As they approached the pavilion, there was a sound of sighing. The two of them couldn't hold back their curiosity. When they entered the pavilion, they saw a middle-aged scholar who looked like a scholar standing alone, with a face that looked like death. Kneeling next to him were two girls of seven or eight years old.
Wearing the same floral skirt, they both have big eyes, round faces, and delicate skin. They are actually a pair of delicate twin girls. There are tears in their eyes, and they look pitiful. In front of the girl, a two-foot-square white cloth is covered.
There are about a hundred big characters written in neat and elegant regular script,
It turned out that the scholar was a scholar in Qidong County, and his family was in a state of decline. The house was in disrepair and was destroyed by floods. Fortunately, the family of four escaped in time, but the already frail wife contracted the cold and fell ill.
With the help of the villagers, he was sent to Yuantong Temple to recuperate. The scholar was originally a teacher in the township school, but unfortunately the village school was also flooded and temporarily lost his livelihood. The poor pair of lovely daughters had to endure hunger. The scholar had the backbone and refused to
In order to get enough food, I wanted to send the twins to a wealthy family as servants, without paying any money, just to ensure that my two daughters could have food and clothing. Then I would find a way to find a job as a private school teacher, but the scholar said that he would personally send them to the adoptive family.
Only after confirmation can the household registration be transferred and signed and deposited.
The scholar originally thought that many wealthy families would come to Yuantong Temple to offer incense, but in the past few days, a large number of disaster victims had poured into the temple. How could anyone come to offer incense and fulfill their vows? He stayed in the pavilion for several hours in vain. At this time,
Four or five strong men squeezed through the crowd and took a rough look at the white cloth on the ground. The leader was a big man and said to the scholar: "Sir, I feel sorry for these two little girls. My home is in Jiangling Prefecture."
After all, they are considered a wealthy family, so I think you can come with us, and I will try to find a job for you." Some people around him couldn't hold back their laughter, and were slapped on the head by the strong man.
, there was no sound immediately.
The scholar saw these strong men, wearing coarse cloth clothes and unkempt beards. Two of them were wearing big hatchets. At first glance, they did not look like good people. He said in a low voice: "All heroes, we are also suffering people, but please don't entertain yourself anymore."
I'm sorry."
The strong man suddenly became furious, pushed the scholar to stagger, and said: "You ignorant poor man, I helped you raise these chicks for nothing, and you are so embarrassed of me." After that,
He gave his men a wink and prepared to snatch the pair of daughters. The bystanders in the pavilion immediately scolded these men. Seeing the anger of the crowd, the two men who were not wearing knives suddenly pulled out the obviously longer hatchets at their waists and pointed them at the crowd.
The leader said grimly: "Who wants to get ahead? I am a good man, don't force me to kill my brother and have to defect to Qimen Mountain?"
Half of Qimen Mountain is located in Qidong County, and the other half is in Huguang Province. There have been rumors of bandits. During this flood, many lazy scoundrels and farmers with debts and ruined their families went straight to Qimen Mountain.
Seeing those people using force, the refugees who were watching suddenly became silent, and many people quietly exited the pavilion. Seeing those people trying to rob someone, Lin Chuan glanced at He Qizhou, and was about to teach those people a lesson, when he saw
A black shadow flew in from outside the pavilion and hit the strong man on the back. The strong man groaned and turned around to see a half-rolled ball of riding whip on the ground. In the blink of an eye, there was a horse whip bigger than him.
The burly man, who had grown stronger, came in and stood a foot away from him. He opened his clothes, revealing his chest covered with black hair, and stared at him angrily.
A man standing at the back left picked up a hatchet and slashed at the back of the burly man. Everyone in the pavilion exclaimed, but Qi Zhou and Lin Chuan saw the man's movement into the pavilion and knew that he had two moves, so they also
He was no longer ready to take action. There was only a "bump" sound, and the attacker flew out of the pavilion and fell next to a carriage decorated with peach blossoms on the side of the road. The next person stepped out of the carriage, it was the one who wanted the debt earlier.
The middle-aged woman walked into the pavilion without even looking at the man lying on the roadside and said, "I hate people who bully women the most, Ah Bao, teach me a lesson."
"Hero, spare your life, my aunt, please spare your life, I'll leave now." The strong man in the lead, seeing that the situation was not going well, immediately begged for mercy.
"Get out of here right now," the woman said.
"Get out, get out, get out now," the strong man said, and asked his entourage to carry the injured man, and quickly ran towards the official road.
The scholar hurriedly brought a pair of daughters to thank him. The woman looked at the white cloth on the ground carefully and said to the scholar: "I know that a wealthy family in Jiangling Prefecture is looking for maids. I also missed the time to enter the city today. If you are interested, you can come with me tomorrow."
I'll go to town together."
"Auntie, aren't you from a brothel?" He Qizhou was worried that the scholar would be deceived, so he smiled and kindly interjected.
"Oh, who am I asking? It turns out it's you two handsome guys. Don't you have any money to support me? If you need money, I can lend you some money. Remember to take care of our business when you get rich in the future.
"After the middle-aged woman made fun of them, she said to the scholar: "I am indeed from Taohua Pavilion in Jiangling Prefecture, but you also know that only people like us know what kind of family is called a rich family, right? Don't worry, wait.
You can sign the contract after you meet the owner. Don't be in a hurry. If you can trust me, go to the temple and give me a reply."
The scholar pondered for a moment and said: "Okay, then I have Mrs. Lao, and I will definitely repay you the next day."
He Qizhou stretched out his right hand to the woman and spread his palm, pretending to be serious and said: "We are really short of money. Can Auntie charge less interest and borrow some money?"
"Go away, you don't even know how to call people, how old are you?" the woman said angrily, and hit He Qizhou's open palm with one hand.
He Qizhou immediately withdrew his right hand, leaving the woman with nothing to do. The woman did not bother, laughed, turned and left. Looking at the woman and her entourage walking away, Qi Zhou turned to the scholar and said: "Sir, you have to be careful.
I always feel like she is not a good person." After that, he asked Lin Chuan for the disaster relief silver, and stuffed it into the scholar's hand along with his own piece, and said, "We are not short of money, we just don't have enough money when we go out.
I shouldn’t have taken this disaster relief money. You must keep it. My wife still needs medical treatment.”
The scholar hesitated for a moment, took the money, and thanked him, saying that he would be careful. The two daughters, with their big round eyes open, also thanked Qi Zhou. Qi Zhou invited the scholar to go to the temple with him, saying that he had brought some medicinal materials.
He could cure his wife's illness. The scholar bowed deeply. Although he didn't trust the other party's medical skills, when he saw that the other party let his daughters sit on two horses, his cries turned into laughter, so he followed Qi Zhou and the two of them on foot.
chat.
The scholar said: "Bucai's surname is Sun. He was originally from a scholarly family in Nanmen County. After the new tax system, his family fell into decline, but he still had some savings. Unfortunately, the flood came suddenly and all the family wealth was lost. Unfortunately, his mother was also swept away without a trace. Alas, everything was gone.
Wang Yuan is that bitch official who only knows how to repair the embankments in the past few years. Although his predecessor also had a bad reputation, he never failed to mend the embankments twice a year."
Lin Chuan said: "The world is as black as crows. We are from Jiangjun County, and that dog official only knows how to collect taxes and flatter us. He doesn't distinguish between black and white."
He Qizhou continued: "My surname is He and his surname is Lin. The terrain of Jiangjun County is high and there seems to be no serious disaster. There are two big households in the county. They should not die of hunger. I don't think there are people from Jiangjun County among the people who are fleeing."
The scholar said: "It has been three days since we came out. Many of the first people who came out entered Jiangling Mansion. It is said that the government office, Quanzhen Sect, Confucian Temple, and official school were all crowded, so we arranged them at Yuantong Temple and other places in the suburbs.
There are several resettlement sites. In addition to the hardest hit Nanmen, Qidong and Jiangling Prefecture, there are four other counties affected by the disaster. We are lucky today. There are kind people sending money. Alas, I really don’t know what to do in the future."
Qi Zhou said: "There should be relief from the imperial court. After the water recedes, they will definitely send people to build embankments and repair houses. But seeing as it has been so rainy this year, I don't know if the flood will recede and the overflowing land can be returned to farmland."
"
As he was talking, he came to the mountain gate. The drizzle finally stopped, and there was only a glimmer of light in the sky. Three teams lined up like long queues from the temple's dining hall to the outside of the mountain gate. It was the time when dinner was served in the temple. Qi Zhou
Waiting for the people to tie up their horses outside the mountain gate, they queued up behind the queue with empty stomachs. Under the archway of the mountain gate, stood an old monk in old monk robes and two people dressed as Confucian scholars in blue robes and square scarves.
, one is a tall, imposing middle-aged man, and the other is a thin young man. The three of them looked at the endless flow of people on the road to the temple and talked quietly.
He Qizhou was five or six feet away from them, but he still vaguely heard the content of the conversation between the three of them. It turned out that the old monk with an unattractive appearance was actually the abbot of Yuantong Zen Temple - Master Xincheng, and Abbot Xincheng was very interested in the middle-aged man.
The man was very respectful and called him Mr. Zhenzhu. During the conversation, he said that there are currently more than 4,000 disaster victims in the temple, and there may be more than 6,000 people tonight. The remaining food in the temple will last until the day after tomorrow at most, and the more than 200 monks in the temple may be without food.
, the middle-aged man was listening most of the time, with a solemn expression. At this moment, the sound of horse hooves was heard, and a voice shouted: "Make way, make way quickly, the Wucha Division is handling the case!"