"What did you call me for, young lady?"
Qin Gong asked in the elegant language of the five kingdoms.
The young lady in front of him was a delicate and pretty village girl. Although her appearance was not outstanding, she had the unique vitality of her age, and her cheeks were healthy. She wore a pink robe with a short-sleeved blouse over her head and a long skirt with embroidery. The fabric of her clothes was not exquisite, but the colors were bright, which made people's eyes light up.
Just from her clothes, it could be seen that the young lady's family was wealthy and had a good quality of life.
Now that the world was in chaos, many families only had one set of clothes to go out in, not to mention dressing so respectfully.
The delicate and pretty village girl smiled.
"Young man, do you have a marriage partner?"
Qin Gong's face stiffened, and his cheeks flushed as he answered dryly.
"My late father has already arranged a marriage for me."
When the village girl heard this, her face darkened, and she walked away resentfully.
A farmer drinking tea in a tea stall slapped his thigh and laughed.
"That's the prettiest girl in our village. Young man, you're not that lucky."
Qin Gong's face turned red from the teasing.
Who knew what the situation in Wanzhou was like? Qin Gong was asked about his marriage by all kinds of girls and women, and all of them wanted to marry him.
At first, Qin Gong was embarrassed and answered honestly that he was not married.
Later, he learned his lesson and said that his late father had arranged a marriage for him.
When the village girl asked him if he had a marriage partner, Qin Gong guessed what would happen next.
With his sharp eyes, he noticed that the village girl had returned to the crowd and was laughing and pointing at him with her friends. He was suddenly embarrassed.
"It really doesn't look like chaotic times …"
Qin Gong muttered.
The clothes of the people on the street were bright, and even if they were patched, they were still clean.
The adults looked healthy, and the children playing by the side of the road were fair and cute. It was a scene of prosperity and peace.
For a moment, he felt that time and space were in disorder.
But he did not forget his mission.
He originally wanted to go straight to Cangzhou, but halfway there, he found out that Jiang Pengji had already returned from Cangzhou to the prefecture of Shangyang, Wanzhou.
Leading the old horse, Qin Gong touched his money pouch that only had a few copper coins left and sighed helplessly.
He had brought quite a lot of silver with him when he set out. Logically speaking, it should be enough to cover his expenses. However, when he saw the miserable and helpless people along the way, out of pity, he had to buy more food for them. Although it did not delay the journey, it was very costly.
Now he was so poor that he only had a few copper coins left.
After entering the city, the noisy streets and pedestrians made him look pitiful.
Qin Gong smelled the aroma of food in the air. He swallowed his saliva and led the skinny horse onto the special path.
The territory under Jiang Pengji's rule had special rules. Pedestrians, horses, and carriages had to take different roads. There were even special bailiffs to manage them.
After entering the city, no one is allowed to gallop on a horse unless there are special circumstances.
Qin Gong naturally wouldn't deliberately cause trouble in someone else's territory.
Using his remaining copper coins, he bought some hay to feed the horses, two large cakes and a bowl of coarse tea.
As he ate, he strained his ears to eavesdrop on the conversation of the customers.
Qin Gong was listening attentively when a young man in wooden clogs came running in from outside.
The young man had dark skin and plain facial features. His face was flushed from running. He shouted excitedly at the customers in the teahouse.
"Caigou is going to be flogged again."
The lady boss of the teahouse hit the back of his head in annoyance and scolded, "You little bastard, you don't learn good things all day. What are you watching for?"
The young man stomped his feet. "Mother, can't I just watch the fun?"
The lady boss wanted to scold him again, but one of the customers gave the young man a copper coin.
"Tell me, what's the news today?"
The teahouse was a place where news circulated and gossip flew everywhere. The young man was the lady boss's son. He had a mischievous temper, but he had an excellent memory. He could always tell the customers all kinds of news he had heard. Many customers liked to come here to drink tea and listen to gossip.
Qin Gong was also attracted by the young man's lively words and listened attentively.
"Everyone, do you know about the Nursery Hall?"
The young man kept them guessing.
The customers jeered, "In the whole of Wanzhou, who doesn't know about the Nursery Hall? If you keep us guessing, I won't pay for the tea … "
Jiang Pengji set up the Nursery Hall as soon as she entered Xiangyang District to take in orphans who lost their parents during the war.
After that, the Nursery Hall became a shelter for many irresponsible parents who abandoned their children. To be precise, it was a shelter for abandoned girls. If they were war orphans, it was relatively easy to enter the Nursery Hall. If the parents abandoned and sold baby girls, they had to sign a strict contract.
Now that four or five years had passed, the youngest of that batch of children was enlightened, and the older ones could work and support their families.
The young man said, "Someone went to the Nursery Hall to steal a child."
As soon as he finished speaking, many customers spat out their tea.
"Went to the Nursery Hall to steal a child?"
"Provoke the King of Hell?"
"Which blind bastard did that?"
The customers discussed animatedly. The young man sat in the middle of the teahouse and whetted everyone's appetite like a storyteller.
"You don't know, right? The child who was stolen is a girl from Class A and D of the Nursery Hall. Guess who stole the child? "The young man laughed." It's actually this girl's biological parents! Today, they were also the ones who were pushed to the table and spanked. Fifty strokes each! "
The young man gestured with five fingers, gloating over the misfortune of others.
The customers who didn't know asked, "Isn't it normal for biological parents to steal a child? Why do they have to punish them fifty strokes each? "
Qin Gong, who was outside, also had this doubt.
"You don't know. The children who entered the Nursery Hall are either orphans of martyrs, orphans whose parents died and relatives refused to take them in, or baby girls who were abandoned by their parents and elders." Another customer who lived in Xiangyang District cupped his hands and bowed in the direction of the state government. He then said, "The former is easy. If it's the latter, the elders have to sign a contract to sever ties. Once the contract is signed, the children's elders and relatives can't get close to the child. Not to mention stealing the child, even if they see the child in private, they will be punished with ten strokes! "
"Hey, that's not right. Since it's a girl, why would they take the risk to steal her?"
A contract severed blood ties. No matter how one looked at it, the child was no longer the parent's.
Blood ties?
This thing couldn't be compared to the contract!
The young man said, "You don't know, I have a childhood friend in the Golden Scale Academy. The governor is preparing to expand the Golden Scale Academy. As for the source of students — he chose a portion from the Nursery Hall. That girl is from Class A and D, so entering the Golden Scale Academy is a sure thing. I don't know where the parents heard the news, but they came over eagerly. The girl didn't want to acknowledge her, so they thought of stealing her. "
Entering the Golden Scale Academy would basically be considered as the governor's personal disciple. How could their future be bad?
Even if it was a girl, she would be a golden doll who had a relationship with the governor.
If they could acknowledge their daughter, it wouldn't be a loss no matter what.
The tea house was in full swing.
Qin Gong drank his tea, returned the pottery bowl, and followed the crowd to the food stall.
When he arrived, the fifty strokes had already been flogged. The dispersed crowd was laughing and talking.
Almost everyone felt that the couple deserved it. The fifty strokes were considered light.
The contract to sever ties had been signed, which was equivalent to selling the child to the governor, Liu Xi, who was behind the Nursery Hall.
The child's life and death were in Liu Xi's hands, and the child was the governor's private property.
What did biological parents count for?
This wasn't stealing their own child, it was clearly stealing the governor's private property. It was already merciful that they weren't beaten to death.
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