The earthen fortress was not yet fully completed, and the houses did not have doors or windows installed. In addition, the temporary stove set up by the Jiang and Lu families was not far from Jiang Tangtang's room.
Jiang Tangtang could actually hear most of the conversation outside.
At first, she felt embarrassed when she heard Lu Shiyan's explanation, but later, hearing everyone's concern for her, she felt a guilty conscience, like a child who had done something wrong. When she saw Lu Shiyan bring the egg pancakes and side dishes into the house, she felt a surge of sadness and gratitude.
Many images of Wang's past care for her daughter flashed through her mind.
She couldn't tell whether this feeling was the original owner's lingering consciousness or her own sensation.
But she suddenly had a different feeling towards Wang.
Previously, she took care of the Jiang family simply because they were genuinely kind to her, so she reciprocated.
But that's all; there wasn't much emotion involved.
Moreover, she doesn't intend to invest any more emotion.
Her upbringing instilled in her the belief that the exchange of benefits is the most stable form of interpersonal relationship.
But the Jiang family, or rather, Jiang's father, and Jiang's older brothers, shook her previous worldview.
Jiang Tangtang's mind was in turmoil. She glanced at Lu Shiyan and then looked away. She appeared somewhat aloof.
Lu Shiyan didn't think much of it. He assumed she was still embarrassed because she wasn't pregnant but everyone in the valley had misunderstood her.
He handed her the pancake and started talking about things in the city to distract her.
Jiang Tangtang listened casually at first, until Lu Shiyan mentioned Guo Xuantong. It wasn't that she paid special attention to Guo Xuantong, but rather that what Lu Shiyan said was so unexpected.
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "What did you say? She's taken a fancy to the coachman who took them to the Cui family?"
Lu Shiyan was somewhat surprised by her reaction. She had seemed listless throughout all that talking, so why was she suddenly so agitated?
He nodded and answered affirmatively, "The driver was sent by Lin Erzhu. Escorting the two was not his main purpose. He would send messages back every now and then."
Jiang Tangtang suppressed her surprise and said, "I don't mean to disbelieve you. I just think that in my impression, Miss Guo is very picky. How could she possibly be interested in an ordinary coachman? Was there anything special about the coachman you sent?"
“Indeed extraordinary.” Lu Shiyan then recounted the coachman’s life story to Jiang Tangtang.
The driver's name was Liang Shaogang. He was not only skilled in martial arts, but also resourceful and eloquent. He had actually taken on another mission: if he couldn't persuade the Cui family, then he would take them down.
On the way to the Cui family, despite his best efforts to conceal his strength, Fang Dayong and Guo Xuantong were simply too useless. They fell into dangerous situations several times along the way, nearly losing their lives.
After these rescues, Guo Xuantong developed different feelings for him. She began to hint that if he married her, the Cui family would support him out of consideration for her. Putting everything else aside, even if half of her dowry were given to him to manage, it would be better for him to be a coachman.
Liang Shaogang felt that although Guo Xuantong was stupid, she was helpful for him to complete the mission. As for Fang Dayong, although Lin Erzhu had the idea of training him to see if he could be used in the future, he was obviously still too immature and weak.
Even without him, Guo Xuantong would still kick him to the curb.
After much deliberation, Liang Shaogang decisively accepted Guo Xuantong's advances.
On the very day he agreed, Guo Xuantong found an opportunity to abandon Fang Dayong.
Jiang Tangtang used the bizarre stories of the group as her meal, and after finishing her egg pancake, she went to bed early.
But Fang Dayong, at this moment, was unable to sleep.
He had belatedly realized that Guo Xuantong's request for him to escort her out of the valley was a last resort.
At the time, the people in the valley were worried that sending Guo Xuantong out of the valley would anger Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan, and they were worried that they or their families would be implicated.
Guo Xuantong must have tested many young men back then, but only he was foolish enough to believe her words, and later she really did have some feelings for him. He thought that with her help, he could finally hold his head high and no longer be looked down upon.
Little did he know that his idea was wrong from the start.
Unfortunately, he realized it too late.
He looked at the men with broadswords beside him with a bitter expression, his heart filled with frustration.
It's really too dangerous outside the valley.
In fact, apart from abandoning him and saying a few hurtful things, Guo Xuantong didn't treat him too badly.
She even gave him a bag of dry food out of consideration for his escorting her out of the valley.
Aside from feeling his dream of making a name for himself shattered and his self-esteem hurt, he suffered no physical harm at the time.
But to his surprise, he, a grown man, was kidnapped by human traffickers while walking on the street.
These human traffickers were extremely brazen, not only kidnapping stranded refugees on the road.
They would also use various means to deceive, or buy laborers at extremely low prices. Once they had gathered fifty or sixty men through these means, they would begin transporting them.
The men who transported them were all strong and armed. Anyone who dared to run away would be caught and beaten to death.
Fang Dayong was caught and beaten when he tried to escape. He was lucky, though, and wasn't killed. The other man who tried to escape, however, was beaten to death.
Seeing how ruthless the guards were, completely disregarding their lives, the crowd dared not try to escape anymore.
Perhaps convinced that they couldn't escape, the guards no longer spoke as discreetly as before.
From the conversation of these men, Fang Dayong finally understood why they dared to arrest people so boldly on the road. It turned out these men were all soldiers of Prince Rui. They were arrested mainly to help Prince Rui illegally mine iron ore and forge weapons.
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