Chapter 86: Being a Security Chief

Pan Yue said: "We will cure the disease completely. No matter how much it costs, the doctor will just prescribe medicine."

The doctor reminded him, "This medicine is not cheap. It requires ginseng to boost your energy. Just for this item, a dose of medicine costs one and a half taels. When you are better, even if you remove the ginseng, a dose of medicine will cost eight taels."

Pan Yue: "Open it, my father will get the money soon."

The doctor then went to prescribe medicine, and gave it to the medicine boy, asking him to boil it while he treated Pan Yu's wounds first.

Pan Yue also had many wounds on his body. When Pan Hong ran in holding his robe, he saw Pan Yue sitting on a stool with his upper body naked, applying medicine. His body was covered with bruises and purples, and was swollen and bloodstained. He looked very miserable.

Pan Hong glanced around and didn't see his youngest son. His heart tightened and he walked in with a pale face, "Yue'er, where's Yu'er?"

Pan Yue turned around and said quickly, "Father, my second brother is in the room."

Thinking of how he had just escaped death, Pan Yue's eyes turned red and his voice choked up.

Pan Hong walked up to him, hugged him, patted his shoulder, then quickly walked into the house to see his second son who was lying there.

Pan Hong inquired about the injury, bought three prescriptions, and made an appointment with the doctor to visit him in three days. Then he borrowed a cart to take Pan Yu back.

When they returned to the village, the exile village was already filled with crying.

The military fields at Wusuo in the western suburbs had been unable to harvest all the rice, so people from the exiled villages were drafted in to harvest the crops.

Because the place is far away, they have to carry their luggage, live and work in the fields, and they can only go home when the rice is harvested.

Both Pan Yue brothers have been called up and have been gone for two days. If nothing unexpected happens, they will be able to finish their work and be back tomorrow.

No one expected that the Tatars would bypass the garrison's defenses and come in to plunder.

Pan Hong's face became more and more ugly as he listened to the crying sound lingering in his ears. No, although the defense line in the west is long and difficult to hold completely, as the defender of Datong, he should be prepared in advance to deal with the Tatars' southward looting in autumn and winter.

It has become a habit, why can't we prevent it?

Pan Hong carried Pan Yu to the bed and was about to ask Pan Yue about the details of the Tatar robbery when he saw him close the doors and windows, turned around and asked in a low voice: "Dad, do you still have the yellow talisman that my sister sent?"

"Yellow Talisman?"

Pan Yue: "Yes, it was the amulet my younger sister sent me. When my second brother was chopped, the amulet helped him escape. When I was shot by an arrow, the arrow did not hurt me. I saw it fall in front of me with my own eyes."

Pan Hong's expression changed slightly, "Did you see it clearly?"

Pan Yue nodded seriously, "I saw it clearly. Moreover, our amulets became scorching hot afterwards. My second brother's amulets were burned to ashes, while mine was half burnt."

Pan Hong: "Where's the amulet?"

Pan Yue: "I gave it to my brother. He was seriously injured at the time, so I thought it would be better if he ate it."

Pan Hong frowned and thought about it, then went to the cabinet to take out the box.

In addition to a few bottles of medicine, the box also contained the yellow talisman that Pan Yun sent to them.

He found the peace amulet and the health amulet, thought about it, and took an extra health amulet.

In addition to carrying the health talisman with you, you can also eat it. Pan Yun explained the usage in the letter.

Although he didn't know whether it was true or not, he was willing to give it a try.

Pan Hong prayed according to the method written by Pan Yun, then burned a health talisman, mixed it in water and let Pan Yu drink it.

Pan Yu looked at the gray-black water and said timidly, "Dad, don't we have medicine now?"

Pan Hong knew that he was being spoiled because of the presence of adults, so he said fiercely: "Stop talking nonsense and eat quickly."

Pan Yu took the bowl, closed his eyes and drank it in one gulp.

This talisman water tastes so weird and is so unpalatable.

Both father and son stared at Pan Yu's face, "What do you feel?"

Pan Yu: "What kind of feeling is that? Does nausea count?"

Pan Yue: "Dad, his lips don't seem to be as white anymore."

Pan Hong looked at it carefully, and nodded after a while, "Yes, it seems to be a little red."

After hearing what they said, Pan Yu also felt it carefully, reached out and touched her stomach and said, "It doesn't seem to hurt that much anymore."

Pan Hong muttered, "There is cinnabar on the talisman paper. Could it be the effect of cinnabar?"

Pan Yu said quickly, "There's also a bloody smell. I don't know what kind of blood my younger sister mixed in it. Dad, my younger sister used to be supernatural, but she never had the idea of ​​practicing Taoism. Why did she become a Taoist priest as soon as we left?"

Pan Hong did not tell the two brothers that the Jinyiwei had come to confiscate their house again, fearing that they would commit crimes under impulse. He only said, "Didn't I tell you that the Taoist priest from Sanqing Temple who came to see me that day saw Yunniang and saw that she was a genius in Taoism, so he sent her to Sanqing Mountain."

"When I am rehabilitated in the future, or when you have made meritorious deeds and left Datong, we will go to Sanqing Mountain to bring her back. Whether she wants to practice Taoism or not, she can live freely with her family as her support."

Pan Yu: "But Dad, if my little sister is so powerful just after she started practicing Taoism, who will be the backer when we go to pick her up?"

Pan Hong: "Shut up."

Pan Yue: "Dad, are these yellow talismans really drawn by my sister? Or maybe her teacher drew them?"

Pan Hong: "No, Yunniang never exaggerates. If she says it was drawn by her, then it was drawn by her. Only the medicine was made by her teachers." Speaking of medicine, Pan Hong lowered his eyes and thought, "The doctors in Datong are still not as good as those in the capital and Jiangnan. The doctors in Sanqing Temple practice alchemy. Speaking of which, Yunniang went to Sanqing Temple to practice talismanism, which was a mistake. She should practice alchemy."

"I'll write and ask. Sanqing Temple may have the right prescription or elixir. Yu'er is still young, and she must not be left with a chronic illness."

"Will you still take the medicine the doctor prescribed?"

Pan Hong: "Eat it! Why not? If Yunniang sends us a prescription, we will change it. Before that, we will take the prescription prescribed by the doctor here."

Pan Yue: "Are you still going to eat the talisman paper?"

Pan Hong hesitated for a moment and then shook his head, "Forget it, Yun Niang didn't say how many we can eat, so we can just eat one."

Pan Hong didn't trust Huang Fu very much, so he decided to be cautious.

"There is medicine for wounds in this box. You and Yu'er can use it. I will go cook something for you."

By the time Pan Hong finished everything and finally wrote the letter and took it out to mail it, it was already afternoon.

There was crying in the village. Pan Hong went out and found out most of the situation.

The Hu captains in the city and the garrisons of the West Three Houses marched out together and drove the looting Tartars far away.

The other side didn't have many people, only seventy or eighty. It was said that Captain Hu and Xisansuo beheaded nine people, and the rest ran back to the grassland with the rice and money they had looted.

Many people died on their side, including three soldiers killed in the battle, and the rest were all people from the exiled village and the head of the security guard who was the supervisor.

After the Tartars ran away, the villagers dared to go out to look for the bodies of their family members.

Some families were found quickly, some were seen by the Ming army and brought back for burial, and some were injured, but fortunately the people who went to look for them found them in time and sent them back for treatment.

What's more, the body has not been found yet.

Jin Changli helped to look for it.

According to him, they were tying rice in the field when this group of Tartars suddenly appeared and rushed towards them, waving knives.

At that time, there were about a hundred people standing scattered in the field. In addition to the displaced people from the exiled village, there were also some miscellaneous soldiers in the army.

This piece of land was their military farm, and it was originally their job, but they were transferred there because they failed to complete it.

At that time, they ran away as fast as they could, and they ran in different directions. The Tartars also scattered to chase them. No one knew where anyone ran to, and the bodies were hard to find anyway.

Jin Changli accompanied them in the search for two days, and Pan Yue also joined in. They found several bodies and handed them over to their families.

Three people were missing. No one knew whether they had escaped, died, or were captured by the Tartars and made slaves. Anyway, they had searched everywhere they could find them, but no one was found alive or dead.

Pan Hong was called and appointed as the new chief.

When Wu Bei saw him in the army, his face looked a little ugly.

Pan Hong was also very unhappy in his heart, but he did not show it and his face remained calm.

The headman who came to find them said, "Two village chiefs died when the Tartars went south this time. Wu Bei, I am letting you come back now, not to forgive you for your past mistakes, but to make up for your crimes. If you commit crimes again, you will not just be transferred to the garrison."

Wu Bei bowed and said "yes" repeatedly, "I will be careful in what I say and do, and I will never do anything wrong again. You know how loyal I am to you..."

"What's the point of you being loyal to me? You should be loyal to His Majesty and do your job well."

The head of the village nodded repeatedly.

The village head turned to face Pan Hong, his face brightened up and he smiled, "Pan Hong, how is your youngest son?"

Pan Hong replied respectfully: "It's much better, but it's still too late to get out of bed. It needs to be nursed back to health for a while."

The head of the village nodded. "Captain Qin admires the bravery of your two sons. Captain Hu also asked about it. They want to transfer your two sons to the army. What do you think?"

Pan Hong was grateful, "It is a blessing for the two children that Captain Qin can take a liking to my son, but Pan Yu has injured his internal organs, and I am afraid he will not be able to use gravity in the future. Pan Yue can go."

When the village head saw that he only mentioned Captain Qin and not Captain Hu, he understood what he meant and nodded, saying, "Then let him go to Captain Qin tomorrow. From now on, you will be the head of the five households in your neighborhood."

Pan Hong agreed.

The head of the village explained some precautions and asked him to report the number of casualties among the households under his jurisdiction, and then let them go.

Pan Hong walked home slowly, with his head down, not knowing what he was thinking.

Wu Bei bumped into his shoulder hard as he passed him from behind.

Pan Hong stopped and looked at him.

Wu Bei turned his head and snorted at him, sneering: "If your two sons hadn't risked their lives for a military achievement, do you think you, a fugitive, could be a village chief?"

Pan Hong: "Isn't Wu Baozhang also an exile? Let me think about why Wu Baozhang was exiled? Accepting a bribe of 55 taels? He was almost beheaded."

"You! You also accepted bribes..."

"Captain Wu, there is no specific amount of bribes in my judgment," Pan Hong said coldly, "Whether I accepted bribes or not, I know, the court knows, and even His Majesty the Emperor knows. I, Pan Hong, can say that I have a clear conscience, but would you dare to do that, Chief Wu?"

"You!" Wu Bei's face turned pale.

(End of this chapter)