Chapter 351

Rongguo Prefecture, Baoyu Courtyard.

Jia Zheng's fierce beating that day made Baoyu unable to get out of bed for a few days, and he often groaned in pain.

Sister Xi Ren checked the injury every day after taking off his middle clothes; the skin and flesh on the upper part of his thighs began to scab, but the four-finger-wide stiff marks rose up and couldn't fade for a while.

Every time she saw it, Sister Xi Ren was terrified; if the mistress and the old lady hadn't arrived in time that day, he would have been beaten to disability.

Baoyu and Jia Cong were the same age; for the past two years, Jia Cong had been busy studying and being an official, while Baoyu had secretly done many things that could be done with Sister Xi Ren many times.

Therefore, the two had a degree of intimacy that others didn't have, so every day Sister Xi Ren served medicine, she would nag a few words as usual: If you had listened to me, you wouldn't be in this state today.

Although Baoyu still couldn't get out of bed, he was still worried about other things; he had long been accustomed to Sister Xi Ren's consideration and warmth, and didn't take her words to heart.

The first thing he cared about was how Jin Chuan was; later he heard that Jin Chuan had jumped into the well to commit suicide because of that day's incident.

He was a person who loved to seek sorrow and hatred for no reason, and many times he was like a fool; Jin Chuan's deeds naturally made him sigh and feel sad.

Where would you put your aunt's face? You were a smart child in the past, how could you do such a foolish thing."

Suddenly, he heard Ying'er's voice from outside: "Brother San is here, come in and sit."

Baochai smiled: "I know you; coming to see me is just by the way; you mostly want to ask about Jin Chuan, whether there is a settlement."

Baoyu was happy in his heart upon hearing this; at least Sister Bao still had him in her heart; even if she didn't come over, she still let the maid bring medicine for his injury; this affection made Baoyu's heart move.

Lixiang Courtyard, Xue Yima's room.

Therefore, he had always felt very sorry for Jia Cong...

You are not unaware that Brother Bao was beaten so badly a few days ago; this matter was clearly caused by Brother Bao, and Jin Chuan made no big mistake, but was provoked into jumping into the well.

However, later he heard that Jin Chuan was saved, and the sorrow and autumn sadness that Baoyu had finally brewed in his heart leaked out more than half, and he felt a bit empty in his heart.

He saw Baochai come out and smiled: "I went to pay my respects to the master in the West Prefecture today, and came to see Sister Bao by the way."

But whether it was Daiyu or Baochai, every time they came to visit, they were together with other sisters, and never came alone.

He actually let two big and rough "dead fish eyes" go down the well to fish people out; that scene was really not beautiful and ruined the scenery.

Since he was lying in bed recuperating, the three sisters often came to visit, but Baoyu most wanted his Lin Meimei to come and see him, and naturally his Sister Bao.

Xue Yima heard that her daughter wanted Jin Chuan to be a maid and felt a headache, so she called Baochai into the room to question her.

Later, she heard that Baochai asked the mistress for Jin Chuan to be a maid, which made Baoyu feel a bit more comfortable.

Moreover, he also heard that after Jin Chuan fell into the well, she happened to be met by Jia Cong, and Jia Cong asked two strong women from the kitchen to go down the well to fish her out.

Seeing this shape, Sister Xi Ren couldn't help but sigh, saying that now the sisters were getting older year by year, and they couldn't be like when they were young; they should respect each other more.

Baochai frowned and said: "Mom, I have already apologized to the aunt about this, and told the aunt the truth; it was the aunt herself who agreed, not that I forced Jin Chuan to be this girl."

Thinking that when she was better, she would go to see Sister Bao, and she would also be able to see Jin Chuan; the gathering of such two wonderful people made him feel foolish and happy again...

Xue Yima felt strange; this Cong Ge'er rarely came to the Lixiang Courtyard alone; ever since he moved to the East Prefecture, he came even less.

Brother Cong was fortunate to save her; Brother Cong is kind-hearted and wanted this girl not to be ruined in vain, and to have a good place to live.

Seeing her daughter come in, she said with a look of complaint: "Baochai, how could you be so dizzy? Jin Chuan was driven out of the prefecture by your aunt, and you went to ask for her to use yourself."

But Daiyu didn't listen to these words at all; after he recuperated for a few days, when the sisters came over again, Daiyu didn't come instead.

A few days ago, Jia Cong heard Baochai say that she had a steady way for Jin Chuan, and he had been worried about this matter.

In his thought, Jia Cong, such a romantic and handsome figure, was rare in the world; it was only because he went to read those rotten books and only wanted to be a salary-worm that he was worn out without any embroidery heart.

He had begged Lin Meimei, and now he couldn't move around, so he asked his sister to come to his room more often when she was free, so they could talk together.

Baochai's pretty face turned red, and she scolded: "Mom, what are you talking about? I just pity this girl Jin Chuan, so what if I asked for her?"

I'm just helping out; not to mention having an extra maid to use, giving people a way out is also a good thing..."

Xue Yima glared: "I knew you were for that boy; you don't leave his name in three sentences; what kind of ecstasy soup did he pour into you, that even this kind of mess, you help him pick up."

At this moment, he seemed to have forgotten that when Lady Wang slapped Jin Chuan, that person was rolling and crawling, and escaped somewhere in a wisp of smoke.

Such a fierce and unyielding daughter is truly rare; she actually jumped into the well for herself; this kind of muddy thing actually has such fortune, which is really a bit intoxicating...

But Ying'er said that the pills were sent by the mistress, and her own young lady didn't know about this, and also said that now the young lady had Jin Chuan to serve her, so she had time to help the mistress send things.

This kind of strict tone was exactly the same as Lady Wang's; Baoyu was almost suffocated to death when he heard it, thinking when did this gentle and obedient Sister Xi Ren change her face, and not letting people live...

Xue Yima now also saw that Cong Ge'er was different from the past; the old lady said that he would be a person granted a marriage in the future, and there was a 99% chance that there would be no situation with her daughter.

Baoyu felt a bit uncomfortable upon hearing this; originally it could be compared to the elegance of Ehuang and Nüying, but it was rudely treated by Jia Cong.

In the original trajectory, the fierce Jin Chuan jumped into the well and died unjustly; now that he encountered it, he must solve this dead end and not let a little life be trampled in vain.

Xue Yima was slightly stunned when she heard the tone, but saw her daughter smile and stand up and leave the room.

A few days later, Ying'er brought high-quality bruise medicine, asked Sister Xi Ren to dissolve it with warm wine and apply it; after the heat poison dissipated, he would be fine soon.

Her daughter was becoming more and more obsessed, and she didn't know how to clean it up in the future.

Baoyu felt like an eggplant beaten by frost upon hearing this, and almost cried; it turned out that he was a lonely ghost after all; how could he, such a muddy thing, deserve the care of such a daughter who was gathered by the spirit of the bell?

Jia Cong was exposed by Baochai and didn't hide it, laughing: "Sister Bao is too intelligent, nothing can be hidden from you."

Baochai smiled and told the story of how she had begged Lady Wang to ask for Jin Chuan to be a maid.

That day, Baochai said she had a steady way, and Jia Cong had some guesses in his heart, but he didn't take it for granted.

In fact, if she asked Daiyu or Seeing Tan Chun to make Jin Chuan a maid, they would be willing.

But they were all young ladies of the Jia family, and Lady Wang was the mistress; since she wanted to drive Jin Chuan out of the prefecture, they naturally couldn't ask for Jin Chuan again.

And the Xue family and the Jia family were two families, and Baochai was Lady Wang's niece; only such a result could be a situation that could be truly solved.

Now that he heard Baochai's words, a big stone fell in Jia Cong's heart.

He smiled: "This is the best result for Jin Chuan; I knew Sister Bao was careful before, but I didn't know she had both a kind heart and a clever and flexible ability.

Things that make people have a headache, Sister Bao solved them lightly."

Baochai's pretty face turned red, but she saw Jia Cong's expression was happy, his eyes were clear, making people's hearts hot, and his words were sincere, not joking, indeed from the heart.

This made Baochai feel that no matter what she did, it was worth it.

Love Shenjing, Hongchun Fang, Fule Academy.

Fule Academy was the place where the musicians of the Jiaofang Division lived.

The entire Fule Academy occupied half of Hongchun Fang, where more than 300 musicians of the Love Shenjing Jiaofang Division lived.

At the entrance of Fule Academy, there were rows of copper boxes, each of which was well-made, carved with exquisite and complex patterns, reflecting the dark, quiet, and dim light in the night.

Each copper box corresponded to a first-class residence in Fule Academy.

Only first-class musicians evaluated by various instructors of the Jiaofang Division could move into first-class residences.

These people were highly skilled musicians and were guests of high-ranking officials and nobles in the Love Shenjing, but whenever they encountered banquets and invitations from high-ranking officials and nobles, there was always the figure of these famous Jiaofang musicians.

When nobles held banquets and gatherings, if they wanted to invite a famous musician to perform and help the fun, they would cast a name card into the corresponding copper box.

This was called "casting a book to invite music" in the drinking banquets of the Love Shenjing, which could be considered an elegant thing in the drinking and music.

Ever since Zou Min'er became the instructor of the Pipa color, known as the Jade Pipa Heavenly Sound Qingniangzi, the only introductory disciple.

She began to enter the vision of many people in the Jiaofang Division.

Some people had heard Zou Min'er practice the pipa; although she was a new learner, she had shown extremely high talent and diligence, and it was said that she was highly praised by Qingniangzi.

Because of Qingniangzi's relationship, she soon moved out of the messy room of the Jiaofang Division and moved into a spacious and tidy first-class residence in Fule Academy.

Although it attracted some jealous eyes in the Jiaofang Division, as the personal disciple of Qingniangzi, many people wisely shut their mouths.

But Zou Min'er had never performed in public, so no musical name was spread; although she moved into a first-class residence, outsiders were very strange to her, and no one had ever cast a card in the copper box to invite her.

This was also specially created for her by Qingniangzi; a musician who moved into a first-class residence was very suitable for Zou Min'er's current status.

Any musician who could move into a first-class residence in Fule Academy was a person with extraordinary skills and connections; behind them stood some high-ranking official of the Ministry of Rites, or some noble in the Love Shenjing.

They were completely different from those bottom-level musicians who could be played with at will; generally, officials and nobles would not easily offend them, so as to maintain their own face in their respective circles.

Although her copper box would never receive an invitation, Zou Min'er would habitually look at her copper box every time she took a carriage back to her residence.

Ever since she was recruited into the Zhongche Office by Du Qingniang, she often did the screening and analysis of various intelligence reports, and the intelligence reports within her responsibility would be written in secret text by relevant scouts and cast into her copper box.

This way of transmitting information was not eye-catching, and was safe and fast; this was also an important reason why Du Qingniang arranged for her to move into a first-class residence.

Today, when she returned to Fule Academy after getting off the carriage, she glanced at her No. 37 copper box as usual; the mark on the box showed that there was a letter cast inside.

Zou Min'er opened the copper box with a key as usual and took away the things inside.

When she returned to the room and carefully read the objects in the copper box, in addition to a few common secret intelligence reports.

There was also a slip of paper written on mulberry paper, folded very neatly, with an address written on it; the signature was a bit strange, without a name, but a butterfly-shaped kite was drawn.

July 10th, the beginning of autumn, the yang energy gradually disappeared, the yin energy accumulated, and all things were restrained and tended to ripen.

West of the city, Chunhua Restaurant; the hall on the first floor was noisy, tables and chairs were crowded; the people eating and drinking here were commoners, drinking and chatting, rarely paying attention to elegance.

And after walking up two rounds of stairs to the second floor, the environment was much more elegant; there were only a few tables in the hall, and there were closed-door elegant rooms all around the hall.

The second floor of Chunhua Restaurant had a quiet environment and was not prepared for the general public; the wine and dishes here were 30% more expensive than the lobby on the first floor.

The second floor was not a simple place for eating and drinking, but a place for people with wealth and elegance in the city to relax and talk.

On the stairs leading to the second floor, a young master walked up, with a slender and tall figure, a delicate and handsome face, looking like a scholar, just with a few more feminine breaths.

The waiter on the second floor was also used to such scenes; most of the guests drinking in the elegant rooms on the second floor were such scholars who liked to talk about songs and poems.

The waiter hurriedly stepped forward to ask, but the young man had already made an appointment to meet in the No. 5 elegant room.

In the No. 5 elegant room, when the young man pushed the door in, someone was already waiting in the room.

That was a fifty-year-old man, with gray hair, an old face, and a face full of wind, frost, and fatigue.

As soon as the old man saw the young man, he called out in surprise: "Miss, I can finally see you!"

Zou Min'er said with a sigh: "If it weren't for seeing the butterfly kite you drew, I would never have dreamed it was you; when I was a child, you often made butterfly kites for me to play with."

The old man was excited: "I knew the young lady would definitely remember!"

Zou Min'er said: "Ever since the incident in the prefecture, the servants in the house were all implicated and sold; back then, Wei Bo's mother died of illness, and he happened to go back to mourn, which was a blessing in disguise."

This old man was named Wei Shu'er; he was once an old soldier in the guard station; because he committed a crime, he was originally inevitable to die, but Zou Huaiyi managed to save him and helped him support his widowed mother.

From then on, he was loyal to the Zou family as a slave; before the Zou Fu incident, he happened to go home to mourn, otherwise he didn't know where he would be sold now.

That Wei Bo said: "Although I happened to leave the prefecture, after the master had an accident, someone should have known that I was the master's confidant, wanting to inquire about the master's secrets from me.

Not long after, a group of people came to the door, and I managed to escape, but these people have been lingering, trying their best to search for my whereabouts.

For the past year, I have been hiding everywhere; I couldn't hide in Jiangnan, and I heard that the young lady was assigned to the Love Shenjing Jiaofang Division.

So I hardened my heart and went north to inquire about the young lady's news; this was contrary to people's expectations, and I actually managed to get rid of these people's tracking.

But this Love Shenjing is under the feet of the Son of Heaven; the master was convicted, and the young lady is in this situation now, so I have to be extremely careful.

For the past year, someone has been chasing me so relentlessly; I was afraid of causing trouble for the young lady, so after arriving in the Love Shenjing, I didn't dare to come to see the young lady directly."

I secretly observed the young lady's situation and didn't dare to act rashly; I found that the young lady took things from the copper box every day, so I left a note and made an appointment to meet the young lady."

Zou Min'er nodded upon hearing this; this old servant in her family was old and deep, and had always been trusted by her father, and was indeed a cautious person.

But she was strange in her heart and asked: "Wei Bo is just an old servant of the Zou family, and my father is already dead; why would anyone chase you so relentlessly? Do you know who these people are?"

Wei Bo shook his head and said: "For the past year, I only cared about hiding everywhere and didn't have the energy to investigate the identities of these people, but I fought with them once, and these people seemed to be from the military!"

Zou Min'er's heart jumped violently upon hearing this, and she suddenly remembered the confession that Qingniangzi showed her...

Wei Bo took out a palm-sized shell-inlaid wooden box from his body; the style was very sturdy and exquisite, and it was sealed with strict glue and lacquer.

He said: "Miss, later I heard that the master was involved in the Japanese pirates, which led to the accident.

When I went home to mourn, the Ying Tian Prefecture was already investigating this case, and it was making a lot of noise.

When I went home to mourn, the master gave me this wooden box and asked me to keep it with me; if the city was peaceful and nothing happened after a month, he asked me to bring this thing back.

Now it seems that what the master would do should be to prevent accidents, so he deliberately left a backup, but he didn't expect that something would really happen in the end!"

Zou Min'er saw the shell-inlaid wooden box in Wei Bo's hand, and her heart jumped wildly; she never expected that her father would notice something wrong back then and leave such a thing.

But she thought carefully that no matter whether her father was good or evil, being able to reach the high position of the Water Supervision Office battalion commander, he must have experienced many storms and was a meticulous person; doing such a thing to prevent trouble was also reasonable.

It was just that after the Zou Fu incident, Wei Bo was chased and killed for no reason and had no time to take care of the mystery, and she was assigned to the Love Shenjing Jiaofang Division...

Zou Min'er took the shell-inlaid wooden box with trembling hands; if the wooden box had been moved, it would definitely leave traces.

She carefully checked the glue and lacquer seal on it, confirmed that it was intact, then opened the seal with a hairpin and gently opened the wooden box.

Inside the box was a printed ticket.

(End of chapter)