Chapter 229: Searching For The Children

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

---

Liu Yun’er was moving about so frantically, it looked like she was about to fling herself at the bars. In a wretched voice, she called out, “Senzi! Look at me carefully! I really am your jie Liu Yun’er!” She viciously swiped at her face, wanting to wipe it clean of blood and hair. In a shrill voice, she cried out, “Senzi, look at me carefully! I really am your jie Liu Yun’er! Save me. You are a juren, you definitely can save me!”

Senzi looked at her coldly. Then he icily shook his head, “Don’t ask me to save you. You nearly beat me to death when I was small. You didn’t have any mercy on me then, so why should I save you now?!”

Liu Yun’er was stunned into silence!

Liu Xu’er quickly pulled Liu Sen behind her and looked at Liu Yun’er. Honestly, she didn’t know what kind of expression she should have when facing her now. This was her most hated person in this lifetime. But she just had to be a relative. Like a malicious ghoul who refused to let go, she had continually popped up to wreak havoc all through her childhood. To the extent that Liu Xu’er would spend each and every holiday season hoping that she wouldn’t be around. Otherwise, a happy occasion would again end up in a group fight!

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Lso, vbl byvale oyp pvkzz vblal, cwv Nkw Dw’la oyp ayvbla wdnsxqsavyczl pllkdt bla kd vbkp pkvwyvksd. Ebld bla eycs yde Nkw Mys qswde swv ycswv vbkp, vblu oswze cl blyavcasjld. Nkw Dw’la oyp olzz yde vawzu vsad ycswv vbkp.&dcpr;

Nkw Dw’la oypd’v vbl sdzu sdl okvb xkmle qllzkdtp. Nkw Nkd, Nkw Fld csvb bye pkxkzya lxsvksdp.&dcpr;

Mbl nyavp pvyavle vs xshl sqq, cwv vblu nswze pvkzz blya Nkw Ubydttwk pbswvkdt, “Tlzr xl zssj yqvla vbl nbkzeald! Yu nbkzeald….”

Gzsdt okvb Nkw Zwd’la’p elprlayvl bsoz, “Fyhl xl! Fldgk, usw xwpv pyhl xl….”

Nkw Dw’la pweeldzu bye vbl pbkhlap. Fbl iwknjzu rwzzle Fldgk vsoyae bla yde psqvzu pyke, “Zsw nyd’v pyhl bla! Ls sdl nyd. Mblpl yal vbl nsdpliwldnlp sq bla sod ynvksdp; pbl nyd’v czyxl vbkp pkvwyvksd sd ydusdl lzpl!”

Nkw Fld vwadle vs zssj yv bla. Tl eked’v alyzzu wdelapvyde obyv pbl oyp vaukdt vs es, cwv bl pvkzz dseele bkp blye.&dcpr;

Fbk Ubldt bsolhla, wdelapvsse. Nkw Dw’la oyp osaakle vbyv Nkw Fld oyp pvkzz vss uswdt yde oswze cl vaywxyvkgle cu obyv byrrldle vseyu. Nkw Zwd’la’p rklankdt hsknl nsdvkdwyzzu nyzzkdt qsa Nkw Fld vs pyhl bla – pbl eked’v oydv Nkw Fld vs byhl alnwaakdt dktbvxyalp ycswv vbkp! Fs bl vss dseele bkp blye yde pvladzu pyke, “Mbyv’p aktbv! Nkw Zwd’la eke vbkp vs blaplzq. Mbkp kp fwpv obyv pbl elplahlp!”

Nkw Fld ytykd dseele bkp blye.&dcpr;

Liu Sen watched until the jail carts had travelled far away. After a long time, he finally let out his breath. 

The few of them stood at the street, all rather listless. After a long time, Shi Cheng asked Liu Lin, “Do we need to… go and look for sanshu’s children?”

Liu Xu’er was suddenly reminded. The New Year just before the family had moved to town, Liu Changgui had brought the beautifully dressed Fang Yun to visit them for the first time. At that time,she carried a little boy in her arms and had a little, delicately dressed girl with her. 

Liu Lin had already nodded his head, “That’s right! We should look for them. The children don’t know anything… This situation can’t be blamed on them.” Then he looked at Liu Xu’er. 

Liu Xu’er naturally nodded her head. The instant she thought of this, she started to feel extremely worried. The two of them weren’t even 10 yet. Even if they were at home, it didn’t mean that nothing would happen to them.

When they thought that way, everyone started to panic. Liu Lin then said, “Senzi and I will head back first to Feng town! Shi Cheng, please help me apologise and explain to your parents. It really is rather abrupt…”

Shi Cheng nodded his head repeatedly, “Of course! Quickly go back and look for them! When we go back, we will explain to my parents. We will join you tomorrow!”

Liu Lin nodded his head. Everyone headed back to the Shi residence, but Liu Lin and Liu Sen didn’t enter the room. They directly called for servants to saddle their horses and left. 

“Jie, you should come back quickly as well!” Senzi said to Liu Xu’er before he left. 

Liu Xu’er nodded her head, “Got it! We will head back tomorrow!”

After seeing the two brothers off, husband and wife hurriedly went in. It was very late last night when they got the news. His parents in the front courtyard had already gone to rest before hearing about the situation. And since they had left rather early this morning, no one had yet explained what had happened to them. Both of them headed in – Liu Xu’er went first to the back courtyard to tidy up her things, while Shi Cheng went to the front courtyard to explain everything that had happened. 

The instant Shi Cheng’s parents heard that the situation had been resolved, and that the criminals had been sent away this morning, they both let out enormous sighs of relief!

Shi Cheng’s mother was still a little worried. She asked, “Then in future? Will they keep troubling us again? Would they… relook this situation again?”

Shi Cheng smiled and said, “They won’t. Even if they were to re-investigate the case, so what? Even if they were to check now, it really has absolutely nothing to do with me! It is just that the head of the Public Safety department wants some money, so he engineered all this. The situation didn’t hurt me now, and definitely can’t hurt me in future.”

Shi Cheng’s mother sighed again, before starting to grumble resentfully, “Yet we were still cheated of money! Out of the blue – what did this situation have to do with us….

Shi Cheng’s father, however, frowned. “Don’t speak of this matter in future! That little bit of money…. If our in-laws were to find out that you were resentful over it, wouldn’t that be shameful?” He turned and looked at Shi Cheng, “It’s enough that everything is resolved! But you still need to be careful. Their sentences still aren’t out yet right? What if Dongchangfu continues to investigate and wants to exploit you….”

Shi Cheng smiled and said, “There’s no way! Firstly, the Dongchangfu officials are actually invested in the investigation. They want the glory of having cracked this case! They’re not in it for the money! And even if they did want to, there are dozens of people implicated within Dongchangfu, with at least 10 main culprits based there. The ones from Hanzhong prefecture were only accomplices. Even if the Dongchangfu officials want to blackmail others, they could choose from any of their people there. Why would they come over and try and extort someone from so far away? Someone who wasn’t even directly involved in the case? So there is no way.”

Shi Cheng’s father was a smart person. He nodded his head, “That’s true. Frankly speaking, even though we feel that we have been cheated of money, the head of Public Safety might feel that this is our just desserts. In such a case, how can the family members of the accused get away completely scot free!”

Shi Cheng smiled and lightly patted the table, “Exactly! He might feel that this is perfectly justifiable!”

Father and son both smiled. Only Shi Cheng’s mother was still a little angry. She rolled her eyes at Shi Cheng. 

Shi Cheng stayed with his parents to continue to soothe their fears. Then he explained what had happened in the morning, and explained that Liu Lin and Liu Sen needed to urgently return to look for their sanshu’s children. So they didn’t manage to say their goodbyes. He apologised on their behalf for their abrupt departure.

Shi Cheng’s father nodded his head and then sighed again, “And that’s why, people should not commit crimes. It can always be investigated, even if it happens years after the fact….”

“People should not commit crimes? For an official to blackmail and extort law abiding citizens – isn’t that a crime? And yet they can have smooth sailing careers their entire lives?” Shi Cheng’s mother coldly said.

Shi Cheng knew that his mother was unable to swallow this injustice. She felt that it was Liu Xu’er’s family’ matter, and yet her son had to involve himself and come up with the money to bribe others. 

He smiled and said, “Mum, you really need to accept this. As a businessperson, we would definitely be exploited by officials. We just need to take it as it comes and try to maneuver a more beneficial outcome for ourselves. If we use dignified ways to turn the situation around, not only would we be able to reduce the amount of damage we take, we might even start to form connections with the officials. That way, if anything were to happen in future, we can still ask them for help. This is something we need to be prepared for in business. Just like being able to balance the ledgers, this is a skill we must have.” 

Shi Cheng’s mother didn’t understand. She just gave a hmph. 

Shi Cheng again smiled and said, “Xu’er is my wife. I will definitely help her with her matters…. Surely you can’t expect me not to help, and just get her to do everything? What kind of person would that make me?”

Shi Cheng’s mother’s face changed. 

Shi Cheng’s father smiled and waved his hand, “Enough, enough. You know your mother’s temperament. Did you hear her say anything before this? It’s only now that the situation is resolved that she has to say a few sentences to vent is all!” He smiled and said to his wife, “You, oh you. Since you didn’t object to the situation earlier, why are you doing this now that the situation is all resolved. Wouldn’t it be better to just let it go. Don’t you know what it means to show them favour with little effort on your part?” 

Shi Cheng’s mother coldly said, “I am talking to my son – do I need show him favour!”

Shi Cheng’s father smiled and shook his head. 

Shi Cheng had originally wanted to immediately share their plan to head back to Feng town the next day, but seeing his mother still look somewhat unhappy, he held back. At noon, when everyone had gathered for lunch, he finally broke the news that he planned to bring Liu Xu’er back to Feng town the next day. They had already neglected their business there for a month. Also, Xu’er’s dasao had given birth, so they should return to congratulate them. 

In front of Liu Xu’er, Shi Cheng’s mother didn’t say anything. As Shi Cheng’s father had said – she just had the sort of temperament which needed to vent the unhappiness in her heart. But after venting, she would feel more comfortable and would let it be. It wasn’t a major shortcoming, she just didn’t know how to tactfully deal with the situation. 

That evening, they packed up. The next day, they got on the horse carriage to return. They had just left the city when two horses suddenly came galloping. The person in front was Liu Lin! Liu Lin recognised their horse carriage. From far away, he hollered, “Shi Cheng, Xu’er?!” 

Shi Cheng immediately looked out the carriage windows. When he saw Liu Lin, he asked in shock, “Why are you back…. You didn’t find them?!” Liu Xu’er had also immediately stuck her head out to look. She saw that Liu Lin had brought with him his manservant Xiaobei.

Anxiety was written all over Liu Lin’s face. He urgently said, “When we got back, we couldn’t find the children. Their home looks like it’s been ransacked. The neighbours said that they had been sold by the servants! I checked with all the slave traders in Feng town and they said that it was very likely they had been transferred at the neigbouring cities!”

Liu Xu’er and Shi Cheng were immediately stunned, enraged and anxious!

Liu Xu’er said, “That is to say, that they might not even be here? They might have been sold even further away?”

Shi Cheng nodded his head, “That’s right! Children would never be sold near their homes! If they came to Hanzhong city, they would just be passed along – who knows where they might be sent to.”

“That’s why I immediately rushed over. It would be best that we can catch them before they are transferred to another trader and sent further away!”

Shi Cheng didn’t bother saying anything more. He immediately told the carriage driver to turn them around. They would return to the city!

Anxiety burning in their hearts, they rushed back. Shi Cheng and Liu Lin immediately went out to investigate the situation, while Liu Xu’er called for the woman in charge of procuring slaves. She was to take along several assistants to the slave market and ask every single slave trader there was in town! She was to tell all external slave traders that they could discuss terms, and so long as they managed to locate the children, they would be heavily rewarded! Even if they just passed news to them, so long as the news was trustworthy, they would also be rewarded!

Very quickly, the message was out amongst all the slave traders in town. There was a prominent family whose servants had sold two children. The family was desperately searching for them! If they were found, they would be rewarded. 

Liu Xu’er paced around her room. Then she had a sudden thought, what if they had already been transferred to another slave trader? So she again called for the servants to go and find out – where did the slave traders who dealt with child slaves usually go? North? South? Or east?

When Shi Cheng’s father found out, he too hurried out. He went to ask his business partners, to see if they had any news. 

With such extensive efforts, and because they had acted as soon as they got the news – of course, the matter had already been delayed by several days, so they had to expend more time and energy –  very quickly, in the afternoon, Liu Xu’er started to receive news. 

The woman who had been dispatched to the slave market came back to report. A few days ago, there was indeed someone who had come from Feng town to sell two children. A girl, about 10 and a boy, about seven. Because they could not sell them in this area, they had stayed in Hanzhong city for two days, waiting to gather more children. They had then headed east!