MCSCPM -Chapter 255 The County Magistrate’s Residence

No matter how skilled Chu Jingcheng and Leng Yi were, they couldn’t withstand wave after wave of capable opponents taking turns attacking them.

That Prince Jing was injured, and that Leng Feng and Leng Yi were separated in the chaos, was entirely within expectations.

“All right, we’ll talk about this after Prince Jing wakes up,” Yin Qingyue said. “Leng Yi, your wound must not get wet anymore. Otherwise, the inflammation will get worse. Rest well and apply the medicine I gave you on time. After a while, it will heal.”

“Thank you, Miss Yin. Your medical skills are superb. I’d feel completely at ease entrusting my life to you,” Leng Yi said firmly.

Yin Qingyue only pressed her lips into a faint smile and did not respond to his words. Instead, she thought of something else.

“Oh right, Leng Yi. I need you to inform the county magistrate of Tuoshui County and have Prince Jing move into the magistrate’s residence. We don’t know the background of those assassins. If they learn that Prince Jing didn’t die, they might attempt another assassination. Staying at the magistrate’s residence will expose his identity, but it’s still safer than staying here.”

Leng Yi thought it over and agreed. His prince was so badly injured—he had to be settled somewhere. Living in an inn was not a long-term solution.

Besides, they still had to stay behind to look for Leng Feng.

“Alright, Miss Yin, don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

“You still need to be careful with the injury on your arm.”

“I know.”

Leng Yi didn’t waste any time. After tidying up briefly, he hurried to the county yamen.

Perhaps because Leng Yi went alone, the yamen runners outside didn’t pay him any attention at all. Coupled with Leng Yi’s cold expression, they felt instinctively repelled and even snorted disdainfully under their breath.

“Tell your county magistrate to come out,” Leng Yi said.

The two runners exchanged looks. “Who are you, to dare summon our magistrate to come see you?”

“No need for nonsense. Just call your magistrate out.”

“Oh? Daring to speak like that? This is the county yamen—who do you think you are? Our magistrate is extremely busy and has no time to see you. Get lost!” As he spoke, one of the runners shoved Leng Yi.

Leng Yi stood firm and didn’t budge. The man, burning with anger, snarled, “Looks like if we don’t teach you a lesson, you won’t know your place.”

As soon as he finished speaking, both runners drew their sabers. Leng Yi glanced at them sideways. Before the blades could come down, he swiftly drew his own sword. With two quick slashes, he knocked the sabers out of their hands and onto the ground.

The two runners staggered back after losing their weapons, unwilling to accept it, and shouted loudly, “Help! Someone’s causing trouble!”

Leng Yi looked at them calmly. He had no time to spar with them—he needed to get the prince’s affairs handled immediately.

But a group of men rushed out from inside the yamen and moved to attack him. Leng Yi immediately pulled out the Prince Jing Manor token from his waist.

“The Prince Jing Manor is handling official business. You dare block us?”

“Prince Jing?” Everyone stopped, hesitating as they carefully examined the token. It was indeed from Prince Jing’s manor.

However, the two runners from before were convinced it was fake. “That’s fake! Everyone knows Prince Jing has gone to the prefectural city—how could he be here?”

“Exactly, it’s obviously fake.”

“It must be fake.”

One after another, the two runners shouted, “Why are you still standing there? Hurry and take him down! He dares impersonate someone from Prince Jing’s manor—he’s courting death!”

The other runners were utterly confused and rushed forward to attack.

“Hmph. You people are blind to greatness—you really deserve to have your eyes gouged out,” Leng Yi said, raising his sword.

Leng Yi thought to himself that the assassination attempt on Prince Jing must have been sealed off by the emperor. Otherwise, how could this county yamen have received no news at all?

After several rounds of fighting, Leng Yi—already injured—began to feel strained.

Even so, these men were no match for him. Very quickly, the weapons in the runners’ hands were knocked away one by one.

“Have you all lost your lives? You can’t even recognize Prince Jing’s token! Is your county magistrate just as blind as you?” Leng Yi shouted angrily.

Normally good-tempered, Leng Yi had all his patience worn away by these ignorant fools.

“You dare take out a fake Prince Jing Manor token? I say you’re asking for death—and you still dare criticize our magistrate. Beat him!” someone yelled.

“Stop!” Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out, and everyone retreated to either side.

The county magistrate of Tuoshui County emerged from inside. Apparently, the noise outside had grown so loud that it disturbed him.

Seeing the weapons scattered all over the ground, the magistrate looked at Leng Yi and demanded, “Who are you exactly? Why are you causing trouble at the county yamen?”

Before Leng Yi could speak, the beaten runners rushed to complain first. “My lord, this man came to cause trouble at the yamen. He even claimed to be from Prince Jing’s manor—utter nonsense! Everyone knows Prince Jing is heading to the prefectural city!”

“Someone from Prince Jing’s manor?” The magistrate frowned and began sizing Leng Yi up.

Leng Yi once again took out the token and said harshly, “Wipe your eyes clean and look carefully. Is this not the token of Prince Jing’s manor?”

“This…” The magistrate stepped forward and examined it closely. Unlike the runners, he recognized the token immediately. He was so frightened that he dropped to his knees at once, trembling as he said, “This humble official did not know Prince Jing was here. I beg Prince Jing’s forgiveness.”

Once the magistrate knelt, all the runners were stunned. They hurriedly knelt as well, not daring to say a word.

“I am Leng Yi, a guard of Prince Jing. Prince Jing now needs to borrow your residence,” Leng Yi said.

“Yes, yes, yes! This humble official will make the arrangements immediately,” the magistrate replied in a fluster.

Leng Yi continued, “In half an hour, Prince Jing will move here.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Leng Yi glanced around and left. The magistrate remained bent over, smiling obsequiously, only standing up once Leng Yi had gone far away.

A runner cautiously stepped forward and whispered, “My lord… was that really Prince Jing? It can’t be, right?”

Smack! The magistrate raised his hand and slapped the runner across the face, scolding angrily, “You blind fool! If we offend Prince Jing, none of us will be able to bear the consequences.”

None of the runners dared to speak again. The magistrate had no time to discipline them further—Prince Jing would arrive in half an hour, and he needed to prepare immediately.

Leng Yi returned to the inn and informed Yin Qingyue of the matter. Everyone packed up their belongings and moved from the inn to the magistrate’s residence.

The magistrate and his wife came out to greet them, while several guards carried the severely injured Prince Jing inside.

The magistrate swallowed all the prepared words of welcome back down.

Yin Qingyue glanced at the magistrate and walked over, instructing him, “Magistrate, it’s best not to publicize Prince Jing staying at your residence. Also, don’t casually talk about his current condition. In addition, I need you to increase patrols within the residence to protect Prince Jing’s safety.”

Yin Qingyue carried herself just like a Princess Jing Consort. What Chu Jingcheng had said before was right—she truly had the bearing of one.

Naturally, the magistrate readily agreed, then asked cautiously, “Um… Prince Jing is…?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll speak with you later.”

After saying that, Yin Qingyue went inside. Only after seeing the guards safely place Prince Jing onto the bed did she finally feel at ease.

Ding Ying brought in the freshly decocted medicine. Over these past days, she had grown much thinner—worried about Leng Feng, while also helping Yin Qingyue care for Prince Jing and brew his medicine.

Yin Qingyue took the bowl from her. “Ding Ying, you won’t need to help with brewing medicine anymore. The magistrate’s residence has plenty of maids. Look at you—you’ve grown so thin.”

“I’m fine. Prince Jing is still unconscious, and you have to take care of him. I don’t feel at ease letting others handle the medicine. Anyway, I can manage.”

“You don’t need to force yourself in front of me,” Yin Qingyue said gently. “Later, I’ll go speak with the magistrate and have him send people to help search for Leng Feng. I think the previous village is probably no longer there—we should search in other directions.”

This time, Ding Ying didn’t rush anxiously. She said somewhat dejectedly, “Don’t worry. I’ve thought it through. I believe Leng Feng will be fine.”

“It’s good that you’ve come to terms with it.”

Seeing her haggard appearance, Yin Qingyue thought that if it were Prince Jing who had gone missing, she might end up just like Ding Ying.

They didn’t continue chatting. Yin Qingyue fed the medicine to Prince Jing. Fortunately, he was now able to drink it himself, so she no longer needed to feed him mouth to mouth.

After resting briefly, Yin Qingyue and Leng Yi went to see the magistrate.

The magistrate didn’t know Yin Qingyue, but the presence she carried made him feel inexplicably nervous.

“You are…?”

“My surname is Yin. This is Leng Yi, a guard by Prince Jing’s side—you should already recognize him. We need your help now.”

“Just say the word. As long as it’s within my ability, I’ll certainly do my utmost.”

“Prince Jing encountered a bit of trouble earlier. Another guard, Leng Feng, is currently missing. We’d like to borrow some yamen runners to help search for him.”

Though the magistrate didn’t fully understand the situation, being able to help Prince Jing was an honor.

He immediately said, “Miss Yin and Guard Leng, rest assured. Since we know Leng Feng is still within Tuoshui County, we will certainly find him.”

“Thank you, Magistrate. This matter must not be publicized—conduct the search in secret.”

“Understood.”

Fortunately, this magistrate was a sensible man who knew how to read the situation. He didn’t dare be careless in carrying out the instructions and immediately ordered people to begin the search.

Yin Qingyue and Leng Yi also had the guards search along another direction from the previous patch of grass.

The guards didn’t dare to pause for even a moment and set out at once.

“Leng Yi, you don’t need to go. Rest well. Otherwise, if we find Leng Feng but something happens to you, that would be bad,” Yin Qingyue said.

“But Leng Feng is my brother. I must go find him.”

“No. I said your hand is inflamed—you cannot go,” Yin Qingyue said, not as if she were discussing it, but issuing an order. Perhaps this was a doctor’s professional instinct—she wouldn’t allow her patient to take risks.

Hearing this, Leng Yi had no choice but to compromise, though he was still worried about Leng Feng.

“How about this, Miss Yin—I’ll still go along. Didn’t you say as long as I don’t touch water it’s fine? I’ll be careful. If we don’t find Leng Feng, not only I, but Miss Ding will be extremely worried too.”

“Alright…” Yin Qingyue sighed and nodded. “Fine. As soon as there’s any news, tell me—no matter… whether it’s good or bad.”

“Mm.”

With two groups searching, news of Leng Feng should come soon.

After that, Yin Qingyue stayed by Chu Jingcheng’s side, caring for him without leaving. His complexion gradually improved.

That afternoon, Yin Qingyue personally went out to buy medicinal ingredients. Though Tuoshui County couldn’t compare to the capital, it was still quite large, with broad streets.

She searched for quite a while before finally finding a medicine shop.