Her guards

Chapter 7 Night Visit to White Horse Town

There were no more people gathered outside Baima Town, but there seemed to be even more soldiers guarding the area.

The evil bandits were beheaded in public, and the dead people could finally rest in peace. Mo Zheng squinted and looked at the foot of the mountain in the distance, where there were many new graves.

"Get to work!" a constable shouted, pointing his knife at the new laborers. "Clean up the wooden and stone building materials, and search for bones."

With shouts, the servants were driven into a line and given baskets and iron rakes.

Mo Zheng tucked the bamboo pole into her waistband and reached out to take the basket and shovel. A soldier who had been issued the tools saw this and reminded her, "The sticks are useless."

Mo Zheng forced a fawning smile: "These are our cooking utensils; I can't bear to throw them away."

The soldier saw two more people behind him carrying sticks and recognized them as beggars from the city. He knew their habits; because they were hungry and weak, they needed sticks to support themselves as they walked and to drive away stray dogs that would steal their food. So he didn't ask any more questions.

"Losing baskets, shovels, and ropes will be treated as theft," the soldier coldly warned.

Mo Zheng responded with a "yes," took her things, and walked away. She heard the laborers behind her whisper, "They're even taking them back? I was thinking of taking them with me and selling them for some money."

Mo Zheng smiled, turned around, and whispered, "Then work harder and wear it out."

The two laborers immediately laughed, thinking this young man was quick-witted, and hurriedly followed him, saying, "Young man, let's go together!"

The sound of horses' hooves rang out as several officials galloped up. They dismounted and, seeing the empty tent, hurriedly asked, "Where is the Ji Inspector?"

The guards pointed into the town and said, "The Inspector is at the east end of the town."

The officials exchanged glances. "They actually have to guard it themselves?" "It can't be that bad, it's just..." "Let's hurry over too." They whispered among themselves and walked quickly inside.

Mo Zheng used a shovel to scoop up a pile of charred stones, and while wiping his sweat, he looked in the direction they had gone.

This is the location of the house that Yang Luo mentioned.

"No slacking off!"

The overseers, with their sharp eyes, cracked their whips loudly.

Mo Zheng looked away and focused on her work.

By doing odd jobs, they could get three meals a day, but it was really tiring. They were only allowed to rest when they could no longer see clearly even with torches lit.

The resting place was right where we worked. Everyone was given a blanket, wrapped up on the ground, lay down, and went to sleep.

At night, the ruins of White Horse Town are shrouded in darkness.

However, in addition to the lights shining at the resting place of the officials and guards at the town entrance, there were also flickering lights at the east end of the town.

Compared to other places, this place was more severely damaged, almost burned to the ground, and the original appearance of the house was almost unrecognizable. No servants were needed to clean it up.

At this moment, torches are lit, a tent with curtains hanging has been erected, and two officials are sitting outside guarding the area, though both are asleep with their heads down.

Mo Zheng's footsteps were silent, approaching like a cat.

One of the officials nodded and was suddenly awakened. He subconsciously looked behind him. The night wind blew by, and the hanging curtain swayed slightly, lifting a corner to reveal an open coffin inside.

The official shivered.

The officers nearby were also awakened.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

The official rubbed his arms, not wanting to admit he was a little scared, and said only, "What kind of family is this? Everyone else has been buried, why haven't they been buried yet?"

All the other victims were buried as soon as possible to prevent the spread of disease, but this family was the only one where the head of the household was not only placed in an ice coffin, but also had a shed built for them to be guarded.

Another official yawned: "They said they found out who the relative is, and sent someone to the capital to inquire. We're waiting for news."

"In the capital? That's too far." The officer muttered, covering his mouth and nose. "We have to guard it. How long will that take? We'll all stink."

Another officer yawned again: "Stop complaining. The relative must be someone important. The Ji Inspector even came to guard it during the day." He then glanced at the coffin. "It's quite pitiful. The mother and daughter burned to death, their bodies still intertwined." The first officer rubbed his arms again, unwilling to think about what it looked like to be burned to death: "Stop talking, stop talking. Go get some sleep." He then closed his eyes first.

Another officer stretched and closed his eyes to find a more comfortable position.

Soon they both fell asleep again.

The figure that had already walked away silently approached the coffin again, stretching out and elongating in front of it.

Mo Zheng straightened up, her brows slightly furrowed.

A mother and daughter who burned to death?
Mother, daughter?
Yang Luo didn't mention having any sisters. She's still alive, so how could there be a daughter in this coffin?
Mo Zheng leaned down to look into the coffin. The corpse was surrounded by ice, and various spices to prevent decay were placed inside. A white cloth covered the corpse.

Mo Zheng reached out and lifted the white cloth. It was badly burned, but it was clear that there were indeed two people embracing, one an adult and the other a teenager.

This……

Mo Zheng's expression changed, and suddenly her eyes narrowed as she looked towards the town entrance.

……

……

Countless torches lit up at the entrance of the town, as if a great fire had been reignited, and within the fire seemed to be dark, heavy clouds that blurred the view.

The sound of horses' hooves clattering filled the air.

The servants who had been sleeping were all awakened and stared blankly into the firelight.

"What's wrong?" Mo Zheng asked the person next to her.

The people around seemed startled and turned around to see a young man. Although he had only arrived today, the young man was efficient and even taught them how to slack off without being noticed, so they all knew him.

"A group of people came, I don't know who they are," the man said, then asked with a puzzled look, "Ah Sheng, where did you go just now?"

I don't think I saw him just now.

Mo Zheng pointed to the pile of miscellaneous wood not far away: "I'll lie down and sleep over there to avoid the wind."

This kid really knows how to enjoy life, so the man simply said "oh" and stopped asking questions, then followed Mo Zheng to look at the town entrance.

“It must be a high-ranking official,” Mo Zheng said, squinting. “Look, even the inspector has come out to greet him.”

However, the inspector looked very angry and shouted, "...What are you doing here!"

As the group approached, they were dressed neither in official robes nor military uniforms, but in black clothes embroidered with colorful silk threads, and carrying swords—a sight both magnificent and chilling.

“We, the Embroidered Robes, are here on imperial orders to investigate,” said the leader.

The inspector sneered: "Investigate whom? Me? Who wants to investigate me? His Majesty or Wei Jiao!"

A sound came from the dark clouds, drowning out the inspector's voice, but it was clearly carried to the ears of the servants by the night wind.

"Ji Ying, as the saying goes, if you do nothing wrong during the day, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking at your door at night. What are you making such a fuss about?"

The sound is very pleasant, cool and refreshing.

As they spoke, someone urged the horse to come out.

This was a young man, around twenty years old, with deep-set eyes and a pale complexion; even his lips were bloodless.

At first glance, he was dressed in black, but upon closer inspection, the lining was deep red. As the horse moved, his robes fluttered gently, like a flower slowly blooming.

Mo Zheng heard the person next to her gasp, "He really does look like a ghost."

"Quite a flamboyant ghost," Mo Zheng added in her mind, looking at the young man, Wei Jiao.

(End of this chapter)