Chapter 186: Chapter 185: The Suffering Just Begins
When the Qin Family found a place to stay, everyone was injured and battered, but the most critical was the elderly Qin Yuanshan, whose health had not yet recovered. Anger and anxiety afflicted his heart, and as Wu City’s night brought extre cold, his illness intensified suddenly with a fever.
“Those thieves, if I see them again, I will surely kill them!” Qin Boguang exclaid angrily, his eye swollen and red.
Qin Boqing said, “Second brother, stop cursing for now. We need to find a doctor to see father.”
Qin Boguang paused, his gaze turning towards their father lying on the hay with his eyes tightly shut. A shudder went through him, and he swallowed before saying, “All our silver has been stolen.”
Not only was it stolen, but the cotton robes given by nobles to protect against the cold were also snatched. Now, everyone was shivering from the cold, the two children clinging to the old man, their faces turning a shade of blue, not to ntion the old man who had fainted.
Their temporary refuge was a dilapidated temple in the refugee camp, a place where destitute refugees and beggars resided. It was filthy, chaotic, and reeked.
But it had already grown dark, and it was the only place where they could keep warm. They managed to secure a spot there only by keeping a smiling face and being cautious.
Qin Bohong glanced at the people huddled not far from him and whispered, “Yan’er still has so broken silver hidden.”
This was an afterthought when they initially received the silver, reminded by the constable to be cautious of robbers, so they didn’t put all their eggs in one basket and hid so with the young Qin Mingyan.
Indeed, the robbers targeted only the adults, leaving the children untouched.
Qin Boqing was delighted and said, “I will go find a doctor. Big brother, second brother, please take good care of father and the two nephews.”
“Maybe I should go too,” said Qin Boguang.
“No, there are many people here, and with father ill, how can big brother take care of the elderly and the young alone?” Qin Boqing shook his head, “It’s just finding a doctor, I can manage on my own.”
“Third uncle, let go with you. It’s better to have soone to look out for you. If sothing goes wrong outside, it would be hard to even find soone to send a ssage,” stood up Qin Mingmu.
“Right, let Mingmu go with you,” Qin Boguang also said.
Qin Bohong had already taken two pieces of broken silver from Qin Mingyan, saying, “Let Mingmu go with you. Buy a couple of buns to fill your stomachs.” He glanced at the people looking over and whispered, “Eat outside before returning.”
The temple wasn’t entirely safe—everyone there was a barefooted refugee, none better than the other. Skilfully snagging what one could was the na of the ga, and to avoid trouble, caution was necessary.
Qin Boqing clutched the silver, saying, “Big brother, you wait here. We will be back soon.”
He and Qin Mingmu quickly disappeared into the night.
Qin Bohong said to Qin Boguang, “You keep watch, I’ll go ask to borrow a pot to boil so water.”
Qin Boguang nodded, his eyes on Qin Mingyan resting close to the old man, both looking feeble and ill. He gathered more dry hay, feeling a rage inside with nowhere to vent it.
The heavens truly are cruel.
At that ti, the best inn in Wu City had been booked by a rchant convoy, and who stayed in the top tier suite was Gongbo Cheng, who had entered the city right before and after the Qin family. He was playing chess against himself, and his steward stood beside him, reporting the situation of the Qin family.
“The silver on them was robbed, and so were the clothes for keeping warm. They all got injured, but the injuries weren’t too severe. Qin Yuanshan, being old and frail, has fallen ill and is currently staying temporarily at a local temple in the refugee camp.”
Gongbo Cheng snorted with laughter upon hearing this and said, “Three grown n, and they got robbed just like that? Are the Qin n nothing but embroidered pillows? Doesn’t the second eldest of the Qin family hold so position as a city guard?”
The steward, with his hands folded in his sleeves, slightly bent forward, and said: “The Qin family mainly consists of scholars. That position held by the second eldest is nothing but a sinecure. Those robbers were local ruffians, and they even colluded with so long-established ruffians in Wu City. How could the Qin family stand a chance against them? Not to ntion, they had vulnerabilities with them.”
Gongbo Cheng held a white chess piece between his fingers, fell silent for a while, and then placed it down, saying, “Indeed, when one has weaknesses, they are easily conquered.”
The vulnerability of the Qin’s group lay in the old and the young among them; the robust couldn’t simply abandon them, and their adversaries had evidently figured out this tactic.
The saying that the barefoot fear not the shod is an eternal truth.
“My lord, should we lend a hand now?”
“No need, we’ve just arrived in Wu City. Such minor troubles are nothing. Now is just the beginning. Those with brains will always think ahead.” Gongbo Cheng said: “I see that Third Qin is a clever one. Let’s see if he finds work—if he does, then hire him, and let him first earn a proper foothold.”
“Yes.”
Two days later, when the Qin family moved into a dilapidated bungalow with only three rooms in the refugee camp, they sowhat felt a sense of surviving a calamity.
anwhile, Qin Boqing, feeling the reward money at his waist, had a nagging feeling that sothing was off. Despite the arduous journey, at least everyone had settled down neatly, finding work and even earning so easy reward money. It felt as if soone was secretly helping from behind.
Was it an illusion?
Regardless, they finally had a temporary shelter, and it was possible for them to write ho to Ping’an. And about his younger sister, was she affected by the trouble the Qin family faced and mistreated by her in-laws?
At this mont, far in the northeast, Qin Yingniang, whom Qin Boqing was thinking of, furiously smashed a soup bowl, gripping the shards against her neck.
“Cui Da, either you take this letter and things to my mother, or you take our bodies back in a thin coffin,” Qin Yingniang coldly said: “That way, you’d be doing exactly what your family wishes, and you can remarry.”
“Put that down. Haven’t we agreed, after the baby is born, we’ll find a way to return to Li City?” Cui Da stomped his foot and said: “Look at what you’re doing. If not for your own sake, at least think of the baby.”
Qin Yingniang touched her belly that hadn’t yet shown signs of pregnancy and sneered, “Sorry, but it seems he ca at the wrong ti.”
“You, listen to yourself. How can our child be ill-tid? Listen to , put down the shards, please, I will send it.”
“Don’t deceive . The things I sent before, weren’t they also intercepted by my mother? Cui Da, did my family commit so cri, were we plundered, yet not sentenced to death? Otherwise, the Holy Emperor would have already executed everyone, not just banished us. Just like that, when I send so trinkets ho, my mother still secretly holds onto them. If it wasn’t because I haven’t received a reply for so long, I’d still be kept in the dark. The Cui family is also a wealthy family, yet it’s so fearful. In that case, write a divorce letter, I’ll take my dowry and leave, can this work?” Tears stread down Qin Yingniang’s face.
“If I deceive you, may lightning strike dead, can this work?” Cui Da stepped forward, snatched the porcelain shard from her hand, and embraced her, saying: “I’ll make a scene with my mother. If she doesn’t send it, I’ll die for her to see. Now, can you believe ?”
Qin Yingniang leaned on his shoulder and burst into sobbing.
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