The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

The man glanced around, his heart sinking, but he shouted with confidence, “Do you know who I am? Let me go! Or your Jiang family will pay!”

Jiang Sanlang’s face tightens with menace as he demands once again, “I’ll ask you one more time, who sent you here? What are you doing at my house?”

The man snorts contemptuously, “Who do you think you’re… Go ask your grandfather… ”

Before he could finish, a dagger is jammed into his thigh.

“Ahhhhh…” The man screams, his body writhing in pain.

Jiang Sanlang’s voice is chilling, “This is the last time I ask you, if you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll send you to the afterlife!”

The man finally yields, begging for mercy, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Don’t kill me… It is, it was Chen Guanglu who ordered us to kidnap somebody. He said to take your demon child as a sacrifice to the heavens.”

Jiang Sanlang suppresses his rage and asks, “Where is Chen Guanglu? Why didn’t he come?”

“He said everyone in the village knows him, so it wasn’t convenient for him to come, he told us to kidnap the person and rendezvous in Simen Town.” The man’s eyes dart around, he continues, “Chen Guanglu is a favored man in front of the Commandery Prince now, you, an insignificant commoner who offended him, I’m afraid you’re in trouble… How about, I take you to him…”

Seeing Jiang Sanlang deep in thought, the man adds, “But, Chen Guanglu is very secretive about his whereabouts, without me leading the way, you’d definitely not be able to find him.”

“Fine, you can lead the way.” Jiang Sanlang doesn’t miss the quick flash of triumph in the man’s eyes.

He pulls out the dagger, and suddenly plunges it into the man’s heart.

If he refuses to tell the truth, there’s no use keeping him around.

Then, Jiang Sanlang puts the bodies of the three men into sacks, tells his young daughter to go ahead, and plans to release them in the chaotic graveyard.

Although Yingbao was nervous, she calmly left the cave, carrying a sack on her back to a cemetery far from the village.

Only after releasing her father and the three bodies did Yingbao start to feel her legs shaking.

From now on, she dared not enter the cave alone.

Jiang Sanlang digs a grave in silence and buries the three sacks deep inside.

Seeing his young daughter trembling, he reassures her, “Baobao, don’t be afraid. These people are villains. If we don’t nip this in the bud today, our family will never have peace.”

Yingbao nodded again and again.

She also felt these people deserved to die. They actually had the audacity to barge into her home and kidnap someone in broad daylight! How brazen could they be?

Once the sacks were buried, Baobao rushed to release her mother.

Chunniang had already woken up and knew that her husband had killed the bandits, so she didn’t ask any further. She washed her hands and face and started cooking, but the pancakes were a little burnt.

The next day, Jiang Sanlang quietly left the village with his daughter.

Early in the morning, Yingbao had stowed the Red Date Horse in the cave. After leaving the village on foot with her father, they released the horse in a place where the villagers couldn’t see, both father and daughter rode the horse towards Simen Town.

Whether Chen Guanglu were in Simen Town or not, Jiang Sanlang wanted to go and see for himself.

Yesterday’s events served as a wake-up call. His family had already made an enemy of the Chen family. If he allowed Chen to continue his reckless actions, it would be his family that was doomed.

Over an hour later, father and daughter arrived in Simen Town.

Now, Yingbao was dressed as a boy with broad drawn brows and a layer of brown blush applied to her face, effectively disguising her as a boy.

Jiang Sanlang too, disguised himself. The rough eyebrows he’d drawn, the black ring around his mouth, the shiny hat on his head, and the umbrella on his back—he looked like a distant traveler.

Yingbao took the horse away and, with her father, started to wander around in Simen Town.

Starting with the best local restaurant, the father and daughter ordered two dishes and began conversing with the young waiter there.

When asked if any out-of-towners had come recently, the waiter replied, “There has been a lot. Our place has been busy lately. Grain merchants from outside are buying grain at high prices here and employing many people to transport grains. They’re paying 200 coins a day. If not for my mother not wanting me to leave home, I would have signed up too.”

Jiang Sanlang asked indifferently, “May I ask, young man, where are these grain merchants staying?”

“Are you also looking to sign up?” The waiter glanced at Jiang Sanlang and saw that he was neatly dressed, his clothes well made. Although his face was a bit dirty, he still looked confident and proud. He didn’t seem like someone looking for menial work.

Jiang Sanlang: “I have a business matter to discuss with them, not looking to sign up for the work.”

“So that’s it.”

The waiter was slightly skeptical and didn’t want to reply, but when Jiang Sanlang passed a string of copper coins his way, he immediately said with a big grin, “The grain merchants are staying at Yunlai Inn. If you’re going to discuss business, you better hurry, they were here eating earlier and said they’re setting off first thing tomorrow.”

“Thanks for the information.” Jiang Sanlang and his daughter quickly finished their meal and left the restaurant. They found the Inn mentioned by the waiter, walked in and asked for a room.

The innkeeper quickly apologized, “I’m so sorry. Our inn has already been booked out. It might be better for sir to check another place.”

Jiang Sanlang showed disappointment on his face and said, “In that case, I will briefly rest here, then leave.”

The innkeeper naturally had no objections and had the young waiter bring a pot of tea for their guests.

Yingbao joined her father in the most secluded spot of the inn’s lobby. They slowly sipped the tea that was poured by the young waiter while discreetly scanning their surroundings.

The inn was a two-story wooden structure.

The lower floor was lower in height, used as a common dormitory; the upper floor, made of wooden, served as superior guest rooms.

Not long after, a man came out of one of the superior guest rooms and yelled to the innkeeper from the railing, “Hey! Go buy two bottles of wine! Also, cut two jin of pig head meat and buy a whole roast goose, it should have all the limbs, don’t come back with any missing!”

The innkeeper responded with a shout and hurriedly sent the young waiter out to buy the alcohol and meat.

Yingbao and her father spotted Chen Guanglu indeed there.

But he was playing Chinese Chess with someone and did not come out.

After confirming Chen Guanglu was indeed there, Jiang Sanlang rose and left the inn with his daughter.

After scanning their surroundings, they finally arrived at the riverside dock of Simen Town.

This was a small dock, hardly any large ships docked here regularly. But today a large ship was parked not far away.

Transport workers were carrying sacks of grains onto the large ship.

Yingbao keenly noticed that the supervisor on the scene was one of County Magistrate Cao Can’s subordinates.

“Father, do you see that man? He is one of County Magistrate Cao’s men.”

Yingbao quietly told her father, “I recognized him from the time the county magistrate was hearing a case. He must be one of Cao Can’s trusted subordinates.”

Jiang Sanlang squinted at the man and whispered, “We won’t worry about Cao Can for now, let’s first get Chen Guanglu.”

Every day Chen Guanglu was alive longer was a day Jiang Sanlang felt unsafe.

Chen Guanglu was cunning and ruthless. If they did not act first, their family might be the one to suffer repercussions.

Meanwhile, after finishing a game of chess, Chen Guanglu anxiously summoned one of his subordinates and asked, “Has Gao Xun not returned yet?”

Subordinate: “No, they should have arrived last night. I don’t know why they haven’t returned yet.”

Chen Guanglu started pacing around the room with his hands behind his back. Suddenly, the man behind him laughed, “It’s not a big deal, just handling an enemy. Why bother with so much trouble? Just kill him directly.”

Chen Guanglu glared at that man, “What do you know? It’s easy to kill the Jiang family members, but the Commandery Prince wants to take the child to County City, so we have to be careful.”

The villages where the Jiang family lived were closely packed, with only a few entrances and exits. If they killed anyone and alarmed the others, not only would they fail to catch the child, but they might even lose their own lives in the process.