Chapter 108: Beggar Child

Chapter 108: Beggar Child

Jiang Shu and Tanyu turned around, feeling quite surprised to see Zhuiyun and Yu Zheng with a few others.

"What are you doing here?" Jiang Shu asked.

Yu Zheng stepped forward and replied, "We came here to handle some business. Why are you here?"

"Tanyu's purse was snatched by a little beggar, and we chased him here," Jiang Shu explained, then noticed Zhao Manying standing behind Yu Zheng.

This was the first time Jiang Shu had seen a woman accompanying Yu Zheng, which naturally aroused her curiosity. Especially since this woman had a graceful figure and a lovely face, making her a rare beauty.

Jiang Shu's almond eyes darkened slightly, and she suddenly felt a bit tight in her chest.

"I didn't expect Your Highness to have friends in Lin'an Prefecture. But listening to the accent, is she also from Shang Jing?" Zhao Manying asked, equally curious as she examined Jiang Shu.

After staying by Yu Zheng's side for several days, this was the first time she had seen him speak so kindly to someone.

This person's relationship with Yu Zheng must be extraordinary.

With clear eyebrows and a delicate figure, combined with Zhuiyun's address of 'Miss Jiang,' Zhao Manying had already made a guess in her heart.

"None of your business," Yu Zheng's dark eyes turned slightly cold as he glanced at Zhao Manying, his words carrying a warning.

That single sentence clarified his relationship with the two women. It let Zhao Manying understand Jiang Shu's importance and also made Jiang Shu realize Zhao Manying's insignificance.

Having received a cold reception, Zhao Manying wisely refrained from speaking further.

At that moment, the scouting guard returned. "Madam, there are five derelict houses in the alley, all inhabited by beggar children."

"What?" Jiang Shu was astonished.

Lin'an Prefecture is quite peculiar, with beggar children everywhere and even living in the same alley.

Yu Zheng and his group were equally surprised and decided to investigate.

The group walked into the alley and looked inside through the open gates. In the courtyards, children aged from a few years to their teens were sitting, standing, or playing around.

Jiang Shu was shocked, confused. "Why are there so many beggar children in Lin'an Prefecture?"

It was also Yu Zheng's first time in Lin'an Prefecture, and he wasn't aware of the situation, so everyone looked at Zhao Manying.

Zhao Manying sighed, her expression filled with sadness as she looked at the scene in the courtyard. "Almost every year, Jiangnan experiences floods. These children are flood survivors who unfortunately lost their parents and relatives, leaving them with no choice but to beg for a living."

"I've heard that there is a beggar's alley in Lin'an Prefecture. It used to be a residential alley, but after a massacre happened there, people said the place was cursed and moved away."

"Later, these homeless beggar children gathered here, transforming the cursed alley into a beggar's alley."

Although she had heard about it before, today was the first time Zhao Manying had seen it with her own eyes. The shock of seeing it first-hand was entirely different from the casual hearing of it.

The derelict houses were decayed, and weeds grew everywhere in the courtyards. Children who couldn't endure the hunger tore at the weeds and chewed them, trying to ease their hunger.

These children were scarcely dressed, with matted hair, and some of them didn't even have shoes, running barefoot.

They know how to huddle together to keep warm and depend on each other. The older children take the initiative to care for the younger ones, using the money they begged for to buy food, which they cook into porridge to share.

"They're so young and they are disaster victims. Doesn't the magistrate of Lin'an care for them?" Jiang Shu's eyes turned red with compassion.

"Care? Of course, he cares," Zhao Manying said with sarcasm. "This alley of beggars is the shelter the magistrate gave them. He even provides a bag of relief grain every month."

"One bag of grain a month?" Tanyu doubted she had heard correctly.

With so many children, how many days could one bag of grain last? No wonder they had to resort to begging and stealing.

A mocking smile appeared on Zhao Manying's lips. "To corrupt officials, giving them a bag of grain and a shelter is already a significant act of kindness."

Even moldy old rice and haunted abandoned houses were lifesavers to these beggar children.

Jiang Shu walked to the deserted house at the end of the alley and saw the little boy who had tricked her at Lingyin Temple, as well as the little beggar whose bowl she had broken.

She stepped inside and called out gently, "Little monkey."

The little monkey, who had been starting a fire to cook the porridge, was startled and jumped up like a startled bird. The little beggar sitting on the ground counting money was also frightened and quickly stuffed the money bag into his chest, guarding it tightly.

"What are you doing here?"

The little monkey stood in front of the group of children, watching warily.

The alley of beggars rarely saw visitors, and with the sudden return of the little beggar who had run back earlier, the little monkey already understood the situation.

He knew what they were doing was wrong, but to survive, he had no other choice.

Seeing the panic and fear in the little monkey's eyes, Jiang Shu softened her voice. "I'm not here to make things difficult for you. There's something important in that money bag, and you need to return it."

The little monkey found this amusing. The money bag contained money; of course, it was valuable.

Looking Jiang Shu and her group over, the little monkey said angrily, "You all look like you're from wealthy families. That small amount of money means nothing to you, so why can't you let us be?"

"There's something important in there," Tanyu said, unlike Jiang Shu, with little patience. "Can't you see?"

"Zhuiyun, Zhufeng," Yu Zheng ordered.

The two immediately stepped forward and retrieved Tanyu's money bag from the little beggar who had been nervously clutching his chest.

"What are you doing? A bunch of adults bullying kids, how disgraceful! Give it back..."

Seeing their money bag taken away, the group of little beggars became upset and angry, their eyes red as they tried to snatch the bag back from him.

Having no other choice, Zhufeng drew the tiger-head hook from his waist and shouted fiercely, "Don't blame me for being rude if you touch anything again!"

The group of beggar children were frightened and huddled together, too afraid to move.

Zhuiyun handed the money bag to Tanyu. "Check if everything is still inside."

Tanyu poured out the contents of the bag and, from the pile of copper coins and silver, picked out a silver earring and some silver notes.

She put the earring and silver notes back into the money bag and gave all the silver coins to the little monkey.

"The earring is a memento my mother left me, and the money bag was embroidered by my sister. I can't give them away. And the silver notes, do you know what they are? You can't cash them in, so they're just worthless pieces of paper to you."

Hearing this, the little monkey and the others were somewhat less angry but still watched them warily.

"Although your situation evokes sympathy and your actions are somewhat understandable, it’s still wrong to extort and steal," Jiang Shu warned earnestly.

Fortunately, they had encountered Jiang Shu and her group; otherwise, they would certainly have faced severe beatings.

But Little Monkey and the others wouldn’t listen. They retorted, defiantly, "All we want is to survive. What’s wrong with that?"

Jiang Shu opened her mouth, unsure how to reason with these children with no family, no protection, and no guidance, who struggled daily to find food.

Indeed, they hadn’t done anything wrong. It was the world that was flawed, and the corrupt officials who ran it.

She had planned to warn them against dangerous activities, as it could cost them their lives.

But then she reflected, how could she explain right and wrong, or danger, when they were fighting to survive?