A rebellious minister forced me to be a foolish king

Chapter 941 Night Visit to Rang County
Mi Qinlin had no choice but to take out a bell-shaped gold-thread sachet from the wide sleeve of his Qiang costume, hold it at his fingertips and hand it to Yuan Wuyou.

"There is an antidote pill in here. Wearing it on your body can prevent you from being infected by the plague. It smells like camellia."

"thank you."

Yuan Wuyou took the sachet from him and took a closer look. He saw that it was wrapped with golden threads and had an opening like a bell, which was quite novel.

"Hey, this thing is rare, is it made of real gold?"

Mi Qinlin glanced at her. "It's true. Why do you Han people... like gold so much?"

Yuan Wuyou waved his hand and said, "Hey, you Dangxiang herdsmen, don't you understand this? If you were to wear gold jewelry on the streets of the Central Plains, you would probably be bumped into and robbed before you could even walk a few steps."

Mi Qinlin pursed his lips and frowned.
"Rang County is now in strict order, there will be no pickpockets, so feel free to wear it when you go out. This camellia sachet is to cover up the bloody smell on your body and prevent people from discovering you, and also to show that you are related to King Dangxiang."

"Ah?" Yuan Wuyou said with a bitter face.

"Why does wearing the scent of camellia have anything to do with your king? Does he like the scent of camellia so much?"

"Because apart from your uncle and King Ande, our Khan is the only one in this land who has this smell."

At this point, Mi Qinlin glared at her.
"Who knows? Our Khan has some problem. He knows that the camellia you like is the favorite flower of your love rival, the male fox. In order to please you, he forces himself to like camellia as well."

"Ah? I hope he doesn't fall in love with his rival."

"That's not the case. It's more likely that he killed his rival and took his place."

Yuan Wuyou hesitated for a moment, but finally returned the sachet to him.

"This scent is too strong, is there any other scent?"

"There are also roses and lilies, but... people in the Western Regions like roses, and it's too dangerous for you to cater to their tastes like this."

"It's okay, just change it to Rose's."

Yuan Wuyou said secretly: God helps me!
……

Afterwards, Yuan Wuyou wore a rose-scented gold sachet around his waist, handed his black horse to Mi Qinlin for safekeeping, and then wanted to enter the city through the main gate.

However, they were stopped by the Qiang soldiers at the door, who said that the people inside had just recovered from the epidemic and were practicing Buddhism. Outsiders were not allowed to enter for fear that they would be infected again by outsiders.

When Yuan Wuyou heard this, he thought, "The security inside is quite strict?" Then he had to go and take a look. After all, the various forces now have different opinions, and Yuan Wuyou always wants to see it with his own eyes.

But when Yuan Wuyou climbed over the wall and went in, he saw that it was the middle of the night and there were few people on the street. Instead, there were candles and yellow paper offerings on the ground, and half-burned Buddhist scriptures in Sanskrit were floating in the wind.

There were also middle-aged women and men on the east-west streets and the north-south roads. They were chanting sutras devoutly like zombies or possessed by demons. They were walking along the lanterns on the roadside, bowing their heads as they walked towards a newly built Buddhist temple at the end of the long street.

Moreover, not far from these believers, there were Qiang soldiers watching over them and patrolling the streets with knives in hand.

Yuan Wuyou avoided the sight of the Qiang soldiers and quietly approached a woman in a thorny hairpin and a cloth skirt who had just finished worshipping Buddha. He then tried his best to catch up with her naturally, pretending to be well-behaved and asked softly:
"Sister, what were you worshipping just now?"

The woman turned around and saw Yuan Wuyou. She was immediately surprised and said, "We are worshipping Lord Shiva and Indra. Don't you know? Our medicine was given by the gods and Buddhas."

The name sounded familiar, but Yuan Wuyou couldn't put it into context, so he smiled awkwardly, "Alas, I don't believe in Buddhism."

As a result, the woman's eyes became suspicious and her tone became sharp.

"How can you not even believe in gods and Buddhas? Could it be someone from outside who is causing trouble?"

As she spoke, the woman in the thorny hairpin and cloth skirt suddenly looked Yuan Wuyou up and down with vigilance, frowning:
"Whose daughter are you, and why are you dressed like this? You look like a gangster." Yuan Wuyou smiled awkwardly and evaded the question, "I'm timid, so I can only dress in a way that's intimidating to protect myself. This dress is definitely not mine... It belongs to my big brother in the Wolong Gang."

After she finished explaining, she did not forget the main business, and took the opportunity to ask the woman indirectly:
"It's been too chaotic outside these days, so I hid at home. Today I found that my family members were missing, so I came out to look for them. It's the blessing of Buddha that I can meet my sister. You and I are predestined. Can you please tell me what's going on outside?"

The girl kept saying "Buddha" and "destiny", which touched the woman's heart. She no longer doubted it and comforted Yuan Wuyou, "Don't worry, your family is fine. They must have been called to the temple to serve Buddha."

Hearing this, Yuan Wuyou couldn't let go.

She asked in surprise, "Where is the temple? Can you take me there?"

"It used to be the Rangxian Inn. You can't enter it now. Only the chosen boys can enter the temple."

At this point, the woman said proudly, "My son was chosen, and he just entered the temple this afternoon."

Yuan Wuyou felt more and more frightened the more he listened, and couldn't help but test it.

"Why are you worshipping Buddha so late at night? Don't you feel something is wrong?"

"No, our Rang County has never been so peaceful, thanks to the gods and Buddhas. I came out at night because the gods and Buddhas said their magic power is most effective at night. I came here to pray for the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and to let him be favored by the gods."

"Have you ever seen the gods and Buddhas? I heard that Qiang soldiers were selecting young boys and girls and even eating people. Don't you know?"

The woman frowned, "Shut up! The Qiang soldiers are the divine soldiers of King Dangxiang, and King Dangxiang is the reincarnated brother of gods and Buddhas. Why do you say it so scary? It is the gods and Buddhas who select boys and girls to serve them and teach them the magical power to treat epidemics. Don't blaspheme the gods!"

Yuan Wuyou was speechless and waved his hands.
"Okay, okay, I'm just talking nonsense. I just heard it from others."

"Young people, don't believe everything you hear!"

As she spoke, the woman squinted at Yuan Wuyou and said,

"At your age, you should be participating in the virgin selection. Why didn't you go? Are you married?"

This topic was really difficult for Yuan Wuyou to answer, so she evaded the question by saying that she had just gotten married and was no longer a virgin, and that she was out looking for a husband.

Yuan Wuyou originally wanted to find out about the situation in Rang County, but he didn't expect that this woman was praising the gods and Buddhas of Rang County. He didn't know whether she was deliberately confusing him or was brainwashed.

It was already late at night, and Yuan Wuyou was afraid of seeing the patrolling Qiang soldiers coming, so he quickly separated from the woman and went to investigate on his own.

Yuan Wuyou then climbed over the wall to avoid the patrolling Qiang soldiers. She saw a young man in night clothes coming out. Just as he was about to run up to the beam where she was hiding, he was caught by two Qiang soldiers in white robes.

For a moment, the young man struggled desperately, shouting for help in Chinese, but the two Qiang soldiers behind him tied him up with hemp ropes using brute force and called other Qiang soldiers in Qiang language.

Then a Qiang soldier came with a red-haired puppy on all fours on a leash. The puppy was like an animal, making animal sounds and moving very skillfully to sniff the boy.

Seeing it passing by, the two Qiang soldiers used brute force to pry open the boy's legs, making the boy scream in anger!

When the puppy got close and smelled it, it suddenly started howling with excitement and jumping around.

The Qiang soldiers immediately said in Qiang language: "It's a chick, take it away!"

Then the young man was taken away by the Qiang soldiers.

Yuan Wuyou was stunned.

Her mind was in a mess for a moment. It was obvious that those dogs were practicing the evil ways of "harvesting living things" or "creating animals". Just by looking at those dogs, she knew that although these evil people in the Western Regions might not necessarily know evil magic, their methods were cruel and they had no humanity.

……