A raincoat wind and snow to the small garden

Chapter 4: The Strange Story of Hai Niang (I)

The twelve secret guards of Xuanqisi are very famous.

It is said that these twelve people have unknown origins and mysterious identities. They are spread across aristocratic families and the market, and only obey the king.

The secret guards who can climb to these twelve positions are all top assassins who have experienced hundreds of battles and survived from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, not to mention Huai Yu who can be called the "leader".

Xiang Xiaoyuan didn't know Huai Yu's reputation, but other children from aristocratic families had heard of it long ago.

Lin Qing had been pampered since childhood. This was the first time she was ridiculed in public. She was embarrassed and wanted to argue again, but Zhu Fangfei, the daughter of Yongzhou Jiezhen, who was on good terms with her, stopped her in time.

"That's Huai Yu. Besides kneeling when meeting the monarch, even when meeting the Crown Prince, he can be present without formalities."

The fact that the personal guards were able to wear imperial swords to protect the nobles showed that the emperor trusted and favored them greatly.

The reason why the children of aristocratic families were chosen by their families and sent to Xuanqi Division for training was because their fathers, who were local heroes, were afraid of the emperor who now held great power in the capital. If their fathers were afraid, how could their children dare to challenge Huai Yu, the emperor's trusted secret guard?
Lin Qing calmed down. After analyzing the pros and cons, she decided to quit while she was ahead and ignored Huai Yu.

A farce ended.

Although Xiang Xiaoyuan didn't know why Huaiyu was protecting her, she still nodded to Huaiyu and thanked him.

However, the young man was just doing his job impartially and had no intention of getting close to her. He glanced at Xiaoyuan indifferently with a cold and indifferent look, then turned and left.

Huaiyu jumped onto the lamp stand lightly and disappeared in an instant.

Huai Yu's appearance quickly caused an uproar among the children of wealthy families.

Some of the old aristocratic families of the Seven Surnames and Five Noble Names still maintained the pride of their old honors, refused to submit to the imperial power, and were close to the officials of the Xuanqi Division.

On the contrary, there are some new noble families that have only started to rise in recent years. Their fathers hold military power, but they are not century-old families with a solid foundation. They are happy to get a piece of the pie in the chaotic situation. Therefore, they see that Huai Yu is willing to sacrifice himself to protect Xiang Xiaoyuan, and they are not sure whether Xiang Xiaoyuan's identity is actually different from others. In order to build up connections before going to Beijing, they take the initiative to make friends with Xiang Xiaoyuan and spy on her life experience.

Xiang Xiaoyuan was hungry all night, but the ship that was going to cross the sea had not yet appeared.

She could only sit on the ground, cross her legs, put the bundle on her knees, take out the preserved vegetable and meat pie wrapped in oil paper, and eat it bit by bit.

Aunt Liu had made the preserved vegetable and pork pancakes. Worried that Xiang Xiaoyuan might be in a hurry and lack food on the road, she kneaded the dough that night and had Uncle Liu stir-fry some diced pork, wrapping them in the pancakes and giving them to Xiang Xiaoyuan.

Each pancake is filled with plenty of fillings, and a full pound of pork is used!
Xiang Xiaoyuan took a bite, her mouth full of meat filling. She knew pork was expensive, and the Liu family had been very caring towards her. It was her first time leaving her hometown for an unfamiliar city. She missed the elders who had cared for her, and the thought of the uncertain future filled her with melancholy.

The children of the wealthy families were tempted by the smell of meat. They had only brought some greasy desserts and wanted to eat some salty dry food. They couldn't help but surround Xiang Xiaoyuan and ask her, "What kind of cake is this?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan said honestly, "Do you want some dried vegetable and meat patties?"

The young lady who asked the question was Yan Yun, the daughter of the governor of Jingzhou. She obviously did not expect Xiang Xiaoyuan to be so generous, and she extended her hand hesitantly.

He handed a cake to Xiaoyuan.

Yan Yun gritted her teeth and opened the box containing her luggage. She took out a pearwood food box filled with candied fruit and handed it to Xiang Xiaoyuan. "I won't take your food for free. I'll trade it with you for candied apricots."

Xiang Xiaoyuan looked at the priceless honey apricots in the box alone, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Your food box looks very valuable. One meat pie wouldn't use so many."

When Yan Yun heard Xiang Xiaoyuan say this, she suddenly laughed. She stuffed the lunch box into the little girl's arms and said, "Just think of it as making friends. Keep it."

Xiang Xiaoyuan did not refuse. She stuffed the palm-sized food box into her bag, thinking that when she finished eating the honey apricots, she would wash the food box and return it to Yanyun.

This was the first kindness Xiang Xiaoyuan received in the Xuanqisi team, and she cherished it very much.

Yan Yun's ancestors were also peasants. In fact, her family did not follow the same rules as those of the children of aristocratic families. She was chosen to go to Beijing simply because her family thought she was good at martial arts, wielding swords and guns all day long, and she was unwilling to marry into a wealthy family. Both the legitimate son and daughter in the family were precious, and if one had to be given up, then Yan Yun would be sent to Beijing.

Yan Yun saw that Xiang Xiaoyuan was not delicate at all, and with a butcher knife on his waist, he looked bold and interesting. She wanted to be friends with Xiang Xiaoyuan, so she patted the sand beside her, sat down, and ate cakes with Xiang Xiaoyuan.

The young men and women hesitated whether to make friends with Xiang Xiaoyuan, but Yan Yun got there first, and they all sighed in anger.

Fortunately, the ferry to pick them up arrived soon.

On the dark and boundless sea, a large ship with warm yellow glass lanterns hanging on it came speeding. The crew dropped anchor and got off the ship holding illuminated red lanterns.

The children of the wealthy families finally no longer had to suffer from the wind and cold at the ferry, and they were all overjoyed.

They bent down to move the boxes, but when they looked up, they found something was wrong...

The night fog was thick and the red gauze lanterns were swaying in the wind, like a pair of eyes of monsters from the abyss, which was chilling.

An ancient and desolate song was heard, with heavy pronunciation, but the lyrics could not be heard clearly. It should be the village dialect.

Xiang Xiaoyuan put away her bag and listened attentively. She could only hear the words "evil spirits" and "blood eaters and meat eaters". However, she could tell from the Sanqing bells, Dharma ropes and brass swords that those people were waving that they were performing an exorcism ceremony for the ferry.

This ritual came so unexpectedly that everyone felt horrified and curious at the same time.

Until a witch holding a flag with the image of Haotian God approached Xiang Xiaoyuan and the others and said mysteriously: "We can't sail tonight. The sea goddess hasn't eaten enough offerings. If we sail rashly, you will capsize and be sacrificed!"

Human sacrifice is the use of living people as sacrifices to appease the wrath of evil gods.

The children of the aristocratic families were all of noble status, so who would be willing to be used as a sacrifice? Moreover, this old woman was talking nonsense, so who knew whether what she said was true or false?
Seeing that no one believed her, the witch frowned and retreated.

Seeing this, the eunuch Fusheng stepped forward and asked the boatman, "What's going on? We were supposed to sail across the sea, so why is there another commotion?"

The captain knew these officials were powerful, so he didn't dare offend them. He knelt on the ground and said tremblingly, "Sir, it's not that I don't want to sail, but the fishing season is poor this year, and the seafood is scarce. No one is making any money fishing, so naturally, no one is offering sacrifices to the Sea Goddess. The Sea Goddess, unable to meet the offerings and incense, has shown her power several times in the past month. The sea was calm before we sailed, but when we reached the center of the sea, a sudden storm erupted, and the waves were so strong they could capsize the fishing boat."

The captain seemed afraid of angering Hai Niang, so he lowered his voice: "It's not that I want to disobey the order of the official, but it's really that the young masters and young ladies are of noble status. If anything goes wrong, I can't escape the blame..."

Fishermen are superstitious and ignorant, but they are sensitive to the weather at sea.

When they said they couldn't leave the boat, the boatmen felt bad and didn't dare to stay on board.

Fusheng was responsible for transporting these children from aristocratic families to Beijing to take up their posts in the Xuanqi Division. He had an imperial edict with him, so how could he dare to delay the journey?

Fusheng was so anxious that his mouth was about to blister. He raised his orchid finger and said, "Nonsense! Even if there are evil spirits on the sea, they shouldn't go against the True Dragon Emperor! We are bringing people to the capital. That's the emperor's order. Disobeying the order will result in death!"

The boatmen looked at each other, and no one dared to respond.

The witch who sang the ancient ballad sighed and said, "Since the situation is urgent, I will think of a solution for you!"

Fusheng was overjoyed: "You say."

The witch cleared her throat and said, "I'll make a paper substitute for you all, burn some incense, and offer it to Hai Niang. If Hai Niang accepts these paper figures, it means she agrees for you to take the boat across the sea..."

At this point, in order to appease the boatmen, Fusheng did not refuse.

He narrowed his eyes and asked, "How much money does a ritual cost to relieve misfortune?"

The witch waved her hand and said, "I am only here to help sentient beings resolve their problems and disasters, and I don't seek any reward."

Fusheng was surprised that the witch did her work for free. He couldn't help but wonder: She only wanted to do good deeds but didn't ask for money or rice. Could it be that she really had magical powers and was not a liar?

After a while, an incense table and an incense altar were set up on the beach. In the winter, fruits and vegetables were scarce, so the offerings consisted of only a few wild apples and tangerines.

As the red candles and incense were lit, the witch counted the number of children in the noble family and wrote their names in the form of ghostly characters on the red-cheeked paper figures. She then set her own body on fire and threw the substitutes into the sea.

There was a crash, the sound of something falling into the water. A raging fire consumed the paper figures, illuminating them. Amidst the crimson flames, the dolls floated to the surface of the sea, slowly drifting toward the abyss, like laughing children...

The sound of Buddhist chanting is heard, but the voice is lonely.

The witch wore a red robe, with her arms and legs spread out, singing and dancing.

She held a peach wood sword, stepped on the ground with her feet, and presided over the ritual swayingly.

Everyone waited with bated breath.

Originally, they should have waited until the sea goddess ate the offerings and left satisfied, but the sea tide was so strong that the burning paper figures suddenly went out.

The surroundings were plunged into eerie darkness.

The officers were ordered to take lanterns and illuminate the sea.

At the moment when the fire was getting bigger and bigger, the group saw an extremely terrifying scene.

Those paper figures did not sink to the bottom of the sea.

They floated back from far away in the sea.

One by one, the substitutes were floating on the sea, with no signs of being burned by the flames on their bodies... The dolls still had red faces and cinnabar lips, as if mocking the incompetence of the officials.

Then, the witch suddenly screamed and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"No, no, the Queen Mother of the Sea has shown her power, she must sacrifice you all!"

The witch suddenly went crazy and rolled on the ground as if there was fire burning on her.

This scene was so bizarre that even the well-informed children of wealthy families couldn't help but tremble.

Is it possible that there really is an evil god called Hai Niang in the world?

If it weren't for the divine intervention, how else could we explain why those paper figures didn't burn in the fire?

Even Fusheng screamed in fear and quickly ordered the servants around him to hold the witch back. He anxiously asked, "What's going on? These substitutes... doesn't the Queen Mother of the Sea want to accept them?"

The witch wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, sighed deeply, and said, "I have no other choice. The Queen of the Sea is very stubborn. She has seen through our trick and insists on sacrificing a living person. I, I have no other choice. If you insist on going against the will of heaven and really want to cross the sea tonight..."

Fusheng heard the hesitation in her words and whispered, "Master, do you have any other ideas?"

The witch frowned and said, "Alas, in fact, it's not just ordinary people who need to pay bribes for services; even gods and Buddhas need money to do their work. I can ask the gods to possess me and conquer the evil spirits in this sea, but this method will shorten your lifespan. Ritual performances also require cause and effect. I have forcibly opened the cause. If you don't want to bring disaster upon yourself, you must pay to bear the result. Once the cause and effect are resolved, you will be rich and prosperous in the future, and will not be harmed by evil spirits."

Fusheng understood that this was because the method of "inviting gods to possess" was too fierce and would bring disaster, so he had to spend money to eliminate the disaster.

Fusheng is the chief steward of the Eastern Palace. In addition to his official salary, he also receives private money awarded by Crown Prince Xie Yunxue. Nothing can be done with money!
He said generously, "How difficult is that? As long as you can help us exorcise the evil spirits and protect the nobles from crossing the sea safely, we will give you enough reward money!"

After hearing this, the witch nodded reluctantly: "Okay, I'll give it a try..."

Before she could put on her clothes and perform the ritual again, Xiang Xiaoyuan suddenly spoke up and stopped her.

"Wait a minute, you don't have to pay the money. Hai Niang won't be angry."

The witch's ritual was interrupted, and she was furious. She yelled, "What nonsense are you talking about, you little girl?! If you offend the Queen Mother of the Sea, can you bear the consequences?!"

Even when scolded by the witch, Xiang Xiaoyuan did not show any fear.

Everyone stared at Xiang Xiaoyuan, with hints of blame in their eyes, as if they were annoyed that Xiang Xiaoyuan had interrupted the ritual.

Xiang Xiaoyuan didn't care about the resentful looks from others. She took out the water bag and drank a sip of water to moisten her throat.

Then, Xiang Xiaoyuan walked toward the seaside, reached out and picked up the floating paper figures, and walked back to calmly explain to everyone, "The reason the paper figures don't melt in water or burn in fire is because they're made of wet cloth. To start the fire, the witch coated the paper figures with alcohol. The candle flames burn intensely when they meet the alcohol, but the wet cloth doesn't burn. She lit the paper figures and threw them into the sea to prevent you from discovering the wet cloth when you were examining them."

He put the paper man down in Xiaoyuan and walked towards the fortune teller.

She touched the corner of the witch's mouth and sniffed the blood on her fingertips. "As for the blood spurting out of her mouth, it's actually because she secretly took pig blood into her mouth during the ritual."

Xiang Xiaoyuan patted the knife at her waist and said, "I have been slaughtering pigs for many years. I will never admit my mistake."

Xiang Xiaoyuan spoke clearly and in an orderly manner. She had no shame at all for being a butcher and dared to tell others about her humble butcher background.

For a moment, everyone was speechless.

When the witch saw that her plan was exposed, she turned around and tried to run away, but a silver leaf flying from Huaiyu pierced her leg bone.

Blood splattered everywhere, as red as plum blossoms.

The witch screamed and collapsed to the ground. She knew that there was a master here and she couldn't escape. She kept kowtowed and admitted her mistake.

"Sir, please calm down. I was blinded by greed and dared to deceive you. Since you didn't lose any money, please spare my life. I will definitely reform and never cheat again..."

It turns out that all this was just a trick of the witch. She wanted to use rituals to help dignitaries get rid of disasters and misfortunes in order to defraud money. However, she happened to meet Xiang Xiaoyuan, a troublemaker who grew up in the city, who saw through her tricks at a glance.

The fortune teller regretted deeply when she met the master.

The problem was resolved and everyone was able to board the ship smoothly again.

The children of the aristocratic families were amazed at Xiang Xiaoyuan's sharpness. Since they were all young, their hostility towards her was not as great as before.

Only Lin Qing felt dissatisfied when she saw everyone crowding towards Xiaoyuan. She was also angry with her because of Huaiyu's matter.

But Lin Qing didn't want to provoke Xiang Xiaoyuan in front of Fusheng, and she was also afraid that the elusive Huai Yu would use a fatal move.

Lin Qing could only gossip with Zhu Fangfei behind her back, secretly mocking her, "She's originally from the market, she's seen a lot of these little tricks, so she had a quick wit... What's so proud of a country dweller like her?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan didn't care about the praise or criticism. She dusted off her dress, packed her bag, and followed the officials onto the ferry.

Before leaving, she thought of something, turned back and looked around.

When Xiang Xiaoyuan found Huaiyu walking slowly towards him, she wiped the blood off the silver leaf with a handkerchief, handed it to him, and asked, "This is a leaf made of silver. It's a pity to throw it away after hurting someone once..."

Huaiyu glanced at her, and Wunong's eyelashes trembled slightly. He thought she wanted to return the hidden weapon to him.

But then, the young lady blinked her eyes and asked softly, "Do you want more?"

Huai Yu: “…”

He seemed to understand that Xiang Xiaoyuan was actually greedy for money and wanted to take it for herself!
Huai Yu raised his eyebrows slightly, took the silver leaf from the young lady's hand and put it in his arms.

"Yes." He said it briefly and to the point, not wanting the young lady's evil intentions to succeed.

Xiang Xiaoyuan looked at her empty hands and sighed. If she had known earlier, she would not have asked. She missed out on a windfall.

From a distance, Fusheng glanced at the young lady who was holding her head high and chest out, and couldn't help thinking: No wonder when the crown prince saw the list of selected candidates for the coroner, he specifically asked him to look after this young lady named "Xiang Xiaoyuan". It seems that the young lady caught the crown prince's eye. She is indeed extremely smart!
However... this place is a thousand miles away from the capital. When did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince meet Miss Xiang?
(End of this chapter)