Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 7
Every day in the family study in the mansion, the days passed quickly, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Cao Yong gradually got used to this two-point-one-line life, only when he was in the first grade again, he recited the articles when he should recite, and practiced calligraphy when he should practice calligraphy.I don't know if it's because of his mature mind, or because this little body is smart, it's easy to remember homework.

At noon this day, it was lunch break time again.Cao Song ate a few mouthfuls of snacks indiscriminately, and went around Gu Na with the food.This child is indomitable, and he has to come out like this every day.Cao Yong thought the room was filled with all kinds of sweet and greasy dim sum smells, so he went out of the room to breathe, and just took a few steps, when he heard someone whisper: "Uncle Yong, Uncle Yong!"

Cao Yong turned his head and saw that it was the servant of the Master's family, so he walked over.

The boy bowed his head and said, "Uncle Yong, my master called you to the pavilion in the backyard!"

Cao Yong was a little surprised: "Mr. called me? Did he also call other classmates, or did he call me alone?"

The little servant hurriedly stretched out his finger: "I called Uncle Yong, you hurry up and go with the little one, my master is still waiting!"

Although Cao Yong felt a little baffled, he followed him because he thought it would be disrespectful to make the elders wait for a long time.

There was a gazebo in the backyard. When Cao Yong saw it, he walked over, but Cao Yuan was not there.Cao Yong was still wondering what was going on, his mouth and nose were suddenly covered with a wet cloth, and before he could struggle, he lost consciousness.

Not far away, the boy called Cao Yong was playing with the two coins in his hand happily, thinking in his heart that the affairs of rich and noble families are really strange, and even relatives can't express their opinions.Although the third master Gu looks a bit shabby, but he is generous, and it seems that he also wants to use this uncle Yong to win the autumn wind in Cao's house.In the next quarter of an hour, he was stunned. Isn't the motionless little man carried by Gu San the young master Yong whom he brought here just now?He wanted to open his mouth to shout, but Gu San had already climbed over the wall and went out.

The boy was trembling with fright, no matter how stupid he was, he could see that Gu San had no good intentions and he was an accomplice.He always wanted to find out what was on his head, he clenched his fists, and decided to go back to the house to pack up his things and run away. Although the fugitive slave was suffering, at least he could save his life.

In school, Gu Na remained the same, unmoved by delicious food.Cao Song was bored, and went back to his seat sadly. Seeing that his brother's seat was vacant, he searched around, looked at the front and back yards, thought he had gone back to the house, and complained that he was not righteous enough.

Cao Song didn't know that his brother hadn't come home until Cao Yong's book boys Ximo and Nongmo came to pack the snack box.Why did the good man disappear? The two schoolboys panicked. One went to the inner courtyard to find the husband, and the other went to inform Cao Fang and the others in the front courtyard.

In less than a quarter of an hour, both Cao Yuan and Cao Fang arrived, one was sweating and the other was innocent.Cao Yong is Cao Yin's only son, the old matriarch's favorite son, if something goes wrong, everyone can't get rid of it.Several people dispatched together, and first confirmed with the porter again and again that no one left the mansion except for the young man from Cao Yuan's family, and then carefully searched Sanjin's courtyard, even under the bed in the bedroom in the inner courtyard. I have searched, but I still haven't seen Cao Yong's shadow.

Such a big change happened, and the class in the school could not continue.The students are making a fuss about getting out of class.Cao Fang was more thoughtful, how could he dare to let them go back, he ordered people to report to Cao Yin quickly, and at the same time ordered people to guard the door, preventing people from all the prefectures from going back.Even if someone from the outside kidnapped someone, it would be difficult to do it without fear from the inside.

A quarter of an hour later, Cao Yin arrived on horseback, accompanied by his staff member Zhuang Chang and a dozen guards from the mansion.

When Cao Yin heard about his son's disappearance, he thought that he was dragged down by himself, and feared that it was the enemy's family who came to seek revenge.No matter what the opponent is, it is impossible for someone to take his son out of Jiangning. Thinking of this, he immediately ordered several people who followed Cao Yong to school to take the guards to guard the four city gates.Then, from the students to the long attendants and book boys who followed everyone, they all separated and asked each other. During the lunch break, no one was alone, and there were people around, so they should be able to rule out the suspicion.

Zhuang Chang led the people and found traces on the top of the wall in the backyard. It seemed that someone had climbed over the wall to enter and exit.Everyone's eyes fell on Cao Yuan, because the biggest suspect right now is the young servant of Cao Yuan's family who has not returned yet.

Before Cao Yin did anything, Cao Yuan was already so angry that he passed out.

Zhuang saw that many children were too frightened, so he asked Cao Yin to release them first and let them go to their own homes.Everyone had gloating eyes, some had tears in their eyes like Cao Song, but Gu Na had a strange expression, his eyes were straight, and he didn't know what to think.Zhuang Chang noticed something strange, quietly called a subordinate, and gave instructions in a low voice.

Gu Na walked home with one foot deep and one foot shallow, his heart full of remorse, no wonder the gambling mother suddenly became kind in the past two days, not only caring about his homework, but also asking about the school's work and rest time Chu.He endured it, so he didn't tell the truth in front of everyone.No matter how despicable and shameless that person is, he is still his biological father.

From afar, seeing a lot of people around the gate of his yard, Gu Na thought that his father's affairs had been exposed, and he hurried forward for fear of hurting his mother.But there are a few neighbors, all familiar faces, there is Chen Liu driving a carriage on the street, Aunt Qian at the end of the street, and a few neighbors.When everyone saw that Gu Na had arrived, they began to chirp.

It turned out that Gu San found Chen Liu yesterday and wanted to buy his carriage, but he had no money, so he had to sell the Zhou family to him as his wife.Chen Liu is an orphan and his family is poor. All he owns is a few broken houses and a carriage. He is 23 and four years old and has never married a wife.Although Gu San is a gambler, his wife's virtuousness is well known to the neighbors, so Chen Liu is willing.

Gu San said that as long as Chen Liu's carriage adds two taels of silver, he will write the document for selling his wife.Chen Liu was afraid of being fooled, so he asked Aunt Qian, a neighbor who was used to being a matchmaker, to help him read it, and he was considered a middleman.

I originally said that I was afraid that going out during the day would not look good, so I asked Chen Liu to come to marry him tonight.Chen Liu waited until noon, feeling that something was wrong, fearing that Gu San would run away with his family and lose money, so he came to the gate of Gu's house.Although he is a simple person, he also knows some etiquette, knowing that it is not appropriate for him to come directly to the door, so he begged Aunt Qian and a few neighbors to help make peace.

Mrs. Zhou came from a scholarly family, when she heard the neighbor's lady calling for the door, she was about to open it, but seeing a man among them, she thought it was inappropriate, so she exchanged a few words with Qian's lady through the door.When she heard that her husband had sold herself, she even refused to open the door, waiting for her son to come back to make the decision.

Gu Na looked at the contract, it was indeed written by his father Gu San himself, his heart was cold, he never thought that he would be so heartless, without any regard for the relationship between husband and wife.

Gu Na held his fists, and gave a circle of salutes to the neighbors: "Grandpas and aunts, uncles and aunts, this matter is now, I won't say much, I want everyone to disperse first, let us mothers discuss and discuss!" Going to Chen Liu, he said: "Uncle Chen, please rest assured. Since my father bought your carriage, the debt will fall on the kid. My mother is shy, if she is so hasty and reluctant, I am afraid that something serious will happen!"

Zhou's virtuousness is well known, everyone thought that what Gu Na said was reasonable, so they went to their own homes.Even Chen Liu left calmly, he felt a bit regretful in his heart, knowing that he was not good enough for the Zhou family, this marriage was his own will.Now, the carriage is gone, and I only hope that the Gu family boy can collect some money to pay back the debt.

Mrs. Zhou was inside the gate of the courtyard, after confirming again and again that only her son was left outside, she opened the door and let him in.

At noon, Mrs. Zhou was already terrified. Seeing her son, she couldn't bear it any longer. She hugged him and began to cry. When her son mentioned that the document for selling a wife was indeed written by her husband, Mrs. Zhou's eyes showed a trace of despair.

Cao Fang and others guarded the four city gates until dark, but found nothing.On the one hand, Cao Yin sent people to look for them, and on the other hand, he sent people to each student's home, and told the parents of each family not to talk casually.

At the old matriarch's place, Cao Yin had to tell a lie, saying that his mother-in-law in Suzhou was sick and missed his grandson, so he sent someone to pick him up.Mrs. Li couldn't hide it, so she had to tell the truth. Mrs. Li vomited blood and passed out.The old lady was only a daughter-in-law because she was worried about her natal family and worried about her grandson going out alone, so she asked Mrs. Li to prepare to go back to her natal family. On the one hand, she could serve her mother and take care of her son.Mrs. Li couldn't tell what she was suffering in front of the old lady, but shed tears silently.

Cao Quan and Zhao Jia's couple, who knew the truth from their sons, all came to the mansion to inquire.Because of those students, almost all relatives and friends knew that the son of Zhizao Mansion had been kidnapped.Cao Yin was afraid that it would reach the old matriarch's ears, so he ordered the servants in the mansion not to spread nonsense in the inner courtyard, otherwise he would be executed with a stick, so he hid the news to death.

Mrs. Li had to wait for news of her son, how could she return to her mother's house with peace of mind, and she couldn't stay in the mansion, fearing that she would not be able to justify herself in front of the old matriarch.Zhao Jia is also a mother, so she proposed to ask her sister-in-law to live in her house for a few days.Cao Yin worried that his wife would show her traces in the mansion and be observed by the old lady, so he entrusted his wife to his younger sister-in-law to take care of him.

Let's not talk about the panic in Cao's family, just talk about Zhuang Chang, who sent people to follow Gu Na, and found out about Gu San selling his wife to buy a carriage.Because the timing is too coincidental, people have to be suspicious.After sending someone to inquire about Gu San's details, Zhuang Chang can somewhat conclude that Gu San might be the one who kidnapped Cao Yong.

The next day, the boy who ran away from the ethnology school showed up.It turned out that after he left that day, he went to seek refuge with a distant relative outside the city.The relative knew that he had sold himself as a slave, and when he saw him moving in a hurry, he wanted to inquire.The boy was still young, so he faltered a few words and told the truth.The relative was afraid of getting involved, so he pretended to coax him to eat the food and drink, and tied him up after drinking, and called the official messenger after dawn.

In the yamen, after a blow of killing power, the boy confessed the name of the Patriarch.In Jiangning, Cao's family was mentioned, and they belonged to Zhizao Mansion. The county magistrate didn't dare to arbitrarily judge, so he sent two yamen servants to escort the young man to Cao Yuan's place to identify the authenticity.

When Cao Yin got the news and went to Cao Yuan's house, the boy had already told the truth about Gu San kidnapping Cao Yong.When Cao Yin heard Zhuang Chang mentioned that Gu San sold his wife to buy a car, he was a little bit suspicious, but now that he got the letter, he took someone to Gu San's house.

Unaware of what happened, Mrs. Zhou went out to the kitchen to collect tea.Seeing Cao Yin's face was frosty, Gu Na asked about his father's whereabouts, and he knew it well. After seeing his mother go out, he said: "That man betrayed my mother yesterday, it is already a crime! I was raised by that man, and my father is a debtor." Compensation, of course, please tie me up, my lord, maybe that person will get lost when he gets the news. I just ask my lord to spare my mother and save her some face." Having said this, he knelt down on the ground.

Although Cao Yin came here full of anger, he was not unreasonable. This disaster was indeed caused by Gu San, and it had nothing to do with their mothers.He himself is filial, seeing that Gu Na knew how to protect his mother at such a young age, he took pity on him and stretched out his hand to help him up.Cao Yin was worried about his son, thinking that "a tiger's poison does not eat its son", or Gu San knew that his son was in Cao's house, so he couldn't help but look back.

The Gu family has long been desolate, and there is no tea, just a few cups of water.Seeing that Cao Yin's expression was not good, Mrs. Zhou wondered if her husband had caused some trouble again, and asked tremblingly, "My husband is not here, so I don't know why my uncle is looking for him?"

Cao Yin glanced at the Zhou family, then at Gu Na, sighed in his heart, and ordered the people next to him to go out and find Chen Liulai, the carriage seller.

Seeing that Mrs. Zhou came here because of this scandal, she was so ashamed and indignant that she never dared to raise her head again.

(End of this chapter)