Union

Chapter 190 189 Has a Letter

Baili County is a little-known small county.

This place is not a necessary route for those heading north to Beijing. In addition, the local officials have not been very capable or decisive. Furthermore, the county suffered a disaster in previous years, so the whole town looks gloomy and seems slightly inferior to Yungui County.

Sigh, I'm thinking of Yungui County again...

When Yunying snapped out of her thoughts, she was already in the inn.

After the group had lunch, Gu Wangchen told his daughter to rest well at the inn, while he prepared to go to Changting Village again with the head steward.

Although the butler said that things were at a standstill and no useful information had been found yet, and that he had gone to Changting Village several times without finding a solution, Gu Wangchen still wanted to go there himself. Even if it wasn't to find Xu Shaotian, just seeing the place where his daughter had grown up and hearing stories of her childhood from the villagers and neighbors would be good enough.

Gu Wangchen was about to depart when Yunying learned of his itinerary. She immediately called out anxiously, "Father, let me go with you."

Gu Wangchen looked at his daughter and asked hesitantly, "Are you going too?"

Yunying put on a relaxed demeanor, "I'll go take a look... just as a farewell to the past."

"...That's fine."

Since Yunying had left, Gu Yuanxi and Chen Yanzhou naturally followed.

As a result, when it was time to set off, there were three or five more people.

Changting Village is remote. The group traveled by horse or carriage without stopping, and it took them an hour and a half to reach Changting Village.

Spring had already arrived, but the weather was still cold, and there was still a lot of frozen soil in the fields, so it was impossible to do any work in the fields.

When the villagers had nothing to do, they would either gather in groups of three or five at a house to make shoe soles or weave baskets, or sit at the edge of the village where the sun could shine and chat.

The hottest topic lately is, of course, Yunying's affair.

Yunying was a girl from the Duke of Xuan's mansion. She was stolen and raised by that black-hearted Xu Shaotian.

The news had spread throughout Changting Village, and even reached the people of several nearby villages and towns. Because the matter was so bizarre, even involving a high-ranking official of the second rank, it had also reached the ears of the local gentry, wealthy families, and county officials.

This incident truly exemplifies the saying, "Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast."

Because the news spread so widely, the group was recognized by someone with ulterior motives as soon as they appeared on the country road.

It's not that the people are clever; it's mainly because this place is too poor.

It's nothing for you to ride a magnificent steed and be carried in a sedan chair in the county. No matter how remote a county town is, there are still some wealthy people. But for you to be walking on a country dirt road and looking at all these people, each one of them exuding both dignity and nobility, it's clear that they must be connected to the recent hot topic, Yun Ying.

Before the group even reached Changting Village, news of Yunying's elders' search had already spread rapidly to the surrounding villages.

Therefore, when Yunying and her group arrived at the village entrance, they saw that the entrance was crowded with people.

Looking around, it was a dark mass; further afield, many more people were seen rushing towards it.

Look at their eagerness, it's like they're about to take down a boss in an online game. The crowd is so excited, so full of fighting spirit, they can walk two miles in one go, as if they're afraid of missing out on the excitement if they're even a step behind.

When Yunying got off the car, Gu Wangchen had already started talking to the village elders.

Although he held a high position and wielded great power, he treated the elderly with kindness and courtesy. Even though the common people feared his imposing presence, seeing him humble himself and interact with them, they were mostly impressed by his magnanimity and demeanor.

If this really is Yunying's father, then thinking about Xu Shaotian, who does nothing of substance... it's even more worrying.

Yunying helped Gu Yuanxi out of the car, while Chen Yanzhou stood guard behind her, as if afraid she would fall.

The scar on Yunying's forehead had fallen off, revealing pink skin. The skin was rather unsightly, so Yunying had her maid style her hair into a suitable bun, letting a strand of bangs fall down to just cover the wound.

The wound was covered, but her beauty could not be hidden.

She was already the center of attention when she got off the carriage. When people saw that the girl who stepped down from the carriage was indeed Yun Ying, some of the commoners who hadn't been able to speak with Gu Wangchen became excited.

"Is that Yunying?"

"There's no mistake, it must be Yunying. She's been a beauty since she was a child, otherwise, so many people wouldn't be coming to her door to propose marriage."

“I said before that Yunying doesn’t look like an ordinary person. I even asked Shaotian to find out which wealthy family this child came from, and Shaotian insisted that they entrusted her to him.”

"She truly is a pampered young lady from a wealthy family; even the girls in our village can't compare."

The people were talking amongst themselves, and Yunying glanced around and saw several familiar faces in the crowd.

A sister-in-law chased away a snake for Yunying when she was digging for wild vegetables; a kind-hearted aunt helped her carry the firewood she had collected home; an old lady taught Yunying how to make dried vegetables; and even an elderly man had given Yunying a ride several times to buy salt and needles and thread in the city...

These familiar faces flashed before my eyes, finally freeing those images hidden deep in my memory from their constraints and leaping out of my mind.

Yunying's memory seemed to suddenly return to the past.

She bustled about in this small village.

Her footprints can be found in almost every corner of the small village.

She had seen the sunrise over the village and had quietly awaited the sunset. On nights filled with stars, she would run out alone to listen to the cicadas and insects chirping, and on rainy days, she would sit by the window and silently listen to the rain.

For no apparent reason, Yunying's eyes reddened, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

"Stop crying, there are so many people here, you'll make a fool of yourself."

Yunying turned around, and Chen Yanzhou quickly grabbed a handkerchief and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

When Yunying turned around again, she smiled and called out to the crowd, "Sister Lan, do you still recognize me?"

"Oh dear, you're calling me, aren't you? Yunying still recognizes me."

As soon as this sentence was uttered, the crowd erupted in a commotion, becoming even more lively.

The people who had previously only dared to watch suddenly swarmed over. In particular, some of the older women were eager to get close to Yunying.

"She's really grown up."

"I wouldn't have recognized her if we walked right across from each other; she looks like a fairy."

"Good girl, I'm your third aunt, do you still recognize me?"

Gu Wangchen was talking with some elderly people in the village when he heard the commotion and turned around. He saw his daughter chatting happily with some villagers.

She would call out "Third Sister" or "Grandma Chen," or ask, "Has Jin Cui gotten married?" or "You have a grandson now?" She showed no disgust for these poor and filthy people, nor did she rush to sever ties with them or completely abandon her past.

She is a girl who knows where she came from and never denies it; she is a girl with principles and beliefs; she is Gu Wangchen's daughter.

The group waited until it was getting late before preparing to return to the county town.

Similar to before, they didn't get any useful information this time either.

But not all was lost.

For Gu Wangchen, this trip could be considered a fruitful one.

He learned the true story of Yunying from the villagers. He knew that although Yunying had a difficult life, she also had a warm childhood. He knew about his daughter's poverty when she was young, and that she sometimes didn't even have enough to eat; he also knew that although his daughter's life was hard, she was optimistic, and many little girls in the village liked to play with her.

Laughter and tears mingled; never before had Gu Wangchen felt such a longing to return to the past, to hold the little Yunying in his arms and cherish and protect her.

They finally returned to the county town and rested there.

Gu Wangchen planned to go to the county magistrate's office the next day to see if he could find any clues from the changes in household registration information.

Before they could even go to the county government office, someone came looking for them the very next day at dawn.

The waiter who came to call for people said, "The people who came said they were villagers from Changting Village and wanted to find some important people from the capital to discuss an important matter. I asked them carefully, and they are indeed here to see you, sirs."

Upon hearing the news, Gu Wangchen dressed himself and prepared to leave.

The doors to the two adjacent rooms opened at that moment, and Gu Yuanxi came out while adjusting his headdress. "Father, let me go down with you."

Chen Yanzhou stood at the doorway and said, "Uncle, I won't go down. I'll stay here and watch over Yunying."

Gu Wangchen looked at the two of them and agreed to their arrangement.

Not long after Gu Wangchen and Gu Yuanxi went downstairs, Gu Yuanxi came back up, panting. He saw his sister standing in the corridor talking to Chen Yanzhou, and for a moment he didn't even have time to think that his good brother really didn't waste a single moment.

He grabbed Yunying's arm and pulled her down the stairs. "Quick, sister, a child has come, insisting on seeing you." The child was quite stubborn; no matter how he and his father tried to coax him, he wouldn't say much. When he finally did speak, he insisted on seeing his sister.

There was nothing he could do but come up and take his sister down.

After hearing Gu Yuanxi's explanation, Yunying began to wonder: Who could that child be? And why did he insist on seeing her?
When Yunying came downstairs, she immediately saw a short, stout, and rather honest-looking boy standing beside her father.

Yunying raised an eyebrow and asked hesitantly, "Is it Xishu?"

Xi Shu, that is, the boy who was about fifteen years old, became excited the moment he saw Yun Ying.

"Yun, Sister Yunying, it's me, Xishu, it's me, Xishu."

Seeing that she hadn't mistaken the person, Yunying immediately smiled. "It really is you. I almost didn't recognize you."

The boy scratched his head sheepishly, "I used to be very thin, but then I don't know what happened, I started eating more and more and got fatter and fatter, and that's how I ended up like this."

After exchanging a few inconsequential words, Yunying got to the point, "Is there something you want to tell me? Let's sit down and talk. By the way, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Then eat some breakfast first, and we can talk after you've filled your stomach."

It was still early, and the city gates had just opened. Standing downstairs, a blast of cold air hit me, making me shiver.

Yunying saw the dust on Xishu's body and his ashen face, which was from the cold.

Xi Shu appeared here early in the morning, so he probably left in the middle of the night. He came in as soon as the city gates opened, but who knows how long he had been waiting in front of the gates before they opened.

Xi Shu was honest and kept waving his hands.

Gu Yuanxi pressed the person down into a seat and called to the waiter to bring some hot breakfast.

Thus, Xi Shu, though embarrassed, was persuaded by several people to have some breakfast.

But it was just a meat bun and a bowl of porridge.

No matter how much Yunying tried to persuade him, the child refused to eat anymore. It was as if he felt burdened by having already taken advantage of him and was embarrassed to ask for more.

Seeing this, the others put down their chopsticks and looked at Xishu.

Xi Shu then took out a letter from his pocket.

“Sister Yunying, this is a letter from Yuncheng. Yuncheng and the others have moved to Lingshui County. At that time, I was studying at school and did not go home, so Yuncheng was unable to tell me the news. But as soon as he settled down in Lingshui County, he immediately wrote to me. He also told me to keep an eye out for news about you, saying that if you come back, I should tell him the news as soon as possible, and he will come back to see you.”

Looking at Yunying's calm face, Xishu finally managed to squeeze out a few more words after a long while, "...Sister Yunying, Yuncheng has been looking for you like crazy. Back then, you were sold by your uncle, and when Yuncheng found out about it, he searched for you everywhere. He got caught in the rain, had a high fever for a long time, and kept talking nonsense. His head was almost burned out... Later, when we moved, Yuncheng refused to leave no matter what, so your uncle knocked him unconscious, tied him to the car, and took him away."

"Sister Yunying, I know there are some things I can't say. But Yuncheng has indeed been looking for you, he's never forgotten you, you, you..."

Xi Shu didn't say the rest, nor could she bring herself to say it.

What could he say?

Although he felt that his friend was wronged in this matter, it was indeed because of Yun Cheng that Sister Yunying was sold.

It was because he needed to support his studies that his uncle made the difficult decision to sell Yunying.

Yuncheng can now study, but this was bought with Yunying's life and fortune.

Is Yun Cheng innocent?
He is innocent.

But he is not innocent.

As Yuncheng's friend, Xishu said everything she could.

He also said that after the Chinese New Year, he went back to his maternal grandmother's house with his mother.

His maternal grandmother's house was quite far from his own, and it would take more than ten days to travel there and back. In addition, he had stayed there with his mother for a few days, so he had no idea that such a big thing had happened in the village.

When he found out, he couldn't wait a moment longer and immediately rushed to the county town.

Seeing his distress, the villagers inquired further and finally managed to get him to reveal that he knew the address of Xu Shaotian's new residence.

The villagers were anxious and urged him to come quickly, but no matter how fast he ran, the city gates were locked by the time he reached the county town. He could only rest for the night in a dilapidated temple on the outskirts of the town. This morning, as soon as the city gates opened, he took the name of the inn given to him by the villagers and found his way here.

Yun Cheng said, "Sister Yun Ying, there's an address at the end of the letter. It was left for me by Yun Cheng, but it's also for you. Do you want to go there yourself, or should I write to Yun Cheng and ask him to come over?"

"He's been looking for you. If he knew you were back, he would have rushed back to see you immediately."

(End of this chapter)