The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 86

“Time to go home. Time to go home.”

Yang Jian’s eyes stood wide open. The cloudy film covering them was hardening into a yellow-green substance like thick phlegm.

Between mouthfuls of Sichuan chinaberry liquid administered by Imperial Physician Zhang with a crane-beak pot, his lips moved and repeated the words.

Just then, the rumble of wooden carts sounded outside.

Li Qing strode in.

“Thousand-Household Commander Zhao, the chinaberry liquid is ready.”

They had collected nearly every Sichuan chinaberry fruit from half the city’s medicine shops.

They had also forcibly requisitioned the city’s tofu workshops. The donkeys turning their grinding stones had been whipped until their rumps swelled.

Working at full force, they produced dozens of carts of chinaberry liquid.

“Good.” Zhao Li nodded.

She was about to continue issuing orders when she remembered Shen Yan stood beside her and turned to look at him.

“Don’t look at me. At a time like this, I’ll follow your command as well,” Shen Yan said seriously.

“Understood!”

A sensible superior truly was wonderful.

Zhao Li nodded to him, then looked at Li Qing.

“Find Head Constable Xing. He knows Jiahui Ward. Bring him and a map of the ward.”

“Yes.” Li Qing clasped his hands and immediately left.

…

Not long afterward, a specially cleared residence was filled with people for a small operational meeting.

Besides the Jingning Guard officers, there was the temporarily requisitioned Head Constable Xing and a bewildered official from the Five Cities Military Patrol Office.

Prince Rui sat far away with a cold face.

Zhao Li stood before a wooden frame holding the map. In her hand was a piece of black charcoal dug from a stove.

“This is Yang Jian’s home, correct, Head Constable Xing?”

She drew a circle on the map.

It was the head constable’s first pre-battle meeting.

To his left sat a whole row of Jingning Guard officers, including the head of the Guard himself. To his right sat a prince.

The pressure was enormous.

He examined the map with extreme care for a long time before nodding with certainty.

“Good.”

Zhao Li turned back and searched for the best ambush site.

At last, her eyes brightened, and she pointed to one location.

“Insect monsters generally have large true forms. What if we lay the ambush here?”

“The road is narrow, with walls on both sides. It will restrict Zhang E’s size.”

“We lure her into this passage, use rope-spears fired by the city crossbows to limit her movement, bombard her with bladders filled with chinaberry liquid to weaken her, then kill her with concentrated crossbow fire.”

Zhao Li’s plan was simple.

In a world where battlefield communication depended entirely on shouting, even elite troops could not coordinate in real time.

A simple, brutal plan was better.

Shen Yan frowned at the map and mentally tested its feasibility.

Then someone snorted.

“A monster? Lord Shen has mobilized all these forces merely to indulge A-Li of the Zhao family in a game?”

Every gaze snapped toward the Five Cities official sitting stiffly with them.

The man froze and waved frantically.

It was not him!

He also thought the proceedings looked somewhat like charlatans making a show of spirits, but how could he possibly dare say so?

He hurriedly shifted aside, revealing Prince Rui behind him.

Zhao Li arched a brow.

Now that she knew what sort of thing he was, she privately thought he and Zhao Yaoguang were a perfect match.

Softly, she said, “I knew Prince Rui was an upright gentleman devoted to seeking the truth. There are, in fact, residents who have not yet been evacuated.”

Zhao Li indicated a circle on the map.

It was the area nearest Yang Jian’s home, where the corpse miasma was thickest.

“Would Your Highness like to search for these residents?”

“Perhaps you will discover the truth!”

Zhao Li said nothing about how every person there had already become food.

With so many dead, they also needed to guard against the possible birth of supernatural anomalies.

Finding a willing fool to scout the area could not have been more convenient.

“A-Li, don’t be absurd.” Shen Yan glanced at Prince Rui. “His Highness possesses a body worth a thousand pieces of gold. How could he be allowed to face danger?”

“Ah, thank you for the reminder, Lord Shen. I failed to consider the matter properly. Please remain somewhere safe in the rear, Your Highness.”

Zhao Li immediately admitted her error.

Prince Rui had once become Grand Secretary Lin Zhu’s disciple to gain reputation.

Like the former Lin Zhu, his mouth would remain stiff even after death.

“Today, this prince intends to see exactly what trick you are hiding!”

Zhao Li offered several more deeply regretful attempts to dissuade him, but Prince Rui remained stubborn.

“Good!” She gave him a thumbs-up. “Prince Rui cares for the nation and its people. A true pillar of the realm.”

After this extremely perfunctory praise, Zhao Li turned away.

“Now that His Highness has accepted the forward scouting mission, we will assign the other tasks.”

“Lu Zhao.”

Zhao Li called on Lu Zhao, whose treated hands were wrapped in bandages.

“Lord Lu, lead men to guard all four gates. Spread chinaberry liquid around the ward and work with our two colleagues from the Five Cities office to keep the people outside calm. Do not allow disorder.”

“Yes!”

As Lu Zhao rose and accepted the order, Head Constable Xing and the official hurriedly stood and clasped their hands as well.

“Lu Jianxing, you will take Zheng Lian and Li Qing, select two teams, and carry bait and bladders of chinaberry liquid. Ambush on the walls to either side.”

“Yes!”

The three rose and saluted.

“Lord Shen, I leave deployment of the city crossbows to you.”

“Finally, I will remain mobile and reinforce any position as needed.”

In truth, Zhao Li did not believe Prince Rui’s worthless collection of guards could accomplish any reconnaissance.

In the end, she would most likely have to go herself.

After discussing a few more details, Zhao Li clapped her hands, and everyone dispersed.

…

The sun descended, and weary birds returned to their nests.

Sunset poured across the ground, staining everything a vivid gold-red.

This should have been the busiest hour within the ward.

Yet Jiahui Ward lay completely dead.

There were no ordinary insects, no birdsong, no roosters or barking dogs.

Walking through it, they heard only their own footsteps and the rustle of countless white moths beating their wings.

The farther they went, the less warmth came from the sunset touching their bodies.

“Why are there so many moths here?”

Apparently unable to bear the oppressive silence, one of Prince Rui’s guards waved at the growing swarm.

The moths circled aimlessly in the air, shedding fine powder.

No one answered him.

Any person with eyes could sense something wrong from the mountain of dead moths piled at the street corner.

After hesitating, one guard said, “Your Highness, perhaps… we should withdraw for now.”

The guards had not attended the meeting, and Prince Rui had told them nothing.

In the face of danger, their instinct was to preserve his safety.

Prince Rui also sensed something strange, but retreat was impossible.

“A few moths and cheap tricks frighten you?”

The guards did not dare speak again. They merely heightened their vigilance.

The group moved closer to Yang Jian’s home.

Then a sharp-eyed man spotted someone sitting behind a courtyard fence nearby.

An old woman with graying hair sat beneath a tree in her yard.

A spinning wheel stood before her.

She seemed to have grown sleepy and nodded over her work.

The gold-red sunset fell across her, creating an image of remarkable peace.

That warm, ordinary scene pulled the group out of its inexplicable unease.

Prince Rui brightened and went forward to call, “Madam? Madam?”