Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 70 Something to do

Under Mr. Yushan's gaze, Chen Xuan had no thought of resisting at all, especially those calm and deep eyes, which seemed to be able to see through people's hearts.

He obviously had no intention of letting it go easily.

At this point, Chen Xuan was like being forced into a corner. He simply gave up and after thinking for a while, he told everyone about his experience and what he had seen when he fell into the hands of human traffickers.

He woke up in the basement and saw many children locked in dark cages like dogs, living among feces and urine. If they made the traffickers unhappy, they would be beaten and abused. Children were sent in and out almost every morning and evening. Until many days later, he saw the light of day again and was sent to Jinxia County to be sold, and finally to Gao Jingming's home.

During the process, Chen Xuan occasionally recalled his original experiences and added details, such as some children were beaten so hard that they dared not cry, some children were taken away and never came back, and it was unknown whether they were sold or died. There were also human traffickers who had orally stated that they had beaten many children to death. For example, on the day he saw the light of day again, he smelled the smell of soy sauce outside the basement, etc.

These details are somewhat reversed. Chen Xuan tried his best to recall and describe them, which happened to be consistent with the unclear narration given his age.

Finally, today, when Shu Yao was helping with the laundry at noon, he happened to see the human traffickers when he went to the canteen. Since they came to deliver soy sauce, Chen Xuan recognized their identities.

Because of his experience of being detained and even whipped by human traffickers, Chen Xuan said that it was only after seeing the traffickers that he became distracted in his previous studies.

These were all true, and Chen Xuan did not exaggerate. After he finished speaking, he remained silent, waiting for Mr. Yushan's reaction.

Gao Jingming was listening with his eyes wide open. He had never thought that Chen Xuan would have such an experience. He had never asked about these things before. Then he showed sympathy and patted Chen Xuan's shoulder gently to comfort him: "It's okay, Xuan, it's all in the past. It will never happen again."

Chen Xuan nodded without saying anything, as if he was still immersed in that dark experience.

After listening to Chen Xuan's description quietly, Mr. Yushan did not show any emotional fluctuations, but he pondered for a moment, and no one knew what he was thinking.

After a moment, he tapped the table lightly with his fingers, as if his heart was not as calm as he appeared.

After several minutes, he looked at Chen Xuan and asked, "Ah Xuan, are you sure you didn't recognize the wrong person?"

"Sir, I didn't admit my mistake. One of them whipped me once. During those days in the basement, he came down almost every day to deliver meals and even took the children in and out. I won't admit my mistake," Chen Xuan answered truthfully.

Nodding, Mr. Yushan slowly exhaled, seemingly talking to himself, or perhaps expressing his inner emotions, and said in a slightly cold tone, "I never thought that such a heartless thing could happen in Lanfeng County. They kidnapped and trafficked young children, tortured them to death, and are lawless, cruel, and ruthless. They deserve death. How could they have the heart to do this? How could they do this?"

"From what Ah Xuan has said, this group of people must be criminals, using the soy sauce workshop as a cover to do such unscrupulous things!"

"The iron law of our dynasty is that only those who have evaded military service, those who have evaded taxation for five years without cause, those implicated in serious crimes, prisoners of war, and those certified by the government as lowly can be enslaved. All others may not be abducted or sold. If anyone violates the law, if they abduct or sell one person, their hands will be cut off; if they abduct or sell two people, their eyes will be gouged out; if they abduct or sell more than three people, their heads will be beheaded."

"As scholars, we have our duties and our refrains. If we remain indifferent to such evil deeds, how can we claim to be gentlemen?"

He spoke calmly, but one could tell he was furious and wouldn't sit idly by. If Mr. Yushan took action, would those traffickers be eradicated?

Chen Xuan had never expected that just by coming here to study with Gao Jingming, Mr. Yushan would pay attention to this matter by chance. With such an unexpected turn of events, it is possible that the human traffickers would be in trouble!
However, Chen Xuan also got confirmation from Mr. Yushan's words, that is, in Jing Country, human trafficking is legal within a certain range, such as the five situations he mentioned, and the others are crimes.

But even if there are laws to regulate this kind of thing, there are still many loopholes that can be exploited. And even if the law completely prohibits slavery, human trafficking is impossible to eliminate...

Then Chen Xuan keenly heard that Mr. Yushan attached great importance to this matter not because of his personal reasons, but the focus was on the illegal act itself.

In other words, even if he had not learned about the group of human traffickers through Chen Xuan, he would not sit idly by after knowing it.

This made Chen Xuan suddenly realize that he had been wrong before. He was completely judging others by his own experience. Due to his own experience, Chen Xuan often had a mentality of not caring about things that did not concern him, because many realities told him that doing good things did not necessarily have good results, but would instead get himself into trouble.

Now it seems that I have not fully understood this world. People in this world still have a bottom line of moral conscience, and the virtue of punishing evil and promoting good still exists, at least for some people, such as intellectuals like Mr. Yushan.

After a moment, Mr. Yushan regained his composure. He looked at Chen Xuan and said gently, "Ah Xuan, I will personally find a way to deal with those human traffickers. If they have violated the law, they will not escape punishment. Just pretend they don't exist. You can just focus on your studies. I will tell you the consequences. Don't let a few evil people affect your future."

In other words, Mr. Yushan has taken over this matter, and Chen Xuan doesn't need to worry about it at all!

In fact, Chen Xuan was a little confused as to why he was so concerned. It seemed that he cared more about solving the problem of human traffickers than himself. Was it just because of moral conscience?
But he still said respectfully: "Yes, sir, I will definitely focus on studying from now on."

If those human traffickers received appropriate punishment, Chen Xuan would be relieved.

After thinking about it, Chen Xuan couldn't help but ask, "Sir, if those human traffickers are punished accordingly, what will happen to the children in their hands?"

This is what Chen Xuan cares about most. He is just an outsider, but the country of Jing actually has a certain degree of legality in human trafficking. This system itself conflicts with his moral values, so he doesn't care much about the life and death of human traffickers. Of course, if he has the ability, he doesn't mind killing them all.

The reason why Chen Xuan cares about those children is that he still has some conscience. They are just victims of the feudal system.

Hearing this, Yushan glanced at Chen Xuan in surprise. After thinking for a moment, he said calmly, "If the traffickers are brought to justice, those children will certainly be rescued. As for those who were kidnapped and trafficked, we will try our best to let them return home. The homeless will also have a place to go. For example, the court will arrange for them to live with a good family, or send them to various craftsmen to learn a craft. In general, they will have a way to make a living. As for those who despise themselves, hey, most of them will continue to obey their wishes."

After hearing this, Chen Xuan couldn't describe his feelings, but the result was still good after all.

As for the self-deprecating person mentioned by Mr. Yushan several times, Chen Xuan probably understood that it was probably someone like Zhang Lanlan. Her family and she herself had no objections, so they registered it with the government and then sold herself...

(End of this chapter)