Chapter 59: 059. Nian Jincheng Leaves the Capital (Second Shift)
Translator: 549690339
Zhou Yuan hadn’t expected to bring someone back, but Yang Yu had instructed him to do whatever Su Liang suggested, so he agreed immediately, promising to safely escort the person.
After watching Zhou Yuan take Liu Xiaoyue away, Su Liang returned home to find that Ning Jing had already set up his woodworking studio, which looked very professional.
When Mrs. Liu came again and found out that Su Liang had arranged for Liu Xiaoyue to go to her friend’s place, she was surprised, but agreed that it was better for Xiaoyue to start anew in a place where no one knew her.
In the afternoon, there was a knock at the door. Su Liang opened it to find a distressed old woman, carrying a basket, who looked vaguely familiar.
The moment she saw Su Liang, she tried to kneel down and pleaded, “I am Xiaoyue’s mother, I came to see my daughter, please let me see her!” Su Liang then remembered.
This old woman had been amongst the crowd when Su Liang visited Liu Family. She seemed indifferent, as if none of it concerned her.
With an expressionless face, Su Liang closed the door without saying a single word. She thought that perhaps Liu Xiaoyue’s mother had no say at home, but she had sold her own daughter—and more than once. Now she was here again, and Su Liang found it hard not to suspect that she was doing it for the benefit of her sons, not willing to sever ties with Liu Xiaoyue, hoping to gain some advantage in the future.
Bai Xiaohu saw the old woman crying outside Su Liang’s house. It reminded him of Mrs. Niu who had been causing him trouble before, so he immediately ran home to tell his grandmother.
Upon hearing the news, Mrs. Liu came out to see and was outraged! Su Liang might not know, but she knew very well what kind of person Liu Xiaoyue’s mother was. Her son was a treasure, and her daughter was worthless — Liu
Xiaoyue was always treated poorly, and her mother just ignored it. Once, when Liu Xiaoyue was beaten by her brother and she fought back, Liu Xiaoyue’s mother nearly beat her to death.
Mrs. Liu walked over with a stern face and pulled up Liu Xiaoyue’s mother,
“Auntie, go home now, Xiaoyue isn’t here anymore!”
The sobbing old woman stopped abruptly, “What? Dawei told me it was this hnll_sel”
Looking back, Mrs. Liu noticed Liu Dawei lurking not too far away.
Initially, Mrs. Liu wanted to say that Su Liang had sold Liu Xiaoyue to another place, but she thought that such words would ruin Su Liang’s reputation, so instead she said coldly, “Xiaoyue insisted on joining a nunnery, Miss Su couldn’t stop her, so she let her go.”
The old woman started cursing, “What’s the use of giving birth to that dead girl! Even after she landed in a wealthy home, she still chose to leave. She never thought of supporting her brothers l”
“Didn’t you get 500 taels?” Mrs. Liu frowned.
The old woman sobbed harder, “God knows who stole the money, not a single cent left! Dawei went to report to the local government, but no one took any notice!”
Mrs. Liu was surprised that they had been robbed of such a large sum of money, but on second thoughts, she suspected they might have hidden the money on purpose in order to demand more.
“Get out of here. Master Ning has an exceptional status, and you can’t afford to offend him. Xiaoyue is genuinely no longer here, and I don’t know where she is either! Don’t come here again!” Mrs. Liu pushed the old woman away, scolded Liu Dawei a few times, and the mother and son left, cursing under their breaths.
Su Liang and Ning Jing resumed their busy and fulfilling life.
After Liu Xiaoyue left, Ning Jing made some changes to that room and designated it solely for Su Liang’s medical practice. Previously, it was inconvenient for patients to come and go from her room.
They put in a medicine cabinet, added tables and chairs, and purchased the same types of tools found in the town’s Medical Hall.
Word began to spread about Su Liang, and the people of Feiyan Town got to know that there was a female doctor in Su Village who was the sworn sister of the Examination Chief, Ning Jing. Many patients came from elsewhere attracted by her reputation, including ladies and wives from the county town.
Some illnesses were inconvenient for women to discuss with male doctors, and female doctors were extremely rare.
One day, after seeing three female patients from the county town in succession, Su Liang remarked, “It would have been nice to keep Xiaoyue here as my apprentice.”
Ning Jing, who was seriously grinding medicine, looked up, “Is there anything about me as your apprentice that dissatisfies you?”
Su Liang coughed lightly, “No, you learn quickly, and you do a good job.”
Since Su Liang had started practicing medicine in the village, Ning Jing had been assisting her and learning medical skills. However, due to Su Liang’s busy schedule, she didn’t have time to give Ning Jing formal lessons. Any medical books that she had read, Ning Jing would take them to read as well.
“How many days will it take us to travel from here to the provincial city?” Su Liang asked.
“If we hurry, three to five days. If we take it slow, seven to eight days.” Ning Jing replied.
“So we should set off by the end of the month, right?” Su Liang asked.
It was already the tenth day of the ninth month, while the Provincial Exam was in October.
“Yes,” Ning Jing nodded, “we should leave five days in advance.”
“Do we go straight to the capital city after the exam, or do we come back here first then go to the capital after the New Year?” Su Liang asked.
“We’ll come back.” Ning Jing replied.
Having decided on that plan for now, Su Liang didn’t pay any more attention to the progress of the iron ore smuggling case related to Mai Fei. She thought it wouldn’t be easy to unravel.
After receiving Yang Yu’s letter, Su Liang felt that her most significant challenge had been overcome. Then she thought about Yan Shiba again. Although Yan Shiba chose to fight against Yan Sui, it was not unrelated to Su
Liang and Ning Jing.
Ning Yao hired Yanyun Building to assassinate Ning Jing, but Yan Shiba mistakenly killed Yang Feng during his first attempt and failed the task. This gave Yan Sui an excuse to confront Yan Shiba, leading to their feud.
If Yan Shiba were defeated by Yan Sui, not only would her chances of survival be slim, but Yan Sui would also continue the unfinished task of killing Ning Jing.
Therefore, Su Liang hoped that Yan Shiba could eliminate Yan Sui and take control of Yanyun Building.
One deep night, Su Liang, who was asleep, heard fighting in the courtyard and guessed that Yan Sui might have come.
If it was really Yan Sui, it meant that Yan Shiba might be dead.
Su Liang didn’t light a lamp, stood inside the window with a dagger, pricked a hole through the window paper, and watched the outside situation. If Ning Jing wasn’t strong enough to handle it, her sudden appearance would only complicate things.
The moonlight was bright, illuminating the land with a silver hue.
Two shadows intertwined and separated, moving at high speed. Su Liang recognized one of them as Ning Jing, while the other was clearly a man.
The fight lasted an hour. Su Liang watched with such focus that her eyes began to ache, and both fighters seemed to slow down.
But she still couldn’t tell who had the upper hand, the result was still uncertain.
As Su Liang rubbed her eyes and looked again, Ning Jing’s long sword had already penetrated the body of his opponent!
“Luoying Sword… You are… Gu…” The old voice was filled with astonishment. Before it could finish, it died.
Su Liang thought to herself, it was Gu Ling… She had guessed it long ago. But they hadn’t discussed the matter between them, and it wasn’t important for now.
Ning Jing looked over, and Su Liang ran out of the door, “Is it Yan Sui?”
“Yes.” Ning Jing uncovered the mask on the corpse’s face, revealing an old and ordinary face that didn’t look menacing.
Ning Jing took off the MO Yu finger ring from Yan Suits hand and gave it to Su Liang; it was the symbol of the owner of Yanyun Building.
“If I keep this, will the people from Yanyun Building come for it?” Su Liang asked.
“Yes.” Ning Jing nodded, “If it were me, I would take it and claim that Yan Sui passed the ownership of Yanyun Building to me before his death.”
“Why are you giving it to me then?” Su Liang felt the finger ring in her hand was scorching hot.
“Yan Suits last task before he went missing was to kill me. Regardless of who has the ring, they will still come for me.” Ning Jing explained.
Looking at the corpse on the ground, Su Liang rubbed her forehead and said,
“You mean we won’t have any peace from now on?”
“We’ll live as usual during the day, and they’ll come at night. Great way for you to practice.” Ning Jing suggested.
Su Liang coughed, “You have so much confidence in me?”
“As long as I am here, you won’t die.” Ning Jing said, dragging Yan Sui’s corpse towards the backyard.
Su Liang wore the MO Yu ring on her thumb, sighing faintly, “Life is becoming increasingly interesting. ”
On a deep night three days later, Su Liang was visited by the first wave of assassins hunting for the ring.
Knowing that Yan Sui had been killed and there was a master here, the enemy would definitely not attack alone, so four of them came at once.
Su Liang heard Ning Jing’s warning, got ready for the battle, but when she came out and saw four fierce-looking assassins in the courtyard, she froze. This was not part of the plan; she had trouble dealing with one…
Just as Su Liang thought she’d have to team up with Ning Jing to fight, Ning Jing grabbed her wrist, led her swiftly to the backyard, jumped over the courtyard wall, and sprinted towards the back mountain.
Su Liang stole a glance at the chasing assassins and, despite being surprised that Ning Jing had chosen to run, she obeyed him under such circumstances.
Last time she came up the mountain, Su Liang was hunting wild boars with Ning Jing and the Bai brothers.
Walking along, Ning Jing suddenly let go of Su Liang, gesturing at the tree beside them.
Understanding his intention, Su Liang quickly climbed up, concealed herself, and held her breath.
Ning Jing also hid in the vicinity.
Four assassins paused beneath a tree, a fork in the road ahead of them, unable to determine which way Su Liang and Ning Jing had gone.
They quickly decided to split into two groups, heading in different directions to track them down, with the plan to notify each other as soon as they found their targets.
Once the assassins left, Su Liang looked towards where Ning Jing was hiding. A dark figure flashed past, then disappeared.
Su Liang stayed put.
About half an hour later, she heard a disturbance. Her expression tensed!
She recognized Ning Jing running towards her, with one person chasing him from behind. Only one.
Su Liang tightened her grip on her sword. Once Ning Jing ran beneath the tree, she leaped down, blocking the assassin’s path.
The assassin caught sight of the MO Yu ring Su Liang had deliberately worn on her finger. His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t kneel and call her “master.” Instead, he swung his blade at her!
Su Liang had been specifically trained by Ning Jing on how to fight against blade-wielding enemies, so she didn’t fear him.
However, be it martial arts or experience, she still fell short compared to the assassin.
Knowing that Ning Jing was watching, Su Liang was unafraid and fought with increasing courage.
“Yan Shiba?” Su Liang suddenly called out, looking over the assassin’s shoulder.
Caught off guard, the assassin faltered. Su Liang took the opportunity to stab him in the arm!
The situation turned. Although it was tough, Su Liang was merely scratched and was able to kill the enemy.
Exhausted from the fight, she leaned against a tree for support. Ning Jing stepped out from the shadows, “There are two more.”
Su Liang was taken aback, “Didn’t you kill three and leave one for me?”
“I only killed one.” Ning Jing said, raising his sword, “They’re coming. You have half a moment to rest.’
As he finished speaking, he met the two assassins who had rushed back after receiving the message.
Su Liang quickly hid, using this short rest period to observe the two assassins’ moves.
Half a moment later, Su Liang jumped out and joined Ning Jing, turning the fight into a 2v2.
When the two assassins saw that Ning Jing was actually using this opportunity to guide Su Liang’s martial arts, they were infuriated and attacked even more fiercely.
Unfortunately, even Yan Sui couldn’t kill Ning Jing, let alone these men. Once they lost their chance to attack as a foursome, their defeat was inevitable.
They didn’t die instantly because Ning Jing was using them to give Su Liang real-life combat experience.
Lastly, leaning on her sword and barely standing, Su Liang took a deep breath,
“Did you train in martial arts since you were a kid? How are you not tired?”
“It’s not that I don’t get tired, but the enemy must be tired first, otherwise you will die,” Ning Jing said.
“Understood.” Su Liang nodded, “My base is too weak, I will continue to work hard. ”
The east was starting to brighten, and they were not far from the top of the mountain.
After a sleepless night, even though Su Liang was tired and slightly injured, she was highly alert. Cooled by the mountain mist, she asked Ning Jing if he wanted to watch the sunrise on the mountain top.
“You go first.” Ning Jing needed to dispose of the bodies.
Using her sword as a walking stick, Su Liang slowly climbed to the top of the mountain, gradually regaining her strength.
When she reached the top, she saw the red sun bursting forth.
By the time Ning Jing arrived, the sun had risen and Su Liang had fallen asleep against a large stone on the mountain top.
Ning Jing tapped Su Liang’s head with the hilt of his sword. Su Liang woke up immediately and stood up!
“It’s time to descend the mountain.” Ning Jing started the descent, holding the weapons of the four assassins in his hand.
“Ah!” Su Liang instinctively followed. She had bloodstains on her clothes and hoped that they wouldn’t run into anyone on the way down.
When they were almost at the foot of the mountain, Ning Jing stopped. He hid the weapons in the grass and gave his coat to Su Liang.
From this spot, they can see their house, and a carriage was parked outside the main gate.
Su Liang put on Ning Jing’s coat. It was too big and hung loose on her.
When they trotted down the mountain, they missed the chance to enter the backyard directly because Chang’an spotted them.
“Miss Su, Mr. Ning, what is this about?” Chang’an was rather surprised, with Mai Fei standing next to him.
Mai Fei’s gaze focused on Su Liang’s clothes, half amused and half curious, “Did you two go mountain climbing this early in the morning? How intriguing.”
Su Liang walked forward calmly, “Not exactly. I sleepwalked last night and ended up on the mountain. I ran around too far, fell a few times, lost my way. Luckily, Ning Jing managed to locate me.”
Mai Fei smirked slightly, “Sleepwalking?” He had a hunch that Su Liang was making things up again.
“What brings Mr. Mai here?” asked Su Liang.
“Liu Xiaoyue’s family said that the 500 taels of silver were missing. Did you hear about this?” asked Mai Fei.
Chang’an thought to himself, It was probably Su Liang and Ning Jing who stole it back. I considered doing the same, but they beat me to it.
Su Liang nodded, ‘Yes, I did. Xiaoyue’s mother came over a few days ago and mentioned it. ”
“Miss Su, you must not engage with those people!” blurted out Chang’an.
“If you went sleepwalking, Liu Xiaoyue was home, right? Why didn’t she open the door?” Mai Fei asked.
“I sold her somewhere else.” Su Liang retreated a few steps and started running. She leaped over the wall, entered from there, and opened the front door from inside.
The sequence of actions stunned even Mai Fei.
Ning Jing entered the gate and headed straight back to his room, ignoring Mai Fei and Chang’an entirely.
“Please come in. Do you want to have breakfast here?” Su Liang was quite courteous.
Mai Fei answered curtly, “I can’t afford it! ”
“Then get straight to the point, and then, please feel free to leave.” Su Liang said.
Mai Fei didn’t believe that Su Liang had sold Liu Xiaoyue, but since she said so, Liu Xiaoyue must not be here any longer. As for her whereabouts, Su Liang was probably unwilling to disclose.
“Gai Huai’an said he’s willing to confess, but he wants to see you first.” Mai Fei said.
Su Liang huffed, “If I go, he will claim that once he kills me, he’ll hand over what you’re after. Do you believe it or not?”
Mai Fei sighed and stepped into the yard, “I know it’s useless for you to go, but with no progress, I’ve been at my wit’s end. So, I chose to take a stroll and ended up here.”
Nian Jincheng came out of the palace and rode his horse back to his mansion.
Nian Ruxue was wearing a dashing outfit, sitting in the pavilion next to the ornamental rockery in his yard, drinking tea.
“Second Brother, you’re finally back! No matter what emergency arises today, you have to make time for it. You promised to train me in martial arts, but you never had the time!” Nian Ruxue emerged from the pavilion and grabbed Nian Jincheng’s arm.
Nian Jincheng pushed Nian Ruxue’s hand away, “Ask Big Brother to teach you. I have to leave the capital today.”
Nian Ruxue frowned, “Leaving the capital? Why?”
“Gai Yun and his son, who were stationed in the mines of Bei’an County, have been exposed by the Fourth Prince for secretly torturing several civilians in the past three years. The Fourth Prince has captured them and suggested in a memorandum that I should take over Gai Yun’s position.” Nian Jincheng explained.
Nian Ruxue’s face turned somber, “The Fourth Prince is clearly trying to ruin your future! You’re too young to be overseeing a mine!”
“Why can’t I? It’s a critical assignment,” Nian Jincheng countered, “The Emperor asked for my opinion. I agreed and due to the urgency of the matter, I must set out today!”
“Have you gone mad, Second Brother? Since the Emperor didn’t issue a direct decree and asked about your thoughts, why didn’t you come up with an excuse to decline? Hurry and have father go see the Crown Prince. He definitely does not want you overseeing the mine either. That’s practically exile!” Nian Ruxue furrowed her brow.
“You don’t understand, so stop meddling. If it could be declined, the Emperor would have never summoned me to the palace.” Nian Jincheng became serious, “You should head home. I will say my farewell to my grandmother and father shortly and then set off to Bei’an County..”
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