Chapter 27 Chapter 27 Zhang Family Clinic. Zi Yan...
Zhang Family Medical Clinic.
Zi Yan sat on the couch as Doctor Zhang applied medicine to him, muttering, "Today is the last time I'll apply the medicine. You're young and in good shape, so you'll recover quickly and won't have any lasting effects. But you have to be more careful next time. You almost died this time."
Zi Yan stared at the wick of the small lamp on the table, a little absent-minded, as if he was thinking about something.
Doctor Zhang waited for a while, but when he didn't get a response, he didn't get annoyed. He continued, "Has your family not come to pick you up yet? In your last dream, you seemed to be calling for your sister. You've been missing for so long, doesn't she know?"
Hearing the word "sister", Zi Yan's eyes lit up and he said in a hoarse voice, "I don't want her to know."
"Huh?" Doctor Zhang was puzzled. "How could you not tell your family about such a serious illness? You've been missing for so many days, aren't they worried?"
But no matter how much he asked, Zi Yan said nothing more. Doctor Zhang finished applying the medicine silently and gave some instructions, such as eating a light diet and avoiding fatigue.
He turned back at the doorway and glanced at the young man inside. His strikingly handsome face was silhouetted in the dim light, its features sharp and angular. His eyes were fixed on the wick, vacantly fixed, and it was unclear whether he had heard what he said.
Doctor Zhang shook his head. As he stepped over the threshold, he heard the young man's hoarse voice behind him: "Thank you."
Zi Yan sat on the couch for a moment, stretching his injured shoulder. Now he could move it just as he always did. After Doctor Zhang left, he pushed open the door and faced the pitch-black night.
He pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve. On it were four small, powerful words:
It’s urgent, come quickly.
After a cup of tea, the snow-white carrier pigeon cut through the night and soared into the sky.
Winter nights are particularly long. When the first rays of dawn illuminate the city wall, it is already noon.
Brother and sister Jiang An and Jiang Wan were waiting at the city gate early. Jiang An yawned and asked, "Are they really going to leave from here?"
"We can only go this way," Jiang Wan handed his brother a pot of tea to refresh himself. "Thank you for your hard work. You can go back and rest for a while after the government arrives."
As they were talking, they saw two horses pulling a cart of goods towards the city gate. When the carriage got closer, Jiang Wan could see that it was the Huang Mansion's steward sitting in it. He was talking to the soldier guarding the gate, who shook his head with a stern face.
The butler smiled widely and handed the soldier a purse. The soldier opened the purse and immediately smiled happily, waving to the other two soldiers standing by the door.
The city gate slowly opened and the butler was about to drive out of the city.
Jiang Wan and his sister exchanged a glance and ran to the city gate. Jiang Wan pinched his thigh hard as he ran, holding back a few tears. He hugged the carriage wheel and began to howl, "My poor disciple! Give me back my disciple! Ahhhh!"
The housekeeper was stunned, the soldiers were stunned, and even Jiang An, who had known the plot for a long time, was shocked.
No, is my sister’s acting so good?
The housekeeper was shocked and angry when he recognized Jiang Wan, but he couldn't admit to others that he had kidnapped Wang Er, so he had to bite the bullet and pretend not to know her: "Where did you come from, crazy girl? I don't know you!"
He didn't care that Jiang Wan was still holding onto the wheel, and whipped the cart away. The wheel slowly turned, but Jiang Wan still held onto it and cried, refusing to let go.
Seeing that the wheel was about to crush his sister's arm, Jiang An was shocked and hurried forward to stop it, but suddenly he saw his sister turn her face around under the cover of the cargo and gave him a playful smile.
...Jiang An's raised hand stopped in mid-air.
The next second, the soldiers couldn't stand it any longer and stopped the carriage: "Wait a minute, the girl is still there, aren't you afraid of crushing her?"
The housekeeper was forced to stop the car and said impatiently: "She's just a crazy girl. She didn't want to leave, so she deserved to be run over. What does it have to do with me?"
The leading soldier frowned and seemed to want to say something, but was interrupted by the butler: "If you take my money, don't make trouble, understand?"
The soldier felt the money bag in his pocket, finally decided to ignore the matter and kept quiet.
The butler was about to drive when suddenly the cloth covering the pile of goods behind him moved, and the friction of the cloth made a rustling sound. Although the sound was very small, it was particularly noticeable in the quiet morning.
Suddenly, several suspicious eyes fell on the butler.
Jiang An spoke at the right moment: "Master Jun, my sister Jiang Wan only has two apprentices. The one in the car is the younger one, and he snatched her away alive yesterday. I've been crying all night."
Jiang Wan cooperated by raising her head, revealing dark circles under her eyes - it was true that she had made plans to stay up late, but the dark circles were just the effect of makeup.
She clearly saw a hint of pity on the faces of several soldiers. One of them asked softly, "Little sister, are you Jiang Wan? The Jiang Wan who's famous for selling porcelain?"
Jiang Wan wiped her tears and nodded.
In the eyes of others, this appearance made her look like a weak little white flower. Coupled with Jiang Wan's recent good reputation, several soldiers immediately believed it. The leader hesitated for a moment and felt that they should still check it out, otherwise if the kidnappers were really let go, they would also be responsible.
So he closed the city gate and returned the purse to the steward: "I'm sorry, my superiors have instructed me to do a routine inspection. I hope you can understand."
The butler glared in anger, but he avoided meeting the soldiers' gazes and could only argue with them: "You took the money, how can you regret it? Don't tell me you returned it. Who knows if you secretly withheld some?"
The leading soldier's face suddenly turned cold upon hearing this: "I am an official after all. So, your crime of bribery is more serious, isn't it?"
The butler choked, not knowing how to respond. Several soldiers lifted the cloth covering it and took a closer look.
Amidst the messy rice and flour, curled up was a boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old, his hands and feet tied with ropes, and his mouth stuffed with a piece of cloth.
He was unconscious, his eyes tightly shut, his brow furrowed, as if restless even in his dreams. When the veil was lifted, he seemed to feel the glare of the sunlight and groaned muffledly.
Jiang Wan rushed over, trying to shake him awake, but she caught a glimpse of his clothes, ripped and bloodstained. Through the ripped clothes, his skin on his back was a bloody mess. Afraid of tearing her apprentice's wound, she stretched her fingers mid-air, then stopped abruptly.
The air was thick with the scent of blood, and for a moment, Jiang Wan's gaze was as cold and frightening as a knife tempered with ice. If the piles of rice and flour hadn't blocked the soldiers' view, they would have been shocked by the cold heart beneath her delicate, girlish exterior.
In this situation, not to mention Jiang Wan and Jiang An, even an unrelated outsider would feel heartbroken, but the housekeeper looked indifferent.
He pulled out a bond and said nonchalantly, "This man is my servant. I'm teaching my servant a lesson, so why would you interfere?"
The soldiers were stunned. Although they despised the beating of domestic slaves, according to the law, domestic slaves belonged to their masters and they had no right to interfere.
But even for a household slave, the indenture required the signature of their parents, guardian, or the person themselves. The Huang family had clearly knocked Wang Er unconscious, then grabbed his hand and forced his fingerprints on it!
Jiang Wan took a deep breath, suppressing her anger. She looked up at the sky. The sun had just risen above the horizon, its golden-red light falling on her young apprentice's pale face.
Calculating the time, Wang Da should be here soon. At this time, she must remain calm and drag the case to the government to take over.
She put away her cold expression and retorted, "House slaves need to register documents with the government. Steward Huang, do you have the documents?"
"Yeah," Jiang An agreed, "You definitely can't get it out."
"Only the owner and his direct blood relatives can review the official registration documents. What qualifications do you two have to check them?" The butler looked arrogant.
It was clear that they had no paperwork, so they used the inspection process to stop them. The government did have regulations that only the master, direct blood relatives, or officials who needed to perform their duties could access the indentures of domestic slaves.
Since the documents cannot be reviewed, there is no way to prove that the indenture is forged. In other words, these soldiers can only act as if the indenture is genuine and be allowed to pass.
Jiang An was sweating profusely, but Jiang Wan remained calm. She had systematically studied the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty based on her original owner's memories when she traveled here. In particular, as a convicted slave, she had focused on understanding the provisions regarding slavery in order to quickly escape from slavery.
She was of course aware of the conditions for inspecting the indenture, and this alone couldn't prove it was a forgery. However, her original intention wasn't to directly prove it; she only dared to say this because she heard footsteps approaching from afar.
She said calmly, "I'm not qualified to check, but someone is qualified."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Wang Da leading a group of soldiers towards the city gate.
Jiang Wan looked at Wang Da from a distance, gave his disciple a reassuring look, and then finished what he had just said: "His brother is here."
"It's him! It's him who took my brother away!" Wang Da said to the constable anxiously.
Jiang Wan observed carefully. There were five constables accompanying Wang Da. The one in front was probably the chief constable, about forty years old, with a serious expression. They hurried towards her. The chief constable shouted as they walked, "How dare you, audacious criminal, kidnap a child? Now that we have all the evidence, why don't you hurry..."
As he got closer, he saw that it was the Huang family's housekeeper. He blinked and quickly swallowed the words "surrender" that he had not finished saying.
"... Come with me to the county government office right away!" After changing the words, the captain's original majestic aura instantly diminished.
No, how could it be the Huang family? The Huang family sent money to the county magistrate every year. Even the county magistrate's deceased first wife was from the Huang family. If he dared to take the housekeeper Huang back, he would definitely be in trouble by the county magistrate.
But Wang Daba brought the case to justice, and Butler Huang was caught red-handed in front of so many soldiers and passers-by. If he released him directly, he would probably be reported tomorrow and lose his job.
The captain of the police was torn between "being bullied" and "losing his job". He chose to be bullied and politely asked Butler Huang to leave.
Everything was just as Jiang Wan had expected. She met her eldest disciple's worried gaze and patted his shoulder reassuringly.
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