It seems like it really hurts my heart.
They were in a hurry when they came, but they were not in such a hurry when they returned. Wu Erlang turned his head again, trying to get a glimpse of his sister's thoughts from her behavior.
However, at this time, the sky was getting dark and the haze was about to rain. Wu Cuicui and the others were all wearing bamboo hats. She lowered her head, but the expression on her face could not be seen clearly.
Wu Erlang was a little uneasy. A sister who was so quiet and silent was far less reassuring than a sister who cried and made a fuss and then became exhausted.
Halfway through the road, a thunderstorm flashed across the sky in the distance, and then drizzle fell from the sky.
Wu Erlang raised his hand to block his eyes, took out the map of the post house from his arms and looked at it. He saw that the next post house was within a mile, so he immediately ordered: "Urge your horse to go faster and go to the post house in front." Go take shelter from the rain and spend the night!"
Everyone responded to the order, and the sound of horse hooves suddenly broke through the thin rain curtain in front of them.
Wu Erlang urged the horse to take a few steps quickly. He suddenly remembered that he had brought a raincoat with him when he left Pingcheng. He bent down and took it out of his horse pocket, intending to hand it to his sister beside him.
It was also at this time that he discovered that Wu Cuicui had fallen to the end of the team, still maintaining the previous speed and moving forward leisurely.
Wu Erlang's heart suddenly trembled, and he motioned for the others to go ahead, while he turned his horse's head to his sister's side: "Cui Cui..."
Wu Cuicui did not respond.
Wu Erlang couldn't hold himself back and reached out to lift the bamboo hat on her head, only to see Wu Cuicui lowering her eyelashes, her eyes were red and swollen, and the traces of tears were clearly visible on her cheeks.
She just sat on the horse and cried silently for who knows how long.
Wu Erlang felt both guilty and pity in his heart.
I feel guilty that as an elder brother, I can't protect my sister from the wind and rain. What I feel sorry for is that my sister's marriage has been broken off again, and she is so sad.
He wanted to say something, but he also felt that at this moment, the comfort of words was probably of no use to the person in front of him. In the end, he just held the back of his sister's cold hand and told her forcefully: "People have to look forward. Ah, Cuicui!”
Two tears rolled silently down his cheeks, quickly blending with the drizzle falling in the sky.
Wu Cuicui turned to look at him, her expression shrinking: "Am I stupid, brother?"
"I messed everything up..."
Her eyes were empty and she said slowly: "Whether it's Li Tianrong or Li Qiao, I try very hard to do something. But I'm too stupid, I have no brain, I have no vision, I don't understand anything, I'm a You are a waste and can only cause trouble to the people around you. I killed my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law..."
Wu Erlang felt uneasy after hearing this, and said quickly: "Cui Cui, don't think like that! The person who killed A Niang and Wen Niang was the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor. What does it have to do with you? You have been kept in the dark all this time. Here, being pushed away by others, are those things really your intention?!"
Wu Cuicui shook her head: "Brother, please stop talking. I know you are just comforting me."
She said again: "I seem to have never done a single right thing, and I have never done anything to make my parents proud."
"I used to stalk Li Tianrong and make them embarrassed with me. I went against Yu Yingying several times, but I was too stupid and was always played by her."
"I know a lot of people are laughing at me behind my back, but they don't dare to show it publicly because of the Wu family. But for the Wu family and the rest of the Wu family, having a family like me is really bad. It’s clear!”
"Later, my head got hot and I reconciled with Li Tianrong. I didn't know that my family was in crisis. How could I be such a bastard? I was always thinking about myself. I thought there would always be someone to support me from behind, but my father No matter whether it’s brother or not, they’ve all gone—”
"My grandma was struggling to support the Wu family at that time, and she was exhausted both physically and mentally. I made her so worried. How could there be such a bastard daughter like me in the world?"
"And later I married Li Qiao..."
Speaking of this, she couldn't help but choked up and said: "I really want to learn to be sensible. I want to be a good daughter of the Wu family and a good wife of Li Qiao. I don't want to repeat my past failures, but I can’t do it!”
"I try very hard not to repeat the mistakes of my previous marriage, but new problems keep popping up. I have never encountered anything like this before. I don't know who to ask for help, and I can't solve it myself. , I’m really, really scared!”
"Li Qiao to me was just a person who existed in my imagination at first. I told myself that I would be his wife well, but when it came to marriage, reality was different from imagination. He was the same. A living, warm person!"
Wu Cuicui cried loudly, unable to continue: "When he was banned from home because he offended the emperor, he always liked to read books in the sun in the study. At that time, I was next to him, and I also wanted to find something. I had a lot of work to do, but my hands were clumsy and I couldn’t make clothes, so I asked someone to teach me how to tie the knot. I practiced for a long time before I made a particularly beautiful one for him..."
"I'm not the wife he wants, and I'm not vicious and do all kinds of evil, but that's why I'm even more disgusting."
"If I were like this, Li Qiao and the rest of the people could get rid of me happily. But because I'm not like this, they can only tolerate my stupidity. , while being implicated by my incompetence..."
Wu Erlang felt sad when he heard this. At the same time, he was surprised that his sister could analyze him so clearly and cruelly.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier. The two brothers and the sister were walking side by side. The two horses were not urged and moved forward at a leisurely pace. The outline of the posthouse had already appeared in the distance, and Wu Erlang felt in his heart What he was thinking about was his sister's pale face and dull eyes.
"I've been thinking along the way, what's the point of living for a person like me?"
Wu Cuicui said: "I'm so stupid, so incompetent, and can't do anything well. I can only make my enemies happy and my loved ones sad. It's better to simply die and at least let the people around me be clean!"
Wu Erlang said urgently: "Don't talk nonsense!"
He said: "How come you haven't accomplished anything? At least that day in the capital, you saved your family and so many officials and people who were in trouble!"
Wu Cuicui shook her head almost invisible, speechless.
When Wu Erlang saw that she had no business, he felt worried and hesitantly suggested: "If not, I will send someone to send you to Dezhou to find Li Qiao, okay? You two will be husband and wife after all, martyr girl Afraid of pestering Lang..."
Wu Cuicui shook her head even more: "Why is it so? Let's just separate happily."
"Finally, I don't want the impression in his mind to become a hateful-looking woman. As long as I stay like this, I still have some good memories... I should have. Bar?"
Her own tone was uncertain.
Another thunder fell in the sky, and the earth seemed to be trembling.
The horse riding underneath him was frightened and suddenly raised its front hooves and let out a neighing sound. Wu Erlang tightened the reins and clamped the horse's belly. Suddenly he noticed a strange noise around him and turned his head to look. , but the horse her sister was riding was also frightened and went crazy, throwing her to the ground.
Wu Erlang was so shocked that his liver and gallbladder split. He hurriedly got off his horse and tried to help him, but Wu Cuicui cried and brushed him away: "What do you care about me? Let me just fend for myself! People like me... , what’s the point of living anymore?!”
After saying that, she ignored the hem of her clothes that were stained by the rain and mud, and fell on the ground and cried loudly. The cry was not grief, but despair.
Wu Erlang helped him several times, but Wu Cuicui brushed him away. After several times, when he was at his wits' end, he saw a middle-aged woman coming towards the post house holding an oil-paper umbrella. , after walking in, he bowed to him with a peaceful expression.
It's not someone I know.
Appearing here at this time...
Wu Erlang returned the gift in a daze.
Wu Cuicui lay on the ground and cried for a long time, until she almost lost all her strength. She was picked up from the ground by a pair of warm hands, and she was helped to the post house with staggering steps.
"who are you?"
Her eyes were dull and she asked the middle-aged woman she had never met before in a light tone.
The other party did not answer, but asked the postman to bring hot water, helped her undress, take a bath, put on warm and clean clothes, and finally said: "How can Mrs. Wu be a useless person?"
"I don't know about other things, but you used your dowry to help many people, and you also allowed many women and children who lost their mainstay in the war to survive. Isn't this something that is beneficial to the world?"
The hot water ran across the cold cheek, causing an itchy sting.
Wu Cuicui said blankly: "You have no idea how many bastard things I have done and how many people I have harmed..."
The middle-aged woman asked her back: "Now that Mrs. Wu is dead, can all the wrong things she has done be written off?"
Wu Cuicui closed her eyes: "Of course not."
The middle-aged woman then said: "In that case, what's the benefit of dying? It's better to keep a useful body, encourage it throughout your life, and do good deeds to atone for your sins."
Wu Cuicui looked moved and thoughtful.
After doing all this, the middle-aged woman saluted her and turned to say goodbye.
Wu Cuicui stopped her and returned the gift solemnly: "I don't know your name yet..."
The middle-aged woman turned around, avoiding her courtesy, and said: "Ms. Wu, there is no need to thank me. I was entrusted by others to say these few words to you."
Wu Cuicui felt curious and hurriedly asked: "Who is that person? Please also tell me that I will personally go to express my gratitude to the benefactor who pointed out the puzzle in the future -"
The middle-aged woman shook her head and said, "No need. Before I left, she had told me not to tell Mrs. Wu her name."
She picked up the bamboo hat placed at the door and put it on: "She said that General Li's rescue that day was a life-saving grace, but Mrs. Wu saved her and didn't see her, so her face was ruined. How could it be that it was not a life-saving grace for Mrs. Wu that day?" If I don’t see her, why would she come to see Mrs. Wu again today?”
Chapter 138
After Li Shimin separated from Li Qiao and Wu Erlang, he led his soldiers back eastward.
Li Qiao had walked this road before, when he was sent as an envoy to King Wei's army and was ordered to take Princess Wei and the criminal Chang to the capital to discuss the crime.
It was also at that time that he accidentally saved Li Shimin and Xiao Mingze, and became brothers with the former. Now that he walks this path again, it feels completely different.
At that time, he and Li Shimin were riding in front, not far away, and he felt that he had nothing to hide from his elder brother, so he sighed and said with a wry smile: "I only say that Wu is stupid, how can I be a smart person? "
"I think back then, when I was ordered to go here as an envoy, I got along with King Wei and his son, leaving the Chang family alive. When I returned to the capital, the emperor of the Li family was furious because of this and punished me to stay behind closed doors for a month to reflect."
"I was still complacent at that time, thinking that I had the Emperor in the palm of my hand, but I didn't know that the Tian family was just a drunkard who didn't care about drinking. His heart was not with Princess Chang, but with Mrs. Wu. It's ridiculous for me. I don’t know anything. It’s not Wu Erlang’s fault that he learned the truth from the Ninth Princess. I’m afraid that at this moment, I’m still kept in the dark!”
Li Qiao looked sad: "Wu Shi can't understand, and I am the same. Although I have always been proud of my superhuman talents, I ended up in a complete failure..."
After Li Shimin heard this, he said seriously: "This is wrong!"
He looked serious, and his tone contained a hint of encouragement and advice: "My sworn brother is no more than 10 years old, but he has already made great contributions to the world and boasts of his superhuman talents. What's wrong with that? As for that... What are you going to learn from a villain who stabs people in the back and plays tricks on others?!"
Li Shimin snorted coldly, with contempt on his face: "Whether it is the emperor or the emperor, they all think they are wise and think that they are masters of playing with people's hearts and manipulating power. But what have they done? What results did you get?!”
"The Supreme Emperor left behind the inheritance of his ancestors and fled westward in embarrassment, causing turmoil in the world and devastating the people. What a great sin! And the Emperor - well, he does have a temperament that is willing to endure hardships, but what has he done? It's just... To break the situation with violence is just a matter of risking the lives of the city’s officials and people!”
He said disdainfully: "Such a clever and ingenious thing on the surface, but actually a vicious and incompetent scheme. It's okay if you don't learn from it!"
Li Qiao turned around and looked at him intently for a few seconds, then smiled bitterly and shook his head: "But my sworn brother, I lost to such a scheme..."
Li Shimin said naturally: "So you are leaving now?"
Li Qiao was slightly startled when he heard this: "Brother, what you mean is..."
A thin smile appeared on Li Shimin's lips: "How clever are the methods of the Tian family's father and son? What they rely on is just the halo of the emperor and the royal family, and they can deceive the world for a while. , can you still be deceived for the rest of your life?"
He said meaningfully: "Since you can trust me as a brother, I will teach you another sage's saying today, 'When a country perishes, the wise must go first. This is the same in ancient and modern times.' Because of this, Are you and the Wu family the only ones who have left the capital?"
Li Qiao was thoughtful.
Li Shimin tapped his shoulder with his riding crop: "Children, cheer up."
He looked in the direction of Qingzhou, which was the only way for them to return to Texas: "There is still a tough battle to be fought over there!"
Li Qiao felt solemn in his heart: "King Wei..."
Li Shimin smiled and said: "You are in a hurry when you go there, but you don't have to go back home. Please take your time!"
…
Wu Erlang returned to the capital and hurriedly packed his things. The Wu family thought they were fleeing Japan and left Beijing. It was naturally simple to do it again this time, not to mention that the Wu family had a large population when they left Beijing last time, and now there are only a few left. One!
I picked some useful gold and silver items and took them with me, leaving all the bulkier ones behind. As soon as the door of the house was closed, I left the city to join my sister.
After all, Wu Cuicui was not completely stupid. After returning to the capital, she met Wang Shilang and bowed first: "Sir, you are so kind. My little lady is very grateful!"
