Chapter 3 Chapter Three

Before Aunt Rui could answer, she suddenly heard a shrill voice: Madam Zheng, your husband has died at the hands of Chief Hong, why don't you go to the funeral?Another person said: Take her quickly, the stolen goods must be on this widow! Aunt Rui was startled, she turned around and looked, but saw two people standing in front of her, both dressed as eunuchs from the East Factory, each waving their whisks and attacking directly.Aunt Rui reacted very quickly, and immediately raised the dagger to frame it, but after hearing the clanging sound, the two whisks were actually made of steel.Aunt Rui is agile, and her dagger moves fiercely, attacking the enemy's vital points.The two eunuchs screamed and cursed and held up their whisks to resist, the three of them were at loggerheads.

Bao'er saw her mother start to fight with others, so she quickly pulled Han'er aside.Han'er was thinking about the letter, and said: "Bao'er, you go back to the room with me to get the letter, okay?"Bao'er shook her head and said: I have to help my mother here.Miss Han'er, go back to your room and don't come out again tonight.If we can repel these people, we will definitely come back to you to win your trust.go, go! Han'er was pushed by her, and heard the continuous sound of swords clashing. He was terrified, and hurried to the main room in the dark.While running, she looked back, but fortunately no one came after her.She rushed into her room in a hurry, her footsteps were heavy, and she woke up the girl long ago.The girl got up and saw Han'er leaning against the door panting, she wondered: "Miss, it's midnight, where did you go just now?"

Han'er ignored her, quickly ran into the inner room, took out the letter from the bed, stuffed it into her bosom, thinking: I will definitely give this letter to them.Immediately, he ran out of the room again and followed the original path back to the corner of the backyard where he had just talked with Aunt Rui's mother and daughter.This time I went back and forth, it was just a cup of tea, but I saw that the night was deep and everything was silent, not only there was no sound of fighting, but there was no sound of people, and Aunt Rui and others were no longer there.Han'er was confused for a while, thinking: where did they go?Where should I find them?I thought again: Bao'er said she would come to me to get the letter, so I'd better go back to my room.

Just as she was about to step back to her room, she suddenly felt her waist tighten and someone hugged her by the waist.Han'er exclaimed aloud, but his mouth was held down.She felt that she was being hugged and ran quickly, rising and falling, as if she had already left the back door of her house.She was shocked and struggled, but how could she get away?After running like this for a long time, the man stopped, but he heard a person beside him laughing and said: "I escaped the big one and caught the young one. This time the credit is not small!" The person holding her snorted, and said: What credit is not credit?The guy surnamed Zheng died, but the things were not recovered, Director Hong was furious, my brother will not be punished if he goes back, and it will be a fortune teller.Another said: It's not that bad.At daybreak, we handed over the girl to the manager to atone for her crime.

When Han'er heard this, he guessed that they must have mistaken him for Bao'er, so they took him away.She was very anxious and wanted to explain that she was not Bao'er, but someone stuffed her mouth with a piece of cloth, and she couldn't speak. Then her eyes were also covered, and someone tied her hands and feet up again. , thrown aside on the ground.Han'er had never been treated so rudely before, she was shocked and angry, and there was even more fear, so she couldn't help crying. After crying twice, she felt a pain in her waist and was kicked.One scolded: "You son of a bitch, why are you crying?"Cry again and I will kick you to death!Han'er's tears flowed even more fiercely, and she could only hold back her tears.But he heard the two sitting not far from him, chatting casually.When she listened to the conversation between the two, it was obvious that they were both palace guards. One was named You, named You Jun, and the other was named Wu, named Wu Gang.What the two of them were talking about was why Zheng Hanqing wanted to steal things from the palace, what important things they stole, and why Director Hong issued a secret order, promising a lot of money, and those who caught Zheng Hanqing and recovered the lost things would be rewarded heavily, otherwise there would be heavy rewards. punishment, and how many guards were killed or injured by Zheng Hanqing in this battle, etc.The two of them were obviously completely ignorant of the cause and effect of this matter, they speculated wildly, and they couldn't come up with a reason after talking for a long time.

Han'er felt that the night had passed extremely long, and after crying for a while, feeling tired for a while, she fell asleep drowsily. After an unknown amount of time, Han'er suddenly heard someone shouting: "Brother You, it's too bad, maybe this little kid is Zheng's daughter!"It was Wu Gang's voice. Han'er woke up leisurely, felt that the cloth was still covering his eyes, but there was more light, as if it was already dawn.The guard surnamed You said in shock: What the hell are you talking about?Wu Gang said: I went out to check just now, and I heard on the street that the eldest lady of the Zhou family disappeared last night, and the tolerance in the capital was searching everywhere.He also said that the eldest lady is eight years old this year, isn't this the same as this little girl?

You Jun said: "Are you asking carefully?"Wu Gang said: I also went to Dongchang to inquire. Several father-in-laws there were injured by a woman surnamed Zheng, and they were all lying on the bed recuperating.They said in unison that the woman surnamed Zheng fled out of the city with her daughter.You Jun slapped his thigh and scolded: His grandma, really caught the wrong person!How could you be so foolish, but you caught the eldest lady of the Zhou family back?Wu Gang retorted: Am I confused?Don't you think she must be a girl surnamed Zheng?Ok, now what to do?You Jun snorted and said: How do I know what to do?University scholar Zhou and Admiral Yang of the capital are on good terms, but how could they let it go when they lost their precious daughter?You and I are inseparable.

Wu Gang seemed to be very scared, and said: According to me, let him go as soon as possible, and pretend he doesn't know about it, that's all.You Jun said: "You can't let it go, you can't let it go!"She listened to our conversation last night, and she already knows your and my surnames, so why didn't you point out the two of us?Wu Gang ran out of ideas, and said repeatedly: "Then what should I do?" You Jun lowered his voice, and said: If you don't do it, you don't stop, just kill people and silence them, and it's over.This matter will never come to us after all.Wu Gang hesitated and said: "Catching the wrong person is not a serious crime. If you kill her, it will be a capital crime if you are found out."You Jun scolded: You are a pig brain!How can this matter be found on us?According to me, kill him as soon as possible, and bury him behind this small temple. We will report back to the palace immediately, and no one will know.Wu Gang said: All right!Just listen to you.

When Han'er heard that the two of them were going to kill each other to silence them, he was so frightened that his whole body trembled.Suddenly, his eyes lit up, one of them took off his blindfold, and a bearded guard was looking at him viciously with a sharp knife in his hand.Han'er exclaimed, but the bearded guard shouted in a low voice: "Miss Zhou, this is your bad luck, you hit us by accident.Going to the underworld, I only blame myself for suffering, don't blame me for being ruthless.As he spoke, the sharp knife stretched forward, and it was about to cut off Han'er's neck.

Another bald-headed guard who heard the voice was the one named You suddenly took a step forward, waved his hand to stop him, and said, "Wait a minute!"The little girl is pretty, but I have another idea.Wu Gang said: So what about being pretty?Eight-year-old girl, I'm not interested.You Jun shook his head and said: Brother Wu, if we didn't catch Zheng Hanqing's wife this time, we will definitely be severely punished by Manager Hong when we go back, right?Wu Gang said: "Being punished and killing this girl to silence her are two different things."how? You Jun said: I have been a palace guard for ten years, and I have done enough.This time the matter is not done well, if Director Hong comes to kill people to silence, hum, to be lighter, to be sent to the frontier, or to be sent to those lowly slaves to serve the father-in-law, I would rather die clean.According to me, we brothers might as well escape from the capital and go to the south of the Yangtze River.I have a brother named Lu Laoliu who specializes in the business of buying and selling people in Suzhou.Based on this little girl's goods, our brothers took them to Suzhou brothels to sell them, and they sold for more than a few hundred taels of silver.Our brothers took the money and had fun in that famous Yanshui alley for a few years, don't you think it's beautiful?

When Wu Gang heard this, he couldn't help but be moved, and said, "Thank you for wanting to get it!"Hehe, the scenery of Suzhou brothels must be very beautiful.The two were discussing with great interest how to escape the capital with Han'er.In the afternoon of the same day, Wu You and You collected all the money, packed Han'er in a large sack, together with a few bags of other items, hired a carriage, disguised themselves as businessmen, and set off from Beijing to the south. The two of them didn't know that this walk happened to save his two lives.Manager Na Hong learned that Zheng Hanqing's wife had gone away with the stolen things. He was shocked and angry. In order to punish his subordinates and keep secrets, he executed all the palace guards and Dongchang eunuchs who participated in the pursuit of Zheng Hanqing the night before.Seeing that Wu You and Wu had disappeared for several days, he sent his cronies to visit everywhere, but there was no news. He only said that the two were killed by Zheng Hanqing in the scuffle and their bodies were abandoned in the field, so he did not continue to investigate. Along the way, Wu You and the others kept a close eye on Han'er, a cash cow, and always locked her in the room at night, and locked her in the carriage during the day.The two of them wanted to sell her for a good price, so as not to starve her or damage her hands, feet and face, so even though they were impatient to see her cry endlessly, at most they would curse at each other, but they didn't dare to fight each other. add.Han'er had food and shelter along the way, and didn't suffer too much, but the farther she was from home, the more terrified and desperate she felt, knowing that even if she could escape from the clutches of these two, she was a little girl with no money on her body. Money, and do not know the way, absolutely can not find the way back to the capital by themselves.Seeing the vast road ahead, how can you predict what it will be like when you arrive in Suzhou?Every time she thought of her parents and all the things at home, she felt sad and burst into tears.