Chapter 187
Yan Shujin was also startled, but immediately thought of a possibility and gritted her teeth and said angrily, "Go and interrogate that old swindler thoroughly. Is there any other child among him?"
Li Zhaodi had no reason to lie about such a thing, so the one who was lying must be the old swindler and his gang.
“Besides that, there’s also the matter of interrogating the old swindler’s apprentice.” Yan Shujin narrowed her eyes. “Let’s get the child out first.”
Originally, he thought that there weren't enough guards, so he had the old swindler's apprentice locked up in the yamen jail for one night. But now he felt uneasy, thinking that he could get more information out of him: "Warn the magistrate, if anyone dies or is missing, I will make him pay with his head."
The guard agreed and went to make the arrangements.
If there were enough people, Yan Shujin would never have entrusted the person to the county magistrate for safekeeping.
Yan Shujin then realized something: the little boy she was with didn't seem to have said a word. Seeing that Li Zhaodi and her two sisters seemed to have something to say, she simply took the little boy out.
When we arrived at the next room, Aunt Yu had already brought over the porridge.
Yan Shujin said, "Eat something first."
The little boy glanced at Yan Shujin, then sat down and started eating, wolfing down his food.
Yu Zhu wanted to remind him that these things belonged to him and that he didn't need to do this, but Yan Shujin stopped her.
Although Yuzhu meant well, such a reminder was more likely to make people who were starving panicked. It would be better to let them feel that no one would stop them from eating, and they would gradually slow down.
Sure enough, after a short while, the little boy secretly glanced at Yan Shujin and the others, and slowed down his eating.
The bowl of porridge was finished quickly.
Yan Shujin pushed the snacks and tea in front of her over and said, "Eat up."
The little boy grabbed the snack and started eating it, but choked and then drank some saliva.
After they finished their snacks, Yan Shujin said, "You can't eat anymore, you'll feel stuffed."
The little boy moved his lips and said, "Thank you."
Yan Shujin raised an eyebrow and smiled, "So you can talk too. Are you afraid that we'll find out we're not looking for you, and then we won't save you, so you've kept quiet?"
The little boy didn't say anything, but his expression clearly showed that he had guessed correctly.
Yan Shujin didn't ask him too many questions, but simply said, "Don't worry, my family is rich. We can afford to support another one like you, but you'll have to work for me."
“Okay.” As if afraid that Yan Shujin would change her mind, the little boy quickly said, “I can do chores, I can do any kind of chores.”
Yan Shujin nodded and said, "Then you and your aunt should take a bath now. I'll have someone buy you some clothes, and then you can get some rest."
The little boy hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "There's a cellar in the Taoist temple, and there are still many people inside."
Yan Shujin said softly, "I've already sent people to rescue them. If you don't have any family, you can all work for me. I'll take care of you, okay?"
The little boy nodded vigorously.
Aunt Yu stepped forward and said, "Let's go then."
The little boy then got off the chair and stood beside Aunt Yu, assuring her, "I can do a lot of work, I can eat very little, I... I don't want to die."
"No, no one will die," Aunt Yu said, her heart aching.
The little boy breathed a sigh of relief.
Yan Shujin also overheard Aunt Yu's conversation with the little boy. After the little boy left, her eyes darkened, and she gritted her teeth and said, "These beasts should really be made to sacrifice to the river god and experience it for themselves."
Yuzhu chimed in, "Yes, they're all awful people."
After the little boy finished his bath and changed his clothes, he looked much more energetic. Aunt Yu didn't ask him if he had any family. If he really did have family, he wouldn't have kept quiet to avoid being sent back.
The little boy hesitated, picking at his fingers, and asked, "Aren't you going to ask me why the old immortal is capturing so many children?"
"Do you want to talk?" Aunt Yu was using a comb to fix his hair. "If you want to talk, then talk. If you don't want to talk, then don't. Anyway, he's been arrested, and we'll be able to get the information out of him sooner or later."
The little boy licked his lips and said, "What the old immortal doesn't know is that a man comes and tells us every day that we are unwanted children, and that we are like this because Emperor Yan rebelled."
Aunt Yu's expression turned serious, but her tone was gentle: "Nonsense."
The little boy was very nervous: "Every day they say that only by overthrowing Emperor Yan can we have a good life, and that only the Zheng family is the true dragon..."
Aunt Yu paused for a moment, then asked, "Is there anything else?"
"There are some more, but I can't remember them all. They were the ones we had to memorize before meals and before bed every day," the little boy said softly. "Later, a little brother was brought in. He was very handsome. I was the least handsome and older than them, so they took me out to offer sacrifices to the river god."
Aunt Yu rubbed his head.
The little boy continued, "I remember it very clearly, and I started going hungry after I was taken out."
Aunt Yu promised, "I won't let you go hungry anymore."
The little boy grinned.
Aunt Yu dried his hair with a towel, then told him to wash up before letting him lie down on the bed and saying, "Okay, go to sleep."
The little boy clutched the blanket. He had never covered himself with such a nice blanket before. Even though he wasn't sleepy just now, when he actually lay on it, he felt like he could fall asleep immediately. After all, he had been eating only a little bit every day for the past few days and was so hungry that he couldn't sleep.
Aunt Yu waited until the little boy fell asleep before quietly going out and briefly explaining the situation to Yan Shujin.
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