Taohuaxi

Chapter 20
He Hua nodded and went solemnly.

The days are long in spring.

In the land south of the Yangtze River, birds are chirping, green grass and red flowers complement each other.

The wine shop by the canal exudes the aroma of wine, intertwined with the fragrance of spring flowers, making people stop and stop.The wine cover floats in the wind, and the soft words of Wu Nong float out, floating out of the half-drunk and half-awakened Jiangnan.

On the dock, craftsmen are busy.

The goods traveling from south to north embellish the busyness and prosperity of the ferry.

The sun was gradually sinking and twilight was closing. He Hua walked quickly and called Wu Bi: "Shopkeeper Wu, there are some errors in the accounts on the West Street counter. The second young lady wants you to go and reconcile a pair."

Wu Bi looked at a large ship parked on the river bank and wondered: "This... can you wait a little longer? There is a ship of important cargo tonight, ordered by 'Yu Hu Chun' in Guangzhou. Yu Hu Chun, He is our biggest customer every year. I want to finish loading the goods before leaving..."

He Hua shook his head: "No. The second young lady said that the shopkeeper in Taixing is waiting impatiently. If you don't go, the maid can't do anything."

Bai Zhou on the side listened and said hurriedly: "Shopkeeper Wu, please go ahead. I'll keep an eye on it here, and I won't make any mistakes."

He Hua looked at Bai Zhou and said sincerely: "Brother Bai is right. He has been working in the Cheng family for so many years. Are you still worried about Shopkeeper Wu? Let's go."

Wu Bi was still hesitating.

Hehua urged in every possible way.

He finally turned to Bai Zhou and said, "Then... I'll leave this to you. Be careful."

Bai Zhou patted his chest: "I guarantee that I will not make any mistakes. Since I was more than [-] years old, I have been fed by the master of the Cheng family and I have been able to survive the famine. The Cheng family has been very kind to me. How can I not do my best?" ?”

Wu Bi took five steps and turned back three times, and followed He Hua.

Bai Zhou looked at their retreating figures with a smile on his lips.

The veil of night unconsciously covers everything near and far.

The leafy branches are gently combed.The boats on the canal seemed to be trapped in a big black cauldron.

The night is as soft as water and vague as mist.

I sat in a restaurant not far away and looked towards the pier.He Hua and Wu Bi stood beside me.

"Is the news reliable?" I asked.

"Reliable. At noon today, Bai Zhou secretly went to Huayu Lane on the west side of the canal. There are three temporary warehouses in Huayu Lane. What was stored in them were the thirteen stores in the city that you asked the Second Young Mistress to dispose of at the end of last year. Moldy old tea on the shop floor." Wu Bi replied.

"He has already planned to take action on the cargo tonight. If I don't let He Hua call you over, I'm afraid he will also come up with other ways to take you away." I said.

"Yes. It's just that if the second young lady does this, he will become more confident and bold."

"Where is the person you called now?"

"Downstairs in the water mill workshop, we are waiting for the second young lady's order."

I smiled and said, "Okay. Do you have the letter that Lu Yu wrote to Yu Huchun's family?"

"Take it with you. They must have never imagined that the letter would be intercepted by Mr. Qin."

"Later, remember to call a boy to call Lu Yu over. Bai Zhou told him that [-]% of the goods in Huayu Lane were stolen and asked him to think of a solution."

"Yes."

Everything is in order.

I said: "Then let's wait until they fill the boat."

Hehua poured me a cup of tea.

I said, "They say the peach blossoms in this restaurant are delicious. Pour me a glass."

I took advantage of the night and drank a glass of wine, feeling a little excited.

The singer in the restaurant sang "Peach Blossom Creek", which was touching and beautiful: a passenger ship floated from the north, and my sister was newly married and didn't show off her beauty.The peach blossoms follow the flowing water all day long, where is the hole in the clear stream...

An hour passed.

The cargo ship bound for Guangzhou has been loaded, and the "tea guide" has been picked up and is about to be sent out.

I waved.

Wu Bi whistled downward.

A group of agile thugs rushed towards the dock.

I said to Wu Bi: "The gong has been struck in the play, it's time to go on stage."

Wu Bi and I looked at each other.

We got off the restaurant and walked to the pier calmly.

Bai Zhou has been captured.Lu Yu and several other tea merchants have also been tied up.

I stepped forward with a smile on my face.

The evening breeze on the pier blew the hem of my skirt.

Bai Zhou shouted in panic: "Second Young Madam, it's unfair, it's unfair..."

Lu Yu then angrily scolded: "You and I are both businessmen, why do you want to take people away for no reason? How can you be so arrogant and bully when you are selected as a tribute tea? Does Mrs. Cheng still have the law in her eyes?"

"Wang Fa?"

I held my palm and said, "What a king's law. As a married woman and a child, how can I know the king's law? I have to go to the Yamen. There are all the witnesses and material evidence. Let my parents and officials teach me what the king's law is."

Lu Yu's eyes flickered and he said sophistry: "What kind of personal evidence? I was just passing by to discuss business at the teahouse by the river. There is a boy as a witness and the owner of the teahouse as a witness."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mr. Lu is really smart and well-spoken. I almost believed it. It's just——"

I patted my forehead lightly: "Just what's the explanation for the letter Mr. Lu wrote to Yu Huchun's family? Wu Bi, please read it."

"My dear friend, I have personally seen that I recently caught a glimpse of the Cheng family's misdeeds and wanted to pass off the rotten old tea as good quality and sell it to my dear friend. I am deeply saddened..."

Before Wu Bi finished reading, Lu Yu's expression changed.

I smiled and said, "There is no need for me to point out which owner owns the title deeds for those houses in Huayu Lane."

As soon as he finished speaking, several tea merchants beside Lu Yu also panicked.

"As the saying goes, harmony brings wealth. I have no grievances with you in the past, and no enmity these days. It's just that because we are colleagues, you are jealous and hateful, and collude with my family's associates to ruin my reputation and destroy my job. . But have you ever heard a saying? Fortune cannot come through the emergency door, and fortune cannot come through the side door." I said slowly.

Lu Yu raised his head and looked at me hatefully.

I told Wu Bi: "Send them to the Yamen."

"Yes."

Lu Yu was unwilling to give in, and while being dragged away, he turned around and shouted: "Zhu Sangyu, don't get too complacent! You are so stubborn that you are ruining your life! When you worshiped the spirit tablet in the first place, you were destined to be a widow for the rest of your life! Sooner or later, you will kill Cheng Lao Er. !" Wu Bi slapped him in the face.

Maybe it was because I had just had a few drinks in the restaurant, but I felt a little frightened after hearing these words.

He Hua said quickly: "Second Young Madam, don't listen to his nonsense."

In the distance, a goose-yellow figure approached the dock.

"Second sister-in-law-"

It was the third lady who came.

What was she doing at the dock at this hour?

She came closer and said with a smile: "Second sister-in-law, you didn't come home so late. I was curious about what you were doing, so I looked around for you. It turns out you are at the dock."

I said: "Qingshi, please go back quickly."

She saw the tied up Bai Zhou, and her curiosity became more and more intense.

She stepped forward and said, "Second sister-in-law, Uncle Bai Zhou has been with the Cheng family for decades, and he used to be with our father. What did you do to tie him up?"

I thought about it and shouted quickly: "Qingshi, don't come forward!"

It's too late.

Bai Zhou kicked the boys on both sides away with his feet, and with quick eyes and hands, he grabbed the third lady.

He took out a short knife from his sleeve and put it on the third lady's neck: "Let me get on the boat and leave, otherwise, I will kill her. Let's see how you explain to the old lady when you go back!"

The third young lady is the old lady's old daughter, and she has always been doted upon, like a piece of cake.

I hurriedly said: "Don't hurt her, I'll ask someone to prepare the boat."

The third young lady cried: "Second sister-in-law, save me! Save me! Uncle Bai Zhou, are you worthy of my father? You have watched me grow up..."

Bai Zhou spat on the ground and said, "If you make any more noise, I will stab you immediately!"

The boy was busy preparing the boat.

The tip of the knife was pressed against the third lady's neck.

I was afraid of hurting her.

At this time, a person suddenly emerged from the water, and suddenly hooked Bai Zhou's neck from behind and captured him.

Bai Zhou was only wary of the front, but he didn't realize that someone was secretly attacking him from behind.

Qingshi was saved and cried out "Wow".

The person emerging from the water is Lu Gui.

He must have jumped into the canal from the far shore, but Bai Zhou didn't see him.He swam all the way through the water and caught him off guard.

In a moment, Lu Gui tied up Bai Zhou tightly like a rice dumpling.

Qingshi was frightened and kept stroking her chest, but when she saw Lu Gui, she forced her mouth to say: "Who cares about you, a nuisance, coming to save me!"

Lu Gui rolled his eyes at her: "Okay, I'll throw you into the river to feed the fish."

"You!" Qingshi blushed and left angrily.

Passing by me, she whispered: "Second sister-in-law, please ask someone to find dry clothes for him quickly. He is wet and the wind has blown. He should have typhoid fever."

I said, "Just let him catch a cold. Who wants him to always make my sister-in-law unhappy?"

"Second sister-in-law! At least you can see that he has been settling the accounts for you for so long..." Halfway through her sentence, she realized that I was teasing her and ran away quickly.

I asked a few boys to escort her back to the house.

Lu Gui said to me: "Second Young Mistress, once she is unfaithful, she will be disloyal a hundred times. This person has become rebellious and cannot be kept."

Then, he added: "Tomorrow, I will escort him to each semi-colon to let all the clerks know what the consequences are of cheating. Shopkeeper Wu should not show up for this matter. He has been on the counter for ten years and is an acquaintance. There must be a lot of scruples. I am a newcomer, so it is best for me to do this."

I nodded.

This Lu Gui is brave, wise, and tactful.

That's exactly what I wanted.

After what happened that night, the entire Yangzhou Prefecture was rumored to have the second young wife of the Cheng family for her ruthless methods and her business skills.

No one dares to come to the Cheng family again.

The clerks at the counter are all tame.

Business is booming.

The old lady heard about Lu Gui from somewhere, and specially invited people to come into the house twice.She told me how this kid Lu Gui knew what was good and what was good and how good he was at talking, but it was a pity that his family background was not that good.

I didn’t say much, I just said that everything was decided by my mother.

Before I knew it, it was April.

The fragrant buds on the apricot tips are broken, and the reddish color fades to white and the rouge is stained.

One night in the small building, it was windy and rainy.

There are flower girls in the city, selling apricot flowers in small baskets.

When I got up early that morning and went to pay my respects to the old lady, I could only hear the magpies chirping on the branches.

At noon, gongs and drums are loud outside.

The official came to Cheng Mansion on a tall horse.

I quickly helped the old lady go out to greet her.

The leading official had a smile on his face: "I am very happy, my family is very happy, the second master of the Cheng family has entered high school!"

Because the list is released when the apricot flowers bloom, it is called "Xingbang".

The old lady said "Oh" and shed tears: "My Huai'er, my Huai'er has been hit?"

The official said: "It's absolutely true. I'm going to report you as fast as I can. The second master is No. 3 on the list!"

The old lady chanted Buddha's name constantly.

The servants, wives and servants of the Hefu all knelt on the ground: "Congratulations to the old lady! Congratulations to the second young lady!"

(End of this chapter)