Jiapingguan Chronicle

“If I’m not mistaken, the witnesses that She Nanqi brought are the women who were released back then, right?” Seeing Shen Cha and Song Yaojia nod, Jin Miaomiao stroked her chin. “That’s very strange.”

"What's weird?"

“Look at these women, they’ve lived in the same place as this lady for so long, they should have the best relationship with her, so why are they helping She Nanqi? Just because he released them?”

“Sister Miaomiao, perhaps there’s another possibility.” Merlin walked to a small stove not far away, on which sat a small pot. She lifted the lid and looked at it, then nodded to Jin Miaomiao who was looking over. As she picked up the pot and poured out the liquid inside, she said, “Those witnesses are the real victims, while that self-proclaimed victim, the bandit leader’s wife, is a real perpetrator, just like those rebels.”

"You mean that lady is in league with the rebels?"

"That's exactly what I mean." Merlin emptied the liquid from the small pot, extinguished the fire in the stove, and then carried the small bowl over to Shen Cha, placing it in front of him. He said, "Boss, don't drink the tea, it's time to take your medicine."

"Huh? Why are you taking medicine again?" Shen Cha frowned, looking at the bowl of medicine in front of her. She stared at the dark, murky liquid with obvious repulsion and said, "Didn't you just drink some?"

“An hour and a half has passed. It’s time to drink the other kind. Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping track of the time, I won’t forget.” Jin Miaomiao looked at Shen Cha. “Stop struggling, drink it quickly!”

"Do you really want to drink it?"

"Have you forgotten what your uncle said during the day, that he would make some adjustments for you?"

“I haven’t forgotten, it’s just that,” Shen Cha said with a long face full of displeasure, humming twice, “I thought you had all forgotten.”

"You don't think we've forgotten, you're actually hoping we've forgotten, right?" Jin Miaomiao grinned mischievously, raising an eyebrow at Shen Cha. "You'll never forget this, don't worry, I've remembered it all!"

“I remember too.” Shen Haolin looked at Shen Cha from the side. “Drink it while it’s hot, it will be more effective that way.”

"understood!"

Once Shen Haolin spoke, Shen Cha knew she couldn't get away with it no matter what she did, so she could only pout and swallow the bowl of medicine with the determination of a warrior cutting off his own arm.

"How is it?" Jin Miaomiao smiled at Shen Cha. "Isn't it not as bad as I imagined?"

The herbal soup wasn't as unpleasant as she'd expected; in fact, it had a slightly sweet aftertaste. Shen Cha paused for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up. "It's delicious! Did they add licorice?" she looked at Jin Miaomiao.

"Your tongue is quite sensitive; it definitely contains licorice." Jin Miaomiao nodded, and seeing Shen Haolin looking at her, she explained, "Today, your martial uncle examined your pulse and tongue, and felt you had a slight fever. He also heard you coughing. Have you been talking too much lately? Is your throat a little sore?"

“Uncle is still Uncle, getting straight to the point.” Shen Cha smiled, looked at the candied fruit beside him, took a piece and put it in his own mouth, then took another piece and fed it to Shen Haolin, and pushed the rest in front of Song Yaojia, Jin Miaomiao and Meilin. “Besides, old ginger is spicier, Uncle’s medicine is not as bitter as yours, that’s your shortcoming.”

“Then you’re wrong. The one who made you cry so much before was also prescribed by my martial uncle. He’s much more ruthless with the medicine than my master and I are. My master once said that if my martial uncle were to take care of you, he might use strong medicine, which might help you recover faster. However, your condition in previous years wasn’t suitable for my martial uncle’s style; it needed to be adjusted slowly. Now that it’s almost adjusted, it’s time for my martial uncle to step in.” Jin Miaomiao snorted and said, “However, the medicine we’re adding now is different from your previous medicine. Don’t confuse them. You had to keep drinking the previous one, but this one…” She pointed to the empty medicine bowl, “You have to drink it once every night for seven consecutive nights.”

"Oh, that's alright. We'll drink it as long as we can, and enjoy the sweetness as long as we can." Shen Cha shrugged indifferently, looked at Merlin, and said, "What you said earlier was right."

"Right?" Merlin said smugly, "The only ones She Nanqi could find and who would agree to testify for him must be the real victims. And She Nanqi is the benefactor who helped them escape. Since their benefactor has been smeared, they will naturally repay the favor and help him through this difficult time." She looked at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and Song Yaojia, "Right?"

“That’s right.” Shen Cha nodded. “So, when that lady entered the main hall and saw those people kneeling there, she became even more panicked. She thought those people had long since disappeared, or were dead, or were unwilling to come forward. She didn’t expect that She Nanqi would actually bring them here and confront them with her. The appearance of these witnesses caught the lady off guard and, at the same time, revealed the truth about She Nanqi’s murder of the rebels.”

"At first, She Nanqi only led his troops back to Liuzhou Prefecture to provide relief, thinking that he could wipe out the rebels in one fell swoop. As for the stronghold, he could deal with it slowly. After all, they had few people on their side and were not very familiar with the stronghold, so they were easy to fall into someone else's trap."

Song Yaojia waved to Shen Cha, signaling her to take a break, and said she would tell the rest of the story herself.

“It was right not to press the attack; after all, you shouldn't chase a cornered enemy.” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “Then why did you catch up later? Xiaocha said before that the rebels themselves betrayed the location of their stronghold, right?”

"It was their internal strife that led them to sell out their base. Some even contributed their internal defense map in an attempt to atone for their crimes."

"Is this a real defense deployment map?"

“Yes!” Song Yaojia nodded. “Now that we have the defense plan, She Nanqi’s three deputy generals all agree to take the opportunity to attack the rebels’ stronghold and completely eliminate the threat to Liuzhou Prefecture. Otherwise, once they catch their breath, they may very well make a comeback, which would be very troublesome.”

“That’s not wrong. After all, things have come to this point. If we don’t completely eliminate them, we could easily find ourselves on the defensive. If we fight a second time, it’s hard to say who will win.” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “But is that defense map real? She Nanqi is so cunning; shouldn’t we verify that?”

"It's true." Song Yaojia nodded. "We sent out three scout teams to investigate, and they were indeed able to enter the stronghold smoothly. So, on the third night after repelling the rebels, She Nanqi led his elite troops to raid the rebels' stronghold. But what he never expected was that after he led his troops into the stronghold, they were greeted by a courtyard full of women and children tied to pillars." (End of Chapter)