Teacher Song looked at Yuxiâs back and pondered deeply. She could tell that what Yuxi just told her was an excuse. Something must have happened.
Teacher Song thought for a moment and said to one of her maid, âPlease pay attention to Fourth Miss these two days and look out for when she will go out. If she goes out, let me know.â Sounded like Yuxi had to report in advance to the Old Madam before she could go out. She would not go out rashly.
Unfortunately, Yuxi did not go out as Teacher Song thought. Instead, Yuxi wrote a letter and asked Hongshan to give it to her sister-in-law the next day, then to pass it to Mama Fang.
Mama Fang couldnât read, but Ling Qi could. When Ling Qi opened the letter, she found that besides the main letter, there were also a sealed letter and a one thousand taels of silver ticket.
After reading the letter, Ling Qi explained to Mama Fang, âMama, Miss said in the letter that you should go to the best escorts agency in the capital and ask them to do something.â
Mama Fang asked, âWhat should I do?â
Ling Qi shook her head and said, âMiss didnât say. Only that, when Mama go to the escort agency, Mama should give this other letter to their manager, so they could follow the instructions on the letter. We only pay the fee. â
Mama Fangâs face suddenly turned stern. âNow that you also know, you should never tell this matter to anyone.â Something must have made their Miss being so cautious. Mama Fang was afraid to leak the news. It would be troublesome if the people in the state residence knew about this.
Ling Qi nodded and promised, âMama, donât worry, I wonât say a word.â
After two days, Mama Fang went to Xinglong Escort Agency. Xinglong Escort Agency was the largest escort agency in the capital. Its reputation was the best. Generally, there would be no problems in entrusting them, and the customersâ informations would never be disclosed to anyone.
When Mama Fang came to the escort agency, she followed the gatekeeper inside and stated, âIâm looking for your manager.â With the case of the ointment seller last time, she now had experienced in handling such matter.
The manager of the escorts agency immediately came out and led Mama Fang into his office. âI donât know what Daniang (a respectful form of address for an elderly woman) is going to ask us to do?â the manager asked with a smile.
Mama Fang handed the letter in her hand and said, âAll the things that Iâm going to entrust you with is written in it. Open it yourself.â
The manager of the escort agency was so cautious that the whole people in the room were very tense! However, when he finished reading the contents of the letter, he didnât know if he should laugh or cry. He thought it was a big deal, but he didnât expect to be entrusted to protect a child and only need to secretly protect him for one day. However, the escort agency opened their door to do business. No matter what business, they could not shut it out as long as it was not illegal. âWe will take this job.â
Mama Fang reminded, âI hope you donât reveal my information.â
âActually, I donât know anything about your identity, daniang,â laughed the manager. This meant that he didnât have even Mama Fangâs basic information, so, how could he possibly reveal her information?
Mama Fangâs looked calm and asked, âHow much the price for this job?â
The manager thought for a moment and said, âIt depends on what level you need. We have three levels here. The highest level has the price of one thousand taels, followed by five hundreds and the lowest two hundreds.â
Mama Fang was shocked. What on earth would cost so much to commission the escorts agency to do?
The manager looked at Mama Fang and said with a smile, âIn view of the matter entrusted by you, I suggest you choose the five hundred taels.â
Mama Fang hesitated and said, âWill there be no problem if I choose this price?â
The manager smiled, âThere will be no problem.â To protect a child in his teens would not be difficult as it would not involve life or death of the armed escort that would be signed to the task. So, there would definitely be no problem.
Mama Fang handed over the one thousand taels of silver tickets to the manager.
The manager found a balance of five hundred taels of silver for Mama Fang, and after doing this, he took a fire burner in front of Mama Fang and burned the letter. When the newly burnt item turned to ashes, he asked Mama Fang, âDaniang, how can we inform you when this matter is completed?â Because the matter entrusted by Mama Fang did not involve any secrets and had no huge aftermath, the escort agency would not check Mama Fangâs background. This was also why the manager asked this question.
Mama Fang shook her head and said, âI will know the result.â Miss told her in the letter that it would only be necessary for the Xinglong Escort Agencyâs personnel to take over the job, and she never mentioned the rest.
The manager smiled and sent off Mama Fang. This job was all about getting the money!
When Mama Fang on her way home, in order not to be followed by the armed escorts, she went to many places, changed several trains and decided that she was safe before she rented a carriage and returned to the baozi (steamed stuffed bun) shop.
Back at the baozi shop, the calm Mama Fang began to feel distressed over the five hundred taels of silver that she had spent. Five hundred taels of silver was equivalent of half a year the income of the baozi shop.
Yuxi knew that Mama Fang had done the job well and whispered to herself, âWhether he can escape this disaster depends on his luck.â On the premise of protecting herself, this was the best way she could think of. She only hoped that Jiang Hongfu was lucky enough to avoid this disaster. If he couldnât avoid it, it could only be said to be Godâs will.
Jiang Hongfu, the party concerned, did not know that Yuxi had taken so much trouble to save his life.
A few days later, it was time for the Baitan Academy to have its academic holiday. Jiang Hongfu took his attendant to Songyun Pavilion on the second day of this holiday. This was his habit. On every academic holiday, unless something happened at home, he would always go to Songyun Pavilion on the next day.
Jiang Hongfu didnât have to buy books when he went to Songyun Pavilion. He liked the atmosphere inside the store and also liked to read there. In Songyun Pavilion, he always felt that time passed very fast.
Jiang Hongfu stayed in Songyun Pavilion from morning till evening, where lunch was also served in the store. His personal attendant looked at the dark sky and kept on urging him to return home. Jiang Hongfu reluctantly closed the book and then left the store.
Jiang Hongfu came by carriage. Usually at this time, the carriage from home would be waiting at the entrance of the bookstore. But today, Jiang Hongfu had been waiting at the entrance of the bookstore for a long time, but he hadnât catch a single sight of his family carriage yet. He started to get impatient with waiting, so he ordered his attendant, âGo out and rent a carriage to go back.â
Because it was already nightfall and the bookstore was in a relatively remote place, it took about a quarter of an hour for them to rent a carriage. The two men went to a corner and suddenly a carriage rushed towards them. Since the distance was too close, they didnât have time to take cover.
Jiang Hongfu was so scared that he forgot to hide. When he saw that the carriage was about to hit him, he closed his eyes in reflex. Just then, he felt someone grabbing his collar.
When Jiang Hongfu opened his eyes, he saw a man in gray attire who had grabbed him by his collar. The man did not speak, but pointed to the side.
Jiang Hongfu looked in the direction he pointed out and saw his personal attendant was lying in a pool of blood. He didnât have to go and see to know that his attendant had been dead.
The gray clothed man said with a straight face, âHe is dead.â
Jiang Hongfu knew that if the gray-clad man had not appeared in time, he would have died under the carriage just like his attendant. He looked at the gray-clad man with great gratitude. He held his fist in both hands and said, âThank you for saving my life.â
The gray-clad man did not accept Jiang Hongfuâs courtesy, but instead caught him and left the scene quickly. Jiang Hongfu cried, âDo youâŠâ Before he even finished speaking, his mouth was covered.
The gray-clad man walked very fast. Despite him also carrying a person in his arm, his speed was still not comparable to that of ordinary people. After walking for a few minutes, the man shoved Jiang Hongfu into a carriage by the side of the road, and then he, himself got in.
Jiang Hongfu was a little frightened. This man wanted to kidnap him for himself. âWhat do you want to do?â
The gray-clad man simply said, âTake you home.â
Jiang Hongfu obviously did not believe what the gray-clad man said. Although the man saved him just now, he still suspected that he had other ulterior motive. Kidnapping and blackmailing were secondary things he was worried about. What he afraid the most was that this person would take his life.
The gray man said coldly, âDonât look at me like that. Iâm just being entrusted to protect you. Send you home, and then my job will be done. â
Jiang Hongfuâs face turned white in an instant. Was it because the Song family afraid that he would take revenge in the future, so they have to destroy the weeds and dig out the roots (Chinese idiom : destroying everything related to the enemy, leaving no chance of its revival)? Jiang Hongfu shook his head immediately. It was impossible. His surname was not even Song or Yun. People in the Song family should not be this frantic. He resisted the surging waves in his heart and asked, âAre you saying that, what happened just now was not an accident but man-made? How did you know? â
The man in gray replied, âNaturally, weâve been told by the person who entrusted us to protect your safety.â
Jiang Hongfu was a little excited, âWho is it? Who asked you to protect me? â
The gray-clad man did not answer this questions because he, himself did not know who entrusted them this matter. If the escort agency went to check the client, it would be a big taboo. He just said, âThe person who entrusted me with your safety said that your stepmother will not stop until she has done you harm. You can only save yourself by going back to your motherâs hometown.â
When Yuxi married into Jiang family, she had spent six years with Yu Shi. Naturally, Yu Shi looked like a woman who was charitable on the surface but was actually vicious deep down. Jiang Hongfuâs excellence had blocked Jiang Hongjinâs path. How could Yu Shiâs stand it? If this time she did not succeed, she certainly would not give up.
Jiang Hongfu instinctively did not believe that. His mother and his father had a good relationship after they were married, and his mother had died of miscarriage. His father married Yu Shi after two years of filial piety for his late mother. After Yu Shiâs marriage to the Jiangâs family, he had been living good all these years, and she had been treating him very warmly. On the contrary, he was wary of his maiden family and could not get close to them. Jiang Hongfu felt that the person behind his rescue had no good intentions and asked, âHow did this person know that my stepmother was trying to kill me?â
How would the gray-clad man know? He took out half a silver ticket from his sleeve and handed it to Jiang Hongfu. Then he said, âThis is what this person had asked me to give it to you. If he wants to find you, he will use the other half of the silver ticket as a token.â
Yuxi did this as a precaution. If she could not escape from her fate, Jiang Hongjin would still go to the state residence to ask for marriage. She hoped to get Jiang Hongfuâs help to avoid this disaster in the future.
The man in gray looked at half of the silver tickets in Jiang Hongfuâs hand and felt that the other party really didnât know how to cherish money. Ten taels of silver might not mean much, but it was enough for him to have a good meal.
Jiang Hongfuâs heart was laden with misgivings, but he still received the half silver ticket. No matter what the purpose of the person behind the scenes was, it was still true that this person just saved his life.