spoiled brat

Chapter 100, Section 99: Self-Salvation (Nine)

Yuan Yue hesitated and didn't say anything.

Zhao Zhao closed her eyes, a heavy breath stuck in her chest, unable to escape. The outside world was so chaotic, how could Aheng survive? She had heard the older generation talk about the evil deeds of the rebels and bandits, beheading, disemboweling, and boiling baby flesh. When people are cruel, they are beasts.

"You're such a good older sister," Zhao Zhao sneered. "You tease her when you have nothing to do, but abandon her when there's even the slightest danger."

"What kind of talk is this!" The maid stood in front of Yuan Yue and said angrily, "She was just an abandoned baby who was thrown into a nunnery. She had no father or mother and no one wanted her. If my young lady hadn't taken her in, she would still be crying from hunger in the dilapidated nunnery!"

Seemingly realizing that these words were too harsh, he added, "My young lady was kind-hearted; how could she have foreseen this day? Does she really have to go from being an orphan to a pampered young lady who never suffers hardship before it can be considered a favor?"

Zhao Zhao remained silent.

Seeing her attitude, the maid became even angrier: "I thought you were a wise person. My young lady was lucky to have you, but I didn't expect you to be so fussy about this! My young lady is feeling extremely guilty. What more do you want from her? Do you want her to lose her life for that doll? People are born with different social statuses. How can she be worthy of my young lady taking risks?"

After all that commotion, Yuan Yue didn't interrupt, remaining lost in thought, her expression hidden in the shadows. Zhao Zhao had initially thought she was just weak and easily bullied, but she hadn't expected her to be so hypocritical and heartless.

Just then, a series of rapid footsteps sounded outside, indicating that a large number of people had arrived.

The faces of everyone in the cellar darkened: "The rioters are here!" Someone else tried to remain calm and said, "Don't worry! This is the number one cellar, where Xu Feng's batch of tribute wine is stored. It's secured with a hundred-pound bolt, they can't break in!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the iron-cast cellar door was slammed shut with a loud bang, like muffled thunder, sending chills down one's spine.

The cellar fell silent for a moment, then there was another loud bang. Several knowledgeable young men said, "They have a battering ram!"

Everyone was terrified and instinctively shrank back to the bottom of the cellar, no one wanting to be the first to be hit. The cellar wasn't big, and after only a few steps back, their sweat-soaked backs pressed against the cold wine vats.

After a few more ramming attempts, a small crack appeared in the iron gate, and voices came in from outside, starting with a curse: "Damn this piece of junk! The door cracked before it even broke down!"

The speaker was Fan Jin. Despite the chaos in the village, his status as the head of the Fan family remained unchanged. He commanded a large following, and all the able-bodied young men in the clan became his soldiers.

A junior member pointed to the opening under the cellar door and said, "Brother, it's not a problem. There's already an opening down there!"

The opening wasn't much bigger than a dog hole; even a slightly strong man couldn't squeeze through. Fan Jin bent down and peered inside, but it was pitch black and there wasn't a soul in sight. He turned to his men and said, "Bring that couple up!"

The hordes of men parted to make way, and a bloodied old man was kicked out, followed by a weeping old woman holding a wailing baby in her arms.

Fan Jin hated the sound of babies crying. He frowned, intending to pull the baby out and smash it to death. Just as he raised his hand, someone beside him reminded him, "Brother, wait! This baby is that woman surnamed Yuan's sister."

"Didn't you find it?" Fan Jin said dismissively.

"She was found, but the man surnamed Yuan adores her. We might as well keep her; she might come in handy."

Fan Jin suppressed his impulse and told the old woman to roll away with the baby, crying. He turned and kicked the unconscious old man at his feet: "Is your master inside?"

The old man raised his blood-covered face, glaring at him with hatred: "Kill me if you want, skin me alive if you want! I've spent my whole life in the midst of swords and shadows, do you think I'd back down in front of a bastard like you?!"

"Good, you've got guts." Fan Jinchong glanced behind him, and his men, understanding the meaning, covered the old man completely with a large sack. The old woman beside him knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly, crying and begging for mercy, "We really didn't know!"

“You’ll remember soon enough.” Fan Jin smiled.

The sack was kicked into the crowd, and countless sticks, rakes, and hoes were thrown at it. At first, a few cries of pain could be heard, but as the person inside the sack was gradually flattened, there was no sound other than the thumping sound of mincing flesh.

"Brother," the subordinate pointed to the unconscious old woman, "these two seem to really not know anything."

Fan Jin frowned deeply. Yuan Yue and her group ran fast and weren't caught. The entire estate was searched, except for the cellar where the tribute wine was stored.

Are they inside? It's hard to say. Unfortunately, the opening is too small; they can't get in, and they can't see clearly. His men offered suggestions: some said to flood them, others said to burn them to force them out.

Flooding was too troublesome, and burning would leave little chance of survival, so the final decision was to use smoke.

At the cellar entrance, a large pile of straw and firewood was burning, mixed with pine resin and camphor; even a tiger would choke and tear up from the smell. The thick, white smoke was as murky as water, and with a wave of a large palm-leaf fan, it flowed into the cellar through the small opening.

The people in the cellar huddled together in a corner, watching helplessly as the smoke poured in, stinging and suffocating, feeling like needles pricking their lungs when inhaled.

To avoid being overheard and bringing even greater trouble, everyone covered their mouths, afraid to make a sound, wishing they could stuff their fists in their mouths. But the smoke was getting thicker and thicker; how long could they endure it?

Yuan Yue thought she was about to die, but then she heard two soft thumping sounds from the large wine vat behind her. Her bloodshot eyes widened in shock; the sound was coming from the wine vat.

Reaching out, she found the gold paper seal on the porcelain jar had been torn off, and the lid was ajar at some point. A wet hand gripped her wrist, and a low voice whispered, "Come in."

It is Zhaozhao.

Yuan Yue carefully slid into the vat while holding onto the rim, and the others followed suit.

The porcelain jar used to hold the tribute wine was very deep and wide, but it was only half full. A person could still breathe inside it, and when the lid was closed, the white smoke was kept out.

While this would avoid the choking from the smoke, being half-submerged in strong liquor was truly unpleasant. Yuan Yue heard a pained gasp beside her ear and knew that Zhao Zhao was injured. She asked softly, "Where are you hurt?"

"……back."

Yuan Yue ran her fingers up Zhao Zhao's thin back and found a cut, which she didn't know when it had been made.

Without saying much, she supported Zhao Zhao's waist and helped her sit on her lap. Zhao Zhao was small, and with her cushioning her, the wound was no longer soaked in the wine, and the pain instantly subsided.

Considering that Yuan Yue was also thin, Zhao Zhao didn't dare to sit too hard, supporting herself with her hands on the side of the jar to stabilize her center of gravity. As she supported herself, her fingertips touched something strange; the inner wall of this porcelain wine jar was uneven, as if there were strokes connecting it.

This is the tribute wine presented by Xu Fengjing...

Zhao Zhao's eyelids twitched suddenly, and a guess arose in her mind. She knew few words, so she led Yuan Yue's hand to touch the inside of the vat.

When Yuan Yue touched it, she initially thought it was an inscribed poem, but it turned out to be: "In the year of Gui Si, in the month of Geng Shen, four million taels of silver were sent to Yunzhou. Five hundred thousand were left over in Xiangzhou, and six hundred thousand were left over in Ganzhou... Upon reaching Yunzhou, only one million remained, yet I still wish to repay the palace..."

Below that was a string of official titles and names, densely packed, involving half of the court's high-ranking officials. The more Yuan Yue touched it, the more alarmed she became.

Zhao Zhao knew she had guessed correctly.

Xu Feng brewed this batch of wine with great fanfare, but made no mention of when it would be presented to the Emperor. Wine can age, and if he hadn't become a pawn, this batch of wine would never have seen the light of day; otherwise, it could serve as a final, desperate act. However, he never expected Yi Xing to arrive so suddenly, striking with deadly precision, leaving him no chance to retaliate.

At that moment, a loud thud was heard outside the vat, as if porcelain had been smashed to the ground.

Zhao Zhao and Yuan Yue were both startled, realizing something was wrong.

Someone outside the cellar exclaimed in surprise, "Brother, there really is someone inside!"

Fan Jin chuckled, then had someone extinguish the cigarette. He leaned down and shouted through the small hole in the cellar door, "You surnamed Yuan, if you hand over the silver you're in charge of, I'll spare your life!"

No wonder he went through all that trouble; he wanted to make a quick buck before he left.

Zhao Zhao thought that by wasting time here, he might be able to stall until Xiu Yi arrived. But then she heard the wailing of a baby outside the cellar. Fan Jinwei threatened, "If you don't agree, I'll throw the doll you picked up into the oil and fry it!"

"You only have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn!" Fan Jin shouted, the second half of which was an order to his men: "Get the oil in the wok!"

Zhao Zhao's heart turned cold, and she collapsed into Yuan Yue's neck. Should she go out to save Aheng? Whoever went out would face certain death; if she died here, how could she avenge herself?
Just as she was hesitating, Yuan Yue gently patted her back: "Get up, let me pass."

Zhao Zhao was stunned and couldn't believe it: "She's not your biological sister..."

“I know. But I brought her back not to watch her die.”

She tried to get up, but Zhao Zhao pressed her shoulder down and asked, "Miss Yue, have you named her yet?"

Yuan Yue was taken aback: "They only gave her a nickname."

“Yuan Man,” Zhao Zhao said, “If she survives, then her name will be Yuan Man.”

Having said that, before Yuan Yue could stop her, Zhao Zhao turned over and got out of the wine vat.

The oil in the pot was boiling hot, sizzling and bubbling.

Fan Jin held the swaddled baby in his hands. The baby's crying was giving him a headache. The incense stick he was supposed to burn had only burned a little over halfway.

"You surnamed Yuan!" Fan Jin's patience ran out. "I'll count to three—"

Before the count could even begin, someone pointed at the cellar door and shouted, "Brother, he's out! He's out!"

White smoke billowed from the breach, and a figure stumbled out, coughing incessantly as he lay on the ground. Fan Jin, mistaking it for Yuan Yue, froze, a smile playing on his lips: "It's you? Where's that wretched woman?"

Zhao Zhao raised her face, which was covered in ash, her throat choked and unable to speak.

Fan Jinkong was overjoyed, then said fiercely, "Where is that stinking old woman!"

Zhao Zhao said weakly, "...Miss Yue saw that things were not going well, so she led her people away after the commotion started." She added that she had just been hired and Yuan Yue didn't care whether she lived or died. When the manor was in chaos, she hid in the cellar, where she was all alone.

Fan Jin's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly asked those around him if they had seen the carriage of the Prince of Ning's residence.
Both sides said they had never seen it, and the road to Xiangyun County to report to the authorities had long been blocked. Where could they escape?
Zhao Zhao sneered, "You've sealed off all the thousands of acres of land in the village? She led her people to escape through the back mountain, without even thinking of reporting to the authorities, and took a detour back to Yunzhou City."

Upon hearing this, the men panicked instantly: "Brother, if what this girl said is true, we have to run! If that woman brings reinforcements from the Prince's mansion, we won't be able to transport the money and grain, and we'll lose our lives!"

Fan Jin panicked, but he was a man who had seen a lot of things. After thinking it over, he asked Zhao Zhao, "How did that woman look when she ran away?"

These words were exactly what Zhao Zhao wanted to hear: "Miss Yue hurriedly packed up the seals and documents, and led her close maids and servants in seven or eight large carriages to..."

She hesitated, not saying anything more. Fan Jin knew what she was afraid of, and raised his hand to swear, "Little girl, if you tell me, I will definitely give you ten percent of the money I get, I will never go back on my word!"