Nightwatcher

"Da da da"

The little mare trotted over gracefully, carrying the princess on her back.

It snorted and gently rubbed against Xu Qi'an's face. The latter kept stroking its neck to comfort it. .

The concubine untied the package hanging on the horse's back, grabbed a green robe and handed it to Xu Qi'an. Then, she glanced at the little woman, hesitated a little, and took out her own cotton coat.

"Put it on, it's useless to save people if you catch the wind and cold."

In late autumn, the climate in Yongzhou is downright cold. People who have just been fished out of the river have a high mortality rate if they do not change their clothes and keep warm in time.

"The old man's house is just ahead, let's go to the old man's house to change clothes."

The old man holding the bamboo pole said hurriedly.

Xu Qi'an embraced the clean green robe and cotton-padded clothes, bowed and said:

"Thank you, old man."

Immediately led the horse, dragged the little woman, and followed behind the old man.

The people around were still discussing, pointing, gossiping, or lamenting that Lame Zhang's daughter-in-law was fatal, and that she met a woman who was good at water and was willing to dive into the water to save others in the cold weather.

After walking less than a hundred meters, the old man turned into an alley paved with cobblestones and pushed open the black wooden door covered with corrosion marks.

Behind the door is a small courtyard, with a square patio overhead.

At this time, the little woman's face was ashen, her lips were pale, and she was trembling all over.

If Xu Qi'an was still a martial artist, it would be easy to get rid of the chill in her body with the passage of energy.

However, the Qi machine belongs to Wu Fu's patent. At the middle and low grades, among the major systems, only Wu Fu can use the Qi machine.

When it comes to Gaopin, other systems can also display energy as their physical body strengthens, but they are far from being able to compare with martial arts. Just like strength Gu, at Lina's level, she can take the initiative to refine and transform qi, with the body as the main body and qi as the supplement, so as to better exert her combat power.

"Take her to change clothes." Xu Qi'an took off the big package and threw it to Mu Nanzhi.

The concubine hugged her tightly in her arms, glanced at the little woman, quietly stuffed the beautiful padded jacket back into the package, and took out a not-so-pretty padded jacket.

I was careless just now, and accidentally took a good dress.

Watching the two enter the master bedroom, Xu Qi'an went to the side room to change clothes under the guidance of the old man.

"Old man, why don't you avoid it first?"

Xu Qi'an said tactfully.

The old man was taken aback for a moment, and wondered: "Why, you are still shy in the younger generation?"

No, I was afraid of scaring you Xu Qi'an smiled apologetically, looked at the old man and said nothing.

The old man put the clean sweat towel on the table and exited the room.

Xu Qi'an unbuttoned his robe and took off his inner garment. Four nails had penetrated into his flesh and blood on his front abdomen and back respectively. The wounds were dark red and horrifying.

On the top of his head is the Baihui acupoint, and there is a nail that seals Yuanshen.

The magic nail sealed his cultivation, including his strength. Now he has the skin strength of a third-rank martial artist, but he can't exert enough strength. Even if he wants to rely on his hard body to kill people, it is difficult.

After changing into a set of dry clothes, Xu Qi'an and the old man sat in the simple hall, warming the fire, with a pot of rice wine on the stove, chatting with each other.

"Old man, do you live alone at home?"

"yes."

"Where's the family?"

"My wife left last year and has a pair of sons and daughters. The daughter married to a foreign country and hasn't come back to see me for many years. As for the son."

The old man paused for a moment, helplessness flashed in his slightly cloudy eyes:

"A few years ago, the floods caused all the crops to disappear. In order to feed his family, he followed the hunters up the mountain to hunt, but fell off the cliff and died."

There was a moment of silence.

Xu Qi'an himself is a person who has experienced great grief and pain, so he would not say "sorry" or something like that.

At this time, the old man lifted the jug and said with a smile: "This wine is ready when it's just warmed up. When it boils, the smell will disappear. Young people, try it."

There are no extra cups in the house.

Xu Qi'an poured the jug, took a sip, his eyes lit up, the taste was sweet and mellow, both sour, bitter, spicy and astringent, but just right. After swallowing the wine, the fragrance between the lips and teeth lingers for a long time.

There are countless good wines in the capital, but this is the first time he has tasted this wine.

At this time, it would be nice to have another plate of white-cut chicken and salted peanuts. Xu Qi'an thought regretfully in his heart that he couldn't wait to find an inn to stay and drink with the princess until dawn.

The old man nodded in satisfaction, seeing his wrinkled face with a long aftertaste, a smile appeared on his face.

"Hearing the accent of the younger generation, he is not a native of Yongzhou."

"He's from the capital."

The old man was in awe, and said: "It turns out that you are from the capital, no wonder, the younger generation and your daughter-in-law are really talented and beautiful."

Hey, old man, can your conscience really be at ease when you say this? Xu Qi'an complained in his heart.

Just at this time, the princess and the little woman came out. The latter's face was still pale, and his slender body was slightly shivering from the cold.

The old man called the two of them over to warm up the fire, Xu Qi'an saw the abnormality in the face of the princess, and seemed to be trying to suppress his anger.

"What's wrong?"

Xu Qi'an handed the jug to the little woman, motioning for her to take a sip to warm her body, then turned to look at Mu Nanzhi.

The old man sighed: "Did Zhang Lie go to gamble again?"

The little woman lowered her head and nodded.

Seeing this, the old man commented: "It seems that life is impossible."

The little woman shook her head, tears falling down.

Mu Nanzhi said with a gloomy face, "Her man gave her away."

Giving someone away is a euphemistic way of saying it. The thing is, the little woman's husband is Zhang Youfu, who is lame. Because of his disability, he can't do heavy work, and his family has always been poor.

Zhang Liezi is a man with high eyesight and low abilities, unwilling to live a hard life, so he is addicted to gambling.

After a few years, the life that was not rich at first became more and more unbearable.

Nine times out of ten gambling, Zhang Liezi is not special. Not only did he lose all his wealth, but he also owed a whole lot of debt.

The biggest creditor among them is a gangster named Zhu Er.

Zhu Er colluded with the casino to drain Zhang Laizi's money, and then lent him the money.

Its purpose is not for money, but for Zhang Laizi's daughter-in-law, that is, the little woman in front of him.

He threatened with debt, demanding that Zhang Laizi pawn his wife to himself, when he can pay back the money, and when he will come back to bring his wife back.

The desperate Zhang Laizi reluctantly agreed and signed the contract.

The little woman was taken away by Zhu Er yesterday and was forced to commit herself to him. This morning, while Zhu Er was asleep, she escaped secretly, intending to commit suicide by jumping into the river.

After hearing this, the old man sighed again, as if he had expected Zhang Liezi to come to this point sooner or later.

Pawning wives is quite common in the south of Dafeng. It's okay to live in peacetime. Once there are natural disasters and man-made disasters, the custom of pawning wives will prevail.

For this kind of atmosphere, the law strictly prohibits it, but the government usually turns a blind eye to it and adopts a tacit attitude.

Xu Qi'an looked at the little woman again, she was indeed beautiful, with a soft and weak temperament, which could arouse a man's possessive desire.

Mu Nanzhi frequently gestured with his eyes, asking Xu Qi'an how to deal with the little woman.

"How much money does your husband owe that Zhu Er?"

The little woman raised her head, looked at him timidly, and said in a low voice, "Thirty taels."

Thirty taels of silver is a lot. In the capital, this is the annual income of a wealthy population. In a small county like Fuyang County, thirty taels of silver is enough to buy a big house.

But if you gamble, you can't count it like this.

If the little woman hadn't lied, and Zhu Er and the gambling house colluded to kill the pig, then the thirty taels of silver hadn't been paid out at all, and the white wolf had set up a charming little woman from a good family.

The old man whispered: "This Zhu Er is a notorious bastard in the county. He has a friendship with the county magistrate's nephew. He has dozens of people under him. The most lively street in the county must be given He pays protection fees.

"There are many people who are dissatisfied with him, but even more people are afraid of him. With the county magistrate above him, he can be lawless."

And he's smart enough to have "reasonable" means to bully men and women. Xu Qi'an added inwardly.

"As the saying goes, a good man will do it to the end, you now have two choices: one, your husband owes Zhu Er thirty taels, we will pay it back for you, and you go back and continue to live with your husband.

"Secondly, the contract is against the law. I will settle it for you, but you have to reconcile with your husband. I will give you a sum of money afterwards. It doesn't matter if you go back to your mother's house or go elsewhere, it's up to you."

The little woman lowered her head and said in a soft voice: "How can the water splashed by a married daughter go back to her mother's house? The little girl is a local, and she is out of the county. Where can she go to ask for a living?"

Xu Qi'an knew that she chose the first option.

Immediately left thirty taels of silver for the little woman, and left the old man's house with the little mare and Mu Nanzhi.

"If you have any questions about the follow-up, come to the best inn in the county to find me.

"Old man, the wine is good, thank you for the hospitality."

The two walked out of the alley at once, and gradually distanced themselves.

The old man watched them leave, and when he returned to the house, he was surprised to find that there was a piece of official silver left in the place where the young man had just sat.

The old man has never seen such a large amount of silver in his life.

In the county, there is a three-in-one compound.

Zhu Er, who was full of flesh and blood, sat in the hall with a gloomy face, and shouted at the subordinates in the hall:

"Catch that little girl back, shame on her face, and then stay in the house to vent the anger of the brothers. There are so many brothers who don't want their wives, so they just make the best use of everything."

He has already tasted the taste of that little lady, Zhu Er has always been a person who loves the new and dislikes the old.

Although the contract did not allow him to deal with it in this way, the cripple was so poor that he couldn't even get three taels of silver, let alone thirty taels.

This woman is his from now on, and he can deal with it as he wants.

"Gulu."

Several men swallowed their saliva.

Zhu Er was very satisfied with the reactions of his subordinates, and thought that his decision was extremely correct, which greatly won the hearts of the people.

During this period of time, Zhu Er felt that his fortunes were changing. This was mainly manifested in four aspects. First, he gambled in the casino, winning more and losing less.

Second, the business of the several shops and industries he runs has suddenly improved and is booming.

Three, the county master who was originally lukewarm, taking bribes and looking down on him at the same time, suddenly changed his temper and called him a brother.

It was the county lord who proposed the idea of ​​using the casino to squeeze the lame Zhang dry, and then using debts to force the little lady into the house.

Otherwise, according to Zhu Er's personality, he prefers the overlord to force his bow, and then threaten the good girl to obey.

The magistrate of the county is worthy of being a scholar, and the method he thought of was impeccable, without any sequelae.

Fourth, the brothers under him became more and more awed and loyal to him.

Zhu Er, whose financial resources and power expanded rapidly, even moved to the idea of ​​going to Yongzhou City.

Compared with the main city of Yongzhou, Fuyang County is nothing. Zhu Er restrained his divergent thoughts and thought about what kind of gift to give to the county magistrate.

If women are directly excluded from the options, will the magistrate be short of women?

The silver was also excluded, because the silver was always given away, and it was not distinctive enough to show his intentions.

At this time, a subordinate came in hurriedly and said, "Second master, lame Zhang and sister-in-law are here, saying they are here to pay back the money."

Pay back? Zhu Er was taken aback for a moment, almost thinking that his ears had misheard, and said in a deep voice, "Let them in."

In a few moments, a limping and thin man pulled a pretty little woman in, and the little woman's arms were swollen and she was tightly protecting her.

There were a few bruises on her face, she seemed to have just been beaten, but she still hugged the things in her arms tightly, never letting go.

"Second Master, we are here to pay back the money."

Lame Zhang nodded and bowed, his face full of flattery.

Zhu Er didn't answer, but looked at the little woman, narrowed his eyes and said:

"Where did you go?"

The little woman tightened the things in her arms again, she was a little afraid, but she forced her courage: "We are here to pay back the money, what about the contract?"

Zhu Er stared at her: "Where is Yin Zi?"

The little woman took out the cloth bag, which contained three ingots of official silver, ten taels each.

Official silver is not available to ordinary people, not to say that they are not qualified, but the "face value" is too high, and ordinary people generally use copper coins and broken silver.

"Where did you get the official silver?"

Zhu Er stared and asked loudly.

The little woman trembled in fright, and Zhang Liezi quickly said, "It was given to me by a stranger."

Immediately, he told the story again. After the little woman went back, she told Zhang Liezi what had happened. At that time, Zhang Liezi's idea was not to pay off the debt, but to gamble with the money.

But the pawned daughter-in-law defended her desperately. He was thin and weak, so he couldn't grab it for a while.

I had no choice but to compromise and redeem the person first.

A foreigner, rich Zhu Er turned his eyes, suddenly slapped the table and shouted angrily, saying:

"Bitch, you are so brave. You dared to steal my money while I was sleeping. Bind the two of them and lock them up in the woodshed."

Lame Zhang and his wife's face changed drastically, and they were dragged down crying and locked in the woodshed.

"Second master is brilliant!"

The subordinate said, "Where did lame Zhang get the thirty taels? No one would believe him if he said it. He must have stolen it from the second master."

"Second Master, that little daughter-in-law."

A subordinate salivated. They remembered what Zhu Er said just now.

"What's the rush, everyone is locked up, afraid of escaping?"

Zhu Er frowned and reprimanded: "It's worthless. You go and check that stranger to see where it came from. Hey, if you can take out thirty taels casually, you can take out three hundred taels, or even more. many."

In the best inn in the county, Xu Qi'an was holding a jug of wine in his hand. The just warmed wine made the jug a little warmer.

The concubine was sitting at the table with a jug of wine in her hand. The wine was soaked in shredded ginger and spices. She could not drink too badly. After a few sips, her face flushed as if drunk, but she was a bit charming.

"The ancient sages are lonely, but the drinkers leave their names"

he said softly.

"Good poetry!"

The concubine praised him greatly, and looked at him sideways: "What about the next one?"

Xu Qi'an said angrily: "It's gone down there."

He drank slowly, "I'll go to that little woman's house to have a look later. Since I've helped, I'll help to the end."

The princess said with emotion: "Actually, I shouldn't care about it. There have been a lot of troubles along the way."