“Wife, I want to eat meat” 《娘子，我要吃肉》Chapter 10

“Where are we going?” Xia Ling Mei asked, gaze falling on Hei Zi.

“Our responsibility is to ensure the lady’s safety, please don’t voluntarily put yourself at risk.” 

Hei Zi said, once again drawing the group to him: “Lady, you already have no connections to Lord Wang.”

Xia Ling Mei brows lifted, pursing her lips, without a word she urged her horse on to the bend of the road they had just come from. Not long after, the broken carriage could be seen again. The carriage light had already diminished, laying in despair on the floor covered with fragments. The carriage ought to have been forced into from the roof top as it was travelling, the floor was still completely intact, only the blanket on top and the small table had a few fragments of letters which had been riddled with holes by swords, if you look at the letters carefully, you can tell the letters had been opened before, there was even a yellow brocade satin in memorial of the emperor torn in two.

“It’s clear, he has offended someone in the bureaucracy, that’s why he was forced to Chenzhou.”

“Lady, you’ve been in the Jianghu, matters of the bureaucracy has got nothing to do with 

you.

“Maybe, he accepted a secret imperial decree from the emperor, he came to investigate some important matter. Matter involving an influential family or court councillor.”

“Lady, matters of the country are arranged by the emperor, the officials go carry them out, and has nothing to do with a commoner like yourself.”

Xia Ling Mei tied the small Tibetan Mastiff and kitten on the horseback, beaming as she said: “Tell me, if I know his life is hanging by a thread, should I still not help, afterwards, wouldn’t the patriarch say I… got someone else to do my dirty work, murdering an official of the court.”

Hei Zi rolled his eyes up to the sky: “Lady, I believe the people of Beiding City will only say you ---- murdered your husband.”

Xia Ling Mei paused, suddenly raising her horsewhip brandishing it once, hatefully saying: 

“Then I’ll just let him die.”

Everyone: “……”

Didn’t she just say she was going to rescue him, how can she just turn around and curse him to die? This was too quick a change, those standing around watching was at a loss at the sudden turn of her mind, dumbstruck they stared at their angry mistress, before staring 

at Bei Zi with blame: Look at the good you’ve done!

Bei Zi emotionally held his ponytail: “Lady, I was wrong. Let us go rescue Lord Wang.”

Xia Ling Mei used all her strength hitting the horse’s butt: “I’m not going.”

“Lady, I beg you.”

“Get lost.”

“Lady, then we won’t rescue Lord Wang, we’ll rescue Xiao Bai. Not only does that idiot still lose his way, he definitely must have fallen into an evil person’s trap, dead without an intact corpse.”

Xia Ling Mei turned her head: “You like him?”

Tears streamed down Hei Zi’s cheeks, he had no choice but to lie: “This servant likes him to the extent that he doesn’t think of tea or food, if he leaves me beyond a foot, I would be short of breath.” As he spoke, he wrested control of the reins, pulling the empty worded big mistress to rescue a certain thoughtless Lord Wang Wang.

Xia Ling Mei still held that slip of paper with the bloody word on, Hei Zi took the paper and examined it closely, feeling a bit of dried mud on the corner of it. He automatically jumped to an elevated position to sweep his eyes over the entire Chenzhou at night, with a whistle, birds came flying from all directions, one by one he touched these bird’s claws, selecting several places, making the secret guards split up to search. He himself again bought Xia Ling Mei and the rest of the men following the way Xiao Bai had just left.

Bai Zi had received the order to protect Xia Ling Mei for many years, he soon had a secret signal with Hei Zi to communicate with each other, along with the excellent tracking skills of the Xia family secret guards, not long after they had been around half of Chenzhou.

Hei Zi could not help but sigh: “That idiot, he must have gotten lost again.”

Luckily, the people he had just dispatched had already sent news. By the time everyone had found the location of that house, just by chance they saw Bai Zi leading his subordinates in a fierce battle against the kidnappers, everywhere was the sound of weapons in fights at close quarters, what’s more not a single family peeked out from the densely packed single storey houses on the street.

Hei Zi lead several people to lend a hand to Bai Zi, Xiu Yu and Ying Shi had already deftly searched the ins and outs of the abandoned house. Finally, from the thickness of the dust on the floor they found a path leading down to the cellar. Carefully they moved the floorboards away, several secret guards took the lead in sliding down, Xia Ling Mei martial arts wasn’t weak, but everyone surrounded her to protect her, but they have never thought for her to genuinely not get involved.

The cellar was a mess, things piled up in disorder everywhere, there were wine jars, casks, hay that sort of junk, there were also cotton wadding, clothing which could be used as cleaning rags, cobwebs hung across everywhere, behind numerous broken planks and bamboo poles there was a faint ray of light, the crack of a whip sounded.

“Where is the secret decree?”

Xia Ling Mei signalled everyone to stop, she herself pulled back into one corner, looking through the thin wood at the gleam of light she saw a man suspended, it was Wang Yun Feng.

He had his eyes half closed, the new clothes he had changed into that evening was once again in tatters from a thrashing, exposing the greenish blue chest infused with beads of blood inside, on top of the crisscross pattern there was a part which was the handiwork of 

Xia Ling Mei that afternoon, another part were newly added marks. The new wounds covered the old scars, it was horrible to see. And with his head hanging down, it looked like he already stopped breathing.

Xia Ling Mei suppressed her heavy breath, again looking closely at the depth of the surroundings in the cellar. There were only three people, the short one squatted on the floor rummaging through a pile of goods looking for something, in the middle was the skinny and tall man still brandishing a whip, a large full bearded man actually had a wine cup held in his mouth drinking as he half leant against the wall drunk. In this sort of situation, the tall lanky one ought to be the best at martial arts. However, relying on her many years of experience in the Jianghu, Xia Ling Mei attention remained fixed on the drunkard.

“I say, this imperial censor officer still won’t talk even if he’s beaten to death, skinny why don’t you be a bit more vicious, he won’t talk.”

At this moment, Wang Yun Feng already kept his mouth shut that he wouldn’t even groan.

“Damn it, I want to be vicious, but I don’t know when this scholar had already been beaten before. He’s used to it, if I keep on forcing a confession he’ll die sooner or later, we still haven’t obtained it, we can’t report back to Lord Gu.”

“Don’t scare me, I’ve followed him for many days, apart from us, no one else has discovered he’s carrying the emperor’s secret decree on him. Those injuries on his body could well be from that steamy young lady for amusement, simply, we’ll grab that lady from the tavern to try and threaten him.”

“That lady has a lot of people protecting her, if you want to die you go.” Speaking, that person picked up a rusty nail from the floor, seemingly thinking of a plan, unexpectedly he took that nail facing Wang Yun Feng he placed it in his finger.

Scream.

Wang Yun Feng almost woke up from the pain, that old rope was long ago no longer reliable, while he struggled it split into two, the man rolling about in pain on the floor cried out without tears, the blood which had coagulated with great difficulty once more busted open, rubbing into the dust, black grass floor.

The short person looked with interest, to go so far as to crouch down staring at Wang Yun Feng in pain saying: “Lord Wang, if you want to still write memorials so the emperor in the future, you best tell us where you hid the imperial decree and your secret reply, that way you can suffer less pain.”

Wang Yun Feng stopped rolling around, afterwards he violently shuddered. That skinny person stepped forward and grabbed his other hand, picking out his smallest finger, without hesitation he stabbed the bloodstained rusty nail in once more.

Xiu Yu tightly clung onto Xia Ling Mei’s arm, burying her ears, she didn’t know, why her lady was indifferent.

Wang Yun Feng gasps for breath carried a clear meaning, gasping he said: “That’s what I should be saying to you. I know I won’t live, don’t think if you get the imperial decree and secret message you would achieve great success. You killed a court official, and took the imperial decree, that Lord Gu would also not believe you did not look at the content of the secret message. If you’re not his left and right hand men, but know too many secrets, I don’t need to think and I know what will happen to you.”

Before the two men had time to be surprised, the drunkard who had been drinking all this time opened his mouth: “Then what does Lord Wang mean? You want us to betray Lord Gu, to be under your command? What benefits can you give us.”

Wang Yun Feng grinned and asked: “Your Lord Gu secretly opened a gold mine, how much profit did he split with you?”

“A gold mine!?” The shorty immediately jumped three feet high, “Where did you get this information?”

“The emperor made me come here to investigate the place where the gold mine is. It seems, Lord Gu isn’t generous to everybody, normally he pretends to be honest and love the people, secretly he’s accumulated quite a bit of wealth.”

The drunkard said: “A gold mine, Lord Gu basically took it all.”

Wang Yun Feng apparently forgot his pain, looking up at the fierce drunkard: “There is someone behind him, maybe it’s a court official, maybe an influential family, or perhaps it’s… some relative of the emperor.”

The drunkard eyes flashed, his posture suddenly changed, his whole body rushed over to the corner of the room, dust rose from where he originally was, a red long whip with countless spikes exploded the stone floor. Then, innumerable shadows with lightening speeded forced entry, and instantly captured the two people.

The chaotic eyes of the drunkard suddenly became clear, striking out with the wine cup in the air, he clutched Wang Yun Feng by the throat knocking him into his arms: “If you move I’ll kill him.”

Xia Ling Mei gently swung her whip: “Kill him, apart from my people, everyone here needs 

to die.”

The drunkard was doubtful: “Aren’t you here to rescue Lord Wang?”

Xia Ling Mei sneered, saying to Wang Yun Feng: “Hey, tell him who is itching to flay your tendons and skin, ground your bones to dust.”

Wang Yun Feng returned to his senses from his shock, he shook his head with a bitter laugh: “You.”

Xia Ling Mei continued: “And who would trample over your grave a few times when your dead, who would plant a ring of endives around it?”

Wang Yun Feng chokingly coughed a few times, blood spitting out on the corner of his mouth which he also forgot to wipe clean: “It’s…you.”

“On this earth the person who wanted to curse you to suffer eighty-one difficulties in hell,[1] never reincarnated?”

“Its ----you.”

Xia Ling Mei large eyes widened, her whip already ahead of her as it advanced towards 

Wang Yun Feng: “Then why aren’t you dead!”

Wang Yun Feng wanted to smile, but his heart wanted to cry, he no longer knew what expression to face Xia Ling Mei with. The numbness of his body did not stop his body shuddering, the throbbing pain at the bottom of his heart nevertheless froze over every thread of blood vessel    , he closed his eyes…

“Master!” Bai Zi who had forced the door open cried out.

“Woof, woof.” The small Tibetan Mastiff rose from the back of Bai Zi’s head, four sturdy dog legs flew past the door towards the drunkard’s face.

“Meow----“ a ball of black and white shadow rolled on the floor, advancing on the drunkard’s big toe, taking aim, it took a big bite.

At Bai Zi’s shocked shout, Xia Ling Mei’s long whip fell to the ground, everyone with their mouth wide open, looked at the dark brown puppy hanging off the drunkard’s face, as well as the kitten biting not let go as he hopped around in pain, embarrassed.

Blood tells us the truth, you cannot look down on the potential attack of any house pet.

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[1] Reference to `The Monkey King`.