She Is Such A Jerk, And Yet She’s The One Crying! - Chapter 36

In the fourth year of the Qianqing era, a great disaster befell the heavens.

The harvest from the fields plummeted, corpses of those who died of hunger littered the land, and in Sanqi County, the sight of people “exchanging children to eat” became a common occurrence.

“At a time like this, he should be opening the national treasury and the granaries to alleviate the suffering,” Qiang Ning was so furious she laughed. “Instead, not only does he ignore the will of the people, he’s concocted some ‘Hundred-Person Sacrifice.’ Using a hundred young boys and girls for a grand ritual, claiming it’s a punishment from heaven and that only when the sincerity of human sacrifice reaches its peak can the divine wrath be appeased.”

What was even more exasperating was that the Emperor’s human sacrifice was planned to take place on the “Mentor Commemoration Tower” built years ago for Lin Dongruan.

Setting aside Lin Dongruan for a moment, Qiang Ning felt a sense of ill omen on her behalf.

Because of the Emperor’s utterly absurd and obsessed methods, the people dared not criticize the sovereign. Instead, they claimed that Lin Dongruan, as the Imperial Preceptor, had corrupted the new Emperor. They even cited the proverb, “Teaching without severity is the teacher’s laziness,” and spread rumors that building the “Mentor Commemoration Tower” for the hundred-person sacrifice was also Lin Dongruan’s scheme.

Oh, and speaking of which, it wasn’t that the officials hadn’t petitioned to open the granaries; it was that the stored grain had long since been sent to several small border tribes during the period of defeat and suing for peace.

To this, Qiang Ning was simply speechless.

Because of these distressing matters, she knew Lin Dongruan had been feeling very troubled lately. She often saw her gazing toward the direction of the capital, sinking into a long silence, as if looking across cities at the tender young heir to the throne from years ago.

Lin Dongruan… what could she be thinking at times like those?

Regretting that she hadn’t detected the heir’s tyrannical nature back then? Or feeling disappointment toward the student she had taught for years?

Qiang Ning approached Lin Dongruan several times, wanting to act as a listener, thinking it would be better than letting Lin Dongruan keep her worries bottled up in her heart, brooding in melancholy.

But Lin Dongruan remained silent, never speaking of these concerns to her.

“Sister, do not worry anymore. The rise and fall of the world is not something one person can reverse. Why must you ‘grieve the grief of the world’ and ‘sorrow the sorrows of the ten thousand people’?” The weather was cold, and Qiang Ning draped a windproof cloak over her shoulders. “It is windy today; Sister, do not stand in the wind.”

“A-Ning, Sanqi County has not been peaceful lately. Some desperate villains have begun kidnapping young girls to… to satisfy their hunger.” Lin Dongruan lowered her eyes, clutching her collar, and said softly, ” A-Ning, do not go out easily. If there is something you want to eat or need, I will go.”

Qiang Ning disagreed: “Sister, I don’t feel easy letting you go.”

Lin Dongruan smiled: “Why does A-Ning think so? If I had no ability to protect myself, how could I have lived peacefully all these years?”

Reminded of this, Qiang Ning remembered that Lin Dongruan was someone who had spent many years safely in Wusang Town. The more remote and impoverished a place, the more likely it was to produce unruly people and thugs; with Lin Dongruan’s gentle temperament, she must have had her own way of survival.

But Qiang Ning still didn’t want her to go out: “Sister, if you want to buy something, just let Song Luo run the errand.”

Lin Dongruan looked back: ” A-Ning, is there still wine left in the storage?”

Was she planning to drown her sorrows in wine?

That was fine, Qiang Ning thought; it was better than her staying silent all day.

“There is still a jar of strong wine in the storage. I will go fetch it for you, Sister.” Qiang Ning stood up quickly and brought a flask of wine.

Lin Dongruan raised her hand and poured a full cup, drinking it all in one gulp before Qiang Ning could even react.

Qiang Ning: !!!

That was too fast!

She hadn’t been able to stop her at all.

Lin Dongruan’s tolerance for alcohol wasn’t necessarily good. In their previous interactions, the other woman never overindulged, stopping after a taste or two. Qiang Ning had always felt that Lin Dongruan couldn’t drink much. Sure enough, as the cup of strong wine hit her throat, Lin Dongruan’s face quickly flushed red.

Feeling distressed, Qiang Ning supported her back to the room: “Sister, you drank that too fast. I didn’t even have a chance to stop you.”

Lin Dongruan’s lips still carried a faint aroma of wine. She lowered her head and whispered softly in Qiang Ning’s ear: ” A-Ning, I want to eat sour plum preserves.”

“I’ll go buy them right away.” Even if the other was drunk, Qiang Ning would obey her. “I’ll be back soon. Sister, wait for me in the house; you’ll be able to eat them shortly.”

“Mhm.” Lin Dongruan gave a soft nasal hum and showed a faint smile to Qiang Ning. ” A-Ning is so good.”

She liked those who were obedient; Qiang Ning knew this. Therefore, she usually tried her best to listen to her, and this time was no exception. When the other person spoke words of praise, Qiang Ning felt she had to go buy those sour plum preserves no matter what.

Before leaving, Qiang Ning closed the door tightly and took her shadow guards to search the entire city for a place selling sour plum preserves.

“We’ve been to so many places, why aren’t any for sale?” Qiang Ning was anxious. She couldn’t help but grab a shop owner who was about to close his doors and asked, “Even if things are difficult lately, it shouldn’t be to the point where you don’t even sell sour plum preserves, right?”

The owner waved his hands repeatedly: “Oh, young lady, look at you—of all the things to eat, why must you specifically ask for plums? Don’t you know? Because of the natural disaster this year, the plum trees barely bore any fruit. Where would we get the preserves from?”

“What?” Qiang Ning was startled, feeling a wave of self-blame. Lin Dongruan never paid much attention to physical desires; now that she finally wanted something to eat, Qiang Ning couldn’t even bring it back for her.

“Although there are no sour plum preserves, I still have some aged apricot preserves. The taste is much the same; those who like sour things usually buy them together.” The owner was a shrewd businessman and quickly weighed some for Qiang Ning. “If you don’t believe me, young lady, give them a try.”

Qiang Ning didn’t like sour things, but thinking of Lin Dongruan, she deigned to pick up an apricot preserve to taste.

It wasn’t any high-quality item. Upon entering the mouth, there was a strong taste of sweet powder mixed with a bit of a stale scent. Once the sweetness faded, the lingering aftertaste was the tartness of sour apricots.

Qiang Ning’s tongue went numb from the acidity. she had her subordinates pay the money, and she personally carried the purchased apricot preserves as she hurried back.

“Your Highness, you’ve come out too?” Song Luo happened to return at that moment, holding the items Lin Dongruan had sent him to buy.

Qiang Ning hurried back with him. Halfway there, her expression suddenly changed, and she had an ominous premonition.

—Just now, her concern had blinded her judgment. All the people had been lured away for various reasons. She hadn’t realized that only Lin Dongruan was left in the house. Leaving a drunken Lin Dongruan alone in the residence—how dangerous that was!

Lin Dongruan had a low tolerance for alcohol; what if she opened the door and went out herself?

Qiang Ning was terrified by this thought. As she rushed toward the house, her fingers gripped her own palm so tightly that she even drew blood.

But…

It was still too late.

As she reached the front of the door, she saw the gates wide open, and the courtyard was already empty.

Qiang Ning’s body swayed as if she couldn’t stand straight, like a kite in the sky being jerked violently by its string. Her face turned pale in an instant.

“Go find her! Where did she go?!”

Qiang Ning clutched her heart, which felt so pained she could hardly breathe.

Song Luo, however, walked over at that moment: “Your Highness, I suspect… the Imperial Preceptor intentionally lured us away to go to the capital to stop His Majesty’s hundred-person sacrifice.”

“On what grounds does she leave without a word! How dare she abandon me?” Qiang Ning tightly gripped the apricot preserves she had run across all of Sanqi County to buy for that person, feeling utterly ridiculous. “While I was wholeheartedly searching for apricot preserves for her, she was single-mindedly thinking of abandoning me? Lin Dongruan… how dare she treat me like this…”

Song Luo didn’t dare make a sound and could only silently lower his head.

The apricot preserve she had tasted earlier left another bitter tang at the back of Qiang Ning’s tongue. Her eyes stung as she blinked, and then she said: “Pass down the order: if anyone can capture Lin Dongruan, they shall be rewarded with a hundred acres of land and three hundred taels of gold—she must be taken alive.”

Song Luo: “As you command.”

Returning to the room, the more Qiang Ning thought, the more furious she became, and she smashed all the remaining strong wine.

“Fine, Lin Dongruan!” Qiang Ning’s eyes brimmed with tears as she let out a loud laugh.

I treated you with such sincerity all these days, yet your heart and mind are entirely focused on that worthless student. You worry for him, you grieve for him—and what about me? I am just someone you picked up on a whim; someone you can discard like a worn-out shoe. You aren’t even willing to share your troubles with me. You clearly know I fear separation, yet you mention it over and over, and even leave without saying goodbye. Is this your reward to me?

Qiang Ning’s laughter grew wilder and more unrestrained. Even though she hadn’t touched a drop of wine, she seemed drunk, seemed mad.

The furnishings in the room were all destroyed by her, as if a tattered sincere heart could only meet a pathetic end.

“Lin Dongruan, you had better not let me catch you.”

Qiang Ning simply stopped pretending and grandly announced to the world: She, Lin Dongruan, was the person under her bounty hunt. Aside from herself, no one was allowed to touch her.

Including the current Emperor.

This place was not close to the capital. Under a dragnet of her making, Lin Dongruan would surely not be able to escape. Didn’t the new Emperor care most about this Imperial Preceptor? Then let’s see if he dares to abandon his throne and territory to come to the Northwest to save her!