Concubine falling from heaven

Chapter 47
For the past few days, I have been spending the night in the wilderness or in the mountains, and I have never had a good rest.

"Inn...inn...it's really an inn! That is to say...we have a place to sleep!" She spoke excitedly and tiredly intermittently.

At that moment, she actually forgot that she was running, forgot the unhappiness before, and just wanted to lie down and rest.

The two happily ran over, suddenly, something stirred their feet, looking back, Meng Zihan couldn't help frowning.

I saw an old man lying on the street in ragged clothes, holding Meng Zihan's clothes tightly with both hands. Although he knew that he was looking up, he couldn't see his face clearly because of his unkempt hair and face.

She remembered that "Lengdu City" was a scene of prosperity, why is there such a scene here?Is it really because it is under the feet of the emperor, so the people live well and don't worry about food and clothing?

"Old man, why are you sleeping here?" Meng Zihan squatted down and asked.

The old man showed a pleading look through the gaps in his messy hair: "Please do me a favor and give me a meal."

"What's your name? Where's your family?"

When the old man heard Meng Zihan's question, he immediately burst into tears: "The old man's surname is Zhou. This young man must be from another place. We people in Ganlin County can't live anymore. The old man's wife died a few days ago. starving."

"what happened?"

The old man complained: "Our county magistrate in Ganlin County is simply not a human being. He searches for people's fat and people's cream all day long, which makes the people's livelihood difficult and the people can't eat enough. Now the old slave is homeless because he can't pay the taxes."

Listening to his conversation, even if he is not from a scholarly family, he is literate. What kind of person is that county magistrate, and how did he make him so miserable?
Meng Zihan didn't ask any more questions, and motioned to Caiyun to help him up, but the old man bent his body to avoid it.

"Master, the old man is dirty and smelly, how dare he have Mr. Lao." He said apologetically.

"Don't talk so much, if you just lie here like this, you will freeze to death even if you don't starve to death, come with us." Not allowing him to talk, Meng Zihan and Caiyun helped him to the inn.

Since it was still early, there were no guests in the inn yet.When Xiaoer saw a visitor, he immediately stepped forward to greet him happily.

"Several guest officers..." Xiaoer originally came forward with a smile on his face, but when he saw the dirty old man, he immediately put on a stinky face and said, "Our Yuexin Inn doesn't Accept beggars!"

"Why are you talking like that, who is a beggar?" Cai Yun looked at Meng Zihan and frowned, and became displeased.

The child gave a cold look and said: "It's all a ghost, isn't it a beggar or an uncle?" After finishing speaking, he slapped his nose a few times in disgust and started to chase people away, "Go, go, our inn is stinky. .”

The old man was about to turn around and leave when Meng Zihan grabbed his arm suddenly.The old man looked at Meng Zihan suspiciously, and Meng Zihan gave him a slight smile and nodded.

She turned her head to look at the snobby Xiao Er, then stepped forward and walked up to him.The aura exuding from her made Xiao Er take a step back in fright.

"What do you want to do?" Xiaoer's eyes were frightened but he pretended to be calm.

"I just want to prove that this old man is fragrant and not stinky." She said confidently with her hands behind her back.

Xiao Er continued to sneer: "Unexpectedly, looking at your handsome appearance, you turned out to be a fool, and you still say it smells good when it smells so bad."

"Bold! How dare you say that we... Young Master, be careful with your life." Caiyun was furious.

Meng Zihan motioned for her to back off, and snorted coldly at Xiaoer with a calm smile: "Huh! Everyone says that copper coins are smelly, but... I just think it is fragrant, brother, how about you?" Say?"

She didn't know when there was a silver coin in her hand, shining brightly.

Xiaoer swallowed his saliva and stared at the ingot of silver intently, saying, "It's fragrant, of course it's fragrant", while reaching out to take it.

Mengzi Han took the silver with a quick grasp, and pretending to be helpless, said: "I think this old man is as fragrant as this silver, but the second brother thinks he is stinky, so does that mean that this silver is also stinky? Since So, I can't give you something that the second brother doesn't like, right? Let's go!"

"Guest officer, please stay!" As soon as Meng Zihan and the others turned around, Xiao Er immediately stood in front of them, and then said with a smile on his face, "Guest officer, the inn in Ganlin County is the best inn in our Yuexin Inn. The price is the most fair, and... I suddenly feel that this old man has suddenly become fragrant, so fragrant!"

Caiyun covered her mouth and almost laughed out loud.It seems that the concubine still has a way, not only can she take him to stay in the inn, but also force Xiaoer to call the stinky one fragrant.

"Well said, you have a future! Take it." Meng Zihan tossed the silver in his hand to Xiaoer without hesitation, and then said, "This old man is my butler, and he only got lost because he got separated halfway. It looks like this, you go and prepare some bath water for him, then go buy two sets of clothes for the old man, and prepare some good food, if this young master is satisfied, your benefits will be indispensable."

"My lord...it's impossible to..."

The old man was so flattered that he wanted to kneel down, but was dragged up by Meng Zihan. After sneaking a glance at Xiao Er, he said, "Don't worry about the old man, the money is nothing."

As soon as Xiao Er heard this, her eyes lit up immediately, and she immediately welcomed the two of them to the upper room and settled down properly.

Meng Zihan and Caiyun also took a bath in the room and felt comfortable. After changing their clothes, they threw themselves heavily on the bed.

"Ah... so comfortable!" She lay on the bed with her eyes closed, enjoying a moment of comfort.

"Princess must be exhausted, why don't you go to sleep first, and this servant will watch over you."

Hearing this title, Meng Zihan immediately became vigilant: "Caiyun, you have broken a taboo again, didn't I ask you to change your mouth? Be careful that walls have ears."

"Yes, the servant girl will never make a mistake again." Caiyun really couldn't change it all at once.

Meng Zihan was still worried, so he threatened, "If you call me wrong again, I'll sell you casually, or it would be nice to leave you to the little girl just now to be my wife."

"Your servant must remember, please...Young Master, don't leave Caiyun alone." Caiyun was so frightened that he almost cried.

"Okay, okay, I won't leave you behind, that's fine." Meng Zihan suddenly thought of something, walked to the door and said suspiciously, "Caiyun, come with me to see who lives around, or else I don't even know how I died."

Because in a certain room she passed just now, she seemed to have a very strong and different feeling...

Caiyun secretly looked at the inns on the side, and found nothing wrong.

Meng Zihan looked over to the other side, only to find that the feeling was getting stronger and stronger. Could it be that he came here?

Won't!Not so fast!

She kept comforting herself.

Standing in front of a room, just about to take a peek, suddenly Xiao Er's voice came from the opposite side.

"What is the guest officer looking for?" Prompted by the money, Xiaoer quickly arranged everything and ran upstairs with the food. Seeing Meng Zihan looking around as if he was looking for something, he immediately stepped forward and asked courteously. with.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Suddenly, there were bursts of coughing in the room.

She immediately asked, "Who lives in it?"

"The guest officer asked the people in this room? Hey..." Xiao Er suddenly sighed, "It's a sick child."

"Sick child?"

Caiyun came to Meng Zihan and looked at her, full of suspicion.

"He's a scholar. He was fine at first, but for some reason, he became ill after coming here. We wanted him to go, but he seemed to have lost the strength to walk. Our boss felt sorry for him. , let him recuperate in a wing room in this corner." After Xiaoer said this, he was afraid that Meng Zihan would feel unclean, so he immediately said, "Don't worry, guest officer, the scholar inside has already covered the bed with a curtain. It won’t be contagious to guest officers.”

"Your boss is really kind, why haven't you learned something?" Meng Zihan sighed and said a few words to him.

Seeing the embarrassment on Xiao Er's face, she didn't want to say more to him, and immediately returned to the topic: "Have you hired a doctor for him?"

Xiaoer replied: "Please, the doctor said it was just a cold, but it hasn't recovered for a month."

The more Meng Zihan thought about it, the more something was wrong, there must be something wrong.How can anyone cough like this after suffering from wind and cold for a month?She really wanted to go in to see what happened, but because Xiaoer was there, she couldn't act rashly, after all, she was also a person who sneaked out, so she couldn't cause trouble.

Back in the room, Meng Zihan was full of worries.

"Son!"

The cry outside the door brought back Meng Zihan's thoughts.Looking up, an old man nearly fifty years old with a kind face was standing at the door.

The old man walked into the room, knelt down in front of her and said excitedly: "Thank you for saving me, sir. The old man really has nothing to repay, so he kowtows to you."

It turned out to be the person she brought back on the road just now, unexpectedly he took a shower, tied up the messy hair just now, changed his clothes, it seemed like a completely different person.No wonder it is said that Buddha relies on gold clothing, while people rely on clothing.

"Please stand up, old man, this junior can't afford you to kneel down to me all the time." She immediately helped him up with Caiyun.

"Thank you, Young Master, it's just..." He still felt unable to receive this great favor, and didn't know how to repay it.

Meng Zihan saw what he was thinking, and said with a smile: "The old man is my housekeeper, so why not give the housekeeper a set of clothes and a meal?"

"My lord...are you telling the truth?" The old Zhou family looked at Meng Zihan in disbelief.

"Of course." Besides being able to save him, there is another reason for him to be his housekeeper: from what he said before, he knows everything about Ganlin County like the back of his hand, and if he keeps him, he can also know a lot that she doesn't know. matter.

"Thank you, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master!"

He wanted to kneel again, but Meng Zihan immediately said seriously: "Don't kneel, if you do, I will take back my words."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Such treatment made him seem to have met the savior Guanyin, "Old man Zhou Fu, I don't know how to call you, young master?"

Fortunately, he reminded, otherwise if the housekeeper didn't know the master's name when he went out, wouldn't it be revealing.Sure enough, an old family is like a treasure!Looks like she got it right this time.

"The junior's surname is Meng." Meng Zihan didn't say Quan Ming because he still didn't know what to call him.Turning around and seeing Caiyun, she said, "This is my personal servant girl named...Mengyun, you can call her Mengyun."

"Young master..." Caiyun was an orphan since she was a child, and she didn't know who her parents were. The name "Caiyun" was given by Zhang Zhang when she entered the mansion, and she was suddenly given the surname of a princess, which made her very flattered.

Meng Zihan winked at her, Caiyun had no choice but to bow her head and remain silent.

In fact, changing Caiyun's name is also to prevent Mu Xuanchen from targeting Caiyun when he can't find her.Now she can be deceived by disguising herself as a man, but Caiyun has not changed at all, so it will inevitably lead to trouble.

"Master, Miss Mengyun. Cough cough!" Zhou Fu called out affectionately, but he couldn't stop coughing twice because he suffered from the wind and cold outside.

Meng Zihan nodded and said: "Butler Zhou is sick, why don't you go to the guest room to rest first, I'll ask Xiaoer to bring you some soup and medicine, we will stay here for the time being, and I'll call you when we're ready to go."

"Mr. Xie, Zhou Fu is leaving!" Zhou Fu responded and left the room.

"My lord, how dare a slave servant use your surname..." Cai Yun said in embarrassment.

Meng Zihan explained the worries in her heart to her, and she suddenly realized.

"What's more, you have always taken care of me like this, and you are willing to run away with me because of me. With your friendship, isn't it worth my giving you a surname?"

"Slaves should be kind to the young master." Caiyun said with tears in her eyes.

"Then I should be nice to 'Meng Yun'." Meng Zihan smiled at her and gently wiped away her tears.

Perhaps the biggest gain for her coming here is getting to know this silly girl in front of her, who foolishly gives, foolishly does not ask for anything in return, and foolishly only thinks about her.At her age, if she was in the 21st century, she would still be studying carefree, but she has already learned to serve others.

Meng Zihan couldn't help feeling distressed.

dead of night
I wanted to continue on my way, but Meng Zihan was too interested in the scholar who lived in the guest room in the corner, and it could be said that there was some kind of force in the dark to keep her.She didn't know whether it was because of curiosity, or if there was really that nameless force that prompted it.

I walked quietly to the door of the guest room and listened carefully, but there were still faint coughing sounds from inside.

He was about to knock on the door, but the door was not locked.

Pushing open the door and entering, although the smell inside is not very pungent, it is definitely not pleasant.

Meng Zihan slapped his sleeves in front of him a few times, and found that apart from simple tables and chairs, there was a rather special bed in the room.The bed was covered with a curtain, maybe this is what Xiaoer said that he was afraid that he would spread the disease to others.

"Excuse me...are you asleep?" Meng Zihan asked tentatively.

"Who?" There was an extremely weak voice from inside the curtain, it seemed that he could not speak loudly because of coughing for a long time.

For some reason, hearing that voice made her feel very uncomfortable and sad.

She walked to the side of the bed and gently opened the curtain. Although the scholar in front of her had handsome features and a sense of familiarity, he lost some of his handsome appearance due to illness.

"I'm sorry, I heard you coughing at the door just now, are you... are you okay?" She suddenly felt abrupt, trespassed into other people's rooms without permission, and even went to see how other people were sick. She doesn't know the rules.

Unexpectedly, the scholar just stared at her blankly and didn't speak for a long time.

"I'm sorry, I was rude, I just wanted to see if I need help." She apologized.

A title made Meng Zihan dumbfounded.Don't say that she didn't know him before, even if she did, she is now dressed as a man, how can a man's conversation be recognized so easily?Still a person lying on a sickbed.

Just as he was about to explain something, the scholar immediately withdrew his astonished gaze just now, squinted his eyes slightly and squeezed out a slight smile, and said: "It seems that I am really sick and confused, my sister has been dead for so long, and the young master is Man, how could I have made a mistake! I was the one who was abrupt, so please forgive me, Young Master."

He spoke weakly, and then coughed again.

Meng Zihan hastily hooked the curtain with a hook, poured a cup of tea on the table, and then lifted him up to let him drink it.

"Thank you, young master." After drinking tea, he finally calmed down.

"I've been sick for so long, why haven't I recovered yet?" Meng Zihan asked.

"How can this disease be cured without taking medicine?" There was a sad voice in his words.

After hearing what he said, she turned pale with shock, and for some reason, the hairs all over her body began to stand on end: "Didn't take the medicine? Xiaoer said that you have seen a doctor, and said it was just a cold."

Is this an illusion?Why did she think there was something wrong with it?
Under Meng Zihan's questioning, she realized that the scholar in front of her was not an ordinary person, but Meng Qian, the magistrate of Ganlin County who was about to take office, who had the same surname as Meng Zihan, it seemed that it was really a fate.

But the strange thing is that since Mengqian came to Ganlin County, he began to feel unwell, and it became more and more serious.At first he thought it was acclimatization, but who knew it would come to this point.

Although he was the post-prefect magistrate, he was born in a poor family, and he didn't have any extra silver around him, and he couldn't give Xiaoer a reward, so Xiaoer didn't take care of him, except to send him some light food every day as requested by the owner of the Yuexin Inn. There is nothing else but the food and the occasional tea.

He once asked to see a doctor, but was sneered at by the mistress, saying that as a mistress, he would not give money back to the residents.

But it is strange to say that all the county magistrates who come to take office will "seemingly" die normally, and no one has the opportunity to step into the gate of Ganlin County.

With his sixth sense, Meng Zihan felt that there seemed to be another reason why Xiao Er didn't ask a doctor, otherwise he wouldn't tell her that he had already asked a doctor for him.

Caiyun woke up and couldn't see Meng Zihan, so she was in a hurry.Based on what she knew about Meng Zihan, Caiyun found Meng Qian's guest room, and when she saw that Meng Zihan was finally relieved, she knew that she was very curious, otherwise she would not have given up the idea of ​​traveling and stayed here.

Seeing Caiyun coming in, Meng Zihan had a bold idea in his heart...

After a strong ideological struggle, Caiyun pulled down the curtain for Meng Zihan, walked to the door and shouted to the outside: "Little Er! Little Brother!"

Xiao Er rushed over immediately after hearing the sound, and did not dare to neglect the two distinguished guests: "What's the matter, girl?"

"My son is ill, please go and see a doctor." She never lied, but after following Meng Zihan for a long time, she would lie all the time.

"Sick? You are fine during the day, why are you sick now?" Xiaoer's face was full of doubts. Could it be that this is what people often say, "There are unpredictable things in the sky, and people have misfortunes and blessings"?

"Why don't you call for a doctor soon?" Cai Yun urged.

Although full of doubts, Xiaoer didn't dare to hesitate any longer, and immediately ran to ask the doctor.

After the doctor came, he took the pulse of the person on the bed carefully, and Caiyun, Xiaoer, and Zhou Fu were left in the room.

Through the curtain, Meng Zihan saw the abnormality of the doctor, because his face became more and more ugly, so he asked, "Doctor! How are you doing?"

"Young master is not sick, it looks like poisoning but not like poisoning!" The doctor was shocked.

Because he found that the pulse of this person was strange, and he said that he was poisoned, and his pulse was like typhoid fever in the past. If he is not treated in time, he may die strangely within a few days.

When Zhou Fu heard the word "poisoning", he was so frightened that he lost three of his souls. He finally met a kind-hearted young man, but he didn't expect such bad luck.

"Young master...how could this happen? Doctor, please save our young master!" Zhou Fu immediately begged the doctor for his treatment.

"What does it mean to be poisoned again, but not like poisoning?" Caiyun asked puzzled.

"Cough, cough..." Several coughs came from inside the curtain.

Xiao Eryi heard the cough sound very familiar, so she wanted to raise the curtain, but was stopped immediately by Cai Yun.

"what are you doing?"

Xiao Er rolled her eyes and said with a smile. "The little one just wants to see how Young Master Meng is sick."

Caiyun stood in front of him and refused to move: "My son doesn't like to be seen when he's sick."

"But..." Xiaoer wanted to say something more, but Zhou Fu stopped him immediately, "It's nothing to worry about. If my son says he doesn't like it, he just doesn't like it."

Suddenly stared at by Zhou Fu, although Xiao Er was holding back his anger, he still didn't dare to show his power in front of Meng Zihan.

Fortunately, the doctor had some medical skills, so he gave Caiyun a prescription and asked her to take the medicine according to the prescription.

Xiaoer wanted to take the prescription and help to fetch it, but Meng Zihan stopped her. She said to Zhou Fu weakly, "Housekeeper Zhou, I need to trouble you to make a trip to fetch some medicines for me."

"Yes! My lord is good to rest, Zhou Fu will come whenever he goes."

Caiyun saw that Xiaoer and the doctor had gone away with her own eyes, so she said to Meng Zihan in the curtain, "My lord, everyone has gone away."

Only then did Meng Zihan get off the bed.Caiyun continued to watch at the door.

In order to prevent Xiaoer from hearing Mengqian's cough just now, she asked him to bite the wet towel to relieve it.The person had already walked away, Meng Zihan took the wet towel from his mouth and said, "I wronged you just now, are you okay now?"

Meng Qian opened his heavy eyelids, showed a rare smile and said: "I am not wronged, this time I have to thank you for saving me."

There is a question Meng Zihan has been very puzzled, so he asked: "Since you are the successor magistrate of Ganlin County, why didn't someone notify the current magistrate to pick you up? Or go to the emperor?"

I don't know if it was because of being touched or seeing Meng Zihan's familiar face, but Meng Qian felt that his condition was much better and his cough was less.

With the help of Meng Zihan, he half sat on the bed, leaning his head weakly.Hearing Meng Zihan's question, he smiled wryly and shook his head: "I heard that none of the successor magistrates in Ganlin County died well. Before I came here, I had a glimmer of hope that I would survive the disaster. Who knew...haha!"

"The subsequent county magistrate didn't have a good death? This is too strange! Someone must be playing tricks behind the scenes." Meng Zihan thought deeply.

After coughing twice uncontrollably, he continued with his eyes open, "Who says it's not! Ganlin County was originally a rich place, and it never encountered drought. Merchants must pass through here when they do business. Everyone covets it." Looking at this prosperous area, maybe someone doesn't want anyone to take his place..."

"You mean... the current county magistrate?" Looking at his helpless expression, Meng Zihan spoke out.

Unexpectedly, she encountered the real darkness of the officialdom here. I thought it was only found in TV dramas, but who knew it was true.And this result not only made her hairs stand on end, but also made her very angry.How can those black officials disregard human life like this?
"I'll report to the government for you, the county magistrate is so evil, doesn't the magistrate ignore it?" Meng Zihan said angrily.

He waved his hand and said: "It's useless, no one can control it. Although the magistrate has a higher rank than the county magistrate, no one can move the support of the magistrate of Ganlin County now."

"Who is so powerful? Could it be that even the emperor can't move?"

"The mountain is high and the emperor is far away. How can the emperor know the truth? The current magistrate is a student of the current prime minister. Who dares to touch him?"

"Prime Minister Hua?" Meng Zihan couldn't believe it.She only knew that Prime Minister Hua had a prominent family background, his daughter was the emperor's favorite concubine, his son was a general, and he was a prime minister, but he was very strict. He had never heard that even if his disciples had such evil deeds, could it be that he knew people and didn't know his heart?

"Young master." Caiyun knocked on the door and entered after getting permission.

(End of this chapter)