Chapter 110.

Chapter 110.

Suddenly, a wolf howl echoed from the mountain.

Startled, Ming He's small body shivered and he ran forward, reaching a rice field where he saw an old man weeding. He approached quickly, sweetly calling out, "Grandpa, Grandpa."

The old man turned around, "Little boy, who are you?"

"I'm just passing through. May I ask you something?" Ming He inquired.

The old man stopped and said, "Go ahead and ask."

Ming He asked, "How do I get to the capital city?" His brother had always been able to make his way back to Qingshi Town on his own, and as the older brother, he should be able to make it back to the capital.

The old man, doubting what he heard, asked again, "The capital city?"

"Yes," Ming He nodded vigorously.

The old man exclaimed, "Oh, that's quite far."

Ming He asked, "How far?"

The old man, who had never been to the capital but had heard about it from neighbors, said, "It's over four hundred miles away."

"Ah, that far!" Ming He, who had learned to count but was still vague about numbers, frowned and asked, "How long would it take to get there?"

The old man chuckled and said, "Child, if you're walking, it might take several months, maybe even half a year."

"Ah!" Ming He was completely taken aback.

The old man suggested, "You should first take a horse cart, mule cart, or donkey cart, then take a boat, and transfer to another boat. Traveling day and night, it'll only take three days."

Ming He looked around the rice fields and asked, "Where do I catch a horse cart, mule cart, or donkey cart?"

"Go to Zhuyang County. There you'll find carts to take you to Chuanyang Town dock, and then you can take a boat." Worried about giving too much information for the child to remember, the old man added, "If you're unsure, just ask for directions along the way."

Ming He quickly asked, "And where is Zhuyang County?"

"Over there, just go straight and you'll reach it," the old man pointed in the direction.

"Thank you, grandpa," Ming He said as he started walking away.

The old man wanted to ask why the child was alone, but Ming He had already walked far away. He muttered, "What a handsome and polite child," and continued weeding.

Ming He walked alone through the vast fields, growing hungry. He glanced at the snacks in his arms, which he had bought with his uncle and Pei Yiyang. Fortunately, the burly man hadn't taken them.

He took one out and bit into it.

"Ah, so sweet."

"My uncle and brother would definitely like this too."

"Hey kid, what are you eating?" Suddenly, three children around seven or eight years old appeared – one dark-skinned, one chubby, and one tall, all wearing coarse clothes and looking aggressive.

Ming He replied, "Snacks."

The chubby child extended his hand, "Give me one to eat."

"No," Ming He said, moving his hand behind his back.

The dark-skinned child suddenly lunged forward, snatched the snack from Ming He's hand, bit into it without hesitation, and excitedly told the others, "This snack is really sweet! So soft! So delicious! Hurry up and grab some!"

Hearing this, the chubby and tall children reached towards Ming He's arms.

Though young, Ming He had been trained in martial arts. He pushed the tall child away and accurately kicked the chubby one in the knee, knocking him down.

He quickly pulled out a small crossbow from his arms, stepped back, and aimed at the three older children, warning, "You, you mess with me again, and I won't be nice."

Fearlessly ignorant, the three children, unfamiliar with a crossbow and its power, thought Ming He was bluffing and boldly approached him.

Suddenly, two arrows whizzed by, narrowly missing the chubby child's ear.

Startled, the chubby child froze in his tracks.

The tall child, puzzled, turned around and saw the chubby child's earlobe bleeding profusely, and immediately yelled, "Blood! There's blood!"

The chubby child touched his earlobe, finding his hand covered in blood. Only then did he feel the pain and began to cry loudly, "Aaaaah, I'm going to die, Dad! Mom! I'm going to die!"

The dark-skinned child, angered, charged at Ming He, yelling, "You little killer!"

Ming He quietly loaded his small crossbow and fired two more arrows at the dark-skinned child.

The dark-skinned child felt a sharp pain on his face, touched it, and screamed, "Blood! Blood, blood, blood!"

Realizing the power of the small crossbow, the chubby child, holding his ear, ran away, shouting, "I'm going to tell my dad, I'm telling my dad!"

The dark-skinned child, not daring to provoke Ming He further, said, "I’m going to tell my grandpa."

The tall child pointed at Ming He and threatened, "You little brat, just wait, I'll get the villagers and they'll kill you!"

The three older children ran away quickly.

Having lived in villages and towns, Ming He worried that the three children might indeed bring villagers to punish him. Unable to outswear or outfight them, he quickly packed up his crossbow and ran, dashing into the woods, the bushes, and down small paths.

Only when he saw no sign of the three children or any villagers in all directions did he feel a bit safer. He looked at the snacks in his arms, now reduced to only three pieces by the older children.

Licking his lips, he said, "I should eat one per day; otherwise, I won't have the strength to get back to the capital."

So, he refrained from eating more and ran to a nearby stream, carefully scooping up water and drinking heartily.

Patting his full belly, he said, "Alright, my stomach is full now, I'm not hungry anymore."

He continued towards Zhuyang County, worried about getting lost. When he met passersby, he would politely ask for directions, ensuring he was on the right path before proceeding.

But being small with short legs, he stopped frequently to rest, and night fell before he reached Zhuyang County.

Darkness enveloped him, and the sounds of various nocturnal birds and wild animals filled the air.

Feeling a bit scared, he quickened his steps, which soon turned into a run. After a long while, he finally saw some scattered lights ahead.

Excited, he headed straight towards the lights, but by the time he reached them, the city gates were already closed. His chubby little hands knocked on the door, calling out a few times, but there was no response.

Realizing no one would come to open the gate, he curled up in a corner by the door.

A gust of cold night wind blew, lacking the warmth of the spring days, chilling him to the bone.

Shivering from the cold, he quickly hugged himself, curling into a ball. Turning to look at the trees, their leaves that were lush and green by day now seemed like ghostly claws and faces in the darkness, terrifying him.

He buried his little face in his knees, whispering, "I can't see, I can't see, if I don't see, I won't be scared."

Then he heard his stomach growl, which was annoying and a reminder of his hunger.

He couldn't resist taking out a piece of pastry. Though his mouth was already open to eat, he resisted and instead smelled it.

Alright, that's enough, he felt full.

He put the pastry back in his pocket, his face buried in his knees. Suddenly, a wave of loneliness and sadness overwhelmed him, his lips pouted slightly, quivering, and tears uncontrollably started to fall.

He whispered to himself, "Uncle loves me the most. When I find Uncle, he will love me again..."

Crying and talking, he eventually fell asleep.

"Hey, little kid, move over there and sleep." Suddenly, a voice was heard.

Minghe opened his eyes, realizing it was already broad daylight. It took him a moment to understand he had fallen asleep at the city gates of Zhuyang County. He turned to look at the gate.

The city gate was open!

"Hey, little kid!" someone shouted again.

Minghe looked up and saw a constable standing in front of him.

His uncle had told him to seek help from constables in case of trouble.

Minghe cheerfully said, "Uncle Constable, my name is Minghe. I was kidnapped and brought here. Can you take me to the capital?"

"Take you to the capital? Go play somewhere else," the constable replied impatiently.

Minghe had only met helpful constables before and didn’t understand why this one was acting differently. Still, he explained, "I'm really kidnapped. My home is in the capital. If you could help me get back there—"

"Can't you understand human language?" the constable yelled, losing his patience, "Go away!"

Minghe was stunned.

Just then, someone came over, stuffed some silver into the constable's hand, and flatteringly called him "Constable Sir," then slyly said, "Thank you for being fair and just with that matter involving Widow Wang last time."

The constable weighed the silver contentedly and said with a smile, "Just doing my duty."

"You're taking bribes!" Minghe pointed at the constable and exclaimed, "As a constable, you receive a salary from the state of Dajing but don't serve the people. Instead, you're taking bribes—"

"Where did this brat come from?" The man pushed Minghe to the ground.

Minghe stood up, indignantly pointing at them, "Just you wait! When I return to the capital, I'll tell my uncle and brother to root out corrupt officials like you!" He learned the term 'corrupt officials' from Scholar Xun, referring to officials who take their salaries without doing their jobs or even exploit the common people.

"What did you say? What did you say?" The man was panicked and raised his hand to hit Minghe.

Playing the role of the good guy, the constable intervened, "Why bother arguing with a child?"

The man pointed at Minghe and said, "For the sake of the constable, I'll let you off this time, you little wretch! If I see you again—"

"You're the wretched dog! You shameless wretched dog!" Minghe shouted back and ran into the city.

The man was furious.

Minghe was angry too. In the capital, the Emperor, his brother, uncle, Uncle Pei, Uncle Lu, and many others always helped the common people, but this constable was taking bribes, which was despicable.

He needed to get back to the capital quickly to report this.

So, he looked around Zhuyang County.

He didn't find any carriages but saw some mule carts.

Seeing many people getting on the mule carts to go to various places, he hurriedly approached and asked, "Uncle Cart Driver, may I ride with you?"

"Where to?" asked the cart driver.

Minghe remembered the old man's words: "Chuanyang Town Dock."

The cart driver sized up the plump child in front of him, noticing his clothes were finer than others, and asked, "Are you alone?"

Minghe nodded.

"Fifty wen," said the cart driver.

Fifty wen!

Hearing this, a passenger commented that the driver was taking advantage of a child.

The cart driver retorted, "I said twenty wen per person. Will you pay that? Take it or leave it."

The passengers fell silent.

The cart driver turned to Minghe and revised his price: "Thirty wen."

"But I don't have any silver," Minghe explained. He had silver from the palace but had spent it all.

"No silver, no ride. Get lost!" the driver exclaimed, driving off.

Minghe approached another mule cart, offering all three of his pastries to the driver: "These are for you. Could you take me to Chuanyang Town Dock, please?"

The second driver was even worse, tossing aside the pastries disdainfully: "What kind of kid are you, playing tricks on me? Go play in the mud at home."

A dog nearby quickly ate two of the pastries.

"Those are mine! Mine! You can't eat them!" Minghe rushed to grab the last piece, angrily shooing the dog away.

Without time for sadness, he tried several more drivers, but none were willing to take him.

Feeling dejected, with tears in his eyes, he muttered "Uncle" to himself, longing to return to the capital to find his uncle. Then he saw a mule cart starting and quickly clambered onto it.

Just as he was pleased to be leaving the city gates, the plump driver stopped and pulled him off the cart.

"I have pastries, really good ones. I'll give them to you. Let me ride for a bit. My brother is the crown prince, my uncle is Lord Ziqing. When I get back to the capital, I'll give you lots of silver!" Minghe shouted desperately, "Uncle driver, please take me to Chuanyang Town Dock."

"Your brother's the crown prince? Then I must be the retired emperor," scoffed the fat driver. "I saw you eyeing other people's carts, looking for a free ride. Here, I'll give you one." He tossed Minghe into the bushes with a thud.

Suddenly, Xiao Yu on the boat felt a sudden pain in his chest, as if something had hit him. He clutched his chest uncomfortably.

"What's wrong?" asked Pei Yanli.

Xiao Yu told Pei Yanli about his dream where Zheng Weirong and his brothers, envious of him and Dangzi, kidnapped Minghe. But Minghe, being clever, escaped and was wandering among the common folk.

He said he knew the route Minghe might have taken from the dream, so they should search accordingly.

It sounded absurd, but Pei Yanli was willing to believe and follow the "dream" to find Minghe. "I'm worried about Minghe," he said.

"Don't worry, we'll find him. Qingshi Town and Qingshan Town have been informed, Zhang Wu and the others will notify us immediately," Pei Yanli comforted. They looked at the map, planning their route: "We're currently in Xiangning County, next is Chuanyang Town, Zhuyang County, and Yuyang County..."

"All these places have 'Yang' in their names," Xiao Yu observed, studying the map.

"Yes, but they are quite different," Pei Yanli pointed out on the map. "As the saying goes, 'With full granaries, people know the rules of propriety; with full bellies, people know the sense of shame.' Chuanyang and Qingshi Town are prosperous because they're near the canal, so the locals are as amiable as those in Qingshi Town."

Indeed.

The people of Qingshi Town were extremely kind, like Mrs. Niu, the Shen family, Chef Yu, Zhang Wu, and many others.

Xiao Yu nodded in agreement.

"Zhuyang County and Yuyang County, far from the canal, are relatively poor. Despite several changes in county magistrates, none could outdo the local rich merchants. Those who stay are mostly corrupt, resulting in a poor local atmosphere. Outsiders entering these areas often get cheated, especially in Yuyang County, known for its xenophobia and barbarism," Pei Yanli explained with a frown.

Suddenly, Xiao Yu had an idea. "Let's go to Yuyang County now!"