With the new clues, Xia Houshu's thinking became clearer. Soon, she found the maid named Yinxiang in the back kitchen of Shuyu Pavilion.
Shuyu Pavilion is the largest brothel in the capital. It is usually crowded with customers and mixed with dragons and snakes. Therefore, it has hired many concierges and guards. It is not easy to enter the back kitchen.
In order to successfully sneak into Shuyu Pavilion's kitchen, Xia Houshu spent two gold coins to bribe a middle-aged couple who delivered fresh fruits and vegetables to Shuyu Pavilion every day.
The man's surname is Qiu and the woman's surname is Hu. They have kind faces and look like they are easy to deal with. Although the couple is doing business with Shuyuge, they are not as smooth and sophisticated as other businessmen. I think this is also the case.
The reason why Shuyuge chose to do business with them.
Xia Houshu found out that the old couple named Qiu had a daughter about the same age as himself, so he pretended to be their daughter and lied that Aunt Hu, who usually delivered vegetables, had a cold and could not go out. Uncle Qiu could not deliver such a large amount of fruits and vegetables by himself.
So I came along to help.
Uncle Qiu delivers food to Shuyu Pavilion every day. The concierge naturally knows him and doesn't make things difficult for him. However, when he saw the strange woman behind him, he did a routine interrogation.
Xia Houshu was now wearing light blue coarse cloth clothes, with a wooden hairpin stuck in her simple bun. Her face was also specially darkened, and her eyes were timid. She looked like a farm girl who had been working all year round.
The concierge did not doubt that he was there. After questioning him for a few words, he lost interest. However, he half-ridiculed and half-seriously told Uncle Qiu to take good care of his daughter. After all, Shuyu Pavilion was not a place where good men and women lived. Don’t be fooled.
The ignorant benefactor thought he was a girl here and teased her.
Uncle Qiu quickly thanked him and turned to ask Xia Houshu to move the vegetables on the wooden cart. He diligently accompanied the cook in charge of purchasing to count the goods.
Xia Houshu is a martial arts practitioner and is stronger than ordinary women. It is no problem to carry several baskets of vegetables. As she followed Uncle Qiu's instructions, she moved baskets of fresh vegetables into the kitchen and took the opportunity to pay attention to the situation in the kitchen.
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There are about a dozen people in the kitchen, everyone performs their duties, some wash vegetables, some chop vegetables, some stir-fry vegetables, some put them on plates, and some serve them, it’s all messy but not messy. Everyone is so busy that there is wind at their feet.
, no one noticed whether Uncle Qiu had brought a daughter. Xia Houshu looked at it for a long time, but he couldn't tell which one was Yinxiang.
When Xia Houshu was carrying the fourth basket of vegetables, she suddenly heard a curse coming from the kitchen. She looked towards the source of the sound and saw several fat cooks surrounding the stove not far away.
He stared at a small figure facing the stove and cursed from time to time. The content was extremely unpleasant. After taking a closer look, he discovered that a young woman in rough clothes, covered in oil and messy hair was squatting in front of the stove, cooking.
My mother cursed and kept adding firewood to the stove hole.
Uncle Qiu seemed to be used to such scenes, or maybe he didn't want to cause trouble, so he turned a blind eye to the bullying and curses in front of him, and went about carrying his own dishes.
Since Xia Houshu was pretending to be Uncle Qiu's daughter, he naturally didn't dare to cause trouble, so he tried not to look over there and continued to carry the dishes while listening carefully to get a general idea of what happened.
I just heard a meaty-faced cook poking the coarse-clothed woman in the face and scolding viciously: "What a scumbag! Do you think that after working as a maid in a rich family for a few days, you become the master? In my opinion, you are a cheap person."
Waste, born to be a slave!"
Another cook next to her also spit on her, and then cursed: "If you ask me, calling her a slave is just flattering her. I feel unlucky even if she brings me water to wash my feet. I don't know where the cats and dogs came from.
I've been here for so long, and I can't even see the fire, and I'm of no use at all. Which big family would dare to use such a person?"
The fat cook agreed very much, and deliberately raised her voice and said: "It's true, I don't know where the wild girl comes from, she can only dream! If you are really capable, why come to this dirty kitchen and act like a fool in the front yard?
Isn't it good to be an oiran? Even if it's not possible, you can just go and wait for the oiran to take a bath and comb her hair, which will make the ladies happy. Maybe one day the oiran will become a good girl, or become a concubine for a high-ranking official, and she will be able to follow him to a wealthy family.
I work as a maid."
After finishing speaking, the fat cook glared at the coarse clothed woman again. Seeing that she was still sobbing, she suddenly raised her arm and slapped Yinxiang in the face. She cursed: "Cry! I will cry every day. I am attending a funeral."
?If you are so shameless, why don't you just hit him to death easily?"
After listening to a series of curses, Xia Houshu analyzed it carefully and concluded that the fire-burning maid was the Yinxiang that the Prime Minister's Mansion was looking for. Her hands were covered with deep and shallow wounds, and it was impossible to tell what caused the injuries.
of.
Yinxiang was probably too sad to be scolded, and was suddenly beaten again. She lost her center of gravity and fell in front of the stove. Her messy hair was immediately licked by the flames in the stove, and there was a burning smell.
Spread out in an instant.
Yinxiang screamed in fright, which unexpectedly caused the crowd to burst into laughter. Then there was another flying kick on her waist, which made her burst into tears. However, she still did not dare to resist, so she had to endure the pain.
, kneeling on the scattered firewood, sobbing softly and begging for mercy. Then he continued to add firewood to the stove amidst the scolding of the cook.
It is indeed not easy to bear such humiliation and bear such heavy burden.
Xia Houshu saw everything in his eyes and was sure that Yinxiang must know something, otherwise she would not have suddenly left the Prime Minister's Mansion and hid in this dark place, living a life of neither humans nor ghosts. But she
She doesn't intend to fight for Yinxiang right now, but plans to wait until Yinxiang is desperate before giving her a clear path. After all, it is easier for people to break down their psychological defenses when they are most vulnerable.
Amidst the increasingly unpleasant insults from the cook, Yinxiang became more and more uneasy, and the pain in her waist became more and more clear. And because she put too much firewood in the stove, the flames seemed to be getting smaller and smaller.
, it went out in the end, and filled the whole room with smoke. The cooks, who had been so aggressive just now, were coughing from the smoke, and cursed and ran outside holding up their skirts, as if there was a scourge inside.
Yinxiang herself was so smoked that she burst into tears, but she still kept adding more firewood to the stove. At that moment, she made up her mind to die together with those who bullied her every day.
The smoke in the kitchen was getting bigger and bigger, and sparks jumped on the hay to support the combustion, and it immediately started burning. The cooks saw it from the door, calling for others to help, while carrying wooden barrels, wooden basins, and clay pots
When everything that could hold water went to the well to fetch water and pour it into the smoke-filled kitchen, the whole kitchen suddenly became chaotic...
Uncle Qiu knew that Shuyu Pavilion was not a clean place, and he did not want to meddle in other people's affairs and cause trouble. However, the cook in charge had just been lecturing the useless servant, and she did not have time to reconcile with him. Although they were old acquaintances, Shuyu
The rule of Jade Pavilion is that the money and goods must be counted in person, and he will not be held responsible afterwards. Naturally, he does not dare to leave rashly. After all, these baskets of fruits and vegetables are carefully cultivated and carefully selected by him and his wife. They are worth a lot of copper coins.
.But looking at the current situation, he didn't dare to ask any more questions, lest he get into trouble, so he could only stand not far away waiting for the next step with all his heart. From time to time, he would wink at Xia Houshu and ask her to find a way to leave quickly.
Xia Houshu was also very anxious. Yinxiang was a new clue that she had spent a lot of effort to find. She also spent a lot of money to find her. If she died in the fire like this, wouldn't all her efforts be in vain?
?
However, her current identity is Uncle Qiu's daughter, and she does not dare to act rashly in front of so many people. Otherwise, she will expose herself as a petty person, which will affect Uncle Qiu's family and even her life.
Xia Houshu thought about it again and again, and decided to wait and see what would happen. So she reached out and patted Uncle Qiu's arm, telling him with her eyes not to panic and to wait and see how the situation develops.
Uncle Qiu saw that Xia Houshu had no intention of leaving or getting involved in the kitchen. He couldn't help but doubt her true intention of pretending to be his daughter and sneaking into Shuyu Pavilion, and he became increasingly uneasy.
Uncle Qiu was born in a farmer's family, and his family relied on the few acres of land left by their ancestors to grow and sell vegetables in exchange for some money. He had worked hard all his life and was an honest person. He didn't expect that he would encounter such a thing just because he was greedy for Xia Houshu's two ingots of gold.
.
Despite this, Uncle Qiu also knew in his heart that there was no point in being anxious. It was better to wait and see what would happen like Xia Houshu did. He quickly took a few steps back to a safer place, so as not to block the crowd who were rushing to get water to put out the fire.
Afraid of accidentally injuring myself.
The kitchen was filled with smoke and the smell was pungent.
In the billowing thick smoke, Yinxiang suddenly opened her eyes, and she burst into tears immediately, as if an embroidery needle had been stuck in her eyes, and she could hardly breathe through her mouth and nose.
She slowly groped for the large water tank next to her based on her memory, scooped out a few ladles of water and poured it on her head, making her whole body wet.
More and more people came to put out the fire. Cold water was poured on them one by one. The smoke gradually became smaller. Finally, not even a single spark was seen. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and stood there in embarrassment, taking a big mouthful of food.
He gasped for air and no longer had the energy to curse.
A fat cook suddenly threw away the wooden bucket in her hand, rolled up her sleeves and rushed into the kitchen angrily. After a while, she pulled out the wet silver incense like a chicken and threw it on the ground.
Then he slapped him in front of everyone, kicked him a few more times, and then cursed: "You bastard! You don't want to live anymore and you want to drag us to be buried with you? I won't beat you to death!"
Yinxiang, who was dizzy from the thick smoke, was suddenly slapped again and kicked several times. She felt that all the senses in her body were stinging, and she was still quite awake. She looked around with red eyes.
He stared at her like a hungry wolf, wishing to tear her into pieces, the cook and the handyman. The sadness in his heart gradually turned to anger, and he suddenly grabbed the arm of the fat cook who was restraining her and bit her hard.
He took a bite, and then ran out as hard as he could while the cook was in pain.
The fat cook didn't expect that Yinxiang, who usually swallowed her anger like a mute, would resist, holding a fat arm and howling earth-shatteringly.
Everyone didn't react for a moment, they all stood there in a daze, watching.
"Get her!"
Someone shouted, and everyone woke up as if from a dream, and chased Yinxiang in the direction in which he escaped.
Xia Houshu knew that the opportunity had come, so he whispered to Uncle Qiu: "Go to the back door and wait for me. If anyone asks, just say that you helped the kitchen catch the arsonist and got separated from me, and you want to wait for me to go back together."
Uncle Qiu was stunned at first, then nodded wildly, and was about to run to the back door.
Xia Houshu suddenly stopped him again and continued: "You must never forget that I am your daughter now. If you are in a hurry and leave me here alone while you run away, it will not only arouse suspicion
, even if I promised you the tail gold, you can't get it."
Uncle Qiu finally understood Xia Houshu's intentions and knew that Xia Houshu's words were not just a threat. He paused for a long time, thought about it carefully, nodded heavily, and ran away without looking back.
Xia Houshu curled his lips and quickly walked to a corner while taking advantage of the chaos.