A square courtyard stands in the north of Yangping Town.
The high walls and the Zhumen compound are like a miniature castle.
at this time,
White lanterns were hung in front of the large and small doors of the courtyard, with the word "Dian" written on them.
The nobles wearing silk and satin walked to and from the main gate of the Cui family compound. The gatekeeper respectfully accepted the funeral rites from the passers-by, and the servants helped the nobles park their cars at a fixed location outside the courtyard.
Covered by high blue brick walls,
In front of another more hidden wall in the house,
A small door was also opened.
Strong men with sinewy faces were guarding the place with sticks in their hands.
People with sallow complexions and simple clothes hung their heads and queued up in front of the door. Every time someone walked into the small door, they would place a bunch of copper coins on the table in front of the evil gatekeeper.
The number of people gathered here is far more than the dignitaries coming and going in front of the main entrance.
The copper coins each of them handed over were piled on the square table covered with white cloth, forming a small mountain.
The team stretches back,
It extends all the way to the catwalk in the woods.
People lined up silently,
As they filed into the dock that looked like a giant man-eating beast, weeping could be heard from time to time in the queue, which vaguely echoed the white lantern hanging on top of the small door, making the atmosphere here even more bleak.
at this time,
In the small woods at the end of the queue.
"Uncle, uncle,
Cui Jiaben's family members each have to pay two hundred or two hundred dollars before they can enter the compound..." The tall and strong man, who had been beaten with a stick, was talking to Li Yueshan tremblingly.
Li Yueshan had abandoned his stick long ago and now had a dagger in his arms.
The other disciples behind him also followed suit,
I picked up some sharp weapons that were hard to find and hid them with me.
When he heard the tall man's words, he said without even raising his eyelids: "We are not members of the Cui family, so we don't have to pay!"
There are no scars on the face of a tall, muscular man.
The same goes for several of his men.
Only the injuries on his body were visible through his clothes.
Hearing what the fat old man said, the tall thug pursed his lips and whispered: "As long as you pass through this door, you have to pay two hundred dollars..."
Li Yueshan stared at the other party after hearing this,
The words that came out of his mouth seemed extremely polite: "Then do you have any on you?
On our side, one, two, three, four...
Nine people in total,
One thousand eight hundred yuan. Seeing how fat you are, your family must be in a pretty good position.??m
It’s not like you can’t get rid of this little money, right?”
The tall and strong thug leader opened his mouth,
Under the fat old man's glare, he did not dare to refute what the other party said.
He nodded dejectedly,
Then he called some of his subordinates over.
Several people pooled their money together and collected more than a thousand dollars, which they distributed among the Yinximai Zao team and Xiangdi's mother and son. After that, they still stayed around the group of people.
——The Cui family's mansion is very close. They have long been eager to return home and want to escape from Li Yueshan and others.
However, the old master just now performed a 'trick' in front of them.
scare them,
If you don't listen to the orders of the Zao team and others,
If you dare to reveal the fact that they were beaten, they will immediately turn into a puddle of pus!
There are seasoned tricks ahead,
The country people, who were already very ignorant, naturally did not dare to make mistakes. They did whatever Li Yueshan ordered them to do without any disobedience.
They stayed beside Li Yueshan,
However, Li Yueshan saw that they were very bored, so he called the leader of the thugs over and asked, "Do you have any spare money on you?
Lend me some envoys from the old man!"
Said it was borrowed,
But it probably won't be possible to return it.
The leader of the thugs who usually used his fat body and the power of Landlord Cui to roam the countryside and bully the common people now looked sad and 'lent' the only remaining money he had to Li Yueshan.
Li Yueshan weighed the small piece of silver in his hand.
I have about twenty or three dollars,
He was speechless secretly,
I feel that this job brings in money faster,
Simply call those thugs over,
I asked them one by one if they had 'borrowed' money, and the total borrowed was less than one tael of silver!
"get out!
Go back to your master and don't talk nonsense in front of him. If you dare to say anything nonsense, it will turn into pus. Don't blame the old man for not warning you!" Li Yueshan waved his hand at the thugs,
All the thugs suddenly felt as if they had been granted amnesty.
He left with a lot of gratitude, walked along the line, and hurried into the small door.
Li Yueshan spread his palms,
In addition to a few cents of broken silver in the palm,
There are also two strings of copper coins, each worth about a hundred dollars.
He waved to Zhuer and Qingmiao, called them over, gave two strings of copper coins to the two beautiful girls, and said with a smile: "You are already grown girls. On weekdays, if you need to buy something, what are you doing around you?" Can you spare some money?
I’ll give you a hundred coins each and spend it on your own!”
The two girls never repaid the master with anything,
The master got the money, but he thought about sharing it with them.
Their eyes suddenly turned red and they held the copper coins, not knowing what to say.
Gou Sheng, Xiuxiu looked at the money in Master's hand eagerly,
I longed for Master to turn around and give a few to each of them.
The master indeed turned to look at the two of them,
The open palms were clenched suddenly,
He also said to the two children with a smile: "When we go to the market tomorrow, I will buy a candy man for each of you to eat!"
The two people, who originally thought they could get a few copper coins, suddenly became resentful.
As for Su Wu at the end,
Li Yueshan didn't even ask the other party.
After all, he usually runs the most small stoves for the eldest disciples and gives him the most pocket money - so much that this kid can buy several dogs at a high price!
The queue slowly moves forward,
The sobs never ceased.
The fat old man's previous joy at making some windfall had long since faded away with the sobs of the Cui family members in the team who had disheveled faces and patches on their clothes.
The towering Wubao swallowed up the crowd very quickly,
In about a moment, it was the turn of the Yinximai group.
Master saw the copper coins piled up like a hill on the square table covered with white cloth. He watched the copper coins reflect the yellow light in the dim light, and listened to the desperately suppressed sobs behind him.
He squinted his eyes,
He took out two hundred dollars and threw it into the money pile.
The disciples behind him followed his example.
When it was Xiangdi’s mother and son’s turn,
They clutched the two hundred coins they got from the thugs and hesitated for a moment. Then, under the scolding of the strong man guarding the gate, they dropped the coins and approached the small door.
Behind him came the shouts of the strong man guarding the door: "Master Cui and you are all members of the same family. Now that Grandma Cui is gone, he is alone and helpless and needs you, brothers of the same family, to support him!"
Later you will help the kitchen light the fire, wash the vegetables, and chop the vegetables!
rest assured,
You will each have your own meal at noon and at night!"
Two hundred dollars per person,
But I only got two meals in exchange for lunch and dinner.
He also works for free in the Cui family compound and helps Mr. Cui entertain the distinguished guests in the front yard!
Everyone passed through the doorway,
Then I saw that the spacious backyard was filled with baskets of vegetables, cages of chickens and ducks, live rabbits, fresh fish, and even a few sika deer that were tied up and had their antlers cut!
A few makeshift earthen stoves were burning with blazing fires,
The cook, who was big and round and wearing a leather apron, was heating a firewood pot on the stove.
The aroma of oil wafts here.
Cui's family, who had entered the backyard before, had already begun to gather together, washing vegetables, choosing vegetables, lighting a fire...
There were even sad tears on their faces,
At this time, he was already involved in tedious work,
Maybe there are a lot of complaints in my heart,
But he didn't dare to show it at all on his face.
"Go to the front yard and offer a stick of incense to Grandma Cui!
Don’t forget to come back to work later!”
The servant guarding the backyard was sitting on a Taishi chair, with a stack of fennel beans on the table next to him. While eating fennel beans, he waved and shouted at Su Wu and others who had just entered.
Li Yueshan and others came into the Cui family's mansion.
It’s just to eat at a table,
It’s not to do any work for the big landowners here!
Master was originally thinking about how to sneak into the front yard to eat.
What the servant said at this time was exactly what he wanted!
He grinned silently and called Su Wu and others to follow him. Seeing this, Xiangdi's mother and son also braved the courage to go to the front yard with the Yinxi Maizao team.
The Cui Family Courtyard is a two-entry courtyard.
The front yard is where the Cui family lives.
The backyard is the residence of the servants and servants.
It is also where the kitchen is located.
Apart from a few rows of blue brick houses, there is no other decoration in the backyard.
The front yard is built in an elegant and regular manner.
A rockery greets the door,
There is a gurgling water source at the foot of the mountain.
At this time, the guests who were covered in silk clothes were welcomed into the main hall by the beautiful maidservant with their heads held high, and they drank tea and sat in the hall.
Like Li Yueshan and his group of poorly dressed ‘members’,
No one paid attention at all.
When Li Yueshan turned his head to observe,
Su Wu had already seen a group of members of the Cui family, with their heads lowered and their waists bent, cautiously walking in from the side door next to the main entrance and heading towards the backyard behind Su Wu and others.
"Master, the Cui family mourning hall should be located outside the main gate." Su Wu approached the master and pointed to the side door where the group of people passed by before. The sound of trumpets and suonas came from outside the main gate. His eyes flickered. He moved, saw the coffin parked in the side hall, and said, "The coffin of the deceased is parked in the side hall."
"No problem!
Let’s go to the mourning hall first and offer incense to others!
After all, you are eating at someone else's table, right?
By the way, let's go outside and change our clothes!" Li Yueshan noticed that the servants in the corner had been staring at him. It was estimated that if they didn't move, the man would come over and question him.
The master waved his hand,
Go towards the side door first.
Everyone followed suit.
Walking out along the side door, I saw a mourning hall built with tarpaulin and bamboo poles on the main road.
There were people on both sides playing trumpets and suonas, making it very noisy.
After walking out the door,
Li Yueshan led the disciples to the mourning hall.
Su Wu found a corner and suddenly slipped into the shadows.
Wait until he shows up again,
When meeting with everyone in the kitchen team,
He had already brought silk and satin clothes for everyone.
"Your method is very useful!
When we leave later, you will empty out all the Cui family's belongings.
The villagers are divided into eight neighboring villages!" Li Yueshan, with the help of his disciples, put on his military uniform and said to Su Wu.
This chapter has been completed!