040
There were few people on the street, and it was quiet all around.
Because it was so quiet, she suddenly began to miss Xie Sui'an's chatter.
I don't know why he suddenly left; he seemed so eccentric. Maybe he hadn't had enough fun yet and was afraid of being dragged back by his grandfather's men, so he made up that excuse.
Xie Sui'an, that's a nice name. Does it mean peace and tranquility year after year? That powerful prime minister of Nanwu Kingdom hoped for peace and prosperity for his descendants, but he had no intention of inheriting his mantle.
She played with the raindrops dripping onto her hand from the window frame, and suddenly remembered Xie Sui'an's flustered yet composed demeanor after accidentally kissing her that day, and she smiled.
How old is he?
I forgot to ask, but he's probably not much older than the original owner; he's incredibly immature.
But he was also naive, without a trace of worldly calculation or worry in his eyes. His family must have protected him very well. Born into such a family, being too well protected... well, that's not necessarily a good thing. A fledgling bird must stumble and fall, get soaked in the rain, before it can fly...
Qin Sang's eyes suddenly sharpened.
She looked towards the other end of the long street.
The thunderous hooves of the horses splashed water, and the clattering sound, accompanied by the crack of whips, echoed through the city. Three horses, galloping rapidly, came from afar.
Under the window, there was a young couple carrying bundles. They had been walking in a hurry, and Qin Sang thought they were looking for shelter from the rain. But when they heard the sound of horses' hooves, they ran away in a panic.
Those people came after them.
It was common for slaves to escape from wealthy families. Perhaps a maidservant ran away with a servant? Or perhaps a concubine eloped with someone?
Qin Sang guessed that the horse would stop the person, scold and lecture them, and then take them back.
Unexpectedly, one of the horses took the lead and, as it approached the two, did not charge as Qin Sang had expected. The horse charged wildly without stopping and knocked the young man away. The young man's thin body spun twice in the air before landing heavily on the ground, splattering blood and rainwater.
Then, it was that woman.
When a woman sees her companion or man being thrown into the air, she instinctively tries to run in terror. But how can human feet outrun four hooves? She quickly becomes a victim under the horse's hooves. Her body twitches in the blood for a while before becoming completely still.
The three riders dismounted, took the packages from the two men, and searched them thoroughly before remounting to confirm that they were completely dead.
One of them looked up and stared in Qin Sang's direction.
Fortunately, Qin Sang's head was hidden behind the window frame, so the person could only see a sliver of her figure through the crack in the window.
He spurred his horse, turned it around, and rode off with the bundle.
In the hazy rain and mist, the two corpses were separated. The rain washed away the bloodstains, and a red ring gathered around them. Gradually, the red color attracted attention and merged into a whole.
Qin Sang originally wanted Lingding to call Shen Que, but at this moment, another young woman appeared out of nowhere. She looked around, then threw herself into the young man's arms and burst into tears.
In an instant, the rain intensified.
***
The woman was crying so hard that she didn't notice anyone approaching. When she caught sight of the shoe tip suddenly appearing in front of her, she panicked, leaned back two steps, and looked on in terror.
After recognizing the person, he opened his mouth and uttered, "Help...help me."
Qin Sang and Ling Ding, each holding an oil-paper umbrella, looked at the dead man and woman, then at the one who was still alive, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old and still very young.
The girl was trembling all over, her lips were bluish-purple, and she stared blankly at Qin Sang.
Qin Sang then said, "Aren't we going to report this to the authorities?"
Upon hearing this, the woman was taken aback, but she cried even more bitterly.
Qin Sang looked around, then had Ling Ding take out a silver ingot and hand it to her, saying, "Find someone to collect the body and come find me at Deyue Tower."
The woman stopped crying, but dared not reach out.
Lingding bowed and handed the silver to her, then turned and left with Qin Sang.
Qin Sang and Ling Ding returned to the inn's entrance, their skirts and shoes soaked. Seeing that Ling Ding didn't speak, Qin Sang said, "Aren't you going to ask me why I helped her?"
Lingding remained unfazed: "Young lady, you have a kind heart and saw injustice on the road."
Yes, even someone like herself who had tried to harm her, Qin Sang was able to forgive and take her under her wing. She is a kind-hearted person by nature, and even knowing it would be troublesome, she still wanted to help.
Qin Sang smiled and said nothing more.
Lingding is a smart person, with a clear mind. If he truly turns to good and follows him peacefully, he might not necessarily have no good future.
She said, "Let's go back and change our clothes."
Just then, Shen Que came downstairs and saw that the two of them, mistress and servant, seemed to have gone out in the rain. He first asked the guard at the door, but Qin Sang smiled and said, "Don't blame him. I just wanted to buy some candied fruit. I told him not to come with me."
Shen Que glanced at the torrential rain outside, paused for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "From now on, when you go out, Miss, you should still have someone accompany you."
"I'm just a nobody, surely no one would dare to plot against me?" Qin Sang laughed. "I understand, next time I'll have someone follow me every step of the way."
Shen Que's expression softened slightly, and he bowed and stepped aside to let them pass. Only after watching the two go upstairs did he lower his eyelashes.
Indeed, as she said, this woman currently poses no threat to anyone, and no one has even suspected her true identity. However, the Prime Minister has given special instructions to bring her back safely, without the slightest mishap.
Back in her room to change and wash again, Ying'er and Lingding were still at odds. After all, the latter had once tried to kill the former, so peaceful coexistence would be difficult.
After changing my clothes and eating some snacks, someone downstairs came to announce that a woman, soaking wet, was looking for someone.
Qin Sang hurriedly had someone invite her in and asked Ying'er to prepare a set of dry clothes for her. Only after she had changed did she begin to ask questions.
"What was your relationship with those two dead people?"
The woman stood timidly to the side, and cautiously answered with a sob in her voice, "They are my brother and sister-in-law."
"Why were they being hunted down? I saw those people reach into their hands and take their packages. What important things were inside?"
The woman raised her eyes, hesitating as if she wanted to speak. She seemed to be debating whether or not she should tell this important person; clearly, she was afraid.
What she feared most was the protection of officials by each other. Qin Sang and her entourage appeared to be wealthy and powerful; could she really trust them?
Seeing this, Lingding said, "Our young lady doesn't know those thieves, otherwise she wouldn't have come out in the rain to help you. You don't need to worry. If you have any grievances, just tell us. If we can help, we will naturally lend a hand. If we can't help, you won't lose out. We won't be so idle as to tell anyone. Whether you tell or not is entirely up to you."
Qin Sang felt a sense of relief upon hearing this; bringing her to the capital was indeed a good decision.
Upon hearing Lingding's words, the woman bit her lip until it turned red, and finally knelt down with a thud: "Miss, my brother and sister-in-law died unjustly."
It turned out that the couple died because of their missing child.
The couple originally sold fish at the market. After five generations of only sons, they had a beautiful and rare baby boy. Because they didn't want this handsome boy to kill fish anymore, they saved money and sent their exquisite child to the county's official school.
After studying for half a year, the child disappeared.
They went to the academy to look for him, but the people there said he had left after school and had nothing to do with the academy. However, the couple asked along the three main streets outside the academy, but no one seemed to remember him. Only a young woman selling fruit was certain that she hadn't seen her child come out of the academy that day.
"Why would that fruit-selling woman recognize your nephew?" Qin Sang interrupted.
The girl replied, "Because Wu'er is the only boy in the family, his family dotes on him and gives him pocket money every day. I see that he is cute and studies hard, so I often give him some extra money. That's why he always likes to buy some fruit to eat after school. Over time, the fruit seller also recognized him."
"So many people go to buy fruit after school, why do they only recognize your child?" Lingding asked again.
The girl replied, "Young lady, you don't know this, but my fifth son is indeed beautiful. He has big, bright eyes, fair skin, and red lips and white teeth. Everyone praises him for looking like a girl, even prettier than some girls... It won't be difficult for the fruit seller to remember him."
Lingding turned to Qin Sang: "Could it be that he was kidnapped by human traffickers because he's good-looking?"
The woman said, “At first we thought so too, but my sister-in-law was unwilling to accept it. She went to the academy almost every day to wait and complain to the woman who sold fruit. Then one day, the woman couldn’t bear it and let it slip.”
"What?"
"According to that woman, my nephew isn't the first case; he's not the first child to disappear from the academy. Three months ago, a handsome boy from a poor, powerless farming family also went missing. They had worked hard to send their child to the academy, hoping he would bring honor to their family and change their social standing..."
"My sister-in-law thought it was the academy's fault and went to the academy to make a scene, but she was kicked out. The academy was a large and powerful family, so my family sued the authorities, but because we had no evidence, the fruit-selling woman refused to testify and even said that she had never said those words. Instead, my brother was beaten and carried back home."
Qin Sang frowned: "Then why were your brother and sister-in-law being chased? Did they subsequently file a complaint with the authorities?"
“We couldn’t sue. Even if we did, we wouldn’t have any evidence. My brother and sister-in-law were disheartened and ready to give up. Then one day, an old farmer in tattered clothes came to our door. He asked if we had lost a child. We welcomed him into our home, and he said that his surname was Fang and that his child was also studying at Lutong Academy. He hadn’t come home for two years and they couldn’t find him.”
"Moreover, Old Fang counted that in the past three years, more than a dozen families had lost children studying at Lutong Academy! All of them were children from poor families with no support, so he suspected that there was something fishy going on at Lutong Academy. For this reason, he infiltrated the academy more than a year ago to work as the lowest-ranking handyman. Then he discovered that people from the academy would come to see the children regularly, and one person came especially often. He was tall and thin, with long arms and a very thin face. He said he suspected that he was a human trafficker, and that the academy was cooperating with him to specifically target children from families like ours."
Lingding was puzzled: "There are so many poor children outside, and quite a few are so poor that they sell their sons and daughters. Why would human traffickers do such shady things with the academy?"
The girl cried, "We don't know either."
Qin Sang asked, "Did your brother and sister-in-law obtain some important evidence, which is why they are being hunted down?"
The girl wiped away her tears and said, "It was Old Man Fang. He hired an artist to paint a picture of the slave trader who often came to the academy to see the children. Not only that, he also compiled a list of missing children and a portrait of each child. He firmly believed that one day these people and the truth would be revealed. Unfortunately," the woman choked up again, "he was discovered. He saw a child being drugged and taken away at the academy with his own eyes. He rushed out to try to save the child, but he was beaten to death."
"He instructed his family that if he died, the evidence he possessed should be passed down. So, the portraits and lists ended up in my brother and sister-in-law's hands. After much deliberation, my brother decided to take these portraits to the capital to find a high-ranking official and demand an explanation. These matters couldn't be left unattended, and he… even my mother couldn't stop him. I secretly followed them out, hoping to persuade them to go back… but unfortunately, before they even left the county town, they…"
Qin Sang raised her eyelids: "You mean, you're from this county?"
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