Chapter 703: The Fox Borrows the Tiger's Might

No one blamed Pan Yun, and no one blamed the Mountain God.

The villagers had all thought it through. Old Man Wang took Pan Yun's hand and said with a face full of wrinkles, smiling, "The Mountain God has already blessed us. We were captured, and Fei Yin has been taking such pains to look after us — this is the reward for our daily worship of the god.

Expectations are too many, wishes too heavy, and there are so many people under heaven, yet the gods in heaven are so few, and the Mount Sanqing Mountain God is only one — how could everything go as one wishes?"

The villagers heard this, and the circle around Pan Yun loosened slightly. They dispersed, returned to their own seats, quietly wiped their tears, unwilling to make things difficult for Pan Yun any longer.

Pan Yun opened her mouth, but for a long while could not speak.

Old Man Wang gripped her hand tightly, then pushed her outward: "You've come, you've seen, that's enough. Go back now, go back…"

Pan Yun swept her gaze around and asked in a low voice, "Where is Wang Erliang?"

Old Man Wang's hand pushing her paused, his back hunched, his body seeming even heavier.

Wang Xiaojing's mother beside them choked out, "Erliang… he took his own life."

Someone nearby said softly, "It was so he wouldn't drag his family down."

"What a pity that boy was — he'd even finished learning carpentry, and was engaged too. Who would have known he'd be conscripted as a post-station soldier?"

Listening to the discussion rising on all sides, Pan Yun pressed down the sour ache in her heart and asked in a raised voice, "How many children, how many women, how many elderly over sixty are in the prison?"

The crowd fell silent.

Pan Yun said, "Tally the numbers as quickly as possible and report them to me. I'll find a way to get the elderly, the children, and the women out first."

At her words, the people immediately began counting, and in no time the numbers were tallied.

Only then did Pan Yun take Xiaolan's hand and say, "Wait for me a few more days. I'll find a way to rescue all of you."

Xiaolan wept and agreed.

The government office Runner watching nearby, when seeing Pan Yun out, said in a low voice as a reminder, "If you mean to save people, you must move quickly. Yesterday Secretary Wu brought three people over, and from the look of it, they were here to pick out girls under eighteen and over thirteen who were good-looking."

That was why Xiaolan had been in such a hurry.

Pan Yun pressed her lips together, cupped her fist to the government office Runner and said, "Many thanks for the warning, brother. These people may be rebels' families, but as you can see, first, they knew nothing about it, and second, they're all common folk — they truly had no choice…"

The government office Runner sighed and said, "Don't worry, we won't make things hard for them."

Pan Yun thanked him repeatedly. "If anyone else comes, whether it's Secretary Wu or not — anyone coming to pick people — please have someone send word to me, and help me delay them a while."

The government office Runner hesitated, but agreed in the end.

Only then did Pan Yun return with Wang Feiyin.

They had slipped out secretly. The government office clerk in charge of watching them was good friends with Wang Cong, so he turned a blind eye to their movements. When he saw them return, he simply turned his back and pretended he hadn't seen.

The courtyard had a long queue of people. Three physicians had set up tables to see patients, and when they saw Wang Feiyin sauntering over, their faces all soured.

Wang Feiyin smiled at them, then cupped a hand over his mouth and whispered, "They all came of their own accord to do the free clinic. Without them, I couldn't have slipped out."

Having said that, he directly pointed at Miao He, Tao Yanbai, and Miao Zhen and said, "The three of you — sit down and see patients. Let the three physicians take you under their wing properly."

The three physicians finished with the patients in hand, stood up directly, silently packed their medicine boxes, gave Pan Yun a slight bow, shouldered their boxes, and left.

Pan Yun hurriedly returned the bow and saw them off.

Wang Feiyin muttered, "So rude — wasted all my teaching on them."

Pan Yun looked around and asked, "This free-clinic site — Cai Cheng arranged it for you?"

Wang Feiyin grunted an "Mm," and said, "After the rebels stormed the city, chaos reigned inside. Although he later led the garrison to recapture the city, there have always been rumors in the county that he drove the people to rebel.

This is to pacify the people — any citizen in the city can come here to see me for free."

Pan Yun: "And the medicine?"

"Take the prescription to any pharmacy and buy it yourself."

Pan Yun: "How generous with other people's money. Is that his only measure for settling the people?"

Wang Feiyin: "He said all the money was looted by the rebels. The county has no funds — not even enough to feed me."

Wang Feiyin: "Right, I pay for my own meals, so you all…"

Pan Yun: "I have money."

Wang Feiyin let out a breath, looked Pan Yun up and down, and said admiringly, "One trip out and you've come back rich."

Pan Yun nodded with reserved composure: "It's alright — just a small nest egg."

She looked left and right, then quickly leaned close to Wang Feiyin's ear and said, "I brought back the treasure from overseas."

Wang Feiyin's eyes lit up: "All of it?"

"Half," Pan Yun emphasized. "I'm a woman of my word."

Wang Feiyin nodded repeatedly, lavish with praise: "How do you plan to use it?"

Pan Yun: "On our way flying back, we saw quite a few places hit by disaster along the route. I want to spread the money out for relief, and keep part of it to deal with the matter of Yushan County.

But such a large sum — and it includes quite a lot of silks and satins, jewelry and ornaments, books and calligraphy and paintings — it won't be easy to do it without leaving a trace."

Wang Feiyin said, "Leave it to me. I'll convert it into money and grain for you."

"Senior Brother, Senior Nephew is still overseas, not in the Great Ming."

"I don't need his people," Wang Feiyin said. "I'm his father — do you think I can't handle a little thing like this?"

Pan Yun was full of curiosity.

Wang Feiyin said no more, simply held out his hand to her: "Is there an inventory? I'll look it over and arrange things."

"There isn't," Pan Yun said. "There's too much stuff. If we were to take stock, it would take seven or eight days to sort it all out."

Wang Feiyin, hearing this, said, "Then just put it straight into your storage space and hand it to me."

He frowned, then remembered to ask, "Why did Cong'er stay overseas?"

"Oh, he's in the Land of Wao guarding the silver mine and the port." Pan Yun wrapped up the whole Wao trip in a few sentences — very brief — but on the matter of Yushan County she asked in great detail: "Where are the rebels hiding now? What position does Wang Xiaojing hold among them? Cai Cheng can't have just arrested the family of any random soldier, can he?"

Wang Feiyin sighed, "Fortune and misfortune are each other's cradle. That child Xiaojing's luck this past year has truly borne out that saying."

Pan Yun indicated she was all ears.

Wang Feiyin: "After Wang Erliang fell off the mountain, he didn't make it in time to request leave from the post station. The county office punished him, and the government office Runners came to the village to take people away."

Pan Yun: "... His leg is broken from the fall—how could he possibly deliver a letter?"

"But he didn't request leave, so the procedure was improper. The county court had every right to fine him."

Pan Yun: "The law is never divorced from human feeling. When did Yushan County become so harsh?"

Wang Feiyin: "Since the new county magistrate took office."

Pan Yun pressed her lips together: "Fine, and then what?"

"According to the law, he was to be fined and arrested for dereliction of duty," Wang Feiyin said. "After he was injured, I treated his wounds. Most of the medicinal ingredients were available at the monastery, so the cost wasn't that great. Most of his family's savings went to pay his fine. To spare him corporal punishment, the Wang family also put up money to redeem his offense, but they couldn't raise enough."

"In the end, it was Xiaojing who hurried back and took out the *Great Edict* from home to offset the crime, and only then did he manage to send the government office runners away."

Back in his day, Zhu Yuanzhang, in order to promote legal education, had people compile the *Great Edict* and also promulgated a law: when a crime was committed, any household possessing the *Great Edict* could have the charge reduced by one degree.

Wang Erliang's dereliction-of-duty offense wasn't serious; after the one-degree reduction, he no longer had to suffer corporal punishment—paying the fine would suffice.

"After the people of Fenshui Village were all arrested, I once quietly went into the mountains to look for Xiaojing. That child, having read the *Great Edict* since childhood, was considered one of the more clever people in the rebel army, and one of the few who could read. That's why he became a vice general."

"What?" Pan Yun cried out, jumping to her feet.

Wang Feiyin spread his hands: "Otherwise, why do you think I have so many acquaintances in the county court, yet Fenshui Village was still arrested down to the last person? Because Xiaojing is now the second-in-command of the rebel army."

Pan Yun slowly sat back down, her face full of wonder: "I never imagined our little companion from back then had become so capable..."

Wang Feiyin gave her head a tap: "Why does it look to me like you're actually rather pleased?"

"No, you heard wrong!" Pan Yun said thoughtfully: "Then I roughly have an idea now. Those people in the Tudimiao can't simply be rescued with money."

Wang Feiyin sighed sorrowfully: "Indeed, even throwing money at it won't easily rescue them."

They had to be rescued no matter how hard it was—especially those young ladies as lovely as blossoms, who couldn't stay in the Tudimiao any longer. Who knew what schemes Cai Cheng was plotting in his heart?

Pan Yun: "Did you borrow Second Senior Brother's name to act?"

"Otherwise, do you think I could have remained safe and sound?"

Pan Yun was filled with regret: "Back when I was on good terms with the little emperor, I should have asked him for some keepsakes. Then I could have borrowed his prestige to throw my weight around."

"You were on good terms with the little emperor?"

"Don't take it so seriously, my lord. At the very least, I've eaten at the same table as the little emperor and wandered arm in arm with him." Pan Yun began rummaging through her own space, finally producing an iron token and a jade pendant: "Actually, I also know two little princes."

She looked left and right, then finally tucked away the iron token Mu Lin had given her and held up the jade pendant Zhu Zijin had given her, examining it: "Zhou Wangfu is close to here, so I can borrow its prestige for a bit."

Wang Feiyin took the jade pendant and examined it carefully, frowning: "This doesn't look like a royal item at all. We can only take it to Zhou Wangfu's gate and have them identify it, right?"

Pan Yun snatched the jade pendant back: "If he can't tell, that's because he's incompetent. Is it my fault for deceiving him?"

Pan Yun rose, went to find Miao Zhen to ask for a painting—a painting that looked very expensive, and was housed in a very expensive golden sandalwood box.

She called Miao Zhen and Miao He to bathe and change, donned the Daoist robes of Long Hushan Academy, and with a pristine horsetail whisk in hand, swept off to the county court to request an audience with the new county magistrate.

Wang Feiyin and Tao Yanbai sat at the table, watching the three of them stride off full of spirit and vigor, only looking away once they had vanished from sight.

Tao Yanbai took someone's pulse while asking Wang Feiyin: "Eldest Senior Uncle, aren't you going?"

"They're all grown-ups now—what would I go for?" Wang Feiyin shook his head and wagged it: "I'm an old cat, a sick cat now; long past worth mentioning."

Tao Yanbai immediately said: "That's only because they have eyes but fail to recognize Mount Tai."

Wang Feiyin snorted with a smile: "After one trip out, you've learned to talk pretty, you rascal."

Pan Yun and her two companions came out with a different air entirely, striding to the county court gate with arrogant faces. Without waiting for anyone to announce them, one lift of the foot and whoosh—they were at the door of the main hall in a flash.

The government office runners of the county court all goggled their eyes and hurriedly chased after them.

And County Magistrate Cai and Secretary Wu, who were facing them head-on, goggled their eyes even wider. Even when the women reached them, they couldn't help rubbing their eyes. (End of chapter)