Chapter 2138 - Assassination Attempt

Multiple Dragon Mother Temples existed in Wuzhou: by the West River inside the city, by the Xun River on Changzhou Island, and by the Gui River north of the city. However, in terms of long history and grand scale, the one by the Gui River north of the city was foremost—founded during the Northern Song Dynasty's Xianping era—so He Dongli led him northward.

Wuzhou's economy depended on water transport; markets outside the city had always flourished, with numerous docks along the river. To the north of the city lay the famous "North Gui Grand Dock." Originally, shops and trading houses proliferated here, merchants abounded, and many porters, boatmen, and raftsmen lived on the water... Now, however, only a stretch of ruins remained. Outside the North Gate, Ming army fortifications were being dismantled, and scattered labor teams in twos and threes cleared debris.

The Dragon Mother Temple stood just east of the Gui River, opposite the famous North Gui Grand Dock. It wasn't far after exiting Dayun Gate to the north. This temple building remained complete and undamaged—the Ming army had directly abandoned this area outside the city, so it hadn't suffered warfare's ravages.

By old timeline standards, the Dragon Mother Temple couldn't be considered large, but in the 17th century, it merited the description "magnificent." The halls faced south with their backs to the north, nestled against mountains and near water.

Hearing the "Great Song Prefect" was coming to offer incense, temple curates and Daoists hurriedly emerged to welcome him at the gate. Because rumors had long circulated in the neighborhood that the "Australian Prefect" was coming to the Dragon Mother Temple to offer incense, quite a few idle commoners had gathered at the temple entrance to watch the spectacle. Cangwu County Yamen bailiffs shouted to maintain order.

Surrounded by the crowd, Xie Erren ascended the steps, entered through the mountain gate, and proceeded directly to the front hall.

Though the Dragon Mother Temple hadn't suffered looting from war, it housed many refugees who'd suffered disasters outside the city. At this moment, able-bodied men had all formed teams and departed for work, while elderly, weak, women, and children gathered under corridor eaves on both sides. Bailiffs guarded them, forbidding fire-lighting. Before Xie Erren arrived, bailiffs had already received reports, and those inside the temple drove refugees to squat on both sides, forbidding whispered conversation. Only the ground hadn't been tidied in time; broken bowls and tattered quilts lay strewn everywhere.

Xie Erren entered the temple and was stunned upon seeing the refugees beneath the corridor: he hadn't expected so many here too! Judging by their clothes, some refugees should have come from well-off or even wealthy families, but now they were reduced to squatting under temple corridors relying on gruel distribution for survival. There were also children and elderly who'd suffered from wind, cold, or shock, now lying sick on the ground without medicine or beds, groaning and crying by the wall beneath the eaves. He couldn't help but sigh secretly: no wonder people said it's better to be a dog in peace than a human in chaos. Wuzhou had fought for only a few days, yet its people had suffered such ravages!

However, he couldn't devise any method to improve the refugees' living conditions; for now, he could only temporarily guarantee food supply.

The front hall's scale was modest. Ideally, the plaque bore four seal characters. Xie Erren didn't recognize them. He Dongli explained these were the four characters for "Li Ze Tian Xia" (Benefiting the World).

In the center, the Dragon Mother statue was enshrined, with five small dragons coiling beneath the altar. The temple curate had long prepared incense and candles. Xie Erren accepted them—he'd originally intended merely to go through motions, but the tragic state of livelihood along the way made him involuntarily burn incense and pray, praying that this "Goddess of the West River" could protect Wuzhou's peace.

Dragon Mother worship could be said to be deeply rooted in Wuzhou and other West River basin hearts. Though scholars like He Dongli mostly held attitudes of "keeping but not discussing" or "teaching through gods" toward deities and immortals, folk beliefs would inevitably affect them. Seeing this overseas "Great Song Prefect" display such piety toward the Dragon Mother, not only He Dongli but also the commoners watching inside and outside the temple developed more or less favorable impressions.

After offering incense, Xie Erren toured the temple led by the curate and He Dongli. The Dragon Mother Temple here possessed considerable scale. Starting from the mountain gate, there was the front hall, rear hall, left and right corridor rooms, corner pavilions... According to He Dongli's introduction, this temple was founded in the Northern Song Dynasty and rebuilt during the Wanli era. It was the largest and had the most flourishing incense among the several local Dragon Mother Temples.

"When the first day of the fifth lunar month arrives each year, the Dragon Mother's Birthday represents the liveliest time," He Dongli said. "Boats sailing on the river, upon encountering the Dragon Mother's Birthday period, when sailing within three li of the Dragon Mother Temple, regardless of day or night, must blow whistles and beat gongs, bowing toward the temple from afar. When sailing to the river surface before the temple, they stop the boat and go ashore to enter the temple and pay respects, offering incense and candles."

He explained that Dragon Mother's Birthday worship started from the first day of the fifth month and concluded on the fifteenth. The three days and two nights of the seventh and eighth days and nights and the ninth day's daytime constituted the climax. Not only did merchants and peddlers gather in clouds, but various entertainment troupes from everywhere also came to perform. People from local and neighboring counties' villages and towns also came to offer skills and sacrifice, making it very lively.

Xie Erren immediately thought this was a great opportunity for "religious festivals to set the stage, and economy to perform the play." At the very least, it could promote urban-rural economic exchange. However, considering the Eight-Row Yao riots and currently unsafe roads, merchants and commoners probably wouldn't possess such good spirits.

The root of improving the economy was possessing a peaceful environment. Xie Erren suddenly understood this sentence profoundly.

While sighing, the rifle-bearing guard whispered, "Chief, many commoners have gathered outside. Few bailiffs exist to suppress them, and guaranteeing safety is difficult—let's depart through the side door."

Xie Erren disapproved. "We bear no grievances with Wuzhou's people; what safety issues could arise? This is also an opportunity to connect with the masses' feelings. Don't be panic-stricken at the slightest sound."

Emerging from the Dragon Mother Temple, he observed quite a few commoners gathering outside to watch. Xie Erren stood on the stone steps, smiling and waving to the crowd to show his "closeness to the people." Seeing he bore no official airs, citizens all wanted to look closely at what this "Australian Prefect" looked like and surged forward one after another. The bailiffs maintaining order were caught off guard and immediately couldn't suppress them. The guarding soldiers urged Xie Erren to leave quickly.

Xie Erren felt no hurry. He enjoyed this feeling of "sharing happiness with the people." He took measured steps, walking slowly down the stairs, waving throughout. Just as he reached the last step, a woman suddenly squeezed from the crowd and shouted:

"Bald thief! Die!"

While shouting, a gleaming knife had already appeared in her hand, and she charged straight at Xie Erren.

This shout came suddenly. Xie Erren was stunned. The guard was quick-eyed and deft-handed; he gave him a fierce shove, pushing him directly to the ground, and spread his limbs to cover his body.

This shove and press made Xie Erren see stars, almost unable to breathe.

The guarding soldiers carried rifles on their backs and completely couldn't react amid the urgency. It was an agile bailiff beside them; the long whip used for crowd suppression in his hand lashed out, striking the woman's calf with one blow, and with a smooth roll, dragged her to the ground.

Bailiffs on the side swarmed up, pinning the woman down with many hands. Someone grabbed her wrist and snatched the sharp knife from her hand.

The soldiers quickly formed a circle, surrounding Xie Erren in the center. Xie Erren climbed up from the ground, only feeling cold sweat of fear, unable to speak for a long time. Seeing that the place where the woman fell was less than two or three meters from him, if not for the guard's quick reaction and the bailiff's fast movement, he would have been doomed: even if he didn't die on the spot, chances of survival after having his stomach pierced in this place far from the Senate and without Senator doctors were minimal.

It was the first time his life had been threatened at such close range. While extremely terrified, he immediately erupted with great anger. In that rage, he intended to flare up on the spot and "hang her on a lamppost" to demonstrate the power of the "Senate and People's Democratic Dictatorship." However, at this moment, under public gaze, it was inconvenient to get angry. Being pushed down by the guard just now already constituted "loss of dignity"; if he jumped in thunderous rage now, he would appear lacking "depth." So he merely coughed and pretended calm, saying:

"First... take... her down, interrogate... slowly..."

"Yes!"

Bailiffs carried ropes with them and tied the woman up in a few moves. Only then did everyone see clearly that the assassin was a young woman, wearing a blue cloth short jacket, a moon-white vest, and a skirt below, with a white velvet flower pinned to her temple—she was a widow in mourning.

"What a pretty woman!"

"Why did this little widow want to assassinate the Australian?"

"Could she be the wife of a soldier who died in battle?"

"What a pity for a perfectly good woman! This is seeking her own death!"

"Looking at her actions, she is very unyielding, truly a remarkable woman."

The surrounding onlookers whispered. Xie Erren originally wished to say a few more words, but the guard urged him to leave quickly—perhaps second or third assassins were hiding.

Xie Erren felt weak and diffident by this point. He originally felt "the world is in my hands," but now he felt "everyone is an enemy." He had no heart to show off anymore, so he nodded and said, "Let's return!"

The woman being taken down suddenly halted her footsteps, lowered her head, and bit the bailiff beside her fiercely. Taking advantage of the moment the bailiff cried out in pain and released his grip, she struggled to break free from surrounding bailiffs, turned her head, and shouted loudly: "Kill me or cut me to pieces, as you please! I was born a person of the Great Ming, and I will die a ghost of the Great Ming. I will never bend my knees to serve the bald thieves!"

The bailiffs turned pale with fright and rushed up to press her down on her knees again. The woman still cursed endlessly:

"I am a descendant of Huaxia, long educated by civilization. You bald thieves have no ruler and no father, plunging the people into misery; you are all banished criminal thieves. Seeing me, why do you not bow down!

"Though the soldiers and horses before your bald thief hall are fierce, your indulgence in violence is roughly the same as the Eastern Barbarians! Even a rat has skin, but bald people have no manners. If a person has no manners, why shouldn't he die!

"The mothers of bald people are all servant women; the fathers of bald people are all slaves! You thieving bones, in the future when you fall into the hands of the government troops, you will be crushed to powder."

The shrill voice echoed on the stone steps before the Dragon Mother Temple. An old bailiff hurriedly came over and dislocated her jaw, and the string of curses turned into incoherent sounds.

Xie Erren was extremely annoyed at heart. A perfectly good "close to the people show" was ruined by this woman. He could tell from surrounding people's expressions that they more or less sympathized with this woman—since ancient times, commoners would always involuntarily admire their own kind who resisted power—and he couldn't help but sigh secretly: truly unable to appreciate favors!

He composed himself and said to people around him with feigned casualness, "Take her back. Watch her closely; don't let her die."