Following Yang Yi, we walked a few miles and arrived in front of a thatched house.
The surrounding grass and leaves were withered and yellow, and the soil under the tree roots cracked with cracks as wide as a few fingers.
The yard was not big, and there was a vat in the center, with a big yellow dog, skinny and skinny, lying listlessly on the ground.
When seeing a stranger coming, he raised his head and called twice symbolically, then closed his eyes and continued to lie down.
"Madam, Master Zhou and Master Pei are here!" Yang Yi shouted towards the room.
"Here we come." Hearing a woman's voice, Gu Qi looked toward the door of the house. The woman walked out slowly with a black bowl in her hand.
"Come and meet these two adults!"
After listening to Yang Yi's words, the woman placed the bowl on the water tank, approached and saluted.
After taking a closer look, this woman was not very old, but she had subtle wrinkles on her face. His fingers were stubby and chapped, his hair was tangled up randomly, his clothes were wrinkled and washed so much that the original color could no longer be seen, and there were still a few small patches on his elbows.
When she saw Gu Qi looking at her, she lowered her head in embarrassment.
Yang Yi pulled her aside, pointed at the room and said, "Two adults, would you please go in and sit down?"
The room was shabby, with a broken table and a candlestick on the table. The candlestick had several layers of putty on it, making it dark and sticky. There is a pot on the wall near the entrance of the house, and some dry branches are still left in the kitchen. An old man is sitting on the kang, with his legs covered with a thin gray-blue patch quilt.
"Auntie, how are you these days? Is your cough feeling better?"
Zhou Hu seemed to come here often and was very familiar with this environment. He sat directly by the kang and talked to the old man on the kang.
Yang Yi took out a wooden stool from somewhere, raised his arm and wiped it again and again, and put it in front of Gu Qi: "Master Pei, sit down."
Gu Qi reluctantly put on a smile and sat down.
Yang Yi gave Yang Sheng a kick, and Yang Sheng understood and ran out.
After a while, two bowls of water were brought in. The dark bowls made people feel sick to their stomachs.
"Master Zhou, Master Pei, please drink some water." After Yang Sheng finished speaking, he did not directly pass the bowl over, but put it on the table and squatted in the corner.
Gu Qi picked it up from the table suspiciously, and heard Yang Yi shout urgently: "Sir, don't drink it yet! You have to wait."
When I looked down, I saw the black things floating in the water. This was not water, it was obviously mud soup!
As if sensing Gu Qi's discomfort, Zhou Hu pointed to the water on the table and said, "Take it down, we're not thirsty."
Seeing this, Yang Sheng got up from the corner and took the bowl out.
Gu Qi felt mixed emotions and didn't know what to say.
I have never wished that Pei Qihuan was still alive as much as I do now.
Suddenly, the old man sitting on the kang looked at Gu Qi and said, "Master Gu, you are here."
Zhou Hu looked surprised, and Yang Yi and Yang Sheng also stared at Gu Qi.
Zhou Hu smiled and said loudly to the old man: "Auntie, you admit your mistake! That's not Mr. Gu, that's Mr. Pei Qihuan from the capital, Mr. Pei!"
"I know," the old man smiled: "Master Gu won't ignore us, right, Master Gu?"
She looked at Gu Qi with a smile, waiting for Gu Qi's answer.
Gu Qi's throat tightened, she stood up and took two steps over, saying softly: "Yes, you are my people, how could I abandon you?"
Zhou Hu looked shocked, jumped off the kang and pulled Gu Qi over!
"Master Zhou?"
"Don't talk!"
Gu Qi was startled by Zhou Hu. Zhou Hu spread his palm and raised it to cover the lower half of Gu Qi's face.
Gu Qi frowned.
Zhou Hu's pupils trembled and he asked, "Where is Mr. Pei from?"
"Zezhou Meiyu Village."
"where?"
Gu Qi suppressed the unknown anger and replied coldly: "Meiyu Village."
"Have you ever been to Tuzhou?"
"Never."
"Do you know Mr. Gu Yuangu?"
"do not know."
Suspicion could be seen in Zhou Hu's eyes.
Too lazy to argue with him, Gu Qi turned around and prepared to go out.
Zhou Hu still refused to give up and grabbed Gu Qi's wrist and asked: "If you have never been to Tuzhou, how do you know Yong'an County, Qishui County?"
Gu Qi turned around and stared at him without saying a word.
Seeing the delicate atmosphere, Yang Yi stepped forward and whispered: "Zhou...Master Zhou, Yong'an County is mine, I told Master Pei."
Zhou Hu turned to look at Yang Yi, his eyes instantly turned red, and he slowly let go of his hand: "I'm sorry, Master Pei."
Gu Qi was angry and walked out!
There were rapid footsteps behind me, and soon I heard Zhou Hu's voice: "I'm sorry, Master Pei!"
He took two steps and finally caught up with Gu Qi.
Gu Qi still ignored him.
Zhou Hu strode directly in front of Gu Qi and bowed deeply: "I'm sorry! I will apologize to you!"
Gu Qi was very upset!
The anger was not entirely due to Zhou Hu's actions.
But because both Han Zizheng and Yan Churong clearly stated that Pei Qihuan had never been to Tuzhou.
But what is described in the treatise on water control is 90% similar to the scene in Tuzhou!
This can't be a coincidence!
Gu Qi frowned and reached out to lift Zhou Hu's arm: "Master Zhou, you don't have to be like this. Let's go back."
Zhou Hu straightened up and nodded.
The two brothers Yang Yi and Yang Sheng followed behind. After leaving the yard, several rough men squatting outside stood up.
Gu Qi stood still and called out: "Yang Yi."
"Here! What are your orders, Mr. Pei?"
Gu Qi pointed at these people and said, "Let everyone disperse."
Yang Yi replied "Okay" and waved to a few people. The rough guys scattered and went home.
"Sir...sir."
He raised his feet to leave, but Yang Sheng hesitated behind him.
Zhou Hu turned around and asked, "What else is there?"
Gu Qi looked at Yang Sheng. He was standing there picking his hands and looking away: "Do you have any food over there?"
"This..." Zhou Hu's face turned slightly red, he lowered his head and hesitated, then gritted his teeth and said, "Yes! You two brothers will pick it up at the house tomorrow."
Yang Yi cupped his fists and said, "Mr. Zhou, your great kindness will be unforgettable to us!"
After saying that, he dragged Yang Sheng to his knees and kowtowed.
Zhou Hu stepped forward to help him up and sighed: "You are my people now."
Gu Qi didn't know what this sentence meant, but when Zhou Hu said it, the three seven-foot-tall men hugged each other and started crying.
"Okay, I have to send Mr. Pei back." Zhou Hu wiped away his tears and raised his hand to signal them to go back.
The two Yang brothers waved to Chong Gu Qi and turned back, still wiping away tears.
Gu Qi and Zhou Hu walked to the entrance of the village. The carriage seemed to have been ransacked, the curtains were gone, and it was even more empty inside.
The driver looked apologetic: "Sorry, Mr. Zhou, they are really unreasonable, I..."
"Forget it." Zhou Hu sighed.
After getting on the carriage and walking back slowly, Gu Qi looked at the crowd of people outside and said, "It feels like a monkey performing a juggling act, being watched completely."
Zhou Hu felt ashamed when he heard what she said: "I'm sorry, it's my duty as a subordinate."
Gu Qi changed the subject: "How much food does your family have?"
"ah?"
"I asked, how much food does your family have?"
Zhou Hu rubbed his hands: "It's less than one stone, but after receiving the salary, you can have two hundred stones."
"Two hundred? How can you, a dignified county governor, have so little?"
Zhou Hu smiled bitterly and said, "Your Excellency, you don't know. Tuzhou is no better than other places. Food is not available here all the year round. Although your Majesty exempted you from taxes, you also reduced the salaries of officials at all levels."
"When will it be distributed?"
Zhou Hu raised his hand to calculate and said, "About three to five days."
Looking at the people outside, all skinny and skinny, the eyes looking at Zhou Hu were mixed with hope and despair.
Looking at Zhou Hu again, he was also looking at the people outside, his brows furrowed deeply.
"Master Pei," Zhou Hu looked at the people outside, his eyes slightly red: "The people here are suffering too much."
After speaking, a few hot tears fell from the corners of Zhou Hu's eyes, flowing to his twitching mouth, and he swallowed them all. I am afraid that only he can understand this bitterness.
Gu Qi rubbed her sore nose and held his hand: "It will be fine."
Sitting in the car heading south, I roughly understood the location of each county.
But half a day was too short to examine it in detail, so we had to wait for Zhou Hu's topographic map to come out before making detailed plans.
Seeing that the sun was about to set, the coachman gave the horse a hard whip and the horse moved faster.
The road was full of potholes and the carriage bumped around so much that Gu Qi felt uncomfortable all over, so he had to hold on to the wooden board to prevent him from falling.
"Master Zhou, can I ask you a question?"
Zhou Hu looked at Gu Qi and said, "You ask."
Suddenly I don't know where to start asking.
He opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't ask.
"If you have anything to say, sir, please feel free to tell me."
Gu Qi collected his thoughts: "Why did you ask me about Mr. Gu at Yang Yi's house?"
Zhou Hu paused and then said, "My aunt called you Master Gu, and I lost my mind for a moment."
Then he stared at Gu Qi's face: "Looking carefully, your eyebrows are somewhat similar to Master Gu."
At this time, Gu Qi became more and more curious about Gu Yuan.
"Are you familiar with Master Gu?"
Hearing Gu Qi's question, Zhou Hu smiled slightly: "That's right, I used to be the magistrate of Yong'an County."
"No wonder you are so familiar with Yang Yi's family. Did you participate in that time of digging mountains and building canals?"
Zhou Hu's smile froze and he looked at Gu Qi blankly.
Gu Qi smiled awkwardly: "I just asked casually, that's all, I won't talk about it anymore."
"Master Pei," Zhou Hu's whole body sank, as if he had made some important decision: "If you can really relieve the suffering of the people of Tuzhou, I will be willing to be a lower official even if I lose my life."
"This...where do you start talking about this?"
"Stop!" Zhou Hu suddenly shouted.
"Huh..." The coachman quickly pulled the rope.
Zhou Hu got out of the car and stood on the ground looking at Gu Qi.
Gu Qi didn't know why, so he simply got out of the car.
Zhou Hu said to the driver: "Five miles away, wait."
"Yes." The driver drove the empty car forward.
"Master Zhou, what do you mean?"
Gu Qi put her hands into her sleeves and looked around cautiously.
Zhou Hu did not make any other move, he just walked forward slowly: "Master Pei, you are personally sent by His Majesty. I think you are His Majesty's person."
Gu Qi didn't answer.
Seeing that Gu Qi did not refute, Zhou Hu continued: "Master Gu Yuangu is from His Highness King Zhe."
His calm words were like a bolt from the blue to Gu Qi!
"What I say next may be treacherous. But I still want to find Mr. Gu's innocence."
Zhou Hu ignored Gu Qi's mood and just kept talking to himself.
"How can it affect the power struggle in the court if you are far away in Tuzhou?"
"It was Mr. Gu's suggestion to dig mountains and build canals, but it was not Mr. Gu who actually caused the mountain to collapse."
"Oh, after all, I was just a victim. What a pity, what a shame!"
"The people scolded him and hated him, but when he was dying, he was still thinking about the people of Tuzhou."
Gu Qi stared at Zhou Hu: "You mean, there is something fishy about Gu Yuan's death?"
Zhou Hu didn't seem to hear Gu Qi's words and kept chattering: "It's only now that the people know his good intentions. But so what, there will be no second Gu Yuan in the world."
