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Under the Power - Chapter 42

Published at 27th of July 2022 07:26:17 AM


Chapter 42

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Seeing that the situation was not good, Jinxia was afraid Lu Yi would discover them, so she quickly pulled Xie Xiao out of the theatre. 

“I say, brother, can you control your emotions a little? The two of them are just watching a theatre play, not eloping, what are you so emotional about?” Jinxia furrowed her eyebrows and smiled while looking at him, “I understand, although in the past you ran away from your marriage, you still care about Shangguan Jie, right?”

“Speaking nonsense!” Xie Xiao said, irritated, “I just don’t understand why she is with a government official, especially with an annoying person like a JinYiWei. How could she be with him? It must be that Lu person, he must’ve threatened her out for a chat.” 

“Well, It’s possible.” Jinxia continued to chew her pancake, “But honestly speaking, it’s not surprising that Shangguan Jie likes Lu Daren; judging from his family status, his martial arts, Lu Daren is remarkable.” 

Xie Xiao looked at her, “Which side are you on?” 

“Just saying the truth, why are you so angry?” 

Jinxia shrugged her shoulders, but there was a slight surprise in her heart. When did she change her opinion on Lu Yi? Could it be because he treated her master’s legs? Or was it because he saved her twice?

Recalling the situation in the theatre again, there were two things that she noticed: firstly, Lu Yi held his tea cup to the edge of his lips, his eyes were looking at the stage, on his face there were no expressions; Shangguan Xi also held a tea cup, but her eyes was looking at the cup and her expression was a little dark. Secondly, when Lu Yi put down his tea cup, his hands picked up the hazelnuts, his eyes were still watching the play, and he was smiling. Whereas, Shangguan Xi was still holding her cup, she neither drank it nor put it down but, at the corner of her lips, a smile also appeared. 

She unconsciously bit her nails. Jinxia’s eyebrows stiffened while trying to think about it. Shangguan Xi’s face looked very willing, it didn’t seem like she was forced to be there. If Lu Yi used his title as an official to threaten her, it wouldn’t make sense for him to choose a place filled with people, especially like this lively theatre, could he really be in love with Shangguan Xi?

“What are you thinking?” 

Xie Xiao snapped her out of her thoughts. 

“Does Shangguan Jie usually like to watch plays?” Jinxia asked him again. 

“I don’t know, but I used to enjoy watching plays and she would join me.” Xie Xiao looked at the theatre while licking his lips, “This theatre, we used to come here about five to six times a month.” 

“Oh…” 

Jinxia continued to think: was it Shangguan Xi who invited Lu Yi to watch the play? Maybe Lu Yi is just compromising her.

From the beginning, Xie Xiao wasn’t too happy about this situation, and it bothered him in the heart. He stood facing the road, the more he thought about it, the more it confused him. He shoved all of the pancakes to Jinxia, then turned around, about to head back to the theatre building, “No, I have to ask to be clear, I can’t let my brothers or sisters be bothered by this Lu person.” 

“Brother, brother, brother… Don’t rush, don’t be in such a hurry, I have something to tell you…” 

Jinxia grabbed him in a hurry, pulling and dragging Xie Xiao away from the building. She wasn’t familiar with Yangzhou City, so she just dragged him around, until they reached a secluded place by the river. 

Xie Xiao’s hand was being pulled by Jinxia, but his ears suddenly turned red. At this moment, he tried to shake off her hand awkwardly, and asked, “You…What else do you want to talk about, say it!” 

Jinxia was surprised to see Xie Xiao’s ears reddening so she asked, “Your senior sister and Lu Daren are only watching a play. You don’t have to be so angry, right? To the point your ears are reddened.” 

“Who, who, who…” Xie Xiao frantically tried to deny it and stuttered and rubbed his ears in anger with violence. “Who said I was angry? I was just worried that she was suffering.” 

“I think you have to trust Shangguan Jie regarding this matter.” Jinxia hesitated for a while, but she decided not to tell him about the meeting between them on the boat, “Shangguan Jie is the leader of the gang, she have helped your father take care of the gang for so many years, surely in her heart, she knows what to do. If you rush in now, things will eventually become chaotic and it will ruin her plan. Just wait until later, you can ask her about it, and you can tell her to be careful of Lu Daren.” 

Xie Xiao raised his eyebrows, feeling dissatisfied and said, “I will ruin the plan!?!”

“That’s hard to say, your senior sister is not an ordinary person, she is a hero of all young females, but she must have a plan in her heart, it could be that she invited Lu daren to watch the play.” Jinxia warned him in a low voice, “Oh, later when you ask her about it, don’t say that you saw her, just say someone told you, but don’t mention my name!” 

Xie Xiao felt like he had no other choice, and could only nod his head. He was about to open his mouth to mock her with a few more words, but in just a blink of an eye she had disappeared.

“Uncle!” 

“Niece!” 

“Uncle…” 

“Niece…” 

Just hearing the very warm greeting, Xie Xiao got goosebumps all over his body, then he turned his head and saw Jinxia enthusiastically handing a fried pancake to a middle-aged man. 

“Just bought it, still crispy, uncle, try it.” 

The beggar uncle reluctantly took the fried pancake, took a bite, then narrowed his eyes to enjoy the pancake.

Xie Xiao approached them. Surprised, he asked Jinxia: “What did you do? How did you get an uncle here?” 

“My uncle is not an ordinary person.” Jinxia said, raising her head and looking at him all proud. 

The beggar uncle still narrowed his eyes, he examined Xie Xiao, up and down, then turned his head and asked Jinxia, “Your man?”

Jinxia laughed out loud, waving her hand: “No, of course not, I don’t have such great fortune. This is the Young Master Bangzhu of Wu’An Gang… Oh yes, if you have some business, please go ahead, I’m going to stay with my uncle and discuss some matters.” She turned to face Xie Xiao. 

This girl… She just turned her head and already wanted to kick him out. Xie Xiao was a little unhappy but he said: “I’m okay.” 

“Then, you can wait here for a while… Uncle, come here, I have something to ask you.” 

Jinxia pulled the beggar uncle under a big willow tree, located a little further away. She deliberately lowered her voice and talked to him in a very attentive way. Xie Xiao couldn’t bear to look at them, he held his hands and snorted, turned around and looked elsewhere. In the past, with his temperament, he would’ve left them, but now – he said to himself – there is no need to make a fuss with a young girl, waiting for a little should be okay. 

“Uncle, lately in Yangzhou City or outside the city, has there been a discovery of a woman’s body?” 

Jinxia asked in a low voice. 

The beggar uncle paused for a moment, then he also lowered his voice: “Recently, the Japanese have appeared, so this place isn’t safe. In the river, there were a few corpses, how do I know what you are looking for?” 

“That is… a.. .bare foot…” 

Jinxia annoyingly massaged her forehead, because her mind at that time wasn’t clear, therefore, she wasn’t able to see the woman’s face with clarity. Her memory was vague, she could not remember even a little detail, in addition she didn’t know exactly where the woman’s wound was, so everything was completely unclear to her.

“Then, have you ever seen a very weird torture instrument, a coffin or a chest that resembles a human being? The arms can be constricted, it can make a person inside tightly restrained. From inside the chest of the coffin, there are sharp blades, which torture people to death.” She continued to ask. 

The beggar uncle was shocked to open his mouth, then sighed: “Ai Bieli.” 

“Do you also know about it?” 

“I heard of it, but nobody has used this stuff for a long time. Have you seen it?”

Jinxia nodded in annoyance, “I saw it twice, but I don’t know who was behind it.” 

“Because of this fried pancake, I will try to find the information.” The beggar uncle took another bite of his pancake, “But I can’t tell if it will be an essential clue.” 

“You’re willing to help me, that’s great!” Jinxia said all happy, then she continued to ask, “Have you ever met a Japanese person?” 

“Your uncle is quite lucky, he’s never met them, but has heard of their uncertain whereabouts: they appear and disappear like ghosts. A few days ago, they slaughtered the monk temple and a village.” 

Jinxia sighed and said, “Because there was someone who guided their way… It’s better that you don’t meet them, these Japanese are very good at using their weapons, and those weapons are coated with an unknown poison…” 

She turned to look at Xie Xiao, who was not too far away. 

“Several of his brothers were injured by Japanese weapons, their poisonous wounds continued to worsen, hence they called several physicians, but all of them surrendered. Now they’re still laying in bed, half alive and half dead.” 

“What poison?” The beggar uncle asked in surprise. 

“Don’t know, the doctors said they have never seen it before.” Jinxia thought he was very experienced and knowledgeable, so she took out the weapon from inside her sleeve and showed it to him, “This is it, be careful not to touch the edge.” 

The beggar uncle took the weapon and examined it carefully under the sun. The edge of the blade was glowing with a faint strange layer of dark green…

After he examined it for a while, he slowly said: “Look, dear niece, if you don’t have a use for this, let me take it to someone who understands these things better, who knows… Uh… I don’t know, it depends on her mood.” 

“Who?”

Seeing him hesitating, Jinxia raised her eyebrows in surprise. 

“It’s someone I know, very experienced with poisons, but she doesn’t like dealing with outsiders.” 

Jinxia realized that the tone of his voice became low and soft, it seemed that there was something unusual. While smiling, she said: “She? Your lover? Huh?” 

“Go, go, go, don’t talk carelessly!” 

The beggar uncle drove her away. 

“Alright, then keep it safe, don’t hurt yourself.” Laughingly, Jinxia wrapped the weapon and gave it to him, “By the way, my uncle, your journey is unpredictable, how can I look for you?”

“I will look for you.” 

The beggar uncle put the weapon away and left. 

All of a sudden Jinxia  remembered a thing, she laughed and said: “Uncle, your grandchild is watching a play at the theatre building, why don’t you go there?” 

“It’s unreasonable for a grandfather to go look for his grandson” 

The beggar uncle said, aloof, as he waved his hand. His style remained the same as he walked away. 

Noticing that the man had gone far away, Xie Xiao approached Jinxia, and looked at her suspiciously, “Weird, you’ve only been in Yangzhou for a few days, yet you found yourself an uncle, and he’s a beggar.” 

“Young Master Bangzhu, don’t look down on people.” Jinxia looked in the direction where the beggar uncle had disappeared, and said, “He is not an ordinary beggar, and his ancestors were the eunuch in the palace. Back then there was a big fire in the palace, King Jianwen disappeared, his whereabouts were unknown, you know about it, right?” 

“Who does not know this?” 

“In the palace, there was a group of eunuchs, all of them knew kung fu, and they were responsible for guarding King Jianwen. When the King disappeared, they also ran away from the palace. Although the owner had changed, they still won’t return to the palace, because they did not want to surrender themselves or continue to serve anyone in the government, therefore, they did not have any income. While wandering around places, they have been seeking for the presence of their master from one house to another.” 

After hearing that, Xie Xiao was silent for a long time, then he let out a long sigh: “How unexpected… There are still people like this…” 

“His martial art is great.” Jinxia muttered to herself, “I often wonder, why the Lu family is so skilled?”

“Good?”

Xie Xiao snorted at her words.

“Brother, I still have to go to Liu Daren’s place, you…” Jinxia looked at him.

“Go, go, I have never seen a constable as busy as you.” 

“By the way, Shangguan Jie… You must remember to go back and ask her about it, and don’t mention my name.” 

While walking, she continued to remind him. 

Xie Xiao patiently waved his hand, wanting to tell her to be quick to leave. He continued to stand there until her shadow was no longer visible. After that, he hesitated for a moment and then walked away.





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