| caption: |
Chapter Fourteen. The Rescued Slaves |
| caption: |
slaves freed, despite threats from Pangsha |
| text: |
But our appreciation waxed loudest when we discovered that the slaves we had set out to rescue were already waiting for us in Chingmei. Since we had received the threatening message from Pangsha in Chentang, we had given up all hope of a peaceful understanding. The messages had declared that Pangsha had no intention whatsoever of giving up their captives. That they were not afraid of a crowd of women, as they called us, and that they would not even honour us by fighting with spears and dao but would beat us off with the wooden rice-pounding pestles of their wives. |
