As evening approached, the bandits finally left the shop. Yin prepared to secretly leave with Qingyan through the back door. She felt a little uncomfortable having spent the whole day in the teahouse.
They went shopping, but ended up spending the whole day relaxing in a teahouse.
Unlike the teahouses in Beijing, which often feature storytelling or similar activities, these teahouses are purely for tea tasting. The customers are generally merchants traveling between China and Europe, who have plenty of money, and some of them have even settled down here.
The women were very happy when they returned.
On the street, you can often see a man with a high nose and blue eyes walking with a petite girl. His doting gaze makes the girl smile.
Qingyan felt a pang of sadness. Back then, in order to understand the Qing Dynasty, she had specifically looked up some old documents. These women had been deceived by those merchants. Some of them had families in Western Europe and could not be taken away with them. In their later years, these women might not even have the chance to attend their funerals, let alone inherit their assets.
Unless they have no heirs in Western Europe, these people will take the deceased to their side before they die and take good care of them. Western Europe is eyeing the Qing Dynasty covetously and looks down on people with yellow skin and black eyes. This is not the world hundreds of years later.
Even centuries later, those self-proclaimed orthodox European elders will still discriminate against Asians.
He coldly observed the lewd way the bearded men looked at the merchants' wives. These women spent most of the year alone in their rooms, and unless someone was a servant obeying the master of the house, almost no one would tell the master.
Tu Lichen reported on the situation in the small county town in the private room, which made Qing Yan gasp in surprise.
"Tu Lichen, where did that woman who went out earlier go?" Qingyan knew that woman and had even investigated the girls who were given to the Crown Princess. They didn't have any twin sisters, so there certainly wouldn't be any similar sisters.
“We’ve already investigated, but we lost track of them halfway. They used four identical carriages, each heading in a different direction. My men could only follow them from a distance and couldn’t be sure which one was the real person. We were worried about an ambush, so we withdrew immediately,” Tu Lichen said directly.
She pursed her lips. These people's scheme was very straightforward. They probably hoped that by having her appear in front of them, they would fall into the trap they had dug. Unfortunately, not only did they not fall in, but they were also preparing to follow the clues.
"Master, let's go back as soon as possible. The bandits hiding outside are starting to gather at the back door of the teahouse," Su Peisheng said to Yin as he entered.
"Hmm, Tulichen, go clear the obstacles first. Su Peisheng, bring the carriage over." Yin looked at the people below. After suffering losses, the Mongolian tribesmen had gradually become cunning and were now causing trouble.
"Yes!" Su Peisheng and Tu Lichen replied.
"Those people outside haven't moved, have they?" She tilted her head and glanced outside; the beards were still in the same place.
"They sent two groups of people." Yin had to admit that he had underestimated his enemy.
He had to be careful when facing a progressive enemy, and it was really wrong to judge people with old perspectives.
"Two groups?!" She looked at him in surprise. What was going on? Two groups of people?
"Yes, there are two groups of people. It seems they weren't sent by the same tribe." His worst fears had come true.
The alliance of the Mongol tribes was bad news for the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Kangxi had already sacrificed a great deal of manpower to prevent the Mongols from joining forces.
"Tulichen, send someone back secretly to personally inform Father Emperor: beware of the Mongols, they have joined forces." Those bearded men were a group, divided into two parts to stake out the teahouse.
Their origins are roughly known; several major Mongol tribes were involved, with the Khorchin people being the most numerous.
Back then, the Empress Dowager instructed Emperor Kangxi and his princes that the bottom line was to prevent the Khorchin from gradually joining forces with the Mongol tribes. That would certainly cause trouble for the Qing Dynasty. In the past few years, apart from not providing any preferential treatment in marriage alliances, Emperor Kangxi had generally given them some consideration.
"Fourth Prince, are you telling the truth?" Tu Lichen dared not say more, as reporting this matter would definitely offend Kangxi.
The person who reports this must be carefully chosen; at the very least, they must be exceptionally intelligent and understand Kangxi's temperament. Otherwise, before they can even deliver the message, Kangxi will have them beaten to death.
"Fourth Master, this servant plans to send four men to the camp via an impassable route." Tu Lichen had a bad feeling and tried his best to make all the necessary preparations.
Yin pondered for a moment, then instructed Tulichen to do it. Putting everything else aside, going to the camp in four directions would be a good opportunity to check just how much power the Mongol leaders controlled.
“Yes, this will work. We’ll send two groups of people. Tulichen, you pick groups of eight, and they’ll head to the camp from four different directions. One group of eight will depart in the morning, and the other in the afternoon.” Yin was a little worried that the eight people in the morning might all be wiped out.
Saito and Eshuo exchanged a glance. They tried to stay close to Qingyan to prevent anyone from causing trouble.
"Fourth Master, are you preparing eight people?" Tu Lichen asked in surprise.
Yin nodded, and was about to speak when the voices of the guards that Tulichen had sent out to clear the road came from outside.
"Commander, everything has been cleared. Please allow the masters to leave as soon as possible." This was the first time the guards had faced the bandits head-on. Looking at the weapons they used, they had to admit that they were better than those used by the personal guards of many Mongol tribal leaders.
It's clear that these people have powerful backgrounds; they must be from large tribes like the Khorchin.
"Okay." Yin took Qingyan's little hand and prepared to leave. He glanced back outside and saw that the bearded men were still waiting in the same spot, unaware that the people at the back gate had been taken into custody.
Qingyan was held in his hand, her face tense. As soon as she stepped out of the private room, she felt the tense atmosphere. She hid tightly behind him, her big, watery eyes scanning the surroundings.
Tulichen's guards surrounded the road leading to the inn. Few commoners passed through this area, and the bandits realized this, believing that as long as they guarded this place, they would be safe.
"These narrow alleys are the easiest to get blocked. Let's hurry. How long is it to get to the carriage on the street?" Yin glanced at the narrow passageway, feeling a little annoyed.
Only the three of them could walk side by side at a time. He pulled Qingyan behind him into his arms and let Saito and Eshuo accompany the two of them.
"Yes!" everyone quickly agreed. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
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