Chapter 282: Chapter 282. Whose Child
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
An Guanglu’s heart skipped a beat, and he asked the soldier who came to report,
“Are they children of the Hu or the Central Plains?”
“Children of the Central Plains.”
The soldier quickly answered when he saw the commander. Someone brought the group of children out of the west wing. Both boys and girls were around three or four years old. Most of them were frightened and had tears on their faces. They looked timidly at the soldiers in the courtyard, but no one cried out. They all cried silently.
“Whose children are you?”
An Guanglu walked over and asked them gently.
Seeing that An Guanglu wasn’t fierce, the children wanted to talk to him but couldn’t make a sound. Seeing that these children couldn’t speak, An Guanglu frowned and wondered,
“What is the Wan family up to? Why did you get a bunch of mute children?”
One of them was a boy who was dressed in brocade. He looked like he was carved out of jade. He was very bold. Even the adults would be afraid with so many armed soldiers in the courtyard. Not only did he not cry, he looked at them curiously with his big black eyes.
“What’s your name?”
An Guanglu liked this cute and quick-witted little boy a little. He had a kind smile on his face when he talked to him.
The little boy pointed at his throat and shook his head at him. Then, he pointed at the corpse on the ground. His chubby hands clenched into fists with an angry expression.
While An Guanglu was questioning the child, a team of soldiers arrived at the courier station where Ji Shuisheng was staying. They chased everyone downstairs and interrogated them one by one with the shop owner’s registration book.
Everyone had to take out the customs clearance doc.u.ments. Those who could not take out the doc.u.ments were taken away on the spot.
Ji Shuisheng took out the official doc.u.ment he had brought with him. On it was written the purchase of Mo City. The officers and soldiers took it over, glanced at it, and then looked up at Ji Shuisheng. They returned the doc.u.ment to him because he was from the Central Plains.
These soldiers had stayed at the courier station for a long time. Not only did they read the doc.u.ments, but they also asked them what they were doing in Jin City. The interrogation was very detailed.
Ji Shuisheng was the only one who was more relaxed and was not questioned. The soldiers took one of the men who could not tell what he was doing in Jin City.
Ji Shuisheng was hurrying to Pearl Mount, but the City was full of soldiers now. He feared arousing suspicion, so he could only wait for the soldiers to withdraw before leaving. The things he purchased included blacksmithing equipment.
The soldiers searched the entire City and captured many people, especially the Hu people. They caught everyone they saw without asking why they were in Jin City.
Ji Shuisheng was worried about those children, so he took advantage of the dead of night to secretly check on the An family’s military base. He was only relieved when he saw that those children had been rescued and taken good care of.
On the third day, when the An family army withdrew from the City, the City finally calmed down. Ji Shuisheng hurriedly went to buy a carriage. When he drove the carriage to the blacksmith shop, he saw the blacksmith who had raised the price standing at the shop entrance, looking out.
When he saw Ji Shuisheng leading the carriage, he was enthusiastic as if he had seen a relative. He ran over and held Ji Shuisheng’s hand without letting go.
“I’ve been waiting for you. You said that you would come to fetch things the next day. Why are you only here now?”
The blacksmith’s tone was filled with complaints and grievances. The City had not been peaceful for the past two days, and he wanted to leave Jin City as soon as possible.
“I can’t do anything about the soldiers searching the city.”
Ji Shuisheng briefly explained why he did not come and asked the blacksmith to load the things into the car.
He asked the blacksmith to load the carriage while he led two carriages to fetch the grain. The shopkeeper of the grain store was not as anxious as the blacksmith. Anyway, the grain he was not in a hurry to sell. If he sold it two days later, the price would increase.
After Ji Shuisheng packed the carriage in the grain store, he went to load the bedding before returning to the blacksmith store.
The blacksmith had already loaded everything into the cart and anxiously awaited Ji Shuisheng’s return.
“This is the remaining silver. Count it!”
Ji Shuisheng had only paid the deposit and settled the balance after checking the goods.
The blacksmith counted back and forth three times and said to Ji Shuisheng with a smile,
“All right, all right.”
Ji Shuisheng nodded and connected the three carriages. He led the first carriage out of the City.
After walking for a while, he stopped and placed the newly bought bedding on the blacksmith tool cart as a cover before leading the carriage out of the City.
When he arrived at the city gate, he found that the guards were even stricter than the day he came. Not only were they checking people who wanted to enter the City, but they were also checking people in the City.
Ji Shuisheng was a little worried. He wanted to see if he could get out by mixing with many business carriages.
Sometimes, it was just a matter of luck. Ji Shuisheng was very lucky. When he found the caravan in front, it was time for the officers to change shifts. Everyone thought that Ji Shuisheng was with the caravan, and no one checked him before he sneaked out of the City.
The journey to Pearl Mount was very safe. There were no inspections or hara.s.sment from the Hu. Other than the caravans, there were only a few refugees.
To stay away from these people, Ji Shuisheng drove the carriage forward, leaving them all behind.
After entering the mountain, he turned off the mechanism and asked Qu Da and the others to come out and help him move the goods. Qu Da and Jiang Cheng only heaved a sigh of relief when they saw that Ji Shuisheng had returned safely. They could not help but complain to Ji Shuisheng,
“We thought something happened to you. We were so worried.”
“I did run into something
Ji Shuisheng briefly explained what had happened in Jin City and instructed Qu Da and the others,
“Don’t go to Jin City for the time being. It’s not peaceful.”
During the few days that Ji Shuisheng was gone, Qu Da and Jiang Cheng did not idle either. They built two furnaces and mined a pile of iron ore. The mine holes were all supported with wood and planks to ensure safety.
In the past few days, everyone had been working very effectively. Ji Shuisheng was very satisfied. The soldiers under his father were all capable people. He also helped set up complete forging equipment and watched Uncle Qu and the others refine the first batch of iron before leaving.
Ji Shuisheng left Pearl Mountain in three carriages. He wanted to go to Luo City to fill up the three carriages before returning to Mo City with Yang Zhi and the others.
Before Ji Shuisheng could reach Luo City, he met Yang Zhi and his brothers, who were in a hurry. They were not wearing the clothes of the escort firm, nor were they wearing the escort flag. Everyone in the escort firm was riding on horses. The horses were almost flying.
Yang Zhi did not even notice Ji Shuisheng galloping past him. Ji Shuisheng hurriedly shouted at him,
“Brother Yang.”
“Phew.”
The horse was suddenly pulled to a stop and stood up. When Yang Zhi heard Ji Shuisheng’s shout, he suddenly pulled the reins. It was very dangerous.
“Shuisheng? Why are you here?”
Yang Zhi rode back on his horse. He looked exhausted. His head and face were covered in dust, and his eyes were blue. His entire face had lost weight as if he had not slept for a few days.
“I’m going to Luo City to find you after I’m done with my business.”
Ji Shuisheng vaguely explained but didn’t say what he would do. Seeing Yang Zhi’s hurried appearance, he asked with concern,
“Brother Yang is in such a hurry. Did something happen?”
“Something did happen.” Yang Zhi sighed.”
“Can I help?”
No matter what, they were good friends and would be long-term business partners. Ji Shuisheng could not sit idly by and do nothing.
“Brother Ji is busy; let’s settle it ourselves!”
Yang Zhi hesitated for a moment. In the end, he didn’t ask Ji Shuisheng for help. Mo City couldn’t leave Shuisheng, so it was better not to involve him.
Ji Shuisheng saw that Yang Zhi was embarra.s.sed to call him, so he said,
“Brother Yang, you don’t have to be so polite. Maybe 1 can help!”
“It’s not me; it’s Second Master Su’s family..”