Who killed the Ming Dynasty?

The woman's withered arms clung tightly to the little girl, tears streaming down her face and dripping into the crevices of the rocks.

"My dear, we can't survive in this world... let's just end it all..."

As she spoke, she swayed, and pebbles tumbled down from her feet as she staggered forward half a step.

"Mother, I will be a good girl and go to Master Zhang's house..."

The girl's voice was as faint as a whisper, torn apart by the river wind.

She suddenly grabbed her mother's wrist tightly with her small, cracked hand; her mother had a burn scar the size of a coin on her wrist.

"My daughter is afraid of the dark... and there are fish in the river that bite people's toes..."

"Holding you will ease the pain... On your way to the underworld, Mom will cover your eyes..."

Zhu Cilang heard this scene clearly, and a surge of burning blood rushed to the top of his head.

Without thinking twice, he rushed forward and shouted:

"stop!"

His voice startled several night herons, which fluttered and flew into the sky.

Hearing the shout, the woman paused, her neck stiffening, but she didn't turn around. She just smiled bitterly:

"Good Samaritans, don't meddle in other people's business!"

"My daughter and I are only suffering from those exorbitant taxes and levies in this world; we might as well ascend to paradise sooner..."

Zhu Cilang had already rushed forward, and looking at the woman's resolute back, he said in a deep voice:

"Even ants cherish life, why would you, sister-in-law, choose to end it all? In this Ming Dynasty, there is still the law."

The little girl turned her head, her large eyes, washed with tears, filled with hope, and cried out:

"Save me, Mother! I don't want to die..."

Zhu Cilang quickly jumped from the shore onto the rocks. Zhang Wu and Wang Jing behind him changed their expressions drastically and exclaimed, "Young master, be careful!" They also jumped up after him.

His boot slipped on the moss, and he stumbled, quickly regaining his balance by using his waist strength.

"Even if you have a thousand grievances, you should appeal to the government. Now that I have encountered this situation, I will not sit idly by."

The woman's withered shoulders shrugged abruptly, as if stung by the word "government," and her grip on the girl loosened slightly.

In that instant, Zhu Cilang saw that the skin around the girl's neck, marked by the straw rope, was sunken and purple, and her little face was turning blue from holding her breath.

"A petition to the government?"

The woman let out a shrill, bitter laugh; her disheveled, dry hair clung to the little girl's tear-streaked face.

"Young master, please don't deceive me!"

"The fishing tax levied by the river and lake administration was converted into raw silk, and the archers who came to collect it even chopped up the keel of my fishing boat—"

"A five-year-old girl is valued at three strings of cash, which is not even a fraction of the donation for suppressing bandits..."

Her cloudy pupils reflected the churning river water.

"When the canalman kicked down the door last night, the child's father's body... was still floating in the reeds of Baishazhou..."

The sunlight reflecting off the jade pendant at Zhu Cilang's waist shone directly on the girl's face, causing her to squint sharply.

Like a frightened little animal, it immediately buried its head deeply in its mother's arms.

Before the woman could finish speaking, she suddenly turned around, grabbed the little girl, and plunged into the waves.

Zhu Cilang's gaze suddenly sharpened!

His right arm shot out like lightning, grabbing the woman's hem tightly, the immense downward force dragging him down.

Zhu Cilang was pulled off balance, his boots scraping against the slippery rocks, and half of his body was almost dragged off the edge of the rocks.

He gritted his teeth, grabbed a jagged rock beside him with his left hand, and managed to steady himself.

A wave crashed onto the rock face, splashing the little girl and causing her to cough repeatedly.

Zhang Wu and Wang Jing, who were behind them, were already terrified and pounced on them almost simultaneously.

Zhang Wu grabbed Zhu Cilang from behind, while Wang Jing swiftly leaned forward and grabbed the woman's wildly flailing arm.

Using that force, he exerted his strength in his waist and abdomen, and suddenly pulled backward—

The woman was pulled back by the immense force and fell into a crevice in the rock, while the little girl coughed up foamy river water.

Once she could catch her breath, the woman suddenly went berserk, pounding on Zhu Cilang and wailing:

"Why bother, young master!"

She dug her fingernails into the back of his hand, drawing blood.

"To live and watch Cao Ding gouge out my husband's eyes? To live and watch my daughter be sold to Master Zhang as a maid?"

The little girl shivered from the splashing waves, clutching tightly to her mother's clothes.

"When Father was pulled out of the water, reeds were stuck in his eye sockets..."

She struggled to turn her face away from her mother's shoulder, pointing to the reeds in the distance, her voice trembling.

The spray from the river clinging to her eyelashes, mingling with her tears as they rolled down her cheeks.

Zhang Wu and Wang Jing worked together, carrying and supporting the mother and daughter, finally pulling them away from the rocks and back onto the embankment.

The woman collapsed to the ground and suddenly burst into a hoarse cry.

Zhu Cilang steadied his breathing, squatted down, and asked in a deep voice:

"Please explain this to me in detail, sister-in-law?"

"Even if Yama, the King of Hell, demands someone, I, this young master, can ask the judge for a record."

A river breeze brushed past the woman's temples, which were streaked with salt, as she gazed into the heart of the river.

A piece of rotten wood crashed into the rocks, spraying water everywhere. She took a deep breath, and her hoarse voice slowly revealed the reason:

"About two weeks ago, my husband took the fish he had just caught to the market, hoping to exchange them for some rice to make porridge for our daughter."

"But as soon as we arrived at the city gate, we were stopped by the people from the river and lake administration, who said that we hadn't paid enough fishing tax."

"He pleaded and said he would make it up next time, but those beasts wouldn't listen and started beating him with sticks."

Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down, dripping onto the little girl's brow.

"They stole all the fish and tied the men up at the city gate as a warning."

"I took my daughter to plead for him, but they whipped him with thorny vines right in front of me."

The little girl in my arms was curled up, murmuring softly:

"The blood dripped onto the ground, and many little red flowers bloomed..."

"I finally made it to nightfall and secretly carried the man home. He was covered in wounds and barely had any breath left."

The woman, trembling, stroked the little girl's face and continued,

"I went to ask Master Zhang for some money for medicine, but that old beast said that I could pay for the medicine by giving him my daughter as collateral."

"I shook my head desperately and ran away with Nannan, but his gang of lackeys wouldn't give up."

"Last night, they kicked down my broken door again."

The woman's voice suddenly turned cold.

"They said he was a rebel for organizing a tax resistance movement, and they dragged him away despite his serious injuries."

"I begged them, crying, to let my daughter and me go, but they overturned all the pots and pans in the house."

"They even said that if she dared to resist again, they would throw her into the river to feed the fish."

"I stayed in the empty house until dawn."

The woman gazed at the distant reeds, her whole body trembling violently.

"I want to go find him, but I'm afraid those people will come again."

"It wasn't until my daughter was crying from hunger that I mustered up the courage to go to Baishazhou to look for wild vegetables, and there I found him in the reeds..."

The woman completely broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

"He was bloated from being submerged in the water, floating on the surface, with reeds stuck in his eye sockets, and his face was gnawed raw by fish..."

The little girl suddenly buried her face between her mother's collarbones, her thin arms tightly wrapped around the woman's neck, her voice muffled between the fabric of her clothes:

"Mother, don't leave your little girl... I'm scared..."

The woman hugged her child tightly, tears streaming down her face.

"My dear child, I'm so sorry, I couldn't protect you..."

Zhu Cilang's hands, hanging by his sides, suddenly clenched, his voice as deep and cold as iron:

"Sister-in-law, what taxes are owed? How much are they?"