"You shouldn't have saved her," the middle-aged man said flatly.
I know, Yan Qing thought.
Although violence could solve many problems, many problems couldn't be solved through violence alone. Take An Cuihua, for example. Helping her drive away the matrons and servants was only the first step. The more important step was figuring out how to settle her future. If he only helped her out of her immediate predicament and then left her to fend for herself, he would merely be delaying the moment when Li Family caught her.
Buy her freedom? What if she was sold again?
Give her money to run away? She was an orphan girl traveling to another place with money on her. Her fate might well be worse than obediently entering Li Family.
That was why Yan Qing hadn't acted immediately after learning the circumstances. He could save her for a while, but not for a lifetime.
If he handled things poorly, he might even ruin her entire life.
If An Cuihua hadn't finally grabbed Rat Monk's foot and begged him for help, Yan Qing might truly not have intervened.
But that was what he thought. Yan Qing wasn't the kind of person who accepted whatever others said without question. He immediately brought out a grand principle. "Saving one life is better than building a seven-level pagoda."
"Save her? You only harmed her," the middle-aged man said. "You bald monk may think you're doing a good deed every day, but you don't realize that you've pushed An Cuihua into an abyss. Do you think her father simply found a broker and sold her to whoever offered the highest price?"
"Wasn't that the case?"
"Of course not. Brokers are all managed by the government, and the sale of servants and slaves requires strict approval. In Liang