Calamity Messenger-Chapter 105 - 85: Only I Can

"You shouldn’t have saved her," the middle-aged man said blandly.

I know, Yan Qing thought.

Though violence can solve many problems, not all problems can be resolved through violence alone. Like An Cuihua’s predicament, helping her drive away the Li family’s house servants was just the first step, and the more important step is how to settle her—if one only helps her resolve the immediate crisis and then leaves her unattended, it merely postpones the time when she will be caught by the Li family.

Redeem her freedom for her? And what if she gets sold again?

Give her money to escape? A lone girl with money going elsewhere, her end might be worse than honestly joining the Li family.

Therefore, after understanding the situation, Yan Qing did not take action immediately because he could save her for a moment but could not save her for a lifetime.

If not handled well, he might even ruin her for life.

If An Cuihua hadn’t grabbed Mouse Monk’s foot at the last moment, seeking help from him, Yan Qing might not have taken action.

But thoughts are just thoughts, Yan Qing is not someone who accepts what others say easily, and he directly spoke the principle: "Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-tier pagoda."

"Save? You only harmed her," the middle-aged man said. "You bald donkey might think you’re doing good deeds, but don’t realize you’re pushing An Cuihua into the abyss. Do you think her father just casually found a broker to sell her to the highest bidder?"

"Isn’t it?"

"Of course not. Brokers are managed by the government, and slave trading requires strict scrutiny. In the Liang Kingdom, only noble families can keep slaves, and not all noble families can buy slaves. Only reputable noble families can purchase slaves preferentially; those with poor reputation might not get new slaves for decades." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"What is considered good reputation? What is considered bad reputation?"

"The number of slave deaths each year," the middle-aged man revealed a shocking statistic, "whether by disease, beating, or old age, the more deaths, the worse the reputation. If a family’s death toll exceeded five last year, even if brokers have slaves, they cannot sell to that family."

"Minister of the Imperial Treasury Li Chongxin’s Li family is a family with superior reputation, with an average of only one slave dying every year. An Cuihua can enter the Li family, even if life is hard, she can at least have decades of stable living. Now you’ve helped her beat back the house servants, which will undoubtedly cause displeasure within the Li family, and when An Cuihua falls into their hands, she will suffer."

Yan Qing was silent for a moment and then responded, "I can help her escape to another place—"

"Escape? Unless she escapes to the Zhou Kingdom or Qi Kingdom, she will always be a fugitive slave in the household registry." The middle-aged man shook his head, "Household registrations have to be updated annually and must be done at the local government office. The Li family has already bought her from her father, witnessed by brokers and registered in the government records. A year later, she either surrenders as a runaway slave to the government or lives in Liang Kingdom as an unregistered fugitive—Great Monk, do you think she can live as an unregistered fugitive?"

"Moreover, can she bear to leave her father?" The middle-aged man looked at An Cuihua. "Don’t just blame her father for selling her, but her mother died when she was young, and she grew up relying on her father. Her father, though not always bad, sometimes showed kindness. If not for losing money due to a setup, he might not have sold his daughter."

"When her father is chased by the Li family for debt, and seeks her help, do you think she can stand by indifferently?"

An Cuihua looked at the middle-aged man’s eyes filled with fear, trembling all over, as if seeing a monster, "You, how do you know so much about my family..."

She spoke as if suddenly losing strength, releasing her grip on Mouse Monk’s sleeve, lowering her head, "He’s right, Master, I’m sorry for troubling you... I-I should go to the Li family..."

"No."

Mouse Monk reached out to stop her, speaking in a deep voice, "I’ll find a way."

"I thought you were just a foolish good person, Great Monk, but turns out to be a hypocrite unwilling to admit mistakes." The middle-aged man shook his head, "If you truly want good for her, you should take her to apologize to the Li family. The longer you delay, the bleaker her future."

"Her predicament is not caused now, but determined by her birth, family, connections, and appearance. You might think being a slave is pitiful, but it is already the most suitable identity for her. Even if you wish for her to rise higher, her vision, education, instincts, and family will pull her back to her rightful place."

"Natural order persists, each maintains their role. What makes you think you can change the fate of others?"

"I’m not sure," Yan Qing replied, "but I’m willing to try."

The middle-aged man said no more, his expression unchanged as he turned to leave. But from the forceful way he turned, he seemed quite displeased.

Yan Qing also disregarded the stranger, looking at the shivering An Cuihua resembling a Little Rabbit and wondered whom to ask for settling her.

Indeed, Yan Qing has considerable connections in the Liang Kingdom, below Qian Gongyu, above Jie Yuan Shao and Shang Xinlei, any lady can solve this minor issue. However, contacting them will inevitably expose the connection between Mouse Monk and Jiang Shi, and Yan Qing knows with his toes that many in the Liang Kingdom are searching for traces of Jiang Shi now. Once Mouse Monk appears in their eyes...

Sigh, thinking about it is troublesome.

But having spoken, Yan Qing doesn’t plan to retract his words. It seems he can only take it one step at a time. Still, whatever he does, he must first deal with those two spying servants, or his information may easily be leaked...