The Passerby Hidden Guard Picked Up the Villain [Transmigration] - Chapter 7

After watching He Yanzhi depart, Xiao Hongyin returned to his room.

Due to He Yanzhi’s special arrangements, Master Chen had provided him with a private room, unlike the other students who shared in pairs. Once Xiao Hongyin closed the door, he shed his disguise without reservation.

The brightness in his pupils faded into a dull gaze, and the dim moonlight filtered through the window, casting a pale glow over his face.

“The Birthday Gifts.”

Xiao Hongyin sat at the table, idly toying with a teacup.

This was the first matter related to He Yu that he had heard about since his rebirth.

The birthday gifts had been hijacked in Xizhou. The Crown Prince had insisted that the King of Xizhou was negligent in governing bandits, hoping to use the incident to drag He Yu down before the Emperor. Little did the Crown Prince know that He Yu had turned the plot against him. After dealing with the bandits, He Yu hid the recovered gifts. Consequently, the Crown Prince was unable to present a tribute at the imperial longevity feast. He lost face in front of the envoys of ten thousand nations, and the Emperor, in a fit of rage, stripped him of his title as Crown Prince.

Xiao Hongyin remembered that he had just been rescued by He Yu at that time. Eager for revenge, he had agreed to cooperate with him. In fact, it was Xiao Hongyin himself who had suggested the hiding place for the birthday gifts.

At the thought of He Yu’s hypocritical face, Xiao Hongyin suddenly tightened his grip, making the teacup creak and groan.

Since the opportunity was right in front of him, it would be a pity not to send He Yu a welcoming gift.

Xiao Hongyin set down the teacup and looked through the window at the surrounding walls of the courtyard.

“I must find a way to slip out.”

The next morning, Xiao Hongyin rose early. While the other students were still dreaming, he had already finished watering the flowers in the academy.

The academy walls were covered in thin strands of dodder vines. Xiao Hongyin carried a water bucket, carefully tending to the flower pots at the base of the walls.

He looked up to estimate the height of the wall. It was a foot higher than the wall at He Yanzhi’s house, making it quite difficult to scale.

After watering the flowers, Xiao Hongyin fetched a broom to sweep the fallen leaves.

The academy had a front and back gate. The front gate was used daily by students and masters, while the lock on the back gate was covered in rust, indicating it had remained unopened for years.

The layout of the academy was very simple, which made Xiao Hongyin feel somewhat frustrated.

Several hours passed. Just as he finished cleaning the courtyard and was about to fetch water, Master Chen appeared out of nowhere and called out to him, telling him to go to the kitchen for a meal.

“Since your body is weak, you do not need to do the heavy lifting of fetching water or chopping wood. Since you are under the protection of the Sages, you should focus on your studies.”

Xiao Hongyin gave an acknowledgment and set down the water bucket.

At this time, there was still a quarter of an hour left before the students finished their lessons. Xiao Hongyin went alone to collect his food. Seeing how thin he was, the cook served him a plate piled high with meat and vegetables.

He chose a corner to sit in and ate very slowly. Halfway through his meal, the students finished their classes and rushed toward the dining hall. The swarming crowd filled the entire hall, and the once quiet environment instantly became chaotic.

Xiao Hongyin continued to eat quietly by himself. Three male students walked past him, laughing and talking. One of them caught sight of the frail youth in the corner and suddenly stopped.

“Hey, you over there! When did you arrive? I have never seen you before!”

His drifting consciousness was pulled back by the shout. Xiao Hongyin knit his brows slightly, having no desire to pay the person any mind.

To his surprise, the voice grew even more arrogant. “Brat, I am talking to you!”

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his collar, forcefully making him turn around.

What met his eyes was a bright gold-threaded belt and a belly that was squeezed into two layers. Xiao Hongyin slowly lifted his gaze and saw the person’s face.

He had mung-bean eyes, a garlic-bulb nose, a small head, and a large face. It was a look that one would never forget after a single glance.

“Wang Dafu, you are bullying people again. Be careful, or the Master will catch you and give you the wooden paddle!”

Some nearby students who could not stand the sight tried to stop him. However, knowing how formidable this person was, they only shouted once before they dared not interfere further.

Wang Dafu did not care about masters or paddles. His family were grain merchants, and they provided half of the expenses for the Qingsong Academy. What could a mere Master Chen do to him?

Wang Dafu lifted Xiao Hongyin to eye level. Just as he was about to teach him a lesson, he was stunned by Xiao Hongyin’s appearance.

“You look so good.”

When had the academy ever had such a good-looking student? His mind went blank for a moment, and he spoke the words instinctively. The students around him followed his gaze and were similarly stunned into silence.

It took a long time for Wang Dafu to snap out of it. Seeing that the others had fallen silent and were staring intently at Xiao Hongyin, he remembered his original purpose. He threw Xiao Hongyin away like a hot potato and said with feigned disgust:

“Pah! You look like a woman. You probably came out of some brothel!”

As soon as these words were spoken, many students cast looks of contempt at him. Wang Dafu did not care. However, he saw that Xiao Hongyin had no reaction at all. The youth only looked at him calmly. There was no anger, no hatred, and not even a trace of disgust in his eyes. They were like pure water without any impurities.

This was a gaze he had never seen before. For some reason, it made him feel an intense surge of anger.

“You are looking for death!”

Wang Dafu raised his fist to strike Xiao Hongyin’s face, but the latter remained completely unperturbed.

Looking past Wang Dafu, Xiao Hongyin saw Master Chen entering the hall with a bundle of things. A small smile played on Xiao Hongyin’s lips. Just as the fist was about to land on his face, he collapsed to the ground first. He knocked over a chair in the process to create even more noise.

The entire hall became restless. Some students who loved a good spectacle shouted, “Wang Dafu is hitting someone!” They ran back and forth through the hall, only to run straight into a glaring Master Chen. Master Chen was already so angry that his beard was shaking.

Wang Dafu stood rooted to the spot, looking at Xiao Hongyin, who was curled up in pain on the ground. His mind went blank again.

But he soon understood what was happening, because Master Chen had already produced a ruler and arrived in front of him.

“I did not hit him! I really did not hit him! He fell down by himself!” Wang Dafu explained desperately.

Master Chen did not want to hear his explanation. He and the other students helped Xiao Hongyin up to check his injuries.

Xiao Hongyin was assisted to a chair. His face was deathly pale, there were tears in his eyes, and he looked incredibly weak.

“Where are you hurt? How do you feel?” Master Chen asked worriedly.

Xiao Hongyin shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was soft and clear, making people feel as though they were bathed in a spring breeze. “I am fine. Thank you, Master.”

“That is good, that is good.” Master Chen let out a sigh of relief. If anything happened to Xiao Hongyin, those two officials would not be easy to deal with.

Looking at Wang Dafu’s fleshy face, Master Chen’s anger flared up instantly. He pointed at him and said, “Speak! Did this beast hit you?”

From his tone, it was clear Master Chen was truly enraged. The students all looked at Xiao Hongyin.

Faced with a multitude of questioning gazes, Xiao Hongyin hesitated as if he were about to speak but stopped.

Wang Dafu was so anxious that he began to cry, desperately explaining that he had not done it. However, even his usual lackeys remained silent, and not a single person came forward to speak for him.

Everyone watched Xiao Hongyin expectantly. Instead of speaking, he glanced at Wang Dafu and then said softly, “I accidentally fell by myself. It is not his fault.”

As soon as these words were uttered, an unexpected joy appeared on Wang Dafu’s ashen face. However, the rest of the hall erupted into an uproar.

“He clearly hit him! I saw it with my own eyes!” “Exactly! I saw it too! Wang Dafu hit him!” “Master, I will testify.” “Master, I saw it too.”

Wang Dafu looked around in disbelief. Master Chen sharply shouted for everyone to stop.

“The time has come. Everyone, go to class!”

The students dispersed reluctantly.

Once everyone had left, Wang Dafu still had his mouth open but could not speak. Master Chen looked at him and said with deep sorrow, “Dafu, you should have known better. If you were not so arrogant and overbearing on a daily basis, you would not have ended up like this!”

Master Chen sighed and gave him the bundle. “Your father is away recently, so he asked me to give you your winter clothes. I cannot punish you properly right now. Go to the woodshed to reflect on your actions in private. We will discuss this further once your father returns.”

Wang Dafu took the bundle and shed two rows of tears as he followed Master Chen away. He failed to notice a piece of paper falling out of the bundle.

Xiao Hongyin picked it up and shook it open to look.

The paper was nothing more than instructions from Wang Dafu’s father. There were only a few sentences, but Xiao Hongyin noticed several pieces of information.

The Wang family had been in the rice and flour business for years. Recently, a buyer had successively placed large orders. The Wang family was short-handed, so Master Wang had to take charge personally. Within three days, he was to transport three hundred piculs of rice and four hundred piculs of white flour to the southern outskirts of Xizhou.

To hoard such a large amount of rice and flour when there was no war or famine was extremely unusual.

Xiao Hongyin kept this in mind. He folded the paper back to its original state, caught up with Master Chen, explained the situation, and handed the paper over.

Master Chen looked at Xiao Hongyin. Seeing that he was not only frail but also thinly dressed, he felt a surge of pity. “The weather is getting colder. I will ask Master He to send some warm clothes soon. If you have any other needs, just tell me.”

Xiao Hongyin thanked him. After bidding Master Chen farewell, he returned to his quarters.

Since He Yanzhi would be coming to see him, he would find a way to stay by his side.

With this thought in mind, Xiao Hongyin reached his room. Seeing that the door was shut tightly, he immediately took a few steps back.

He looked around alertly.

Before leaving, he had intentionally left the door open by the width of a finger. It seemed someone had been here.

There were many book attendants and servant girls moving about the academy. If someone were hiding nearby, they would surely be discovered.

Xiao Hongyin grabbed a broom, opened the door, and walked into the room. There was no ambush.

The quilt, the wardrobe, and his bundle all showed signs of having been searched.

Xiao Hongyin found two notes beneath his bundle.

He looked at one of the notes. It recorded all of his circumstances in detail after he had been rescued, including the incident with Wang Dafu today. The other note stated that someone would come to pick him up in three days.

“They really did find me.”

He did not need to guess to know it was He Yu. The tone was exactly the same as in his previous life.

Xiao Hongyin glanced out the window without warning as a bird suddenly flew past the branches. He then set the notes on fire and burned them to ashes.

“Since you love following me so much, I will let you follow to your heart’s content.”

Jiang Beihai was untied. He found a comfortable position to lean against the wall while He Yanzhi sat opposite him.

“The yamen is modest, and there is only cold water. Please forgive us, Chief Jiang.”

He Yanzhi looked at him with a composed expression. Jiang Beihai looked him up and down and laughed. “A good-looking kid like you must have many wives at home.”

He Yanzhi smiled slightly. “They were easily frightened and ran away long ago. They cannot compare to the courage of Vice-Chief Jin, who came alone, not knowing that the other party had already prepared food and drink and was waiting to host him for a few more days.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Beihai narrowed his eyes and his expression turned serious. “You kid really do have some ability.”

“I would not dare claim so.”

Jiang Beihai decided not to waste any more words. He said, “Actually, there is not much to say. We were transporting the birthday gifts from Dongzhou along the waterway. While passing near Baoque Mountain in Xizhou, we encountered a sudden heavy rain. The current in the river was fierce, and we could not proceed. Just as we were looking for a place to dock, that group of people sprang out from beneath the river and hijacked the goods.”

He Yanzhi noticed a hole in the story and followed up. “How long did you stay on the waterway?”

Jiang Beihai said, “I do not remember. Regardless, it was not for long.”

“Before those water bandits appeared, were there any ambushes nearby?”

“I do not know. No one reported any.”

“How large were the birthday gifts? How did they hijack them?”

“Quite large. They sawed a hole in the bottom of the crates and hijacked them after they fell through.”

He Yanzhi saw that Jiang Beihai did not appear to be lying, so he remarked, “Chief Jiang, have you never considered that those people had planned this long ago?”

Jiang Beihai spread his hands. “Why should I care about that? The goods have been hijacked anyway.”

“The Chief truly has a grand character.”

He Yanzhi now understood why the man had been beaten so badly.

He Yanzhi originally wanted to ask if he had any enemies, but then he realized the man likely had enemies everywhere. So, he changed his question. “Chief Jiang, do you feel there has been anything unusual within the gang recently?”

Jiang Beihai was about to deny it when he suddenly remembered something. “Actually, there might be. Jin Lanye has been acting a bit strangely lately.”