[The Orphan's Love Affair with a Beauty's Rivalry] (Volume 3, Chapter 244)

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Chapter 244 The Marquis and His Wife

Zhang Mei asked, "My lord, as far as I remember, you haven't visited Dezhou for a year. Are you sure

that old friend is at home right now?"

The Marquis smiled and said, "Don't worry, madam. Although I haven't met Brother Teng in the past year, we've kept in touch through correspondence.

He's in the manor right now; we won't be disappointed."

Zhang Mei frowned and said, "Let's chat for a while and then leave. I'm not used to staying in other people's homes; I'd rather stay in a nicer

inn."

The Marquis lifted the carriage curtain and looked around for a while, then shook his head and sighed, "As the saying goes, 'The rise and fall of a nation is the responsibility of every citizen,' but at

this time of crisis, we've traveled through places where there's still singing and dancing everywhere. Madam, look at this..." " The streets

are no ."

Zhang Mei said dismissively, "Of course you say that, sir, you're an official. But if I think about it from the perspective of ordinary people,

it's understandable. Those troublesome matters are for the Emperor and you officials to worry about.

What does it have to do with ordinary people? Does it mean that when officials have benefits, the people stand aside, but when the country is in danger, they should risk

their lives for the government?"

She hadn't heard from Wuyue since they parted in Liyang Town, and she was worried. She wondered if Li Junyi and her daughter

could successfully cover his escape from the Embroidered Robe Pavilion's pursuit. Junmei obviously had the same thoughts as her and had written to ask several times, but

she couldn't answer.

It was precisely for this reason that she was even more dissatisfied with the imperial court's brazen mobilization of a large army to wipe out the Rakshasa Sect a few months ago. She believed that the court

should not have interfered in the affairs of the martial arts world, violating a taboo that had existed in the martial arts world for thousands of years, and had even caused Wuyue to become a so-called

wanted criminal. No wonder it had brought about a series of wars, which she considered retribution for the court's actions. She was quite critical of the government, and even spoke

sharply to her husband, the so-called high-ranking official.

The Marquis couldn't help but frown. Objectively speaking, he also felt that the old emperor's handling of this matter was indeed ill-considered. However,

his wife's overly extreme words still surprised him. His wife had no connection with the Rakshasa Sect whatsoever. From the

perspective , they should be enemies. Why was she reacting so strongly to the destruction of the Rakshasa Sect? Was it only because the court had broken the rules?

He was about to speak when he heard a loud commotion and a child's desperate cries coming from outside.

Zhang Mei hurriedly lifted the carriage curtain to look. On the street, a group of ragged beggars, about ten years old, were shouting in unison:

"Kill this audacious little bastard!"

The beggars were chasing and beating a child who was also

a beggar, but he was younger than the group, not even ten years old. He was small and weak and could not run fast.

He was quickly caught up, and the seven or eight beggars pounced on him, pinned him to the street corner, and beat him with punches and kicks as if he were

a mortal enemy!

The child cried out in pain for two days after being beaten, pleading, "Big brothers and sisters, please spare me! I

'll never do it again! Waaah..."

But the beggars were unmoved and continued to punch and kick him. The leader, a boy of about fourteen or fifteen, repeatedly

kicked the child in the ribs. The child screamed in agony, seemingly unable to bear it any longer, crying out for help: "Help! Ugh!

Ouch! Someone save me!"

A crowd gathered on the street, mostly people who had come from the steamed bun shop to watch the spectacle.

Everyone stood by and did nothing to stop the beggars' violence. Zhang Mei, always quick to defend the weak—that's how she earned her reputation as a chivalrous woman—

couldn't stand by and watch. Without waiting for the carriage to stop, she leaped out and shouted, "

You damned little brats, stop right now!"

The beggar children turned around at the sound of her voice. The boy who was leading them kicked one of the children hard in the ribs several times before turning back to

her and saying, "Madam, you seem to have quite the skills. You must be someone from the martial arts world. This guy appeared out of nowhere this morning

and took over our territory. We're just following the rules of the martial arts world. As the saying goes, every country has its laws, and every trade has its rules.

We hope you won't interfere, Madam!"

Zhang Mei felt both angry and amused. These little brats actually dared to

talk about the rules of the martial arts world with an old hand like her? Seeing the beaten child curled up in the corner, crying bitterly, his voice hoarse and his cries growing

weaker , he was clearly badly injured!

"Get out of my way, all of you!" Too lazy to say anything more, she rushed forward, shoved these hateful little brats aside, and helped

the child up from the ground.

The child, unsteady from the beating, was caught off guard, so Zhang Mei had to put her arm around his shoulder, ignoring the fact that he was filthy

and reeked of a foul stench.

The beggar children, still resentful, kept rushing forward to strike the child, but they were no match for Zhang Mei.

After receiving several heavy blows to the head, they scattered, realizing they were outnumbered.

She carried the child to the carriage and saw that his face was bruised and swollen, blood streaming from his nostrils and mouth, snot and tears

mingling with the thick grime, making his face a black, mottled mess. Through his tattered clothes, she could see

his body was covered in bruises and cuts; she wondered if his bones were broken.

Examining the child's injuries closely, she gasped in horror. Those beggar children were truly despicable; how could they be so cruel to

such young child! She hurriedly took out the medicine she carried and applied it to the child's larger wounds

. She instructed the driver to quickly find a pharmacy to stop so that a doctor could treat the child as soon as possible. At the same time, she asked, "

Poor child, what's your name? How old are you?"

The child weakly replied, "My name is Xiaoxian, and I'm nine years old."

The child's voice was hoarse and soft, but Zhang Mei could still hear it clearly. She couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Your name is Xiaoxian?

Are you actually a little girl?"

It's no wonder she was surprised. She had never seen such an ugly little girl before. Her head was pointed, and her face was

narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, quite different from others. Her features were all shriveled up, extremely ugly. Although her skin wasn't

as dark as Qing'er's, whom she had seen in Liyang Town, it was far from fair. She was even uglier and dirtier than the slovenly Qing'er

. Of course, they had something in common: their names were anything but slovenly.

Xiaoxian nodded shyly. Zhang Mei frowned and said, "Why did those beggars hit you? And so violently!"

Xiao Xian whispered, "I'm a beggar from out of town, new here. Although I know that everyone has their own territory when begging

, I was so hungry this morning that I secretly went to East Street to beg for a steamed bun to fill my stomach. I

broke their rules, and that's why I was chased."

Zhang Mei had been traveling the world for many years and had heard of such practices. But for a steamed bun, it was really necessary to fight so fiercely...

"Beat her to death? Alas, people die for wealth, birds die for food—this is an eternal truth!"

She might not mind the filth, but the Marquis might not. Look at Xiaoxian, covered in dirt, as if she'd just been pulled from a

stinking ditch. He felt itchy all over, shrinking away as if afraid of

fleas crawling on him. He frowned and complained, "Why did you bring this child into the carriage, Madam?"

Zhang Mei smiled obsequiously, "Xiaoxian was beaten to death on the street. I couldn't bear to see such a

little child die in the street and do nothing. Don't you think she's pitiful, Master? If our daughters were treated

like this... " "What would you think if she were bullied?"

The Marquis frowned and said, "I also feel sorry for this child, but Madam could have let her sit in the carriage in the back

. Why does she have to squeeze in with us? Aren't you afraid of attracting fleas?"

His words only made things worse. Hearing this, Zhang Mei, whether it was psychological or real, felt an

unbearable itch all over her body. Fortunately, the carriage had stopped, and the driver announced, "Master, Madam, we've arrived at the pharmacy

."

The doctor carefully examined Xiao Xian's injuries. Besides being covered in wounds, she had three broken ribs. While the bones were being set

, Xiao Xian cried and shed tears of pain. Zhang Mei felt his pain deeply and couldn't help but clench her fists.

After treating the external wounds, the doctor prescribed some medicine for both external application and internal use to treat the internal injuries. He said,

"This child's injuries are serious. She needs to take the medicine on time and change the dressing every three days. The splint must not

be loosened to prevent the broken bones from shifting. She won't fully recover without lying down for more than a month."

After the doctor finished treating Xiao Xian's injuries and paid the medical bills, Zhang Mei asked to borrow the

doctor's bathtub behind the shop and to get hot water for Xiao Xian to take a bath. The shop owner asked for extra money. Zhang Mei was unhappy

, but the request wasn't unreasonable, so she gritted her teeth and took out ten copper coins to hand to her. The shop owner refused to accept it,

amused : it's

rare for such a distinguished lady to carry her own money when she goes out, let alone be so stingy!

After nearly a quarter of an hour of bargaining, Zhang Mei finally took out a piece of silver worth about half an ounce to settle the deal.

Standing in the corner of the room, watching the maidservants help Xiaoxian bathe, she couldn't help but complain, "I was just doing a good deed

, but this proprietress is heartless! How dare she charge me so much money!"

Shi'er laughed behind her, "Madam, look how much hot water she used!

The water in the tub has been changed twice, but she's still not clean. I'm afraid it needs to be changed again. It's only right that she charges a little money."

Shi'er was seventeen years old and the head of her personal maidservants. Zhang Mei thought about it and agreed, but she still felt a pang of

regret . She ordered the maidservants to change the hot water twice more before she was satisfied, determined to get

her money's worth back. Finding a clean set of clothes for Xiaoxian was also a headache. Buying new clothes from the shop was too expensive. Seeing that

the proprietress 's daughter was a year younger than Xiaoxian but about the same height, she explained to the proprietress that Xiaoxian was originally a beggar,

and that she was just doing a good deed, hoping that the proprietress would be kind enough to give her daughter's old clothes. The proprietress was naturally unwilling, but

after Zhang Mei's persistent pleading, she finally agreed to transfer the property, but only for money. After some haggling, the deal was finally

struck at twenty copper coins.

After washing herself and changing into clean clothes, Xiao Xian was still unbearable to look at, but once she was in the carriage,

the Marquis at least no longer complained about her being too dirty or attracting fleas.

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