Chapter 69: Impatience can ruin a big plan
Zheng Qianshi looked at the man who suddenly became alert. Instead of getting angry, he patiently explained, "The church is holding a birthday banquet for the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary will use this birthday banquet to pray to the heavens for rain to save the people."
"What does that have to do with the child?"
Children are their lifeblood.
"The blessing ceremony requires twelve pairs of boys and girls to chant scriptures."
He seemed to have guessed the concerns of Du Laoer and the others, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, we, the Red Lotus Sect, are a serious sect and will not engage in human sacrifice."
"After the children have completed the ceremony, each can leave with fifty taels of silver."
He looked at Du Lao Er who had questioned him at the beginning and said, "I am giving you a chance."
Fifty taels of silver is a huge sum of money for ordinary people, especially refugees.
After Zheng Qianshi finished speaking, he saw Du Laoer and his group lowering their heads and looking away without responding. The smile on his face slowly disappeared. "Since you don't want this opportunity, I'll give it to someone else."
Du Lao Er saw that Zheng Qianshi was angry, and hurried forward and said, "The children in our village have never read many books, let alone scriptures. We are also worried that the children will delay your work if they go up."
Du Laoer's attitude was acceptable, which calmed Zheng Qianshi's anger a little, but he still decided to teach him a lesson so that he could realize his current position.
Therefore, after Zheng Qianshi left again, the Red Lotus Envoy who had come to ask questions came over with five Red Lotus Envoys holding weapons.
There was a hint of doubt in Du Lao Er's eyes, but he still smiled and took the initiative to step forward and asked, "Brother, we are all ready."
The Red Lotus Envoy glanced at Du Lao Er and said, "There are also women."
After saying that, he ignored the slightly frozen smile on Du Laoer's face, waved his hand, and let the Red Lotus Envoy behind him walk into the team.
The first few carriages to be hit were the ones in front.
Zhou Yunshu's eyes darkened as she watched the Red Lotus Envoy trying to reach out and lift the curtain of her own carriage. Chunque sat on the shaft of the carriage, her eyes fixed on the Red Lotus Envoy's hand.
The curtain of the carriage was opened, and the faint coughing sound became clearer. The Red Lotus Envoy looked at the sallow woman inside who looked like she was about to vomit, and immediately lowered the curtain with disgust, without even being able to see how many children were in the carriage.
Chunque only let go of the long sword at his waist when the Red Lotus Envoy left their carriage and walked back.
Zhou Yunshu withdrew her gaze, and the five Red Lotus Envoys joined the team and finally brought out ten women, including Wan Liqing.
The moment Zhou Yunshu saw Wan Liqing, she was a little unsure whether she came out voluntarily or was dragged out by the Red Lotus Envoy.
"Mr. Zhou, I..."
Zhou Yunshu saw that there was no request for help in Wan Liqing's eyes, but instead a hint of guilt. She instantly understood Wan Liqing's plan.
Well, everyone has their own choice.
"I wish you a bright future."
Wan Liqing listened to Zhou Yunshu's words, pursed her lips and said nothing, lowered her eyes and followed the Red Lotus Envoy in front of her to leave.
Standing at the back was Lily. She said nothing but bowed to Zhou Yunshu when she walked to her.
The eyes of the other female relatives were filled with anxiety and fear. The calmest one among them was Du Xiaomei, the youngest daughter of Du Lao Zhuang.
She just thought that since her three brothers were going up the mountain, and even Mr. Zhou was going up, it would be okay for her to go up, because there would definitely be someone to take care of her.
Du Laoer clenched his fists as he looked at his sister's innocent eyes. He had to find a way to find out the purpose of these women going up the mountain. If they were just to be maids, then it would be easy.
Du Laoer knew that he had offended Zheng Qianshi a little, so when he saw Zheng Qianshi walking towards him, he ran over happily.
Just now, Mr. Zhou from their family told him that Zheng Qianshi needed him now, and as long as he took the initiative, Zheng Qianshi would not bother him too much.
As expected, when Zhou Yunshu and Li Jialan, Fang Huiwen and Feng Xujie in the carriage were giving instructions, Du Laoer received Zheng Qianshi's instructions and came back to prepare to take the people in his team to follow him up the mountain.
Because Du Laoer was too proactive, there were fortunately a few young and strong people left in their team. Among them, Chunque and Hu Zi, whose injuries had not yet fully recovered, were left behind, and the young Feng Xujie also stayed.
Zhou Yunshu and her group followed the large group behind Zheng Qianshi and walked towards Wolong Mountain. There were not many carriages and horses, so most people had to walk, and Zhou Yunshu was one of them.
Qingfeng has been following behind Zhou Yunshu. He is one of the few people in the team who knows Zhou Yunshu's true identity. This time he followed Zhou Yunshu because he was worried that something might happen to her.
A team of nearly two hundred people followed Zheng Qianshi for nearly three hours before reaching the foot of Wolong Mountain.
At this time, night fell, and many people in red robes gathered at the foot of Wolong Mountain, five or six people in a group, and the firelight illuminated the foot of the mountain clearly.
"Isn't this Zheng Qianshi?"
A thin but handsome man, dressed as a scholar underneath a red robe in his hand, sat on the thick grass and said to Zheng Qianshi who was standing in the front.
When Envoy Zheng Qian saw the man, he smiled and said, "Envoy Sun Qian, have you returned from the capital after your work?"
"The Virgin Mary's birthday is coming soon, so of course I have to finish what I have and come back quickly."
Sun Chengyang pointed to the fully loaded carriage on their right and said meaningfully, "These are the little gifts I prepared for the Virgin Mary."
Zheng Qianshi glanced at Sun Chengyang and said, "Sun Qianshi is really thoughtful. No wonder the Holy Mother relies on you the most."
Zheng Qianshi asked the people behind him to rest on the spot, and he took two trusted confidants with him and walked towards Sun Chengyang.
Zhou Yunshu listened to the polite yet tentative exchanges between the two, and exchanged tacit glances with the people around her. It was true that there was no harmony within the Red Lotus Cult.
People were cooking over there. These people, who had just been recruited by the Red Lotus Cult, brought their own food to build a fire. Zhou Yunshu placed the dry and hard dough on the fire and slowly baked it, waiting for it to emit an enticing roasted aroma.
Because there were other Red Lotus Envoys around, Zhou Yunshu and her group didn't say anything even though they were sitting together, so as not to arouse other people's suspicion.
Since it was difficult to talk, Zhou Yunshu secretly listened to the conversation between Zheng Qianshi and Sun Chengyang.
Yan Shilei and the others sitting next to Zhou Yunshu kept their heads down, or rather, from the moment they heard Sun Chengyang's voice, even though they wanted to rush forward and kill him immediately, they still held back.
A little lack of patience will ruin great plans.
At night, except for Zheng Qianshi and a few others who had tents to rest, everyone else huddled around the fire.
The cloak Zhou Yunshu was wearing was later made by Li Jialan and Fang Huiwen using wolf skin, and it was extremely warm.
Even so, Wei Zhong, Qingfeng and others still made room for Zhou Yunshu and made a simple open-air bed for her with thick hay so that she could rest better.
With Wei Zhong and others protecting her, Zhou Yunshu fell asleep quickly.
But she was still woken up in the middle of the night by the sounds of fighting with swords and spears, and the sounds of cursing and quarreling.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com