The Double
Chapter 305 - 116 Protection_3

Chapter 305: Chapter 116 Protection_3

He hurriedly tugged at Jiang Li, hoping his niece would see the error of her ways, and said, "Jiang Li, what do you say? Shall we go back now?"

Jiang Li turned around, looked at Ye Mingyu’s arm, and replied, "Alright, uncle, let’s go home first to find a doctor to reapply the medicine. It won’t do to leave the wound bandaged like this. Tonight, everyone can have a peaceful night’s sleep." Since Jih Heng declared that Feng Yutang’s men would not come causing trouble, it meant someone would ensure the safety of Ye Mingyu and his party—at least within these seven days in Tongxiang, Jiang Li could walk the streets without fear of being suddenly assassinated.

Ye Mingyu was originally unconcerned about his injury, but seeing Jiang Li’s concern for him, he felt a stir of emotion and immediately began to exclaim "ouch, ouch," grossly exaggerating his pain. He said, "It hurts so much, I really need to find a doctor for proper bandaging. Let’s go, Jiang Li, back home first." He thought, as long as Jiang Li’s attention was diverted to him, she would naturally not worry about that troublesome Duke. Right, he also had to find out tomorrow just how important a Duke was.

Jiang Li found Ye Mingyu’s sudden delicateness odd, but thinking he was truly in pain, she said no more and helped him back to their residence in Green Stone Lane first.

Bai Xue and Tonger had been standing at the gate, craning their necks in wait. The entire day had passed into night without any sign of Jiang Li and Ye Mingyu returning. The two maids were so worried they couldn’t eat or sleep, but seeing the group return safe and sound all of a sudden, they were nearly moved to tears. Jiang Li ordered them to prepare hot water for bathing and food, and sent an uninjured person to summon a doctor to take care of Ye Mingyu’s men first.

While Bai Xue was cleaning Ye Mingyu’s wound, Ye Mingyu asked Jiang Li, "Jiang Li, now that Peng Xiao and the others have been rescued and we have the archives in hand, what’s our next step? Do you mean we should go and seek out the Tongxiang citizens, family by family?"

"Yes," Jiang Li nodded. "Uncle, you should rest well tonight, and tomorrow morning we shall start our inquiry from house to house. There are only five hundred and sixty-eight households. Although we may not be able to cover them all, asking one more household is still better."

"So we’ll spend these five days doing this?" Ye Mingyu asked.

"As long as one household agrees to stand up, we can submit a petition to Dali Temple for redress, and Dali Temple will immediately halt County Magistrate Xue’s execution order and summon Feng Yutang to the capital. No one will be able to change that because cases at Dali Temple go through the Emperor’s hands. Adding a note regarding a high official from the capital will ensure His Majesty does not take it lightly," Jiang Li did not tell Ye Mingyu that she would not only mention high officials from the capital; she planned to directly write Princess Yongning’s name.

In doing so, she would openly become an enemy of Princess Yongning. However, there was nothing to fear, for even if she appeared to be at peace with Princess Yongning on the surface, Princess Yongning had already tried to have her eliminated by assassins in Tongxiang. Once Emperor Hongxiao saw Princess Yongning’s name, this case of Tongxiang would inevitably turn into a major case, and Princess Yongning would not be able to interfere.

That was exactly what she wanted. The archives and the government officer were at hand; the only thing missing was Tongxiang’s citizens. If she could persuade a portion of them to accompany her to the capital, the case would be close to becoming well-known to all.

"Good!" Ye Mingyu slapped his thigh. "We’ve done so much, and now victory is right before our eyes. As long as we convince the Tongxiang citizens, the Xue Family’s case can be overturned, and that bastard Feng Yutang can be brought to justice. I’ve had it with him for a long time. Such a damn cur can be a County Magistrate; to hell with him!"

Ye Mingyu was so angry he even cursed, but Jiang Li had no time to care about that. She sighed softly, a hint of worry crossing her brow: "In fact, the last step is the hardest."

Since ancient times, kings have known that winning the hearts of the people secures the realm, and it’s not easy for anyone trying to gain public support, especially when their lives are threatened.

Truthfully, she was not confident about persuading the people—she had the least confidence in human nature.

But she had to try.

...That night seemed especially long in Tongxiang, a small county where many slept restlessly. The moon quietly set deep into the night as the wind swept up the leaves, rustling through the streets, and the red lanterns under the eaves swayed wildly in the breeze. The calmer the town, the more it seemed like a storm, inevitable and unavoidable, was brewing.

As morning came, in Tongxiang, where it hadn’t snowed for over a decade, small flakes of snow suddenly began to drift down from the sky.