At dusk, the drizzle is like sorrow, continuous and dense, and continuous.
In front of the Yong'an Hou Mansion on Ziyang Street, a man who looked like a scholar came in the rain.
Although he was holding an umbrella, his shoes, socks and sleeves were soaked by the rain. He had a blue cloth bundle under his arm, and it looked like there should be one or two books inside.
"This young master, I wonder who you are? What are you doing in our house? Do you have any questions?" The gatekeeper came up and asked him.
This man smiled at the doorman a little cautiously. He looked honest, and his smile made him even more honest.
He took out a square piece of paper folded from his sleeve and said, "I came down here in a hurry, so I didn't prepare to post it. I just saw this reward notice on the road. I seem to have seen the person on it a few days ago.
"
After hearing this, the gatekeeper immediately said: "Young master, are you serious?"
"I am a scholar, how can I lie?" The man smiled honestly again, "But I am not completely sure that the person I saw is your young lady."
The gatekeeper couldn't control that much, so he pulled him inside and said, "Please come in quickly, please come in quickly."
At the same time, he sent a boy from the general department to report: "Tell the second master that someone has come with a notice offering a reward."
The boy ran inside after hearing this.
In just half a month, Cen Tong seemed to have aged twenty years.
His hair is more than half white, his cheeks are sunken, and his eye sockets are sunken. His whole body looks like an old tree in late autumn, skinny and lonely.
After all, the disappearance of Cen Yunchu could not be concealed. Now the old lady is ill in bed, and he only has half a life left.
If he hadn't held on to find his daughter, he would have collapsed long ago.
When he heard that someone was coming with a reward notice, his eyes immediately shone and he quickly stood up and walked to the door.
"Hello, Mr. Cen, my surname is Li and my name is Kaiyan." When the man saw Cen Tong, he bowed solemnly and introduced himself, "I came from Dongdu to study in Beijing."
"Disrespect, Mr. Li, please sit down." Cen Tong asked Li Kaiyan to sit down. A maid had already brought tea.
Li Kaiyan thanked him but did not sit down. He shyly put down the bag wrapped in books, opened the reward notice and said, "When I came from Dongdu, I saw a woman on the street. Her appearance was
It’s quite similar to what’s painted in this painting…”
Cen Tong didn't wait for him to finish, and asked eagerly: "Where did you see her, Master? Is she still in Dongdu now?"
"This..." Li Kaiyan couldn't help but blush, staring at the ground, not daring to look directly at Cen Tong.
"Don't worry, Mr. Li, the bounty written here will never change. As long as it is confirmed that it is the girl, Cen will immediately pay the bounty in full." Cen Tong said.
After hearing this, Li Kaiyan quickly shook his head and said: "Mr. Cen, don't get me wrong, that's not what I mean. No matter whether that person is a lady from your house or not, I don't want the bounty. Whose daughter is not worried about being lost? Help others.
Reunion of flesh and blood is a good deed, how can we get reward for it?"
Cen Tong knew that Li Kaiyan was a kind gentleman, so he said: "Thank you Mr. Li for your help. If you are really a little girl, I will be extremely grateful. At that time, please give Cen a chance to repay, otherwise our whole family will be destroyed."
I feel uneasy."
"Master Cen said something serious, let's not mention it for the moment. In fact, I am a little embarrassed to say it," Li Kaiyan was a little at a loss, "The villain said it, please don't blame me."
"Master Li, please speak." Cen Tong was really anxious.
"I saw that woman on the streets of Dongdu. It was the annual oiran convention in Dongdu. The selected oiran ladies were paraded along the street. Many people watched the excitement." Li Kaiyan blushed, because these were so real.
Scholars should not talk about it, "One of them is the most popular one, a newcomer to Jade Man Square, whose flower name seems to be Yimei. At that time, she was standing on the float and passed in front of me, and I saw her appearance."
Hearing what he said, Cen Tong's face became more and more ugly. Li Kaiyan quickly explained: "I just think they are somewhat similar, not necessarily. I'm just not afraid of 10,000, just in case... I also hesitated for a long time.
, I don’t know whether I should say it or not.”
Cen Tong suppressed his worry and anger, bowed deeply to Li Kaiyan and said: "Master Li, you are a righteous man. Thank you very much for coming to inform me. I will go to Dongdu to verify. I wonder where you are staying now?"
Li Kaiyan told him where he lived and then prepared to leave.
Cen Tong personally sent him to the second gate. When walking back, he directly ordered the people following him: "Prepare the car now, I want to go out immediately."
"Second Master, it's getting late, and it's still raining. Let's go early tomorrow morning," the servant advised.
But Cen Tong ignored him at all and started changing his clothes as soon as he entered the door.
Everyone knew how important the eldest lady was to the second grandfather, so they stopped trying to persuade her and just did what they should do.
Cen Tong was halfway through packing, and suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "I'm really confused. The fastest way to Dongdu is by boat!"
So he ordered people to find a boat quickly. If he was quick, he would be able to reach Dongdu at noon tomorrow.
The rest of the Cen family knew about it and were worried about him going alone.
He called Cen Shaoxiang from the first room and Cen Shaohuan from the third room to follow. Cen Shaoxian also wanted to follow, but because he was too young, he was stopped.
"There is no need to let outsiders know about this matter," Cen Tong said to his brothers. "If it is really Yunchu, we will never return to the capital from now on. I will take her away to a foreign country and live with Chen
You can just break off the marriage at home."
Cen Zhou, Cen Gang and Cen Ran looked at each other and all understood what Cen Tong meant.
If the courtesan Li Kaiyan saw was Cen Yunchu, then her reputation would be completely ruined.
When I return to the capital, I will definitely face gossip, slander and slander.
Rather than that, it would be better not to come back at all.
So he nodded and said, "Don't worry, we know what to do."
Cen Tong didn't even have time to eat dinner, so the third wife ordered the kitchen to cook a few meals, put them in food boxes, and asked the boys to carry them to the boat.
At this time, the sky was getting darker and the rain was obviously heavier.
The three uncles and nephews of the Cen family, together with dozens of servants, rushed to the Qingping River in the rain and boarded the boat.
Sitting on the boat, Cen Tong looked at the water in silence, his heart feeling like it was being tortured repeatedly.
Is that person really Yunchu? Who kidnapped her? Who trafficked her to such a dirty place?
How is she now? Is she still...alive?
He knew his daughter's temperament best, and he was really afraid that she would rather break her body.
His two nephews came over repeatedly to invite him to dinner, but he always shook his head and said he was not hungry.
He really couldn't eat it, and his heart began to bleed when he thought of his daughter suffering somewhere.
