Chapter 82 - 2#
World 4: You Are the Snow on the Branch#
Qin Qing looked straight at Liu San and asked, “This matter carries some risk. I wonder if you are willing to contribute your efforts?”
Liu San lowered his head, appearing to be deep in thought.
Two paths now lay before him: one was to become a bandit, living a life of hiding and fear with his wife and daughter from then on.
The other path was to uprightly accept the job from the Marquis’s residence. Not only could he receive a monthly salary to feed his family, but he could also protect his fellow villagers, and he wouldn’t be conscripted into corvée labor, forcing him to leave his wife and children.
In fact, the village had also organized a patrol team, but because there was no pay, it was dangerous, and it wasted time that could be used for working elsewhere, so not many able-bodied men were willing to do it.
Now that the Marquis’s residence was willing to provide money and grain, and even help pay taxes and exempt them from corvée labor, the situation was completely different.
Actually, even if the Young Marquis hadn’t come to find me, Liu San, just by casually letting out the word, all the able-bodied laborers from the surrounding ten miles and eight villages would probably rush to the Marquis’s residence to fight for this job. The Young Marquis coming to find me shows he thinks highly of me!
Thinking of this, Liu San slapped the table and roared, “I’ll do it!”
On one side was a bloody storm and an uncertain future; on the other was living and working in peace and contentment, smooth and steady. Even a fool would know how to choose!
Jiang Feishi, whose calculations had fallen through: “…”
After slapping the table, Liu San realized that the person sitting opposite him was the Young Marquis, and he shouldn’t refer to himself as “Laozi,” so he hurriedly stood up to apologize.
Qin Qing waved his hand and laughed heartily, not minding at all: “Brother Liu is indeed straightforward. Then it’s settled. You gather the men here, bring them to the Marquis’s residence tomorrow to register, and start patrolling the day after. When registering, the Marquis’s residence will issue one month’s salary in advance to solve your urgent needs.”
The phrase “urgent needs” really spoke to Liu San’s heart. He was highly skilled in martial arts and could often hunt prey, so he didn’t worry about food and drink, but his brothers under him were all on the verge of running out of food.
Starving people are countless times more terrifying than wild beasts!
Liu San looked at the women and girls wandering ceaselessly outside the courtyard, feeling desolate in his heart. Finally, he bowed deeply and thanked Qin Qing.
Jiang Feishi also smiled and thanked the Young Marquis for his great benevolence and righteousness, but in reality, he was slightly displeased. His plan had been ruined by this Young Marquis before it had even begun.
For the safety of the Marquis’s residence, the Young Marquis had really come up with a brilliant move. As long as the nearby able-bodied men were gathered under the Marquis’s command, the bandit problem would naturally be eliminated. With such a good livelihood, who would be willing to leave their families to become bandits in the mountains?
Those who had already become bandits might even secretly run down the mountain upon hearing the news and mix into the patrol team.
Of course, if the Young Marquis managed his subordinates poorly and flaunted his wealth too much, he might be bitten back by this team. Perhaps one day in the future, the Marquis’s residence would be burned to the ground by soaring flames.
Men in troubled times were each comparable to jackals and wolves. Only tigers and leopards could deter jackals and wolves, not a delicate rabbit.
Jiang Feishi smiled slightly and did not remind the naive Young Marquis.
Ye Li also thought of the various benefits and hidden dangers, but didn’t know how to point them out. He was currently just a “stupid and ignorant” boor.
While he was struggling with this, Ye Li suddenly heard the Young Marquis say in a trusting tone, “Ye Li, your martial arts are strong. You will manage this team.”
Being suddenly “put in an important position” by Qin Qing, Ye Li felt a lift in his spirits. Without thinking, he straightened his back and said in a deep voice, “Young Marquis, please rest assured. This lowly one will definitely manage this team into complete submission!”
He could command thousands of troops and horses; what were a few villagers to him?
The corners of Jiang Feishi’s slightly upturned lips stiffened.
Liu San looked at Ye Li seriously, his gaze lingering for a long time on the other’s eyes, which were overflowing with murderous aura and shooting blood-red light. He then said submissively, “I ask Brother Ye for much guidance in the future.”
The matter having been settled, Qin Qing stood up, looked at Jiang Feishi carefully, and turned to leave.
“You’re right, he’s not a good person.” A sigh resounded in his heart.
996 hurriedly agreed: “Right, right, right, there isn’t a single good person around you. Don’t trust anyone, don’t like anyone, let’s just live our own lives well!”
Qin Qing did not respond to this sentence. He walked out slowly, and just as he reached the courtyard gate, he heard a burst of desperate wailing from not far away.
“Husband, I beg you, don’t sell Cao’er! That’s a brothel! Cao’er is only seven years old this year, she can’t go to that kind of place! I beg you, I beg you, husband!”
Qin Qing turned his head to look and saw a skeletal woman who had been wandering by the roadside earlier, now hugging the leg of a middle-aged man and begging bitterly. The middle-aged man was holding a scrawny girl in his hand, handing her over to a short, fat man sitting on an ox cart.
The middle-aged man seemed not to hear his wife’s wailing or his daughter’s sobbing at all.
“Give me the silver.” He held out his hand, his eyes full of greed.
“Is this woman of yours for sale?” The short, fat man reached out and pinched the woman’s jaw, forcing her to open her mouth, and checked her teeth from side to side.
This was the way of trading livestock, yet it was used on a human. But such was the world right now. In troubled times, people were worth less than dogs.
“Sell, sell, sell! Just give me half a tael of silver!” The middle-aged man nodded with great joy.
“Husband, don’t! Fusheng is still small and needs someone to take care of him. Don’t sell me to that kind of place!” The woman was stunned for a moment, then cried even more miserably.
“Get the hell out of here!” The middle-aged man kicked the woman fiercely, then casually threw the daughter he was holding onto the ox cart, shouting impatiently: “A total of one and a half taels of silver, give it to me quickly!”
The short, fat man took out the silver from his bosom, weighed it carefully, and then placed it in the middle-aged man’s palm.
A three or four-year-old boy ran out from a nearby courtyard, hugged the middle-aged man’s leg, and said, “Daddy, I’m hungry!”
His mother and sister were grabbed onto the cart, crying and shouting, but he only looked on ignorantly, showing no sorrow or reluctance. His little head contained only two words—eat rice.
This was the cruelest aspect of human nature under the oppression of hunger. As long as a single heir was left to carry on the family line, wives, mothers, and daughters could all be sold for money, or even exchanged with others to be cooked as “two-legged sheep.”
The middle-aged man picked up his son and said cheerfully, “Daddy has money now. Daddy will take you to the city to eat at a restaurant!” Having taken the money from selling his wife and daughter, he only intended to squander it, without considering their livelihood.
Qin Qing stood where he was, silently watching this scene.
Ah Niu and Ye Li’s fists were already clenched, but due to their status, they couldn’t rush up to save them.
Jiang Feishi and Liu San had long been accustomed to this, and just stood at the door with indifferent expressions.
Seeing that the middle-aged man had received a lot of silver for selling his wife and daughter, many people came out of their houses, blocking the short, fat man’s ox cart and constantly asking about the situation.
“I only want young girls. If anyone’s wife is beautiful and has a good figure, you can bring her for me to see,” the short, fat man said loudly.
Thus, the entire Liu Family Village became lively. The women and girls who had been wandering on the dirt road were caught by their families like chicks and dragged in front of the short, fat man.
Some women and children struggled and cried, some had numb faces, and some asked with hope: “Can we eat our fill if we go to the brothel?”
The short, fat man chuckled and said with a face full of lewdness: “I’m afraid you’ll eat too much and burst!”
Hearing this, the women and girls who had been struggling and crying actually quieted down, accepting their fate of being sold.
One must live first before one can maintain dignity. Somehow, Ye Li remembered Qin Qing’s words, and a fire of rage burned in his chest.
If he hadn’t traveled in disguise, he probably would never have seen such a miserable situation.
“Young Marquis, can you buy them?” Ye Li asked hoarsely.
If he were Li Suye, he would execute these beasts who bought and sold women and girls to put an end to such tragedies, but unfortunately, he was nothing right now.
Jiang Feishi and Liu San also looked silently at Qin Qing, with expectation in their eyes.
They wanted to save people, but they were villagers. What would it mean to buy all their neighbors’ wives and daughters? Where would the money and grain come from to feed so many people in the future? If more villagers came to their door with their wives and daughters, asking them to buy them, what should they do?
In these troubled times, only doing evil was taken for granted, while doing good would harm oneself!
Sister-in-law Liu hugged her daughter tightly, shivering with fear. She was very fortunate to have married a capable and honest husband, so that she and her daughter didn’t have to be sold like livestock.
The sound of crying had stopped, and the short, fat man’s cheerful laughter came constantly. In the past, it took five taels of silver to buy a person, but now he could keep driving the price down, down to half a tael or even a few hundred copper coins.
In order to sell their wives, daughters, and even old mothers, these villagers called out lower and lower prices.
Human life was worthless in these troubled times!
“Young Marquis?” Ye Li called out again.
Qin Qing withdrew his pitying gaze and sighed: “If I buy these people, tomorrow there will be even more people going to the Marquis’s residence to sell their wives and daughters.”
“Selling to the Marquis’s residence is better than selling to a brothel,” Ah Niu said, suppressing his anger.
“I can buy the women and children of one village, but I cannot buy the women and children of a whole city. Saving people is not done this way.” Qin Qing still refused.
“Young Marquis, please be kind and buy them.” Ah Niu began to take out his purse: “I have saved some silver, I’ll give the silver to you!”
Ye Li also reached for his purse, anger burning in his chest.
He didn’t understand why Qin Qing could watch this happen helplessly. Was his kindness only directed at certain specific people? He could look after Xiao Dengzi, and he could give the young men of the nearby villages a way to live, but he couldn’t save these women and girls?
For him, this should be a simple matter, right? The Qin family had more silver than they could spend!
Was it because women and girls were weak and useless? Was raising them a waste of grain, so he refused to save them?
Ye Li’s face was already gloomy.
Just then, Qin Qing suddenly said, “Yesterday, I found a hair-nourishing prescription in an ancient book.”
Ye Li: “…Young Marquis, who has the mind to nourish hair now? We can’t even survive! Is your hair more precious than human life?”
The short, fat man lifted the girls and women onto the cart one by one, emitting greedy laughter. Those villagers even took the initiative to bring ropes and tied up their wives and daughters like piglets.
Ye Li’s hand secretly touched the short knife at his waist, ready to reveal his identity.
But at this moment, Jiang Feishi chimed in: “My grandfather was a famous doctor far and wide. I also know a few characters and have inherited his mantle. May I ask the Young Marquis to reveal the ingredients in the prescription so I can help you study it?”
Qin Qing turned to look at Jiang Feishi, his eyes flashing with interest: “The prescription is like this…”
He named the medicines one by one, his radiant eyes looking Jiang Feishi up and down, unable to believe that this person had actually understood his intention.
“So it’s this prescription!” Jiang Feishi pretended to suddenly realize: “This prescription has a most peculiar aspect that the Young Marquis has not stated, is that not so?”
Qin Qing smiled sincerely, his face slightly reddened by the sun like a newly blooming peach blossom, both pure and vibrant.
Jiang Feishi’s face heated up, and his heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
Ye Li’s hand on the short knife paused, his gaze fixed on Qin Qing’s brilliant smiling face, his emotions surging for a moment. This was a magnificent scenery he had never seen before, yet it was caused by another person.
Qin Qing smiled at Jiang Feishi and said slowly, “The most peculiar thing is that all the medicinal herbs in this prescription must be picked, processed, and decocted by women or girls with their own hands to be effective. Men are full of filthy qi, and they cannot touch any of the herbs.”
Jiang Feishi pointed to the surrounding green mountains and laughed: “It’s quite a coincidence. The forests around here are full of the medicinal herbs the Young Marquis needs.”
“Where can I find women and girls to pick herbs?” Qin Qing immediately followed up.
“This commoner will help you recruit women and girls to pick herbs. May I ask how much wages the Young Marquis can offer?”
“The herbs will naturally be purchased at market price, which Mr. Jiang must know best. The wages for women and girls are one tael of silver per month, with one meal of white rice and a few steamed buns provided daily, complete with meat and vegetables. Could Mr. Jiang please help me spread the news? The Marquis’s residence will start recruiting tomorrow.”
“I will go tell the villagers now and see whose women and girls can go to work.” Jiang Feishi cupped his hands and left, chuckling.
This Young Marquis is really interesting! In this way, how regretful will those who sold all the women and girls in their families be now?
How many days can the few hundred copper coins the human trafficker gave them last? But working for the Young Marquis means receiving a monthly salary continuously, and the herbs are paid for separately—the more they pick, the more they earn.
The various herbs the Young Marquis listed can be picked from summer until winter. A monthly income of one tael of silver is enough to ensure a large family doesn’t go hungry. Families with many women and girls can even get several taels of silver every month, which is a considerable income.
This account cannot be calculated; once calculated, those beasts who just sold their wives and daughters will probably be so angry they’ll vomit blood!
Thinking of this, Jiang Feishi chuckled again, unable to resist turning his head to look fixedly at the Young Marquis.
With such a person inheriting the title, it would be a pity if the Tai’an Marquis’s residence were to be raided and the clan exterminated.
Sister-in-law Liu could no longer hold back. She pulled her daughter, squeezed past Liu San, and asked excitedly, “Young Marquis, can my daughter and I help you pick herbs?”
“Of course. Just don’t go deep into the mountains, and call the village patrol team to go with you when picking herbs.” Qin Qing walked to the carriage and said with a smile.
Ye Li hurriedly knelt on one knee, using his knee and arm to help Qin Qing onto the carriage shaft. He was becoming more and more skilled at this action.
“Thank you, Young Marquis! I’ll bring my daughter to work tomorrow!” Sister-in-law Liu smiled so much her mouth almost split. Her husband ran around outside every day, risking his life to earn a meal for her and her daughter, and they felt heartache too!
Now it was finally good. She and her daughter could earn silver every month and even eat a full meal at the Marquis’s residence! Life finally had hope!
Sister-in-law Liu thanked the Young Marquis profusely and saw his carriage off to the village entrance, two lines of grateful tears flowing from her red eyes. The little girl stood beside her, dancing with joy upon hearing that she could also earn money.
This was the most beautiful scenery in the troubled times, because it implied joy and hope.
Ye Li and Ah Niu: “…”
The two who had been so anxious they almost pulled their knives were now very embarrassed. There was no need to pretend; they were indeed brainless boors.