“Jin… what?”

Lin Yuchan was in a daze. The oil lamp’s faint light illuminated half of Young Master Su Minguan’s face, outlining his young, clear features. That gentle and measured temperament from before had suddenly vanished, his entire being radiating a sharp and cold aura.

His face bore the unique pride of youth as he bowed in return.

She murmured, “That’s not right, Jin Lanhe is already dead…”

Heroically sacrificed, head severed from body, his head hung high by the authorities, staring at her for most of the day. She clearly remembered every detail of where the bloodstains were on that rough face!

The first scene she saw upon arriving in this world was that shocking red, that cruel scene deeply carved into her nightmares – she would never forget.

“Heaven and Earth Society bandit leader Jin Lanhe.”

Could it be, as folk legends said, that Jin Lanhe had returned from the dead, his ghost causing chaos everywhere, stirring up the whole city…

But Su Minguan’s mind was clear and lucid – he didn’t look at all like someone possessed by a ghost!

A very martial arts-like plot suddenly flashed through her mind: a young and capable martial arts leader, narrowly escaping the villain’s clutches through life and death, with only a body double having died…

This plot was too retro; it shouldn’t happen in the Great Qing!

All these wild thoughts occurred in an instant. Su Minguan was quickly giving orders: “Both entrances have guards. Everyone must muster their strength, remove the wall bricks, and exit from the riverside. Time is tight, don’t delay – oh, and call me Minguan. Having fallen to this state, let’s not worry about ceremony.”

Everyone quietly responded in unison, dragging their injured and exhausted bodies, finding wooden sticks and iron pieces on the ground, and began dismantling the wall by hand.

Light rustling noises filled the entire warehouse. The deathly stagnant air was stirred into ripples.

Su Minguan frowned again, asking: “Why so few people?”

The bearded man from earlier sighed and answered: “The other brothers had bad luck – they’ve already been put on ships, said to be sold to Peru. Sigh, the Qing court is vicious – not only wanting our lives, but making us die in foreign lands, never to return!”

Su Minguan’s expression darkened. He nodded and said no more, reversing his gun handle to begin prying the mortar between brick joints.

After removing one brick, he noticed Lin Yuchan standing there dumbfounded, looking like she was questioning life itself, even forgetting to close her mouth.

He couldn’t help but be amused. This intruding girl brought great entertainment to today’s events.

He kindly explained: “I’m not a ghost…”

Suddenly remembering that day in the mass grave when this girl had nearly scared his soul out of his body, thinking she was possessed by a ghost, making quite a fool of himself.

Today, by coincidence, he had finally regained face by scaring her back. Su Minguan was in high spirits, his smile deepening.

“A’Mei, help out. If we slip away before others notice, you can still return to the Qi manor for the second half of the night’s sleep.”

Lin Yuchan shook her head in confusion, repeating like she was possessed: “Isn’t Jin Lanhe already… already dead… that head…”

“Jin Lanhe is a title, not one person.” Though slender in build, his strength was considerable. He removed half a wall brick with his bare hands while multitasking to educate her. “The Heaven and Earth Society is divided into five ancestors and five branches, with Jin Lan County representing Guangdong. During the Kangxi era, the chief helmsman Chen Jinnan was called Immortal Crane, so later society members honored the crane. Jin Lanhe is the title of the Guangdong provincial branch leader, passed down to me as the seventh generation. The authorities don’t understand and think it’s a person’s name – hey, don’t just stand there dazed, help out.”

Lin Yuchan obediently squatted down, working alongside Su Minguan III, foreign trading company comprador, Jin Lanhe VII, Heaven and Earth Society Guangdong branch leader, pigeon cage liberator, young white master, moving bricks together.

Heavy rain poured down, raindrops drumming into mud pits with thunderous noise, completely covering the sounds of their wall renovation work.

She asked: “How long have you been this branch leader? How many people are under you?”

Su Minguan gestured with his eyes: “Just what you see here. The rest, after last year’s failed uprising, have been slaughtered by government troops, with barely any survivors. The previous branch leader – the one whose head hangs on the city wall, that Jin Lanhe – was an old friend of my family. I called him Uncle. After my family was condemned, it was entirely due to his protection that I could grow up safely. He was my benefactor who gave me a new life. When he died from severe injuries with no one beside him, he had no choice but to pass his mantle to me, asking me to contact society members from other provinces to plan a comeback.”

Lin Yuchan asked: “Then why are you at Jardine Matheson & Co…”

Su Minguan’s lips curved in a slight, cold smile: “Overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming doesn’t produce silver coins. I need to eat.”

He spoke quickly, and after explaining the basic information, he fell silent again, imperceptibly frowning slightly.

He thought of that head hanging on the city wall, eyes that wouldn’t close in death, and with some self-reproach, discovered that his feelings for that person weren’t as deep as he had described to Lin Yuchan.

When mentioning “overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming,” he also didn’t feel as passionate as other society members. Jin Lanhe always said he was too young to understand the blood feuds contained in those four words.

He had schemed endlessly, deceiving foreigners and tea merchants to reach this point today, mostly just for the word “responsibility.”

What about after completing his responsibility? He definitely couldn’t return to Jardine Matheson & Co. From now on, he had nothing.

He extinguished these thoughts and casually pointed to the gun at his waist, smiling: “Look, this is Jin Lanhe’s token. If you hold it, you’re also Jin Lanhe – hey, don’t look at me like that. I don’t plan to occupy this branch leader position. Once today’s people are rescued, I’ll resign and leave. Didn’t you covet the foreign gun? I’ll give it to you.”

Lin Yuchan didn’t dare take up this topic and instead asked: “You’re a young master from the Thirteen Factories – how would your family associate with… anti-Qing people?”

Su Minguan was surprised instead, laughing: “A’Mei, are you really from Guangzhou? In the past, half the merchants in the Thirteen Factories were society members. Since the Thirteen Factories were major taxpayers, the court turned a blind eye and rarely investigated – I thought everyone knew this.”

Lin Yuchan: “…”

The Great Qing was truly doomed.

She sorted through her thoughts and suddenly said: “But you didn’t follow his instructions – you still stayed in Guangzhou.”

Su Minguan suddenly looked at Lin Yuchan with a resentful expression: “I had already packed my luggage, just thinking of old friendship, wanting to risk paying respects to Uncle before leaving…”

Lin Yuchan could guess what happened next – pay respects if you want, but who knew he would accidentally discover an unknown little girl in the burial mound of rebels, and for the first time, indulge in kindness, advancing next year’s charity quota by carrying her long distances to the church for treatment. As a result, he was spotted by government soldiers and arrested just as he stepped out of the church…

“So the soldiers arresting you weren’t wrongful.” Lin Yuchan sternly pointed out. “You’re a genuine rebel bandit!”

“You don’t seem panicked.” Su Minguan was somewhat puzzled, studying her for a moment. “Regret redeeming me? Doesn’t seem like it either.”

Ordinary people would tremble just hearing the word rebellion – why did she seem excited instead?

“Why would I panic?” Lin Yuchan said without thinking. “Anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism are the primary historical tasks of modern Chinese people – you’re the progressive force!”

As soon as she finished speaking, she covered her mouth, instantly blushing all over, her cheeks burning hot, wishing she could glue her tongue inside her mouth.

Having memorized too much history and politics, these words came out almost as a conditioned reflex. In her excitement, she had even spoken in Mandarin!

This wouldn’t… wouldn’t trigger some butterfly effect, would it…

Fortunately, Grand Helmsman Su possessed considerable “historical limitations,” and the current environment was unsuitable for academic discourse. He didn’t understand a single word of this nonsense and naturally couldn’t be bothered to condescend to ask.

“Speak plainly,” he said stubbornly. “I’m not Hakka.”

Lin Yuchan quickly nodded obediently, only realizing the next moment:

Hakka girls mostly didn’t bind their feet, and her accent did have subtle differences from Cantonese of over a hundred years ago. He had probably always taken her for Hakka…

Su Minguan then put away his smile and told her: “But thanks to you, sitting in jail for several days let I heard rumors that a batch of captured society members hadn’t all died – quite a few were colluding between officials and merchants, preparing to be sold overseas as laborers. I owe Uncle much, so I had to find a way to rescue them first.”

The brick wall connected to a small stone foundation. Su Minguan’s hands didn’t idle during conversation, quickly pouring a palm’s worth of powder from his pouch, lighting it with a small flame. After burning for a moment, the stone turned black, and he delivered a light elbow strike.

With several soft sounds, Su Minguan struck a small hole in the brick wall. Cold air mixed with raindrops rushed in waves. Several people quietly cheered, crowding around the hole to breathe deeply.

Lightning illuminated the grime-covered faces at the hole.

Lin Yuchan used her hands to move broken bricks from the ground and looked up to ask: “What’s next? Where will you go?”

Su Minguan pursed his lips as if he hadn’t heard. When Lin Yuchan was about to ask a second time, she realized and stopped.

Cannon fodder died from talking too much. In his eyes, she was probably just cannon fodder passerby A.

Just then, several splashing sounds rang out. The brick wall, loosened by the heavy rain, finally gave way under everyone’s combined effort, creating a passage for people to get through.

Outside was a riverbank with flickering fires and guards on duty.

Su Minguan said quietly: “Selling coolies is disreputable business – these probably aren’t government soldiers but local militia hired by the villages. A’Mei, you said earlier that Wang Quan brought how many people?”

Lin Yuchan thought for a moment: “About twenty household guards and bodyguards.”

After a pause, she cleverly added: “Originally prepared to pretend to chase after you stole the secret recipe – they didn’t bring many weapons, mostly sticks and clubs.”

Su Minguan smiled at her and commanded the society members: “Stay safe.”

Everyone was already prepared, grabbing wooden boards, iron strips, and other miscellaneous items, filing out.

Lin Yuchan suddenly said, “Wait.”

Several people turned around simultaneously.

She asked quietly: “The remaining people – can we release them too?”

A suffocating feeling surged in her chest, like a week of stifling plum rain weather urgently needing a downpour.

She looked back at those endless pigeon cages. The lamplight illuminated prisoners near her – their eyes held pleading as they looked at the newly carved hole in the wall, speaking unclear words in low voices.

Defeng Trading House also operated a slave trading business. Lin Yuchan was completely caught off guard by this, but thinking carefully, it wasn’t surprising.

People in this world might be accustomed to slavery. But Lin Yuchan couldn’t accept such behavior. She strongly felt that her months as a servant girl and apprentice at Defeng Trading House made her completely complicit with slave traders.

She looked at Su Minguan, seeking his opinion: “They’re all innocent people. If sold overseas, eight or nine out of ten won’t survive.”

Su Minguan was silent for a moment. The oil lamp lit half his face, his expression indifferent, eyes pitch black like the Pearl River at night.

“I can’t save so many people,” he finally said. “Life and death are fate.”

Someone had already climbed out of the wall hole and urged from outside: “Minguan, hurry!”

Lin Yuchan gently bit her lip, made up her mind, and said: “Then you go first. I… I’ll stay a bit longer.”

Su Minguan’s eyes darkened: “Why?”

Lin Yuchan smiled, pointing at her chest: “Conscience hurts.”

She didn’t expect him to understand. She was born 150 years later than they, accustomed to a life without oppression. Some things had taken root in her instincts – even hitting a wall wouldn’t change them, even dying once wouldn’t make her compromise.

In the months since crossing over, she felt she had never fully entered the “proper mindset.” Perhaps she never would.

If she now stood by and watched human tragedy for the sake of “when in Rome, do as Romans do,” she might as well bind her feet tomorrow and serve Young Master Qi.

She forcefully pushed Su Minguan’s back, pretending impatience: “Go, go, don’t get in the way!”

He nodded and quickly called his companions to leave.

Lin Yuchan rapidly picked up iron nails from the ground, distributing them to people in the pigeon cages.

At first, people hesitated and shrank back. But before long, several eager hands stretched out.

“Run quickly after getting out!” Lin Yuchan shouted. “Each takes different routes, return to the countryside – the authorities can’t spare energy to search for you one by one!”

She had roughly calculated: compared to these underfed and poorly clothed prisoners, the civilian militia outside would win one-on-one, but might not have advantages five-on-one. The prospective coolies locked in pigeon cages outnumbered the guards by more than ten times. If they scattered and fled, they could also help attract guard attention for Su Minguan’s group.

The most urgent thing now was speed – they couldn’t be left behind.

The prisoners, with ropes on their hands and feet and filth on their trouser legs, stumbled out of the hole.

Suddenly, someone looked back and asked worriedly: “Miss, we’ve all been forced to sign contracts to work as laborers for thirty years to pay off boat tickets. If we return home, will the bosses use the contracts to collect debts and capture our children and sisters?”

Many echoed: “Yes! We could never repay that boat money in several lifetimes! Miss, you’re a female Bodhisattva – can you ask the boss to return our contracts?”

Lin Yuchan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry – these brothers were too naive! Would that bloody Chinese worker mortality rate be written in the contracts?

She urged, “Don’t worry about contracts – escape first! The bosses don’t consider coolies human – once on the ships, you might not even have your lives!”

Some people rushed to run, but others hesitated, still discussing among themselves for a long time.

Suddenly, someone shouted: “Guards are coming! They’ve discovered us! Everyone, go back quickly!”

The commotion in the warehouse finally attracted the attention of the guards at the entrance. Wild wind carried shouts, and lightning struck the Pearl River, reflecting the cold gleam of several blades and guns.

And these prisoner brothers’ first reaction was actually to return to the pigeon cages like ostriches, pretending nothing had happened!

Lin Yuchan was so angry that steam came from her ears. She wanted to abandon them and run away herself. But then she had a flash of inspiration – she picked up the oil lamp from the ground and threw it toward a corner.

The coolie house was filthy and stinking, with bamboo branches, wooden boards, hemp ropes and other debris everywhere that caught fire easily.

The flames weren’t large, but in the pitch-black space, a small cluster of light burning and dancing was eye-catching.

Lin Yuchan shouted: “Fire! Run!”

Only then did the prisoners panic, rushing to the wall gap in disorder, much faster than Lin Yuchan’s patient persuasion.

Modern values like “respecting individual choice” were bullshit in such extreme situations. Violent eviction was most effective.

When guards reached the wall gap, they were shocked and unconsciously retreated.

They had thought it was just a few coolies with poor locks – how had it become a mass prison break!

With fire burning behind them and hesitant guards ahead, the rabble finally rose, using their numerical advantage to push forward with loud shouts.

At this point, footsteps echoed in the tunnel, with several torches dancing on the walls. Wang Quan’s voice called incoherently in the tunnel: “What’s happening? What’s happening? These coolies are all booked for Singapore rubber plantations – if they escape, I’ll have to pay penalties! Stop them! – Ah, why is there a fire? Quick, bring water! Notify the authorities, but don’t make noise! Idiots, which way are you going?”

Shopkeeper Wang Quan had been waiting outside the workshop to catch the secret-stealing traitor in a trap, but seeing no movement for so long, he brought people into the workshop and finally awakened as if from a dream. The so-called Jardine Matheson & Co. comprador wasn’t interested in wine but the tavern – after discussing tea for so long, he was actually after the coolies!

Lin Yuchan disheveled her hair to cover her face, preparing to mix with the crowd and slip away in the chaos.

At Defeng Tea House, no one knew she had been present today. As Su Minguan said, if she could successfully leave the riverbank area, she could safely return to the Qi manor to sleep.

The prerequisite was not letting Wang Quan see her.

She ran to the wall gap, about to climb out, when someone roughly pushed her, sending her back five or six steps to sit on the ground.

“Ouch…”

It was a big man eager to escape. The gap was small, and there were many prisoners in the warehouse. Congestion had begun, with everyone desperately squeezing outward. Those who couldn’t get out grabbed tightly onto the wall bricks to prevent others from squeezing past.

Seeing Wang Quan approaching with a lamp, Lin Yuchan turned her face away, patted dirt off herself, and rushed to the gap again.

“Make way, let me out! – Hey, don’t crowd together, knock out more wall bricks! If the hole is bigger, you can move faster!”

By now no one listened to her, and naturally no one was willing to sacrifice their escape time to move bricks. With a ready-made hole, they just had to fight for it.

A young man who had just called her “female Bodhisattva” forcefully shoved her aside, saying viciously: “Get away! Don’t compete with me!”

Lin Yuchan used both hands to pry gaps between people, using all her strength to squeeze outward.

Strangely, the group of prisoners who had seemed weak before miraculously revived at the critical moment of escape, becoming powerful young men competing to get ahead. A thin, weak little girl like Lin Yuchan couldn’t even hope to find gaps – it was truly like an ant trying to shake a tree.

Crash – the brick wall finally couldn’t withstand the weight of many people and collapsed in a large section. Those crowded in front lost balance and tumbled out, crying and calling. Lin Yuchan only felt a blow to her waist – someone knocked her down, then a foot stepped on broken bricks by her ear and leaped over the wall.

Lin Yuchan was horrified. This was going to become a stampede!

She covered her head, shouting while crawling outward. But the prisoners, desperate to escape, completely ignored the trembling little girl under their feet.

Even though she had distributed iron nails, picked locks, and urged them to flee quickly.

Thunderous sounds continued by Lin Yuchan’s ears. A foot stepped on her braid, making her whole body contract in pain, forcing her to curl up even tighter. Someone saw her but didn’t reach out to help – instead using her body as a stepping stone, stepping on her without ceremony—

At the critical moment, Lin Yuchan felt her shoulder tighten as someone dragged her several feet away. The thunderous footsteps suddenly seemed distant and weak.

Still shaken, she propped herself up and brushed dust from her eyes.

Su Minguan was soaked through, crystal water droplets tracing the contours of his face to gather at his chin, which he wiped away with the back of his hand.

“The society brothers all evacuated safely.” He smiled. “I calculated that the female Bodhisattva couldn’t save herself.”

Lin Yuchan laughed awkwardly, her throat blocked, unable to say “thank you.” Looking up, most of the coolies had escaped – some who were badly trampled lay calling at the hole entrance, controlled by Wang Quan’s men.

But the tide had turned. Seven or eight out of ten had run away. Wang Quan looked worried and gloomy, muttering calculations of losses.

Guards had also reached the hole entrance, shouting, lamplight casting wild shadows. Lin Yuchan’s heart sank.

The wall hole was finally uncrowded, but it was impossible to exit that way now.

Her wrist tightened as Su Minguan forcefully pulled her several steps away, hiding in temporary darkness.

“Return the way we came,” he said quietly.