At night, Li Hongyuan leaned against a big tree and shivered. He didn't dare to fall asleep. The surroundings were quiet, and the occasional animal calls made him shudder.
I felt so regretful: If I had known, I wouldn’t have been so impulsive. Could there be a wolf?
Little did he know that two people who were more brutal than wolves were staring at him not far away.
"Brother Zhuzi, what do you think will happen if we sell him again?"
"Da Zhuang, he's a scholar after all. Even though he's a little thin, he's still loved by the wives of wealthy and powerful families!"
"Hey...Brother Zhuzi, your idea is great. Let's sell him to a men's brothel to be a prostitute. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
"Tsk tsk, this guy is really lucky. I heard that those ladies are all beautiful and plump, and they are very good in bed. I want to have a taste of that!"
"What are you thinking? People all like handsome men, but we are all black as the bottom of a pot. Which lady would like us?"
The two men have made up their minds to sell the boy again tomorrow.
Li Hongyuan finally couldn't bear it anymore and fell into a deep sleep leaning against the tree trunk.
"Snap" a burning pain came over my face.
He suddenly opened his eyes, and what he saw were two magnified black faces. He trembled, "You...it's you! Help..."
He shouted subconsciously. He had not forgotten that these two people and Zhang Fan from the academy tricked him out of the city and then sold him to the mountains. He still didn't understand why.
"Pa!" Another slap.
"Howl, it's useless even if you shout your throat out in this deep forest!" Zhuzi looked down at him with contempt in his eyes.
"What on earth do you want to do? My father is the Qingshui County magistrate! You will suffer the consequences!"
He pretended to be calm, trying to delay time, just asking Tang Youyou and the others to come and rescue him quickly, so he almost screamed.
"Heh... you're a scholar with your brain, but you're nothing but a blockhead. To tell you the truth, it's because of your father that you've ended up in this state!"
"What do you mean?" He narrowed his eyes, knowing very little about his father.
Dazhuang held him back and said, "You are confused. How could you let him know about this?"
"What are you afraid of? After we finish this job, we'll go somewhere else. I don't want to stay in Nanzhou for a moment!"
Zhuzi squatted down and looked at Li Hongyuan with some sympathy, patted his cheek, ignored his angry eyes, and clicked his tongue twice:
"Alas... you don't know yet, but your father offended Zhang Fan's father. He only raised the price of grain by two cents, but your father refused to listen and obstructed the matter, causing Zhang Fan to lose face."
"Bah... the county magistrate hasn't said anything yet. He's just a legal advisor, yet he's really taking a feather as an arrow. He has no idea what he's talking about! In my opinion, you really inherited your father's brain!"
He was stunned. So that was how it was. He was surprised that he had no contact with Zhang Fan before. No wonder Zhang Fan deliberately approached him in those days, giving him the feeling that they were just strangers but had a deep connection.
"My father is also doing this for the people. Right now, many disaster victims are flocking to Nanzhou. That rich man Zhang wants to make money by doing something dishonest, but he won't be able to do that!"
Although my father was stubborn, he was an upright man. He had been classmates with the county magistrate for many years, but because of the county magistrate's life-saving grace, he was willing to give up continuing to take the imperial examination. A scholar was actually willing to give advice to the county magistrate behind the scenes.
He originally didn't understand what his father did, but at this moment, he inexplicably felt a sense of pride in his heart.
"I think you've become stupid from studying. Let's go! Don't be violent with us!"
Li Hongyuan immediately sat up straight, but glanced in the direction he came from, "Where... where are you going?"
The two looked at each other, their eyes full of obscene smiles.
"Of course I'm going to where you should go. You're so delicate and tender, even a man like me feels itchy just by looking at you. Hahahaha..."
He was not a fool, he immediately understood what they meant and shook his head like a rattle.
"No...I won't go..."
"It's not up to you whether to go or not!" came Da Zhuang's vicious voice.
Li Hongyuan was almost crying in anxiety. How could he, a weak scholar, defeat these two strong men?
Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind: "How much silver can you get if you sell me?"
Zhuzi smiled evilly: "At least fifty taels!"
Li Hongyuan pursed his lips, "Fifty taels are you satisfied with? Let me tell you, I have a hundred taels of private silver!"
He actually only has twenty taels.
My father was an honest man and only received a monthly salary of five taels of silver. All the family expenses depended on the several shops run by my mother.
Although his mother had never treated him unfairly in terms of money, he knew how difficult it was for his mother and never asked for more money. Over the years, he had only saved twenty taels.
When the two heard this, their eyes lit up at first, and then they were full of doubts.
Zhuzi grabbed his neck and said, "Do you know what will happen if you lie to me?"
Da Zhuang added fuel to the fire and pointed at the pillar, "People nicknamed him White Impermanence!"
Li Hongyuan's face turned red, and he kept slapping the hand on his neck with his hands.
"I didn't... lie... to you."
Suddenly his neck loosened, tears welled up in his eyes and he gasped for breath. The feeling of being on the verge of death was too scary.
"Hmph... you're smart. Let's go. You have to obey us in everything!"
Li Hongyuan pointed to his stomach and said, "I'm hungry. I didn't have a drop of water the whole day yesterday!"
The two of them naturally knew this, and they followed all the way.
Dazhuang took out the water bag and handed it to him, "Don't waste time, this place is only thirty miles away from Nanzhou, we can get there in one day!"
He cursed his father in his heart, what should he do when he got there?
Right now, the only way to survive is to hold them back and hope that Tang Youyou and the others can catch up quickly.
On the other side, Tang Youyou and his group also began to move.
She took out the map and examined it for a long time. "It should be about fifty or sixty miles from here to Nanzhou. Let's hurry today and try to reach Fucheng, Nanzhou, by noon tomorrow."
No one had any objections. After resting for so many days, no one knew what the situation was like in Nanzhou now. Could it be that the victims had become a swarm of ants?
Some were expectant, but also very worried. They all lowered their heads, like eggplants hit by frost.
Seeing this, Chief Liu encouraged everyone: "Everyone, cheer up. We have come thousands of miles to get here, and we have risked our lives to settle down and live a good life. No matter what dangers lie ahead, we will fight them head-on.
Everyone suddenly realized what they were afraid of. They had experienced earthworms, plagues, and lack of water and food along the way, but they had made it this far. What else was there to be afraid of?
Everyone quickened their pace, hoping to reach Nanzhou as soon as possible to find out what was going on.
Tang Youyou gave Chief Liu a thumbs up. This old man was full of courage and knew how to make good use of people's hearts. He was quite wise.
The latter touched his beard a little embarrassedly, smiled slightly, and was excited inside, as he was finally reaching his destination.
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