When I crossed the river and got off the ferry, it was almost noon.??

Yangzhou is still crowded with people and bustling. Now it is the bustling time. When I get ashore, I have arranged a carriage to pick us up at the ferry. I have hardly been exposed to the ground these days, but due to my health, I have no choice but to let Pei Yuanxiu carry me up.

But this time, I still held my energy and sat by the window, looking outside through the swaying curtains.

Knowing that Yangzhou is already Pei Yuanxiu's sphere of influence, I feel different from looking at it. To be honest, Yangzhou did not express his rebellious attitude, this move was indeed brilliant. Pei Yuanhao was originally different from other people in Yangzhou. It was difficult to fight at this time. If he didn't fight, it would be even more difficult to conquer the six provinces in Jiangnan.

It is really hard to guess what the situation will be in the future.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but look back at Pei Yuanxiu. He was still sitting next to him calmly, with a gentle smile on his face, and his eyes were curved, and his whole body seemed like the warmest piece of warm jade, making people unable to help but want to get close to him.

Who would have thought that the vast rivers on the other side of the Yangtze River, the six provinces in Jiangnan that were confronted by the imperial court, would belong to him?

Thinking of this, my mood became even more chaotic.

Just as he looked up at me, I could only pretend that I didn't see it, and turned my head to look at Ping'er. The child didn't say a word along the way, and was extremely silent. Of course, I also understood how big the blow this incident had brought to him. Now the closer he was to home, the paler his face and the silent him.

I was afraid that he would be crushed, so I said softly: "Ping'er. If you are sad, tell Aunt Qing."

He raised his head and looked at me with a daze, and was silent for a while, and said, "Aunt Qing, I'm afraid that my mother will be sad."

“…”

"I dare not tell her. What should I say?"

“…”

"My mother, she is the daughter of a wealthy family. In order to get along with her father, she ran out with her father. After so many years, her grandparents have not allowed her to go back. She only has her father, only us. When her father went to Nan'an and didn't come back, she couldn't sleep every night. What should she do? What if she knew her father? "

I started crying as he talked and said, and I felt sad. I just saw Sister Qi before, she thought she was beautiful and her behavior was not as rude as an ordinary village woman. I didn't expect that she had such a past. She left home for a man and abandoned everything, but this man looked for another woman on her back. What a painful blow to her.

I gently stroked Ping'er's head and said softly: "Pinger, I know how sad you feel when you encounter such a thing. But you have to remember that you said that you are the only man in the family. It is your responsibility to make your mother not sad. You should not cry now, but think clearly about what to do to prevent your mother from crying!"

Hearing my words, the child shook a little, a light flashed in his tearful eyes, biting his lower lip, and nodding hard.

Seeing him like this, I only breathed a little relieved. When I turned around, I saw Pei Yuanxiu looking at us thoughtfully.

Although he smiled gently at me along the way, it seemed that this time he seemed a little solemn. When he met my gaze, he nodded gently.

Although they didn't say anything, they both understood each other.

Some things have not been solved yet.

Ping'er has been in the pain of his father betraying his mother, but he forgot the woman said that his father promised to cross the river a few years ago, but he did not go there, but Gu Qi was not at home either. So where was he these days?

This is what has always made me most uneasy.

The carriage was about to reach Gu's house. As long as you walk across this street, you will be at the turn. I also reminded Ping'er to wipe away his tears. At this moment, a noisy sound suddenly came from the front.

The streets of Yangzhou were originally very lively, but this time it seemed different from the usual lively. I heard someone shouting, everyone was running forward, and I vaguely heard a few people running next to the carriage talking-

"What's going on? Why did it get burned there?"

"It seems that the government officials have passed."

"Go and see which store it is?"

I heard something wrong, subconsciously lifted the curtain and looked out, and saw a fire in the bungalow in front of me. The rolling smoke rushed straight into the sky, dyeing the sky darkened, and everyone around ran towards the other side.

That direction-

I was stunned for a moment, and Ping'er also looked out, and he was stunned for a moment.

"Then, that, that's-"

"Ping'er."

"That's my home!"

He suddenly became anxious and was about to rush under the carriage. I didn't have time to catch him, but Pei Yuanxiu next to him grabbed him and said to the coachman outside: "Hurry!"

The coachman got the order and raised his whip and waved it twice. The road was not long. After turning a corner, the carriage reached the door of the Gu family. There were already many people around here, all of whom were watching the fire there. Ping'er broke free and jumped out of the carriage, but his feet were weak and he fell to the ground in a mess.

There seemed to be a familiar neighbor next to him. As soon as he saw him, he immediately said, "Oh, Ping'er, why did you come back? Your mother and your sister didn't come out inside!"

Ping'er was already silly and was about to rush in. The people around him immediately grabbed him. Someone said, "Don't be stupid, the child is going to burn you to death if such a fire comes in!"

At this time, I was also taken out of the car by Pei Yuanxiu, and staggered over and grabbed Ping'er. Only then did I see that his face was pale and his whole body seemed to have lost his soul. I looked at the sky-sky fire. The Gu family was completely engulfed by the fire. The beams of the house fell one by one, arousing countless sparks. The fire was burning and gushing out along the door frame. When I got closer, I felt hot and unbearable. I could only hold him hard with Pei Yuanxiu to stop this child from doing stupid things.

"How could this happen...How could this happen..."

He was completely stupid and slowly stopped struggling and stopped rushing in, but his whole body was shaking, shaking violently, and in the end he could hardly stand still. He knelt on the ground with a plop, looking at it with a dull look inside.

I looked at all in front of me, and the shock in my heart was no less than that of him.

Why is this happening? What happened to this fire? Sister Qi and Er Yatou are all inside. What's wrong?

A deep pain in my heart surged, and I almost burst into tears, but I couldn't. Ping'er, he didn't even have a tear, just looking inside, his eyes were so dry that they lost their light.

I suddenly saw that there were several officials next to me, all busy putting out the fire.

Why did the officials come to the Gu family again?

At this time, I heard a few ordinary people around me whispering: "Have you heard that, their family is in trouble."

"Well, I know. It's the woman the government posted a while ago."

When I heard this, my back suddenly became numb.

"I heard that someone went to report to the official and said that the woman was in their house."

"Are you there?"

"Later, the government came to look for it, but they didn't find it, but they seemed to have found something in his house. Today, I even brought the coroner, but the woman set fire to the house by herself."

"Ah? She set the fire herself?!"

"Yes. We saw it with our own eyes."

I was frozen for a moment, and I felt a dull pain in my chest. I raised my head in disbelief and looked at the Gu family who was engulfed by the fire.

It was because Gou Er! It was him who followed Yunxiang and found out my whereabouts, so he went to report to the official position. But I had already left the Gu family that night, but the government here still sent someone to search for Qi's wife's house. They didn't find me, but it seemed that something else was found. When they came again, Qi's wife burned the house by herself.

What exactly is it?

What is it that I want to let the Qi Sister-in-law burn the house, and even herself and the second girl were buried inside.

I looked at Ping'er kneeling on the ground. He seemed to be empty. He knelt there and did nothing to do. He just looked at the fire in front of me. I slowly walked over and hugged him. There was a hot flame in front of me, but the child's whole body seemed to be a piece of ice, and even my heart was so cold that it hurt.

A familiar pain surged into my heart, and I immediately felt that I seemed to be about to poison again. My eyes were dark. At this time, a warm big hand reached out from behind and held me in one hand.

Looking back, it was Pei Yuanxiu.

He was still very calm. Even in the surprised and envious eyes of some people around him, he still seemed to stand alone in the sea of ​​people, without any dust. The only light and shadow in his eyes were the weight loss shape I cast. He said in a deep voice: "Don't be sad. Let's wait and see."

At this time, it seemed that he was the only one who could still be so calm.

And I held Ping'er's hand and felt the palms were cold.

.

After a while, the fire was finally extinguished, and a strong burnt smell came out. The people in the government used a cotton cloth to wrap it around their mouths and noses, and then they dared to enter carefully.

The charred corpses of Qi's sister-in-law and Erya were soon discovered.

The two of them were still sitting on the bed, and the Qi sister-in-law hugged Erya tightly. As soon as the terrible scene appeared, I immediately covered Ping'er's eyes. He did not struggle, and he didn't even move. But a hot wetness surged out in my palm.

The official on the other side went to the backyard, which was where Qi Sao usually made buns. Now the beam of the house collapsed and the stove was broken, making a mess.

They had just walked over and suddenly someone shouted—

"There's something here!"

We were all surprised and subconsciously walked over and saw that the people carefully peeled off the charcoal and bricks around them. They saw that behind the smashed stove, there was a large empty shell, and now, a white thing was exposed inside.

My heart sank and I looked closely.
Chapter completed!