Chapter 210 Finding Wei Yingniang
This was the "peripheral items" sold when Jin Sui was still the King of Li Da Wuxian, except for the signed copy given to Yan Jiu that sold for ten thousand taels.
The others were all printed at one hundred taels per copy. From the beginning, people mocked him, thinking that the King was so desperate for money that he dared to sell a shabby book for one hundred taels!
Later, the sons of the noble families begged Yan Twelve Niang to bring the goods and took them home as collections. Later, our Li Wang was not short of money, and was not willing to take this "dirty money", so he directly announced that the seal would not be sold.
Now, the Thirty-Six Strategies with the private seal of King Li was hyped up as a rare and unique copy, and the sons of the noble families who had bought it before all collected it as a treasure.
I regretted not buying it so much. If I had known that King Li would stop selling it, I would have bought one even at 1,000 taels per copy!
Therefore, every copy of the Thirty-Six Strategies privately printed by King Li Da Wuxian was kept as a treasure.
It is impossible for a book to be in such tatters that the cover is almost falling off and is stained with blood, mud and other dirt.
Jin Sui felt a little disgusted, so she took the book and wrapped it with a handkerchief and asked, "Why did the prince ask you to bring this over?"
The guard's face was filled with grief: "Boss Ji, please open it and take a look."
Jin Sui opened the book, and his pupils shrank instantly, and his face changed drastically, because the title page read: "To Wei Yingniang."
This was the book she had given to Wei Zhubo! It was also the second book she had written a dedication for, besides Yan Jiu.
She hurriedly asked her guards: "Where is the person? Where is the owner of this book?"
The book became like this, and neither she nor Gu Changxiao received any news about Wei Zhubo in advance.
That is the worst news. Wei Zhubo is either dead or imprisoned and cannot even send any news.
This book was a token brought by his family or confidants to the border town to find King Li.
The guard shook his head: "Your Highness has already looked among the refugees. Please look among the displaced persons as well, young lady."
Jin Sui hurriedly asked someone to turn around and inform Yan Shiyi and Li Heng, and also to search in Yanzhou City. All outsiders entering the city should be investigated to see if they are Wei Zhubo's family members.
She came to her senses and hurriedly asked the guards to stop, telling them not to tell Li Heng the news and just asking the Yan family to investigate secretly.
Because the official search is very high-profile, it is very likely to scare the other party and it will also be known to Prince Yu’s people.
Jin Sui was extremely anxious. Wei Zhubo was one of the few people in this era who made her worried.
In her heart, Wei Zhubo and the brothers in the Black Feather Camp were teammates who had shared life and death together!
Jinsui still remembers clearly how he looked when he returned to Chang'an. He went back with a beautiful hope for the future, where his wife and daughter, his family and friends were.
After returning to Chang'an, he kept in touch with the border town.
At that time, King Li sent kelp as a New Year gift to the gentry in Chang'an, waiting for their return gifts. The soldiers who went to Chang'an were secretly cared for and instructed by Wei Zhubo.
He once helped investigate the cause of Ling's father's death, but because the matter was of great importance, Jin Sui was afraid of implicating him, so she asked him to suspend the investigation.
In short, although Wei Zhubo returned to Chang'an, in everyone's eyes, he was still one of them.
Whether it is Cheng Yu or Han Xing and others, they often talk about him. Everyone is looking forward to the day when the prince returns to Chang'an and we will meet in Chang'an.
Maybe one day, if Wei Zhubo brings his family to the border town to serve as an official, he will be shocked when he sees the current border town.
Who would have thought that the way to get news about Wei Zhubo again would be in this way.
Jinsui abandoned the carriage and did not return to the border town. Instead, she asked the guard to take her to meet the refugees.
The most likely owner of the book is still in the refugee camp. Heihu will go with her, and Hanxing will return to the border town to wait.
She no longer thought the book was dirty and read it carefully from beginning to end. When she saw the blank spaces on the pages, she saw the phonetic symbols that children use when learning to read.
Yes, there were also phonetic notations in ancient times, but they were different from the pinyin used in later times. They used the fanqie method, so for example, "丑" would be marked as "吃加藕".
Jin Sui's heart moved. This book was a gift from Wei Zhubo to his daughter, so it must have been the little girl Yingniang who annotated the pronunciation.
If you think about it from another perspective, if something really happened to Wei Zhubo and he couldn't escape, he would try his best to let one person escape, and it must be his daughter!
Then tell her to go north to the border town and find King Li.
Jin Sui felt her eyes sore and her heart was blocked. She was too careless. She should have asked Huo Zian to protect Wei Zhubo in advance when the Northern Frontier delegation arrived in Chang'an.
If Prince Yu wanted to cause trouble for Gu Changxiao, he would definitely look for officials who are close to the border town first.
How old was Wei Yingniang? She had never asked seriously. When Wei Zhubo talked about his daughter, she was sometimes a toddler, sometimes a caring little girl.
In short, Jinsui knew very well how much hardship a girl under ten years old would have to endure all the way from Chang'an to the border town.
She traveled at a forced march, rested for one night at an inn, and met up with Gu Changxiao the next evening.
Gu Changxiao was also surprised: "Why is Sui Sui here?"
Jin Sui showed him the book and asked, "Did you find the person?"
"No, we are still investigating."
There are tens of thousands of people, and it will take time to check them.
Jin Sui hurriedly said, "Check the child first. She's a girl under ten years old."
Just talking about checking the girls would easily cause panic among the people, who might even think that the authorities were going to sell the girls.
These days, the people do not have much trust in the government, because in many places the government and the gentry protect each other and exploit the people.
She came up with an idea: "How about this, I'll set up a sugar water stand and only allow women and children to come and get the sugar water."
Brown sugar, red dates and ginger tea is the best drink when the weather is cold. She also took out a bunch of energy bars and gave one to each child.
The guards helped maintain order. She selected dozens of women to cook sugar water and added a ginger water stall next to the porridge stall.
When the people heard that only women and children could get the drinks, they didn't have too many objections. Although some people complained a few times, everyone was very cold. Why should the drinks be only given to women and children?
But he was soon interrupted by others: "Since entering Yandi, we have been eating two bowls of porridge a day. It is not easy for the prince to take over us. You should stop talking! Are you really going to snatch food from women and children?"
"Then why didn't the prince agree when the wealthy family wanted people to be tenants?"
"Are you deaf? Haven't you heard? When the prince came last year, there were still nobles who buried people alive! He said he was a tenant and gave you the house and land on the spot. Who knows if it's true or not?
Why don't we just live in the border towns and be commoners? Why should we be slaves to the nobles?"
…
Although the discussions around him were quiet, Jin Sui still heard a few of them and asked Gu Changxiao, "Didn't you tell the people that they would be given land and housing sites when they arrived at the border town?"
Gu Changxiao sighed softly: "I told them, but they were skeptical."
He sighed again: "When it comes to deceiving the people, the nobles are more experienced."
He did not say that the people were ignorant, but only that the nobles would deceive people. Jin Sui also sighed when he heard it. No matter how much he said, it would be useless. Only when the people arrived at the border town and witnessed it with their own eyes would they know.
Soon several large buckets of ginger tea were ready, and Jin Sui started looking for someone. She stood next to the tea buckets with the Thirty-Six Stratagems in her hand.
Whenever a little girl around ten years old came over, she would ask, "Is this yours?"
Later, when she thought about her cross-dressing as a man, she would ask whether she was a boy or a girl.
The children all shook their heads timidly, not even daring to say "no". Only when they were given tea bowls and energy bars did their eyes light up.
Jinsui discovered that all of these children had frostbite, most of them had no shoes, and their feet were blue and cold.
Cheng Yu hurriedly explained: "The clothes have been prepared in the border town. We will give them new winter clothes when we get there."
Jin Sui shook his head: "Let someone bring it to you first! The sooner you put it on, the less cold you will be."
Cheng Yu said softly, "It's not that we don't care about the people. It's just that we had to guard against the nobles snatching people away and the people being instigated to rebel and escape, so we didn't take care of these things."
Jin Sui nodded: "I know, it's not easy to manage two meals a day.
By the way, have all those troublemakers been arrested?"
A hint of cruelty flashed in Cheng Yu's eyes: "Don't worry, young lady, it has been secretly sent to the border town."
Jin Sui smiled: "That's good, let them go to Tuntianying and be reformed!"
She regretted coming too hastily. She should have taken a trip to the border town to bring her winter clothes with her. Seeing that half of the team had passed, no one claimed the Thirty-Six Strategies.
She was anxious and panicked. What if the little girl was gone and the book was picked up by a passerby? No! No, God will bless the little girl and let her walk to the border town alive! At this moment, she saw a skinny girl of eight or nine years old, with bright eyes, looking at the book in her hand with burning eyes.
She wanted to open her mouth several times, but the boy holding her hand put his arm around her shoulders and motioned for her to lower her head.
Seeing that the little girl had shoes on her feet, but the boy was barefoot, Jin Sui's heart moved, this boy was not a bad guy who held her hostage, but a companion.
She didn't ask the little girl right away, but gave them tea and energy bars first, and also scooped two more red dates into the little girl's bowl.
And he said to them, “Sit under the booth and drink, and warm yourself.”
Seeing that there were indeed many children sitting in the shed, the boy took the girl by the hand and went in.
The girl's eyes were always on the book in Jinsui's hand. She glanced at Jinsui from time to time, and then glanced at Gu Changxiao outside, thinking about something.
Jinsui could understand her caution very well. The dangers she encountered along the way made it difficult for her to trust strangers again.
Maybe this Li Wang is fake? Maybe there are people from Yu Wang among them? Some of the troublemakers before were people from Yu Wang.
Maybe her father had told her that she would be safe only when she reached the border town, and she was probably waiting. Once she reached the border town and confirmed that the King of Li in front of her was real, she would bravely reveal her identity! Jin Sui planned to wait until she had finished eating and drinking and was less alert, and then talk to her quietly.
Just then, she suddenly heard the boy exclaim, "Candy bar!"
He stared at the energy bar in his hand, his face full of disbelief. Jin Sui smiled and walked over to him and handed it to him again, "Isn't it delicious? And, eat slowly."
The boy boldly raised his head and looked at Jinsui carefully, which was completely different from his previous appearance of lowering his head and looking down.
The boy's eyes became brighter and brighter as he looked at her, until tears came out: "You are the little Taoist priest!"
Jin Sui was stunned for a moment. I played the role of a fairy lady in Northern Frontier. By the way, when I first escaped with Grandpa Ling, she played the role of a little Taoist priest.
But that period of time was very short, and she soon met Gu Changxiao and went to the border town to play the role of the King of Li.
Look at this child carefully, I have never seen this before! She took the opportunity to hold up the book and gave it to the little girl: "Is this yours?"
The little girl still didn't answer until the boy pushed her: "Tell the truth, she is just a little Taoist priest, she won't hurt us!"
The little girl then said, "It's mine."
"Your name is Wei Yingniang?"
"My name is Wei Yingzhi, and my nickname is Yingniang."
"Your father's name is Wei Qingquan? Did he ask you to come to the border town to find His Royal Highness the Prince of Li?"
"Yes."
The little girl's voice was soft, but it was full of tenacity until she said, "My parents are dead."
Tears immediately fell like rain.
Jinsui also burst into tears, hugging little Yingniang and saying, "Good child, you have suffered!"
Gu Changxiao and Cheng Yu hurried into the tent to see what was going on. When they heard that Wei Zhubo's daughter had been found, they were both very excited. Jin Sui whispered to Ying Niang, "This is the King of Li."
"This is not the place to talk, Yingniang. Can I take you to the prince's tent?"
Yingniang instinctively held the boy's hand, and the boy hurriedly said, "Little Taoist priest, don't you remember me? My name is Li Linfeng. Back then, in the refugee camp near Luocheng, you and an old Taoist priest made a fire and lent it to us to roast. You also gave us a lot of these candy bars."
Jin Sui's memory was instantly pulled back to that long night. She recognized the boy in front of her and said in surprise: "It's you! Where are your brothers and sisters?"
Li Linfeng said happily: "You really still remember me! They are here too. We, the Beggars Gang, came to the border town with Yingniang."
Jin Sui took them both into Gu Changxiao's tent, boiled some hot water for them to wash their hands and faces, applied medicine to Li Linfeng's feet, and put on a pair of cotton shoes that she had bought for Jin An before.
After she helped the two children put on her cloak and warmed them up, she invited Gu Changxiao in to talk.
Fate is so wonderful! I guess Grandpa Ling couldn't believe that the orphans who roasted fire together and gave some energy bars to them unexpectedly came to the border town and met again.
Jin Sui gave Li Linfeng a bunch of food and clothes, and asked a guard to take him to find the beggars: "Bring them all here, sister will take you to the border town.
You have good eyesight! You recognized me at the first sight."
Li Linfeng said happily: "I will always remember you, little Taoist priest. I won't forget you for even a day. You just changed your clothes, but your appearance has not changed. How could I not recognize you?"
Jin Sui laughed. He really should let Yan Shiyi hear these words. He didn’t recognize it.
In the tent, Wei Yingniang methodically spoke about Wei Zhubo's affairs: "Father said that Prince Yu asked father to bear false witness and tell lies to frame Your Highness.
My father didn't want to, so Prince Yu sent people to guard near my house. When my mother hid me in the peddler's cart, I saw many people from the Duwei Mansion coming to my house with knives in their hands. "
Yingniang started crying, Jinsui came forward to hold her and wipe her tears. After she calmed down for a while, she continued: "Mother said that my uncle would send me to the border town, but after my uncle received me, he wanted to give me to the Tiqi. That's why I disguised myself as a beggar and fled to the border town with Brother Li."
Jin Sui asked again: "Did your father give you any letters?"
Yingniang shook her head: "I only gave you this book. Father wants to tell Your Highness that Prince Yu will do whatever it takes to slander Your Highness. Let Your Highness be on guard."
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