Zhuo Lengping walked a short distance and came around to her mother's room. She gently opened the window and saw that her mother was not asleep either. She was just clasping her hands beside the bed and mumbling something.
She had been doing farm work since she was a child and was very agile. She held the window with her left hand and jumped in without making much noise.
"Cold screen!" Her mother almost shouted.
Leng Ping hurriedly walked to the bed and held her mother's hand: "I found the key, mother, let's go now without further ado!"
"Wait a minute," Mrs. Zhang hurriedly ran to the end of the bed and took out an old box from under the bed. "You have to bring the silver, otherwise you will be in trouble on the way." She reached out and grabbed a large handful of broken silver and put it in her bag. Then she followed her daughter in a panic.
"Master Lu, please open the door!"
The magistrate led a group of people, holding pine torches, and shouted loudly in front of the door.
This shout was also heard by the mother and daughter of the Zhuo family. Leng Ping inserted the key but couldn't turn it. She was so anxious that she was sweating and her hands were shaking. She pulled it out, changed the key, inserted it again, and the garden door opened.
"Master Magistrate, please come quickly!" Lu Zhengfu came to the house in person and opened the door to welcome the Magistrate.
"Thank you, Mr. Lu!" The magistrate made a hasty bow, then turned and shouted at the officers: "Don't be idle, go to Mr. Lu's room now to catch someone!"
Zhuo Lengping walked to the woodshed and vaguely heard chaotic shouts outside. She didn't dare to hesitate anymore, picked a key at random, and turned it anxiously, and the door opened. She didn't even have time to be happy, she rushed in like flying, and immediately saw the ladder leaning on the west wall. She couldn't lift it alone, so she turned around and called to Old Lady Zhang: "Come over and help me!"
"Mr. Lu! Mr. Lu!" The magistrate knocked hard on the door and said.
Lu Jishou was suddenly awakened and said in a daze: "You are the mother..."
He moved his hand to his side and only grabbed the quilt, but didn't touch anyone.
Lu Jishou immediately panicked. He stood up and lifted the quilt, only to find that it was empty. He touched his face and widened his eyes: "She actually ran away!"
Zhuo Lengping put the ladder up on the arch and whispered to his mother, "I'll go up first."
As light as a swallow, she climbed up the ladder slowly, grabbed the wall, and climbed straight up. The tiles were a little slippery, as if it had just rained. She couldn't stand up for a while, so she simply lay there, turned over, lowered her head and shouted to her mother: "Come up quickly!"
Old lady Zhang stepped up the ladder with one foot. Due to her old age and frailty, she had to go up slowly. Just as she was touching the edge of the wall, she suddenly heard a loud noise at the garden door. A group of officers and soldiers smashed the door panel, followed by a dozen torches. The wind swayed me here and there, and then there were random shouts from below.
Leng Ping hurriedly stretched out his hand to grab his mother, almost using all his strength to pull her up. She pushed the ladder down hard, then stood up again. Supporting her mother, she stepped on the top of the arch and climbed to the one-foot-high wall. When she looked outside the wall, she saw that it was indeed an empty white land, leading directly to a wild road.
Leng Ping was a little confused at this time, but he never dared to jump, so he quickly walked forward along the wall, intending to avoid pursuit.
An officer and his soldiers rushed over, walked into the arch, and saw a wooden ladder lying next to it. When he looked up, there was no one in sight, only the ink-black sky. He knowingly ran away from the criminal, gritted his steel teeth, and punched the white wall so hard that some debris splattered out.
"Grandma, she was tricked by a bitch..."
When Zhuo Lengping saw that no one was chasing him, he slowed down and walked steadily with his mother. After walking for a while, we reached a place. Looking through the moonlight, we saw a straw shed propped up on the ground. We couldn't see clearly further down, but we knew enough to jump down. Leng Ping was worried that the thatched shed was unstable, so he told his mother:
"My daughter will go down first. Mother will wait here."
After saying that, she slowly sat down, held the lower edge of the eaves with both hands, and slipped over, but she just happened to roll onto the shed, so she was safe. Seeing that she was not far from the ground, she jumped straight up and landed on her feet.
She quickly looked around and saw that this place was originally a stable, built outside the mansion, but just against the courtyard wall. She walked into the stable in the dark, and after rummaging around for a while, she found a hemp rope from the ground, which was about half as thick as a hand and half as high as the courtyard wall.
She had an idea, swung the rope, looked at her mother and shouted:
"Mother! I'll throw this rope up! You climb down!"
Zhuo Lengping couldn't see his mother's face clearly, but he still threw the rope up.
Old lady Zhang grabbed the rope, tied it to the corner of the eaves, and then went down the rope.
Leng Ping saw his mother's figure and hurriedly walked under the rope to wait, just in case something unexpected happened.
When Mrs. Zhang climbed to the end of the rope, Zhuo Lengping shouted again: "The rope is short, mother, you can't get down! Just jump down, my daughter is here!"
Old lady Zhang let go of her hands, and Zhuo Lengping hurriedly held her mother's ribs and put her down. The mother and daughter did not dare to say a word, so they fled in a hurry on the night road.
"Master Lu, how could you ask Zhuo Lengping to run away?" The magistrate sat in the hall and sighed.
"Call Shou'er!" Lu Zhengfu couldn't swallow this breath, his face turned red for a moment, and he shouted loudly.
A few stewards came with Lu Jishou on their backs. Jishou looked up and saw sparks in his father's eyes. The officers and soldiers beside him were also silent. Looking at the battle, it was as if they wanted to eat him alive. It was so scary. His legs and feet became weak, and he knelt down facing the light.
"I asked you to arrange for the maid to watch them, so you'd better go to sleep with peace of mind! You guy... you really fail to succeed and fail more than you do!" Lu Zhengfu slapped the table and shouted.
"Leng Ping said she wanted to follow me... Yuan... Yuan... I just let that maid go... Who would have thought she would have so many thoughts in her heart."
"You are so round! Being surrounded by a peasant boy who doesn't understand anything, you have grown taller in vain every year, haven't you?"
Lu Zhengfu rolled up his sleeves and glanced at the magistrate. Although he usually felt sorry for his son, he must not lose face at this moment. He stepped forward and slapped Lu Jishou in the face.
The county magistrate quickly grabbed Lu Zhengfu. The steward next to him looked at him in horror and knelt down to beg for mercy for Mr. Lu.
"Mr. Lu, forget it, forget it. It won't be too late to find this female prisoner in the future..." the magistrate advised.
Lu Zhengfu's hands were still shaking. When the magistrate gave him the steps, he stopped his hands and sat on an armchair, breathing heavily.
"Since the suspect has not been caught, this county has to leave... But please listen to my advice. Please rest your anger and don't vent your grievances on the young master." The magistrate stood up and comforted.
"Okay..." Lu Zhengfu looked at the sky in despair.
"See you off."
