Jiang Meng followed the gaze of the guide Diao Mo and saw a woman with a face veil approaching the slave trader, accompanied by several attendants.
…
The grievances between the Han and Qiang in the western regions had long been deep-rooted.
Unlike the conflicts with the Xiongnu, besides the objective reasons for competing for territory, there were also historical reasons stemming from the Han dynasty’s misrule.
Although Xiao Qiao couldn’t bear to watch the scene that had just unfolded, she considered that since things had always been this way, and she was new to the area, it wouldn’t be wise to easily disturb the vested interests of these local powerful figures, even with Wei Shao’s support. So after some hesitation, she still decided to leave.
However, she didn’t expect another incident to occur. Hearing the young man call out “Elder Sister” and endure such a brutal beating for that Qiang woman while still refusing to yield, she was reminded of her younger brother Qiao Ci for some reason. Unable to bear it any longer, she turned back and quickly walked over.
Seeing that the Lady was not heeding his advice and appeared to be intervening, the steward had no choice but to follow.
The young man’s eyes were already swollen and bruised, with blood flowing from his mouth. The middle-aged slave trader was still not satisfied and kicked away the Qiang woman who was pleading by his side. As he was about to strike again, a woman’s voice suddenly came from behind: “Stop!”
The slave trader turned around and saw a woman wearing a face veil speaking. He was stunned for a moment.
In the western regions, where sandstorms were common, it was not unusual for women to cover their heads with cloth when going out to protect against wind and sand. He examined her closely.
Through the thin silk, although he couldn’t see her features clearly, he could vaguely make out the general outline of her face. His instinct told him that the woman was beautiful, and her voice was clear and pleasant to hear. She also seemed quite young.
He then observed her clothing, which was of good quality but not particularly outstanding.
Finally, he looked at her attendants. There was a middle-aged man with a goatee and a maidservant. He guessed she was a young woman from an ordinary wealthy family.
This slave trader surnamed Hu, had powerful connections and usually didn’t take ordinary wealthy families in Jinyang City seriously. Being a lecher, he had impure thoughts and wanted to lift that veil to take a closer look. He stopped as she said and asked with a grin, “Which family’s wife are you? Why aren’t you at home sewing and embroidering instead of coming here?”
The steward was furious and scolded harshly, “How dare you! Do you know—”
Xiao Qiao stopped the steward and looked coldly at the dozens of bound Qiang people on the ground, saying, “How much for all these people? I’ll buy them all!”
The steward was stunned.
The slave trader and the onlookers were also stunned. After reacting, he hesitated and asked, “You want to buy them all?”
Xiao Qiao said, “Did you not understand my words?”
The slave trader finally believed her and thought for a moment before quoting a slightly higher price. He expected her to haggle, but before he could even blink, he heard her say, “Send all the people to the northern city office! Payment will be made upon delivery!”
The slave trader was truly shocked.
Last year, Bing Province changed hands, with Duke Yan Wei Shao replacing Chen Xiang as the governor of Bing Province. The local wealthy families had been waiting for Wei Shao to come and establish connections. They had been on tiptoe with anticipation until recently when news came that Duke Yan had arrived in Jinyang and was staying at the northern city office. In just the first few days, the wealthy families of Jinyang flocked to pay their respects, some sending beauties, others sending gold and silk, almost wearing out the threshold.
Wei Shao was staying at the northern city office. The slave trader naturally knew this.
This woman’s first words were to send all the people there…
The slave trader hesitated for a moment and tentatively asked, “Madam, are you perhaps joking with me? How can one casually send things into the office?”
He had already changed his form of address to “Madam.”
Xiao Qiao said coldly, “When I tell you to send them, just send them. Why so many questions?”
The slave trader immediately recognized the tone of someone in a position of authority that brooked no argument. He dared not be presumptuous anymore and quickly changed his attitude, respectfully agreeing repeatedly. He then turned and loudly berated the Qiang people tied up on the ground, ordering them to stand up.
As the young man had said, these Qiang people were indeed not prisoners of war, but innocent people kidnapped from various Qiang tribes in the Huangshui area. Originally, nearly a hundred people had been sent together in this group. From Huangshui, they had traveled a long and arduous journey to reach here. Some had fallen ill, some had died, and in the end, only these few dozen remained. Most of them couldn’t speak or understand Han Chinese. They only knew that this young woman with a veiled face had bought them. Not knowing what lay ahead, they stumbled forward as they were driven along.
Xiao Qiao came to the young man’s side and saw that he seemed to be on the verge of death. She ordered the steward to bring him onto her carriage.
The steward hesitated, seeing that the young man was filthy and covered in blood. Unexpectedly, the young man showed extraordinary resilience and slowly got up from the ground on his own. He bowed deeply to Xiao Qiao and said, “The kindness of saving my life, benefactor, I will never forget! My body is dirty and I dare not soil the benefactor’s carriage. I can still walk on my own.”
Xiao Qiao saw that although his face was dirty and disheveled, his eyes were bright and clear, and he spoke politely as if he had received an education. She felt even more favorably towards him and nodded with a smile.
Chun Niang, being kindhearted, had been watching from the side and was already distressed. She quickly went over and untied the ropes on the Qiang woman’s hands. The Qiang woman kowtowed to Xiao Qiao seven or eight times, then crawled to the young man’s side, spouting a long string of words that Xiao Qiao couldn’t understand, apparently asking about his injuries. The young man shook his head, seemingly comforting her with a few words, then turned to follow the group of Qiang people, limping forward. The Qiang woman hurried to support him, her manner respectful. This made Xiao Qiao feel that these two didn’t seem like siblings after all.
The thought flashed through her mind, but Xiao Qiao didn’t dwell on it further. Under the gaze of countless onlookers, she left the market, boarded her carriage, and returned to the office.
People who had been watching began to speculate about the background of this mysterious young woman. After discussing for a while, they gradually dispersed. In the end, only a few people remained standing in place.
Jiang Meng said, “Who is that woman? She even lives in the Jinyang office! Could she be related to that Duke Yan?”
Diao Mo remained silent, only watching the carriage carrying the young woman gradually disappear into the distance. Only when it was out of sight did he withdraw his gaze.
“Chief, earlier when I blinked, I seemed to see a Beihe tribe tattoo on that young man’s arm,” one of the attendants suddenly said.
Jiang Meng was stunned, then showed a look of disdain. “So he’s a Beihe person! Willing to live under the nose of the Han people, being captured, and suffering such humiliation is what they deserve!”
The Beihe people were another major tribe among the Qiang people of Longxi, besides the Shaodang. The current old tribal chief was named Yuan Wang, who had held the chief’s staff for over forty years. He was quite wise, leading his people to farm and build houses, gradually changing from nomadic to settled life. Their population had once greatly increased, and they had considerable prestige among the Qiang people in the Huangshui area. However, later, like other Qiang people in Longxi, the Beihe people were also squeezed by Chen Xiang and Feng Zhao, the Governor of Liang Province, and were forced to migrate far away.
Last month, when Diao Mo was planning to attack Shangjun, he had invited the Beihe tribe to join the joint operation but was politely refused by the old tribal chief Yuan Wang. The Beihe people remained neutral. After the failure, when Jiang Meng mentioned the Beihe tribe’s non-cooperation, he naturally felt dissatisfied.
Diao Mo said, “Each has their own will. The Beihe tribal chief is highly respected, and his decision not to send troops must have his consideration. I have always respected him. You should not speak nonsense!”
Seeing him say this, Jiang Meng closed his mouth.
Diao Mo pondered the image of that young man from earlier floating before his eyes. Suddenly, he felt somewhat familiar but couldn’t remember where he had seen him before. After hesitating for a moment, he ordered an attendant to follow and observe what was going on. Then he led his people out of the city.
…
Small Qiao buying these twenty or thirty Qiang slaves back was something the steward couldn’t understand.
But since the Lady liked it, as a servant, he naturally dared not ask a single question. The first thing after returning was to order these Qiang slaves to wash their hair and bathe, change into Han clothing after getting clean, and give each person a pair of shoes. Then they were taken to eat. Each person was given two buns, with unlimited porridge.
After the Qiang slaves finished eating, the steward went to ask Xiao Qiao what work she wanted these Qiang slaves to do.
Xiao Qiao didn’t know what she needed them to do either. Initially buying them back from the market was purely an impulsive purchase. Seeing the steward waiting for her instructions after asking, she said to first ask them what they wanted to do, and let those who wanted to leave go, not forcing anyone to stay.
The steward was dumbfounded.
It turned out that the Lady had spent money buying so many Qiang slaves just to set them free for fun.
He didn’t dare to ask anything but turned around and called someone who could speak the Qiang language to ask.
Those Qiang slaves at first couldn’t believe their good fortune. First, they successfully bought, not only clothes and shoes but also a full meal. They thought it was already good enough, but unexpectedly now, that young Lady was even letting them go.
At first, no one believed it. They all looked at each other in bewilderment. Later, when they confirmed it was true, more than a dozen people left. In the end, half of them remained, unwilling to leave, saying they had no family to return to, and the journey was long and treacherous, uncertain if they could make it back to the Huangshui area alive. They only wanted to stay and serve the Lady. There were twelve men and two women. All were quite young.
Seeing that the people couldn’t be driven away, the steward turned around again and reported to Xiao Qiao.
Xiao Qiao thought for a moment and told him to let the men serve as miscellaneous workers for now, and the women do laundry. If there was nothing to do, they could just rest, and she would think of something for them to do later.
Then she gave another order, telling them to arrange for everyone to stay in the outer courtyard and not allow them into the inner courtyard.
This was also out of safety considerations. After all, although she had no ill intentions toward these Qiang people, she couldn’t guarantee what others might plan.
Finally, there was that pair of siblings. Xiao Qiao instructed the steward to arrange a single room for them and to invite a physician to treat the young man’s injuries.
The steward agreed to everything.
…
A few days later, the Qiang young man’s injuries had improved considerably.
He claimed his name was simply Yuan, and came again to express his gratitude. When looking at Xiao Qiao, his eyes were bright and full of gratitude.
That day he had been filthy, and Xiao Qiao had only noticed that he had a pair of bright, clear eyes. She didn’t expect that once cleaned up and dressed in neat clothes, he would look quite presentable.
Qiang men, to commemorate their ancestors, usually wore their hair loose with a horizontal band across their foreheads.
This young man named Yuan had black hair falling to his shoulders, snow-white skin and stood there like a slender bamboo. If not for the bruises still visible on his forehead and around his eyes, he would have looked a bit like her brother Qiao Ci when he was twelve or thirteen.
Xiao Qiao felt even more affectionate and fond of him.
However, the more she looked, the less she thought he and this Qiang woman looked like siblings.
If they weren’t siblings, then being captured and sold together must have some hidden story.
But it wasn’t convenient for her to inquire further.
Moreover, buying him that day was just a momentary impulse, and she didn’t want to pry into others’ secrets. So she smiled and said, “It’s good that you’re better now. Some of those who came with you that day have already left. When your injuries are fully healed, if you want to leave, you can go as you please. I won’t stop you.”
…
That night, Chun Niang was doing needlework in the room, keeping Xiao Qiao company as they chatted.
This was already Xiao Qiao’s tenth night in Jinyang.
Wei Shao still hadn’t returned, and there was no new information from the steward’s side either.
Not just Chun Niang, but Xiao Qiao herself was slowly beginning to feel that something wasn’t right.
Chun Niang glanced at Xiao Qiao, who was concentrating on tracing an embroidery pattern on the table, and couldn’t help but say, “My Lady has been here for so many days now, I wonder when the Lord will return.”
Xiao Qiao didn’t respond to her words.
Chun Niang continued, “Perhaps the Lord doesn’t know that My Lady has arrived? Since My Lady has nothing to do, why not send a letter to the Lord?”
Xiao Qiao’s eyes remained on the pattern, but she finally smiled casually and said, “Then, Chun Niang, what do you think I should say in my letter to him?”
Chun Niang hurriedly said, “Just say that My Lady misses…”
Suddenly, at that moment, footsteps were heard outside the door, followed by the steward’s voice: “A letter for My Lady from Xihe Commandery!”
Xiao Qiao abruptly raised her eyes and stopped her brush.
Chun Niang quickly got up to receive the letter, returning happily to hand it to Xiao Qiao: “What a coincidence! Just as this servant was suggesting My Lady write to the Lord, a letter from the Lord arrives for My Lady!”
Xiao Qiao took the letter sealed with wax in a bamboo tube, took it out, unfolded it, and glanced at it. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and her gaze became fixed.
Chun Niang, who had been smiling, waited for Xiao Qiao to share the contents of the letter. Suddenly seeing her expression change, the smile slowly disappeared from her face, and she anxiously asked, “Has something happened?”
…
The letter was written by Gongsun Yang, who was with Wei Shao in Xihe Commandery.
Three days ago, Wei Shao had originally decided to return to Jinyang, leaving Gongsun Yang in Xihe Commandery to defend against Feng Zhao of Liang Province. However, just before leaving, he had a sudden change of plans and took only a small group of soldiers to survey the terrain with Gongsun Yang. Unexpectedly, they encountered a sudden attack.
At that time, Wei Shao successfully protected Gongsun Yang and broke out of the encirclement, but his shoulder was unfortunately wounded by an arrow.
They initially thought it was just a flesh wound, and Wei Shao himself didn’t take it seriously at the time.
However, that arrow had been dipped in poison. Fortunately, treatment was timely, and it had only grazed the skin, so his life was not in danger.
But the Duke still had residual poison in his body that hadn’t been fully eliminated, and he was still very weak, currently recuperating.
The Duke didn’t want his Lady to know and had strictly ordered that no letter be sent.
Gongsun Yang, however, felt extremely guilty and responsible. Knowing that the Lady was in Jinyang, he dared not conceal the truth and specifically wrote this letter to inform her.