Sixty-third
Pan Xianya's bedroom is on the second floor of the Sanjin Courtyard of Wu Mansion, facing the patio with a row of hollow windows, and the slanting sun shines through the window paper, illuminating the room with a warm yellow.
She sat by the window and smoked with a hookah, her mind in a mess. In just half a month, earth-shaking changes have taken place in the family, the young master was arrested, the old man died of illness, and the second wife returned to the Wu family, all of which came so suddenly, she was at a loss for a while.
She didn't approve of inviting the second wife back, because her husband and mother-in-law, including her cousin Wang Shenzhi, advocated her coming back, so she had to accompany her mother-in-law to the Qingfeng class to invite her back to the Wu family to preside over the overall situation.
With the return of Little Peach, the situation immediately improved, and a change occurred in favor of the case. County Magistrate Kim met with her husband in person, and the conditions in the prison have also been greatly improved, and in the past, family members were not allowed to visit the prison, but now they can not only visit the prison, but also meet and talk in his solitary cell.
On the one hand, she admires Xiao Taohong's ability, and she has a relationship with Lord Jin's secretary in a short time, which improves her husband's situation, and at the same time, she is very dissatisfied with Xiao Taohong, as a young grandmother from a large family, who shows up outside all day long.
In this regard, she is far inferior to the other party, and she does not disdain to compare with the other party. However, her husband attaches great importance to the second wife, which makes her very disappointed and aggrieved......
Soft footsteps sounded in the hallway. She heard Tanaka's footsteps, instinctively lowered the hookah in her hand, and raised her eyes to stare at the hidden door. Steward Tian walked in and knelt down as soon as he saw the door. Surprised, she asked what it was for. With tears in his eyes, he said that his cousin Tian Erming was arrested by the second wife. She hurriedly pulled him up from the ground and asked Tian Erming what had happened.
"The specifics are not clear. Early yesterday morning, I heard from the people in the treasury that he had been arrested. I was told that my cousin had something to do with the box of opium in the storeroom. The second wife invited a Taoist priest to pretend to be a ghost, and then imprisoned all the treasury keepers in a small black room, saying that God Lingxian wrote on the back of the second brother, accusing him of colluding with outsiders, perverting the law, and framing the Wu family. ”
"How come I don't know about such a thing?"
"Our Tian family has been a slave in the Wu family for generations, and we have never done anything to be sorry for our master. If Er Ming does something bad, I will never protect my shortcomings, and I will deal with it as I want. He excitedly told her that the second wife invited the Taoist priest to the house to do things, pretending to be a ghost, saying that the gods were obviously spiritual, and wrote on Er Ming's back, "Where is this trial case, it is clear that it is bullying people." ”
"Your Tian family has always been loyal to the Wu family on an errand and has always been loyal, which is obvious to all. Since the second wife came back to take care of the affairs, she naturally came forward to investigate the affairs of the treasury, and it was inconvenient for her to interfere, so she couldn't think of any other way except to comfort Steward Tian. He glanced at her and said provocatively, The second wife is at me on the surface, but she is at you in her bones. She narrowed her eyes and asked what she meant.
"The second wife returned to the Wu family, but the subordinates didn't listen to her, and he thought I was getting in the way. She knows that I am your person, and she wants to find an excuse to remove me, and then deal with Miss Qiao and Sister-in-law Qian, drive away the people around you one by one, and then deal with you!"
"One person does one person, even if something happens to your cousin, what does it have to do with you? Not to mention that you have been in charge of the affairs of the Wu family for so many years. The more she spoke, the more excited she became, and she stood up from the coffee table, "Can't let her mess around like this! I'll go to her now and ask her to release your cousin immediately." ”
"What if she doesn't let it go?"
She was questioned for a while, and she was speechless for a long time. He took the opportunity to suggest that in order to stop the second wife's misdeeds, he first had to take back the housekeeping from her. She thought for a moment, and said that the young master and the old lady had given the second lady the right to take over the house. He said his thoughts: Let's hide it from the second wife and rescue the young master before her! If you do this, the stewardship of the family will naturally fall into your hands.
She was very dissatisfied with the second wife's refusal to pay to save the young master, and when she heard it, she thought it was a solution, saying that the second wife would not pay the money, and I would use my own private money to save the young master. Once the young master is rescued, it will be my credit, and the rest will be easy to do.
Steward Tian nodded in agreement, saying that Miss Qiao had already talked to Zhu Shun, the housekeeper of the Liu Mansion, according to his wishes. We first deposited the money in a designated bank, which was guaranteed by the bank, and asked Young Master Liu to come forward and let the county release people.
After the police station released the young master, the Liu family took out the money from the bank, so that it would be foolproof. Her mother's family is a well-known big family in Huaining County, and this money is naturally not a problem for her, in order to bypass the second wife, she immediately took out the silver ticket and asked him to find Zhu Shun as soon as possible.
After Tanaka left with the silver ticket, Pan Xianya ran to find Xiao Taohong and asked her to release Tian Erming for the sake of the Tian family's many years of errand in the Wu family. Xiao Taohong told her that Tian Erming had recruited everything, and the so-called evidence of the Wu family's smuggling of opium was brought into the treasury by Liu Qi's subordinates through him.
She originally wanted to help Tian Erming speak, but when she heard about this situation, she couldn't say anything, so she had to ask her what she planned to do with Tian Erming. Xiao Taohong said, "Since he confessed, I will show mercy." As for where he was being held, Little Pink didn't tell her.
In order to learn the lesson of Xiaofeng back then, she asked Tian Erming to sign and draw a note on the confession, and then quickly sent someone to take him to an unknown place in the countryside to hide it to prevent Liu Qi from poisoning him.
The next day, she went to Chen Xiaotian to inquire if the person nicknamed Ma Shrimp was Liu Qi's subordinate. If so, she plans to send Tian Erming's confession to County Magistrate Jin through Secretary Guo and arrest this person, so that the Wu family's case can be completely overturned.
On the third day, in order not to let outsiders know, she did not take the sedan chair at home, and quietly went to the front street to find Chen Xiaotian alone. She walked to the big archway at the intersection and suddenly found Xie Yangliu coming towards her......
She could hardly believe her eyes as she stood under the large archway, but she had to believe the fact that she was alive in front of her. Her former lover, Xie Yangliu, was wearing a light-colored gown, and she walked towards her, looking around as she walked.
Her heart suddenly clenched together, and the muscles in her body tensed tightly, gasping for air from excitement. Rumors of his life reached her ears more than once, and when she actually came face to face with him, she thought she was dreaming.
She stepped forward in three steps and two steps to call him. He didn't react in the slightest. She was anxious, pointed at him and said, "Xie Yangliu, I call you!" He looked at her in surprise and asked her, "Call me?" She said excitedly: "Why, even I don't know you anymore?"
He stared at her for a long time, pointed at her and said, you are the female character singing in the teahouse. She said yes repeatedly. He excitedly told her that when he watched her sing Huangmei Opera in the teahouse that day, many people clapped him, and he followed suit. He obviously didn't recognize her as a past lover, thinking that she was a female actor in the Qingfeng class.
"You sing so well, if I lived in the city, I would come to listen to you sing every day. ”
"That's all I remember, and what else?" she asked disappointedly. He was very surprised in his heart, what else, together with this time, he had only seen her twice in total. She reminded him: "Xie Yangliu, I used to go to your tailor's shop in the past, and you even made costumes for me by yourself." ”
"My surname is Li, not Xie, you recognize the wrong person. I don't know you, and I haven't owned any shops. ”
She hurriedly reached out and took out the jade pendant around her neck and said, You should know this, you gave it to me back then. He looked at it for a long time and shook his head. She couldn't believe that she was a big living person, how could she not remember anything about the past?
She was anxious, and talked about the scene when they swore together: "Oh my God! You really can't remember anything......? I'm Zhuyun, Deng Zhuyun, we knelt on the ground together and swore to God......"
"This eldest sister, you and I don't know each other, don't talk nonsense, spread it to my wife's ears, you have to scold me to death!" He was flushed, so frightened that he waved his hand again and again, turned around and ran.
She stood there, looking at his distant back, and suddenly remembered the lot she asked for in the temple half a year ago. The signature says: Life is also death, death is life. At the time, she didn't understand what it meant, but now that she sees him, she finally understands that when others are alive, she can't remember anything, and the person in the past is gone.
Xie Yangliu hurried home. The table was full of food, and his wife Lin Xiulian stood at the table with her stomach up, waiting for him to come home for dinner. After she became pregnant, she left the matter of collecting debts to him.
He took out a packet of silver dollars and put it on the coffee table, saying that it was really heavy. She took out the silver dollar and blew it on her mouth, then put it to her ear and listened to the sound to distinguish the real from the fake. He told her that he had checked it and that several of the fake pieces had been returned.
She pointed to the copper basin on the coffee table and told him to wash his hands and eat. As he washed his hands, he said that something strange had happened in the city today. She asked what was strange. He said he met a female actor. She was shocked and asked what kind of female drama.
"It's the female drama who sings Huangmei Opera in the teahouse on Qianjie Street, which is quite famous. When she saw me on the street, she pulled me by the way, not to say she knew me. ”
Lin Xiulian was indescribably nervous, and hurriedly asked her what she had said. He smiled and said nothing. She pulled him to the table and sat down, and made sure that he made it clear: "She doesn't know you, why is she talking to you? What did she tell you, tell me everything." ”
She ...... She said that my surname was Xie, and that I used to run a tailor's shop, and she also said a lot of irrelevant things...... The more you talk about it, the more outrageous it becomes. I ignored her and walked away. ”
"Quasi-insane!" she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Xiulian, are you hiding something from me?" he looked at his wife in confusion.
"Don't think nonsense, what do I have to hide from you?"
"Do you remember, the last time I met someone, he said that I had opened a tailor's shop, and this female actor also said that I had opened a tailor's shop, and both of them said that my surname was Xie, what the hell is going on?" he asked.
"Don't listen to their nonsense!" she handed the chopsticks to him, "Eat quickly, the dishes are cold." ”
He picked up the chopsticks, and the more he thought about it, the more confused he became, and he couldn't help but want to ask something, but his wife suddenly touched his stomach and cried out excitedly: "Touch it quickly, the little thing is moving in the stomach." ”
He reached out and touched her belly, but there was no movement inside, and he bent down and put his ear to her stomach and listened for a long time. Finally, he felt the creep of the little life, his face was swollen red with excitement, and he let go of his voice and shouted: "Really, the little thing is really moving!"
To be continued......
*The content of this book is published with the permission of the author