The Marquis Is Innocent

Xiao Qiao observed the young man while he was talking. He was a few years older than Wei Shao, dressed in ordinary Han clothes, with his hair wrapped in a green scarf, and speaking fluent Mandarin.

When he finished talking, Xiao Qiao looked at the boy and said with a smile, “Is he your clan uncle? If he is and you are willing to go with him, then you can go now.”

Yuan looked hesitantly at Diao Mo but did not make a sound.

Diao Mo turned to Xiao Qiao and said, “Would Madam allow me to say a few words to him alone?”

Xiao Qiao nodded. Diao Mo thanked her and led Yuan to the door. Seeing no one around, he raised his hand to pat Yuan’s shoulder and smilingly said in Qiang language, “Don’t you recognize me? I attended your grandfather’s 60th birthday party two years ago, and you sat next to me.”

Actually, Yuan recognized him at first glance and said: “Leader Diao Mo, how did you know that I was here?”

Diao Mo said, “I came to Jinyang with my entourage on an errand and saw you at the market that day. At first, I didn’t recognize you. When I finally recognized you, the Lady had bought you. Then I came here. Two months ago, when I visited Elder Yuan Wang, I learned that you had been missing for several months. The Elder was so anxious that he fell ill. He sent people around to search for you in vain. Therefore, I came here to redeem you and send you back.”

When Yuan heard his grandfather had fallen ill because of his disappearance, he became anxious and looked back at Xiao Qiao in the inner hall and said, “This Lady is very kind-hearted. She released all the people who wanted to leave, including me. The other day she was away so I couldn’t leave. I was thinking of waiting for her to return and then asking her to let me go. Leader Diao Mo, will you send me back to Huanzhong?”

He said, “Although we live in different tribes, we are Qiang from the same ancestors. Given my friendship with the elder Yuan Wang, how can I sit back and do nothing since I have met you by chance?”

Without further hesitation, Yuan said. “Thank you, leader! I will go and ask the Lady to let me go.”

……

Xiao Qiao waited for a moment. Then, Yuan and the young man entered the hall together. Yuan’s eyes were slightly red, so she guessed he was willing to leave with this young man. Without waiting for him to say anything, she said. “Go ahead. Be careful on the way.” She ordered someone to call out the Qiang girl who accompanied him that day and asked her to leave with him.

Yuan followed Diao Mo and left. Before he left, he kept looking admiringly at Xiao Qiao.

Diao Mo thanked Xiao Qiao and offered her the money bag again.

Xiao Qiao ordered Chun Niang to take it and took the money she spent on buying Yuan and Qiang’s girl. She returned the rest while saying. “I hope you will send him back to his relatives soon.”

Diao Mo looked at Xiao Qiao for a moment, bowed to her, and said, “I will honor your words. Please don’t worry, Madam.”

He gave her one last look before leading Yuan and the Qiang girl away.

……

Xiao Qiao could see that Yuan wasn’t an ordinary Qiang boy. He was probably from a good background. But since he didn’t want to tell her where he came from, she didn’t ask many questions.

She took extra care of him because he gave her a sense of familiarity when he protected the Qiang girl, like her brother Qiao Ci.

The man who picked him up, although he didn’t say much, Xiao Qiao felt he had another background, not a businessman who made his living in Jinyang, as he said. But apparently, they did know each other before. Since Yuan was willing to go with him, she naturally would not stop him.

Xiao Qiao quickly put this matter behind her. She had some thoughts about Wei Shao. Although Jinyang was peaceful, Xiao Qiao knew the war was imminent in Wei Shao’s place. The involvement of Feng Zhao, the ruler of Liangzhou, the Qiang tribes, and multiple other forces made the situation more complicated. Although Wei Shao left some of the troops in Jinyang, she did not leave the government office to avoid unnecessary accidents. She spent her days peacefully in the back of the government office.

However, a few days later, in the late afternoon, the steward hurriedly reported the Qiang girl who had just left a few days ago was back. She begged on her knees to see the Lady as if there had been some accident.

Xiao Qiao was surprised and immediately asked the steward to bring the Qiang girl inside. The steward knew the Qiang girl did not speak Mandarin, so he summoned a servant who spoke the Qiang language.

Once she saw Xiao Qiao, she knelt in front of her and said a series of words quickly. The servant was busy translating it to Xiao Qiao.

Her name was Xia Gu. She was not the Qiang boy’s sister but his maid. She had served him since he was a child, and he always called her ‘sister.’ The boy, Yuan, was not an ordinary person but the grandson of the Beihe tribe leader, Yuan Wang. Half a year ago, when Xia Gu and Yuan returned home from a trip, they were accidentally separated from their entourage and targeted by a group that specialized in kidnapping and selling Qiang people into slavery.

Xia Gu said Yuan knew the Han people had always hated the Qiang people. He was afraid revealing his identity would harm his grandfather and his clan. Therefore he kept his mouth shut and tried to find an opportunity to escape. That’s how they got to Jinyang.

The young man who came that day, Bo Lian, was the leader of the Shaodang tribe. The Shaodang people called him ‘Diao Mo,’ which means brave and fierce.

The two Qiang tribes, Shaodang and Beihe, had always been close to each other. Diao Mo and Yuan’s grandfather, Yuan Wang, were also familiar. When Diao Mo showed up that day and told Yuan that the Elder had fallen ill because he missed him, Yuan was so anxious that he believed him and thought he would send him home. But unexpectedly, Diao Mo was attached to an unknown Han. The Han tried to kill Yuan, but Diao Mo stopped him. There was a confrontation between the two sides, but the Han gave in for the time being. Diao Mo did not take Yuan back to Huangshui but went to Shang County. Knowing that Yuan was in danger and Diao Mo did not want to send him back, Xia Gu tricked one of Diao Mo’s men, who guarded her. She escaped during the night and returned to this place. While kowtowing to Xiao Qiao, Xia Gu cried bitterly.

Xiao Qiao was surprised. She knew Yuan’s origins should be decent. However, she did not expect that he was the grandson of the Beihe tribe leader. She immediately remembered another matter related to the Beihe tribe. Before she was sent back to Jinyang by Wei Shao, Gongsun Yang had left the military camp. Wei Shao did not say much to her at that time. When they slept together that night, Xiao Qiao asked a few questions about the current battle situation out of concern. Wei Shao casually mentioned that Gongsun Yang went to Huangshui. The purpose was to communicate and recruit the Beihe tribe.

Xiao Qiao asked Chun Niang to help Xia Gu up and asked her where Diao Mo was traveling and found out that there were only a dozen people around him, including a group of Han people. After pondering, she told Mr. Jia to lead his men and follow Xia Gu to chase after them and save Yuan.