  Jie Yuan means Provincial Top Scholar that is similar to a Zhuang Yuan, the top scorer of the imperial examination held in the imperial capital.  Zhuang Yuan is the top scholar in the whole country.)

(Zhuang Yuan Examination was ancient China’s imperial examination with the highest honor.  The scholar with the highest marks, the first in the imperial examination would be the country’s number one scholar and given the title of Zhuang Yuan.  He would then be rewarded with a high minister post, wealth, and status, and earn the Emperor’s recognition.)

The young man with eyes that were as bright as the moon cupped his hands gently and politely and replied.

“My mother said the purpose of taking the examination is………one, to become a successful candidate in the imperial examination and enter the Hanlin Imperial Academy.  In the future, I will have to work hard to gain the position of Chief Assistant, or else, I will have to serve as a local county magistrate.  If I’m lucky, I will go to a wealthy county, otherwise, I will be placed in a poor county.  I will have to stay in a place for three years and then move on to another place for another three years.  After gaining experience, I will have to wait for a promotion and if I am lucky, I will become an imperial official and then fight with others to climb to the top.”

“What’s wrong with that?”  Is it not the same for all scholars?  First, they will fight to score top marks in the imperial examination, then get a title and enter the imperial court as an official.  They will start low and work their way up the ranks step by step.

“There’s nothing wrong but my mother said it’s a waste of time and life is short.  There’re so many things that can be done, so why try so hard to strive for a prestigious title?  Even if I don’t sit for the Zhuang Yuan Examination, I can still serve the imperial court.  Without the burden of an official position, one is free to do whatever one desires without being restrained by anyone.”

An official would have to work under an official with a higher rank and the higher-ranked official would be under the Emperor.

“I don’t understand.”  His words were too deep and complicated.

“If you don’t understand then let me explain to you.  My mother has a good habit of storing food supplies and her food storage of one year is enough to feed one-third of the people in the dynasty for a year.  Her two-year food storage is enough to feed two-thirds of the people in the dynasty and with her three-year food storage, everyone won’t have to suffer from hunger……..”

“So?………”  He was still unable to get the point.

“Seven years ago, Wenzhou experienced a devastating drought.  The Emperor was very anxious and ordered officials from all the states to collect food for disaster relief.  However, the harvest during those few years was not good and as a result, many officials were punished with demotions.  Some officials received food supplies but did not send them out to help with the disaster relief and in the end, their homes were ransacked and everyone in the family was beheaded. Then my mother took out one-tenth of her food storage to help with the disaster relief in Wenzhou.  Later, the people of Wenzhou built the Temple of Longevity in honor of my mother and named her the Empress of Shengshui.  The Emperor even personally wrote a plaque ‘The Family of Benevolence’ and it was bestowed on my family.  At that time, my mother was so glorious that even a first-ranked official couldn’t compare to her.”

A person who is not an official is even more impressive than an official.  So what is the point of being an official?

The money that an official earns in a year could not even compare to the value of his mother’s hairpin.  The income was less, the workplace was far away and there were more problematic people in the poor counties.

Li Jie Yuan has a deep admiration for his mother.  He grew up under the craftiness of his mother when he was young.  So although he is well-educated and talented, he believes in his mother completely.

‘Be the head of your own house, so that you don’t need to look at people’s faces’……..these words were always spoken by his mother.

In fact, Li Jie Yuan’s mother had no confidence in the bureaucratic system of the dynasty.  If one does well, it is expected…….but if one doesn’t do well, one will be beheaded and it affects the rest of the family too.

Therefore, she dislikes anyone in the family becoming an official.  The responsibility was too heavy.

One should be contented and happy with what one already has.