(27)
On the same night, another pair of travelers were recuperating in a corner of the countryside. For some special reason, even though they were only one step away from Cangzhou City, they were unwilling to take another step in that direction.
Bai Feng and Murong Yan knew that they were lucky to escape from Mei Lin last time, so they decided not to throw themselves into Cangzhou City again, but chose to wait for the news in a small shop in the countryside. They got a few coins from Su Qing as a reward for rescuing their father and son, and arranged a place to spend the night before sunset.
It's just that a woman dressed like Murong Yan suddenly appeared in the countryside and stopped in one of those simple shops where only horsemen and brokers on their way would usually stay.
Just imagine, a young woman with a veil on her face and a silken body passes by among a bunch of vulgar strangers who work hard day and night, even though the heavy makeup on this young woman's face has become very light. , and there was a big gray cloak on her body, which covered up many of her beauty, but in a place like this, it was still enough to become a unique scene.
The hospitable and enthusiastic shopkeeper wanted to win over people's hearts. Maybe he saw the guest's extraordinary appearance and thought that he must be of high status. He thought that the guest would reward him with a few more copper coins because he was in a good mood. Who would have thought that he, who had seen countless people from all walks of life, would miss this time: Bai Feng and Murong Yan checked into a small shop before sunset. They only bought some tea and dry food, and never left the room again. .
In the wing room, only the outward window would be opened from time to time. The woman did not take off her cloak even when she was indoors. She looked out the window as if she was expecting something.
Sure enough, not long after sunset, an old man and a young man drove a broken carriage to the inn. The young man ran straight to the side room with a fold of new clothes and a letter, and then walked out empty-handed with a weird look on his face - he was obviously doing a job of delivering groceries, and it was not only hard work, but the reward was meager, but he had something special. An extremely satisfied expression.
Someone stopped him when he was about to return to the carriage and asked, "Hey, is that beautiful girl your young lady? For such a grand event, even a piece of clothing needs to be delivered by someone?"
"My young lady?" the young man replied: "That girl, how am I qualified to serve her? Besides, others don't need me to serve her. I just did something within my power..."
After saying that, the young man waved goodbye, immediately returned to the carriage, and drove away.
After hearing such remarks, all the good people thought that there was some kind of noble person living in that humble house, and they all discussed going to "visit" it. They winked with the innkeeper in a very tacit understanding, and then quietly walked to their accommodation.
It can be seen that this is not the first time they have committed a crime.
They found the side room where the travelers lived and peered at each other through the partition wall. They are very familiar with every corner of the inn, and they know which rocks and mounds to move so that they can observe the details of their prey silently in the dark.
However, just when they thought of doing something evil, the door to the next door was opened suddenly.
He only heard solemn footsteps coming from outside, and he quickly walked downstairs.
"Shopkeeper, this is all our money, please don't reveal our whereabouts to anyone." A beautiful female voice passed through the dead air.
"Yes...yes, that's natural. Guest, please go slowly!"
Then, the two horses roared in the night sky one after another, and then walked away through the fallen leaves in the autumn wind, gradually disappearing.
After hearing that they were gone, the group of meddlesome people dared to come out of the darkness and fight with the black shop owner, thinking: "If someone found out just now, that swordsman will definitely kill us all!"
"We are just stealing, and we never want to do this kind of loss-making business!"
"How about going to see what clues they left in the room?"
After listening, several people nodded in approval.
They searched for a long time and found only a set of clothes with torn sleeves stained with blood and a pile of waste paper that had been burned to ashes. Other than that, they found nothing.
God didn't give these thieves much chance to think. The area around the inn was gradually surrounded by a chaotic sound of horse hooves. Some of the thieves climbed out of the window and looked outside, and found that there were officers and soldiers several times their number outside!
The thieves, who knew they were desperate, thought that these officers and soldiers were coming to clear them out. They immediately panicked and jumped out of the window, intending to escape into the deep forest under the cover of night. Unfortunately, they broke their legs and were shot down by several large guns. Some people went directly to a secret place and hid themselves tremblingly like a child playing hide-and-seek; only the shopkeeper could only go out to greet the guests with a shy face, and he could only place his hope in himself. Such superb speaking skills.
At this moment, it was like a frightened bird. Only those who usually do evil things secretly will be caught.
In fact, this group of officers and soldiers did not come here just to catch the thieves who opened a black shop. The "fugitive" they really wanted to catch was a terminally ill lady.
Obviously, the letter that was burned to ashes was written by the noble lady and her husband.
Su Qing, along with Xiang Chuchu and her maid Zichai, had already driven to a place at least twenty miles away from Cangzhou City and were heading towards a scenic spot. They reminded Bai Feng through handwritten letters that officers and soldiers would come in droves later, and then made an appointment to gather at the temple where Xiang Chu Chu had prayed.
The abbot of the temple, Abbot Kuuga, is a wise man. Bai Feng and his party knew about this before, so they chose to stay there for the night.
In his early years, Su Qing was a big thief and a flower picker, which was a famous thing in Changlu. It stands to reason that the temple would never accept such a notorious disciple. Perhaps Xiangchuchu’s previous prayers had an effect. People in the Buddhist temple were actually very happy to help them. The monks headed by Monk Kongwo all thought: "A person like Mrs. Xiang who sincerely worships the Buddha will never associate with sycophants."
As long as people have never met, it is easy to laugh away the grudges, but for Xiang Chuchu, Su Qing is both her benefactor and her enemy. Such cause and effect, such facts will never change no matter how long the matter has passed. Every cent.
She hopes that Su Qing can feel her love, and she also hopes that Su Qing can feel the loss of not being able to love once. Perhaps it was such a contradictory emotion that prevented her hysteria from being cured.
They hid in the temple to discuss where to go afterward. In front of everyone, Xiang Chuchu was able to advise Su Qing to listen to Bai Feng's request and interfere in the marriage of the younger sister of the Zhao family. He said: "Compared with being loyal to the people in the court, you have to go through countless hardships every day." When the party is at rest and unites against dissent, isn’t Beizhen a good place to go?”
Su Qing was naturally very happy to hear that her virtuous wife was so supportive, although this incident had unintentionally opened Xiang Chuchu's wounds and made her heart become heavier and heavier.
They are united because of grudges, and it is inevitable that they will eventually separate because of grudges.
