Zheng Haizhu turned around suddenly, pointed at Hua Er, and said to Jingzhao's female disciple: "We also brought some incense money today. Could you please lead my maid to donate merit."
Although the little Taoist nun was Hu Bo's confidant, she only knew that Cui Wensheng had told them on behalf of Concubine Zheng. She had no idea that the boy in front of her was Hu Bo's son.
She then had no intention of caring or monitoring. She leaned over to thank Zheng Haizhu and led Hua Er to the main hall.
Ma Xianglin's subordinate, Qi Hu, who had lost an arm, hurriedly came over and saluted Zheng Haizhu. After taking the bag containing shoes and socks, he called the boy: "Ayong, thank you madam."
A Yong did not react. Today he still uses branches to draw crooked houses.
Zheng Haizhu sat down on the upside-down basket next to the vegetable field and said warmly to Qi Hu: "Let the baby play by himself. Brother Qi can just go and do the work in the field. I will rest here and wait for my next day." The maid is back."
Qi Hu responded and walked back to the vegetable field.
A Yong drew a few more strokes, then stopped suddenly and was in a daze for a moment. Then he stood up, ran to the fruit tree not far away, picked a handful of autumn dates, and handed it back to Zheng Haizhu.
Zheng Haizhu raised the corners of his mouth, picked up a date and bit it, then picked out a bigger one and gave it back to the child: "Let's eat it together."
In the boy's dark pupils, his originally distracted gaze finally focused, and his face lit up with a bit of energy.
Zheng Haizhu stared at this face.
Different from the first time they met before, this time, I could see the child's face clearly.
Although this doll is still young, the pair of majestic starry eyes and the line from lips to mandible are already faintly handsome.
Zheng Haizhu suddenly felt like his heart was electrified.
This doll, why does it look a bit like... like Ma Xianglin?
Thinking again about the Sichuan-Sichuan accent of the vegetable grower, how could Zheng Haizhu not be suspicious?
"Ayong, where did your family live before?" Zheng Haizhu asked softly.
Ayong shook his head, holding the dates but not eating them. Instead, he returned to the painting on the dirt and waved to Zheng Haizhu.
Zheng Haizhu stepped forward and squatted down.
Ayong picked up the branch and lit the crooked house.
"Nantianmen," he said, pointing to two vague human figures far apart below the house, "Mom, hook."
Nantianmen is an important building in Taoism. Those who ascend to immortality will pass through Nantianmen.
Zheng Haizhu thought for a while and estimated that the boy had stayed in this Taoist temple for a long time and knew what Nantianmen said, so he painted his deceased mother as a fairy going to Nantianmen.
"Gook, is that you?" Zheng Haizhu asked, pointing to the smaller human figure.
Ayong nodded and patted himself: "Hook."
Then he pointed at Zheng Haizhu: "You."
Zheng Haizhu seemed to understand that the pronunciation of "hook" refers to the first person.
She has been traveling around for several years and has heard mixed dialects from the north and south. This is the first time she has heard such a self-proclaimed name.
It's not like Sichuan dialect either.
She then patted herself and said, "Hook."
Ayong showed the innocent and understanding smile of an ordinary child, looked at his feet, selected a more slender branch, and continued painting next to the house and the two human figures.
To be precise, it's more like writing, small.
Zheng Haizhu got closer and was shocked when he saw the symbols written by A Yong clearly.
Among the three characters, two were the same as the ones she saw in the cell where Ma Qiancheng was imprisoned in the Imperial Prison!
Zheng Haizhu regained his composure, pointed at the symbol beside "Nantian Gate", and asked tentatively: "South?"
A Yong said "Hmm", then pointed at the symbols beside the big and small figures respectively, and said in a quiet voice: "Mom, hook."
Zheng Haizhu raised his head and glanced at the man surnamed Qi who was busy working in the vegetable field. He also picked up a stone and drew a brand new symbol, signaling A Yong to recognize it.
After A Yong took a closer look, he raised his eyes to look at Zheng Haizhu, pointed to the red coral hairpin on her head and said, "Red."
Zheng Haizhu felt a strange numbness on his back and spread to his neck.
What she drew was the character on the single-eyed gold steel chisel given to her by Ma Xianglin. General Xiao Ma told her that it meant "red" because the Shili natives, like the Miao tribe, worshiped fire.
So, this doll can speak and recognize Shili dialect?
What made her even more shocked and excited about "getting it without any effort" was that she understood three of the four characters in the prison.
I, Nan, Hong...
However, what does this mean?
Nanhong?
Agate from my hometown in the southwest?
This kind of speculation with the imagination of modern people was quickly denied by Zheng Haizhu.
Liu Shimin said that the so-called "Ma Xuanfu committed suicide in prison" is an unsolved case, and many people believe that he was murdered.
If Ma Qiancheng knew that he was about to be killed, or was on the verge of death, the traces he would leave in the world should not be the concern for the treasure, but clues to his enemies.
Zheng Haizhu recalled the fourth character, a symbol shaped like the character "D", and drew it for A Yong.
However, this time Ayong shook his head in confusion.
"Mrs. Zheng..."
Brother Qi came over holding a bamboo basket.
Zheng Haizhu quickly covered the two symbols he drew with the stone. When he stood up, he pushed the stone with his shoe and wiped it.
Qi Hu came closer, smiled honestly, and said, "I picked some freshly ripe melons and vegetables and brought them back to my wife for a taste. Before leaving today, the Taoist Master told me not to forget them."
Zheng Haizhu took it readily and praised: "It looks so good. Brother Qi, from the accent, is he from the south?"
Qi Hu responded: "My hometown is Hanzhong, and my in-law's family is in Chongqing, so my accent follows my mother-in-law's."
Just as he was talking, Hua Er came back.
Zheng Haizhu patted A Yong on the shoulder and said to Qi Hu: "You can wear shoes and socks, but don't let them go. I'll come back to see the doll after a while."
