The Humble Family's Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket!-Chapter 1059 - 885, Coal Mine_2

"Pah, you don’t have many chances to deal with nobles, so you don’t know they truly look down on us mud-legged peasants from the bottom of their hearts. With ladies among those people, how could they possibly help a dirty child?"

When the figures had vanished from sight, Defu finally opened the carriage and let the boy get out.

The boy looked at Defu, then at Daohua and Xiao Yeyang, and with a ’plop’ he knelt down: "Thank you, kind souls, for saving me."

Xiao Yeyang sized up the boy, who looked to be about twelve or thirteen and so frail that a gust of wind might blow him away. He furrowed his brows and asked, "You’re so young, yet you were already working in the coal mine?"

Anger flickered across the boy’s face: "I was forcibly taken there."

Xiao Yeyang: "Why did they take you?"

The boy shook his head: "I don’t know. My father was a minor official under Yang Baichu of the North Bay Beihu. Last autumn, my father suddenly died under mysterious circumstances."

"My family and I were very sad, but we didn’t dare to ask questions at Baichu, and to our surprise, just after the New Year, Yang Baichu sent men to capture me and take me to work in the coal mine."

"They tortured me every day, constantly making me dig for coal, and they didn’t even give me food. I couldn’t take it anymore, and that’s why I ran away."

Xiao Yeyang looked at the boy, sensing he hadn’t told the whole story, but couldn’t be bothered to press further.

However, the North Bay Baichu had discovered coal mines...

Over the past few months, he had reviewed the tax records of the Gan State Guard’s Qianhu Offices and Baichu Offices for the last two years and hadn’t seen any tax silver reported from North Bay Baichu.

In Xiliang, coal mines could be privately mined, but there was an annual tax to be paid. Clearly, North Bay Baichu had kept the coal mine a secret.

Thinking of Ganzhou Guard’s inadequate finances, Xiao Yeyang felt deeply angered toward officials like this who led tax evasion. He looked at the boy once more and said indifferently, "Those people have left; you’re free to go."

Having said that, Xiao Yeyang led Daohua toward the carriage, shaken from the recent scare and no longer wanting to ride.

The boy watched their retreating figures, wrestling with his thoughts. When his father had been alive, he’d often visited Baichu and had seen his share of nobles.

These people seemed even more powerful than Yang Baichu; the scene where the coal mine men didn’t dare to provoke them and actively avoided them had not escaped his notice.

Could these people help him?

Thinking of his elderly grandparents and the sister being targeted by the village thugs, the boy clenched his teeth and decided to take a gamble, sprinting toward Xiao Yeyang and Daohua.

Defu saw him and thought he was up to no good; he quickly stood in the way to stop him.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the boy ran over, he knelt directly in front of Daohua and Xiao Yeyang: "Kind souls, I beg you to save me and my family."

Daohua felt some sympathy for the boy having to mine at a tender age, but remembering the boy’s unclear speech from earlier, he averted his gaze.

Xiao Yeyang ignored him and reached out to help Daohua onto the carriage.

"If you shelter me and my family, I am willing to tell you the location of an open coal mine."

Upon hearing this, Daohua and Xiao Yeyang both turned to look at the boy.

With hopeful eyes, the boy looked at them: "Can you help me?"

Xiao Yeyang raised an eyebrow: "Depends on whether what you’re telling me is true."

The boy: "...My father was in charge of all documents and records of Baichu. Last Mid-Autumn, he came home excited, telling me he’d found information about a coal mine in an old geography book - the one where people just now took me back."

"I discovered information about two coal mines in total. Yang Baichu captured me to work in the mine, also wanting to interrogate me about the other coal mine’s location."

"I knew that once I told him, I would suddenly die like my father, and perhaps my grandparents and sister wouldn’t escape either. So, I’ve kept silent until now."

Xiao Yeyang studied the boy: "You know what the consequences will be if you deceive me?"

The boy hastily replied: "I’m not lying; everything I’ve said is true."

Xiao Yeyang took a long look at the boy: "Would you be willing to go to Ganzhou City?"

The boy nodded vigorously: "As long as I can escape Yang Baichu’s clutches, my family and I will go anywhere."

Xiao Yeyang turned to Defu: "Go with him and fetch his family." Then, stepping up to the boy, he patted his shoulder, "Kid, you’d better not be lying to me. Crossing me would be far more terrifying than offending Yang Baichu."