Chapter 66: The Young Maid

  Song Kai ran towards the haystack, and when he arrived nearby, he didn't find anyone guarding it, guessing that they were too tired and had gone to sleep.

  After rummaging through the haystack for a while, a large burlap sack was turned over, and when it was untied, Peng Zhi's pale face appeared.

  Peng Zhi stared at Song Kai, his whole body trembling, his mouth stuttering a few times, and spat out a few words.

  "Huh? What did you say?" Song Kai asked in confusion.

  Peng Zhi muttered again and repeated it once more.

  Song Kai still didn't hear clearly and said irritably: "Forget it, don't say anything for now, go warm up by the fire first."

  "You will die a terrible..." This time, Peng Zhi was enraged, using all his strength to roar out this sentence. At the same time, it was also the last sentence in his life. Just as he hadn't finished saying it, he died, his whole body cold and hard like an iron block.

  Song Kai took a step back, he wasn't afraid of the corpse, having spent several years in medical school and coming into contact with hundreds of corpses. It was just that mistreating prisoners made Song Kai feel somewhat uneasy.

  Ashina Wanlang yawned and walked over, seeing Peng Zhi's corpse. "Dead? This kid can't stand the cold."

  Song Kai let out a sigh and returned to his own room, picking up his sword to practice his swordsmanship.

  After watching Ji Rufeng and Zhou Ce's kung fu, Song Kai found that the gap between him and them was really too big. The key is that this gap seemed to be irreparable.

  But still have to insist on it.

  Song Kai exercised for more than two hours, his whole body covered in sweat.

  Sheathed his sword and swung his sore shoulders, he saw Qingniang walking over with a towel.

  "Lang Jun, take a bath, I've heated up some warm water," Qingniang handed over the towel to wipe away Song Kai's sweat, but restrained herself and just handed it over.

  The towel was very coarse, but Song Kai felt very comfortable. This kind of thing, Ah Fu that old slave would definitely not think of it, he would only cry and sniffle.

  After taking a bath and changing his clothes, Song Kai headed towards Ge Shou's room. The matter of Peng Zhi was no small thing.

  Entering Ge Shou's room, Ge Shou was having breakfast. Seeing Song Kai arrive, the old man hastily invited Song Kai to sit down.

  Song Kai didn't stand on ceremony either and after having breakfast with Ge Shou, he brought up the matter of Peng Zhi.

  Ge Shou sighed, "Whether it's good fortune or bad luck, if the Taihu Gang finds us, we can only run away."

  Song Kai could only bitterly smile, "These past few days I haven't done anything else, just been running around."

  Qingniang walked in, looked at Ge Shou and then at Song Kai, saying in a low voice: "It's all Qingniang's fault. If it wasn't for Qingniang, the second master wouldn't have come either. He wouldn't have died if he hadn't come. If he didn't die, Master Ge and Langjun wouldn't be so worried."

  Song Kai waved his hand, "Qingniang doesn't need to blame herself, fortunately we arrived yesterday, if we weren't here, that would have been a big deal."

  Kerui smiled and said: "Old bones, running is also healthy. By the way, Song Lang, I was just thinking of discussing something with you today."

  "What's with me? What are you talking about?" Song Kai looked at Ge Shou in surprise.

  Ge Shou looked at Qingniang and smiled, saying: "It's nothing big, just asking, Song Lang, what do you think of Qingniang?"

  "Qingniang? That's good," Song Kai said with some surprise.

  "Since you also think Qingniang is good, Songlang, why don't you just take her in as a maid?" Ge Shou suddenly blurted out.

  "Ah?" Song Kai didn't expect it was this matter.

  Ge Shou sighed, "Qingniang has been following me since she was a child. Although nominally a maid, I have also raised her as my own granddaughter over the years. However, in recent years, I feel myself getting older and older. My son is honest but too honest, lacking a few brain cells. This life of his will be like that forever. Song Lang, you've seen it too - Qingniang has been following me, but I'm no longer able to take care of her properly. So, I was thinking of letting Qingniang follow you."

  Song Kai rubbed his hands together and smiled foolishly, "If that's really the case, I naturally agree, but I don't know what Qingniang thinks."

  "Haha, this matter, is still Qingniang asking me, perhaps Songlang you don't know, Qingniang's greatest wish in this life, is to learn some medical skills, to help the poor and needy. Last time you came, she told me about it, I was a bit worried, so I personally went to Suzhou city to investigate your identity and background. Mr. Xue praised you highly, only then did I feel at ease." As he said this, Ge Shou looked lovingly at Qingniang.

  Qingniang walked up to Ge Shou's side, squatted down and said, "Grandpa Ge..."

  Ge Shou stroked Qingniang's hair and looked at Song Kai, "I don't have any other requests, I just want Qingniang to follow you after marriage, and you must teach her medical skills. As for money and wealth, they are not important. Five years later, on the day of Qingniang's 20th birthday, you must return her freedom, let her come and go as she pleases. Can you agree to these conditions?"

  Song Kai nodded, "Don't worry, Ge Lao, although I dare not say that my medical skills are the best in the world, but after all, I am not a mediocre doctor. This life of mine will naturally not be spent as a doctor, and with Qingniang inheriting my medical skills, I am also delighted."

  The young woman lowered her head, her heart racing like a deer, feeling somewhat lost, but more so filled with longing for her future life.

  Song Kai and Ge Shou spoke again, then turned to Qing Niang and asked: "Qing Niang, are you willing to be my maid? The pay is not much, but as long as I have food to eat, I won't let you go hungry."

  The young woman murmured a soft "hmm", her voice barely audible, like the hum of a mosquito.

  Ge Shou burst out laughing, "Alright, Qingniang, from now on, you'll follow Song Lang."

  "Grandpa Ge, I'll come here often to see you," Qingniang said, leaning on Ge Shou's shoulder.

  Walking out of Ge Shou's room, blowing the wind that drifted from the lake surface, Song Kai felt so calm. Turning his head back, Qing Niang was following behind him, like a gentle little deer.

  "Green girl, if you don't want to be my maid, you can also be my apprentice. I will teach you medical skills just the same," Song Kai said with his hands behind his back.

  The young woman shook her head, "No, husband, I am willing to follow you and be your servant girl."

  Song Kai nodded, "Let's go, we have to be on guard against the Taihu gang, maybe by tonight, we'll have to run for our lives."

  "With Lang Jun, Qingniang is not afraid," Qingniang said with a smile, looking at Song Kai.

  Song Kai smiled slightly and walked away with his hands behind his back to look for Ji Rufeng.

  Having understood the power of Taihu Gang, Ji Rufeng also had a big headache. This was really one trouble after another. Why did he have to take on so much trouble just to receive a princess?

  "I'll have people stationed at the intersections around here to keep watch. If anyone from the Taihu gang comes, you take some men and retreat along this small path into the mountains," Ji Rufeng said, pointing towards the Taihu area.

  "Alright, I'll tell Ge Lao and Ge Da Zhong to go. They're very familiar with this area, so it should be easy for them to find a hiding place," Song Kai nodded in agreement.

  "But it's not a long-term solution," Ji Rufeng worriedly looked at Song Kai, "Even if we can hide for ten days or half a month, we'll still have to come out eventually."

  "After the matter of Yang Huaiyan in Suzhou City is settled, I can take you back to Suzhou City. I can even ask Xue Weihai and Zhou Ce to lead people to destroy the Taihu Gang. To say... after all, the situation on the side of Suzhou City is still the most urgent!" Song frowned slightly.

  At this time, the Taihu Gang had no reaction at all. Peng Zhi did a good job in keeping it confidential after all, it was a matter of face to rob a civilian woman, so Ge Shou only let his two small followers investigate, and Peng Zhi never mentioned anything about it to anyone else.

  Not returning for a night was even more common for Peng Zhi, so the people inside Taihu Gang didn't know that Peng Zhi had already died.

  Inside Suzhou City, it's about to get even more chaotic. Yang Rongguang's death has stirred up a huge storm in Suzhou City, and for the time being, people have forgotten all about the Red Dust Inn that was bombed.

  Yang Rongguang's cause of death was immediately transmitted to Hangzhou City.

  However, contrary to Xue Hai's expectations, Yang Rongguang's death did not bring Yang Jian to Hangzhou in person.

  To say that Hangzhou City is more unstable, it is located on the boundary line between Jiangnan Road and Zhejiang Road. For a period of time, it belongs to Jiangnan Road, and for a period of time, it belongs to Zhejiang Road. If in the past, the ownership of Hangzhou City did not matter much. After all, the land is the king's land, and belonging to either road is still belonging to the Tang Dynasty.

  But now it's different, the current political situation is in chaos, and all the observation envoys of various Dao in the Great Tang Dynasty are stationed with troops and grain, ready to establish themselves as kings at any time. The ownership of Hangzhou City has become a top priority between Jiangnan Dao and Zhejiang Dao.

  The jurisdiction of Hangzhou City is very large, not much smaller than that of Suzhou City. With an additional city in Hangzhou, it has great significance for both Jiangnan Road and Zhejiang Road.

  Yang Jian received the news of Yang Rongguang's death, his face looked very bad. After reading the reports presented by all parties, he was even more furious. He did not expect that Yang Rongguang would actually be killed by a Turkic warrior, and letters exchanged with the Turkic king were also found in Yang Rongguang's mansion.

  "This thing is eating inside and peeling outside!" Yang Jian tore up the secret reports from all parties and then called his confidant.

  A muscular giant walked into Yang Jian's study.

  "Brother, I just received news that Yang Rongguang in Suzhou City is already dead," said Yang Jian with a gloomy face.

  "Yang Gong, is it that old traitor Xue Weihai who wants to rebel?" Dong Liang said as he stood up straight, "Please don't worry, Yang Gong. Give me 500 soldiers and I'll immediately bring back the head of that old traitor to show you."

  Yang Jian waved his hand: "It shouldn't be, I have arranged three or four chess pieces in Suzhou City, and the messages brought by these people all confirmed that it was indeed the Turkic warriors who rushed into Yang Rongguang's mansion, killed him. As for the reason, it should be that Yang Rongguang had a private communication with the Turkic king, and there was a conflict between them. Forget about this dog thing, General, I appoint you as the military affairs administrator, leading 500 soldiers to enter Suzhou City, to quell the rebellion and eliminate the Turkic warriors."

  Dong Liang's face lit up with great joy, "Thank you, Mr. Yang, for trusting me."

  Yang Jian stood up, nodded and said, "Zou Sima, you are my trusted aide, so I'll tell you some inside information. Suzhou City is the center of our Jiangnan region and also a major grain-producing area, we need to be extra cautious. In recent years, I've been sending undercover agents to infiltrate Suzhou City, worried that Xue Weihai, that old thing, might have ulterior motives. However, it seems he's lost his edge, although he doesn't obey me, he also doesn't dare to oppose me. That's enough for now, I still need that old man's reputation to do some things, as long as he knows his place, it's fine. After that, you'll need..."