Chapter 181: The Woman

The setting sun was sinking in the west.

Xingnong and her group settled down in Tian’an City.

There was also a long queue outside the city gate.

Xingnong and Xingqing poked their heads out to take a look.

Xingqing: “They are all merchant caravans.”

Xingnong nodded: “Yes, it’s the end of the year, and merchant caravans from all over are coming and going frequently. Many caravans come to the capital to pick up goods to sell back, taking advantage of the fact that everyone is willing to spend some money at the end of the year.”

Xingnong had changed back into women’s clothing, disguised as the younger sister of a wealthy merchant. At this moment, she and Xingqing both covered their faces with thin gauze scarves.

Xingnong saw a woman in ragged clothes, with dark skin and a weathered face, looking about fifty years old. She was holding a broken bowl, begging along the line, “Kind sir, please have mercy! Kind sir, please have mercy! Just give me something to eat! I don’t want silver, just a piece of dry food! Please, sir, good deeds will be rewarded.”

In the cold wind, the woman’s thin trousers were blown about violently. She was barefoot, her feet covered in yellow mud, but many cracked toes could still be seen, oozing red blood, staining the mud around her toes.

The guards of the merchant caravans in front started to drive her away before she could even get close.

The woman did not pester them, she kept walking along the line: “Young Master/Miss, please, can you give me something to eat? I don’t want silver, I just want a bite to eat. I’ve spent all my money looking for my daughter, and I’m begging for food as a last resort.”

The woman quickly came to Xingnong’s caravan. The leader of the escorts had traveled all over the country for many years, and it was not the first time he had met this woman.

It’s just that he had seen her several times in different cities.

He took out a silver ingot and was about to ask someone to bring her a bag of dry food when he heard Xingnong’s voice: “Auntie, I have dry food here!”

Xingnong lifted the curtain of the carriage and waved to the woman.

Hearing this, the woman hurried over, but she was walking too fast and kicked a stone on the road. Her toenail almost flipped over, and blood gushed out instantly.

However, she didn’t seem to feel the pain and quickly ran to Xingnong’s side.

By this time, Xingnong had already gotten off the carriage with a bundle in her hand.

Inside the bundle was an old cloak, a pair of new shoes, a bag of dry food, and ten taels of silver fragments.

Xingnong, worried that she might fall, hurried forward and said, “Auntie, don’t rush!”

The woman stopped in front of Xingnong and bowed excitedly, “Thank you, Miss! Good people will be rewarded! You will surely be rich and noble in the future!”

Xingnong originally just wanted to get off the carriage and give her the bundle, after all, it was not very polite to hand it to her from the carriage.

But Xingnong looked down and saw her overturned toenail, half of it flipped up, bleeding profusely: “Auntie, get in the carriage first, your foot needs medicine.”

The woman hurriedly said, “No, no! I’m dirty. It’s okay, my foot is fine.”

“It doesn’t matter, it’s not like we can’t wipe it clean.” Xingnong helped her up.

The woman waved her hands vigorously, “No, no… Miss, just give me a bite of dry food! Really!”

How could she get on the carriage when she was so dirty?

At this time, Xingqing also lifted the curtain of the carriage: “Auntie, don’t be afraid! Come on up!”

The woman saw Xingqing’s eyes, and tears immediately streamed down her face: Chunhua, her precious daughter’s eyes were also so beautiful!

Xingnong and Xingqing: “…”

What was going on?

Xingqing was stunned. How could the woman cry after she just said one sentence?

Did she think they had ulterior motives and wanted to sell her?

She hurriedly comforted her, “Auntie, if you don’t want to get in the carriage, don’t! We mean no harm.”

Xingnong, however, was lost in thought.

The woman shook her head, looked at Xingqing, and wiped her tears, “No, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t control myself! When I see you, it’s like I see my daughter. My daughter disappeared a year ago! I can’t find her anywhere. Her eyes are very similar to yours, Miss.”

For more than a year, she and her husband had been searching everywhere, guarding the gates of major cities, hoping to find their daughter.

At this moment, she looked at Xingqing’s eyes, and it was as if she was looking at other people through Xingqing’s eyes.

This young lady’s eyes looked very much like her daughter’s, but she knew she was not her daughter.

✿✿✿

Songbai sighed, feeling sorry for the parents’ heartache: “Auntie, haven’t you reported it to the officials?”

The woman: “Yes, we reported it to the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture, but the officials searched for three months and couldn’t find her. They said she might have been abducted by traffickers to other places, and they would notify us if they found her.”

But she knew the officials couldn’t find her! In the past year, she had traveled through several cities and heard about some women or children being abducted by traffickers, and the officials had not found them.

She just didn’t want to give up, she would search to the ends of the earth to find her daughter.

Now, she had returned to the capital by begging all the way, just to see if the officials had any news, or if her daughter had come home.

After all, it was almost New Year’s Eve, maybe her daughter would come home for the New Year.

Xingqing poured a cup of hot tea in the carriage and handed it to Xingnong.

Xingnong handed her a cup of hot tea: “Auntie, have some hot tea first.”

“Thank you, Miss.” The woman said gratefully.

At this time, the lead escort walked over, it was their caravan’s turn to enter the city, he said, “Auntie, you get on the cargo cart behind and enter the city with us!”

The woman quickly shook her head, “No, no, I won’t take the carriage, I’ll enter the city myself! Thank you.”

Xingnong thought that the escorts who traveled all over the country had met many people, so she said, “Auntie, get on the carriage! This is Brother Zhao, he travels all over the country, you tell him what your daughter looks like, maybe someone will meet her someday!”

Xingnong grew up in an orphanage and knew how difficult it was for children without parents or who had left their parents.

She didn’t understand the parents who abandoned their own children, but at the same time, she was moved by the parents who never gave up searching for their children.

The escort nodded, “That’s right, we have many people in our escort agency, we travel all over the Four Kingdoms, you tell us! Many hands make light work! I’ll ask the people in our agency to keep an eye out, including those from other agencies.”

He also hated those human traffickers the most!

How could the woman not be moved when she heard this? She was desperate to find her daughter!

But she was too dirty to take Xingnong’s carriage, these two young ladies were dressed too beautifully.

She went to the carriage behind, and Xingnong gave her the bundle and a bottle of wound medicine: “There’s dry food and an old coat inside, I was going to throw the coat away when I got back, I hope you don’t mind.”

Xingnong bought this old cloak from a used clothing store because she needed it to play different roles.

The woman would not mind taking it, and after thanking her repeatedly, she got on the cargo cart behind and sat next to the driver.

Xingnong also returned to her own carriage, not sitting with Xingqing.

Entering the city, the inspection was very strict.

Household registration and travel permits were carefully checked.

Xingnong noticed that a soldier was carefully scrutinizing her, paying particular attention to the household registration and travel permits of the women and young men in their caravan, and would ask questions.

The woman also had household registration and a travel permit, but the soldiers had recognized her from begging at the city gate, so they didn’t check her again.

After entering the city, the woman saw her husband and son about to leave the city to look for her, and she quickly called out to them.

Finally, the family followed the caravan to the escort agency’s backyard to settle down.

Wu’an Escort Agency had branches in every city in the entire Chu State, so they didn’t need to stay at an inn.

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