Shen Xiu discovered that the embroidery on the purse was made from the lost hair embroidery, so she asked the little beggar, "Where did you get this purse?"
The little beggar said vaguely: "I picked it up."
Shen Xiu looked at him and said, "Did you really pick up this purse?"
The little beggar's eyes were a little dodgey, "I picked it up."
"Tell me the truth, did you steal this purse?" Shen Xiu said coldly, "If you refuse to tell the truth, don't take this piece of silver."
When the little beggar saw that the money in his hand was about to fly away, he hurriedly said: "I said, I said, this purse was indeed stolen from me."
"Where did you steal it from?" Shen Xiu asked.
The little beggar said: "I stole it from an old woman. I thought her purse was exquisitely made, and I thought there should be a lot of money in it, but I didn't know she was a poor ghost. In addition to a pawn ticket, there was nothing else in the purse.
nor."
Shen Xiu then asked: "How old is the old lady and what does she look like?"
She felt that the old woman the little beggar was talking about was probably Aunt Xu.
The little beggar said: "I have almost forgotten it. Will you give me the money?"
Shen Xiu was a little annoyed because she couldn't get any more information from the little beggar, so she immediately threw the piece of silver to him.
The little beggar took the silver and left happily.
Shen Xiu looked at his back in confusion for a while.
In any case, seeing this purse means that Magistrate Zhen did not lie to her.
Just from the few words of the little beggar, Shen Xiu realized that Aunt Xu's situation was probably not good.
After all, they have been reduced to relying on pawns for a living, and their lives must be very difficult.
It's no wonder that the best years for embroidery ladies are in their twenties and thirties. Once they pass this age, they will have some problems with their eyes.
After the age of fifty, the situation becomes even worse.
After the age of fifty, Shen Xiu's master had to use reading glasses to embroider anything.
At this time, embroiderers did not have reading glasses or myopia glasses. Once they passed the age of fifty, they would no longer be able to sew and thread.
As soon as Shen Xiu thought of this, she couldn't wait to rush to Pengcheng and find this Aunt Xu.
She simply couldn't imagine what an embroiderer would do for a living after losing her embroidery skills. I hope she is still in Qingshan County, Pengcheng, and I hope she is still alive and well.
Amid Shen Xiu's anxiety, the escort team finally arrived in Pengcheng one day later.
The people from the escort agency were still going south, so Shen Xiu took out his baggage from the carriage and separated from Madam Cen and others.
As an ancient city, Pengcheng is much more lively than the Fucheng that Shen Xiu visited.
Shen Xiu stood in the busy street, thought about it carefully, and decided to find an inn to stay first, and then asked the clerk how to get to Qingshan County.
"My guest said that Qingshan County is just northwest of Pengcheng. It's two days' journey from here." The waiter finished making tea for Shen Xiu and said, "But Qingshan County is not very peaceful. If your guest goes on the road alone,
It’s a bit dangerous.”
"Why is it dangerous? Are there any robbers in Qingshan County?"
The clerk shook his head and said: "No, if there are robbers, it would be easy to deal with it. Just find a bodyguard agency to escort you. The guest officer doesn't know that from Pengcheng to Qingshan County, you have to pass through a mountain forest. We have been living peacefully in the past few years, who would have known
In recent months, a fierce tiger suddenly appeared in the forest and injured many passers-by."
"For this matter, Qingshan County even posted a bulletin, stating that whoever can get rid of this tiger will be rewarded with a silver reward of one hundred taels. However, after this bulletin was posted, several hunters died one after another.
In the hands of this tiger."
The waiter shook his head as he spoke: "Few people walk on this road now. Even if you have to go, you have to go in groups to avoid being hurt by this tiger."
Shen Xiu couldn't help but frowned when he heard that a tiger had injured someone on the way to Qingshan County.
"Besides this road, is there any other road leading to Qingshan County?"
The waiter said: "Yes, there is, but it's a long way around. We need to go around from Pengcheng to Fengxian County, and then from Fengxian County to Qingshan County. But this circle is quite far, and it takes ten days and a half to walk."
Shen Xiu just wanted to get to Qingshan County as soon as possible, and of course she didn't want to take such a long detour. But there were tigers on the road to Qingshan County, and even if she wanted to find Aunt Xu, she didn't want to risk her own life.
When she was struggling with how to leave, her friend brought good news.
It was said that a few people from all walks of life came to the inn. They heard that there were tigers attacking people near Qingshan County, so they wanted to go and find out.
"I see that these Jianghu people are equipped with knives and swords. They must have some skills." The waiter said, "If the young lady goes to Qingshan County, why not go with them. There is also a mother and daughter in the inn.
Going to Qingshan County, you just happen to be on the road together."
When Shen Xiu went downstairs to eat, she saw the gangsters the waiter mentioned.
As the clerk said, these gangsters all carry swords and have strong bodies, and they look very difficult to mess with.
Shen Xiu also met the mother and daughter who the man said were going to Qingshan County.
It was a woman in her thirties and a teenage girl.
The lobby happened to be full of people eating, and Shen Xiu saw that there were still empty seats there, so she sat over there.
The woman in her thirties claimed her surname was Qin, and she looked sick, with a sallow face and a hint of worry. The little girl was much more steady than her peers and rarely spoke.
When Shen Xiu asked them if they were also going to Qingshan County, Mrs. Qin said: "We are just passing through Qingshan County. After passing Qingshan County, we have to continue on our way."
She didn't say a few words before she started coughing. The little girl next to her poured a pill from a porcelain bottle and handed it to Madam Qin.
Madam Qin waved her hand and said: "There are not many pills left, so you should save some!"
The little girl collected the pills and poured Madam Qin a cup of hot tea.
Shen Xiu saw everything with his eyes and felt that this little girl was very sensible.
When the waiter brought Shen Xiu's plain noodles, the few people sitting next door suddenly burst into laughter.
Shen Xiu lowered her head to eat the noodles when she heard the little girl across from her snort softly. She raised her head and saw the little girl looking disdainfully at the few people in the world and muttering softly.
"Bilian." Before the little girl finished mumbling, Madam Qin scolded her with a low face, "I forgot what mother said."
The little girl named Bilian lowered her head and did not dare to say anything.
Madam Qin then smiled at Shen Xiu and said, "The kid's family is not sensible and doesn't know how high the sky is, but the girl is laughing at it."
Shen Xiu glanced at the little girl named Bilian and suddenly felt that the mother and daughter in front of her were not simple.
She didn't know where she heard this saying. When traveling in the world, don't mess with three types of people. These three types of people are monks and nuns, the old and the weak, and women.
Maybe the mother and daughter in front of me really have special skills.