The sedan bearers noticed this and immediately spread their arms to block the person.
"What are you doing! How dare a beggar like you cause a scene in front of the Ye Manor? Go beg somewhere else."
The dirt-streaked little beggar held the envelopes high and shouted at Ye Liangyu, "My Lord, someone asked me to give these to you. They said it involves a monstrous injustice!"
"Please, My Lord, seek justice for the people!"
Ye Liangyu, who already had one foot on the steps, turned around.
He narrowed his eyes, looking the little beggar up and down, before his gaze finally landed on the three letters held high in the boy's hands.
"Go fetch the letters."
Hearing this, an attendant immediately ran over, took the letters, and handed them to Ye Liangyu.
Standing at the doorway braving the cold wind, Ye Liangyu tore open the seal and pulled out a white sheet of paper covered in writing.
Just as Ye Liangyu was reading the letter, the little beggar turned and quickly ran away.
By the time the sedan bearer who had blocked him gave chase, the boy had already darted into a narrow alley.
When the bearer reached the entrance of the alley, the boy had vanished without a trace.
"My Lord, he ran too fast. I couldn't catch him," the sedan bearer reported back to Ye Liangyu, his face full of guilt for his failure.
After waiting a long time without hearing a reprimand, the bearer couldn't help but look up, only to find Ye Liangyu looking grim, his hands trembling.
He looked so furiously enraged that it seemed he would tear the letter to shreds in the next second.
After finishing the first letter, Ye Liangyu held the paper between his trembling fingers and proceeded to open the second letter.
Ten thousand thoughts of killing Xiao Rongche flashed through his mind, his internal organs trembling with every breath.
Seeing that no one was chasing him, the little beggar tightly clutched his silver and excitedly ran to a bun stall on the street, shouting, "Boss, I want one meat bun and one steamed bun!"
Seeing that the customer was a beggar, the vendor waved his hand impatiently to shoo him away.
"Go beg at the tavern. I run a small business here; you have to pay for the food."
"I have money." The little beggar stood on his tiptoes and held his silver high, grinning widely to show his teeth.
Seeing that he actually had money, the vendor swiftly moved the steamer aside, picked up a steamed bun and a meat bun, and wrapped them in a hemp leaf.
"The steamed bun is one copper coin, the meat bun is three. That makes four copper coins in total."
The little beggar handed the silver to the vendor, who gave him a smaller piece of silver and a handful of copper coins as change.
After safely tucking the change into an inner pocket of his clothes, he held the leaf-wrapped buns tightly against his chest to protect them, running excitedly toward the city gates.
Wait for me, little sister. You'll have a meat bun to eat very soon.
Running out of the city, just as he was about to reach the ruined temple, a masked man stepped out from behind a large tree.
A sharp sword pierced the little beggar through the back.
The blade went straight through his frail body and protruded from his upper abdomen. When it was pulled out, it left a gaping hole that spurted blood.
The snow-white buns fell from the hemp leaf, rolling onto the ground and turning a dirty, ashen black.
The little beggar stared blankly in the direction of the ruined temple. He opened his mouth slightly as tears completely soaked his eyes.
Finally, the man dragged him by the ankles and tossed his body into a mass grave.
His once bright and lively young eyes were now devoid of life, radiating a heavy aura of death under the faint sunlight.
The cold wind blew across the mass grave, making his exposed skin feel even colder than the copper coins hidden in his chest pocket.
No sooner had the man left than Ye Liangyu arrived, leading the constables of the Jingzhao Prefecture in a mad dash toward the ruined temple.
"Found him!" Inside a mud house near the ruined temple, a constable looked at a gagged and tightly bound man, turning his head to shout excitedly at the people behind him.
Initially, seeing the constables rush in, a sliver of hope had survived in the bound man's eyes.
But when he saw Ye Liangyu walk in wearing his official uniform, the hope in his eyes dissipated instantly, replaced by despair and fear.
At that moment, he felt as though his entire world had gone dark.
