After traveling for ten days, Yang Cui fell ill due to the change in environment, and they had to stop in Siping County.
Yang Cui's illness terrified her entire family, young and old.
The children were terrified that Yang Cui would fall ill and die, so they all stayed by her side with tears in their eyes.
After drinking bitter Chinese medicine for two consecutive days, Yang Cui's fever finally subsided.
"Why did you get up?" Cen Xiao saw Yang Cui trying to get up and immediately went to help her.
"Am I that delicate?"
Are you hungry?
"I'm a little hungry, I want something spicy."
"You're still sick, eat light food, be good." After coaxing Yang Cui, Cen Xiao called out to Xi Hongmei outside, "Go and get the food for Madam."
Soon Xi Hongmei brought over the food, a light chicken porridge, but Yang Cui was really hungry and drank a big bowl of it.
After the meal, Yang Cui asked Xi Hongmei to buy a bag of candied fruit. She had been drinking too much Chinese medicine these past two days, and she felt that her burps tasted like Chinese medicine, and her mouth always tasted bitter.
"This store makes pretty good candied fruit. I can buy more to eat on the road tomorrow."
"Rest for another day tomorrow, and wait until you are fully recovered before continuing your journey. There's no rush."
“Okay, let’s go for a look around tomorrow. We’ve been traveling so fast this time that we haven’t had a chance to really enjoy ourselves. Next year when we go back to our hometown, we won’t have to rush like this. We can stay a couple more days in each place and experience the local customs and culture.”
"I'll do whatever you say."
...
The next day, the family went out shopping.
As a result, Yang Cui found that there was really nothing to see. It wasn't as lively as Wan'an County, and the food didn't suit their tastes either, as the dishes were generally bland.
After taking an extra day off, they set off.
It was late September when we arrived in Kyoto, and the weather was starting to get cool.
The children were unusually excited, lifting the curtain to look around: "Kyoto is so much bigger than Wan'an! The streets are so much wider."
“Mother, look at the Star Gazing Tower, there’s a Star Gazing Tower here too…” Sanya had barely finished speaking when the carriage suddenly came to an abrupt halt.
"Can't you watch where you're going? Are you looking for death?" Yang Cui heard Ma Quan shouting loudly outside.
"Save me, please save me, sob sob..." A woman's cries came from outside.
"What happened?"
Dao Ba reported, "A woman suddenly ran out onto the road and was almost hit by our carriage."
Just as Dao Ba finished speaking, a man's voice came from outside again: "Your father has already given you to me, you are mine now? Run? Where can you run to?"
"Let me go, let me go! Help me, someone please help me! Waaaaah..."
Upon hearing this, Yang Cui lifted the curtain and peeked outside, just in time to see the woman crying with tears streaming down her face.
Upon seeing Yang Cui, the woman knelt down with a thud: "Madam, please save me, please save me."
She cried and kowtowed at the same time.
"She's so pitiful," Er Ya said with some sympathy.
"How much money does she owe you?" Yang Cui asked.
The man replied, "Her father has already given her to me."
Yang Cui knew that gambling was not illegal in ancient times, even if one used their wife and daughters as stakes, it was not illegal, it was just a matter of morality.
"Madam, please, have mercy and save me! I'll serve you like a cow or a horse, a slave or a maid to repay you! Please, please!" The woman kept kowtowing until her forehead bled.
"I'll give you ten taels of silver, you can let her go." With that, Yang Cui took out ten taels of silver and threw it in front of the man.
“Madam, her father owes me fifty taels of silver. Since he couldn’t pay it back, he gave her to me to pay off the debt.”
Yang Cui threw out another forty taels of silver.
The man picked up the silver and said to the woman, "You're lucky; you've met a benefactor."
"This servant Qinglan thanks you, Madam. Qinglan is willing to serve you like a dog or a horse."
"No need, you should leave now and not block the way."
Yang Cui could lend a hand, but she couldn't bring back people of unknown origin. This was Kyoto, and she had enemies there, so she had to be careful.
Upon hearing this, Qinglan became anxious: "Madam, I can do anything, I'm willing to do anything. If you help me, I'm willing to be your slave."
My father is a compulsive gambler. Even if I return home, I will still be sold. Madam, please help me! I'm willing to do anything, any dirty or strenuous work.
“Madam, since you are willing to spend fifty taels of silver for her, why not go all the way and help her to the end?” A man dressed as a scholar stepped forward and said.
Yang Cui said, "You're so kind, why don't you help her? You're dressed quite well, why don't you take her back and save her from this misery?"
The scholar was speechless for a moment. After Yang Cui said that, he looked at Qinglan's appearance and actually had such thoughts.
Qinglan's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately said, "Madam spent fifty taels of silver for me. I should rightfully belong to Madam. Please grant my request."
"I have no shortage of servants in my household. If you want to sell yourself, you can go to a slave trading company."
Yang Cui couldn't possibly bring someone of unknown origin into the mansion, but now that this woman was determined to follow her, Yang Cui couldn't help but suspect that she had ulterior motives.
The carriage started moving again, and Qinglan chased after it for a few steps, but two legs could never catch up with four.
"The general is back! The general is back!" The doorman shouted as soon as they arrived at the door, and then several people came out.
"General, you're finally back."
Yang Cui lifted the curtain and saw a group of disabled people surrounding the carriage. What was going on?
Cen Xiao said in a low voice, "They are all veterans who retired from the battlefield. I will tell you more about them later."
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
