The man looked down at the gold medal for a long time, then paused, stammering, "Since you are the general's daughter, why did you give the book away?"
To give away?
Song He'er suddenly understood everything...
Song Chanxing went to great lengths to obtain this book, simply to secure her own survival. Now that the book has reappeared, could the man before her be the original protagonist?
"Did my own sister give it to you?" Song He'er asked.
The man's expression was somewhat unpleasant: "I am just a mere scholar, how could I possibly meet the General's own daughter? I was entrusted by someone to deliver this book to a prefect in Qingyang."
Song He'er breathed a sigh of relief. So this man was just a gofer, not the male protagonist in the book, while the magistrate he mentioned was the one who led the female protagonist to wealth and prosperity.
There's always a way out!
After going through many twists and turns, the book returned to her hands!
"Young lady, you didn't give this book away voluntarily?"
"Of course not, this is an heirloom. Would I give it away? Am I crazy?"
The man was speechless, staring blankly at his soaking wet clothes.
Looking at his pitiful appearance, Song He'er felt sorry for him and immediately changed her tone to speak to him.
"What... what happened to you? The water isn't deep. I don't believe you choked on the water and passed out here..."
The man breathed a sigh of relief and confessed in detail: "What difficulties could a poor scholar like me possibly have that would make me want to commit suicide? There were bandits lurking on the hills ahead, and I fought my way out alive. I just wanted to get a drink of water here, but who would have thought I'd faint here..."
Are there bandits?
Song He'er was extremely anxious.
These soldiers were cowardly and afraid of trouble. Whenever danger arose, they would immediately drag these prisoners out to take the blame, which was of no use at all.
If she doesn't come up with a solution now, she might not even be able to get over this mountain by tomorrow...
"May I ask your name, young master?"
"Ruan Wenxiao, a native of Fujian and Zhejiang."
"Young Master Ruan, do you know of any path up the mountain that avoids bandits?"
Ruan Wenxiao was speechless for a moment, seemingly finding the question rather pointless: "Girl, how many paths are there to get up the mountain? Are you going to fly over walls and leap across rooftops? No matter how many paths you take, you'll end up on that rocky ridge. The bandits' den is right there. You won't get across without leaving something behind!"
After thinking about it carefully, Song He'er realized that what the man said made sense. If she were alone, she could easily get through it, since she still had pepper spray and stun guns in her space, which would be enough to deal with a few bandits.
But with so many people around, she couldn't easily take out these supplies, and besides, she couldn't guarantee everyone's safety...
"Girl, aren't you being exiled? You have government soldiers to keep you in check, what are you afraid of?"
"We're government officials who are criminals! Which officer or soldier would risk their life for us?"
Ruan Wenxiao sighed, took off his coat and wrung it out: "Miss, I'm returning the book to you. I'm not going to Qingyang anymore. I'm going to Xizhou to stay with my relatives. Good luck to you!"
Seeing that he was about to leave, Song He'er immediately stopped him. After all, he was the only one who had been to the bandit's den, so he must know where that place was...
"Young master, you know how to get to that bandit's den, right? I need your help with something."
"What kind of help?"
"Help me put on a show."
Ruan Wenxiao was somewhat surprised: "Miss..."
"If this matter succeeds, I'll cover your travel expenses to the Western Continent..."
Ruan Wenxiao was indeed so poor that all he had left was a bellyful of books, and he desperately needed travel expenses to support his search for his relatives.
Thinking of this, he asked tentatively, "What happened? Murder? Arson?"
Song He'er shook her head: "No, it's..."
Song He'er lowered her head and whispered a few words in Ruan Wenxiao's ear.
After a long while, Ruan Wenxiao nodded, and the two agreed before starting to walk into the group.
When Qin Xiaoniang saw that her daughter had brought a strange man back, she was shocked and immediately stood up and ran over: "He'er, who is this?"
"A passing merchant needed to speak with the officials."
"Oh..." Qin Xiaoniang looked Ruan Wenxiao up and down, then stopped talking and just held Song He'er tightly, not letting her leave even a step.
Ruan Wenxiao walked slowly toward the sleeping soldiers.
"Sir...Sir!"
The man was fast asleep when he heard someone disturbing him. He immediately spat out angrily, "Speak up if you have something to say, or shut up if you have something to say! Don't disturb my sleep!"
"Sir! I have a favor to ask..."
The soldier rubbed his eyes, groggily sat up, and was startled by the man in front of him when he opened them: "Who are you?"
"I am a merchant coming down from the mountain. I have a cartload of goods stuck halfway down the mountain, and I can't get it down. It's all top-quality silk... May I ask, sir, could you come up the mountain and help me pull it down? We can split the goods in half, and we can sell it for this price in the next prefecture!"
The officers rubbed their eyes, exclaiming in astonishment, "One thousand strings of cash!!!"
"yes."
"Since you're a merchant, why are you the only one pulling a rickshaw?"
"Didn't it rain heavily a few days ago? Several of my servants injured their feet and can't walk!"
The officers and soldiers looked him up and down with a mixture of disbelief and skepticism. After a long while, they woke up several other officers and soldiers nearby and discussed the matter together.
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