The sun had already risen high when Ah Jiu returned to the city gate, too hot to even lift her head.
The guards at the gate were all pacing back and forth, sweltering.
However, Ah Jiu couldn't find Grandpa Niu.
Wondering if he had already left, Ah Jiu strode out of the city gate and was stopped.
"Little girl, it's chaotic outside the city with refugees everywhere. Where are you going?"
Ah Jiu thought, isn't it impossible to enter, not impossible to leave? Why are they showing so much "concern" for her?
Ah Jiu glanced outside. Grandma was sitting on the ground outside the city gate like a useless lump.
A few guards were gathered around her, chattering incessantly.
"I am the granddaughter of Niu Dasheng from Hèbà Village. I'm leaving the city to go home."
Ah Jiu stated her family lineage, and who would have thought that one of the guards would pull out a scroll and start comparing it.
Truly... unbelievable.
"We have a registration today. Let's go."
Ah Jiu breathed a sigh of relief. "My apologies, officer, but this is my own grandfather."
The guards looked at Ah Jiu as if they had eaten bitter herbs.
Ah Jiu paid no mind to their strange looks and pulled up her grandma, who sat there like a tattered sack, and said as they walked,
"Grandma, why are you sitting at the city gate? Aren't you afraid of being mistaken for a refugee and taken to the gladiatorial arena?"
"What do I have to fear?" Madam Wang was also worried about Ah Jiu. While watching the spectacle at the gladiatorial arena, she had almost been captured. Luckily, she had fruit on her and claimed to be a merchant, not a refugee.
When Ah Jiu heard this, her eyes widened:
"Grandma, you're so clever. Fortunately, you had my fruit."
"I also said that I was robbed by refugees on the road, which is why I look like this."
Madam Wang said proudly:
"Girl, remember this: as long as a problem can be solved, and within the bounds of conscience, you must learn to use any means necessary."
As she spoke, Madam Wang took a pomegranate from her embrace, broke it open, and ate it, walking as she ate, making everyone around her envious.
But Ah Jiu was afraid. The looks on those people's faces clearly showed they wanted to snatch it.
"Don't eat it, Grandma. We need to act discreetly."
Ah Jiu pulled her to the side of the road into the woods, a more secluded spot.
"Tell me about it," Madam Wang continued to ask while eating.
Ah Jiu recounted everything from entering the city to looking for work and visiting her father.
In truth, the most important part was her declaration that no matter what, she had to rescue her father, which was clearly just her acting out of impulse. In reality, she had no plan.
"Cai'er is a good child. By the way, did your father really say that?"
Madam Wang rubbed the pomegranate seeds, stuffing handfuls into her mouth.
"That's exactly what he said. Especially since Li Dachang bribed Official Wang in the yamen with gold, they didn't even conduct a proper trial and directly sentenced my parents."
Ah Jiu felt a great deal of bitterness. Five hundred taels of gold – what official wouldn't be tempted?
"Alright, I'll go talk to him."
Saying this, Madam Wang stood up and prepared to re-enter the city.
Ah Jiu quickly grabbed her. "Grandma, what can you possibly do by going? We have no money and no influence. If they arrest you as a refugee, what will happen to me?"
"Grandma didn't say I was going into the city. Besides, didn't you just say your sister-in-law would arrange our entry into the city these next few days? I'm not in a hurry. Your mother won't die anytime soon anyway."
Even so, she broke free from Ah Jiu's grasp and strode towards the city gate.
"Grandma..." Ah Jiu's eyes were filled with anxiety. She certainly wouldn't die immediately, but who could guarantee that Magistrate Li, who hated evil, wouldn't add fuel to the fire and possibly change the sentence to immediate execution?
As Madam Wang reached the city gate, she called out, "Hey, young man, come here."
Ah Jiu looked at her proud demeanor, which never changed regardless of the situation, and covered her face in agony.
"What are you doing? Don't interfere with our work. Otherwise, we'll have to make arrests."
The person who approached naturally had no good temper. Although the old man had fruit on him and didn't seem like a refugee from the north, his tone made him sound like he was the king of heaven.
"Arrest me? Hahaha..." Madam Wang burst into laughter.
Ah Jiu, terrified, peeked from the woods, her fingers spread slightly apart. Seeing the guards drawing their swords and surrounding her grandma, she closed her eyes in pain.
It's over.
"Tell your Lord of Nanming City, no, your yamen official, what's his name... Wang... yes, Official Wang. Tell him I can summon rain, but he must come and see me in person."
Madam Wang formed a sword finger with her index and middle fingers, pointing to the sky, and declared with a commanding presence.