BXBX NOVEL Chapter 240 - 240 Capture (4)
Scribe Tu arrived and saw the old man and child lying in a pool of blood. He squatted down and felt their pulses. He shook his head and sighed. “They’re dead.”
The cross-eyed man was tied up by the bailiffs. The delicate-looking man had been stabbed to death by the county lieutenant. Scribe Tu had brought a few bailiffs to another room and found a thin boy sleeping soundly. He looked to be only two or three years old.
The scribe said to the two bailiffs, “The two of you go nearby and ask if there’s anyone else in this child’s house.” The two of them agreed and went to ask for information.
County Lieutenant Yu and the two bailiffs removed two boards and carried the bodies of the old woman and the boy to the boards. They entered the house and carried two hard old bedding to cover the bodies.
The two bailiffs found a family not far from the house. After asking around, they found out that only the three of them were left. The parents of the two children had died one after another. One had died in childbirth, and the other had died less than half a year ago. They relied on their old grandmother to sell some vegetables to survive.
The two bailiffs sighed when they heard this. They sighed and went back to tell Scribe Tu what they had heard. “Scribe Tu, what should we do with this child?”
Scribe Tu looked at Lieutenant Yu. “Lord Yu, what do you think we should do?”
Lieutenant Yu looked at the little boy on the bed and sighed. “Take him back to the county office first! Such a young child can only die on such a cold day if he’s left alone. Send someone to investigate tomorrow. This child still has relatives.”
Scribe Tu felt that this was the only way. He nodded and gently wrapped the child in a blanket. He held the child in his arms and looked at the child’s flushed face. He said softly, “Alright, bring the spy’s corpse back to the government office. We will leave the bodies of the grandfather and his grandchild in the house first and send them to the mortuary tomorrow.”
The eldest brother arrived at the backyard of the county office under the cover of the night. He ran a few steps and jumped up. He grabbed the wall and climbed over it. Then he jumped down and slowly walked along the corner to the drooping flower door. He heard a woman talking in the courtyard and slowly retreated into the garden where he saw the greenhouse.
Old Madam Liu carried the lantern and Auntie Zhang carried a bundle of firewood. The two of them entered the backyard. Old Madam Liu sighed at Auntie Zhang and said, “I’m afraid it’s going to snow again tonight. Is it because I’m old or is it colder than usual this year? Why do I feel much colder?”
“It’s really cold this year. It hasn’t snowed the first time last year!” Auntie Zhang put the firewood into the stove and closed the door. “Alright, let’s go back and rest. We’ll come back tomorrow morning.” The eldest brother hid behind the vegetable basket and watched the two of them close the moon cave door.
County Lieutenant Yu and Scribe Tu returned to the county office with their men. When Ding Man saw that County Lieutenant Yu had only returned with one dead and one alive, he said to the county lieutenant, “Sir, there are four of them in this group. There’s another one who’s even taller and stronger than these two.”
County Lieutenant Yu looked at the scribe and the others with a questioning expression. “Four people? We found these two when we arrived. We didn’t see the others.” The scribe and the other bailiffs shook their heads.
“Hurry up and go back to the back office to take a look.” Zhou Jia’s expression changed drastically when he heard that. He turned around and ran towards the back office.
The eldest brother pressed his ear against the door and listened for a while. He didn’t hear anything. From the crack in the door, he saw that there was only a faint yellow light left in the courtyard. The courtyard was dim, and there was a faint light everywhere. He took out a dagger and removed the lock on the moon cave door. He gently pushed the moon cave door open and saw the bailiffs patrolling the courtyard. He quickly dodged and felt his way to the main room.
Li Yu leaned against the blanket and slowly knitted yarn. Suddenly, she heard the faint sound of a door opening from the outer room. Li Yu supported herself from the bed and turned over to get off the bed. She took out the crossbow from the space and hid behind the milling bed. She saw a tall and strong man enter the room with a dagger in his hand.
Li Yu raised the crossbow and aimed it at the man’s knee. With a soft sound, two arrows flew out. The tall and strong man heard the sound of the crossbow and could not dodge in time. The arrow hit the man’s knee. “Ah!” With a scream, the man fell to the ground. He endured the pain and looked up to see Li Yu walk out from behind the milling bed with the crossbow. “Bitch, I’ll kill you.” With a shout, he threw the dagger at Li Yu. Li Yu nimbly dodged to the side; the crossbow arrow flew out and hit the man’s palm.
Li Yu looked at the furious man and sneered as she walked forward to step on his palm. She said softly, “I welcome you here to die.”
Zhou Jia rushed back to the back office anxiously. When he saw the door ajar, he shouted in fear, “Yu’er.”
“Yes!” Li Yu heard Zhou Jia’s frightened shout and pushed open the door to walk out. Zhou Jia walked up to Li Yu and pulled her into his arms. “Yu’er, you scared me to death.”
County Lieutenant Yu and the bailiff looked at the two people hugging each other. Li Yu looked at the people standing behind Zhou Jia and pushed him away. She said gently, “Mr. Tu and the others are here. That spy is in the room and has been injured by me.”
Zhou Jia supported Li Yu and said to the people behind him, “The remaining spy is injured in the room. Go and get him out.”
Tu Hui and a bailiff bowed and walked into the room. They were surprised to see that there were arrows nailed to the spy’s knees and palms. They looked at each other and sighed. “Madam is so fierce!”
Scribe Tu took a step forward and bowed to Li Yu. “Madam, when we captured the spy, we brought back a child. Please get Auntie Zhang or Yu Niang to help take care of him for a night. We’ll take him away tomorrow when we find the child’s relatives.”
Li Yu saw the child in the scribe’s arms and guessed that his family might have been killed. She nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll get Auntie Zhang to bring him back. When you find his family, you can bring him back.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” The scribe bowed in thanks.
At this moment, the bailiffs dragged the spies out of the house. Yu Niang and Auntie Zhang carried water and a handkerchief and prepared to enter the house to clean up the blood left behind by the spies.
Li Yu pointed at the child in the scribe’s arms and said to Auntie Zhang, “Auntie Zhang, please take care of that child. When we find his family, we’ll send him away.”
“Yes, Madam.” Aunt Zhang put down the basin and walked over to the scribe. She took the child and carried him back to the house.
Zhou Jia waited for Yu Niang to clean up the house and come out. He then helped Li Yu back to her room and sat on the edge of the bed. He said to Li Yu, “Yu’er, I still have to go back to the government office to handle official business. Rest first.”
Li Yu saw Zhou Jia’s look of concern appearance and a sweet feeling surged in her heart. She held Zhou Jia’s hand and smiled gently. “Yes! Then I’ll rest first.” Zhou Jia kissed Li Yu and strode out of the room.