Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Miss Comes Home

This day the fleet was approaching Yangzhou, Zhao Guan followed Tian Zhong and stood on the bow, suddenly felt uneasy and said: Brother Tian, ​​are we almost arriving in Yangzhou?Tian Zhongdao: We should be able to arrive tomorrow.Zhao Guan pondered for a while, and suddenly asked: "Does the Jiangnan Gang have any enmity with your Qing Gang?"Tian Zhong was stunned, and said: "Little brother, why do you ask this question?" Zhao Guandao: When I was in Suzhou, I heard that there was a man named Lang Hua, who was the third leader of the Jiangnan Gang. He killed the officers and soldiers in the outpost, changed into the uniforms of the officers and soldiers, and said that he wanted to mix with your ship. Be steady. Don't show your traces, and do it when you arrive at Yangzhou Mansion.He had a good memory, he remembered what Lang Hua and others said that night, and now he saw that Tian Zhong had treated him very well all the way, so he felt that he must let him know, so he said it out.

Tian Zhong was shocked when he heard the words, and said: Seriously?I'll check it out right away!Sure enough, under Tian Zhong's secret investigation, the spies who had infiltrated the ship were found that night. These people pretended to be officers and soldiers and traveled with the ship, but the other people on the ship did not pay attention.Tian Zhong quickly contacted the gang members of the Zuojin Green Gang, and came to help resist, only to stop the Jiangnan Gang's plot to rob food. Tian Zhong recalled the thrilling experience, and couldn't help dripping cold sweat on his back, thinking: If it wasn't for the news from Brother Zhao, something big would happen!I couldn't help but be glad that I spared the child and didn't kill him. I only treated him with more respect and courtesy.Zhao Guan and Zhou Han'er traveled northward on the grain ship of the Qing Gang, eating, drinking, playing, and enjoying the scenery. The journey was extremely smooth and pleasant.

Not a day later, the fleet led by Tian Zhong arrived in the capital smoothly.Before getting off the boat, Zhao Guan said goodbye to Tian Zhong, and suddenly said: Brother, you have taken good care of me along the way, and I can't hide or deceive you.At that time, I made a bet with you to test the kung fu in the water, and I won by a small margin. In fact, it was all due to cheating. Tian Zhong was stunned, and said: What cheating?Zhao Guandao: At that time I deliberately asked you to drink, after drinking, I filled the empty wine bag with air, brought it into the water, and breathed in the water with the air in the bag, so that I could stay in the water longer than you.

Tian Zhong laughed loudly when he heard this, and said: "Little brother is so smart!"Patting him on the shoulder, he said: You didn't have to let me know, but you still told the truth, which shows that you are aboveboard.Besides, if it weren't for you, I would never have been able to expose the Jiangnan Gang's scheme.Old brother owes you a lot, so why would you care about such a small thing? Zhao Guan smiled and said: I consider you a friend, so I can't lie to you.If I don't say it, I will feel uneasy in the future.Tian Zhong was very moved and said: "Brother Zhao, I have never seen a child like you.When you are older, if you intend to join my Green Gang, I, Tian Zhong, will definitely recommend to Xiangzhu to introduce you.Zhao Guan smiled and said: Thank you in advance, big brother.But I thought in my heart: I am most afraid of suffering. I can't do the hard work of transporting grain every year.

After Zhao Guan said goodbye to Tian Zhong, he took Zhou Han'er off the boat and entered the city.He asked people, and soon learned that Zhou's mansion was in the south of the city. He rented a carriage and accompanied Han'er to the gate of Zhou's mansion.Seeing that the mansion was extremely magnificent, Zhao Guan couldn't help being amazed that he had never seen the mansion of such a high-ranking official in the capital in his life, and said to Han'er: I didn't expect you to be a daughter of a noble eunuch. Don't lie to me.Alright, Miss Zhou, aren't you back home now?

Han'er saw the door of the house he hadn't seen for a long time, as if in a dream, couldn't help weeping with joy, suddenly took Zhao Guan's hand, and said: "You come home with me, okay?" Zhao Guan shook his head, he had no intention of going to see Han'er's parents, and said casually: "The Qing Gang's ship is about to weigh anchor, I can't let Big Brother Tian wait for me."Han'er was extremely reluctant, and said: Brother Zhao Guan, don't leave, okay?Zhao Guan smiled and said: Ah, does Miss Zhou want to keep me here as an errand in your mansion for you to order?

Zhou Han'er was stunned, and said: That's not what I meant.I just want my parents to see you and thank you.Zhao Guan shook his head, looked serious, and said: I don't want your parents to thank me, and I don't want you to thank me either.I just want you to remember my benefits forever.Seeing that he was speaking seriously, Zhou Han'er stared at him and said seriously: I promise you. Zhao Guan laughed loudly and said: I was joking with you.Miss Zhou, goodbye!Turn around and walk away, disappearing at the corner of the street in a blink of an eye. It has been more than half a year since Han'er was kidnapped by You Jun and Wu Gang in the backyard that night and returned home at this time.Zhou Mingdao and his wife searched all over the capital for their beloved daughter, but they couldn't find it. They had no hope at all, and now they were overjoyed to see her come back safely.The father held her in tears, and the mother hurriedly offered incense and kowtowed thanks to the Bodhisattva.When her parents asked her about her disappearance and her return home, Han'er told them all about it.Zhou Mingdao heard that she was kidnapped by two palace guards, so he quickly notified his friend Admiral Yang of the capital, asking him to order you and Wu to be arrested.When Han'er's parents learned that it was the son of a brothel owner who was only eight or nine years old who escorted her back to the capital from Suzhou all the way, they were incredulous.Zhou's mother is a devout Buddhist, thinking that the little boy must be an emissary sent by Guanyin Bodhisattva, who came down to earth to protect Han'er; Zhou's father guessed that this must be a strange person in the world, most of whom practiced special kung fu to make him look like a child. Actually should be an adult.

But Han'er knew that Zhao Guan was not some Bodhisattva messenger or a stranger in the world; Zhao Guan was Zhao Guan.That night, Han'er was lying on the boudoir bed, hugging the brocade quilt, thinking of Zhao Guan's contemptuous and mischievous smile, elf and teasing eyes, handsome and disgusting expression, and the journey with him along the way. The various scenes of getting along with each other warmed my heart, and a smile appeared on the corner of my mouth, and it took me a long time to fall asleep. At that time, Han'er naturally didn't know that the days when she could sleep peacefully in the warm quilt were numbered.A few years later, on a winter night, a group of officers and soldiers rushed into her house with torches and took Zhou Mingdao away without any explanation.Han'er and her mother were both pale and bewildered with fright.She asked her mother: Why did they take Daddy away?Mrs. Zhou just shook her head and wept, and said: Mother doesn't know either.

A few days later, Han'er followed her mother to visit her father in the prison, and brought him food and clothing.She saw her father, who was usually graceful and luxurious, wearing prison clothes, sitting in the filthy and smelly dungeon, his body was covered with wounds and blood stains after being tortured, and she was so frightened that she couldn't stop crying.Her father could hardly speak anymore, he said hoarsely to his wife that the Zhou family was about to face a catastrophe, he asked her to take her daughter away to avoid the disaster, and also asked Han'er to obediently obey her mother.On the second day, there was news in the city that Zhou's family would be copied. Mrs. Zhou remembered the master's order, shed tears and hurriedly packed up the gold and silver in the house, and took her daughter to the nearby relatives overnight.Han'er traveled with her mother, went to seek refuge with more than a dozen close relatives and friends, begged in every possible way, but was turned away.The snowstorm was extremely cold that winter, and the mother and daughter lived in the countryside with nowhere to go. Finally, they came to Gaoyou, hundreds of miles away, and found the home of Master Zhou’s cousin, Uncle Li.Uncle Li couldn't bear it, so he took them in. For fear of being discovered, he let them live in a stable in the backyard.

Mrs. Zhou and her daughter lived in Li's house for a few days, and then came the news that Uncle Zhou had been tortured to death in prison.Mrs. Zhou cried bitterly when she heard the news, fainted several times, and kept shouting: "Old man, I will never see you again!"The stable was cold, and she was so shocked that she couldn't bear it any longer, and soon contracted a cold disease, and passed away after half a month.Zhou Han'er's parents both died within a month. She was only ten years old, and she was delicate and delicate since she was a child. After this life experience has changed drastically, she can do nothing but cry every day.

Uncle Li heard that the government was investigating closely, so he was afraid of being implicated, and thought: I have taken the risk of taking her mother and daughter here for the winter, and I am loyal enough.Now that Mrs. Zhou is dead, this daughter can't inherit the incense of his Zhou family. What's the use of raising her?If we take her in, I'm afraid my family will also be destroyed.He contacted the traffickers and sold her to Tianxiang Pavilion in Yanshui Lane, Suzhou. Madam Xia from Tianxiang Pavilion sent someone to look at it first, and seeing that Han'er was a man to be made, she negotiated a price with the Li family and sent someone to pick her up.It was late spring and early summer, Han'er left Gaoyou with Aunt Shi from Tianxiang Pavilion, came to Suzhou, and went straight to Yanshui Lane.She came here for the second time, and the situation was completely different. At this time, she was homeless, and there was no one who could lead her out of the alley and take her home; sister kiln.Life in the yard is not easy, the madam Xia is fierce and strict, and the girls under her command often don't follow her wishes at all, they beat and scold at the same time.After Han'er came to Tianxiang Pavilion, he never ate enough for a day, and never slept soundly for a night.Thousands of days have passed, and she has grown from a baby girl to a girl; after thousands of nights, her crying tears have long since dried up. After many years, Zhou Han'er finally came out and became the number one flower girl in Tianxiang Pavilion.Naturally, she couldn't predict it. She was hijacked by the wicked and came to Suzhou that year, and she was almost betrayed. Did she predict that she would fall into prostitution in this life? It was only after Han'er got older that he realized the reason for the ruin of his family.At that time, a friend of her father's had offended Minister Yan Song in Beijing. Yan Song had held power for many years, with great power, and drove out all dissidents. As a result, her father was implicated, arrested and imprisoned, where he died miserably.Han'er hated it in her heart, but she was a lonely and weak woman who was wandering in the world, it was rare to be lucky enough to save her life, what else could she say? However, she still had a foolish idea in her heart about this unforeseen disaster.Maybe she suffered such bad luck because she didn't follow the instructions of the man in black, and because of her carelessness, she never handed over that important letter to Aunt Rui and Bao'er?After the man in black died, did he really turn into a ghost to curse himself?She didn't know, she just felt very repentant and sorry.She kept the letter carefully, hoping that Aunt Rui and Bao'er would come to collect it from her one day; she imagined that maybe on that day, she would be able to redeem her sins and escape the misery in the world. In addition to the letter, another thing she secretly cherished was a handkerchief.It was the veil that Zhao Guan used to wrap the snacks for herself. Although it was rough and old, she cherished it like her life. When she first came to Yanshui Lane, she also asked people about Qingfeng Pavilion and Zhao Guan, only to be surprised that Qingfeng Pavilion unfortunately encountered the disaster of Zhu Rong, and a fire burned to the ground. The companion was burned to death, and the servant Zhao Guan was among them.With grief in her heart, Zhou Han'er once secretly came to the burnt-out Qingfeng Pavilion, offered a bouquet of flowers, prayed silently, and shed tears in honor of the boy who took her home at risk but never appeared again.