Chapter 129 The Children in the Wooden Box
"Huh? What's going on? Why can't I open the box?"
After the ship left the dock, Ayi returned to the cabin to help Min Qiao change into some lighter clothes. However, she couldn't open any of the boxes containing the clothes.
"What happened?"
Min Qiao waited for Ayi to bring her clothes to change into, but after waiting for a long time without any response, she came over to ask what was going on.
Ayi also looked distressed. "Madam, I don't know what happened either. I marked all your personal boxes in advance, and the servants didn't deliver them to the wrong people. I've also always carried the keys with me, so there haven't been any problems."
"But now, the key I have just can't open these boxes. I don't know where the problem is."
Upon hearing this, Madam Min Qiao immediately dismissed it, saying, "What's so difficult about that? Just find a hammer and smash the lock."
After trying twice more and confirming that the key in her hand couldn't open the box, Ayi asked Ajiu to go find a hammer.
Don't bother two people with the same task.
After Ah Jiu found a hammer, he immediately smashed the locks on several boxes with a few quick "bang bang bang" sounds.
"Thank you!" Ayi said with a smile. "It's all thanks to your strength. If I had done the key, I don't know how long it would have taken to break it."
Ah Jiu smiled, turned around, and left with the hammer.
Ayi thanked Ajiu and quickly opened the box to find clothes for Min Qiaoshi.
Upon seeing what was inside the box, Ayi screamed in fright, stumbled back several steps, and fell to the ground.
Ah Jiu had only taken two steps when she heard the sound and turned back, immediately seeing the scene inside the wooden box.
Her eyes suddenly turned bloodshot, and the hammer in her hand fell to the ground with a thud.
Min Qiaoshi, who was standing nearby, also heard Ayi's cry and quickly came over.
Seeing the terrified look in Ayi's eyes, Min Qiao's heart skipped a beat, and she blurted out, "What happened?"
Turning around, I saw Ah Jiu rushing to the box and sticking her trembling fingers into it.
As Min Qiao approached, she saw a thin, bruised girl curled up with her knees drawn up inside the open wooden box. She looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old. She lay unconscious in the box, her life hanging in the balance.
Ah Jiu put his finger under the little girl's nose and found that she was still breathing. Ah Jiu immediately relaxed.
The next moment, as if she had just thought of something, Ajiu quickly opened the other boxes.
Sure enough, the other boxes also contained several children of different ages.
One of the boxes was crammed with two children who were about five or six years old.
Min Qiao counted them: six boxes containing seven children. The children were both boys and girls, the oldest being twelve or thirteen years old, and the youngest five or six.
These children share the common characteristic of being extremely thin, and all have scars of varying sizes and colors, both old and new.
Min Qiao was shocked. Where did these children come from? How did they end up in her clothes trunk? Who put them in her trunk?
Just as Madam Min was pondering, Ajiu suddenly knelt down in front of her, "Madam, these people are all children from an assassin organization! I could tell their injuries at a glance!"
"Please, Madam, save them!"
Perhaps because she had experienced extreme darkness and pain, Ah Jiu couldn't help but want Min Qiao Shi to save these children who were just like her.
"Get up first. It's too early to talk about these things now." Madam Min Qiao didn't dare to agree to Ajiu's request rashly.
"What we need to do now is to quickly confirm whether the children in my suitcase are an exception, or whether all the suitcases that came on board with us contain children?"
Upon hearing this, Ajiu nodded quickly and stood up. "Madam, I'll go check on the other boxes right away."
"etc!"
Madam Min stopped the man and said solemnly, "This matter cannot be known by too many people. Have Steward Yang take a few reliable servants with you."
“If the boxes are full of children, say that the bottom of the warehouse is too damp and that I am worried that the specialties from Jiangnan that I brought back to Beijing will get damp, and have someone move all the boxes to the third floor.”
Just like when she came, Madam Min Qiao chartered an entire boat for her return trip, and she stayed on the third floor with Ayi and a few of her personal maids.
Bringing everyone to the third floor will prevent them from being discovered. At least for a short time, it will keep them in the dark.
Originally, Madam Min Qiao had arranged for Qiao Yuanyao and Madam Zhou to stay on the third floor as well. However, Madam Zhou was afraid that Madam Min Qiao would see through her feigned illness, so Qiao Yuanyao made an excuse and firmly refused Madam Min Qiao's kindness, and stayed on the second floor like Granny Fang.
Of course, Madam Min had a room prepared for her and her daughter, which was in the best location and had the largest space.
"Yes." Ajiu responded and went downstairs.
Ayi looked at the children in the box with trepidation and said worriedly, "Madam, what should we do with these children? They are all unconscious, and we don't know what's wrong with them. Should we get a doctor to take a look?"
Madam Min was also very upset. Damn it, who's causing her trouble?
The three doctors who accompanied them to Jiangnan were all locals from the capital. They were skilled in medicine, but Madam Min Qiao could not guarantee their character or their reputation.
She wanted the doctors to examine the children, but she couldn't guarantee they would keep quiet. She also couldn't bring herself to silence the three doctors to protect the secret.
So, she was really in a dilemma for a moment.
Fortunately, Madam Min didn't have to worry for long before she heard a series of heavy footsteps outside the cabin.
Min Qiaoshi walked to the window and looked out. It was Ajiu and Yang An watching the servants and bodyguards carrying the boxes up to the third floor.
Seeing this, Madam Min Qiao understood perfectly well. The boxes must be full of children!
Before long, all the boxes were delivered to the room on the third floor.
Once the bodyguards and servants had all gone downstairs, Ajiu quickly took out a hammer and began smashing the lock.
When Ah Jiu reached the bottom compartment where the wooden crates were stored, he didn't immediately break the lock. Instead, he listened intently, carefully trying to determine if anyone was breathing inside the crates.
Because of Ah Jiu's killer instincts, she can distinguish very subtle sounds.
She soon heard faint breathing sounds coming from several of the boxes. So she immediately had the boxes carried upstairs.
Sure enough, when they smashed open a box, there was a child inside.
They smashed open two of them, and inside were still children curled up.
Until three, four... more than a dozen, they were all of them!
The more Min Qiao looked, the more horrified she became. The more she looked, the more she felt that those who controlled the assassin organization were all beasts!
So many children, all so small, all looking disheveled and miserable, not one of them had a good appearance.
Just as Min Qiao was thinking this, she saw a seven or eight-year-old boy curled up inside the box that A Jiu had just smashed open. The boy was fair-skinned and delicate, his clothes were clean and tidy, and there wasn't a single scratch on his body.
She was very different from all the other children.
However, what they had in common was that this little boy was also unconscious.
...
P.S.: Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you all the best!
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