In the afternoon, a guest came to Chen Qing's house, it was Lu Wei's wife Li Mei. Lu Xiu wanted to send someone to invite her, but she didn't expect that she came by herself.
As soon as they met, Li Mei started crying. Lu Xiu was startled and quickly advised her: "Well, why are you crying? Tell me carefully. If you have any difficulties, I will definitely help."
"After I gave birth to the child, I felt that he was a little cold to me. Sometimes he wouldn't even come home at night..."
"You mean my second brother?"
Li Mei sobbed and said: "I initially thought he was too busy being the county magistrate, so I didn't care about it. I even advised him to take good care of his body, but..."
"He has a woman outside?" Lu Xiu's reaction was extremely sharp.
Li Mei nodded, "He has admitted it himself. If she is a girl from a good family, I will recognize her as a sister and marry her as a concubine. But the other party happens to be a brothel girl. He is fascinated by this woman and redeems her."
She got married and bought a small house to raise her."
"How long?"
"I've been putting up with it for at least two months, but for the past two months he hasn't come into my room at all, sleeping in the study all day or never going home. Ah Xiu, I really can't bear it anymore."
After saying that, Li Mei covered her face and burst into tears.
Lu Xiu persuaded Li Mei for a long time, promising again and again that she would give her brother some advice, and then Li Mei sadly left.
........
When Lu Xiu returned to the back house, she felt very sad. At first, her second brother and Li Mei had a deep relationship, but only a few years later, his brother began to change his mind.
In fact, Lu Xiu also knew what the problem was. Speaking of which, Li Mei was also responsible. For more than a year before and after Li Mei gave birth to the child, she had not allowed her second brother to touch her body. The second brother was neglected and would naturally seek comfort outside. Now something happened
, Li Mei started to worry.
Lu Xiu couldn't help but think of herself. She seemed to be a bit neglectful of her husband. Although her husband didn't have a second brother now, she still had to take precautions and tie her husband's heart at home.
"Madam, the red date and lotus seed porridge is ready. It also has rock sugar. Try it." Yu Ying placed a cup of freshly cooked porridge in front of Lu Xiu.
Lu Xiu looked at Yu Ying's pretty face, her heart moved, and she asked with a smile: "Ah Ying, are you fifteen years old this year?"
"I just turned fifteen in January this year."
During the age of 18, Yu Ying and Yu Lian have become more and more beautiful in the past two years. If we say that when we first met them, they were still two green little fruits, then now that the fruits have grown up, they have become slightly more beautiful.
red meaning.
Lu Xiu especially likes Yu Ying, who is gentle, sensible, and considerate, and is his little helper, while Yu Lian is a bit wild, flirtatious, and playful, but overall she is not bad.
Lu Xiu also knew that her husband kept the two of them in his house in preparation for taking them as concubines. In this case, why didn't he take them in earlier?
"Aying, come here!"
Yu Ying walked forward obediently, and Lu Xiu pinched her up and down. She was well-fed, and her body was plumper than the average young lady.
Yu Ying was a little shy and said: "Madam, what are you..."
Lu Xiu smiled and said, "I was wondering if I could arrange a yard for you."
Yu Ying's pretty face turned red immediately, and she said coquettishly for a while: "Young master said that you have to wait until you are sixteen!"
"Hey! He is afraid that you are too weak, but I see that you are well-raised. Others at the age of seventeen are not as good as you. I will talk to my husband later."
"It's all up to the wife to decide."
"Go! But don't get too happy too soon, your husband may not agree."
.........
Yu Ying was overjoyed and returned to her room. She saw her sister Yu Lian sitting at the table writing. This was the homework assigned to them by Li Qingzhao. It was due tomorrow. Yu Lian hadn't written a word. Now she was anxious.
Catch up on homework!
"Alian, let me tell you something!"
"do not bother me!"
Yu Lian screamed and said with a sad face: "I have to write twenty more chapters! Don't even think about sleeping tonight."
"Hey! I tell you not to be playful in normal times, but now you are in a hurry, so let me write half of it for you!"
"Your handwriting is different from mine. If I could help, I would have asked you to help."
"not necessarily!"
Yu Lian's pretty eyes lit up, and she quickly stepped forward to hug Yu Ying, "Tell me, what's the best way?"
"Yesterday, my wife asked me to deliver medicine to my aunt. Chunmei said that my aunt has been writing new words for the past two days and has not thought about food and dinner. I guess it is Sister Qiaoyun who will correct her homework this time."
Yu Lian suddenly jumped up with joy, "That's great!"
Li Qingzhao was very strict with them. If they dared to cheat, he would slap their palms with a ruler without mercy. But Zhao Qiaoyun was different. He was very talkative and would even help them cheat.
Yu Lian couldn't care less. She pushed the calligraphy practice book into Yu Ying's hand and said with a smile: "If you are fast at writing, just write them all for me! I also want to recite, ten poems and essays, and I will write each word."
Didn’t even look at it!”
"You! Get married if you know a few words! You are not a student at all."
"Tch! I want to marry the young master. He'd better marry me tonight, so I don't have to read this book."
"Maybe! Madam just told me that we don't have to wait until we are sixteen."
Yu Lian immediately threw the endorsement out of her mind. She blinked her big eyes and said with surprise: "Really? Madam agreed?"
"The madam agreed, but the young master may not be able to do it. You also know that he is very strict and will stick to his word."
Yu Lian bit her lip lightly, as long as the madam agrees, she will find a way for the young master.
........
At night, Chen Qing and his wife were loving each other. He slowly lay down, and Lu Xiu nestled in her husband's arms, whispering: "Husband, don't worry about it anymore tonight, go to bed early!"
"You seem to have something on your mind?"
Chen Qing glanced at his wife and smiled: "I can feel that you are not as involved as usual."
Lu Xiu kissed her husband on the cheek and said, "I'm fine. It's just that Amei is in trouble. I'm worried about her."
"Is it related to your second brother?"
"Of course it's related. It's the good thing my second brother did."
Lu Xiu told the story of Li Mei's visit to her today, and finally said sadly: "I never thought that my second brother would be so fascinated by a brothel woman that he even forgot about his son and wife.
"
Chen Qing said for a long time: "I have never heard of this matter, and where did he get the money to redeem himself? Where did he get the money to buy a house?"
Chen Qing knew well that unless she was an old prostitute who had lost her beauty, the redemption price for any young and beautiful prostitute would not be less than a hundred dollars.
There are also houses. Even though the houses in Chengji County are cheap, they were speculated by the barbarians from the Western Regions last year. The smallest one-acre house can't be bought without three to four hundred guan.
In addition, he had to decorate the house and hire servants and maids, which cost at least five hundred guan. Lu Wei needed twenty months' income without eating or drinking. How could it be possible?
Is there really something wrong with Lu Wei?
.........
The next morning, Wang Hao hurried over to see Chen Qing. Wang Hao's rapid progress was a bit beyond Chen Qing's expectation.
"You found out so quickly?"
Wang Hao cupped his fists and said: "Reporting to the capital, the matter is relatively simple and easy to find out. Magistrate Lv did not take advantage of others by taking advantage of others' property."
Chen Qing frowned and said, "Did you know that he has a woman outside?"
"This is what I am investigating in my humble job. The woman is called Li Qingqing. She lives in Baifeng Tower. She claims to be a performer but not a prostitute. She is free and does not need to spend money to redeem her. The house that Lv Zhi County keeps her in is a two-acre house, but
This house is an official residence. Lu Zhixian rents it for a long time with two guans per month. The furniture and decorations are already there and there is no need to add any more. Several maids and maids are all servants who have been following Li Qingqing, and Lu Zhixian
It’s irrelevant.”
Chen Qing was confused. He took a few steps with his hands behind his hands and asked, "Then why did Yang Rui say that Lv Zhixian took advantage of other people's money?"
Wang Hao hesitated and said, "Maybe he just wanted everyone to investigate Lu Zhi County, so he said that deliberately."
Chen Qing suddenly realized, "Are you saying there is something wrong with this Li Qingqing?"
Wang Hao nodded, "I went to check this Li Qingqing out of my humble position. The madam at Baifeng Tower said that this Li Qingqing suddenly appeared three months ago. She claimed to be a famous prostitute in Jingzhao, but the old madam said that their profession is very popular with famous prostitutes from all over the country."
I am familiar with it, but I have never heard of a famous prostitute like Li Qingqing in Jingzhao. Moreover, Li Qingqing gives Baifeng Tower twenty taels of silver every month, which is against the industry rules. The industry rule is that Li Qingqing lists Baifeng Tower, and Baifeng Tower takes 30% of the meat money.
.”
"Then what?"
"Then this Li Qingqing suddenly became famous after she had never had a guest. Everyone wanted to find her, but she had to take the poetry and essay exam. Many officials with Jinshi background were not qualified, but she chose Lu County Magistrate, and she held a low position.
I heard from the old bustard that the person Li Qingqing admires the most is Dutong, and he has publicly said many times that Dutong is the only hero in the world."
Chen Qing touched his nose, "Why have I never heard of it?"
"Because Dutong happened to be on an expedition in the Hexi Corridor during that time and was not in Chengji County. When Dutong came back, she was already with Lu Zhixian."
"So you suspect that this Li Qingqing is a spy for the puppet Qi army?"
"I'm afraid he's not just a spy, I'm even worried about being an assassin."
Wang Hao slowly explained: "The capital may not know that Liu Yu has collected many strange people in the past two years and renamed the original Alum Tower Youfeng Laiyi Tower to support them specifically. This Yang Rui and Li Qingqing have
Maybe it's someone from Feng Lai Yi Lou.
But why Yang Rui did that, I really don’t understand, unless he catches his people, but now Yang Rui is like a stone, without any news or clues."