"Look, look! There seems to be excitement over there again!" Someone shouted, and a group of people immediately ran forward.
"Let's go ahead and look for it! Brother likes to watch the excitement the most!" Several people looked around but couldn't find Toto, so Lu Ning suggested that they keep moving forward.
Sure enough, they heard a familiar voice in the crowd. Lu Ning and Hu Qi looked at each other and quickly pushed through the crowd and walked inside.
Among the crowd, there was a woman wearing a mourning robe, kneeling on a tattered mat. Her head was drooped, her shoulders were shaking slightly, and she wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with a pair of dirty hands from time to time.
Toto stood in front of her and couldn't help but ask the people next to him: "What is she doing?"
The enthusiastic and knowledgeable audience casually said: "This girl said she wants to sell her body to bury her father!"
Toto did not doubt that he was there, so he immediately took out two silver ingots from his arms and handed them to the girl on the ground.
The girl looked shocked when she saw the white money in front of her. She immediately wiped her tears, rubbed her hands and went to pick it up.
"Hey, wait a minute!" An old man who was watching immediately stopped Toto and kindly advised him: "Don't worry, strong man! There are people selling their bodies to bury their fathers on the street every day. How do you know whether she is real or fake! Good thing!
That’s not what you do! It’s better to be careful when you go out!”
Toto hesitated for a moment, and the old man put the money in his hand back.
When the woman on the ground saw the money in front of her, it disappeared in the blink of an eye. She didn't know whether it was sadness or despair, but she burst into tears.
Lu Ning and Hu Qi looked at each other, then walked up to them and took a closer look at the woman in front of them:
Her cheeks were sunken, her face was sallow and thin, her fairly upright face was dirty, and her lips, which were trembling from crying, were chapped and bloodless.
She was wearing a filial piety robe. Even though it was autumn, she was still wearing a summer dress, and she didn't even have a single piece of jewelry on her body.
Lu Ning made a judgment in her mind and asked softly: "Girl, are you selling yourself to bury your father?"
The girl lowered her eyes, bit her lip and nodded: "I am indeed selling my body to bury my father, but no one would believe me..."
"Then where is your father's body now?" Hu Qi also came over and asked.
The girl wiped her tears and said in a trembling voice: "I wrapped my father in a straw mat and temporarily placed him in Yizhuang in the west of the city. But even the dead bodies in Yizhuang had a thin-skinned coffin, but I took not a penny.
Not going out..."
When she talked about the sad part, she cried even harder.
"Girl, don't cry. Please tell me why my father passed away?" Hu Qi's clear eyes and gentle voice quickly calmed the girl down.
"There was a famine in the village, so my father and I had no choice but to come to Lingzhou to make a living. However, we accidentally offended a wealthy local man. During the dispute, my father was seriously injured. We sued the government, but the government and businessmen colluded, and the officials not only
No matter what, they still said that we were making noise in the court, and beat my father dozens of times. All of a sudden, the old wounds were not healed, but new ones were added, and my father felt aggrieved, and he suddenly died suddenly..."
The girl was so sad that she could no longer speak, covered her face and cried bitterly.
Hu Qi took out a piece of silver and put it in her hand, and said softly: "Girl, hurry up and buy a coffin for your father. The most important thing now is to lay him to rest."
Lu Ning also took out a piece of silver and asked: "After you bury your father, come to us and explain the injustice to us, and we will help you seek justice!"
As soon as she said the words, the kind-hearted people around her immediately stopped her and persuaded her: "Girl, if you believe her words, just give her some money. It's better to leave things alone that you shouldn't care about. Be careful of getting angry!"
Lu Ning frowned and looked at him, puzzled: "I don't know what the old man meant by this. Why did I get into trouble for helping her?"
Another older person said: "Girls really can't control this matter. They offended powerful people and ended up like this. If you interfere in this matter, there will be no good consequences!"
"I've never seen any bullies! But bullies are the only ones who are afraid of me, and I'm not afraid of them!" Toto couldn't stand listening anymore and immediately scolded him with righteous indignation.
Lu Ning was very angry when he heard this: "What on earth have they offended?"
Who is so untouchable and untouchable?"
The people around looked at each other and tacitly chose to remain silent.
After a long time, someone whispered: "They... provoked the caravan. They are the largest force in our local area and have a deep relationship with the government. Whoever gets involved will be unlucky!"
"Shhh! If you talk about the caravan like that, you will be in trouble if someone hears it!" A group of people scolded the speaker, and all of them were silent about the caravan.
Upon hearing this, Lu Ning and Totuo's expressions immediately changed.
Toto walked over in one step, grabbed the man's collar, waved his fist and shouted angrily: "I am from the caravan! If you dare to speak ill of the caravan again, I will beat you up!"
When those around heard this, they all took a few steps back as if they had seen a ghost.
The woman who sold her body to bury her father immediately returned the money to Hu Qi and Lu Ning, knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "Please forgive me! I was wrong! I never dare to do it again!"
Seeing the current situation, he remembered the scene in Chenjiazhuang just now. Lu Ning couldn't help but feel nervous: The caravan's reputation in Lingzhou is so bad, what happened in the middle!
Ma Huilan was not around. Although she wanted to ask more questions, she immediately calmed down - this matter must not be simple, and she had to find out the matter secretly.
Thinking of this, Lu Ning immediately grabbed Toto and whispered: "Brother, don't be impulsive! If you hurt someone right now, you will really gain the reputation of the caravan!"
When Toto heard this, he immediately restrained his temper and stood beside her obediently.
Lu Ning did not explain, but put the silver in the woman's hand and said softly: "Girl, don't be afraid! There may be bad people in the caravan, but they are definitely not all bad people. You can take the silver. Come after you bury your father."
The Lingzhou colonel is said to be a friend of the young gang leader, and someone will seek justice for you!"
Even though Lu Ning said this, the woman still held on to her clothes tightly, never daring to raise her head to look at her, let alone reaching out to pick up the silver coins.
Seeing this, Hu Qi quickly took the silver from Lu Ning and put it in the girl's hand: "Girl, I am not from the caravan, please take care of my silver!"
The girl raised her head slightly, saw Hu Qi's gentle and warm eyes, her cheeks flushed slightly, and then she hesitantly stretched out her hand and took the silver.
Seeing that everyone was unwelcome to him, Lu Ning immediately took Toto and left this place of right and wrong.
The three of them continued to move forward in silence. No one lost the excitement and joy when they went out.
Totu held back his anger but couldn't get angry. Lu Ning looked worried and didn't say a word for a long time.
Hu Qi knew that the two of them were in a bad mood and what they said was wrong at this time, so he followed them silently.
After walking for a while, Lu Ning was shocked and asked: "Why is Mrs. Ye missing?"
Hu Qi then said: "Just now when we were watching the fun, she went directly to the stage in front to watch the show."
Lu Ning breathed a sigh of relief, then walked to Hu Qi and Totuo, lowered his voice and said: "Brother, Mr. Hu, please don't say anything about what happened just now. I will definitely investigate whether this matter is right or wrong.
It’s clear. But before that, we can’t alert the enemy.”
Toto patted his chest and said angrily: "Xiaolu, you have to investigate the case and count me among them! If I know who dares to do evil and ruin the reputation of the caravan, I will definitely not let him go!"
Hu Qi also immediately agreed: "Don't worry, Miss Lu, Hu is not a talkative person. However, you are also new to Lingzhou, so you'd better be careful!"
Lu Ning smiled gratefully: "Thank you, Master, for your understanding! Don't worry, I have my own sense of proportion."
After dusk, smoke curled up in Lingzhou City, floating faintly into the air, and bursts of drum music could be heard not far away.
The three of them walked eastward and arrived at the Liyuan on Su Chang Street.
When the light suddenly opened up, I saw a lotus shed surrounded by wooden walls on four sides. A large group of people had gathered in front of the shed, looking up and down, while clapping and cheering.
After listening carefully, I realized: It turned out that a play had just ended, and everyone was rushing for the next one!
It seemed that the three of them arrived at just the right time. They pushed through the crowd and walked in. They found Ma Huilan in the front row, greeted her and sat down.
Not long after, a melodious sound of the harp sounded. The red curtain on the stage slowly opened.
A tall and slender Huadan wearing a phoenix crown and a hazy dress walked to Taichung.
He just posed, waved his sleeves twice, and raised his beautiful singing voice, and there was already a roar of applause in front of the fence.
Seeing the confusion in Lu Ning's eyes, Ma Huilan raised her eyebrows and said proudly: "The person on the stage is our popular actor Xiao Yulou. I have met him several times!"
Lu Ning nodded and said nothing.
Turning around, she caught a glimpse of Hu Qi standing up excitedly and clapping his hands. The Hua Dan on the stage also looked at him deeply. But Totuo on the other side was already drowsy.
Lu Ning withdrew his gaze and continued to focus on the performance on stage:
"The Garden" performed by Xiao Yulou is a twist from "The Peony Pavilion": it tells the story of Du Liniang, who was a teacher, and taught the poem "Guan Guan Ju Jiu, in the river island; a graceful lady, a gentleman is a good man" in "The Book of Songs".
As soon as I wrote the poem, I started to feel sad. After visiting my back garden with my maid, I felt sad again...
Every move of Xiao Yulou's sleeves and every line of singing were perfectly executed and just right. He expressed this scene vividly and touchingly with both voice and emotion.
When the red curtain slowly closed and the sound of strings and harps stopped, Lu Ning was still trapped in it, unable to extricate herself. It wasn't until the thunderous cheers from the crowd that she came to her senses. When she lowered her head, she found that on the back of her hand
It's already wet.
She looked up at the sky, her eyes blank.
Hu Qi's meaningful voice came faintly next to his ears: "That's not rain, but your tears. You've been crying since the first scene of the play, didn't you notice?"
Lu Ning immediately lowered his eyes and quietly wiped the corners of his eyes.
Immediately, she stood up, took out a silver ingot from her arms, and handed it to the boy who came to ask for a reward.
Hu Qi also took out a piece of silver from his arms and put it in the boy's hand.
Toto was woken up by Lu Ning. Although he didn't know why, he put a piece of silver in the boy's hand.
The boy was all smiles and bowed to thank me again and again.
Satisfied, the group reluctantly squeezed out of the fence and walked slowly home without finishing their thoughts.
A rush of shouts suddenly sounded from behind: "Officials, please stay!"
The four of them stopped and looked back. They saw the boy who had just asked for a reward and hurried over: "A few guests are staying here. Our boss Xiao has invited a few of them to sit in his resting place!"