Chapter 187
187 Preparing
Only then did Zhou Jia and Xiaoyu see that there was someone tied to the horse. Seeing Zhou Jia’s puzzled look, Li Yu pointed at Manager Ouyang and said, “He was captured on the mountain. The bandits called him Manager Ouyang and were quite respectful to him. I suspect that he was sent by someone who colluded with the bandits. There was also a third head of the Green Dragon Stronghold who was thrown into the mountain stream after being dealt with.”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu’s tired expression and said with heartache, “It’s been hard on you guys. Go eat and have a good sleep first.”
Li Yu saw that Zhou Jia’s eyes were bloodshot and knew that he was worried about her safety and couldn’t sleep well. She nodded with a smile. “Go and sleep for a while. Look at you, your eyes are bloodshot.”
Zhou Jia shook his head and pinched Li Yu’s hand. He looked at Li Yu with heartache. “I’m not tired. You and Ruyi go eat first. I’ll get someone to lock him in the cellar. It’s not convenient to interrogate that guy in the middle of the night.”
Li Yu smiled tiredly. “Yes, it won’t be too late to interrogate him tomorrow.”
“Alright, eat first.”
Xiaoyu brought the food from the pot to the table and scooped a bowl of chicken soup for Li Yu. Her heart ached as she said, “Madam, drink some chicken soup to nourish yourself.”
“Yes! It’s been hard on you, Xiaoyu. Go to bed later and leave the family matters to the old woman.”
Seeing that Li Yu was still concerned about her even though she was so tired, Xiaoyu smiled happily and said, “I’m not tired. It’s Young Master who’s tired. He didn’t sleep last night and didn’t eat much.”
Li Yu put down the bowl and chopsticks. “Yes! I’ll let him rest.” When they returned to the room, Zhou Jia had already gotten someone to prepare hot water. He led Li Yu to the bathtub and said gently, “I know you can’t sleep without showering. Go wash up quickly. I’ll scrub your back.”
Li Yu pushed Zhou Jia out. “I don’t want you to rub it. Go and sleep for a while, or I’ll ignore you.”
Zhou Jia hugged Li Yu and kissed her. “Alright, I’ll go to sleep. You can wash up first.”
After Li Yu had her bath, she returned to her room and saw that Zhou Jia was already asleep. Li Yu lay beside Zhou Jia and fell asleep with her head on the pillow.
Zhou Jia woke up and went to the government office in high spirits. Scribe Tu held the booklet and said to Zhou Jia, “Sir, we’ve recruited a total of 30 magistrate runners. When they’re eliminated, the number of people will be suitable. I saw that they were gathered there with nothing to do, so I sent them to clean up the ruins and guard the city gate.”
Zhou Jia took the booklet and looked at it for a while before saying, “Alright, pay attention and choose those who are down-to-earth and hardworking. We’ll slowly eliminate those who are sneaky and cunning. Let Xu Dong and Ruyi teach them some self-defense skills. Then, call a few smart-mouthed ones over and let them go to the various villages to inform the village chiefs to come to the city when they have time.”
Seeing how Zhou Jia quickly arranged the matter, in a manner that was a departure from his distracted self yesterday, Scribe Tu laughed in his heart. Now that Madam was back, he was in high spirits. Scribe Tu narrowed his eyes and kept nodding. “Alright, I’ll arrange it now.”
Manager Ouyang woke up again and realized that he had been blindfolded and tied to a pillar. Where was this? Manager Ouyang pricked up his ears and realized that his surroundings were quiet. Who had tied him up? Could it be Zuo Qing? No! He didn’t dare. Could it be that the General’s private plan had been discovered by the Shen family? Had he been captured by the Shen family?
Steward Ouyang shouted, “Is anyone there? Someone! I want to pay my respects… Is anyone there?” Manager Ouyang shouted until his throat was hoarse, but there was no one. Fear gradually rose in his heart. He made up his mind and decided to bite his tongue to commit suicide. He stuck his tongue out, but he could not bite it.
Manager Ouyang’s tears flowed down as he shouted hoarsely, “Who are you? Why are you locking me up? Let me out…”
When Li Yu woke up, she saw that the sun was shining into the house. After putting on her clothes and walking out of the door, Xiaoyu came. “Madam, you’re awake! The person in the cellar was shouting. After a long time, there’s no movement. Do you want to take a look?”
Li Yu smiled and said, “Ignore him. We’ll talk when Young Master comes back.”
“Got it! I’ll tell Ruyi, Madam! The place that was burned has already started to be tidied up. The scribe asked those newly recruited bailiffs to do it.”
“Oh! Let’s take a look later!”
Xiaoyu smiled at Li Yu. “You should go and eat something first. Young Master instructed me to let you eat first when you wake up!”
Li Yu nodded. Xiaoyu asked Old Madam Liu to send food over. After Li Yu finished eating, she went to the government office, but she didn’t see Zhou Jia. She saw Mr. Qian writing something on the table alone.
Mr. Qian looked up and saw Li Yu. He stood up and asked, “Madam, are you looking for Sir? Sir and Scribe Tu have gone Shi Village.”
Li Yu smiled and shook her head. “I want to ask if there’s a larger wasteland near the county city.”
Mr. Qian flipped open the fish scale book and pointed at a mountainous area. “This is it. I heard from Scribe Tu that this is a barren mountain outside the eastern city. There are more than a hundred acres of wasteland at the foot of the mountain that no one has been farming. When Scribe Tu comes back, I’ll show you.”
Li Yu put down the fish scale book and smiled. “Alright, go ahead! I’ll go back first.”
Mr. Qian bowed and said, “Take care.”
After Li Yu went out, she took a look at the ruins of the city wall before returning to her house. She thought that since she had killed the Third-in-charge of the Green Dragon Stronghold, the bandits should notice that something was wrong the day after tomorrow. If Tu Gang said that he had been captured by her, the Green Dragon Village would definitely go down the mountain to take revenge. Li Yu walked around the wall and thought about how to guard against the Green Dragon Stronghold’s sneak attack.
Yang Wei and Aunt Zhang returned from cutting grass. Seeing Li Yu circling the wall, Yang Wei asked curiously, “Madam, is the wall broken?”
Li Yu saw Yang Wei leading the horse and carrying a few sacks of grass. She smiled and said, “You two are back from cutting the grass!”
Aunt Zhang bowed to Li Yu cautiously and carried the sack down from the horse. Seeing that she was struggling, Li Yu walked over and carried the sack off the horse.
Aunt Zhang thanked her helplessly. “Thank you, Madam!”
Li Yu smiled and waved her hand. She looked at Yang Wei as he opened the sack. “Madam, look at this grass. It’s tender and dense. Aunt Zhang brought me to the foot of the mountain outside the East City to cut it.” Yang Wei opened his arms and gestured. “There’s a large wasteland at the foot of the mountain, Madam! Shall we buy it to reclaim the land?”
“Alright, when Young Master comes back, we’ll buy land and explore.”
Aunt Zhang didn’t expect Li Yu to agree to Yang Wei’s request, but she liked Yang Wei’s liveliness and cuteness. She was afraid that Li Yu would scold Yang Wei after seeing the wasteland, so she said with a red face, “Madam, that place is a chaotic mountain. There isn’t much promise in it.”
Li Yu smiled gently and said, “You don’t have to worry. I originally planned to buy a wasteland to develop. Also, do you know where there’s bamboo?”
Seeing that Li Yu was easygoing, Aunt Zhang raised her voice. “There’s a forest outside the East City. Do you need me to cut some back?”
“Okay, take Ah Wei’s cart and bring back a cart full of them.”
Aunt Zhang brought Yang Wei’s cart to cut bamboo. Li Yu went to the woodshed and found a hoe to dig a pit for a trap.