RPAGF Chapter 461 The Fate of the Jiang Family
Chapter 461 The Fate of the Jiang Family
Prince Ning agreed, spoke to the steward of the shelter, and took Sister-in-law Jiang back to the post station.
A delicious meal was prepared.
Sister-in-law Jiang was very reserved. She raised her triangular eyes to look at Prince Ning, clearly afraid. She only dared to look at her second sister and said, "If...if you don't let me live...that's fine, but you have to...you have to let me find Second Brother, okay?"
She thought this meal was her last meal before she was executed.
The second sister didn't give her a kind look, only saying, "There's no poison. Eat it, and then tell us about the Jiang family and your three children."
Upon hearing that there was no poison, Sister-in-law Jiang immediately began to eat and drink voraciously, disregarding everything else.
She hadn't had such a good meal in so long. She could usually resist, but with such delicious food in front of her, how could she possibly resist?
Even after they had eaten their fill, they were still not satisfied, and that's when they began to recount everything that had happened to the Jiang family.
“I divorced Jiang Jianchun, but I have nowhere to go. The second and third sons were sold by them, and the eldest son is still with the Jiang family. Jiang Jianchun… he was beaten, and I don’t know what happened to him after that. I haven’t been back for many years, and I don’t know how the eldest son is doing…”
“The third brother…the third brother is still alive. I found the third brother. He is being cared for by an elderly couple whose son has died. Their life is not good, but they are getting by. I went to see him. It is better for him to be with the old couple than to be wandering around with me.”
Sister-in-law Jiang wiped away her tears: "Actually, I know it's because I did too many bad things in the past, and God is punishing me by separating me from my children. Over the years, I've worked all over the place, doing the hardest, most tiring, and dirtiest jobs. I always thought that if I suffered more hardship, perhaps God would punish my children less."
The second sister lowered her eyes. No matter how sharp-tongued Sister-in-law Jiang was, she was genuinely good to her three children.
Sister-in-law Jiang continued, "It was the third brother who told me that the slave trader put a group of children on the car, and the second brother took advantage of the slave trader's rest and not paying attention to push him off the car and let him escape. The third brother said that he heard the slave trader say that this group of children was being sent to Meifeng County here, but I have been asking around for a long time and have not been able to find out any information."
At this point, Sister-in-law Jiang looked at her second sister with hopeful eyes.
She mustered her courage and knelt down: "Second Miss, it was all my fault back then, but the child is innocent. I don't ask for anything else, I only ask that you help me find him. As long as I can make sure he is safe and sound, I will be at peace."
The second sister said, "Private brokers have always been prohibited, but because there aren't enough official brokers and their work is slow, private brokers have become prevalent. Many of these private brokers are in cahoots with human traffickers, which is very detrimental to the court's efforts to suppress human traffickers."
Prince Ning nodded: "It's time to punish them. Let's start with this matter."
Upon hearing this, Sister-in-law Jiang immediately knelt down and kowtowed, thanking the two men for their help. Overwhelmed with gratitude and remorse, she wept so hard that she lay on the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
For several days in a row, she was somewhat absent-minded while working at the shelter.
The old woman who was with her had difficulty moving around, but her hearing and eyesight were still sharp. She asked, "What happened to Sixi?"
Sister-in-law Jiang said, "I asked a kind person to help me find my son, but I don't know when I'll get any news."
The old woman smiled and said, "Since he is a benefactor, news will come sooner or later. Sixi, you are hardworking and reliable, and Heaven will surely bless your son with safety."
Upon hearing this, Sister-in-law Jiang's hand trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes. She quickly turned away to wipe her tears, then turned back and smiled, saying, "Yes, that's right."
However, the second child did not escape unscathed.
When Prince Ning brought the news back, Sister-in-law Jiang was completely stunned.
The slave trader didn't mistreat the second son, but the conditions were already poor, and with so many children crammed together and jostled around, the second son fell seriously ill and died because he didn't get timely medical attention.
Sister-in-law Jiang was so sad that she almost fainted.
"Then...then where are my son's remains?"
Prince Ning said, "I have already sent people to look for it."
While wiping away her tears, Sister-in-law Jiang expressed her gratitude.
The second sister watched with envy and asked, "What are your plans for the future?"
After a moment of bewilderment, Sister-in-law Jiang said, "When the second son is found, I want to bury him and save money to build him a tombstone."
Children who die young are lucky to have a mud brick as a tombstone; they don't get one. But it's said that people without tombstones can't receive offerings from the living, and in the underworld, they can only be slaves to ghosts.
Sister-in-law Jiang wanted to build a tombstone for her second son so that she could make offerings to him in the afterlife and ensure that her son in the underworld would have enough to eat and wear.
He added, "Since the third child is still here, I'll stay at the shelter to help out. I can do good deeds to bring them good fortune and save some money to give to him when he grows up..."
She murmured for a long time, then turned around and kowtowed to the second sister of Prince Ning: "There is one more thing I need to ask of you. I... I haven't been back to see my eldest brother all these years. I don't know if he... is he doing well now. Please help me find out, okay?"
Prince Ning agreed and sent someone to make the trip.
He needed to deal with the private teeth matter, so he wouldn't leave for the time being.
After waiting for about ten days, the person who had inquired returned.
"Jiang Jianchun was imprisoned and sentenced several years ago for assault. After his release, he did nothing all day. Later, he became involved with a married woman next door. During one of their trysts, the woman's husband caught them and beat him half to death. He went home, fell ill, and died not long after."
When Sister-in-law Jiang heard the news, her face was full of disgust.
"Jiang Jianchun may seem quiet on the surface, but he's actually shameless in private, even worse than Jiang Jianxia. Jiang Jianxia is a rotten person, but how rotten he is inside is exactly how rotten he is on the surface."
She asked again, "Is my son alright?"
"It's alright. He's an apprentice at a blacksmith's shop now, and his master treats him well. Although it's hard work, he's not having any problem making ends meet."
Hearing this, Sister-in-law Jiang felt half heartache and half relief, but then asked, "Did his... grandparents ask him for money? Did they ask him to support them?"
A young boy, living under someone else's roof, working for others, earns very little, and the wages he does earn are probably not even enough to fill his own stomach.
If you also have to support two lazy, good-for-nothing elderly people in your family, how difficult must life be?
His grandparents are already dead.
"what?"
"Not long after Jiang Jianchun died, the old couple got into a fight over a little food. Jianchun's father beat Jianchun's mother to death. Fearing arrest by the authorities, he ran away. He accidentally ran into a ditch. It was the dead of winter, and he stayed in the icy water all night and died..."
I never expected it to end like this.
After a long pause, Sister-in-law Jiang clapped her hands and laughed, "If you do too many bad things, you'll eventually suffer bad luck."
She burst into tears again: "I've done many bad things in the past, so it's bad enough that I'm the one suffering, but I don't want the retribution to fall on my sons!"
Gui Shan comforted her, saying, "Don't worry, your two remaining sons, while not exceptionally well-off, will at least be financially secure."