Chapter 45 : Let Me Beat You Up

After Song Ying finished calculating the last account, Faer helped her organize the ledger and gently massaged her shoulders and neck.

“Miss, it’s been a few days already. Why hasn’t Deputy Yang brought back any news about General Huo?”

Song Ying rubbed her sore temples and replied,”How could it be that fast? Just the round trip to Yongzhou would take more than ten days even without stopping.”

Faer: “That long? How long will General Huo have to fight then? I heard the Western Country is very cunning, even the general has a hard time dealing with them.”

Song Ying said, “Xiyue is bordered by Dayin in the east and Yue State in the west. The border is filled with dense forests and treacherous mountains easy to defend, hard to attack. If we can conquer it within a year, it would already be a miracle.”

Faer opened her mouth in surprise.

“It’s that difficult? If General Huo can’t come up with a way to win quickly, does that mean he’ll be stuck there for a long time?”

Song Ying: “Yeah.”

Faer pouted.

“Miss, are you still waiting for him? One or two years is fine, but if it turns into three or five years, even if you’re willing to wait, the Marquis won’t let you.”

Song Ying looked out the window.

Autumn was deepening, and the leaves in the courtyard were beginning to turn yellow.

Just as Faer said, Song Ying could wait through one autumn and winter, but what about two, or three?

She and Huo Zhen weren’t engaged. And now, if Song Jinzhuo wanted her to marry, she would have no choice.

Seeing Song Ying remain silent, Faer dared not say anything more and just continued massaging her.

Xiaomi entered the study and reported, “Miss, the young master is here, but he didn’t come in. He’s just standing at the door and asking for you to go out.”

Song Ying wasn’t at the Marquis Mansion now, so she had no interest in dealing with him.

“Close the door. He can wait as long as he wants.”

Xiaomi: “Okay.”

Not long after, Xiaomi came to report again, “The young master has left.”

Faer was curious, “What was the young master doing here anyway? In the past, even if he had to crawl through a dog hole, he would have come in to confront you.”

Song Ying: “After spending some time with my grandfather and suffering so many of his ‘trapped-in-a-jar’ punishments, he’s finally learned his lesson.”

Faer: “The young master is a slow learner.”

Song Ying smiled, then asked Faer to prepare some small gifts that children would like. She then took a carriage to the Liu residence.

Liu Lingyan personally came out to greet Song Ying, accompanied by her husband, Yang An.

“Long time no see, Brother Yang.”

Yang An: “It has been a while. You two catch up, I’m going to check on the kids.”

Liu Lingyan pulled Song Ying into the study and said, “You finally made it. I’ve already done what you asked. It’s perfect that you came today, I’ll give you the things now.”

“Thank you so much.”

“No need to be so polite with me. Oh, by the way, I heard Wen Jun left the capital. Is that true?”

Song Ying: “Yeah, he’s been gone for a while, but he’ll come back eventually.”

Liu Lingyan cursed, “Would be better if something unfortunate happened to him on the way back.”

Inside the house, Liu Lingyan took a square box from the shelf and handed it to Song Ying.

“This is a distribution map of the medicinal herb collection sites across Chongzhou, Yongzhou, and Danzhou.”

Song Ying unfolded the map and said gratefully, “Thank you for your effort.”

“It wasn’t that hard. My father-in-law used to dabble in the medicinal herb trade a few years back, though compared to you, he was just playing around. He didn’t succeed, but he did collect quite a bit of information.”

Liu Lingyan pointed at the map. “I just asked Yang An to bring this over for me.”

Song Ying: “How is your mother-in-law doing lately?”

Liu Lingyan: “Still the same. It’s an old problem.”

Song Ying: “What did the doctor say?”

Liu Lingyan: “Just said to take good care of her. But lately, due to the shortage of medicinal herbs, she hasn’t been able to get new prescriptions.”

Song Ying was slightly surprised. “Even Chongzhou is out of stock?”

Chongzhou, Yongzhou, and Danzhou were the major distribution centers for medicinal herbs in Dayin.

Among them, Yongzhou had the richest variety due to its proximity to Xiyue. But since Xiyue frequently harassed the area, most herbs were reserved for local use, with only a small amount making it to the capital and at a high price.

Although Chongzhou and Danzhou had fewer types of herbs, the locals usually didn’t have trouble getting medicine unlike the capital.

Liu Lingyan sighed, “I don’t know what happened, but many herbs in Chongzhou just vanished overnight.”

Song Ying said, “You should’ve told me about this sooner.”

Liu Lingyan said, “It’s not an urgent matter. I just wanted to wait until you were free. Now that you’re here, I won’t be polite anymore.”

Song Ying replied, “Tell me what medicine you need, and I’ll help you.”

Liu Lingyan asked someone to call Yang An over. After Song Ying asked a few questions, she thought for a moment.

“I have two of the missing herbs in stock, but the last one is a problem. That herb only grows in Yue State.”

Yang An looked troubled too. “Although Dayin won the war, Yue State’s medicinal supply was cut off. There are some on the black market, but the price…”

Song Ying asked, “How much?”

Yang An replied, “One tael costs a hundred ounces of gold.”

In truth, this herb wasn’t rare it just didn’t grow in Dayin.

Song Ying said, “Let me think about it. I’ll have someone send the other two herbs to Chongzhou for you.”

Yang An cupped his fists. “Thank you.”

Liu Lingyan said to Song Ying, “Don’t worry too much. If there’s no solution, we’ll just pay more. Worst case, I’ll buy it on the black market.”

Song Ying replied, “I’ll try my best.”

—

After returning from Liu Lingyan’s place, before entering the house, Song Shihe suddenly jumped out from behind the stone lions.

“Song Ying!”

His sudden shout gave Song Ying and Faer a real scare.

Wasn’t this kid supposed to have left?

Song Ying merely glanced at him and ignored him.

Song Shihe blocked her path angrily. “I have something to tell you.”

Song Ying replied, “Then let me beat you up first.”

Song Shihe was surprised that she didn’t even bother pretending to be polite.

Faer, standing nearby, was already itching to get involved.

Song Shihe ignored them, straightened up, and slightly lowered his voice. “I have something very important to tell you.”

“No matter how important it is, you’re getting beaten up first.”

In the end, Song Shihe was still too young, his patience snapped.

“Are you even a woman or not—Ow! Damn it, you kicked me!”

Song Shihe grabbed his thigh and glared at Song Ying. “I’m not finished with you!”

Just then, the door behind him opened. Xiaomi and the others stood there, all holding weapons.

“You…”

Faer shoved him. “Go in.”

As soon as the door closed, screams echoed from inside.

“Ah—murder—ow—you damn slave, I—ow ow, it hurts so bad!! Song Ying, Song—sister, ow ow, I was wrong, it hurts…”

The deafening shrieks startled birds out of the trees and drew curious stares from passersby.

“Wow, Xiaohanju is really lively today!”

“Sounds like they’re slaughtering a pig.”

After the onlookers passed, the door of Xiaohanju opened again.

Song Shihe limped out, clutching his butt and cursing.

He stood in the middle of the road, pointed at the door, and yelled, “Just wait! I’ll be back for sure!”

Just then, a carriage came speeding toward him. Song Shihe panicked, stumbled backward in fear, and fell hard, hurting his already sore backside again.

“Ouch!”

The driver leaned out and said with a slightly raised voice, “Oh, it’s little Shihe.”

Seeing someone familiar, Song Shihe forced himself up, and cried out like he’d just seen his savior, “Brother Wen Jun!”