Chapter 56
Chapter 56
“How was I supposed to know? That little brat was vicious. She smashed a hot sticky rice cake covered in sugar oil right into my face, then poked my eyes and pulled my hair.”
And worst of all, that little brat had kicked her in the chest several times. It hurt like hell.
Who could have imagined a child could pull off that many attacks in such a short span of time?
“Enough. Let’s head back first.”
None of them noticed that the very person they were discussing was quietly tailing them at that very moment.
Jiang Yunsui hesitated for a few seconds between going to look for Ji Yan’an and following these human traffickers. In the end, she chose to follow the traffickers first.
She would find out where they were hiding before anything else.
Facing the backs of those traffickers, Jiang Yunsui clenched her little fists and threw a fierce flurry of punches at the empty air ahead of her.
Too bad she couldn’t beat them. She couldn’t beat even one of them, let alone a whole group.
She followed them all the way to a small shop and watched as they greeted the shopkeeper and the waiter.
When she saw the shopkeeper and waiter warily glance around after they went in, Jiang Yunsui immediately knew these people were in league with the traffickers.
She hurried after the traffickers upstairs.
She watched them open the innermost room on the upper floor.
Afraid they would close the door once they entered, Jiang Yunsui broke into a little run and slipped inside in a flash before the last person stepped in.
“Ow, what just bumped into me?”
The man at the back lowered his head warily to look, but he found nothing.
“You drank too much, that’s all.”
“Hurry up and come in. Close the door.”
By then, Jiang Yunsui had already found a place to hide inside the room.
She saw them carry two unconscious children into an inner chamber.
They soon came back out. Jiang Yunsui could faintly hear crying from inside-children’s voices, and it seemed like there were women’s voices too.
“Shut your mouths, all of you, or I’ll cut out your tongues!”
Under that threat, the sobs were forcibly muffled.
Jiang Yunsui thought: All right, I’ve remembered this place!
Now the only problem was how to get out.
The traffickers came back out.
“Damn it. Wang Hu picked the worst possible time to fall from power.”
“How many Jie Tribe women did we catch this time?”
Jie Tribe women had golden hair and snow-white skin, and they had become fashionable among wealthy circles in the Central Plains a few years ago.
The men competed with one another over them, which had driven the price of Jie Tribe women very high.
The Jie Tribe lived in oases out in the desert, very far from this place.
Some Jie Tribe people would also come to Mobei to trade.
These traffickers had set their sights on the Jie Tribe people here.
Of course, if they could abduct other children along the way, that was good too.
Pretty girls, regardless of age, were either sold into wealthy households or, as the second option, to brothels.
Those without good looks were sold in the slave markets.
The market for boys was a little smaller. They were mainly sold to families desperate for a son but unable to have one, or to wealthy households as pageboys.
Jiang Yunsui crouched silently on the floor and listened to them talk for quite a while before the door was opened.
Several more people came in.
“Get ready. We’re leaving tomorrow.”
The man who entered had a scar across his face. One look was enough to tell he was the kind of outlaw who lived with his head on the line.
The man sat down and took a sip of water.
“Boss, can we get those people out?”
The Scarred Man said, “I received news that two tribes on the grasslands have gone to war. The men and women of the defeated tribe were all captured, and most of them will be dealt with as slaves. I know one of the slave traders, so I slipped him some silver. All our group has to do is leave with them.”
“Good. That makes things much easier.”
In an era when the buying and selling of slaves was legal, matters like this were unavoidable.
Jiang Yunsui took advantage of the waiter coming in to deliver food. The moment the door opened, she darted out.
She had to hurry and find Ji Yan’an.
At that very moment, Ji Yan’an had also sent people everywhere to look for Jiang Yunsui.
Jiang Yunsui remembered the way home, but she didn’t recognize any of the people searching for her. She merely glanced around in confusion. There sure were a lot of people carrying sabers and patrolling the streets today.
She jogged all the way back to the Ji Mansion and pushed open the door to Ji Yan’an’s room.
Ji Yan’an rose to his feet. “Did you find-”
He thought it was Nanmo or Nanshu coming in, but when he looked over, he found Jiang Yunsui standing in the doorway with an innocent little face.
Ji Yan’an: “…”
Heh.
“Jiang Yunsui. Come here.”
Little Mushroom’s instincts instantly went on alert. Danger, danger…
Not only did she not go over, she turned around, worked her short little legs over the threshold, and tried to run.
“Ji Si!”
A certain Little Mushroom failed to escape and was caught.
She was lifted up like a little chick being grabbed by the scruff.
Ji Yan’an had already walked over to her. He pinched her little cheeks and tugged.
“So you still know how to come back, hm?”
From his calm voice, Jiang Yunsui heard the anger he was forcing down.
She shrank her neck and gave him an ingratiating smile.
“My legs grew on me, so of course I know how to come back.”
Ji Yan’an’s voice turned chilly. “Then why don’t we just get rid of those legs? That way you won’t run around everywhere.”
Jiang Yunsui: (ಥ_ಥ)
Little Mushroom shook her head frantically, tears welling in her eyes.
“No, no!”
Ji Yan’an snorted coldly. “Run off again without saying a word next time.”
Jiang Yunsui obediently shook her head. “I won’t dare anymore.”
Ji Yan’an said to Ji Si, “Go tell Nanmo and the others to come back.”
Jiang Yunsui followed behind Ji Yan’an like a little tail.
“Ji Yan’an, are you mad?”
Ji Yan’an said nothing.
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
She carefully coaxed this big child.
“The county office was so boring. I just wanted to go out and buy something to eat.”
Ji Yan’an cast her a sidelong glance but still said nothing.
Jiang Yunsui lowered her head and poked her fingers together. “Then… then I saw two aunties fighting, and they blocked my way.”
As if Ji Yan’an didn’t know her by now.
“Heh. More like you got too absorbed watching the show and forgot, didn’t you?”
Jiang Yunsui quickly shook her head. “No, no.”
It was just that the guilt in her eyes couldn’t be hidden at all.
“Oh, right, Ji Yan’an. I ran into human traffickers.”
Jiang Yunsui hurriedly changed the subject.
Ji Yan’an’s heart lurched. “Are you all right?”
Seeing that he still cared about her, Jiang Yunsui felt secretly delighted.
As long as he wasn’t angry anymore~
Then her little mouth started chattering away, telling him all about how she beat up the traffickers and later followed them to their lair.
But the more she talked, the uglier Ji Yan’an’s expression became.
By the end, her voice had grown very small.
Ji Yan’an glared at her. “Do you think you’re very impressive?”
Jiang Yunsui didn’t dare speak.
She felt that if she answered yes, she was going to get a beating.
Ji Yan’an’s voice was stern. “Do you know that if they had discovered you, it would have been no different from a lamb walking straight into a tiger’s den?”
Jiang Yunsui said, “I hid really well.”
Her voice was aggrieved. She had clearly done a good thing, so why was she still being scolded?
Little Mushroom puffed up with anger. She twisted her little body, turned her back to Ji Yan’an, squatted down, and poked the ground with her fingers again and again. Mad!
Ji Yan’an pointed at Jiang Yunsui, so angry he almost laughed. He wasn’t even this mad himself.
Was this little maid’s temper getting bigger and bigger?
And another thing-ever since Cook Chen died, this fellow had started calling him Ji Yan’an, and he hadn’t objected. But afterward, she’d truly paid less and less attention to him as her master. Every day, it was Ji Yan’an this and Ji Yan’an that. Had he ever said anything about it?!