Save ginger and pepper
In the fifth year of Jinghe, the Great Zhou recovered Mochuan and Shashan, which had been forcibly occupied by Xihai, thus completing the recovery of its northwestern territory. To prevent Posolang from making a comeback, Wei Qiao led an army of 50,000 deep into the heart of Xihai. In July of the seventh year of Jinghe, they captured Yeliu City, the capital of Xihai, and killed Emperor Posolang of Xihai on his way out of the palace.
In August, news of the victory returned to the capital, and the emperor ordered that Xihai be made a vassal state of the Great Zhou. Peng Chi, the prince of Xihai who was friendly to the Great Zhou, was appointed as the new king, and Peng Chi's crown prince, He Du, was sent to the capital as a hostage.
Wei Qiao ordered Wu Jin and Shi Shou to lead their troops back to the capital first, and to send Crown Prince He Du to the capital. He himself stayed in Dingxi Prefecture to handle the follow-up matters.
When the emperor saw Wei Qiao's memorial requesting to remain in Dingxi Prefecture, he thought of how his nephew had gone to the battlefield in the second year of his marriage, leaving Princess Zhao alone to guard the place for five years.
He's now past thirty and has no children; it's truly outrageous. We absolutely cannot let him stay in Dingxi Prefecture as he pleases.
In September, Wei Qiao received an imperial edict ordering him to return to the capital.
That very night, after receiving the imperial decree, Wei Qiao had that recurring dream again: Xi Chun, holding their child, weeping with her back to him in the icy river. He thought Xi Chun would never forgive him in this lifetime. If there were an afterlife, he would never again betray her and cause her pain.
On the Double Ninth Festival, Wei Qiao and his party embarked on their journey back to the capital, and on the fifteenth of September, they stayed at the post station in Chenzhou.
A-Gui brought Wei Qiao some dried clothes and saw him standing by the window, gazing wistfully at the cold night sky. He walked over to Wei Qiao and said:
“Your Highness, I just heard the postmaster of this post station say that there is a Yongning Temple in Yanzhou City, which is dozens of miles away from here. He said that the temple is very efficacious. His neighbor’s son kowtowed and fell into a coma, and he couldn’t wake up. The doctor said there was no hope for him. My wife knelt at Yongning Temple for a day, and the next day, the child woke up and slowly got better. I know that Your Highness has been thinking about the concubine all these years and has been unable to sleep at night. Why don’t we take this opportunity to perform a ritual for the concubine?”
Wei Qiao ordered Zhang Hu, the captain of the guards, to lead the other guards back to the capital, while he, A Gui, and Zhao Yu took a detour to Yongning Temple to pray for Xi Chun's well-being.
The three rode fast horses and arrived at Yanzhou City after noon. Yongning Temple was located south of Yanzhou City, and it was necessary to travel through the city to get there.
After having lunch at Qiweilou Restaurant in Yanzhou City, Wei Qiao noticed their signature dishes, including spicy chicken and boiled fish. He then remembered that Yanzhou City was near Xichun's hometown. Since Xichun left him, he hadn't seen chili peppers on his table, and seeing these vibrant red dishes now filled him with a sense of warmth and familiarity. If Xichun were here, she would surely love them.
After eating a piece of fish, the spicy taste spread across his tongue, and he felt so uncomfortable that tears welled up in his eyes.
"Master, this dish is too spicy, so please don't eat it. Have something else instead," said A-Gui, moving the boiled fish in front of Wei Qiao away.
Wei Qiao reached out to stop him, "No need, I like it."
After the meal, the three continued their journey to Yongning Temple. A few miles outside the city, as they passed a blue cloth carriage, Wei Qiao peeked through the fluttering curtain and saw a little girl inside with her mouth gagged. The little girl also saw him and kept moving to the window, nodding incessantly at him.
Ma Si and Zhang Liuniang, who were driving the carriage, were discussing how good-looking the girl in the carriage was and how much she could fetch, when they heard a thumping sound from inside the carriage. Ma Si frowned, cracked his whip, and sped up. Zhang Liuniang lifted the curtain and glared fiercely at the girl inside with her sharp, triangular eyes. "Behave yourself."
Tears streamed down Jiang Jiao's face as she was yelled at. She had been watching a monkey show with Uncle Xiao Peng on the street, but then Uncle Xiao Peng put her down to watch the monkeys. They were pushed apart by the crowd, and she tried to find Uncle Xiao Peng but couldn't. In the blink of an eye, those two scoundrels grabbed her, picked her up, and shoved her into a carriage. She tried to call for help, but the carriage immediately headed out of the city.
"Master, what's wrong?" A-Gui asked, puzzled, when he saw Wei Qiao suddenly slow down.
Wei Qiao pointed to the carriage ahead and said to the two people beside him, "There's something strange about that carriage. There's a little girl inside with her mouth gagged. She's probably been kidnapped. Let's go and take a look."
Wei Qiao and his two companions followed not far behind the carriage. This wasn't the first time Ma Si and Zhang Liuniang had done something so unscrupulous. As they got closer to their hideout, they became more and more relaxed, and the two even started flirting.
After traveling another three miles, the carriage entered a narrow path and, after about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, finally stopped in a farmhouse courtyard.
A short, plump middle-aged woman wearing a silver hairpin came out of the courtyard to greet them. Seeing the ginger and pepper in the carriage, she smiled and said to Ma Si, "Today's new goods are quite good; they should fetch at least fifty taels of silver."
Zhang Liuniang pulled the ginger and pepper off the carriage and said to the woman, "Fifty taels? That's more than that. I'll only sell this stuff for at least eighty taels of silver."
Zhao Yu, who was watching the courtyard from the tree, heard their conversation and spat on the ground, "Pah, what a bunch of heartless people."
Wei Qiao and A Gui circled the courtyard to observe, and finally the three of them discovered that there was no one else in the courtyard except for the three kidnappers and the little girl who had been kidnapped.
Jiang Jiao was locked in the woodshed, while Ma Si and his two companions began drinking and eating inside. Wei Qiao and his two companions burst in. Faced with three uninvited guests with dark faces, Ma Si was the first to react, pointing at the three and shouting, "What are you doing, daring to come to my house and cause trouble?"
Zhao Yu felt disgusted by the pockmarked face and, too lazy to listen to his nonsense, kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him and the long bench to the ground.
Although Zhang Liuniang and the short, fat woman Qin had committed many evils, they had never seen anything like this before. When they saw Ma Si being kicked and spitting blood, they immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the three of them.
"Gentlemen, we don't know where we have offended you. We apologize. Here is some silver. Please take it and let us go."
As Qin Shi spoke, she took out ten taels of silver and tried to hand it to Wei Qiao. Wei Qiao gave her a cold glance, and Qin Shi, startled by his hawk-like eyes, withdrew the silver from her hand. Just as she was wondering whether she should bleed a little more to ensure the safety of her family, she was tied up by A Gui.
Zhang Liuniang and Ma Si tried to run away, but Zhao Yu hit them a few times and they obediently submitted. The three of them were thrown into the carriage where Jiang Jiao had been imprisoned earlier.
Jiang Jiao cried for a while in the dark woodshed, then heard the sounds of fighting and the bad guy begging for mercy in the yard. She moved towards the door, wanting to see what was happening outside, but she was tied to a large rock with hemp rope and couldn't move an inch.
Just when the noise outside subsided and she thought there was no hope, the wooden door of the woodshed was suddenly opened from the outside, and the handsome uncle in purple clothes that she had seen in the carriage earlier appeared before her like a god.
Wei Qiao stepped forward and quickly untied the hemp rope binding Jiang Jiao, then threw the handkerchief out of her mouth.
"Thank you, thank you, Uncle." Jiang Jiao threw herself into Wei Qiao's arms, excitedly.
Wei Qiao had no experience interacting with children like this, especially such a cute little girl as Jiang Jiao. He stood there helplessly, holding Jiang Jiao in his arms, and cast a pleading look at A Gui beside him.
Ah Gui waved his hand at him, saying that neither the prince nor he knew how to coax such a delicate little girl. All he'd seen in the Northwest for years were burly men; none of them knew how to comfort such a frail little girl.
Fortunately, Jiang Jiao wiped away her tears after crying for a while. Seeing that A Gui and Zhao Yu were behind Wei Qiao, she got out of Wei Qiao's arms and expressed her gratitude to them.
Wei Qiao decided to first take the three kidnappers to the government office and then send Jiang Jiao home. On the way back, A Gui drove the carriage, while Wei Qiao and Zhao Yu followed behind to prevent the three from trying to escape.
Jiang Jiao's family also had horses, and this wasn't her first time riding one, but she felt a special connection with this uncle. Wei Qiao rode his horse under Jiang Jiao's adoring gaze, occasionally glancing down at her crystal-clear eyes, and his heart melted like spring water.
Based on Jiang Jiao's description, she was taken back to Jiang's Steamed Bun Shop. Xi Chun and Chu Wei, who worked at the shop, both ran out to look for Jiang Jiao, while Zhao Xiaopeng stayed behind. When he saw Jiang Jiao return, Zhao Xiaopeng excitedly hugged her.
"Uncle, you must come to my house for steamed buns!" Jiang Jiao waved to Wei Qiao.
Wei Qiao smiled and nodded at her. Although he had only known this little girl for a short time, he felt a special fondness for her. When he saw her in the carriage, for a moment, he thought he saw Xi Chun in her eyes. This little girl looked somewhat like Xi Chun. She said she was five years old this year. If Xi Chun hadn't had that accident, his and Xi Chun's child would be this age too.
After delivering the ginger and pepper, Wei Qiao took the three kidnappers to the Yanzhou County government office. The magistrate, hearing that King Zhao had personally come, hurried out to greet them and promised to handle the case properly. Only after dealing with this matter did Wei Qiao turn back to Yongning Temple.
As Wei Qiao rode his chestnut-red steed past Xiushui Street, the main street of Yanzhou City, Xi Chun was asking about Jiang Jiao's whereabouts from house to house on the adjacent Banyan Tree Street.
"Boss, have you seen my daughter?" Xi Chun asked anxiously, gesturing to the man's face to resemble ginger and pepper.
The portly grocer waved his hand, saying he was too busy with so many things to pay attention to a little girl.
Xi Chun left the grocery store, wiping away the tears in her eyes. She continued to the next store. As it approached dusk, the number of people on the street gradually decreased, and Xi Chun's anxiety grew.
Two hours ago, Xiaopeng ran back to tell her that Jiangjiao was missing.
"Xichun, I...I can't find the ginger and pepper."
Her vision went blank for a moment, and she almost fainted. After finding out where they had gotten separated, she and Chu Wei went out to search for them separately.
In the steamed bun shop, Zhao Xiaopeng cried to Jiang Jiao, "Tuantuan, it's all Uncle Xiaopeng's fault, Uncle Xiaopeng lost you."
Jiang Jiao wiped away his tears and shook her head. "I was wrong too. I didn't hold on tight enough to Uncle. Uncle, don't cry. Let's go find Mother. Mother must be very worried because she can't find me."
"Okay, okay, Uncle will take you to find your mother."
The grocery store next to the steamed bun shop had also heard the news of Jiang Jiao's disappearance. Now that they saw Zhao Xiaopeng taking Jiang Jiao out to look for Xichun, they warmly said that there was no need to close the store and that they would help take care of her.
Chu Wei and Xi Chun met on Xiushui Street, both looking dejected.
"Chu Wei, I'm going to the government office to file a complaint. Jiang Jiao has definitely been kidnapped." Xi Chun said, and started running towards the government office.
Chu Wei wanted to follow her, but then she caught a glimpse of Xiao Peng and Jiang Jiao walking towards them.
"Mother!" Jiang Jiao called out to her mother as she saw her running forward.
Xichun stopped when she heard her daughter's voice, and turned around to find Jiang Jiao running towards her.
"Ginger and pepper!"
Xichun rushed to Jiangjiao and hugged her tightly. The mother and daughter wept bitterly on the bluestone street bathed in the setting sun.
Chu Wei and Zhao Xiaopeng both burst into tears. In the end, Chu Wei stepped forward to stop the mother and daughter, who were about to cry for what seemed like forever, saying, "Alright, Tuantuan is back, let's go home."
After dinner, Jiang Jiao told her family about her experience that day. Upon hearing that she had been abducted, Xi Chun was filled with lingering fear.
She stroked her daughter's soft hair, "If it weren't for that uncle, things would have been really bad." Jiang Jiao is so young; if someone took her to another place, she would never have been found again. Luckily, she met that kind man.
Upon learning that the kind person hadn't even had a cup of tea at home, Xichun felt very guilty. "This is our great benefactor; we should thank them properly."
Jiang Jiao nestled in Xi Chun's arms, inhaling the comforting scent emanating from her mother, and thought for a moment before saying, "I heard from that uncle's companion that they are going to Yongning Temple. Mother, we can go to Yongning Temple to find him."
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