Seeing that Qingyan was unwilling to stay for another month, Chou Chou didn't force it. He knew that not only did she have to go to school, but also because they both ran away secretly, they were afraid that their family would be worried if it took a long time.
After all, it's not a different place but a different time and space. I can't contact him even if I want to. It's the first time for a teenage child to leave his family. His performance during this period has been very good.
Chou Chou asked Qing Yan, "Then shall we continue to exchange banknotes?"
Qingyan nodded. Knowing that it was not a historical dynasty, she became more interested than before.
"Change, you find a place where there is no one, and we go and take out the gold, but you have to find a way to take out a container. There are dozens of kilograms of gold. I can't put it in a cloth bag. This piece of cloth can If you can't hold it on, it will be in trouble if it falls to the ground.
Chou Chou nodded in the space, "Don't worry, the box I got at Chen's house is still there, right? I'll put all the gold cakes in that box. The box is not big, and it's not made of good wood. So There should be no problem with your strength, but the shopkeeper might be shocked after a while."
Qingyan didn't care what the shopkeeper thought, she knew that her strength would be better and she could intimidate Xiaoxiao.
Following Chou Chou's instructions, we turned to a dead end. This alley only had the courtyard gate of one house, and the rest were courtyard walls. The entrance was not on this side.
From the looks of it, no one had lived in this house for a while. There were a lot of weeds growing on the steps, and the locks on the door were rusty.
Pretending to stop at the door for a while, waiting for Chou Chou to get the box out, he picked up the box with both hands and walked out.
Fifty pounds is completely trivial to her and there is no pressure at all.
This box looks inconspicuous and a bit shabby. Those who didn't know better thought it contained some sundries.
It seems that the Chen family is quite cautious. They are not a wealthy family to begin with. If a particularly luxurious box suddenly appeared in their home, it would be quite suspicious.
The other one looks quite old, it's probably Chen Jiawang's mother's dowry box.
The dead end is not far from the bank, only seventy or eighty meters away, to the east of the bank.
After she came out, she went directly to the bank. Because her movements were too easy and the box was inconspicuous, people around her didn't really pay attention to the box.
Most of them were looking at her. After all, her clothes and her appearance were quite eye-catching. She had been to the bank once just now, and now that she was here again, it would attract others to take a second look.
Qingyan didn't feel any bad looks, so she didn't care. For her, she was used to being noticed.
Entering the bank again, the shopkeeper saw that she came back so quickly and even moved a box. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and walked out from the counter, ready to help carry the box.
Such a delicate little girl is carrying a wooden box. If he, a grown man, doesn't help, he seems to be a little embarrassed, even though it is quite relaxing to look at her.
Of course, Qingyan will definitely not let him take over. Although the other party is a big man and can carry dozens of kilograms of things, it should be no problem. However, if the other party is not paying attention, it will not be good if he suddenly ducks or stretches his arms.
Qingyan put the box on the ground, then opened the lid of the box toward the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper was startled again when he saw the gold cakes inside. The quality didn't look fake. Just now he saw the little girl carrying the box as if it was empty.
He reached out and picked up a piece of gold cake. It was quite heavy. Finally, he took the piece out of the box one by one, took it to the counter and weighed it. It weighed a full fifty kilograms.
Turning to look at Qingyan, she said, "Then I'll exchange everything for you into silver notes now?"
Qingyan nodded.
The shopkeeper thought for a while and then asked one more question, "Should we all exchange them for one hundred and one banknotes? We still need scattered ones. Do we want to exchange them for some small denominations or some broken silver?"
Qingyan shook her head, "Just ask for one hundred taels, which is exactly six hundred taels. No need to break the silver."
The shopkeeper looked at the heavy purse around her waist and felt that he was too busy and the other party really didn't need it.
This purse was the one Mrs. Xue gave her when she went out.
The shopkeeper said nothing more and directly exchanged six 100-tael silver notes for Qingyan.
Qingyan took them and looked at them one by one. She actually didn't know the authenticity, but she thought that such a big bank couldn't be a scam, so she put the banknotes in her arms, picked up the empty box and left. .
The shopkeeper looked at her casual look and shook his head funny. She was really a young lady who didn't know the sufferings of the world. She brought so much gold directly and put so many banknotes into her arms casually without fear of being stolen. There are a lot of pickpockets in Xingtang Mansion.
And that purse, bulging and heavy, hanging so casually on the waist, isn't it obvious that someone could steal it?
Wait, the shopkeeper just realized it. He had just moved the golden cake back and forth a few times. It was very stressful, so the little girl just came over with the box?
Looking at the high threshold, the little girl was quite relaxed just now, without any obvious effort at all.
Thinking of this, the shopkeeper couldn't help but smile and shake his head again. It seemed that he was hiding it deeply, but he was worrying blindly.
Qingyan dared to hang the purse so openly, of course she was not afraid of people stealing it. With Chou Chou's 360-degree surveillance, if a thief could still steal her, it would be really useless. .
And that purse looked bulging, but in fact it was not silver. What Mrs. Xue put in her pocket was indeed broken silver, but it was all replaced by copper plates.
If you really want to buy expensive things, you can just let Chou Chou take them out when the time comes. If you want to buy small items, there is no need to look for scraps of silver, otherwise there will be too many coppers and there will be no place to put them.
After solving this matter, Qingyan went to the alley again and put away the empty box first. Even if it was not good wood, it would still be an antique in future generations, so she might as well keep it.
Chou Chou also received the banknote in the space, and then he was about to go out of the alley. However, before he could reach the entrance of the alley, he was blocked by a bullock cart that turned in.
When the driver of the cattle cart saw a little girl inside, he looked stunned for a moment, and then looked confused. Qingyan guessed that he might be the owner of that yard. He must be wondering if there was another family here, and how could she come in? .
It was probably Qingyan's clothes that made the other party jealous, but he didn't say anything and just drove the oxcart aside so that Qingyan could pass by.
Qingyan walked to the side that the other party gave way to and passed sideways. The carriage was a bit wide and the alley was a bit narrow. If she didn't turn sideways, her clothes might get caught on it.
When she came out of the alley and was about to go out for a stroll, she heard a whining sound coming from the other side. Qingyan looked over and saw that the area covered by the sack on the bullock cart was squirming.
Qingyan hurriedly said to Chou Chou, "Chou Chou, what's in that car? We won't encounter human traffickers!"
Chou Chou rolled his eyes in the space, "You are overthinking, it is so easy to meet human traffickers. This is ancient times and troubled times. People are allowed to be bought and sold now and can be done openly. There is no need to be so sneaky.
Moreover, there are not that many people who would risk their lives to abduct people. It is not illegal to buy and sell people, but they must be voluntary and must be slaves. If someone is caught kidnapping someone, they will be sentenced.
Even if you want to do business without capital, you still have to see if you have life to spend. In this troubled world, human life is not valuable, and in contrast, population is not valuable either.
If you really want to resell people, go directly to the disaster-stricken villages or find some people who have no food to eat on the road. There are many people selling their sons and daughters, and you can exchange them for some food.
If a woman or child from a good family, especially a wealthy family, is kidnapped, it's usually the kind of secret that happens in the back house.
It's actually very abnormal for a lady like Xue Minghua to be kidnapped. I've always wanted to tell you, but looking at Xue Minghua's appearance, it didn't seem like I saw any clues, so I didn't say anything.
After all, more than ten years have passed, and even if there is some inside information, it is probably not easy to find out. "
Qingyan really thought about this aspect. It was really difficult to ask at the time. You can't just ask people when you meet them, how on earth were you abducted? Is there a mole in the family who wants to harm you or something? This is a bit complicated.
Besides, if there is really a problem, it seems that Mrs. Xue, a shrewd lady in the back house who is experienced at first glance, cannot detect it. She has probably already dealt with it, but she will not tell her as an outsider.
It's possible that they were discovered back then and the person was dealt with.
Qingyan was right. Xue Minghua's disappearance was not caused by an ordinary kidnapper.
After all, even if Xue Minghua sneaks out and wears the clothes of a servant, the clothes of the servants of the Xue Mansion are not comparable to those of ordinary people.
Just like what Chou Chou said, no kidnapper abducts people casually. Even if there are those who do evil, they mostly kidnap children, and they have to be from ordinary people's homes.
People with status should not dare to act casually. If someone is rich, powerful and well-connected, if they are found out, they are looking for death.
It was not normal for Xue Minghua, who was already a teenager at the time, to be abducted. Once the other party escaped, it would be a dead end, so it was really a secret behind the scenes.
This matter was caused by the concubine of Xue Minghua's father, Xue Renhe. As for the reason, it was because the Bianzhou side wanted to marry the royal children, and the direct line did not have a daughter of the same age, so he thought of the direct line of the collateral line. female.
There was also a girl under the knee in that side room, who was only three months younger than Xue Minghua. She was usually a favored one and was Xue Renhe's aunt and cousin, so she had some unwanted thoughts and wanted to replace her with her own daughter.
Knowing from Xue Renhe in advance that there would be news there a month later, he paid a lot of money to bribe Xue Minghua's maid and did not let her do anything else. She just asked her to tell Xue Minghua interesting things outside and read some words to her. The book is actually about some strange and weird things that some young ladies encountered when they sneaked out.
Of course, there were no shortage of books about talented people and beautiful women to read to her. Xue Minghua had not yet enlightened at that time, but he was not interested in those romantic things, and was only interested in new things outside.
Although she often attended banquets with her mother and went to temples to burn incense, she was our young lady after all and had never been to the market.
Although it has not yet reached the situation in the future, most ladies do not go out or step out of the second door. After all, there are still some legacy of the Tang Dynasty, which is relatively free for women. It is not possible to go out directly to ride horses and parade in the streets. At most, there are some Let's get together at the handkerchief's house and visit rouge and gouache shops.
However, they were all accompanied by maids and guards, so of course they were very interested in those places in the market. As they went back and forth, Xue Minghua sneaked out to play and went to Nancheng to wander around.
Isn't it just that someone could take advantage of it and be kidnapped directly?
This matter is not difficult to check. Mrs. Xue is still in charge of the Xue Mansion, and all the deeds of sale are in her hands. Even the maids and women in the side room, except for two who were brought by herself, are also from the Xue Mansion. people.
Just asking the little maid to go out to play was actually not a big deal. Who knew that there was a backhand in the side room, who contacted the people outside and took the person away directly.
After Xue Minghua was kidnapped, he was sold directly to human traffickers.
I don't know whether it was luck or misfortune, but the trafficker was really a serious trafficker. He didn't have any evil intentions towards Xue Minghua, he just wanted to make more money.
So I planned to take it to Bei Di to sell it. In Bei Di, fair-looking little girls can fetch higher prices.
Unexpectedly, he was cut off by Chen Jiawang's father halfway.
And if her daughter is missing, Mrs. Xue will of course have to conduct a thorough investigation, and this investigation will not only lead to the side room.
In addition to being anxious to find her daughter, she also didn't let go of the side room. After being tortured to extract a confession, she tracked down the person who abducted Xue Minghua.
It turned out that the person had been sold, and the person really didn't know where Xue Minghua would be taken. The trafficker wouldn't tell him, and he didn't ask, so he missed it.
Then the side room and the people involved were all dealt with by Mrs. Xue. Because her daughter could not be found, the side room's daughter was also married off to a petty official in Bianzhou to fill a house.
It was impossible for her to get married. Mrs. Xue killed her own mother. If she married this concubine's daughter to a high-ranking and powerful family, and they wanted to come back for revenge, wouldn't she be creating a strong enemy for herself?
The girl was indeed not involved, and Mrs. Xue was cruel enough to kill her, so she really couldn't do it, and it was impossible for Xue Renhe to agree.
Even if she participated in it, she would be married off to a poor family and sent away. It was impossible to let her die. After all, she was his own flesh and blood.
It's different for the side room. If you are favored, you should be favored. The aunt and cousin are not the biological aunts and cousins, but also the concubines of the collateral family. The legitimate daughters will not be his concubines.
You can't harm your daughter, even if you even think about it! He was also afraid that other concubines would follow suit, so he just killed the chicken to scare the monkey.
Of course, the big family is all about face, and the only thing to say to the outside world is that he died of illness.
Xue Renhe didn't worry about anything and let his wife vent her anger. After all, he was anxious, distressed and angry because his legitimate daughter was lost.
(End of chapter)
