Sure enough, the next day, Ye Ruochen sent Cui Yanlin to Zaocun to check on the people's situation.
Cui Yanlin sighed. Zaocun was the place he least wanted to go. That was where he was separated from Hongfu. Later, he was taken away by Yaozi, and after being tossed around several times, he finally regained his life and became a free man.
.
For Cui Yanlin, the person who has helped him the most in his life should be Yun Ran.
Unfortunately, she has already entered the palace and became a concubine.
Cui Yanlin's beloved wife Qu'er walked over with a lingering sadness in her eyes: "Ms. sir, I saw Uncle Lin packing up. Where are you going?"
Cui Yanlin said with a smile: "I received a document from the Eighth Prince this morning. He asked me to go to Zaocun."
Qu'er asked: "Zao Village? Is it the village famous for its jujube trees ten miles away?"
Cui Yanlin nodded: "Well, that's the village."
Qu'er said coquettishly to him: "Ms. sir, I heard that the jujubes produced there are big and sweet. I also want to eat the jujubes there."
Cui Yanlin laughed dumbly: "Qu'er, I didn't go to Zaocun just to eat the jujubes there. I came to do business, you know? So, you just wait at home obediently for me to come back. When I come back, I will
I’ll bring you fragrant and sweet dates.”
Listening to Cui Yanlin's words, Qu'er nodded obediently: "Ms. sir, go early and come back early."
After Uncle Lin had packed up, Cui Yanlin and Uncle Lin drove to Zao Village, ten miles away. In Zao Village, almost every household planted jujube trees.
Looking at it from a distance, it is a lush green area, which is really beautiful.
Cui Yanlin remembered that he and Hongfu were separated here. He followed a wild rabbit and ran into the Zao Grove. Later, he couldn't get out no matter how much he wandered around. But he didn't expect to meet a man named Yazi in the Zao Grove.
.
Cui Yanlin shook his head, it was always hard to look back on the past.
As soon as I entered Zaocun, an old woman came up to me. The old woman looked at Cui Yanlin for a few times and then suddenly said, "Young man, do you know the Red Buddha?"
Cui Yanlin was stunned for a moment, and then he felt excited. Could it be that his sister had been waiting for him here all the time?
Yes, according to Hong Fu's character, he will definitely wait for him where he is.
Maybe Hongfu lived in this Zaocun back then.
Cui Yanlin got off the carriage and asked excitedly: "Old lady, do you know Hong Fu?"
The old woman was a little hard of hearing and didn't hear clearly the first time. Cui Yanlin asked again.
The old woman raised a smile, her whole face full of wrinkles: "You are talking about Hong Fu, I must know her. My daughter helped take care of her child."
My sister actually has a child? Why did she never tell me?
Cui Yanlin had some doubts in his heart. He followed the old woman through the village and finally came to a hut by the river.
The house was neatly tidied, and it seemed that the people who lived here were very fond of cleanliness. The old woman stood outside the house with a cane and looked around, but saw no one. She explained: "My daughter is probably holding a tiger's head."
Went for a walk."
After the old woman finished speaking, she asked Cui Yanlin to wait here while she went about her own business.
After a while, a woman came with a child in her arms and looked at Cui Yanlin with some confusion.
Cui Yanlin asked: "Is this child Hongfu's child?"
The woman nodded: "Yes, everyone in this village knows that I have been helping Hongfu take care of the children. By the way, who are you?"
There was a look of excitement in Cui Yanlin's eyes: "I am Hong Fu's younger brother, which is also this child's uncle."
The woman had a look of joy on her face and handed the child in her arms to Cui Yanlin: "I have helped Hongfu take care of the child for several years. Now it's great. You are here, and I will leave the child to you from now on."
After saying that, a touch of sadness appeared on her face, and she sighed to herself: "Your sister was also a pitiful one. She left like that at a young age. When she died, her husband-in-law's family did not recognize her, so they kept this child.
"
The doubts in Cui Yanlin's heart deepened, and he couldn't help but ask: "You said my sister..."
The woman whispered: "What? Don't you know that your sister is dead?"
Cui Yanlin cried out in surprise: "Dead? How could he be dead?" He had obviously seen Hong Fu in the palace not long ago.
Seeing Cui Yanlin's excitement, the woman continued: "A few years ago, Jia Yuanwai's son fell in love with your sister and wanted to marry her as a concubine. At that time, your sister refused to agree and had to marry the poor scholar next door.
The next year, the scholar went to take the exam. From then on, your brother-in-law never came back. Your sister took her children alone and struggled to survive in Zaocun."
Cui Yanlin listened, feeling sore in his heart that his sister was living in such misery.
The woman seemed to be lost in memories and said slowly: "One day, someone told your sister that her husband-in-law had a future in Anning City. So, your sister left the tiger head in my care and ran to the city to find a scholar.
However, she never came back. Later, I asked someone to inquire about her. The person said that your sister met a robber on the way to Anning City and was killed."
Cui Yanlin looked at the sleeping tiger head and felt filled with emotion.
It is such a difficult task for a woman to raise a child. Her sister probably couldn't hold on any longer, so she gave up.
No matter what, he would take the tiger head back and keep it alive.
Cui Yanlin took out ten taels of silver from his arms and handed it to the woman: "Thanks to your care of Hutou these years, these silver coins are my small kindness."
The woman did not refuse and accepted it directly: "Hongfu and I can be regarded as sisters. Now that she sees her children and relatives alive, I feel happy."
Cui Yanlin talked for a while and left with Hu Tou.
As soon as he left, Ziyuan walked out of the house and handed the woman a banknote: "You did a good job."
The woman looked at the banknote blankly, with a greedy luster in her eyes.
Ziyuan added: "You are young and beautiful now, and you can still find a good family. Don't worry, that person just now is the top scholar in the new science. If your son follows him, he will have a bright future."
The woman took the banknote and carefully held it in her arms.
She wouldn't care about her son. Anyway, he didn't even care about his father, so she didn't have the leisure to do so.
Ziyuan smiled softly and took out a hundred taels of silver notes from her arms: "I can also give you this bank note, but within today, you and your mother have to disappear in Zaocun, and the farther you go, the farther you go."
good."
The woman nodded repeatedly: "Okay, I don't want to stay here anymore anyway."
Ziyuan looked at her with satisfaction, and a calculating smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
In the hot summer, cicadas keep calling in the trees.
In the Yaochi Hall, Bai Qiqian was lying on the beauty's couch to rest. Ziyuan whispered softly in her ear, and from time to time the laughter of the two people could be heard.
Concubine Yun's complexion today is much better than that of the past few days, and her face is much rosier.
During this time, she should have untied the knots she had held in her heart for many years.
Concubine Yun sat lazily on the chair and half-squinted her eyes: "Fuyao, something new happened in the palace today. Do you want to hear it?"
One of Concubine Yun's biggest hobbies is gossiping about things in the palace.
Otherwise, how could Bai Qiqian know so many things in the palace with her lazy temperament?
Concubine Yun said lightly: "You still remember that there is a pretty and lovely palace maid next to Concubine Su, her name is Hong Fu. She is Cui Yanlin's long-lost sister, and she also has a child."
Bai Qiqian pretended to be surprised and asked: "She has a child? She is a palace maid, how can she have a child?"
Concubine Yun sighed and said: "The Ministry of Internal Affairs checked her file. When she entered the palace, she was an innocent girl. I didn't expect that the child would be several years old now. Cui Yanlin asked the emperor to show mercy and release her from the palace."
Bai Qiqian continued what she said: "The Emperor should have agreed."
Concubine Yun laughed: "Yes, the emperor agreed, but Concubine Su was unwilling to let her go. I heard that she cried and made trouble in front of the emperor and was reluctant to leave Hongfu."
A faint light flashed through Bai Qi's eyes: "In my opinion, she is afraid that this maid will chew her tongue after going out."
Concubine Yun said with some gloating: "In the palace, executing a maid is not a big deal. But now that this matter has come to the emperor, Concubine Su can't make any small moves behind his back."
Bai Qiqian asked: "Yun Ran, what about Hong Fu? Is she willing to go back, or is she unwilling to go back?"
Yun Ran put his hands on his chin: "The two siblings are finally reunited, how come she doesn't want to go back? But Concubine Su won't let her go, and now this matter can only remain at a stalemate."
Ziyuan suddenly interrupted and asked: "Concubine Yun, Cui Zhuangyuan is favored by the emperor now, can Concubine Su be so bold as to hold someone captive?"
A cold smile appeared on the corner of Yunran's mouth: "Anyway, she is holding the person in her hands and will not let him go."
Even if it makes Long Yan furious, will he still not let him go?
Bai Qiqian smiled cruelly, Su Wanliang, looking at Hong Fu, this maid really knows a lot about you.
Her slender and long fingers gently arranged the hem of her dress, and the light in her eyes was bright and dazzling.
This time, she made a dangerous move, not knowing what the outcome would be.
In fact, the child was the child of Hongfu's husband and another woman, not Hongfu's child. This time, although Hongfu did not make any further judgment on this matter, it can be seen that she also knew that she still had a chance to escape from this.
Royal Palace.
Since the matter was made clear, Concubine Su could not attack Hong Fu, so she could only make small fuss and force him to stay.
Regardless of whether she can stay or not in the end, this incident is bound to leave a shadow in the hearts of the two of them.
From then on, Concubine Su would continue to be suspicious of Hong Fu.
It was impossible for Hong Fu to escape from the palace with his own strength.
The appearance of Bai Qiqian is like a drowning man who sees hope. Therefore, Hongfu will definitely grasp this life-saving straw.