The middle-aged man, seeing no other option, clenched his teeth and confessed he was an escort master. He was following the escort leader to escort valuables to the Capital City. After leaving the provincial capital, along a riverbank, he found this little girl who had just climbed ashore, barely alive.
Upon seeing her, he surprisingly recognized her; she was the youngest sister from a Brother Lian’s family.
Originally, this Brother Lian often went to their escort agency to challenge them, picking fights from the bottom to the top. Over ti, he beca familiar with these escort masters, almost becoming one of their own.
During these challenges, Brother Lian brought this little girl along. She was lively and cute, full of quirky charm, and her sweet words made her very likable.
It was because of these encounters that he recognized the little girl.
However, before the escort mission began, he already knew that Brother Lian’s family had offended soone powerful; they were sentenced to exile, a fate most tragic, and unexpectedly the youngest sister had escaped.
The local Official Master had declared that the Lian family colluded with river pirates, causing harm to the civilians; they were involved in many fatal legal disputes with clear evidence. Anyone daring to help them would be accused of collusion and thrown directly into prison.
A few families, rembering the good deeds of the Lian family, tried to help them claim their innocence. They were crippled on the spot and thrown into jail; henceforth, no one dared speak up.
The Emperor was far away, and the most powerful people locally united against Brother Lian’s family. These ordinary people could do nothing but secretly sigh, unable to bear watching it.
Among those traveling with the escort to the Capital City was a distant relative of the local Official Master. He often sought to please the Official Master and, using his influence, frequently flaunted his power within the escort, even making the escort leader wary.
Furthermore, it was said that the powerful figure whom nobody dared provoke had dispatched assassins to kill any fleeing mbers of the Lian family.
Therefore, after finding the girl, the escort master, fearing to shelter her might lead to reporting and implicating himself, and also fearing assassination that could endanger him and his team, felt extrely troubled and unsure of what to do.
He thought about abandoning her to avoid trouble but couldn’t settle his conscience. Also, due to his acquaintance with her brother, he reluctantly decided to hide the barely alive girl in the escort cart.
Fortunately, the little girl was tough and pulled through, slowly recovering.
Seeing this, the escort master ntioned that the escort team was headed to the Capital City, a long journey. He wanted the little girl to leave, but she remained silent and uncommunicative, refusing to go.
In the end, the escort master’s heart softened; he knew too well what fate a little girl alone, hunted by assassins, would et. Thus, he set three rules with the girl, telling her that not everyone in the team was friendly and he feared they couldn’t protect her should the word get out. He asked the little girl to hide inside the escort cart during the day, make no noise, and only co out for fresh air when it was deep into the night, and he would find opportunities to bring her water and food.
The little girl obediently agreed, showing great understanding.
However, as they traveled and the weather got hotter, midway through, fearing the little girl might suffocate inside the cart, the escort master had no choice but to think of a solution. Long after entering another provincial capital, he helped the little girl adopt a pseudonym, dressed her as a ragged beggar boy, and had her follow behind the team.
Actually, the escort leader had already recognized the little girl, but he turned a blind eye. Along with others who knew Brother Lian and had seen the little girl before, they tacitly kept her safe, quietly protecting her all the way.
Many difficulties arose during the journey. The most dangerous mont was when the escort encountered the assassins hunting the runaway mbers of the Lian family. During that encounter, the escort master was drenched in cold sweat, terrified, and wanted the little girl to hide, but then he discovered she had disappeared on her own.
After they had traveled a great distance, when the escort master decided to search for the little girl, she suddenly reappeared, and he breathed a great sigh of relief.
Yet, they had not escaped danger. Perhaps he had inadvertently given sothing away, or maybe it was sothing else, but a relative of the Official Master in the escort team started to suspect the little girl and kept testing him and her.
Fortunately, the little girl hardly spoke along the way and was astute enough not to reveal anything. Under his and the escort leader’s protection, they slowly approached the Capital City—their final destination—without major incidents.
Unexpectedly, the assassins made a turnaround, heading north, and sohow managed to locate their escort team. He deeply suspected that it was the Official Master’s relative who had led them there.
What was worse, due to the constant travel by boat and cart, poor food and sleep, coupled with constant fear, the little girl fell ill and developed a high fever.
By this ti, his affection for the little girl had grown imnsely compared to the beginning. How could he possibly abandon her to fend for herself?
At a critical mont, the escort leader tily inford him and decisively covered him as he took the little girl and left with the others.
He managed to escape with the child, but did not know where to go. Seeing that assassins were on their trail, the little girl, who had been silent throughout the journey, finally ntioned that she had relatives not far from the Capital City, in Yanqing.
Therefore, the escort master hurriedly led them to seek refuge there.
By now, he was certain that it was the Official Master’s relative who had tampered with their plans; otherwise, they would not have been able to follow their trail this far.
But it was also likely they were just suspicious of the little girl’s identity and didn’t dare to confirm it, for if they had been sure, both he and the entire escort team would probably have not escaped unscathed.
The escort master said that he could not stay away for long and that the searching assassins were already on their heels. He feared they would find this place, so he must lead them away to ensure the little girl’s safety. He hoped they would take care.
Lian Bingcheng had not expected the situation to be this complicated. He hurriedly asked the escort master if the Lian Family had been frad and who the highly influential person dispatching assassins was.
The escort master was profoundly secretive, warning Lian Bingcheng to stay out of it as those people were dangerous. He said it was for their own good that the assassins, following the escort team, might trace them to this location. Hiding the little girl was the right thing to do.
Having said that, the escort master imdiately left, not looking back as he walked out the door.
At this point, Lian Bingcheng realized that a major disaster had befallen his family and Brother Changhe.
Yet, he had no knowledge of the whole situation, nor what had happened to Brother Changhe and the rest of his people.
There was no ti to investigate the truth. Curing Niece Xiao Hua’s illness was the urgent priority. Lian Bingcheng could only keep these matters to himself and hurriedly sought a doctor, preparing dicine for Xiao Lian Hua to drink every day.
But no matter how much dicine she took, the high fever would not subside. Bowl after bowl of dicine was fed, yet the child had fever every day, her face flushed and dazed, showing no signs of clarity.
Even with her eyes open, she appeared dazed and confused, not at all like her previously lively and quick-witted self. Her eyes fixated on one spot, she remained silent, unresponsive even when spoken to—completely different from the vibrant Niece Xiao Hua of the past.
Lian Bingcheng and Lin Yuejuan took turns caring for her, wetting handkerchiefs to cool her forehead and using strong spirits to reduce her temperature, but these were only temporary solutions.
During the day, she was manageable, quiet, eating whatever was given and drinking whatever dicine was poured, exceptionally quiet—disturbingly lifeless, like a fragile porcelain doll that could shatter with a touch.
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