Chapter 90 - 87: Beheading
Chapter 90: Chapter 87: Beheading
Over the past two years, the White Tiger Tea House’s business had expanded.
It had established partnerships and dealings all across Shanyang Prefecture.
As a result, its intelligence network was dozens of times more effective than before.
Commerce, to some extent, is also a channel for intelligence.
"This year’s drought is truly bizarre. In my forty years, I’ve never heard of anything like it."
"Right now, everywhere in Shanyang Prefecture is suffering from the drought to some degree. Apart from the Celestial City River next to the Prefecture City, which still has water, every other county town is affected."
"The weather isn’t even hot. In fact, it’s cooler than in previous years, but there’s just no water. I’m afraid this year’s harvest in all of Shanyang Prefecture will either be a complete failure or suffer a massive drop in yield."
Through Zhang Baiyang’s words, a picture of the situation in Shanyang Prefecture’s eighteen counties formed in Fang Yue’s mind.
The drought was strange, and no one could make sense of it.
Droughts in the past were always caused by unbearable heat that evaporated the moisture, causing water levels to drop and leading to shortages.
But this year’s drought was different.
The temperature was normal, yet there was no water, and the phenomenon affected the entire Shanyang Prefecture.
It was a situation that left everyone completely baffled.
"Oh, that’s right. I heard from a friend at the Government Office that the Imperial Court has dispatched Inspectors from the Observatory to various prefectures and counties. It seems they’re here specifically to deal with this drought."
Zhang Baiyang added.
’The Observatory? An Inspector?’
Fang Yue furrowed his brow slightly. ’A strange drought...’
’Sending an Inspector from the Observatory to handle a drought, rather than allocating grain and supplies to deal with the impending famine...’
’This whole approach is truly bizarre.’
’No matter how you look at it, none of this is normal.’
"Oh, and the Government Office is preparing to execute the Third Elder of the Mo Mountain Tribe at the public market in three days. There are also rumors going around that the Mo Mountain Tribe is secretly behind this drought."
"That’s probably just baseless gossip from troublemakers. Grasping at straws, not to be believed at all."
Fang Yue nodded. ’A meteorological event on such a massive scale, affecting the entire Shanyang Prefecture...’
’Shanyang Prefecture is as large as three or four mid-sized provinces from his previous life.’
’An effect over such a wide area... this is nothing short of a natural disaster.’
’How could a mere mortal accomplish such a thing!’
’If someone really could, they wouldn’t be a person—they’d be a god.’
"Mm, thank you for telling me, Martial Uncle."
Afterward, Fang Yue and Zhang Baiyang chatted a while longer about the current state of affairs.
Most of their conversation, naturally, was about the war between the Imperial Court and the Mo Mountain Tribe.
The Imperial Court had suffered losses in both soldiers and generals, yet the Mo Mountain Tribe still stood strong.
County Magistrate Liu’s current move—publicly executing the Mo Mountain Tribe’s Third Elder and publicizing it with great fanfare—was significant.
The act was perhaps intended to lure the snake from its hole.
To use the opportunity to ambush and eliminate any masters the Mo Mountain Tribe sent on a rescue mission.
However, the chances of that happening seemed slim.
After all, if they could see the trap, how could the Mo Mountain Tribe not see it as well?
Finally, as dusk fell, Fang Yue politely declined Zhang Baiyang’s invitation to stay for dinner and returned to his inn.
~~~~~~
「The next day.」
His brother, sister-in-law, and sister were already up at the crack of dawn.
After washing up, he took them out onto the street and found a breakfast stall.
"Proprietor, four bowls of donkey meat soup, ten fried dough sticks, two taels of pickled vegetables, and two steamer baskets of buns."
It was a familiar stall; Fang Yue had often eaten breakfast here before.
As the saying goes: "In heaven, Dragon Flesh; on earth, donkey meat."
The donkey meat in this stall’s soup was firm and thick, with a rich, savory aroma.
It wasn’t heavily seasoned, which made the flavor all the more natural and authentic.
"Zhi, we still have dry rations. Isn’t eating all this a waste?"
Fang Cheng did a rough calculation. The food Zhi had just ordered would cost nearly one tael of silver.
’Breakfast in the city is so expensive.’
The simple, honest Fang Cheng was still thinking about saving silver.
"I’ve already ordered it. Don’t worry, Brother, just eat. It won’t cost that much."
Although Fang Yue was still short on silver, the sums he needed were in the thousands, or even tens of thousands, of taels.
The further one progressed in the Martial Dao, the more expensive it became.
Every powerful practitioner of the Martial Dao was practically built from a mountain of silver—no, a mountain of gold.
"Oh, okay."
Only then did Fang Cheng relent.
Soon, the group finished their breakfast.
Fang Yue then led them on a tour of the city.
The streets and alleys were bustling with vendors selling candied haws, artists shaping dough figurines and blowing sugar animals, and acrobats performing. The sights and sounds were everywhere.
Soon, his sister and sister-in-law stopped in front of a jewelry shop.
’Women are women, after all. Whether poor or rich, their sense of aesthetics is more or less the same.’
’They’re bound to be delighted when they see all sorts of jewelry.’
As for Fang Yue and Fang Cheng, they were browsing a cosmetics shop not far away.
"Take a look, you two. This hairpin is made of pure silver, and the old master’s craftsmanship is second to none. See how beautifully these two flowers are carved? Wearing this would surely make you look radiant."
The shop assistant didn’t look down on Fang Lan and her sister-in-law, and began showing them a silver hairpin.
"This is a crooked shop! Do you take us for country bumpkins who’ve never seen the world? How dare you try to cheat outsiders like us!"
Fang Lan and her sister-in-law were clearly tempted, but as soon as they asked the price...
they immediately shook their heads and called it a crooked shop.
It was made of pure silver with decent craftsmanship, using four maces of silver, but the selling price was two taels.
’Four maces of silver isn’t even half a tael, and they dare to sell it for two taels.’
’If this isn’t a crooked shop, what is?’
"Sister, what’s going on?"
Hearing the commotion, Fang Yue entered the shop.
Fang Lan immediately told her brother what had happened.
Fang Yue couldn’t help but smile when he heard the story.
’So that’s all it was. I thought my sister and sister-in-law were being bullied.’
’The value of the raw silver is one thing, but the price of a crafted item is another; of course they aren’t the same. Besides, if the shop didn’t make a profit, why would they bother going to all this trouble?’
’Selling a silver ornament made with four maces of silver for two taels isn’t even that expensive.’
"Zhi, let’s go. This shop is too crooked." Fang Lan, frightened by the price, immediately grabbed Fang Yue to leave.
"Hey, wait a moment. Please, stay. Were you two ladies looking at this hairpin? The price for this hairpin is five maces of silver. The assistant is new and misremembered the price."
Just then, a man who appeared to be the Shopkeeper emerged from a back room. He was startled when he saw Fang Yue, then his face broke into a wide smile.
"Oh, I knew it! I was just saying, how could a hairpin made with only four maces of silver sell for two taels?"
Only then did Fang Lan happily pick up the silver hairpin to examine it.
In the end, she and her sister-in-law each bought two pieces of silver jewelry.
They didn’t even ask Fang Yue to pay; both of them had their own pocket money.
Fang Yue also bought some jade jewelry—for Ms. Chen, of course. The price he paid was also not high, very close to the cost.
After Fang Yue and the others left, the assistant from before asked, his face full of confusion, "Shopkeeper, who were those people?"
The assistant wasn’t a fool. Judging by the Shopkeeper’s behavior, he knew those people were not ordinary.
Otherwise, the Shopkeeper wouldn’t have been so deferential, selling the items at cost without making any profit.
"The man who came in last is Martial Scholar Fang. He was newly promoted at our Boxing Hall two years ago and is held in high regard by the Old Master," the Shopkeeper said with an air of importance.
This shop was one of the White Tiger Boxing Hall’s businesses, and the Shopkeeper had been fortunate enough to see Fang Yue once before, so he knew who he was.
He had been in the back room when he heard Fang Yue’s voice. Thinking it sounded familiar, he had come out to check, and sure enough, it was him.
Since it was the Boxing Hall’s business, how could he dare profit from Fang Yue?
Of course he had to sell it at cost.
When he reported this later, not only would he avoid any reprimand, but it would even be considered a good deed.
~~~~~~
Afterward, Fang Yue took his family around the city for another two days.
They saw almost every corner of Xiahe County Town.
They didn’t go to the Jade River district, of course. It wouldn’t have been appropriate with his sister and sister-in-law present.
And besides, his brother was so honest; it wouldn’t be right to take him there either.
「Time passed quickly, and the third day arrived.」
Early that morning, Fang Yue and his family were awoken by the sound of beating gongs and drums.
Pushing open the window, he saw a prison cart approaching from the distance.
’Is that the Third Elder of the Mo Mountain Tribe?’
Fang Yue stared in astonishment at the man in the distant prison cart. He was a towering, powerfully built man, standing over eight and a half feet tall.
’What on earth did this person eat to grow so tall?’
Fang Yue had seen many people in his life, and Martial Artists were often taller and more robust than ordinary folk due to their training.
In reality, however, most were only around five-foot-seven to five-foot-eleven.
The classic image of a tall man, nothing more.
But this Third Elder of the Mo Mountain Tribe... even in his previous world, he would have been considered a minor giant.
Moreover, the man looked immensely strong and powerful, not like someone with gigantism who would appear frail and weak, with brittle bones.
’Is this why the Mo Mountain Tribe has been able to stand against the Imperial Court for so long?’
Fang Yue mused.
’This man is the Third Elder of the Mo Mountain Tribe. With a build like that, his physical strength must be incredible, likely no less than that of a Martial Artist who has passed the Bone Forging Pass.’
’If the Mo Mountain Tribe has more men like him, combined with their familiarity with the terrain, they would be a force not to be underestimated.’
And so, Fang Yue, who had originally not intended to watch the public execution...
...now changed his mind.
~~~~~~
「Xiahe County, the execution ground.」
Today, the place was a sea of people, with several thousand gathered in the square.
There was no shortage of spectators for the beheading of an elder from the Mo Mountain Tribe.
Of course, some in the crowd had brought steamed buns with them.
These were people with sickly family members, waiting for the moment the prisoner was beheaded so they could dip the buns in his blood.
An old wives’ tale claimed that such buns, heavy with the aura of death, could suppress evil spirits and cure certain illnesses.
"Prisoner, listen well! Your Mo Mountain Tribe has refused to submit to the Emperor’s rule, gathered lawlessly in the mountains, committed robbery, harbored Roving Bandits, and put up stubborn resistance! Your crimes are heinous!"
"Today, you shall be publicly punished by law and executed as a warning to others!"
County Magistrate Liu Zheng’s voice was powerful and righteous. With his voice alone, he silenced the crowd of thousands, and the entire execution ground fell quiet.
"Hahaha! You have angered the gods in heaven! They have sent down divine punishment—a great drought that will last for three years! Hahaha..."
The tightly bound Third Elder of the Mo Mountain Tribe let out a wild laugh.
"Hmph. Seditious lies to delude the masses. Guards, begin the execution!"
With no further ceremony, having recited the crimes of the Mo Mountain Tribe, he gave the direct order to begin the executions.