Chapter 97: A Fool is A Fool
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
After the Double Ninth Festival, someone from the Feng family came.
He was the butler of the Feng family, a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.
The man talked to Heng Yi for a while in the central room, mostly about tigers, lions, bears, leopards, or whatever animal the family wanted to hunt.
Heng Yi couldn’t help but ask, “How’s the war at the border?”
“It’s very tight. Rong Di must marry our princess and send countless dowries for this to be over!”
Heng Yi was silent for a moment, “Don’t worry. I’ll do my best.”
“I’m relieved to hear that. I’ve prepared twenty men for you, all of whom are experts. Find another twenty people to go with you. It’s best if we enter the mountain before the twelfth.”
“Alright,” Heng Yi nodded.
It was more urgent than Heng Yi had imagined.
Butler Feng left Heng Yi a box of silver.
In total, he had a few hundred taels.
“This is the money for you. My master said that after the matter is done, he will give you a generous reward.”
Heng Yi nodded.
He didn’t talk much, to begin with.
“Don’t worry, I’ll send people to guard outside the village. I won’t let the thieves and bandits enter to harass your family.”
This removed all of Heng Yi’s worries.
Heng Yi followed Han Qiao’s instructions and discussed with Butler Feng about the contract that the people who entered the mountain needed to sign.
The amount of money for injuries, disability, and death in the mountains was written clearly.
Before these people could follow them into the mountain, they had to get their fingerprints from their families.
Life and death were determined by fate, and they had to bear the consequences themselves.
Since he wanted to earn this money, he had to bear the risk.
On September 12th, everyone arrived at the meeting point.
There were a few more people on Heng Yi’s side, and they were mostly Han Qiao’s cousins.
They were the ones who approached Han Qiao and discussed the job with her before they confirmed the job with Heng Yi.
Ten taels of silver were really hard to earn.
Nobody in their small village can save that much money even if they spent their whole life doing so.
If they really died in the mountains, they could leave fifty taels of silver for their wife and children at home. It was a worthy death.
Before they had to leave for the mountain, Heng Yi couldn’t bear to part with Han Qiao.
He hugged and kissed her, “I’ll be back in five or six days at most,” He said hoarsely.
Be careful.”
“I will!”
Then, Heng Yi and the others left for the mountain.
The house seemed to have suddenly become deserted. Han Qiao had been feeling a little uncomfortable for the past two days, and her period came.
She was also delicate when it came to this. She used cotton to sew her menstrual belt. It was much better than using plant ash, but it was a little extravagant.
In addition, she just had a miscarriage so she wasn’t feeling well. It was best if she used the day to just not do anything and focus on getting better.
Aunt Zhao was in charge of the house from the inside out while the three children followed Lady Lin to read and write. Grandfather and Grandmother were fine on their own, so she did not have to worry about where they went.
Han Qiao felt at ease.
She might as well rest and recuperate.
However…
On the 17th of September, someone carried two bears down the mountain, but Heng Yi and the others were nowhere to be seen. Someone was even injured.
Knowing that Heng Yi had led everyone to chase after a tiger, Han Qiao started to worry.
By September 20, her period had passed, but Heng Yi still hadn’t returned, which only made Han Qiao even more worried.
A few sisters-in-law and cousins would come to her place to sit and help Han Qiao make winter jackets.
Even Han Xiang had brought her two children back to her mother’s house. When she came to Han Qiao’s home, her sister did not do anything to harm her. She was just as worried as Han Qiao was.
Perhaps some people hoped that their men would die in the mountains so they can get the fifty taels of silver.
However, most of them still hoped that their men could return safely.
Ouch.” Han Qiao gasped in pain.
The needle pierced her finger.
Looking at the blood on her finger, she quickly put it into her mouth and sucked it.
“Sister?” Han Xiang called out softly.
Everything was for the sake of silver.
Knowing that Han Qiao would become even more successful in the future, Han Xiang learned to be humble and care for her.
More importantly, they were biological sisters and did not have any blood feuds. It was easy for them to reconcile.
“Hmm?” Han Qiao replied indifferently.
She didn’t want to talk to her, nor did she want to talk to anyone.
“If you’re tired, you should go and rest.”
Han Qiao took a deep breath, “Alright, I’ll sleep.”
Actually, she couldn’t sleep at all.
She couldn’t lie still and only felt uncomfortable.
Logically, she knew that she didn’t need to worry much. Heng Yi might be a little too honest, but he wasn’t stupid.
He had been hunting in the mountains all year round and was very familiar with the terrains.
Han Qiao took a deep breath.
She closed her eyes to stop thinking and fell asleep very quickly.
She slept a little soundly until she felt someone walking around the room and sitting by the bed. There was a smell of bathing beans and shampoo.
She could even feel someone touching her face.
She immediately grabbed the hand, preventing them from touching her. Her grip was strong, firmly intent to break whoever’s fingers. In an instant, Han Qiao opened her eyes.
“Heng Yi?”
The man sitting in front of her was none other than Heng Yi.
Han Qiao immediately sat up and threw herself into his arms, “You’re home.”
Heng Yi hugged Han Qiao tightly and said in a low voice, “I’m home.”
After a while, Han Qiao looked up at Heng Yi and asked, “Are you hurt?”
“A little scratch is not a big deal.”
Han Qiao wanted Heng Yi to show it to her.
But seeing that he had changed into clean clothes, it was obvious that he had taken a shower.
She decided to take a look at his wounds tonight.
“How’s the others?”
“They just suffer from minor injuries and scratches. Nothing serious, and everyone is back safely. It’s just…”
Heng Yi was silent for a moment, “Fourth Brother was injured.”
Han Qiao sat up straight, “How did he get hurt?”
“Eldest Brother and Second Brother pushed him. Everyone saw it… Even Third
Brother saw it too.”
Heng Yi didn’t mention that if he hadn’t reacted quickly to grab Fourth Brother Heng, he would have fallen off the cliff and died.
The twenty or so members from the Feng family were indeed masters in what they do, but because of this they also looked down on others.
They did not care about other people’s lives.
To them, the people Heng Yi found were just ants. The Feng family could pay fifty silver taels in return for their deaths.
However, it was also because of these fifty taels of silver that made his Eldest and Second Brother attack their own family.
Third Brother Heng must have discovered something, so he kept a distance from his two brothers. Fourth Brother Heng was still young, after all, and he trusted his brothers very much.
When they pushed him off, he had already fallen off the cliff. Heng Yi barely managed to grab his feet and pulled him back.
Fourth Brother Heng’s leg was broken, but even so, he still dragged it to give Eldest Brother Heng and Second Brother Heng a punch.
Heng Yi’s people tried to calm them down.
While the people from the Feng family enjoyed the show.
It was also at that moment when Heng Yi learned the difference between some people.
Power and money were good things, but one could not lose their conscience to it.
“The Heng family has really portrayed the saying: people dying for wealth and birds dying for food. Luckily, you understood this early on, or else you would have been skinned as well.” Han Qiao said.
Heng Yi agreed.
If they were willing to kill their own brother, one could only imagine what they would do to someone who was not related to them.
He took a deep breath and hugged Han Qiao tightly, “Ah-Qiao, thank you for standing by my side and saving me.”
Han Qiao wanted to say something emotional, but before she could, the simple-minded man changed the topic. “Since I’ve earned a lot of money, let’s go to the county town tomorrow to buy a house..”