The Magistrate hasn't moved against this band of bandits for so many years, so why would he suddenly think of suppressing them now?
There must be something fishy going on here. These people in front of me might all be the retainers of that young swordsman; the only uncertainty is which family this youth belongs to.
Huang Unshheng had never seen this person before; if he had, he wouldn't have been able to forget or fail to recognize him based on those facial features alone.
While Huang Unshheng was speculating, Zhu Ci had already finished processing everything.
There were twenty captives in total, most of whom were women and children. The belongings had not been inventoried yet, it was impossible to do so since there was no one under his command who could read or write to keep records.
I'll have to teach these people how to read sooner or later!
Zhu Ci secretly made up his mind, turned around, kicked a box directly, saying, "Leave this one here, take the rest back. I'll distribute them once I return."
The retainers were instantly invigorated. Over these past few days, they had grown to trust Zhu Ci deeply. Setting aside everything else, this Young Master was truly generous; regarding food, clothing, travel, everything was excellent, save for the fact that their living conditions could not be improved for the time being due to objective circumstances.
It was better than their original lives, let alone after they had become refugees.
“Young Master, what about these captives? Perhaps we should just..” Someone leaned in close to Zhu Ci and made a cutting motion across his throat with his hand.
Zhu Ci glanced at them and said, "No need. Take them back and hand them over to the Magistrate, let him decide how to deal with them."
Given his style, he would definitely want to pull up the roots.
However, his subordinates' team must not develop such a habit. Right now they are only suppressing bandits, but what if they are forced to pull up everything by the roots if they encounter other situations in the future?
Zhu Ci had his own sense of judgment and knew who should be killed and who should not, but his subordinates might not.
Why not simply hand them over to the Magistrate for disposal? If he wants credit, he should at least put in some effort, shouldn't he?
Dealing with a few prisoners shouldn't be much of a problem, right?
Just as Zhu Ci had someone transport the valuables away, he immediately heard a startled cry.
He turned his head and saw a woman lying on the ground with blood flowing from her neck.
Jiang Quan immediately walked over and said, "Young Master, this.. this lady has committed suicide."
Zhu Ci fell silent for a moment. Before he could speak, he heard someone say, "A virtuous and chaste woman should act accordingly."
Zhu Ci raised her eyelids and said angrily, "Nonsense!"
Does that even sound like human speech? A life has been lost, yet he's still standing there talking about chastity or lack thereof.
Li Cheng and the others were startled. Having known him for so long, when had they ever seen the Young Master look so furious?
Even if someone offended him, at most, he would only punish them with a cold sneer.
Those people were also startled by him, the scholar who had just spoken suddenly turned beet-red. "You.. you.. you have truly lost all dignity!"
Jiang Quan and the others immediately looked at the man with cold eyes, the man was so startled that he took two steps back.
Zhu Ci couldn't be bothered with him. He looked at the remaining women who seemed to want to commit suicide and said, "Ladies, no matter what you have gone through, remember that you are the victims. The fault does not lie with you, you should not use your lives to fulfill the reputations of others. If you die, others will reap the benefits. Only those who have already profited will indoctrinate you with ideas of chastity. Only by living can you have a future; if you die, you have nothing!"
Huang Unshheng and the other scholars looked at Zhu Ci with near-horror, as if he were some kind of treasonous figure.
“You..”
Just as someone was about to argue, Zhu Ci drew his Yanling Blade and shot them a cold look.
That person was instantly choked up; although Zhu Ci had said nothing, that gaze, filled with killing intent, had already expressed his meaning.
Huang Unshheng and his brother Huang Weigong remained silent. Faced with overwhelming force, even though they disagreed with Zhu Ci's statement, it was better to keep their mouths shut.
It was unknown whether it was Zhu Ci's words that had touched something, but immediately, a young girl began crying and saying, "We won't survive, we won't survive."
As she cried, the other girls began to cry as well, repeatedly saying that they wouldn't survive.
Zhu Ci naturally knew what they were talking about. Even if they were rescued now, they would be driven to death by their families once they returned home; that was just how this world was, no one was willing to let them live.
If they died, perhaps they could at least earn a chastity arch for their families to benefit from.
Zhu Ci said nonchalantly, "If you can't survive at home, find a place where you can. If you are willing, you can go with them in a moment."
As he spoke, he pointed at Li Cheng.
Li Cheng froze for a moment. "Huh? Does the Young Master.. want to take them back?"
Zhu Ci said, "If they are willing, then take them back."
Aside from the one who had just committed suicide, twelve remained; after all, they were twelve lives.
Huang Unshheng's feelings were complicated. The person before him was a heretic who deserved to be despised, but.. was he himself not also a heretic?
Thinking about these things, he followed that young swordsman all the way to the county town.
By the time they reached the county seat, it was already broad daylight, Zhu Ci encountered Fu Chunsheng, who had rushed over urgently, at the city gates.
Zhu Ci immediately instructed, "Take these people and this box of items to Magistrate Zhang. Don't say a word; let Liu Xian explain the details. I won't be going."
Li Cheng took a group of people and returned with the wealth and those ladies, so he could only select one more person to lead another group to deliver the items and "merit" to the Magistrate.
Zhu Ci paused, then whispered an order, "While you're at it, find out the background of those people over there."
Fu Chunsheng nodded blankly, leading the retainers, Liu Xian, the rest of the group toward the magistrate's office.
On the way to the county magistrate's office, he couldn't help but ask a question.
Liu Xian thought for a moment and, seeing that the Young Master hadn't said it was off-limits, simply said, "It's nothing, Young Master just took us to suppress some bandits."
He described the process as he walked, speaking with great animation.
Fu Chunsheng listened in a daze, finally looking at Liu Xian with an expression of envy, as it sounded quite exciting.
Unfortunately, they did not have the Young Master's trust; whether it was the Firearms Factory or the military camp, the Young Master gave them no opportunity to get involved.
After giving her orders, Zhu Ci led her people all the way back to Xialiang.
After arriving at Xialiang, the housing for those dozen or so girls became a problem again.
It was impossible to settle them in the military camp; that place was full of men, Zhu Ci held no great expectations for the character of those retainers; if they weren't supervised properly, problems would easily arise.
Zhu Ci ultimately settled them in the Ladies' Courtyard.
When Fu Chunsheng returned, he brought a map and a piece of news: "Young Master, that Huang Unshheng wants to come and pay his respects to you."
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: There is no need to save those cold-hearted vested interests; otherwise, find an opportunity to bag them. Evil kitty clenches its fist. jpg
How has the nutrition solution exceeded five thousand in just a few days? I'll post the extra chapters tonight; I'll announce the time in the comments. Chu~
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 54
Zhu Ci casually opened the map. Though called a map, it was actually quite crude, but the items marked upon it were precisely the bandit hideouts that Zhu Ci needed.
It seems that box of valuables truly moved the Magistrate.
Even bandits might not have this much even if they paid blood money, but Zhu Ci was very generous and directly distributed at least one-fifth of it.
The Magistrate had tasted the sweetness of profit; who wouldn't want to earn both money and merit?
And so, this map ended up in Zhu Ci's hands.
Zhu Ci couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy. Jiading County was so small, yet it had at least ten bandit dens and even a Water Dragon Society.
One could only say that the people of Jiading County truly suffered; layer upon layer, how could they possibly survive?
After finishing her lament, Zhu Ci asked casually, "Huang Unshheng wants to come and visit me? What is his background?"
Fu Chunsheng's memory was excellent; although he hadn't brought back any paper documents, he recounted everything from memory.
Huang Unshheng, originally named Huang Chunyao, was formerly known as Jin Yao, with the courtesy name Unshheng and another being Songya, also known by the pseudonyms Tao'an and Shuijing Jushi.
In his youth, his poetry and prose were outstanding, earning him the reputation of being the Huang family's thousand-li steed. In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, he founded the Zhiyan Society in his hometown and passed the provincial examination. In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, he passed the jinshi examination, but returned home without accepting an official post to study the classics.
That young man was Huang Weigong's younger brother, named Huang Yuanyao. He was twenty-two years old this year and was also a promising scholar, though he had not taken the imperial examinations.
Zhu Ci listened, completely stunned.
He saved a Jinshi just by acting on impulse?
No matter how corrupt the eight-legged essays of the Ming Dynasty were, those who could pass the imperial examinations to become jinshi were definitely not simple; to put it bluntly, they were the top-ranking scholars in the entire country.
Why did Huang Chunyao return without taking any official posts?
Most importantly, why did he feel that this person's name sounded so familiar?
Huang Chunyao, Huang Yuanyao.. Zhu Ci felt as if she had some kind of impression of them.
This impression certainly wasn't something she only realized after traveling through time; it must have been from before.
Could it be that these two are supporting characters in the book?
He recalled the part of the plot he had read, confirming that these two people were not in it, then thought back to the spoilers he had seen in the comments section.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, he remembered who this was.
He turned to Fu Chunsheng and asked, "Does Huang Chunyao have another fellow townsman named Hou Dongzeng?"
Fu Chunsheng froze for a moment. "This.. Father didn't say. Should I have a servant go and ask again?"
Zhu Ci pondered for a long while before saying, "Ask him again if he has a friend named Gu Rouqian, who was a student of Ma Shiqi."
Fu Chunsheng felt a bit strange; he felt that his Young Master seemed quite familiar with that Huang Chunyao, yet somehow not entirely.
He immediately ran to ask about it, it turned out to be true.
Zhu Ci breathed a sigh of relief after finding out.
I really didn't expect to encounter these two brothers.
Zhu Ci did not know if these two brothers truly existed in history, but they had a brief yet glorious role in the book.
They were righteous men of the first wave of anti-Qing uprisings; both Huang Chunyao and Hou Dongzeng were elected leaders.
Unfortunately, they could only organize a few thousand men; how could they possibly contend with the massive Qing Army? Failure was inevitable.
When the city finally fell, Hou Dongzeng threw himself into the pond and died, while Huang Chunyao hanged himself in a monastery in the West City. His younger brother, Huang Yuanyao, also hanged himself after tidying his brother's remains. In that year, Huang Chunyao was forty-one years old, while Huang Yuanyao was only twenty-two.
Roughly speaking, it seemed these two brothers wouldn't live much longer either.
It wasn't just them; most of their friends also died fighting the Qing Army.