Red apricots make spring

Chapter 57
The guards all stretched out their hands to take what they were used to eating, and of course they would not refuse, but as soon as the oil-paper bag was in the hand, the prison head felt his hand sinking. This weight——

He gently lifted a corner of the oiled paper, and saw that the paper bag was full of fine white silver, his eyes narrowed immediately, a smile appeared on his face, he put the oiled paper bag into his sleeve pocket, and said to several jailers: " Since you are so sincere, I have to say a few words to you."

Ruan didn't know what he was going to say, but she was a little uneasy in her heart, so she said patiently: "Please tell me, sir."

"You ran away a few times, and I didn't let you see anyone, and I really feel sorry for you, but this sister-in-law Liu you want to meet, she offended no ordinary people! It's her crime, but someone outside has already said hello, so I'm also embarrassed!" The prison chief said while sighing, looking very helpless.

"Has someone greeted you outside?" Rourou was startled, knowing that this person must be Li Shi if it is not Mr. Zhao.

"That's right! They told us to take good care of Mrs. Liu, but don't let her die so easily!"

Gentle is not stupid, of course she knows the true meaning of the word "take good care of", I'm afraid Sister-in-law Liu has been taken care of so much that she doesn't know what she is like.Mr. Zhao and Mrs. Li must have felt that it was too cheap for Mrs. Liu to die quickly, and wanted to torture her slowly, so they told the jailer not to let her die easily, but at least her life is safe for the time being.

"Guan Ye, can you let me go in and see her?" Ruan Rou was still worried and insisted on going to see Mrs. Liu.

The head of the prison hesitated for a moment, and finally let go: "Then come with me."

Wenrou followed the head of the prison and walked towards the prison. When the heavy outer door was opened, the inside was gloomy and dark, and an indescribable damp smell rushed towards the face, making people want to vomit.The prisoners in the cells on both sides immediately became agitated when they saw someone coming in. Some rushed to the cell door and shouted wronged, some cursed loudly, and some continued to moan in a low voice: "Good job, give me saliva!" Drink... I'm dying of thirst..."

The head of the prison ignored them at all, walked to the most noisy cell, and then took the knife at his waist and slammed on the cell door twice, ordering them to be quiet.Rourou suppressed the churning feeling in her stomach, covered her nose with her cuffs, and followed behind the prison head to the single room in the innermost part of the prison. At a glance, she saw Aunt Liu curled up in a pile of straw with her head down, Her hair was messed up, and she didn't know if she was still alive.

"Sister-in-law Liu, sister-in-law Liu—" Rourou called her softly, seeing that she had no response, she turned her head and begged the head of the prison, "Let me go in and have a conversation with her?"

As a weak girl, the prison head is naturally not afraid of her playing tricks. He asked Rou Rou to open the bag in his hand and check it before opening the cell door, pushing her in, and locking the door again: "Don't worry, she just hasn't been there for two days. If you don't eat or drink, you won't die, I'll get you some water for her." He went out after saying that.

He didn't eat or drink for two days, so he told her not to worry?Rourou couldn't laugh or cry, and hurried forward to help Mrs. Liu up, but a mouse jumped out of the wet straw, squeaking, and stepped on her feet and ran out of the prison door.

Wen Rou was taken aback, bit her lip and almost cried out, her heart was beating wildly, and she felt a numb trembling feeling on her foot trampled by the mouse, she suppressed the nausea, and helped Liu Sister-in-law, shook her and said, "Sister-in-law Liu, wake up, it's me, Ruhua."

"Ruhua..." Mrs. Liu trembled slightly when she heard her name, opened her eyes weakly, and asked her panting, "Xiaohuan, how is Xiaohuan?"

"Okay! She's fine! Now you're living with me, don't worry." Rou Rou said, and leaned into her ear and whispered: "I've escaped two raids, so nothing will happen."

She was worried that the ancient household registration checks would be so strict that Xiaohuan would have nowhere to hide, but after she really experienced it, she realized that it was not as strict as it was written in the history textbooks. In other words, the system is one thing, but its implementation is another. one thing.In order to evade taxes, many poor people concealed their population, registered households with others, underreported their age, falsely reported their sickness and old age, and fled to reclamation land. This has already become a phenomenon of false household registration. Some local officials also falsely report their population for political achievements. Moreover, the household registration here is often only registered once every three to five years. The tax law used is similar to the two-tax law. Taxation is mainly based on property and land, and the control over the population is not so strict. Not a big deal.

"That's good...then...that's good..." Mrs. Liu's lips were all chapped, and it was very difficult for her to speak.

"Sister-in-law Liu, have they tortured you?" Rourou hurriedly checked her body, and found that although the clothes were wrinkled, they were still intact, and there were no wounds, so she felt relieved, thinking that she was so weak, it should be hungry.

"No..." Mrs. Liu shook her head and said, "Just don't give me food or drink...I understand in my heart...this is trying to make me cheap and make me die..."

Rourou was just about to answer, when she heard footsteps coming from the aisle outside, looking back, a jailer came over with a lacquer plate, poured a bowl of water and a thin bowl of vegetable porridge from the small mouth of the delivery , and handed in two rough steamed buns, stood up again, looked at Wen Rou, and told her: "Speak quickly, you should go out in a moment."

Rourou quickly agreed, brought water to Aunt Liu, and waited for her to drink up the water in one go, then downed the bowl of vegetable porridge. Feeling that she was somewhat refreshed, she took the cotton-padded clothes and sesame jelly in her bag He took it out, handed it to her, and said, "Xiaohuan drove out this padded coat day and night, and this cold dumpling, you put it away, and eat something when you're hungry."

Aunt Liu took the cotton-padded coat, hugged it in her arms and rubbed it with her hands for a while, tears couldn't help falling down.Rourou looked sad, and persuaded her: "Anxin stay here for a while, I have taken care of the jailers outside, and I will find a way to bring you food in the future."

"No, don't come again." Mrs. Liu shook her head, wiped her tears with the back of her hand, sobbed, "This is a bottomless pit, and it can't be filled. If you have money, you can leave here with Xiaohuan and live in peace. Leave me alone... I know for myself that the Zhao family will not let me go, you can't beat them..."

"I don't want to fight anyone." Gentle patted her on the back, slowly told her about the county lord Ding You, and said: "I have estimated that when the new official takes office, it may be the end of winter , I heard that the case has to be reported for re-examination after the trial. After all the delays, maybe it will be spring. Even if you are sentenced to death, you will not be executed until after next autumn. It is not sure if something will happen in the meantime. What happened."

As she said that, she sighed and continued: "I know that I have no ability to save you, and I don't have the financial resources to manage the county magistrates. What I can do now is to arrange a few jailers for you, so that you will not be trapped inside. If you suffer too much, even if you can't hide it at that time, you will be happy if you stretch out your head with a knife. You don't have to suffer so much. As the saying goes, it's better to live than to die. If you accept my love, take good care of your body. Live on! Otherwise, Xiaohuan would not know how sad she would be."

Mrs. Liu couldn't stop crying as she listened. The gentle words were all about this, so what was she still insisting on?Well, one day counts as another day, and who knows what will happen tomorrow, so he could only respond: "Okay! I'll make a note of it, but... don't force yourself to take care of me for a day, just take care of me for a day. If you can’t, don’t force it!”

Rou Rou agreed, and after a few words with Aunt Liu, the head of the prison had already come in and urged her to leave, so she had no choice but to stand up, take another look at Aunt Liu, sighed secretly, turned and left.

(End of this chapter)