Chapter Forty-Eight: The Textile Workshop on Cliff Mountain

When Fang Dayong, the one-eyed golden eagle, covered in blood and tightly bound, was pressed to the ground for his public trial, a wail unlike any before erupted from the crowd. Even at that moment, there were women and children who dared not even look at him. This bandit chief, who had ruled Duanya Mountain for five years, had truly committed every conceivable evil. Murder and robbery were the least of his crimes. He trafficked the women he captured, and would gouge out the eyes and hack off the limbs of children, turning them into pitiful spectacles to be sold to criminal gangs for profit. His atrocities were too numerous to record.

Such a depraved brute, and yet he still hoped to save his miserable life by relying on his connections with so-called powerful figures? Bah! Did he deserve it? Did those powerful figures deserve it? The time spent publicly judging Fang Dayong alone exceeded that for ten ordinary bandits combined. Only after everyone’s anger had been fully vented did Zhao Hengyi, as previously agreed, allow the woman named Liu Mengruo to personally put an end to Fang Dayong’s wicked life.

The frail young woman, disheveled and clad in rags, gripped a long blade and, before hundreds of onlookers, drove it straight through Fang Dayong’s chest. Not until Fang Dayong, that fiend incarnate, had breathed his last did Liu Mengruo collapse to the ground, wailing in despair.

What Zhao Hengyi had done, all the painstaking measures he took, were simply to give these rescued women and children a chance to live. Their fates had already been bitter enough. If he were to let things be and simply send them on their way, perhaps the children could manage, but what of the women? Even if they managed to return alive to their homes, in the current corrupt days of the Yan Empire, how many could truly resume a peaceful life? Malicious rumors alone would be enough to drive these pitiful souls to end their own lives.

What’s more, nearly half of these women had been sold to Duanya Mountain by human traffickers. The Yan Empire was plagued by heavy taxes and a skewed population; men were too poor to marry, let alone take concubines, so daughters became burdens in the eyes of many. Secretly selling their daughters became a desperate choice for many impoverished families. The traffickers had accomplices who posed as bandits; once a price was agreed upon, these fake bandits would seize the women, and their families would simply report the incident to the authorities to be rid of the tax liability on the girl.

Upon counting, there were two hundred seventy-three women and fifty-eight children rescued this time, all of the children being girls. Fortunately, the bandits had not yet harmed these children, though the previous group had already been mutilated and sold, their fate unknown. All fifty-eight girls had been sold by their own families and would likely not escape being sold again if sent home.

After their outpouring of grief, not a single one of the rescued women wished to return home. In fact, more than ten tried to end their own lives and were saved by the others. Among those who attempted suicide was Liu Mengruo, the very woman who had killed Fang Dayong.

This surprised Zhao Hengyi and the others. They had thought Liu Mengruo must be a determined and exceptional woman, but who would have expected her to seek death after avenging her great wrong?

“Miss Liu, you volunteered to execute Fang Dayong. I thought you were different from the others. Who could have guessed that you, too, are so troubled by worldly opinions?” Even if she looked much like the other women, a person’s bearing could be seen in the smallest details, even in the blackest of circumstances. Liu Mengruo was clearly not an ordinary villager, perhaps not even from a commoner’s family. Zhao Hengyi had no interest in uncovering their pasts; he only hoped that after rescuing them, they might go on living.

“My great vengeance is fulfilled, my wish is complete. To live on would only sully my ancestors’ good name; it is better to die cleanly! Benefactor, please do not trouble yourself with me—let me end my life,” she said. The more educated and knowledgeable a person, the harder they were to persuade. Liu Mengruo was clearly of unusual birth; after such a calamity, the resolve to die must have already taken root in her heart.

“Miss Liu, I am not simply doing good deeds for their own sake. I took Duanya Mountain, slaughtered the bandits, and rescued you all at a certain cost,” Zhao Hengyi said, suddenly shifting from his saintly demeanor to speak of interests, leaving Liu Mengruo somewhat at a loss. “In other words, Miss Liu and the rest of your sisters all owe me a debt.”

“If any of you have family to rely on, I am happy to do some good, let you go, and even provide some travel money. But if you have nowhere to go, then you’ll stay here at Duanya Mountain, working to pay off your debt!”

“Miss Liu, if you truly wish to die, I will not stand in your way, but first you must repay what you owe me.”

“I intend to set up some looms here and open a weaving workshop. All of you will work in the workshop until your debt is paid. Once that is done, you will be free to go. Until then, you will not receive any wages, and your food, clothing, and lodging will all be added to your account. When your debt is fully paid, if Miss Liu still wishes to take her own life, it will not be too late.”

“I value your courage, Miss Liu, and would like to appoint you as the supervisor of the workshop, to help organize your sisters.”

Even in the depths of misery, Liu Mengruo had never encountered anyone so skilled in sophistry. Still, her fellow sufferers truly needed a way forward. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she replied, “I understand. I will not die. For your immense kindness, I will work like a beast of burden to repay you for the rest of my life.”

As he watched Liu Mengruo turn away and begin greeting the rescued women and children, Zhao Hengyi mused to himself. Whatever her background, her character alone made her an extraordinary woman.

Zhao Hengyi had not deceived her—he truly intended to build a weaving workshop on Duanya Mountain. Not only would it provide shelter for these unfortunate women and children, but it would also allow him to experiment with the latest looms. These plans had only just occurred to him, but in any case, he had saved more than three hundred lives.

“Master, we’ve found the bandits’ treasure! So much silver and so many jewels!”