Globe Trekker

Chapter 15
The grand religious ceremony of Qizhen Temple has ended for more than half an hour, and the pilgrims and believers have all descended from the mountain one after another.

On the winding mountain road, accompanied by a tall Taoist priest, two women bathed in the sunset and slowly descended. The two women were Wang Yuehan and the maid Xiaozhen, and the young Taoist priest was Wu Ming with a gloomy face. After receiving a large amount of sesame oil money, Wu Ming was ordered to send the two distinguished guests down the mountain. Wu Ming would never leave his hut.

The three of them stopped and took a rest under the big tree in the middle of the mountain. Wang Yuehan faced the sunset and took a deep breath to adjust the disordered atmosphere. A layer of fine beads of sweat appeared on her delicate face, which glowed charmingly under the sunlight.

Xiaozhen leaned beside Wang Yuehan, pointing to the distant mountain top that was about to disappear into the setting sun and said something excitedly, and finally stuck it to Wang Yuehan's ear, pointing to the small wooden house on the mountain and whispering, which soon aroused Wang Yuehan's low-pitched reproach.

The two quarreled for a while, and the shyness on Wang Yuehan's face disappeared, and she turned around and came to Wu Ming: "When I left the mountain gate, I faintly heard what Daoist Cheng Zhi said to you, why didn't you come to the town to get a certificate? Documents, and then go to the county to apply for the identity certificate issued by the Zhang Minguo government, but you have to send it from Longhushan? Longhushan is under the jurisdiction of Yingtan, but you are from Huanggu Town!"

Wu Ming, who was sitting on the stone slab, raised his head: "How do you know I'm from Huanggu Town?"

Wang Yuehan was slightly taken aback: "I guess, your accent is a local accent."

Wu Ming stared into Wang Yuehan's eyes coldly: "How long have you been in Huanggu Town?"

Xiaozhen rushed to answer: "Our young lady just married here last autumn. Lao Li left Yingtan's hometown on the fifth day of the seventh lunar month, and arrived in Shangrao County on the seventh day. Jiao married to this ghost place, if the young lady has not recovered from her illness, we would have gone to Nanchang long ago, who wants to stay here? Why do you ask this?"

Wu Ming nodded: "You should have heard of something. Last summer, a poor person in Wujia Village, West Township, was killed by the Chen family in Huanggu Town. Later, her son went to avenge her revenge, but the revenge was not avenged. Instead, she was killed by Chen's family. The family was framed as a traitor, thrown into the county prison, tortured to death, this incident was quite big at the time, Huanggu Town and the surrounding villages knew about it, you must have heard of it?"

Wang Yuehan and Xiaozhen looked at each other, and finally turned their eyes to Wu Wei's face.

Xiaozhen's big eyes were wide open: "I heard that people in our house said that the villain who entered the house with a knife in the middle of the night was rescued by hundreds of prostitutes who robbed him from prison. The cannons kept pouring blood into rivers, and the officers and soldiers under our master Wang alone killed or injured more than [-] people, and the houses of more than a dozen officials and wealthy gentry were burned to ashes by the police. Returning to Tianjia Village on the first day of the Lunar New Year, repairing the grave of his dead mother and burning incense, which doubled the number of servants in our house. It was not until the second young master sent someone from Nanchang to quietly send a dozen long and short guns, but at night , the housekeeper and the nursing master are going to inspect the front and back yards, and the servants are not allowed to move around, for fear that that desperado will come to kill again, huh? Why are you asking this?"

"What do you think?" Wu Ming looked over coldly.

Xiaozhen exclaimed in shock, took two quick steps back and sat down on the stone steps.

Wang Yuehan helped Xiaozhen up, her delicate body trembling slightly, her eyes were full of sorrow, for a long time, she resisted the overwhelming waves in her heart, and took a step forward to look at Wu Ming worriedly: "You have been hiding in the Temple of Praying for Truth?"

Wu Ming nodded helplessly: "Can't you afford to mess with me? Don't talk about that anymore. Thank you and Xiaozhen for helping me clean so many things, saving me a lot of trouble. Don't worry, I'll be leaving in two days , there will always be a place for me to live in the world, so don't come here in the future, the mountain road is not easy to walk, and I can't tell right from wrong."

Wang Yuehan was silent for a moment, then turned around and helped Xiaozhen whose hands and feet were weak: "Xiaozhen, don't be afraid, the rumors are unbelievable, Daoist Wu is not the kind of murderer they say, otherwise he would not risk his life in the ruined temple to save us, don't be afraid , you go down the mountain and wait for me, I will go back after talking to Daoist Wu."

Xiaozhen lost her mind, she nodded frequently, turned around and left, walked a few steps and then turned back, seeing Wang Yuehan beckoning her to leave, she panicked and hurried down the mountain worrying about gain and loss.

Wang Yuehan looked at the expressionless Wu Ming, and it took a while to muster up the courage to ask: "So, you already know your own background and who I am?"

Wu Ming nodded and didn't speak. There was no emotion in his deep eyes, as if he didn't care about all this.

Wang Yuehan gently stroked her hair blown by the mountain wind: "From the first time I saw you, I have been guessing that you look too much like the deceased elder brother of the Chen family, and I have also heard a lot about you. There are many doubts, but I can’t confirm them, and I dare not ask the people in the family. Later, when I was chatting with the third aunt, she talked about the whole thing, and I learned about your life experience and your suffering mother. I, I am very depressed."

Wu Ming stood up: "This matter has nothing to do with you, well, take care of yourself!"

"Wait!" Wang Yuehan caught up to two stone steps, her eyes were flushed, and her face was full of reluctance: "Can you tell me where you are going?"

Wu Ming paused, and turned around slowly, with rare sadness and gentleness in his eyes: "I don't know, maybe go to Shanghai, maybe go to Guangzhou or even Hong Kong, just take one step at a time."

Wang Yuehan looked up at Wu Ming who looked lonely, but couldn't say a word.

Wu Ming sighed quietly, turned around and strode up the mountain. When his figure disappeared at the bend above, Wang Yuehan's eyes were already filled with tears, and he sat powerlessly on the stone steps and wept.

As night fell, the lanterns hung high in the living room of the main house of the Chen Mansion in Huanggu Town, and the atmosphere was dignified.

Chen Jiyao was sitting on the grand teacher's chair in the main hall, his eyes were slightly closed and his face was very ugly.Sitting on the side is a plump woman in her 40s, with a round face and fair facial features. It can be seen that she was very beautiful when she was young. If it weren't for the slightly larger mouth and thinner lips, she could be called graceful and rich.She was wearing dark flowered blue silk clothes, her hair was shiny and not messy, and the Mingfeng gold hairpin on her head trembled frequently.

The tall butler in a black poplin gown stood behind the woman, and four strong and sharp-eyed servants were distributed around the hall. All eyes were on the coachman kneeling in the center of the main hall.

The panicked coachman had already reported the truth about the process of sending the young lady Wang Yuehan to Qizhen Temple to burn incense today, and said that he was careful not to delay on the way back, but he couldn't explain why he arrived home after dark, but he couldn't help explaining that the second young lady went down the mountain late, The sun went down to the foot of the mountain after sunset, and then drove home without any delay.

"roll!"

Amidst the woman's sharp yelling, the coachman got up in a hurry, repeatedly apologized and stooped to escape.

The woman then asked the servants to retreat, stood up and walked in front of Chen Jiyao with a livid face: "Master, you have heard it all, what kind of incense does your wife burn for so long? The ceremony of praying for truth is over at noon. The people who went up to burn incense have already returned, except for your daughter-in-law, who can go back and forth in an hour for only a few steps down the mountain. Why did she come down to the foot of the mountain after dark? She is not a little daughter-in-law with three-inch golden lotus, What kind of gossip is caused, where will we put our Chen family's face?"

"Okay, okay! When she greets her tomorrow morning, you can just tell her a few words of warning. You are the eldest wife, and it is your job to discipline the family members." Chen Jiyao stood up impatiently, feeling entangled for no reason.

The eldest lady quickly grabbed Chen Jiyao's sleeve: "Master, you have to say a few words to her! She has studied in the provincial capital for a few days, and she thinks she is high-spirited. Why? Although the Wang family is a big family, but she, Wang Yuehan, is a member of a concubine. How can she be considered noble? If it wasn't for the sake of fifth brother Wang, how could I spoil her like this? I can't do it Master, I only know that to be the daughter-in-law of the Chen family, you have to behave yourself. She is no longer that crazy talented woman in Nanchang city. A woman must be virtuous when she gets married, and she is not ashamed to show her face all day long. It wasn't that she went to the city to pick up some new books, so why did she bring harm from the officers and soldiers on the way? It's another matter if she is not clean. If you and the third wife indulge her like this again, there is no guarantee that one day the face of the Chen family will be embarrassed. It's gone!"

"enough!"

Chen Jiyao glared at the eldest wife angrily: "I told you again and again after the Spring Festival, send my daughter-in-law to Nanchang quickly, let her and Kang'er live their own lives, and give birth to a boy and a half girl to carry on the family line quickly." , you just follow along if you don’t worry, but you always gossip and gossip, who’s fault can’t be controlled? Hmph!”

"master……."

Chen Jiyao walked away without looking back, the eldest wife stomped her feet angrily, seeing that Chen Jiyao was heading towards the third concubine's yard, the eldest wife felt aggrieved immediately, and tears poured down her heart.

The housekeeper who was hiding at the side hurried up to help: "Sister, this matter is endless, but you can't be so stiff anymore, or you will only annoy brother-in-law."

"It's damned! I married into his Chen family for 28 years and gave birth to two sons to his Chen family. How could he treat me like this? The goblin in Dongyuan only gave birth to a girl, and did not give birth to half of his Chen family to carry on the family line." Yes, but he pampers and hugs me all day long, he despises me for being old!" The eldest wife cried while leaning on her younger brother.

The housekeeper hurriedly stopped in a low voice: "Miss, please keep your voice down, please! Think about it, how can you say that you are the main wife, the eldest wife, who is more noble than you in the Chen family except brother-in-law? The reason for this is that You are too kind, brother-in-law just said that you did not take care of the family! You have great power, why not use it? In my opinion, just use today's reason to establish your prestige. Kang'er's daughter-in-law can't move , can't the little goblin girl next to her be able to move? The master made a mistake and the servant is guilty. If you arrest that girl and torture him carefully, are you afraid that you won't be able to catch her? Even if you kill her, she deserves it, Wang Fa won't care , let everyone in the mansion take a good look and see who is the master of this house!"

The eldest wife came to her senses, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that her younger brother's words were reasonable, she felt her blood rushing up, she wiped the tears off her face, gritted her teeth, and ordered: "Go, tell Qingping in my room to go away." I went to Xiyuan, called that girl into my room, and brought the two women from the kitchen with me, I must vent my anger today, hum! I can’t do without showing off my power!"

The housekeeper chuckled: "That's right! Sister, in my opinion, there may be something wrong with the young mistress, otherwise, how could there be so many troubles? Go back to your room and get your energy back, and I'll go and order someone to put that sharp-toothed and sharp-mouthed woman to sleep." Get the girl here, let a few women go up and say hello, see if she is stubborn or tough, maybe she can't dig out something shameful."

(End of this chapter)