Chapter 30
They Are All Traitors
Bai Wutong lowered her eyes and walked over to turn the unconscious Huang Zhong around.
She lifted his eyelids and pried open his tongue to look.
The diagnosis was that it was an after-dinner hypoglycemia, also known as fainting. It was caused by long-term hunger resulting in indigestion and unstable emotions after meals.
Simply put, if this person died, it would be because he was angered to death.
Bai Wutong sighed helplessly. She took some propinquus for blood restoration from her bag and asked Chu Tianbao to boil water for him.
Chu Tianbao boiled the medicine, opened Huang Zhong’s mouth, and poured it down his throat.
After drinking the medicine, Huang Zhong was still unconscious.
Village Chief Zhao returned with his men after some investigation.
He walked towards Bai Wutong and handed the money bag to him. “Madam Bai, let San’er follow you into the city. We won’t be heading in. The money is all here. San’er is stupid and I’m afraid that he will be cheated, so we’ll have to trouble you to help us buy some food and herbs.”
Bai Wutong held the heavy money bag in her hand and asked curiously, “Why don’t you guys enter the city?” Village Chief Zhao was dying to be a follower 24 hours a day. Why was he suddenly so enlightened?
Village Chief Zhao smiled. “There are many of us here. We don’t have anywhere to stay after entering the city. We’ll just have to make do here for the night.”
Bai Wutong saw a hidden helplessness through those wise eyes.
There were refugees running rampant outside the city and they had to be on tenterhooks every night. If Chu Tianbao followed Bai Wutong into the city, the villagers who stayed outside the city would only panic even more. There must be a reason why Village Chief Zhao suddenly did not bring the villagers into the city.
Bai Wutong guessed, “What are the conditions for entering the city?” Then it could only be that the conditions for entering the city were too harsh which made Village Chief Zhao give up.
Village Chief Zhao did not say anything. Zhao Pengfei hurriedly said, “Because a traitor entered the city, many soldiers were killed in Lin’an City. The magistrate of Beiyun City was afraid that the traitor would sneak in and commit a crime, so he gave an order. Everyone who is entering the city has to pay one tael of silver and check their household register. There are too many of us. My father said that instead of entering the city, it was better to save the silver to buy food.”
They had only received less than 200 taels of silver from Fourth Master last night. If they paid the entrance fee, they would not be able to afford anything.
Bai Wutong lowered her eyes. She suspected that it was she and Chu Tianbao who caused everyone in Beiyun City to have to pay a tael of silver to enter the city.
They also had to check the household register. She did not dare to use her fake household register.
Chu Tianbao also had no household register when he was fished out of the river.
Where could they get the household register suddenly?
Just as Bai Wutong was frowning, Lin Yue took out two banknotes and placed them in front of Village Chief Zhao. “Village Chief Zhao, you don’t have to worry. Sorry for troubling Auntie to take care of our Young Master for so long. We’ll pay the entrance fee.”
Village Chief Zhao hurriedly rejected, “It’s only right for us to do so. The Young Master is delicate and precious. It’s good enough that Madam Bai doesn’t mind us.”
All the villagers in the Zhao farmyard recognized Stinky as Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao’s child. Since Lin Yue called Stinky Young Master, everyone naturally felt that Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao were Lin Yue’s masters.
The reason why Lin Yue did not correct him was firstly because he wanted to hide his Young Master’s identity, and secondly, because he wanted the bond between Bai Wutong, Chu Tianbao, and the Young Master to deepen. If he unfortunately died, at least Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao would treat him well.
Lin Yue shook his head and said directly, “I’m giving this silver to Village Chief Zhao because firstly, I want to thank you, and secondly, I want Village Chief Zhao to help me with a favor.”
“What favor?” Village Chief Zhao was confused. With Bai Wutong and the others’ abilities, why would Lin Yue still need help from him?
Lin Yue said, “We have been busy since the Young Master was born and hasn’t been able to register his name. Can we trouble Village Chief Zhao to issue a household registration certificate?” Stinky had a household register but he was afraid that if he used Stinky’s original household register, he might be found by the Dark Guards Team.
For additional precaution, Lin Yue wanted to get a household register certificate for Stinky to enter the city first. Then, he wouldn’t have to worry about being tracked to the address of Zhao farmyard.
When Bai Wutong heard Lin Yue’s words, her pupils suddenly dilated. It was really like a pillow handed to her when she was sleepy. Village Chief Zhao actually had the right to issue a household register.
Bai Wutong also suddenly remembered that in ancient times, because of the inconvenient roads, it was not convenient for the government office to manage the population. Therefore, the village chief was basically a supreme existence in the village. If the bailiffs wanted to handle the case, they had to cooperate with the village chief.
Village Chief Zhao naturally had the right to register someone and create their certificate!
As long as they followed Village Chief Zhao, they could enter the city.
Bai Wutong immediately pretended to look for her household register. After searching through the bag but not finding it, she said anxiously to Village Chief Zhao, “We seem to have lost our household register. Village Chief Zhao, please help us also issue a household register certificate.”
Lin Yue immediately looked at Bai Wutong suspiciously.
What a coincidence!
Bai Wutong gave him a look that said they were all the same.
Lin Yue was enlightened. Bai Wutong did not want to expose her identity either.
Village Chief Zhao was dying for Bai Wutong to have a closer relationship with their village. He took the opportunity and said with a smile, “It’s chaotic outside and won’t be easy to get a replacement if you lose your household register. You might have to be checked when you go to Ling Kingdom. Why don’t you just register it at our village?”
Replacing the household register was the same as in the modern world. One had to return to their place of origin or bribe the bailiff who handled the household register to obtain a fake household register.
However, it was very likely that the fake household register would be seen through and would not be able to match up to actual records. It would also be troublesome once they arrive at Ling Kingdom. When Village Chief Zhao suggested this, Bai Wutong pretended to hesitate. After a while, she readily agreed.
“That’s good. Then I’ll have to trouble Village Chief Zhao,” Bai Wutong said politely.
Village Chief Zhao was a smart person. He knew that there must be something wrong with their identities since Bai Wutong was willing to settle down in their village. But why did it matter now? The Yan Kingdom was about to be destroyed.
People had to have foresight.
If Bai Wutong could give their entire village hope, she would be their benefactor.
Since Lin Yue had given them the banknotes, although Village Chief Zhao felt the pinch of spending nearly 200 taels to enter the city, he could still find a place for everyone to rest. Therefore, Village Chief Zhao asked everyone to pack their luggage and prepare to enter the city.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Huang Zhong, who was lying on the ground alone. Village Chief Zhao asked Madam Yang, “Who is this person?”
When he first returned, he even saw Chu Tianbao feeding him medicine.
Madam Yang only heard Huang Zhong kneeling on the ground and calling out to Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao, begging them not to chase him away. Madam Yang did not know the exact situation either.
Village Chief Zhao glanced at the unconscious Huang Zhong and frowned. He thought for a moment and said to Madam Yang in a low voice, “Madam Bai and Young Master Chu must have extraordinary identities. Since they’re their servants, let’s help them. If Madam Bai and the others remember how good this servant is and know that we’ve taken good care of him, Madam Bai will also remember our kindness.”
If Bai Wutong knew what Village Chief Zhao was thinking, she would definitely tell him that he was thinking too much.
Madam Yang nodded. “Then I’ll get Yuan’er to carry him into the city.”
Village Chief Zhao said, “Alright, take good care of him. The people around Madam Bai are all capable. It’s quite impressive that he can reach here alone and even find Madam Bai and the others.”
Village Chief Zhao led everyone into the city in a mighty manner. Just as he handed over everyone’s household register, Fourth Master appeared in the crowd of refugees. He pointed at them and shouted, “Sir, they’re all traitors! They’re all armed and want to enter the city to cause trouble!”