“Madam, what are you doing?”
Zuo Feifei quickly helped Guan Xiaorou to her feet.
“Madam, this is only right. If it were not for you and the master saving us, we would still be suffering in the bandits’ lair!”
“Exactly, we are all one family. Madam, saying that makes you seem like an outsider!”
The female workers around them all waved their hands and spoke polite words.
But the expressions on their faces gave them away.
No one wanted the people they had risked their lives to save to turn out to be ungrateful wolves.
Guan Xiaorou’s words had truly touched their hearts.
But just at that moment, a shrill cry rang out from the side.
“Ah Yue sister, wake up!”
Everyone turned to look. Beside the mountain path, on a rock, a female worker with a soot-blackened face sat on the ground desperately shaking her companion in her arms.
When she saw Guan Xiaorou approaching, she pleaded towards her, “Madam, please save Ah Yue sister! I beg you, save Ah Yue sister!”
By now the sky had darkened and the fog was thick. Guan Xiaorou could not see clearly.
Only when she came closer did she realise that the companion in the female worker’s arms had a ferocious wound on her face. Her left ear was gone, blood had soaked half her clothes on the left side, and blood was still unconsciously flowing from her mouth. She looked extremely miserable.
“Army doctor! Quick, call the army doctor to save her!”
Guan Xiaorou turned and shouted loudly.
After shouting, she reached to pull out a handkerchief to wipe the wound, but when she felt inside, she realised the handkerchief was inside her armour.
“Ah Yue sister, hold on a little longer. The army doctor will be here soon!”
It was hard to squat in armour. Guan Xiaorou simply knelt on the ground, using her hand to press the wound while comforting her at the same time.
Perhaps the touch to the wound stimulated Ah Yue. She, who had been half unconscious, slightly opened her eyes.
Because she was too weak to turn her head, she did not see Guan Xiaorou. She only saw the female worker holding her.
“Little… Little Qian, you are still alive… that is great…”
Ah Yue said weakly, “I… I am afraid… I am going to die…”
“Ah Yue sister, you will not die!” Little Qian shook her head while crying.
“Do not speak… listen to me…”
Ah Yue interrupted Little Qian, “My mother said… if a person dies and no one visits the grave… they will become a lonely ghost… When I die… do not bury me here… bury me in our back mountain… When you have time, go and visit me… There is silver under my pillow… it is all for you…”
In the folk legends of Great Kang, if no descendants offered sacrifices and no one swept the tomb, the soul would become a wandering lonely ghost.
In feudal times, most common people were superstitious and cared deeply about this.
Ah Yue was still a young girl. Where would she have descendants?
She could only entrust her best friend on her deathbed to make offerings for her.
Before Little Qian could reply, Guan Xiaorou spoke, “Ah Yue sister, rest assured. I will definitely take you back!”
“M… Madam?”
Only then did Ah Yue notice Guan Xiaorou. She struggled, trying to raise her hand to wave at her.
But her arm lifted only halfway before it could go no further.
Seeing this, Guan Xiaorou quickly reached out and held her hand.
“Since Madam says so… I can rest easy.”
Ah Yue gave a weak smile, “Thank you… Madam!”
“Has she signed the marriage contract with the master?”
Guan Xiaorou turned to look at Little Qian.
“Yes, everyone who came this time has signed!”
Although Little Qian did not understand why Guan Xiaorou asked, she still nodded while crying.
“Ah Yue, since you have signed the marriage contract with the master, you are a member of the Jin family. You are my sister!”
Guan Xiaorou said sincerely, “Rest assured. Not only will I take you back, I will also set up a spirit tablet for you. In the future, during the three festivals and four seasons, I will go to burn incense and make offerings. I will never let you become a lonely ghost!”
“Can I be written into the family genealogy… can I have a spirit tablet?”
Ah Yue suddenly seemed to have a burst of energy, asking excitedly, “Will the master agree?”
According to Great Kang customs, concubines had no right to be entered into the family genealogy. When they died, they were simply buried somewhere casually.
Only those concubines who had made great contributions to the family or were especially favoured by the family head might be written into the genealogy.
As for a spirit tablet, that was unthinkable. Only the main wife had that right.
“The master will definitely agree. I guarantee it to you!”
Guan Xiaorou nodded heavily.
She already understood Jin Feng very well. She knew he did not care about feudal customs.
If he knew what happened today, there was a ninety-nine percent chance he would agree.
“Thank you, Madam…”
When Ah Yue heard this, she gave another weak smile. The last breath in her heart finally relaxed. Her arm fell limply.
“Ah Yue sister, rest assured. I mean what I say!”
Guan Xiaorou gently laid Ah Yue’s hand down and asked, “Where is her ear? Find it. When we go back, I will sew it on for her!”
“The ear… the bandits cut it off…”
Little Qian said while crying.
“Why would the bandits cut off ears?” Guan Xiaorou frowned and asked.
“I heard they use ears to exchange for reward money…”
“What?”
Guan Xiaorou stood up abruptly.
By now the female workers had already gathered the bodies of their fallen companions. Guan Xiaorou went over to look. Sure enough, the ears of almost all the dead female workers were missing!
Guan Xiaorou’s eyes instantly turned red. She swayed a few times and had to hold onto a rock to steady herself.
But inside her heart felt as if a huge stone was blocking it. The pain made it almost impossible to breathe!
Tears poured from the corners of her eyes like a spring.
When Zuo Feifei saw this, she quickly stepped forward to support Guan Xiaorou.
Just as she was about to offer some comfort, an escort guard on horseback stopped in front of them.
He did not know what had happened here. He dismounted, cupped his fists towards Guan Xiaorou, and reported, “Madam, we have captured all the bandits. Brother Tie sent me to ask you how to handle them. Should we send them to Heishui Gully or keep them locked up separately?”
Running away meant turning your back to the enemy.
So once one side on the battlefield began a large-scale rout, what awaited them was slaughter.
At that point, it all came down to luck.
If you were lucky and ran fast enough, you might save your life.
If unlucky and caught by the enemy, death was almost certain.
There was only one mountain path nearby. Where could the bandits run?
How could their two legs outrun warhorses?
So they were quickly overtaken by Liu Tie’s cavalry.
The Zhen Yuan Escort Agency’s reputation for not killing prisoners had long spread. When the bandits saw they really could not escape, they simply threw down their weapons and knelt by the roadside to surrender.
The bandits were completely terrified. Liu Tie could not be bothered to slaughter them. He led the cavalry straight to the front, then turned around and herded them back like sheep.
This group of bandits was not ordinary. Liu Tie did not dare decide on his own. While questioning the bandit chief, he sent someone to ask Guan Xiaorou for instructions.
“How many did we capture?” Guan Xiaorou raised her head and asked.
“We did not count one by one, but it looks like four or five hundred.”
“Four or five hundred…” Guan Xiaorou nodded and said, “Go tell Liu Tie to kill them all!”
“Kill… kill them all?”
The escort guard suspected he had heard wrong.
