Chapter 536: Companions
Qin San Lang and Gu Jinli had a habit whenever they arrived at a new place: to observe the local terrain first. They were now in Le'an Street to the north of the Jiang Residence, and the two had already familiarized themselves with the area during their last visit.
When Qin San Lang followed Gu Jinli to an intersection, he took a swift turn into it, then slipped through a shortcut and circled around to the back of the little beggar, reversing the roles and began following the little beggar instead.
The little beggar knew some fighting skills, but was no match for Qin San Lang, completely unaware that he was now the one being tailed. He carefully followed Gu Jinli, eager to find out where they were heading.
Seeing that Qin San Lang was nowhere to be seen, Third Grandpa hurriedly asked, "Where has San Lang gone?"
Gu Jinli replied, "He's gone to buy some food for me."
She said this to prevent Third Grandpa from worrying and to avoid the trouble of having to explain further.
After hearing this, Third Grandpa scolded her, "You always have San Lang running errands. You should handle small matters yourself and only seek San Lang's help when you truly cannot manage."
"Okay," Gu Jinli agreed succinctly.
With that said, the group continued to follow Old Uncle Cheng towards the Jiang Residence.
Before long, they returned to the Jiang Residence.
Old Uncle Cheng said, "Elder Gu, I'll take care of the arrangements for these servants. You all rest for now; dinner will be ready in half an hour."
He also carefully asked what dishes they would like to have.
The Old Master and Second Young Master had given strict instructions to treat the Gu Family and their entourage well, not to neglect them in any way.
Third Grandpa smiled and said, "We're folks of the countryside; we're not fussy about food. Any warm meal would do."
Old Uncle Cheng nodded with a smile, "I understand."
With that, he led the servants that the Gu Family had brought along and went off to the servants' room, arranging for them to stay there.
Gu Jinli found Han Liu and greeted him, "Uncle Xiao Liu, I'm going out for a bit. You stay here and protect Third Grandpa and the others. If Third Grandpa or Auntie asks about me, cover for me."
Han Liu had noticed the little beggar too. The reason he hadn't followed San Lang to apprehend the person was because he feared falling for a deceitful scheme to lure the tiger away from the mountain. Upon hearing the plan, he said, "Alright, I'll keep them safe."
He also advised Gu Jinli, "If anything goes wrong, you, Young Master, should escape first. It doesn't matter if San Lang gets caught. He's a lad with good skills; he'll find a way to escape on his own."
Gu Jinli, twirling a dagger in her hand, replied, "Mmm, Uncle Xiao Liu can rest assured."
With those words, she swiftly turned and slipped out through the back door of the Jiang Residence, making her way to a narrow alley not far from there yet seldom travelled by anyone.
At the end of the alley was a dilapidated hut, beyond which lay a wasteland thick with tall weeds.
This spot was discovered by her and Qin San Lang the last time they disguised themselves to poison the Li Family. After completing their task, they had used this route to return to the Jiang Residence.
Qin San Lang was already waiting there, with a small beggar tied up, gagged, and kneeling by his side.
The little beggar was just over ten years old, dressed in ragged clothes, but his face was very clean and he didn't emit any foul odor, indicating that he was a new beggar who still retained the good habits from his former home, such as washing his face and bathing.
Qin San Lang saw Gu Jinli and approached, saying, "The person has been caught. He knows some martial arts, but he's very restrained in his attacks, does not randomly strike at people's vital points, and uses the fighting techniques of a constable and an escort master. I reckon it has something to do with the five little escort masters we've just bought."
Gu Jinli listened and nodded, then walked over to the little beggar and said to him, "Did you hear that? We already know all about you. If you don't want anything to happen to Qiu Lang and the others, you'd better tell us why you're following us, otherwise…"
She smiled like a villain, "I will sell Qiu Lang and the others to work in the mines."
"Wu wu wu!" The little beggar was terrified and shook his head while crying.
After being frightened by Gu Jinli, Qin San Lang felt it was time to act. He walked over and removed the cloth from the little beggar's mouth, saying, "Who exactly are you? What is your purpose in following us? Are Qiu Lang and the others harboring any unsavory intentions by selling themselves into servitude? Speak!"
The last word "speak" carried a sharp tone, scaring the little beggar once more. After steadying his mind, he hurriedly said, "I, I'll tell you."
The little beggar was indeed tracking them because of Qiu Lang and the four others, but his intention was only to find out where they had been sold to, so he could save enough money to redeem them later. He did not mean to do anything bad.
The reason Qiu Lang and the others sold themselves into servitude was to save the lives of their remaining companions.
Qiu Lang and his group were from the Changshun Escort Agency in Yongtai Prefecture. On the night Yongtai Prefecture was taken over by Peng Changyong and his men, the escort masters of Changshun Escort Agency fought desperately to help these young ones escape.
But Peng Changyong and his men came from the border army, equipped with real weapons for combat. The Dong Family of Changshun Escort Agency had already fled with half of their escort masters when Yongtai Prefecture became unstable, leaving those who remained at the escort agency no match for Peng Changyong and his men. After sending the youngsters away, the remaining guards of the escort agency were all killed by the pursuing soldiers.
"My father and Uncle Qiu… they died like that… We couldn't even retrieve their bodies to lay them to rest," the little beggar cried miserably.
After crying, he continued, "Afterward, Brother Lang led us south, all the way to He'an Prefecture. However, we had no identity records or money, we couldn't settle down and become residents. My younger brother and Sister Li became ill, always with a high fever and sleeping in delirium. To raise money for their treatment, Brother Lang could only lead Brother Ah Duo and the others to sell themselves, using the indenture silver to buy medicine and seek treatment for Sister Li and the others."
At this point, the little beggar cried even harder, "But the total indenture silver Brother Lang and the others got was only five taels. It was enough to buy medicine for Sister Li and the others for only two days… Sister Li and the others became sicker and sicker, and since yesterday, they haven't woken up… Wu wu wu… We don't know what to do, and we're worried that Brother Lang and the others would be sold to unknown places, so we waited at the government's doorstep, trying to follow Brother Lang and the others to see where they were sold so that we can find them later…"
The little beggar kept knocking his head on the ground, pleading with Gu Jinli and Qin San Lang, "Brother and Sister, I beg you, please don't sell Brother Lang and the others to work in the mines. It's all my fault, I bow and apologize to you. Please don't sell Brother Lang and the others."
Qin San Lang stared at the little beggar for a while before turning to look at Gu Jinli and giving her a meaningful glance. The two walked to a slightly more distant spot, and he said, "He doesn't seem to be lying."
Gu Jinli nodded, "He has a very faint scent of medicine on him. It seems there is indeed someone sick at home."
Qin San Lang asked, "What do you want to do?"
Gu Jinli looked at Qin San Lang and said, "Of course, save them."
Granting grace, after all, is a good way to win over the loyalty of servants.
And since the Dong Family of Changshun Escort Agency had already fled with their family, and there was no young master from the escort agency among the sick, there was no concern that after she saved them, Qiu Lang and the others would listen to their young master instead of her.
It was worthwhile to save them.
Qin San Lang also thought of her desire to grant grace to win over people's hearts and nodded, "It's feasible. You also wanted to buy more people anyway."
He added, "However, we must sign a binding contract with them. If they are not willing to sign, then we cannot keep them close by."