The Farm Girl and the Executioner (Rebirth) 89

Chapter 89: A’Luan Faints at the Sight of Blood

After dinner, Matron Yan went back.

But Hu Guiying came in the night.

The sky was dark. She left her horse outside the valley and entered the valley under the cover of night. After entering the door, she tiptoed around Old Madam Jiang and pulled Jiang Huaizhen to the back door.

Jiang Huaizhen had just finished her bath and was about to go to bed. Seeing her come at this time, she could basically predict what it was about and asked, “How many condemned prisoners?”

“One.”

Jiang Huaizhen was stunned for a moment, then asked, “Why is it so early this year?”

“The batch that was to be executed together hasn’t arrived yet. This one is special.”

Hu Guiying said, “Didn’t I tell you before that an imperial envoy was sent down from above? The imperial envoy’s guards are stationed in the prefectural city, and only one surnamed Kong was sent to our county. From the prefectural city to the county, a whole string of people have been implicated, and our county has also been implicated.”

“Magistrate Pei?”

Hu Guiying nodded. “The person you’re going to behead tomorrow is him. Tomorrow at the third quarter of the Hour of the Horse(11 a.m. – 1 p.m.), Sir Kong will personally supervise the execution.”

The imperial envoy’s party had arrived in the prefectural city and had investigated the prefectural yamen and the few counties below with lightning speed, catching everyone off guard. This time, they had investigated Changping County, and the entire yamen had been so busy these past few days they couldn’t even touch the ground.

“Then has the new county magistrate been decided?”

“The higher-ups have already issued a document. A new county magistrate will be sent down.”

She said with a gloating expression, “That one surnamed He has been eyeing the position of county magistrate. He was thinking that he might be promoted this time. I didn’t expect that the higher-ups would send someone else over. He’s probably going to be furious.”

Jiang Huaizhen rarely discussed politics. Hearing this, she couldn’t help but ask, “The matter of falsifying the disaster data, he wasn’t implicated?”

Before, when Lin Shuang had been taken away for spreading rumors of the flood, it was this Magistrate He who had supervised the case. She had always remembered it.

Hu Guiying shook her head. “I don’t know what method he used to get away with it.”

Jiang Huaizhen did not pursue the matter further. “I understand. I’ll go over tomorrow morning.”

After Hu Guiying had passed on the message, she hurried away.

Seeing Jiang Huaizhen return to her room, Lin Shuang propped herself up and sat up. The thin cool quilt slipped from her shoulder, revealing half of her snow-white arm.

“Why is the execution time so early this year?”

Jiang Huaizhen’s gaze swept over her round shoulder. She repeated what Hu Guiying had just said, blew out the lamp, and lay down. “I’ll be back early tomorrow after I’m done. You’ve been exhausted from the travel these past few days. You should rest well first. We’ll deal with the medicine seedlings when I get back.”

Lin Shuang agreed and asked, “That ghost-head saber hasn’t been used for a year. Will it be dull?”

Jiang Huaizhen said, “I’ll get up early tomorrow morning and go to the stream to sharpen it, so Grandma doesn’t hear it at home and get worried.”

Although the old woman was over sixty, her hearing and eyesight were sharp. She was more alert than anyone else to any slight movement. She wouldn’t go so far as to stop her, but Jiang Huaizhen couldn’t bear to let her worry and then nag endlessly.

“It’s been a year since the last time. Are you out of practice?” Lin Shuang looked at her from the side and asked with some concern.

“It’s alright. It’s just one prisoner. Even if I’m out of practice, it won’t take a second stroke,” Jiang Huaizhen comforted her.

These few days, they had been out in the open, and they had not slept well at the inn. The two of them had not been very intimate. Lin Shuang had originally had the thought of being affectionate with her, but now, talking about these things, those restless thoughts were suppressed. She hugged her arm and asked, “What did the yamen say when you went to resign before?”

Jiang Huaizhen was silent for a moment and replied, “They said that they can’t find a replacement for a while, so they want me to do it for a while longer.”

“If they say they can’t find anyone, then you’ll have to do it forever, won’t you?”

“At least for this year, I can’t escape.”

Lin Shuang looked up at her. “Why do I feel that you don’t really want to resign?”

“Do I?” Jiang Huaizhen said with some guilt. “Someone has to do these things. If they can’t find anyone, I’ll just fill in for now.”

Lin Shuang said nothing, hugged her neck, and said, “Kiss me, then you can sleep.”

She had something to do tomorrow, so she wouldn’t bother her tonight and would let her rest and recuperate.

Jiang Huaizhen turned, hugged her, and kissed her on the lips.

When Lin Shuang woke up the next day, the person beside her was already gone.

She had no intention of sleeping in either. She got up, tidied herself up, and the old woman had already made porridge.

Ping’er was outside, talking to the rabbits. Ever since she had been told not to disturb the two of them in the morning, she had not run to the east room when she got up.

Seeing Lin Shuang get up, she ran over and hugged her leg. “Auntie, what are we doing today?”

Lin Shuang pinched her cheek. “We’re going down to the fields to plant medicinal herbs today.”

It was too late to come back yesterday, but they had to plant them today. Otherwise, the roots would dry up. But they had to wait until Jiang Huaizhen came back in the afternoon to plant them together.

It was autumn now, and the weather was starting to cool down, but the sun was still a bit strong during the day. If they transplanted the seedlings in the afternoon, the humidity at night would be higher, which would reduce wilting and help the seedlings recover.

Old Madam Jiang, not seeing Jiang Huaizhen, asked, “Where did that girl go? Is she still sleeping?”

Lin Shuang lied, “We saw a few medicinal herbs on the mountain before. She remembers the place and went to dig them up.”

…

In the west market of Changping County, an execution platform had been set up early in the morning.

The common people had always loved to join in the fun. They would come to watch even when ordinary prisoners were being dealt with. Now that the former county magistrate was to be beheaded, how could they miss such a scene?

Before noon, the market was already bustling with people, with three layers of people inside and three layers outside.

Xue Luan was on her tiptoes, looking around in the crowd. Her apricot-colored skirt was wrinkled from being squeezed. She was pretty, and now, under the midday sun, her cheeks were flushed, like a ripe peach.

A few of her little sisters were next to her, clutching their handkerchiefs, their eyes eagerly staring at the execution platform.

“Why isn’t Sister Jiang out yet? It’s already past noon…”

“Soon. The sun is strong now. If she comes out early, she’ll have to be in the sun for a while longer.”

“Sister Jiang is not afraid of the sun.”

“A’Luan, you can’t stand the sight of blood. You’re still coming to join in the fun. If you faint later, we won’t be able to carry you.”

Compared to the other two little sisters, Xue Luan was indeed a little rounder, but she was not fat.

Hearing her little sisters say this, she said angrily, “I haven’t come to see it so many times before. Now that I’m finally here, you’re still pouring cold water on me. It’s too much.”

“Good A’Luan, we’re just worried about you.”

“Sigh, who would have thought that the daughter of the famous Doctor Xue of the Everlasting Peace Hall would faint at the sight of blood? If your father were to pass on his skills to you, what would you do? If you can’t stand the sight of blood, how can you save the dying and heal the wounded?”

Hearing this, Xue Luan’s eyes dimmed, and she lowered her head.

Seeing this, the little girl in the goose-yellow dress knew that she had misspoken. She moved closer and hugged her arm, her voice as sweet as honey. “Alright, alright. Fainting at the sight of blood is fainting at the sight of blood. I’ll cover your eyes for you when the execution is carried out.”

That was the only way. Xue Luan nodded.

Behind them, a master and a servant were standing quietly. The woman who looked like the master was in her early twenties, her figure as slender as a green bamboo. She was wearing a moon-white embroidered jacket, and her whole body had an aura as cold as frost and snow. Especially her phoenix eyes, her gaze was as sharp as a blade, making people not dare to look at her directly.

The crowd was noisy, and in her ear was the chattering of the fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls. The woman’s brow furrowed slightly.

It wasn’t until one of the little girls exclaimed, “She’s here, she’s here! Sister Jiang is here—”

“Sister Jiang is not dressed as a man today.”

“She’s as beautiful as ever—”

Hearing the sound, the woman looked up at the stage and saw a tall young woman, holding a ghost-head saber wrapped in black cloth, walking toward the stage.

A black shirt and a red jacket, and with the autumn wind, the corners of her skirt flew up.

The red ribbon in her hair, used to ward off evil spirits, also flew up with her beautiful hair, like an immortal.

She was clearly in the bloodiest of professions, but her gaze was as clear as a mountain stream.

The crowd also began to stir.

“It’s Little Jiang—”

“So she’s a girl…”

“A female executioner, so delicate. Can she do it?”

“Why not? She was the one who beheaded the eight condemned prisoners last year.”

“I thought that executioner was too good-looking last year. I didn’t expect her to really be a girl.”

“A female executioner. This is the first time I’ve seen one.”

“But for a woman to do this kind of work, is it appropriate?”

“What’s not appropriate about it? There’s no rule that says women can’t be executioners.”

“Don’t you think it’s unlucky? This profession is already heavy with yin energy, and now there’s a woman. Won’t the person who is beheaded be unable to be reincarnated for several lifetimes?”

“Pah, you’re actually speaking up for the corrupt officials on the stage. So many people died in the flood because he didn’t care, and he even falsified the number of victims to defraud the disaster relief funds. This kind of person should go to the eighteenth level of hell. To have Little Jiang execute him is to dirty Little Jiang’s hands!”

“Is it that serious? Just because she’s good-looking, you have to defend her to this extent?”

“Her looks are one thing. During the great flood this year, my father, my mother, my younger brother, and my younger sister were trapped in a tree for two days and two nights. It was she who led people to save us. She is the savior of our family. No one can slander her.”

“And me. She also saved our family.”

“If you don’t like it, you can just hold it in!”

The person was instantly silenced.

The others were still chattering, but it wasn’t until Jiang Huaizhen, holding her great saber, walked behind the former county magistrate, Pei Na, and stood still that the voices gradually subsided.

Two officials in ocher official robes were pacing back and forth, taking turns to read out the prisoner’s crimes.

“Pei Na, former county magistrate of Changping, embezzled disaster relief silver, forged documents…”

With each crime that was read out, a commotion would stir up in the crowd below.

The prisoner, Pei Na, was curled up in a heavy wooden cangue, his hair disheveled, his knees on the ground, trembling all over.

He was whimpering indistinctly, and no one knew what he was saying, nor did anyone care.

Jiang Huaizhen stood quietly behind him. She held the saber in one hand, its tip casually resting on the ground, the blade against her leg. When her gaze swept over the condemned prisoner, her dark eyes were as calm as a deep pool, with no ripples.

Only then did she look up and look at the crowd below with a blank expression.

The few little girls instantly cheered again. “Sister Jiang is looking over here—”

The maid beside the woman in white said in a low voice, “Miss, I didn’t expect that the executioner of Changping County would actually be a woman.”

The woman said faintly, “So what if she’s a woman? Aren’t we also women?”

The maid quickly said, “I don’t think it’s inappropriate. I just admire her courage.”

“If it were you, would you be willing to do this job?”

The maid thought for a moment. “I wouldn’t.”

“Why?”

The maid smiled. “If I were to do this, who would accompany you, miss?”

The woman glanced at her. “You’re so glib.”

The crowd was noisy, and the copper needle of the sundial cast a long, thin shadow on the bluestone slab, finally coinciding with the mark of the third quarter of the Hour of the Horse(11 a.m. – 1 p.m.).

The supervising official picked up the token on the table and threw it to the stage below.

“The hour has come! Execute—”

The originally noisy venue was instantly silent.

The tall and slender executioner finally moved. The cloth strip that had been wrapped around the ghost-head saber had been untied at some point, revealing the silver-white blade.

As the blade was raised, the sunlight reflected off it, creating a blinding glare.

The moment the blade fell, it made a “clatter” like a butcher chopping pork ribs on a table. A splash of blood rose, and a large head rolled to the ground, tumbling a few times before it rolled to the feet of the crowd in the front row.

“Ah—” the crowd was like an ant’s nest that had been stirred up. The onlookers in the front row screamed and retreated, creating a large gap.

But five or six men in coarse cloth clothes went against the flow. One of them kicked the head, making it roll again.

This group of people were the disaster victims from the riverbank, the survivors whose families had died because they had not been treated in time.

The execution was over, but the common people were still standing there, discussing it heatedly.

The woman in the moon-white jacket was about to leave when she suddenly saw an apricot-colored figure stumble and fall backward.

She subconsciously reached out to catch her, and a sweet and soft body instantly fell into her arms.