Enter Chang Xiangsi and help Jingzhai fight

Chapter 258 Searching

Not long after I returned, Miss Jin Xuan invited me to visit her, saying that she had found a suitable candidate.

I went to her room with the letter I wanted her to help deliver.

There were two women standing in her room, one was thin and strong, the other was tall and plump.

The thin girl bowed and said, "Meet Miss Yu. We are from the Hong Escort Agency. I am Hong Chunfang, responsible for driving the carriage, and she is Bu Qinglei, responsible for protecting the girl with the other two sisters. Please give me your guidance on this trip."

Seeing that they looked so righteous and that they were chosen by Jin Xuan, I felt relieved. I thanked Jin Xuan, paid them half of the money, and asked them to accompany me to the slum to pick up Wang Shiba's niece.

Sure enough, when the landlord saw that I had raised the money so quickly, he started to haggle about the cost of childcare, kerosene and firewood. I was too lazy to say more and just gave him one hundred and twenty taels.

He wanted to ask for more, but Qinglei behind me glared at him and he dared not say anything.

His wife handed me Wang Qiaobin, who was wrapped in rags.

Qiao Bin woke up at this time, in good spirits, sucking her fingers. The first thing she said when she saw me was: "I'm hungry!"

I knew that these two people must not have fed the child enough, so they fed Qiao Bin like a bean sprout. I gave them a cold look and hurriedly took him away.

After getting on the carriage, I first invited the four people who escorted me to the South City Restaurant for a good meal. They were flattered and thanked me repeatedly.

Qiao Bin might have had his first full meal in recent times, his little belly was full and he hugged my neck with a smile.

After they were full, I carried Qiao Bin out of the restaurant, planning to go to the south of the city to ask about Xiao Yin.

As soon as I went out, a ragged little beggar stretched out his hand to me and said, "Madam, please be kind and give me something to eat!"

Qinglei was afraid of startling me, so she hurriedly stopped her. I also subconsciously handed Qiao Bin to a bodyguard beside me.

But I felt like I had heard this voice somewhere before. I looked at her against the light for a while and saw that she was a thin girl.

I calculated my age in my mind and sighed that it was effortless. I asked tentatively, "Xiao Yin?"

She was stunned for a moment, then looked at me carefully: "Young Madam, do you know me?"

I lifted my veil and whispered, "Qingshui Town."

She was shocked and said, "Miss Lanxiang?!"

I shushed her and said, "It's not convenient to talk here. Come with me to the car."

Xiao Yin said shyly, "I...I'm dirty."

I pulled her over and said, "Don't be afraid. Come with me."

In the car, I listened to her recount what happened next.

Seeing that I couldn't catch up with her and get on the carriage, and that she was being chased by Xuan, she was afraid that all her efforts would be wasted if the pursuers came, so she listened to me and rushed out of the city without looking back no matter what happened.

It was quite smooth to leave the city and arrive at a nearby town. She was afraid that the carriage would be remembered by the people near the city gate and chased after them, so she abandoned the original carriage on the side of the road and changed to a smaller one. She also bought a lot of medicine, fed Tu Shanjing and applied it, and sent him all the way to Qingshui Town. When she arrived in Qingshui Town, she did not dare to stay too long. She put him on the river bank near Huichun Hall and watched him from a distance until the people of Huichun Hall took him in. She escaped back without talking to anyone as I said.

I asked her, "How did you end up like this? Where is your brother? Where are the relatives you went to?"

Xiao Yin cried, "They... after they spent all the money we brought with us, they changed their attitude and sold my brother to another place! Later, they wanted to sell me to a brothel, but I escaped. They were afraid that the matter would be exposed, so they fled overnight."

I touched her wrinkled hands and said sadly, "Thank you for your hardship! Don't worry, I will definitely help you find your brother."

After that, I called Qinglei and the others into the car and said, "I want you to protect her and help her find her brother who was sold to another place. Can you take this job?"

Qing Lei nodded: "That's easy. I'll send a letter to ask my friends in the escort agency to check it out."

I thanked him, "Thank you very much. I will give you some gifts after the matter is done." I took out a handful of banknotes from my pocket, picked out a few and handed them to Xiao Yin, saying, "Here are five hundred taels, take them first. I will ask that sister to send you to their escort agency to live first, it's safe there. When your brother is found, you can find a job, and if anyone bullies you, go to the Hong Family Escort Agency and ask them to help you. I will deposit another five hundred taels in the Li Rong family's bank, if you need it urgently, you can go there to withdraw it."

Xiao Yin bowed deeply to me and said, "Thank you, young lady! You saved my brother and me twice!"

I helped her up: "You traveled a long way and took risks to escort the people I wanted to protect. I want to thank you!"

After giving her a few more instructions, I asked a female bodyguard to take her to the Hongmen Escort Agency.

As soon as the car curtain was lowered, I hugged the little and soft Qiao Bin in my arms and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This trip was not in vain.

With the carriage, the journey became more comfortable, but it was still slower than riding a horse. After more than four months away, I finally returned to Qingshui Town.

I was afraid that the carriage would be too conspicuous, so I thanked Qinglei and the others outside the town, let them drive the carriage back, and I carried the urn on my back and held the sleeping Qiaobin in my arms back to my residence.

It was afternoon, and the shop had a closed sign, as I expected.

I found the key to open the door and sent Qiao Bin to the back. Xiao Wei was not there, but there was a half-cup of tea on the table that was still warm. The basket for shopping in the kitchen was also gone. I guess she went to the market to buy some food.

I heard a faint knock on the door in the front hall of the shop, but it was not clear, so I walked over to the front hall.

This time I could hear it more clearly; there was indeed someone knocking on the door.

I asked, "Who is it?" as I walked to the door.

"It's me." Gui Fangduan's voice sounded outside the door.

I stood there motionless for a long time before I came to my senses. He was not in a hurry and was waiting patiently outside the door.

Finally I raised my hand to open the door, and he flashed in.

"You, how do you know I'm here?" I looked at him, his appearance hasn't changed much from back then.

What changed was his eyes, which lost some of their former youthfulness and became a little more gloomy and profound.

"It's really you..." he murmured.

"I'm sorry, I should have contacted you earlier, but I didn't know how—"

Before I could finish, his eyes were red, he stepped forward, held my shoulders, and said in a tearful voice: "Do you know how long I have been looking for you?! It was almost dawn when I got rid of my third uncle and the others that day. I went to the west city gate, and Xiaoshun said you didn't come at all. I went to find Jinxuan again with a glimmer of luck, but she said she didn't see you either, so I panicked. I heard that four people were chopped down in the south of the city that morning, and there was a woman among them. I was so scared that I immediately went to ask people, but fortunately you were not among them. You just disappeared like that, and I looked for you day and night until I found a carriage outside a nearby village. Inside was the clothes you wore that day, all covered in blood..."