Volume 1 Little Yuanba Chapter 22 The Savior and Servant
The waiter who was wiping the table in the canteen recognized him, was a little stunned and immediately ran to the back to report the news.
After a while, Han An came out first and asked with a smile: "What's going on, Sanlang? Haven't you had enough wine today?"
He was joking, but actually he didn't know why he came to "hijack the prison car" he mentioned in the Shanfang Restaurant and what the outcome was, so he was trying to tease him out of his words.
Of course Li Dan heard it and felt embarrassed. Apart from learning to write and paint, he rarely came to Han An's place. He didn't expect to see him twice in one day today.
"I have something to ask sir." After Li Dan finished speaking, he told about his desire to save Yueying:
"Being entrusted by others is a matter of loyalty. But I am young and have never experienced it. Sir, please help me think about it. Do you have any good ideas?"
"It's simple." Han An smiled and said, "Sanlang just takes the banknote and goes directly to the county government office and buys the person out.
When slaves like this are re-sold, a notice is usually required to agree on a date. However, the Chen family must have just been imprisoned, and the notice has not yet been issued.
Therefore, you can directly go to the county magistrate or chief registrar to make an agreement, then hand over the banknotes at the household room, and then take the recognizance voucher to the execution room to pick up the person.
But in this case, it will cost more than buying it from a dentist on the spot, after all, every joint in the room needs to be taken care of!"
After saying that, Han An looked at Li Dan and shook his head and said, "It is not appropriate for Sanlang to handle this matter in person."
"Why?"
"Your family has just withdrawn from the marriage of the eldest sister of the Chen family, and you go out to ask for his slaves. How will others guess and talk about you? So you can't go."
Li Dan looked back when he heard the sound, but it was Su Siniang who came out holding a candlestick and stood up hurriedly: "Hey, why did you alert the master's wife?"
He and Han An treated each other as master and apprentice in private, so there were no outsiders here, so they called her "Master's Wife".
"I asked the man to go to bed." Su Siniang told her husband first.
She was actually only in her early twenties, and her cloud-like black hair was tied loosely in a bun on the back of her head. A smile appeared on Han An's face when he saw her.
Su Siniang put down the candlestick, sat down under Han An, and said to Li Dan:
"Sanlang, when you are going to be a prime minister in the future, you must not let others take advantage of these trivial matters.
How could a son of a poet or a scholar go to the county government office in person to ask for a maid from the family of a criminal?
It’s better to let Ruobin (Han An’s nickname) take care of this matter for you!”
"Since Master Mu said this, how dare you disobey me? I just want to trouble Master Han to make a trip."
Originally Li Dan didn't care about fame, but when he thought about going to the emperor to ask for pardon for the Chen family, he secretly decided to go home and endorse it, and he followed his advice.
Although Han An lost his fame, he still opened a school in Beimen to teach enlightenment. Many people in the yamen sent their children to study and become literate.
He immediately said: "I will go to Master Liu early tomorrow morning. His son is studying in my school and he will definitely sell me this face!"
"That's great!" Li Dan was happy and asked again: "Is twenty taels enough?"
"It's just a little maid, how can I use twenty taels?" Han An smiled:
"The price is three taels of silver. The chief clerk and the housekeepers of each house will give a total of seven taels. This will be enough to have ten taels of silver. At this price, you can buy three girls in the market!"
"So cheap?" Li Dan only knew that there was a market, but had never experienced it. He was shocked when he heard this.
Su Siniang covered her mouth and smiled: "Brother, I am really a young master from a wealthy family. How can these lowly people know everything about them?"
Only then did Li Dan realize the weight of the five hundred taels of silver he had randomly arranged at the banquet.
"One more thing. I just went to the dock to see him off, and I just heard about Aunt Song from the Chen family." Li Dan told them Meng'er's words, and then said:
"Now that Aunt Song has been released and is missing, she is pregnant with Uncle Chen's flesh and blood, so we need to find her as soon as possible.
I'm worried that she, a woman, doesn't have much property with her, and there is so much chaos outside the city. If she escapes and falls into the hands of bandits, then I will be sorry for the entrustment of sister Chen's family."
"Is there such a thing? The captain didn't take her?" Han An and his wife looked at each other and said.
Li Dan said he was going to see him off, so how could there be any point in carrying an iron rod to see him off? It was obvious that he tried to stop him but failed, and was persuaded to come back.
However, the couple exchanged glances without anyone revealing it.
"She was originally a dowry maid of the first marriage, but later her aunt of the Chen family freed her from slavery.
Uncle Chen took over the house before he left last time, but he was arrested before he could report it after he took office. Therefore, neither the county nor the Nanzhili officials in Yingtian knew that there was a concubine in the family.
The lieutenant was also kind-hearted, he took some money without any fuss, and let her go with the help of the servants."
After Li Dan finished speaking, he sighed: "I don't know if he has run out now or is hiding somewhere in the city."
"Has anyone seen her appearance?" Su Siniang asked.
"This..." Li Dan scratched his head. Yes, this aunt had only seen her back at night, but she didn't know what she looked like.
"Hey, there is someone who I may have seen." He remembered: "Mr. Lao, the matchmaker, went back and forth between the Li family and arranged the matchmaking between the Li family. She was the one who finally broke off the engagement of my fifth brother. Maybe she has seen Aunt Song!"
"As long as someone has seen it, it will be easy to handle!" Han An thought for a while and said:
"Tomorrow Sanlang first greeted each city gate and asked his familiar brothers to keep an eye on her. But when she appeared, she would be lured to me.
Also, Ke Da, Yang Yi and the others took their brothers to look for him secretly in the city.
I guess she is a woman who, although she was freed from slavery, has never left the house since she was a child. She must have found a place to live in the city and most likely will not go outside the city."
"Could it be in some nunnery?" Su Siniang reminded.
Han An looked at her approvingly. His daughter-in-law was so smart. This was one of the things Han An was most satisfied with.
"If she has some money on her, it is possible. Baoding Temple in the city accepts pilgrims to stay, but it is more likely to be in Liuhe Temple in the south of the city. There is also Zhen Jing Guan two miles outside the east gate, which is also Kun Dao. Maybe there
.”
He thought for a moment and said these three things.
"I remembered that Auntie Chen's family is a believer, and she seems to have gone to Zhen Jing Guan to stay and recuperate for a few days.
Aunt Song is a person close to her and must have been there with her at that time. It is very likely that she will settle down in a familiar place after she leaves the house." Li Dan patted the table gently and said happily.
"In that case, I will come and search all these Taoist temples, nunneries, and Buddhist halls tomorrow!" Su Siniang said proactively.
"Well, it's up to you to do this. It's convenient for a woman to find a woman." Han An nodded.
So everyone decided that tomorrow Li Dan would first go to Mrs. Lao to find out about Aunt Song, and then arrange people to search for her in the city while waiting for news about Su Siniang.
With both things accomplished, Li Dan felt much more at ease.
I asked Yang Lianjiao about his food and accommodation, and went to the back to take a look at Zaoliu. I found that it was much more energetic than during the day, so I clapped my hands with satisfaction and went home before the watch (between eight-thirty and nine o'clock).
As soon as I climbed the tree, I saw two green fires jumping over the yard.
Li Dan shouted softly: "Er Maozi, don't scream." After saying that, he fell from the branch to the top of the wall, and then climbed into the courtyard.
Immediately, the two green flames came over and rubbed against him. Li Dan grinned and took out the lotus leaf bag given by Su Siniang from his arms, tearing it open to reveal a few bones inside.
The Ermaozi was so busy dealing with food that he couldn't take care of the little master.
He entered the door cautiously and turned around to see Song Xiaoniu and Bei Xi standing in front of him with smiles on his face.
"Oh, you two, are you trying to scare me to death in this dark sky?" Li Dan angrily pulled the lantern away from Song Xiaoniu's hand, and Li Dan couldn't laugh or cry:
"Are you using this thing to take a picture of me or yourself? What a big green face!"
"He came to show the way with good intentions, but why did Sanlang curse others when he entered the house?" Song Xiaoniu felt aggrieved.
Li Dan glared at him: "How can you not scare people when you put yourself under the lamp? At least let me see Beixi's little face first, so that my heart won't burst out of my chest!"
At this time, I heard someone in the room ask: "Who is outside? But brother is back?"
"Auntie hasn't gone to bed yet?" Li Dan handed the stick to Xiao Niu: "I'm going to tell my aunt something, and I'll have to find you later."
Song Xiaoniu responded and walked to the wing with Bei Xi, who was pouting. Li Dan went to the door first to greet his aunt, and Zhen'er lifted the door curtain and signaled: "Sanlang, come in and talk."
Li Dan entered the room and saw Xiao Qian wearing plain clothes without any jewelry. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, with a low table beside her, lighting an oil lamp, and mending some clothes.
"My aunt is very frugal. Why don't you light two candles when you have to do some work?" Li Dan sighed: "It will hurt your eyes if you light such a light!"
"It doesn't matter, it's just a pair of your pants. If there's a hole in the back, I'll take it and patch it up. It's almost done." Xiao Qian stopped and said with a smile:
"Don't you want me to chew five wolfberry fruits every day? That stuff is really good for the eyes and very effective!"
"Then don't waste your time like this. Auntie can just leave these tasks to Beixi from now on. Why do you have to do it yourself again?"
Xiao Qianshi smiled slightly: "You are going on an expedition, how can you not make some preparations at home?"
"Ah? Auntie already knows?"
"Beixidu told me, and in the evening someone came from the Yamen and told me about it directly."
Seeing her calm and calm look, Li Dan felt a little at a loss. "They decided to separate the family just like this. Auntie, isn't she angry?"
"What's there to be angry about? If they secretly colluded to plot against us, we would inevitably suffer a loss due to the large number of people there. Now that they are openly going to the county government, it will be difficult for them to use their methods.
I used to think that it would be enough to keep my sister’s and my dowry, but now my grandfather is indispensable in this endeavor. Wouldn’t it be great if the inheritance from my father’s generation is divided?
So let’s divide it. Let’s go out and live alone and buy a house or a farm. It’s much better than living under someone else’s roof here.” Little Qian giggled:
"Third grandma called me over this afternoon. She meant not to make trouble with the people in front of me, but to move out as soon as possible and wait for the division of property and family."
It has been ten years since she returned home with a coffin, and she seems to be sitting in a dark box, enduring the need to raise her sister's flesh and bones.
Even if someone else has the final say in this family, even if she is ridiculed openly or implicitly, she feels that she can endure it for Li Dan, just waiting for the day when he becomes an independent adult.
Unexpectedly, this day came suddenly without too much fighting or frustration. Why didn't this make her happy?
Now she unexpectedly heard that the county appointed her stepson as the leader of the civilian husband team, responsible for 60 people! This made her even more happy. Look at my Sanlang, he has been entrusted with important tasks at the age of fifteen!
"When you come back, if the county magistrate can reward you with a job, our own family will be established. So you have to live up to your expectations!"
"Auntie, aren't you worried that if I join the army, I might go to the battlefield?" Li Dan asked again.
"Well, I heard from the officials in the yamen that you are just carrying loads of food and grass, but you are still far away from the thieves.
There are many officers and soldiers in front of us. When will it be my master’s turn to go into battle and kill the enemy? Is that okay?”
Xiao Qianshi paused and said, "Furthermore, I also asked Mavericks and his uncle. Ma Jiu said that with your ability, you can't get close to more than ten people. What should I worry about?"
"Oh, Uncle Ma Jiu said that? Does he have anything else to say?"
"He seems to be saying that you should get everyone together as soon as possible, practice hard for a few days, and then set off... well prepared."
"Okay, kid, remember it!" After hearing this, Li Dan felt calm and quickly made a plan.
"Auntie, now that we have separated, we can no longer live in this yard. We must buy or rent a place to move there as soon as possible.
What do you think our charter is, and where is the house? My son will go to the county office tomorrow, and when he comes out, he will ask someone to find a place."
"It doesn't matter where it is, it should be quiet. You know I don't like noisy. It's up to you to rent or buy." Since Li Dan was about to become the head of the family, Xiao Qian simply let him make the decision.
After returning from his aunt's place, Beixi was about to ask him if he had taken a shower, but Li Dan said, "Send Brother Niu here. I have something to ask him to do tomorrow."
Bei Xi sighed, but reluctantly went to the kitchen to call Song Xiaoniu who was waiting there.
"Sanlang, I thought you were going to bed when you came back, but it's already so late..." The calf sat on the stool diagonally across from it, causing it to creak.
"My aunt and I will move out soon." Li Dan said. Xiao Niu and Beixi were both stunned.