030
"..." Qin Sang was silent for a moment, then her eyes widened: "But I can't just abandon her!"
Xie Sui'an: "Do you know where she's being held? When you came out just now, didn't you see how big that house was? If we go back, we'll be walking into a trap. We won't be able to save her, and we'll all be caught in the crossfire."
Qin Sang clutched at a straw, her heart pounding with anxiety. The more she thought about it, the more flustered she became. The more reasonable Xie Suian's words seemed, the more panicked she felt.
"Speaking of which, how did you escape after they captured you?" Xie Suian finally remembered this question. He hadn't even had his fill of fighting when Qin Sang rushed out on her own.
Qin Sang said calmly, "It's probably because there's a traitor with a conscience in their household who threw me a knife when no one was around. I heard the noise and ran out after I cut the rope."
Everyone thought it was reasonable to speculate that there was a traitor in the mansion. After all, it was such a large residence, and the owner was that kind of person. It was quite possible that there were one or two good people who would not go along with the corrupt practices.
Xie Suian said, "In that case, the kind person who saved you will probably give your girl a way out."
Qin Sang asked with a hint of doubt, "Really?"
Xie Sui'an didn't want to discourage her, so he just nodded.
But everyone knows that in such a deep and secluded mansion, what good could a maidservant do if she was captured and imprisoned, unless she still had some value?
Qin Sang had no choice but to force herself to stop thinking about Ying'er for the time being. Now, all she could do was to quickly bring down the Wu family. So she pondered, "So when did that young master of the Wu family start targeting me? Qingyun Tower? Does he know who I am? Or is he just lusting after my beauty? But if he had his eye on me, given his personality, he would have been watching me then, not waiting until night to make his move, right?"
A person flashed through Xie Sui'an's mind, and he said in a muffled voice, "So, was the fish you ate tonight?"
"Huh?" Qin Sang was momentarily confused, then remembered that person, a man who exuded a chilling aura like an ice-cold beauty. She said, "What, why are you suddenly asking about him? Do you suspect it's that person?"
Xie Sui'an didn't understand why Bai Yiqing suddenly appeared in Quzhou Prefecture. He had just finished meeting Qin Sang when he was arrested. It was hard to say it was a coincidence. Could it be that Bai Yiqing had some kind of secret connection with the Wu family?
"Just asking, what did that person say to you?" He got angry again, raising his voice slightly, "You dare to sit down and eat a stranger's fish? Aren't you afraid they might have bad intentions and poison you? You're a pretty young girl, can't you be a little more vigilant when you're out and about?"
"..." Qin Sang rolled her eyes at him and said, "You talk as if we're old acquaintances. Come to think of it, we've only known each other for a few days. Aren't we still strangers? We're evenly matched, the pot calling the kettle black. It's hard to say whether you have any ulterior motives towards me."
Jinyun chuckled to himself, thinking that this young lady had a good eye; even he himself felt that his young master was being a little too attentive.
Xie Sui'an suddenly felt a strange tightness in his chest, but he retorted stubbornly, "What could I possibly want from you? You're so small... You... We've only known each other for a few days, but we've saved each other's lives, we're practically brothers in arms. Just now, wasn't it me who pulled you out of the thieves' den? Would I harm you?" Seemingly getting angrier the more he thought about it, he said, "Fine, I don't know who asked me to come to Quzhou Prefecture to file a complaint, and now they're biting the hand that feeds them. I've seen through you all, you little women are all petty and ungrateful... Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong? Did you ask me to help you kidnap someone... um!"
Qin Sang quickly covered Xie Suian's mouth, smiling helplessly yet ingratiatingly: "Alright, I was wrong, Young Master Lu, please stop. You are my savior, and I will definitely thank you properly in the future. Come on, let's continue with the important matter, okay?"
Xie Sui'an felt a small, cool hand touch his lips, and his ear tips suddenly burned. The burning sensation quickly spread to his cheeks. He angrily grabbed a slender wrist: "Good thing you know!"
Qin Sang withdrew her hand, coughed lightly, and said, "Regardless of how I was captured, whether it was because Young Master Wu coveted my beauty, or because they discovered I was here to investigate the tea fields, this Wu fellow must be dealt with as soon as possible. My plan is as follows..."
She gathered the group together and explained her plan in detail. After listening, their eyes lit up.
Liu Sanchuan suddenly realized, "They've come for the gold mine?!"
Everyone: "..."
***
At dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, the sound of a wooden clapper echoed from one end of the street to the other, until the fifth watch of the night.
After a night of chaos and smog, the losers emerged from the gambling den, heads drooping, exuding a musty, unwell air. They noticed a few pieces of paper and, out of curiosity, picked them up.
This gambler turned out to be literate. After understanding the contents of the paper, his cloudy, half-closed eyes widened, and he was half-awake.
He glanced back guiltily, and seeing no one around, carefully folded the paper into his clothes. After taking a couple of steps, he seemed to realize something was amiss, so he turned back, lifted the curtain, and went back into the gambling den.
This man was named Fang Chun. His father was a scholar, but he was only half-baked. He hadn't studied properly for more than two days and had become addicted to gambling.
He went back into the gambling den not to gamble again, but to pull his friend out of the table and say, "Come on, come on, we're on a lucky day, let's go make some money!"
Seeing that the dealer had lost again, the man angrily flung his hand away, yelling, "Damn it! My luck is terrible! How can I make any money!"
"Come on, let's go have some morning tea first. I'll tell you about a great job opportunity."
"..."
A beggar's shack area within the city.
Liu Sanchuan held up a piece of paper and pretended to read it aloud:
"I have stumbled upon two pieces of gold and stone on Lao Jun Mountain, fifty miles east of the city. After refining them at home, I obtained one zhu of gold. I am now secretly informing those who are interested to come along, for fear that powerful and influential people will discover this and surround the mountain to mine it illegally. Come quickly!"
An old hunter came out carrying a basin of water for washing his face and splashed it on the ground, saying, "Young man, don't listen to these crooked tricks. If there really was gold, would they be talking about it everywhere? Don't be fooled into going to mine and do hard labor. You'll come back as a beggar."
Liu Sanchuan retorted, "The letter makes perfect sense, so why can't we believe it? Besides, I'm so poor I can't even afford to eat, what's there to be afraid of? I'm going to give it a try anyway. Uncles, brothers, anyone want to come along? The more people we go together, the more likely we are to find gold!"
The hunter chuckled and carried the wooden basin back home.
Another man with a gap-toothed limp came out carrying a bowl of porridge and squatted down next to Liu Sanchuan, asking with a grin, "Kid, is it really written like that on this? They've discovered a gold mine that nobody wants?"
Liu Sanchuan shoved the paper at him: "It's written in black and white, you can see for yourself whether I'm lying or not."
The man with the gap-toothed tooth pushed the paper back: "I can't read. I'm just asking you, when are you planning to go?"
Liu Sanchuan carefully folded the paper and put it in his pocket, saying arrogantly, "To be honest, I'm not too sure I'd dare go alone. How about it, big brother, you're coming with me?"
The man with the gap-toothed mouth slurped up a mouthful of porridge and laughed, "I'd like to go, but I don't know the way, and my legs aren't very strong."
"If you don't know the way, can't you just ask?" Liu Sanchuan pointed and said, "Just ask along the way. Anyway, I'm begging for food in the city. I'll beg my way through. If I get rich, I won't drink your thin rice porridge that you can't see any rice in!" With that, he got up and started to leave.
The man with the gap-toothed man grabbed his trouser leg and said, "Don't panic, little brother. Count me in. I'll go with you."
***
Jinyun returned from outside covered in dust. As soon as he entered, he started drinking water. After finishing a pot of tea, he quietly went to the next room to find Xie Sui'an.
Xie Sui'an was fast asleep when Jinyun bit her finger, pondering for a long time whether to wake him, and then she heard a knock on the door.
Qin Sang said, "Open the door, it's me."
As soon as the door opened, Qin Sang barged into Xie Sui'an's bedside. By the time Jin Yun reacted and tried to stop her, Qin Sang had already grabbed a garment hanging on the screen and slammed it over Xie Sui'an's head: "Get up! Still sleeping? How can you be so sleepy at such a young age?"
Hearing the pleasant sound as soon as he woke up, Xie Sui'an chuckled, still buried in the pile of clothes. He was half awake, but he rolled over and muttered, "Men and women shouldn't touch each other. Are you going to stand here and watch me get dressed so you can take advantage of me?"
"I won't take advantage of you. I'll wait for you in the outer room. Hurry up." After saying that, he walked around the screen, went to the table in the outer room, and sat down to drink tea.
After drinking his tea, he slammed the cup on the table and said, "I didn't sleep well at all last night. I don't know what they'll do to Ying'er."
Jinyun touched his nose and said, "Before dawn, I secretly went to Zhaixing Tower to fetch the carriage and took a detour to Linlang Pavilion to inquire. I heard that they made a fuss about arresting people last night, but there was no beating or killing of servants, so it should be fine. Also, when I went to Zhaixing Tower to get luggage and carry people, all the items inside were intact and had not been touched."
"Is Yang Wenhao still asleep?" Qin Sang felt a headache just thinking about him.
"I fed him something and then let him fall asleep again."
Although she hadn't heard of anyone beating or killing servants, she still hadn't heard anything from the person in question. Qin Sang paused for a moment, then forcibly pulled herself back to her senses and analyzed, "So it seems that the little rascal from the Wu family didn't even know we lived in Zhaixing Tower? Otherwise, he would have already torn our house down."
"And that waiter who lied to you wasn't one of his people." Xie Sui'an finally sat up.
Qin Sang nodded: "Indeed, but besides him, who else here would want to trick me?"
Xie Sui'an finally realized what was going on and frowned, saying, "It's not that I'm trying to trick you, it's that I'm trying to trick myself."
Bai Yiqing must have seen me with Qin Sang a long time ago, so he didn't invite Qin Sang to eat fish because she's beautiful; he was clearly after me.
What was he trying to test?
Very well, no matter the reason, this feud has been formed. Anyone who dares to touch Xie Sui'an's people will be beaten up by the princess's son!
He threw off the covers and sat up: "Dress me! Kill the little thug first, then settle accounts with the big thug."
Neither Jinyun nor Qin Sang understood: "Who is the big hooligan?"
Xie Sui'an was too lazy to explain further and casually said, "The little hooligan's father is a big hooligan. Jinyun, have you sent out all the orders you wrote last night?"
Jinyun said, "They've all been sent out, but I don't know how many ordinary people will believe them. I threw a few at the market this morning, and the old folks just used them as scrap paper to wrap pickled vegetables."
Xie Sui'an and Qin Sang asked in unison, "Why are you going to the market?"
Jinyun was taken aback and muttered, "The market has local breakfast specialties. I... I've been running around all night, can't I even buy some food?"
Xie Sui'an: "Did you buy any local specialties for breakfast?"
Jinyun was stunned again: "They ate them all..."
Xie Sui'an was speechless with choked sobs, wishing he could throw his useless little guard out the window.
Qin Sang said, "It's alright. We've written so much. As long as you post it in a few key places, there will always be people who are greedy for money. Let's just wait for Xiao Chuan's news."
"The little beggar hasn't sent any news back yet? Then why are you waking me up so early?" Xie Suian said angrily.
Qin Sang got angry when she heard this: "Can't we get up earlier to prepare? If the other side is on guard, our plan will not work! We should be the first wave to leave the city and lie in ambush on the road early so that we can deal with any moves by the Wu family!"
Jinyun nodded vigorously after listening.
Xie Sui'an rolled her eyes at him, speechless, and could only say, "Did you hear that? Hurry up, what are you dawdling for! ...You dare to mutter about me? Mutter one more thing and I'll hear it?"
Jinyun had no choice but to lower her head and quickly dressed the young master neatly, then helped him tie his hair, wash his face and rinse his mouth. Soon after, a well-dressed, dashing, and wealthy young master was born once again.
He strode out from behind the screen, fanning himself with a folding fan, only to find Qin Sang dressed as a man, wearing an oddly shaped cotton hat.
Qin Sang seemed to have been prepared. When she saw him come out, she walked up to Xie Sui'an with a bag in her hand and said, "Come on, lower your head."
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