At the gate of Suyang City.
Lingchu grabbed a middle-aged woman who was hurriedly heading towards the direction of the crowd, "Auntie, what happened? Why are everyone going in the same direction?"
The middle-aged woman's face was full of expressions of watching the excitement. She was rushing to the Evil Dragon Lake. She was afraid that she would be late and miss the excitement, but she was stopped halfway. She turned around and looked over, and what she saw was a beautiful face with red lips and white teeth. The woman's upturned eyebrows drooped again, and she answered unconsciously, "The Su family has let out word that they are going to hold a River God Festival."
"River God Sacrifice?" Lingchu muttered and repeated. She knew that the River God Sacrifice was to offer sacrifices to the River God to pray for good weather.
The person who was asking the question was a beautiful girl. Although her clothes were simple, the fabric was extremely smooth and not cheap at first glance. It also had lifelike flowers embroidered on it. Who would embroider flowers on their clothes? The middle-aged woman suddenly became enthusiastic. After a while, he completely lost his anger at being stopped, and instead spoke enthusiastically, "The Su family is the largest family in our Suyang City, occupying almost all of the pearl business in Suyang City. This River God Festival has not been held in Suyang City for many years. ”
"Then why is it held this year?" According to Lingchu's knowledge, Suyang City is not in the earthquake zone, and Chen Guo has not heard of any drought or flood disasters this year.
Mentioning this, the middle-aged woman showed a distressed look and said with a grin, "Some time ago, a huge wave suddenly set off in Evil Dragon Lake, which flooded most of the fields outside the city. And, for some reason, a huge wave was set off in the lake. After the huge wave, before it was over, the lake water poured back into the pearl farm a hill away. The water was mostly muddy, and most of the mussels were dead. The pearl harvest was suddenly reduced by more than half. Su Yangcheng went up to the big families, Down to us ordinary people, we are all at a loss."
Evil Dragon Lake?
Lingchu frowned. She didn't believe there was really a dragon there. If it was a monster, she would be more convinced.
Seeing that the beautiful girl in extraordinary clothes seemed to have no more questions to ask, the middle-aged woman quickly followed the flow of people and hurried towards the direction of Evil Dragon Lake.
Watching the excitement, no matter in ancient times or today, people flock to it.
It was still very early before the sun set. Lingchu looked up at the time and decided to go to Evil Dragon Lake to see the River God Festival.
Two flowers bloom, one on each side.
Yang Zhaodi never imagined that her parents would choose a dead end for her.
The Yang family was very poor, with a family of six living on only two acres of thin farmland. Their parents favored sons over daughters, and they gave birth to three girls in a row before they had one precious son.
As the second child, Yang Zhaodi was mentally prepared to be sold if her mother didn't love her father.
The eldest sister is the oldest and can help with most of the household chores and take care of the younger brother. The third sister is still young and she knows that her parents have considered selling their daughter several times.
She thought, it was better to be sold to a slave girl and work as a slave. She was almost sold to those filthy places. She admitted it. Really, the money she sold herself was to repay her parents for giving birth. , no matter where she sells them, she will be satisfied if she can eat and live.
But she never expected that the Su family had spread the news two days ago that they wanted to take in boys and girls to sacrifice to the river god, and offered a high price of five taels of silver. Her parents actually sent her over without hesitation.
Sacrifice to the River God, to put it nicely, is called dedication, to serve the River God, but to put it bluntly, everyone knows in their hearts that the so-called sacrifice to the River God means to die.
Anyone who has some affection for a child would not rush to send the child to sacrifice to the river god.
Yang Zhaodi looked at her parents taking the money. Except for saying sorry to her when they left, she never looked back. None of her eldest sister, third sister and younger brother said anything.
It's really ridiculous. Yang Zhaodi was wearing a braid, her thin body was shaking violently, the bow tied with a red rope at the end of her hair was trembling, and big tears fell from her eyes.
She just wants to live, is it difficult?
The housekeeper of the Su family who was responsible for selecting boys and girls looked at the thin girl kneeling on the ground, sobbing silently, and a deep sadness and despair surrounded the girl.
The housekeeper shook his head with sympathy in his eyes. He was nearly forty years old, had a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren. He also knew what would happen to the boys and girls in the River God Festival.
However, sympathy is sympathy. He is just a servant. He has no room to speak. At most, he can only give the two children a few good meals in the last two days.
Compared to the girl named Yang Zhaodi, the other boy was pitiful.
My mother died in childbirth, and my father married a stepmother. She was a great stepmother. She had two children in three years, and she was young and beautiful. As the saying goes, if you have a stepmother, you will have a stepfather, and the boy's father is the boy's father, but he showed it vividly.
With a beautiful young wife and two bouncing sons, he couldn't care less about the sick son that his previous wife gave birth to with all his strength.
The stepmother took the money from selling the boy and left with a smile on her face. The boy kept his head down the whole time, silent and with dull eyes.
They are all poor people...
The housekeeper stepped forward and pulled Yang Zhaodi up, "Oh, child, accept your fate."
Accept fate? Yang Zhaodi looked up with tears in her eyes and glanced at the rich and fair man in silk clothes with a sympathetic and compassionate face, and a firm thought flashed through her mind.
No, she doesn't accept her fate!
Although the hands that have been working all year round are thin, they are strong. Yang Zhaodi threw away the butler's hand and slammed it against the thickest pillar in the hall with all his strength.
Even if she can't live, she has to choose her own way to die.
There was a sharp pain in her forehead, and darkness slowly eroded her vision. Yang Zhaodi heard the roar of the man in silk clothes and the scream of the maid in the hall. From clear to blurry, everything seemed to be gradually fading away.
Maybe after death, she wouldn't have to work so hard.
This was Yang Zhaodi's last thought before she fell completely into darkness.
By the Dragon Lake.
Evil Dragon Lake, which used to be sparsely populated in the past, is now crowded with people, including local people in Suyang City, wealthy businessmen in Suyang City, and tourists passing through Suyang City who heard about the River God Festival.
For a time, there were many people on the edge of the Evil Dragon Lake, and whispers could be heard all the time.
When Lingchu arrived at the Dragon Lake, there were already circles and circles of people watching the fun, once again occupying a small space, squeezing and squeezing their way to the front.
Qian Duojin, who had arrived a long time ago, occupied a perfect position to watch the excitement. With his small eyes, he immediately spotted Lingchu and quickly asked the two guards following him to pick up the little fairy.
Lingchu came to Qian Duojin and found that the four guards around Qian Duojin formed a semicircle and carved out a space that was not crowded for Qian Duojin and Lingchu.
Moreover, looking from here, it is directly opposite the altar.
The altar is made of wood and is three-story high, in the shape of a trapezoid. On the highest floor, there is an offering table and two colorful flags standing next to the offering table.
The altar table was covered with a yellow tablecloth, but with Lingchu's excellent eyesight, he could clearly see that there were fresh animal sacrifices and a red candle incense burner on it.
Behind the altar table, there is a futon. Sitting on the futon is a goateeed Taoist priest wearing a yellow Taoist robe. There is a big Bagua picture on the back of the Taoist robe. He has a whisk in his left hand and a mahogany sword in his right hand.
