October 23 is the seventeenth birthday of Meng Zhiming's favorite concubine Juanjuan.
Meng Zhiming not only ordered a table mountain delicacies from Xinghualou, but also ordered a golden hairpin with the ruby word of Baofeng Yinlou early, and when he opened the hairpin box to insert the golden hairpin for Juanjuan, he found that there was a small note tied to one end of the hairpin, and there were only two words on the note: Shunxiang.
Shun Xiang is the name of Meng Zhiming's wife who died suddenly half a year ago.
This disgraceful death is a shame for the Meng family, and even more so for Meng Zhiming.
Why does the hairpin box have her name?
Who can put a note in a box without knowing it?
Meng Zhiming's face changed, Juanjuan didn't know what was going on, picked up the hairpin and looked at it, and said with a smile: "What a tricky name, is this the name of the craftsman or the hairpin?"
If it was usual, Meng Zhiming would have been fascinated by her laughter early in the morning, but at this moment, he was unusual, snatched the hairpin, and yelled with a black face: "Don't mention this name again!"
Juanjuan was stunned for a moment, glanced at him and said, "Whoever provokes you to find someone, why bother to play prestige in front of me!"
If it was usual, she was so annoyed and threw her eyes, Meng Zhiming would have coaxed her with a smile on her face earlier, this time, Meng Zhiming still had no smile on his face, stared at her directly, and asked, "Who has touched the hairpin box!"
Juanjuan was dumbfounded, she was only seventeen years old, since she came into the house, she has always been deeply loved, she wants the wind to be windy, she wants to rain to be rainy, even if she wants a fried snail with a bridge in the middle of the night, Meng Zhiming immediately ordered someone to buy it.
She always thought that she was the treasure in Meng Zhiming's palm, and she often played majesticly in front of other concubines, but now she found that teasing, coaxing, and petting are all according to his mood, and she is just a gadget looking for fun in his eyes.
Meng Zhiming interrogated and determined that Juanjuan had never touched the hairpin box, and she didn't know anything about the secrets, and she didn't even know what the word Shunxiang meant.
That's right, she is a little girl who fell into a foreign land and sold herself to bury her father, and she went to Mengfu two months ago, and the woman died half a year ago, and the people below kept silent about these two words, how could she know?
The hairpin box was brought back before dinner, not because she was making trouble, it must be Baofeng Yinlou's troublemaker.
Meng Zhiming reprimanded Juanjuan, told her to keep to herself, don't mention these two words to anyone, and turned around and left the room.
If he didn't explain the latter sentence, Juanjuan, who felt deeply aggrieved, might cry and quickly forget about it, he specially advised, but aroused Juanjuan's curiosity: What does the word Shunxiang mean, could it be a concubine who stole people and was immersed in a pig cage?
After Meng Zhiming left, the delicacies of the table mountain and the sea lost their taste, and Juanjuan had no intention of eating it again, so she called a few maids and servants to her and asked them who was Shunxiang.
The four maids and servants knelt on the ground and shouted to their aunts to spare their lives.
Juanjuan looked at it, guessed a few points in her heart, and asked again, but they didn't dare to answer. She sighed and said, "Master is gone, you can eat this table full of dishes, I have a headache and have to lie down." ”
The maids and servants thanked her one after another, helped her back to bed, and served her to sleep, and then brought the dishes to the cloister outside the door, chatting while eating, and were very happy.
Some people praise the aunt's kindness, and some people echo it. Suddenly, a servant woman named Sister Zhou Yu whispered what her aunt asked just now, saying that she really scared herself to death.
"But it's not, this is the biggest taboo in the house, who dares to mention it, don't die. ”
Having said that, some people start, others continue, and the more they talk, the more they get carried away.
Juanjuan pretended to sleep, but in fact hid by the window and eavesdropped, the more she listened, the more frightened she became, organizing their fragmentary words, and finally understanding the biggest taboo in Mengfu.
It turned out that the deceased original wife's surname was Sun, her name was Shunxiang, she was born in a businessman, and she fell in love with Meng Zhiming, who was a buddy in her own store at the time, and she had to marry him, so she didn't hesitate to cry, make trouble, and hang herself, forcing her parents to nod and recruit Meng Zhiming into the family.
Ten years after marriage, Sun Shunxiang gave birth to a son and a daughter, and the family's business was also thriving under the auspices of Meng Zhiming.
On the fiftieth birthday of the grandfather, the Sun family gave porridge and clothes as usual, and many beggars received favors and thanked them one after another, and two little beggars in ragged clothes got a set of clothes and refused to leave, indicating that they wanted to find Meng Zhiming.
It turned out that they were Meng Zhiming's fiancée's younger brother Ke San Ke Si, one was twelve years old and the other was eight years old, saying that his sister was waiting for him to come back and get married, and he couldn't wait for anyone to wait for him, and he died of illness.
After Sun Shunxiang learned about this, she asked Meng Zhiming to properly arrange the two fellow villagers.
Half a year later, Sun Shangxiang's son Sun Jizu's birthday, the family was eating, and the next person told Ke San and Ke Si to give gifts.
A maid mentioned the scene at that time, saying that Ke Si looked quite similar to the young master, the difference was that Ke Si was thin and weak, not as strong as the young master, not only did she think so, but the eldest lady also thought the same at the time.
The husband and wife had a big quarrel, and since then they have separated, Meng Zhiming moved to the study, no matter how the old lady Sun and his wife persuaded each other, the two were not reconciled.
Later, Mrs. Sun died of illness, and Mrs. Sun was too sad and died.
Mrs. fell ill in bed, and was caught by Meng Zhiming that she and the doctor misbehaved, tied up, and wanted to be sent to open the ancestral hall and soak the pig cage.
Some people say that Dr. Liu is a eunuch, otherwise the big family would not have let him enter the room to check the pulse of Mrs. Liu. ”
"I remember that at that time, I found out what kind of golden hairpins and jade pendants the eldest lady gave to Dr. Liu, as well as love letters. ”
"Well, yes or no, does it matter? What matters is whether someone believes it or not. ”
……
The maid and servant continued to chat, and her words seemed to be unhappy for Sun Shunxiang.
Especially the servant sister Zhou Yu, the spearhead pointed directly at Meng Zhiming's pair of children, saying that their brother and sister had a desolate life, the weather was cold, they had not changed into autumn clothes and thick bedding, and the clothes had to be washed by themselves.
The other three sighed together, saying that when the eldest lady was alive, although the young master was not as noble as gold and jade, she was also served properly by maids and servants, but now it is really desolate.
Juanjuan quietly returned to the bed, pulled up the quilt, and her heart was pounding.
She had a bold guess that Ke San and Ke Si may be the children of Meng Zhiming and his fiancée, and Meng Zhiming did not break off relations with his fiancée after marriage.
If Ke San and Ke Si are all Meng Zhiming's biological children, then the Sun family is naturally an eyesore, and their deaths are very suspicious.
Juanjuan couldn't help but tremble when she thought of Meng Zhiming's changing face during the meal, and thought of the skinny Meng Jizu and Meng Shuxian.
Meng Zhiming's wealth started from the Sun family, and as soon as his father-in-law and wife died, he restored a pair of children to his surname, and he also neglected them in daily life.
On the contrary, Ke San and Ke Si she has seen, both of them are white and fat, wearing gold and silver, with a small servant, like a rich young master.
Meng Zhiming is so ungrateful and vicious, if he finds out that he knows the inside story, he is afraid that he will also attack himself.
Juanjuan sold herself to bury her father and entered the Meng family, with no foundation, let alone dealing with Meng Zhiming, even if she wanted to escape, or if she wanted to protect herself, she had nowhere to start.
She could only pretend to be asleep, the weather was cold and warm, and she really fell asleep unconsciously, until she felt an unusual movement, and suddenly woke up, and heard the cry and begging for mercy of a maid outside the window:
"Master, I didn't say anything!"
"Master, I haven't mentioned anything either!"
……
"Drag it down!" Meng Zhiming gave an order, only to hear a muffled voice, as if the maid was gagged and dragged down.
Juanjuan's blood surged to the top of her head, and she trembled for a while: If Meng Zhiming found out that he knew the inside story, he would really lose his life!
Da Da Da, Meng Zhiming dragged his feet and walked into the room.
Juanjuan is not moving, not moving, her heart is chaotic, she is afraid of a wrong step, and her life is gone.
Meng Zhiming walked to the side of the bed, sat down, reached into the quilt, touched Juanjuan's hand, and found that it was warm, obviously sleeping in the quilt, and then relieved.
Juanjuan was frozen by him, couldn't help but tremble, and screamed. She didn't dare to turn her face away, for fear of being seen as flawed.
Meng Zhiming misunderstood, thinking that she was still angry with herself.
Before, he was anxious to find out if there was someone in Baofeng Building, and rushed to Baofeng Building, and the whole person had calmed down. Shun Xiang's boudoir name, unless the relatives don't know, the Sun family died cleanly, how can anyone in Baofeng Yinlou know her boudoir name?
He went upstairs to see the master who made the hairpin and the guy who received him at that time, and made sure that he had not seen them at Sun's house before, and knocked on the side a few words, and found that they were all strangers and had nothing to do with the Sun family.
The troublemaker can't be Juanjuan, she sold herself to bury her father, she was helpless, and she brought herself down, which was only bad for her, not good.
At this time, he saw that Juanjuan's hair was unkempt, and she had the charm and softness of Begonia Spring Sleep, and he had a fever all over his body, so he also got into the quilt.
Juanjuan had to be perfunctory.
The next morning, it was the servant sister Zhou Yu and three other strange maids who came in to wait for Juanjuan to freshen up.
Juanjuan's right hand, which was combing her hair, froze, and asked the other three why they had to be replaced.
Sister Zhou Yu smiled and said that they had other arrangements, and from now on, the four of us will serve my aunt, if my aunt has any disagreements, tell us at any time.
Juanjuan was shocked, but she was afraid for a while. This week, Sister Yu is cheerful and generous on weekdays, quite her heart, in fact, it is comparable to a poisonous snake, last night she took the lead in exposing Meng Zhiming's shortcomings everywhere, and in the end she told someone else to knock her down, she became the boss of four, two jade bracelets on her wrists, and a pair of gold earrings in both ears, which was obviously given to her by Meng Zhiming.
With Meng Zhiming's viciousness, the other three were afraid that they would lose their lives.
Fortunately, I was cautious, and I didn't catch them last night to get to the bottom of it, otherwise, I was afraid that I wouldn't know where to be sent at this time.
Juanjuan knew that she was in the tiger and wolf cave, and she would be torn apart at any time, but she turned her heart sideways, and continued to be spoiled and spoiled as in the past, and from time to time she had a fight with several other concubines.
After watching it for a long time, she found that Meng Jizu's brothers and sisters worked and worked, and basically didn't talk to other people, and very few other people talked to them, except for Ke San and Ke Si.
Recently, Ke San and Ke Si simply lived in the mansion, arrogant, looking like a young master, wandering around, meeting Meng Jizu's brothers and sisters, sneering and provoking.
The brothers and sisters of the Meng family are like deaf and blind people, and they don't care about them at all.
Juanjuan was secretly frightened, these two brothers and sisters, one was nine years old and the other was eight years old, and they were able to endure what others couldn't bear, and they were definitely not human.
From time to time, Sister Zhou Yu mentioned a few words of pity for the Meng family brothers and sisters in Juanjuan, and wiped two handfuls of tears. Juanjuan squinted her eyes and said, "Everyone has their own life, Sister Yu is so worried about them, why don't you let the master transfer you over to wait for them?"
Sister Zhou Yu didn't even dare to say it.
Juanjuan patted the table and said, "Don't forget, who is your master!"
Meng Zhiming just lifted the curtain and walked in, waved his hand, and asked Sister Zhou Yu to go down.
Juanjuan found that he was very different from Sister Zhou Yu and other maids and servants, thinking that the two of them had something to do with it, and couldn't help but be secretly happy in her heart, and wanted to give them more opportunities so that they could grasp a handle.
One day, Juanjuan went to walk in the garden again, was blown by the cold wind and had a headache, and was about to go back to the room, when she suddenly heard someone scolding in the nearby rockery:
"What kind of daughter are you thinking of, my father said, everything in the house in the future will be my brother and mine, and you won't be able to get a copper plate!"
Listening to the voice, it's the little chubby Dun Ke Si.
"That's my father, not your father!" Meng Shuxian said with a cry.
"Hmph, your surname is Sun, what kind of thing! My mother said, a child without a mother is cheaper than the mud on the soles of your shoes!"
Juanjuan was cold.
Could it be that Ke San and Ke Si's mother are not dead yet? Their mother is also in the house?
After a while, there was a hidden cry from the rockery, intermittently, and if you listen carefully, you can vaguely recognize that it is the voice of a little girl.
The little girl in the house has only Meng Shuxian.
Juanjuan couldn't bear it, and when she saw that there was no one around, she secretly drilled over.
Meng Shuxian leaned against the wall of the rockery, her small figure, crying and sobbing, looking thinner and thinner.
"Virtuous girl, why are you uncomfortable?
Meng Shuxian was startled, turned around suddenly, and slammed the back of her head into the stone wall. She panicked and said, "Auntie, I'm fine, it's okay, don't tell my father!"
Juanjuan stretched out her hand and touched it, the back of Meng Shuxian's head was already swollen with a bag, and she was still begging herself not to tell her father, Meng Zhiming, Meng Zhiming, why did you force the child to be like this!
"I won't say, you're injured, do you want to get a doctor?"
"I don't want a doctor, I don't want a doctor!" Meng Shuxian's face changed greatly, and like a frightened little beast, she quickly fled from Juanjuan's side.
Doctor. Juanjuan suddenly remembered that the maids said that Sun Shunxiang was found to be with the doctor before being immersed in the pig cage, no wonder Meng Shuxian was so afraid of the doctor.
For several days in a row, Juanjuan ignored the cold wind and went to the garden for a walk, hoping to bump into the Meng family brothers and sisters. She couldn't go directly to Meng Shuxian's courtyard, none of the maids and servants around her could be trusted, and she couldn't directly inquire about Meng Shuxian's condition, so she could only use this stupidest method.
Sister Zhou Yu persuaded her that it was cold, and if she fell ill with frost, the master would be distressed.
Juanjuan sneered, saying that he has been running outside lately, and he doesn't know what he's busy with, maybe there is a newcomer outside, and when the time comes, he will fall out of favor, and Sister Yu and a few of them just want to serve the newcomer.
Sister Zhou Yu swore by various gambling curses, saying that she was an aunt, and she only served her aunt, and she didn't go anywhere.
Meng Zhiming was really busy during this time, he was so busy that he was so busy smashing things and scolding people.
Somehow, the boss of the Ke family suddenly came to the door and asked for money, saying that the Ke family raised sons for him, one after another, and he should get something in return.
Obviously, he had already given the Ke family two hundred taels of silver before, but if the Ke family made trouble, he was afraid that his reputation would be ruined, and it would cause others to suspect that the death of the Sun family was his own hand, and in order to calm the matter, Meng Zhiming had to send the boss away with twenty taels of silver.
As a result, soon the second child came to the store again, and in front of many regular customers, he claimed to be the cousin of the Ke family, and the son of the family wanted to get married, and borrowed sixty taels to send a dowry gift for a happy event.
Meng Zhiming endured his annoyance and gave him eighty taels of silver, Ke Lao Er praised him for his bold atmosphere and looked down on poor relatives, and the regular customers in the store also gave him a thumbs up.
Meng Zhiming was still complacent at the time, thinking that he had dealt with it properly, but it didn't take long for him to regret it.
Sending eighty taels of silver to a poor relative, saying that he is bold and magnificent, maybe he will turn his head and suspect that he has some handle in Ke Lao's second-hand, plus Ke San and Ke Si have luxurious clothes these days, and they are in and out of the store to put up shelves, which has caused a lot of gossip.
In order to redeem it, Meng Zhiming secretly instructed his subordinate Chen Hu to get rid of Ke Lao Er on the way home and do something secretive, such as drowning drunk and drowning.
Chen Hu left, and there was no news for three days.
Meng Zhiming was worried about whether he fell to his death with Ke Lao Er during a fight.
There have been so many things that have happened lately that he has a strange feeling, as if he is caught in some invisible net, and he doesn't know who is behind it.
He could only send someone to find out the news of Ke Lao Er and Chen Hu.
November 20, the day before the winter solstice, because Juanjuan had been bored for a long time, Meng Zhiming specially took her to Xinghualou for dinner.
Who knew that the two had just arrived in front of the building, suddenly heard a gong sound, and then a burst of dong dong drums, people on the street ran around, saying that it was strange, it was really strange, many beggars at the entrance of the county government beat drums and shouted grievances, and the guests on the apricot blossom upstairs also shouted, and many people ran out of the hall on the first floor to see the excitement.
The county government was less than 100 steps away from Xinghualou, and Meng Zhiming and Juanjuan were pushed by the crowd, and they also walked forward, but they were squeezed to the door of the county office.
At the gate of the county government, dozens of beggars knelt high, holding up white paper in their hands, and only one word was written on the paper:
冤！
Meng Zhiming's eyes were sharp, and he caught a glimpse of two acquaintances kneeling among the beggars, one Ke Lao Er and the other Chen Hu, he couldn't help but be shocked and turned back, but there were more people than ants, and they were crowded and crowded, and he wanted to run, but he couldn't run.
And the kneeling beggar, someone discovered his existence, and several people rushed over at the same time, pressed him to the ground, and shouted: "Lord Qingtian, wronged!"
Dozens of beggars sued, and the lawsuit was against Meng Zhiming, a well-known wealthy businessman in the city, which was even more eye-catching.
It turned out that in the past, the Sun family was benevolent and righteous, Sun Shunxiang gave medicine all the year round, and was very good to the beggars, after she was immersed in the pig cage, all the beggars did not believe it, and the soldiers divided the way, all the way to investigate the Ke family, all the way to investigate Doctor Liu, and secretly followed Meng Zhiming all the way.
They found that Ke San and Ke Si claimed to be the sons of the old couple of the Ke family, and should have been born to Ke Rongrong, a girl from the Ke family, one was born before Meng Zhiming's marriage, and the other was born after Meng Zhiming's marriage.
At the same time, they found that Dr. Liu, who had a "personal relationship" with Sun Shunxiang before, was still alive and living a very nourishing life in a small village in the countryside.
The beggars were going to sue immediately, but think about it, if there is no evidence, if Dr. Liu suddenly changes his words in the hall, he is afraid that he will be bitten instead.
They thought of a way, and successively revealed the wealth of the Meng family in front of Ke Lao Da and Ke Laoer, and instigated them to come to make trouble, wanting to cut off Meng Zhiming's poisonous hand when he made a move.
Ke Lao Er was fine, Ke Lao Er was almost dragged into the water by Chen Hu and drowned, and was saved by a beggar.
Money is as important as life, Ke Lao Er was frightened and immediately agreed to sue with the beggars.
Chen Hu originally refused to reveal that the mastermind behind the scenes was Meng Zhiming, but the subordinates sent by Meng Zhiming to inquire about the results appeared, and were said by the beggars to come to kill Chen Hu's mouth, and Chen Hu was also afraid.
The magistrate opened the court and dug up the bones of the old couple of the Sun family, and found that the bones were poisonous.
The evidence and material evidence in this case are all there, and the causes and consequences are also very clear, and the magistrate will soon hear it clearly, and reprimand Meng Zhiming for being ungrateful, wolf-hearted, and rare in the world.
is the same as Juanjuan guessed before, Sister Zhou Yu is indeed Meng Zhiming's former childhood sweetheart, Ke San Ke Si's mother-in-law, Sun Mansion who entered the Sun Mansion as a servant a year ago, and now the Meng family, Sun Shunxiang was indeed wronged.
Meng Zhiming took everything into account, saying that Sister Zhou Yu didn't know all this, and she took her into the mansion by herself, using the pseudonym Sister Zhou Yu, just to compensate for the suffering she had suffered before, or she wouldn't just let her be a little servant.
The magistrate was furious: "Are you a fool to be an official? She went to the mansion a year, and after that, the Sun family died violently one after another, and she didn't know at all? Besides, the jade bracelet on her hand, the gemstone earrings on her ears, and the gemstone golden hairpin on her head, how could a little servant woman afford to use it?"
Juanjuan found out that the ruby golden hairpin worn by Sister Zhou Yu on her head was originally the one that Meng Zhiming wanted to give to herself. Meng Zhiming wronged his wife with a love letter from the golden hairpin, and now, because the golden hairpin exposed his true relationship with Sister Zhou Yu, it is really retribution.
What made the crowd surging was that Ke San, Ke Si and Meng Jizu Meng Shuxian brothers and sisters appeared in the hall, the former was white and fat, high-spirited, and richly dressed, while the latter was skinny and silent, this stark contrast, without the two brothers and sisters opening their mouths, has proved Meng Zhiming's viciousness.
Meng Zhiming and Sister Zhou Yu were sent to prison, waiting for the execution after the autumn, Ke Lao Da Ke Lao Er did not report it, and was exiled for 3,000 miles, Ke San and Ke Si were returned to the Ke family, and all the shops and property of the Meng family were returned to the Meng family brothers and sisters.
Meng Jizu Meng Shuxian knelt down and asked for the restoration of the surname Sun, and the magistrate was approved.
The beggars cheered, hugging the Sun family brothers and sisters back home, Juanjuan followed behind, and suddenly found that Sun Shuxian was quite familiar with the beggars.
Juanjuan has a bold guess, the two siblings have long suspected the death of their family, and Sun Shuxian goes out of the house every day, not just to buy vegetables, but has already been in contact with the beggars. The brothers and sisters of the Sun family are young, and they are indeed not ordinary people.
In order to thank the beggars, the brothers and sisters of the Sun family took out a large amount of money to build a poor home, accommodate the old and young beggars to live and treat their diseases, and the adult beggars hired them to work in the shop.
The concubines in the house were sent away one by one.
The Sun brothers gave Juanjuan a large bag of gold and silver and left with her.
Juanjuan said she didn't help much.
Sun Shuxian shook her head and said that she knew everything, and not saying anything was the greatest good.
@高凉叶故事原创, thank you for your companionship and support along the way, and continue to share the world of stories and joys and sorrows in 2024
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