It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

Chapter 399

Time passed quietly.

In late spring of the following year, Fu Jian returned to Rongcheng County with a group of people. Jiang Yan's relatively relaxed daily routine became tense again, and she had to squeeze in any possible opportunity to visit Dongshan Village amidst her busy and complicated affairs.

When the summer harvest arrived, the sky was clear and the clouds were sparse. After presiding over the opening ceremony of the harvest in the village, Fu Jian suddenly felt like going into the mountains to hunt.

Because the guards regularly go into the mountains to hunt, there are no longer any medium or large wild animals in the nearby forests. If you want to have a good time, you have to go deeper into the mountains, but that will greatly increase the risk and the long journey may delay important matters at any time.

After much deliberation, Fu Jian found a good place to go.

After firmly grasping control of the southwestern counties of Heding Prefecture, the temporary intelligence processing agency set up in the Tiankeng Cave was abandoned on the spot, and Bai Yibai also left Dongshan Village after the New Year.

This hunting escort mission was Bai Er's first since returning to the unit. He gazed at the increasingly familiar route, puzzled. For safety, they regularly patrolled, drove away, and hunted in the mountains around Dongshan Village; even after a six-month hiatus, the prey here was only less than elsewhere…

A moment later, Fu Jian suddenly reined in his horse and slowed down, pointing his long whip in a certain direction, and casually said, "Didn't she just say the other day that she was being exploited too much and needed to rest, so she took three extra days off? What's she doing here?"

The person being questioned looked in the direction of the voice and saw many people bending over to harvest wheat in the distance. Among them was a thinner figure whose gestures and movements resembled those of Jiang Shuzuo, but it could not be confirmed.

……

The sound of horses' hooves grew closer in the distance, and the people working in the wheat field looked in the direction of the sound one after another, wiping the large beads of sweat from their foreheads with their raised arms. They saw the group of people stop for a moment, and then hurry away again.

Jiang Yan sat on a small stool, slowly harvesting the wheat around her. So focused was she that when she suddenly turned around at the sound of movement behind her, she felt dizzy and her vision went completely black. When the darkness cleared, all she could see was the guard, Bai Er, trailing behind the others in a cloud of dust.

Jiang Wang came over, his eyes full of worry: "Jiang Yan, what's going on with them? Is something big happening?" There weren't usually so many people rushing by with weapons.

“Things are pretty calm outside, nothing major has happened recently.” Jiang Yan confirmed that she hadn’t received any news of any unusual activity before returning to the village. “They didn’t seem to be looking for us, so let’s just pretend we didn’t see anything.”

……

It was late the next night when the courtyard gate was pounded on.

Jiang Yan was still awake, her eyes closed, but her mind was racing, trying to find a hiding place in Dongshan Village. The sinkhole cave had become an open secret, and if the balance was broken and war broke out again in the next few years, it was hard to believe that she could find a safe and secure place to live for long.

The call of "Never give up" came in, and she turned over in frustration, burying her face in the soft pillow for a few seconds. Then she straightened up and started scratching and rubbing the top of her head. She kicked her left and right legs in the air a few times before finally getting up and going out dejectedly.

Bai Er's face, distorted with his habitual smile, peeked through the crack in the door. He said, "Two of my colleagues are seriously injured and would like to borrow your yard to rest for a while."

Jiang Yan took two steps back. Within her line of sight, there were more than five torches, and a familiar face, barely visible, that seemed to be in a bad mood…

“There are several empty courtyards in the village. Let me take you there.”

Bai Er glanced back and then said, "No need for that trouble. We need to get back to the city before dawn."

Jiang Yan closed her eyes tightly.

……

The two injured guards had deep wounds, and in order to prevent the blood from contaminating Jiang Yan's courtyard, they eventually moved chairs and stools outside to treat them.

Jiang Yan yawned as she took a freshly boiled pot of water from the kitchen and placed it into the cool well water. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Master Fu standing in the courtyard, gazing at the sky in deep thought.

Before she could even process what was happening, she was startled by two discarded knives lying like trash against the wall.

Bai Er immediately noticed Jiang Yan's quick jump and retreat, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Yan was gently patting her forehead to calm herself when she heard this. She paused subtly and explained, "It's nothing. I was feeling a little dizzy just now, and there was something suddenly on the ground that I didn't see clearly. I almost kicked it and hurt my foot." It was covered in rust; if I had really cut myself and gotten tetanus, I would have been in big trouble.

Bai Er casually comforted him, "It's good that you're not hurt. But even if you had kicked it, you might not have been hurt. The knife might have broken first. It's just a piece of junk that you picked up from the bottom of the pit; it's really blunt."

“The bottom of the pit…the bottom of the sinkhole in Tiankeng Mountain?” Jiang Yan’s mind instantly conjured up that location, her throat tightening. “Where did you go? That place looks very dangerous.”

"Ah."

“It’s really dangerous. Not only can you find weapons, but you can also find many corpses.” Fu Jian stood silently behind Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan's breath hitched.

Fu Jian then walked around to her side and used his foot to pick up one of the rusty broadswords: "Does it look familiar? This is the same type of broadsword you gave to your uncle before. Both of them came from the guards of the former governor of Heding Prefecture."

"Ah, this..." Jiang Yan lowered her eyes. In that instant, many images and thoughts flashed through her mind, but she quickly calmed down. "I know very little about weapons, and the difference is too great to tell the difference."

Fu Jian had no grounds to hold her accountable. Jiang Yan felt a lingering fear that there might still be some fugitives who had escaped the net and stayed near their village back then. Fortunately, they hadn't been found all these years, and the possibility of them coming back was not high.

"It doesn't matter if you can't tell. Compared to these two knives, I'm actually more curious about the half-separated female skeleton below. Jiang Shuzuo, do you think it could be Huan Yan, Afu's 'delicate and charming,' 'precious treasure,' but unfortunately 'unlucky' 'fallen off a cliff' maid?"

The prosecutor's last sentence was emphasized with such gentleness that Jiang Yan couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine. "He's having another episode, isn't he? Speaking in such a ghostly tone in the middle of the night, it's not like I did anything wrong."

Jiang Yanqiang roused himself from his dejection: "Sigh~ If it really is her, Lord Fu, the manor will send someone to collect her bones and bury her, she's a pitiful person... Oh right, I also need to write to Miss Fu to inform her of this news, I hope she won't be saddened by it."

Fu Jian had sent people to investigate some of the methods and deeds of the "Madam Fu," whether Jiang Yan knew them or not. Two of the guards currently accompanying her were also well-informed. Now, hearing Jiang Yan seemingly making a subtle provocation, they couldn't help but glance at her frequently out of the corner of their eyes.

Fu Jian was silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled softly.

Jiang Yan's eyelids twitched slightly, cautiously guarding against any tricks he might use next.

But only after the rest was over, and the guards had replenished their water and food and were about to leave, did Fu Jiangao, sitting on his horse and pulling on the reins, turn to her and say, "Jiang Shuzuo is full of energy, and it seems that he has recovered well. He should return to the manor tomorrow to replace Cao Jishi."

"...Okay." Jiang Yan watched the group leave expressionlessly, only chuckling as she lay down in her room.

Was I just giving her a warning?