Chapter 1483: Grudges and Kindness
Chapter 1483: Chapter 1483: Grudges and Kindness
These bodies included servants, protectors, and soldiers, totaling at least more than a hundred.
Many carriages were also damaged; quite a few of them were overturned to one side, and some fell directly into the traps ahead.
"Sese, how are you? Are you hurt?!" Company Commander Zhang stumbled over, dragging his wounded body.
Mrs. Han wiped her tears and went to support him, saying, "Husband, I’m fine."
Seeing Company Commander Zhang covered in blood, she was anxious: "Husband, how did you get hurt like this? Doctor Jin, Doctor Jin, come quickly to check on him!"
Company Commander Zhang held Mrs. Han’s hand and smiled: "Don’t worry, they are just flesh wounds, nothing serious."
Those assassins set traps along the way. Their carriage was half overturned, and the carriage in which Doctor Jin and his apprentice were, directly fell into the pit. Both the mentor and the apprentice were pierced by sharp objects at the bottom of the pit, and there was no one to tend to his wounds.
"Where are Sister Yu and Brother Yi?" Company Commander Zhang asked.
You Ping and You An quickly brought the two children over and handed them to their parents.
Sister Yu’s face was white with terror, and tears kept falling, yet she stubbornly refrained from crying aloud.
"Don’t be afraid, Sister Yu. Father and mother are here. Those bad people will never take you away." Mrs. Han comforted her daughter while holding her.
Sister Yu and Brother Yi were twins, both only six years old, yet understanding. She nodded and said softly, "Mother, I’m not afraid."
"Good child." After comforting Sister Yu, Mrs. Han quickly went to check on Brother Yi.
But Brother Yi was still unconscious, his cheeks were flushed, slightly bluish, and his whole body was extremely hot. Mrs. Han, in a panic, shouted again: "Doctor Jin, Doctor Jin, come quickly to check on Brother Yi!"
Seeing that he couldn’t hide it anymore, Company Commander Zhang said, "Sese, stop calling. Doctor Jin and his apprentice are both dead."
"All dead? Then what about Brother Yi? What about you and the injured soldiers?!" Mrs. Han was evidently frightened by this sudden change and asked in a bit of a panic, not knowing what to do.
Company Commander Zhang remained calm, looking at Qin San Lang: "Brother, do you have a doctor or military doctor with you?"
Qin San Lang nodded: "Yes, bring the child and come with me."
He instructed Hong Dao, "You take people to clean up, clear the corpses, and bandage the wounded first. Ye Dakou and others will come over later to check their injuries thoroughly."
"Yes." Hong Dao responded and immediately led people to start cleaning up.
A little over a quarter of an hour later, Qin San Lang finally returned with Company Commander Zhang and others.
Gu Jinli saw them from afar and knew someone was injured. She immediately said, "Erqing, quickly find Doctor Dai, Qing Hui, and Qing Pu."
"Okay." Erqing immediately went to call for help.
She also said to Nanny Tao: "Nanny, it seems that is a lady; go and receive her."
"Yes." Nanny Tao took Xiao Ji to receive Mrs. Han.
Mrs. Han, having heard that there were good doctors and medical women here, was overjoyed. She held Sister Yu’s hand and carried Brother Yi over.
As soon as she reached the carriage, she smelled a stench like rotten eggs, wrinkling her nose, and after seeing Gu Jinli’s appearance, she was startled inside but didn’t show it. Instead, she said: "I am Lady Zhang Han, and my husband is Company Commander Zhang from Sheng’an County in Linhe Prefecture. My family’s maiden home is the Han Family of the Capital Guangcheng Marquis Mansion. Thank you, lady, for your noble rescue."
Nanny Tao was taken aback upon hearing this and looked at Mrs. Han... This woman turned out to be the only granddaughter of the late Uncle Guang Cheng.
Uncle Guang Cheng, Han Yuan, was a meritorious minister who followed Emperor Jingwu to conquer the world. Although he was a civil minister, due to his outstanding achievements, he was granted the title of Guangcheng Marquis.
However, Uncle Guang Cheng had few offspring. His original wife died young, and it was only after the world was settled that he remarried Mrs. Han’s grandmother, giving birth to Mrs. Han’s father.
However, Mrs. Han’s father was short-lived, dying when Mrs. Han was four years old, leaving no son.
Uncle Guang Cheng pitied his granddaughter, knowing how difficult it was for an orphaned girl without father and brothers to survive in the world. He wanted to recruit a husband who would marry into the family, so his descendants would bear the Han surname and inherit the title of Guangcheng Marquis.
But Uncle Guang Cheng’s nephews were unwilling, cursing him at home for being an increasingly muddle-headed old man. How could he pass the Han family’s title to outsiders?
Find a husband to marry in?
Ha, wouldn’t that husband be an outsider? Wouldn’t the children born carry outsiders’ blood?!
Uncle Guang Cheng’s nephew’s family didn’t want to give away the Han family’s title, so they proposed to pass their eldest son to Uncle Guang Cheng to be his grandson.
Uncle Guang Cheng actually felt for his nephew’s family and raised the eldest nephew for a few years.
But later, he discovered that the nephew he raised for years attempted to trick his granddaughter out to have peddlers kidnap her and sell her away.
Uncle Guang Cheng was furious to the point of illness, but being old and having lost his son, he couldn’t bear to sever family ties, so he sent the nephew back, saying he wouldn’t adopt, only recruit a husband for his granddaughter to continue the family line.
The nephew’s family was furious, especially Mrs. Jiao, the nephew’s wife.
Having their eldest son returned, unable to become the heir, was a huge embarrassment for Mrs. Jiao in the Capital. Since then, Mrs. Jiao took every opportunity to harm Mrs. Han.
Mrs. Han’s marriage to Company Commander Zhang was also because of Mrs. Jiao.
When Uncle Guang Cheng was bedridden, Mrs. Jiao sent people to kidnap Mrs. Han, intending to sell her to Jiangnan as a prostitute, but it didn’t happen, for she was saved by Company Commander Zhang.
Although Mrs. Han’s reputation was preserved, news of such an event would ruin it.
Uncle Guang Cheng, for the sake of his granddaughter, knowing she was saved by Company Commander Zhang, assumed the man must be reliable and of compatible age, decided to marry his granddaughter off to him instead of having him marry in.
But Mrs. Han disagreed, saying Company Commander Zhang was her lifesaver, and it was unreasonable to have one’s savior marry into the family. She changed it to marriage but agreed with the Zhang family to have her firstborn son adopted into the Han family to continue the family line.
The Zhang family agreed. With Uncle Guang Cheng’s support, the two families quickly arranged the marriage, infuriating Mrs. Jiao’s family who never expected Mrs. Han could still be rescued.
However, after over half a year of marriage, just three months into her pregnancy, Uncle Guang Cheng fell critically ill and died.
After arranging for Uncle Guang Cheng’s funeral, Mrs. Han didn’t want to stay in the Capital. She split Uncle Guang Cheng’s followers into two groups, leaving half to guard the house, and took the rest with Zhang Yan back to the Zhang family.
But Mrs. Jiao’s family remained blinded by the title and continued to harm Mrs. Han and Company Commander Zhang over the years. Fortunately, Uncle Guang Cheng left capable people who protected Mrs. Han’s family until now.
This time, while heading to the Northwest, Mrs. Jiao again sent assassins. What enraged Mrs. Han even more was that Mrs. Jiao intended to repeat her old trick to capture her children, just like back then.
Mrs. Jiao, you better live well, to see the day I head to the Capital to take your life!
Mrs. Han made a vicious vow in her heart.
Gu Jinli, having heard the rumors about the Guangcheng Marquis Han family from storytellers, didn’t ask much but said: "Sister-in-law, you’re too kind. We are all heading to the Northwest to resist the Rong people and should look out for each other. Quickly get the children onto the carriage; the doctor will be here soon."
She added: "The thing on my face is just a pockmark infection, not some contagious disease; sister-in-law, rest assured."