But the bright moon shines on the ditch

On the same rainy night, thousands of miles away, in an ordinary farm on the outskirts of Kyoto.

A servant woman held a candle through the corner door connecting the inner and outer courtyards, walked through a garden path surrounded by fences, and knocked on the door of an elegant small building called "Qinliju".

After a while, he was summoned to come inside.

A maid took the candle from the servant woman's hand, placed it on the table, and greeted her: "It's so late, why is Mother Xu here?"

The maid who was called Mrs. Xu lowered her voice and asked, "Where's the lady?"

"Change inside."

Just as he was talking, a young girl came out from behind the screen, opened her arms and let the maid help her take care of her skirt, and said directly: "But what happened in the front yard?"

Mother Xu quickly lowered her head and replied: "It's not a big deal, it's just that... the young master had a nightmare again and had a low fever. Uncle Liang wanted to go in and scrub him but he refused and kicked him out."

"Can I use Twilight Food?"

Xu's mother shook her head and started talking to herself: "Oh, I can understand it. Anyone who has to save his life from hell will have nightmares. However, this is the fourth time this month that he has suffered from nightmares. He doesn't want to eat or drink. It's very scary to let people get close... Miss, don't blame me for talking too much. You have been hiding this foreigner with unknown identity and background for more than half a year. If the news gets out, you will be killed by the master, his wife or that person. The young master of the Fang family knows that I really can't bear the responsibility for missing your bright future."

Yunying's unmarried woman has always had a reputation greater than heaven.

Young ladies from wealthy families in the capital would be assigned to Zhuangzi only if they had done something wrong and were punished or were in trouble. Normal families would just enjoy the cool weather in summer or occasionally go out to Zhuangzi to stay for a few days. There are a lot of them. It's better for her girl to take a few girls and simply take root in the village, for fear that others won't know that she hates women and likes farming.

Mother Xu was originally a child of the Wu family, and the old lady was embarrassed by the old lady. She moved to Zhuangzi to take care of herself when she was old and unwell. She also managed dozens of acres of forested fields and farmers, and she and Uncle Liang were in charge of the inside and outside.

She had watched Wu Jia grow up, and she felt very distressed. She could not help but talk a lot when she spoke, and her words were sincere and thoughtful.

Wu Jia listened patiently, smiling and saying nothing.

Xu's mother sighed helplessly and tried to discuss it again: "His condition has been getting better over and over again. He is either suffering from evil spirits or has deep thoughts. I think he looks like the latter. He stays in the room all day long and is worried... If not , let him leave after the fever subsides this time? Otherwise, I really can’t explain it to the owner!"

When Xu's mother said this, she was quite suspicious of relying on Lao Da. She thought that Wu Jia was going to play tricks, but she didn't want her to just nod and accept, which surprised Xu's mother.I thought she was so easy to talk to, maybe she had misunderstood earlier?

With many doubts, Xu's mother was sent away.

Wu Jia asked the maid Yuan Rong to prepare two plates of snacks, then carried the bamboo basket and carefully walked to the front yard while avoiding Mrs. Xu's eyes.

Although this is a farm, all rules and regulations should be simple, but there must be distinction between men and women everywhere. Unless the host family allows, the male outsiders will live in the front yard.Fortunately, there was a low slope behind the attached house, which was specially used to entertain foreign guests and servants. There happened to be a bamboo house on the slope. It was located in a remote place, usually sparsely populated and very quiet, so it was most suitable for recuperation.

Wu Jia arrived at the door and knocked on the bamboo leaf.There was no movement inside, and she was not in a hurry. She knocked twice from time to time and waited quietly.After about half a stick of incense, a rustling sound finally came.

The door opened, but there was no light inside, so it was completely dark.

Cistanche Rong seemed to be used to it, so she hung the lantern on the door without any surprise, walked to the back of the house, brought a stool, and stepped aside without saying a word.Wu Jia then stepped forward, put the basket at the door, sat on the stool, and looked inside with the sparse candlelight, his voice was soft and gentle.

"Mother Xu said you have a fever. Are you feeling better now? If the fever doesn't go down tomorrow morning, can I ask the doctor to take a look?"

After a long time, a rough voice came.

"No, thank you."

"Okay, then let me ask Uncle Liang to make you some decoction to help you sleep. Drink it so you can sleep well. You will be fine when you wake up tomorrow."

There are so many pains in a person's life, and not being able to sleep at night is one of them, it is really painful.This time there was no rejection, but a vague yes.

Wu Jia added: "You don't use evening food. If you are hungry at night, just eat a few cakes. You don't like sweet food, so I specially asked the kitchen to put less sugar."

What Wu Jia responded to was dead silence.

Wu Jia sat for a while and smiled to himself: "I don't know why, talking to you like this every night makes me feel very hopeful about my life. Seeing you getting better little by little, I also feel that God is fair, so , you must not be discouraged.”

She looked at the time and saw that it was getting late. She stood up and was about to leave. Suddenly she turned around and her voice rose unconsciously, "Ah! I almost forgot. I have some good news for you. My brother has written. I think...he will be there in less than three days." We will arrive in the capital, and I will prepare a good bottle of wine for you by then."

Her words seemed like a question, but also with a bit of certainty. She didn't need an answer, she just felt that the day when old friends reunited was a good time to celebrate with a glass of wine.

On the way back, Cong Rong pouted her mouth and puffed out her cheeks without saying a word.Wu Jia found it funny and pinched her face: "What's wrong? Who made you unhappy?"

"Who else could it be? That fake mute!"

She watched the whole process of her young lady being ignored, and naturally felt that she was not worth it.Why does the daughter of the Minister of Household Affairs need to condescend to please a commoner?
If it hadn't been for the young master's trust, he wouldn't have had to suffer this cowardice.

It just so happens that the young lady is a person of her word, and she must keep her promise.Not only do it, but do it well.Therefore, in the past six months since I brought that man back from Jiangxi, the lady not only took care of him personally, but also hired famous doctors to use famous medicines, such as thousand-year-old ginseng, deer antlers, crane gallbladder, etc., which cost a lot of money. huge.

In order to snatch that life away from the King of Hell, he even used the dowry that his wife had prepared for her in advance!
It was strange how many times that man almost died, hanging on to death.She heard from the old man in the house that only ghosts who refused to die would behave like this. They had resentments and failed to get repayment, so they wandered around the world and refused to let go.Unexpectedly, the young lady said that with that little bit of unyielding vitality, this life was worth saving.

But what was that man's attitude? Not only did he ignore his savior, he even avoided him like an enemy.

"Isn't it just disfigured? When we were taking care of him, which one of us girls had never seen his bloody appearance? We weren't even afraid yet, but he became coquettish. He refused to see anyone every day and locked himself in the room to go crazy. , Miss Li Li, you have lost a lot of weight before and after you ran away! If the master and his wife knew about it, they might be very distressed."

Wu Jia listened to the little girl's fierce speech, accusing the man of being ruthless and meaningless, and smiled: "Did I really lose weight?"

"Miss!" Cistanche Rong stamped her feet, "When has it been? Do you still care about me?"

"This is so important, how can you not care?"

Seeing that Cistanche Rong was choked and turned away sullenly, Wu Jia patted her hand and smiled lightly: "Okay, don't be angry. It won't be cute if you have a bulging face."

"I'm not angry."

"That's right, he is a patient, and we have to be considerate of him." Wu Jia raised his head and looked at the cloudy sky. Thinking of the faint light like a firefly in front of the bamboo house, he felt regretful.

"Furthermore, if we were to put ourselves in another place, if you and I suffered such a bad luck, were burned beyond recognition and almost died, and had to face a completely changed person's face, how could we not feel sorry for ourselves? He didn't think about it. This is extraordinary perseverance.”

Cong Rong thought about it and realized that it was not unreasonable.How can ordinary people endure the pain of being peeled off and regenerated, and how can they endure the disfigurement and appearance of a ghost?
If you think about it carefully, that face really looks like dry old tree bark, with deep and shallow pits and rugged lines, which is really scary.

She shook and quickly dismissed the face in her mind that could stop a child from crying. She stroked her chest and said to Wu Jia: "He was such a handsome and handsome person. I heard he was also very talented. Alas..."

After the sound of people faded away, the tranquility of the past returned to the low slopes of the bamboo forest.

It was still dark inside the house.

A few days later, Wu Yin got off his horse in front of the farm after a long journey. He grinned brightly at the oncoming mother Xu, and immediately asked Uncle Liang: "Where is he?"

Uncle Liang immediately led him the way.

Mother Xu, who had accumulated a lot of bitterness and had not had time to pour it out, looked at the young master's retreating figure, patted her thigh, and became more and more depressed.Cistanche Rong checked the situation in the front yard. Before anyone arrived at Qinliju, lively laughter spread through the room.

She vividly described the process of Mrs. Xu's collapse, making the whole room of masters and servants lean back and forth.Mrs. Xu is a nice person, but she talks too much. Wu Jiahe and the maids in the courtyard are often "trained". It is rare for them to be forced to have sex, but they all have a sense of proportion. After laughing, they go their separate ways.

Wu Jia waited before going to the front yard to meet his brother.

At this time, Wu Yin was still blocked outside the bamboo gate.

He was anxiously wandering around like a headless fly, constantly asking Uncle Liang for his entry-level strategy.Uncle Liang is being shut out every day, so what can he do?The only thing I can say to my young master is that I can't help him.

Fortunately, Wu Yin is not stupid. He figured out the key and came up with ideas.After Uncle Liang left, he flew up to the eaves, sat on the roof, uncovered the tiles, and said to himself: "I was rushing all the way, and I didn't even have time to drink water. Are you doing this to me?"

Knowing that there would be no response, he was not annoyed and said quietly: "If you don't want to see me, I won't force you. Since you survived, you have to face reality sooner or later...Xu Zhiliu, a lot of things have happened in the town in the past six months. , don’t you want to know?”

"A few months ago, I was on official business in Lingnan and received news that Xia Ying died suddenly. Do you know how he died?"

"Exactly like aragonite."

"An Jiujiu followed the same method and used it on Xia Ying to drown Aragon Shi. Because this was a way of death that even the cruel official Xia Ying could not investigate to find out the real murderer. Presumably, no one could find out the truth for him after his death. This The imperial court took the matter very seriously, and the emperor was furious and ordered the Chief Envoy to investigate to the end. Unfortunately, because no clues could be found, the case could only be closed hastily."

The room was still dead silent.

Wu Yin got a lot of information about this bamboo house during the half-year correspondence between his sister and himself, so he had already expected it.He just didn't expect that the young man who was so upright and upright in the past would one day become so depressed that he only wanted to be with darkness.

Is that still the Xu Zhiliu he knows?
He spoke again.

"Even if you don't care about Xia Ying's life or death, what about the Hutian Kiln?"

"The big boss of Hutian Kiln, that is, your uncle, offended An Jiu and was charged with slandering an official of the imperial court and was sent to prison."

"Xu Zhiliu, although your mother has passed away, you still have a younger brother. The countryside is not a peaceful place to hide from the world, and your younger brother is not a peaceful person. Sooner or later he will cause trouble. Even Xia Ying, Xu Zhong, and Hu Tian The lives of those people in the kiln don't matter and they can be risked, at least for him, you can't just ignore it, can you?"

"I took advantage of my official business to find time to see you this time. I have to leave for the return trip tomorrow. I don't have much time. If you have any arrangements, you must reply to me before tomorrow morning."

"The last thing I want to say..."

"Something happened to you at that time. In order to open the kiln in advance and save your blue and white bowl, Liang Peiqiu had her leg broken by An Jiu."