I'm already a concubine, who wants to fight with you?

Chapter 81 Prepare for a rainy day
In order to avoid being noticed, Yuan San wore a bamboo hat and pretended to be a passerby, motioning for the two to just go forward.

With him around, the two women felt much more at ease.

The three of them arrived at the village without any accidents along the way, but the surrounding farmers seemed to have heard the news and closed their doors and windows early.

After watching Xie Fei and Fu Yu enter the manor gate, Yuan San climbed over the wall from the back.

In the front yard, Chen Dafa, Daniu and others saw that Xie Fei had not returned for a long time and were afraid that something had happened to him, so they were planning to go and pick him up.

Seeing the two return safely, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Dafa said, "Xie Xiaoniang, we just got the news that a group of horse bandits are causing chaos in the suburbs and have looted a village."

Xie Fei was surprised and asked, "When did it happen?"

Chen Dafa said: "It was probably the night five or six days ago. Not even the chickens and dogs were left alive."

The village is located in the mountains. The mountain road was covered with heavy snow and no one went in or out, so nothing unusual was noticed.

It was not until the snow melted that the married daughter of one of the families went back to visit her elderly parents. When she entered the village, she saw corpses swollen by snow everywhere.

Because of the heavy snow, few people were moving around, so the news only came out today and every village and town was on high alert.

Xie Fei felt a chill in his heart, "I didn't expect the horse thieves to be so rampant that they even came to the emperor's feet."

This is the outskirts of Beijing, very close to the capital. The horse bandits slaughtered the village, and the entire court was slapped in the face.

Da Niu said, "Don't be afraid. The incident has become so serious that the imperial guards and government officials in the city must have made some preparations. The bandits will not dare to commit crimes again. We just need to be careful, close the gates at night, and be vigilant."

They also had to reinforce the gate and the wall and set up traps as much as possible, so they didn't have time to say much to Xie Fei. They just asked her to go back and not leave the village for the time being.

Fu Yu was timid and pulled Xie Fei back to the backyard with her hands shaking.

Yuan San had already lit a fire and was waiting in the house. When he saw the two men's pale faces, he knew what was going on.

"I just heard people talking outside, so I came to pick you up."

Xie Fei felt cold from head to toe. Fortunately, Yuan San had lit a brazier in advance, so she immediately went over to warm herself by the fire.

"This is truly appalling. It has never happened in the capital in recent years."

Xie Fei has always lived in the capital, so no matter what, he doesn't have to worry about being broken into by robbers.

Think about that gang of horse bandits. I don’t know how vicious they were. They massacred dozens or even hundreds of people in a village, and then disappeared without a trace afterwards. The government couldn’t find any trace of them.

How, exactly, was this done?
Seeing that Xie Fei was worried, Yuan San couldn't just comfort him. He promised that he would never leave the manor before the bandits were caught, so as not to scare Xie Fei.

Before it got dark, the men in the village reinforced the walls and gates and set up countless traps. They were even more nervous than the last time they dealt with the horse bear.

The women also took the elderly and children into the house early, and did not even dare to turn on the lights, for fear that the bandits would see the light and come to kill and rob.

In the room, Mother Liu came to comfort and give instructions.

"Don't be afraid, little girl. We are not rich here, and we are in the suburbs of Beijing. Bandits shouldn't come."

Zhuangzi was poor and could not plunder much, and he was close to the capital, so the capital would know immediately if there was any disturbance.

The horse bandits are not fools. If there is no profit to be made, wouldn't it be a waste of time to come here?
Xie Fei asked: "It's already evening, and the government hasn't found out the news yet?"

Mother Liu said, "It's been a few days since the massacre in the village. No one is left alive, and all traces have been washed away by the heavy snow and blood."

The government mobilized so many people, even the imperial guards joined in the investigation, but there was still no movement.

Xie Fei even suspected that the imperial court had raised a bunch of useless people who were even more useless than Pei Yuan.

Mother Liu also said that the government was investigating the case, and the bandits must have heard the news and did not dare to come out in recent days.

Xie Fei thought, I hope so.

That night, there was indeed no movement at all.

The men were busy setting traps until dawn, and when the roosters crowed, they could finally go to sleep peacefully.

In the morning, each family gathered together and said that they did not sleep well last night and were very worried.

Fu Yu was also talking to the women, and mentioned that she didn't dare to close her eyes all night for fear that her throat would be cut while she was sleeping.

An aunt threatened her, saying that such a young and lovely girl like her would be abducted by bandits and become their concubine.

Fu Yu was so scared that he started crying and shouting that he wanted to go back to find the girl.

Now it was the women's turn to panic. They pulled her aside and tried to persuade her to stop her from going to Xie Fei to complain. The atmosphere was relaxed during the day, and no one heard of any bloody cases.

However, no one dared to be careless. All the valuables that should be hidden were hidden, and the chickens, rabbits, pigs and sheep that should be taken away somewhere else had to be hidden in order to prepare for a rainy day.

In the afternoon, a team of imperial guards patrolled the surrounding area. Every member of the team was tall and mighty, and their armor clanged as they moved.

That shining blade looked scary in the past, but now it gives me a sense of security.

Everyone felt more confident and cheerful smiles reappeared on their faces, but they still dug holes and inserted bamboos recklessly, and even used animal traps. The whole village was full of traps.

Xie Fei didn't dare to move around casually, for fear of accidentally stepping into a pit and getting stabbed by the sharp objects inside.

Once it gets dark, the doors and windows are closed and no one dares to make loud noises.

Fu Yu held an oil lamp and went to see the hidden female rabbit first, and then checked the gate.

After looking around, she returned to the house.

"Girl, it's been peaceful today. The bandits may have escaped."

Xie Fei was pounding medicine, grinding the aconite into powder, adding butter, cinnabar, arsenic, etc. to mix it into a black ointment.

“Don’t be careless. Sometimes it seems like a crisis has passed, but in fact it is just the calm before the storm.”

Fu Yu used the light of the lamp to make the bed, and the flame flickered in the night wind.

"But we are in the suburbs of Beijing, and the village is so dilapidated, why do the bandits come here for no reason?"

Xie Fei also hoped so. He looked up but didn't see Yuan San's shadow, and his heart ached.

"Where's Big Head?"

"Brother Yuan is putting up poles in the backyard. He said he's putting sharp bamboo poles all over the fence to keep out both wild animals and people."

Xie Fei felt tense when he couldn't see Yuan San for a while.

After all, the imperial guards and the government officials were going around asking questions, and if they managed to catch Yuan San, a "suspicious person", it would be even more serious than if bandits came.

Thinking that he was too nervous, Xie Fei laughed again, "I am also afraid of enemies in every corner."

Fu Yu made the bed, lowered the curtains, and blew out the oil lamp beside the bed.

Xie Fei didn't see Yuan San in person, so he was still a little worried.

She put on her robe and went to the backyard.

It's a sunny day today, and there will be moonlight at night, making the yard bright and clear.

Yuan Sanzheng sharpened both ends of a bamboo pole, inserted one end into the wall, and raised the other end toward the sky.

Xie Fei just watched quietly, his black hair falling like a waterfall, looking aloof and elegant.

She felt that the bamboo pole was actually of little use, as the bandits had knives and guns and could cut it off in one go.

Maybe Yuan San wanted to make her feel more at ease, and also to protect against wild beasts, so he was still busy even at night.

The moon was rising above the branches, and the whole village was bathed in warm moonlight, and it was quiet everywhere.

"By the way, the traps made by Chen Zhuangtou and his men are quite unique," Xie Fei said, "I don't know where they caught the poisonous snakes in the middle of winter, just waiting for the invaders to come."

She saw with her own eyes that Mother Liu, Aunt Zou and others were making arrangements all over the village. Some of the arrangements had appeared in tomb-robbing novels or martial arts novels she had read.

She never thought that these traps would appear in real life.

Yuan San didn't take up the topic, but only asked, "Have you hidden your gold, silver and treasures?"

"That's what I rely on for the rest of my life, naturally." Xie Fei had already hidden himself, and even camouflaged the entrance to the ice cellar. If the horse bandits came at night, they should not be able to see him.

The wind was cold and sharp, and Yuan San was afraid that Xie Fei would be cold, so he said, "You don't have to accompany me, go back and rest."

He split the bamboo with one knife, and the sound of tearing silk was crisp and pleasant.

Xie Fei brushed his hair that was messed up by the wind and whispered, "I'm still worried."

Yuan San smiled, put down the bamboo and machete, and was about to tell a few jokes to make her happy.

But suddenly, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked up at the mountain road leading to the village in the distance.

(End of this chapter)