Just as she was thinking, suddenly a loud wailing erupted from outside the carriage, a chaotic mix of curses, the sound of horse hooves, and mournful cries.
Cai Wei heard the commotion and lifted the curtain again to look outside.
Not far away on the stone-paved road, a group of yamen runners on tall horses escorted five or six haggard-looking men, shouting and scolding as they went. The escort leader Zhang Biaotou, whom she had seen last night, was now walking in shackles at the front, his already pale face now even more gaunt. His reddened eyes swept back at intervals, revealing a look of unbearable sorrow.
Behind them, a frail old woman with white hair stumbled along, her mouth shrieking non-stop, "My poor son..."
The old woman’s features were withered and gaunt, her body on the verge of collapse, her voice a heart-wrenching keening wail that stirred compassion in all who heard it.
On either side of her, two young women steadied her, their faces discolored from crying, they kept calling out, "My husband... my husband..."
Three other women, pulling along several children, followed behind the old woman, crying so violently it seemed the sky might collapse, their cries deafening.
The passers-by on the road all stopped to watch, sighing incessantly.
"Ah, what a tragedy. The once renowned Wei Yuan Escort Agency is ruined!"
"Who can say otherwise? In the past, who didn’t envy Old Madame Zhang for raising these five brave and skilled sons? Yet, who could’ve imagined that in a single night, they would all end up as prisoners..."
"It’s all because of the mountain thieves. If they hadn’t intercepted Wei Yuan’s escort, the agency wouldn’t have fallen to this point, and Old Madame Zhang wouldn’t have to watch her five sons go to jail!"
Zhang Biaotou and his brothers, seeing their mother, wives, and children all crying their hearts out and in utter despair, felt unbearable grief. Although they tried their best to hide it, they couldn’t help but show their true feelings. Two lines of clear tears of masculine grief slowly slid down their cheeks, followed by a deluge they could not stop...
Cai Wei sat in the carriage, observing coldly, her mind already formulating a plan.
As the carriage drove past Goldfish Lane, the cries grew fainter. After another half ’Shi Chen’, they finally arrived at the nursing home.
The nursing home was situated on the west outskirts of Qingyun Town. It was a three-section large mansion, spacious and elegant, with a pleasant scenery, ideal for residence.
By the time Cai Wei and her mother arrived, it was almost noon. Several of the elderly residents of the nursing home were basking in the sun by the wall, chatting happily with each other. Each radiated health and expressed contentment with their current life.
"I reckon we must have accumulated a great deal of virtue in our past lives, otherwise we wouldn’t have the good fortune in this lifetime to meet a kind-hearted girl like Cai Wei!"
"Yeah, we have no complaints now. Every day we have enough to eat and warm clothes to wear. We even get meat once in a while, and if we get sick, they call for a doctor. It’s truly a wonderful place that one couldn’t find even with a lantern!"
"Our present good fortune is all thanks to Miss Cai Wei. We should set up a shrine for her and burn incense every day, praying for her lifetime of peace and prosperity!"
Just as Cai Wei arrived at the nursing home, she overheard the conversation of the elderly residents. It almost made her stumble out of the carriage.
Burn incense three times a day for her? If she didn’t know better, she’d think they were mourning her in front of a commemorative plaque...
An elderly man with keen eyesight noticed Cai Wei and her mother and immediately rose to his feet in surprise and joy. They all came together to greet Cai Wei and her mother with warmth.
While greeting everyone, Cai Wei instructed Zhang Bo and Auntie Liu to unload the carriage full of food.
The children at the nursing home were overjoyed when they saw Cai Wei. She had brought a whole bag of cabbage, a full basket of big white steamed buns, huge pieces of roast lamb, an entire roast goose, a foot-long fish, and a basket full of restless crabs. They immediately became excited and surrounded Cai Wei, chattering non-stop.