"Later?"

She paused for a moment and said, "Later, he fell ill. ”

My heart throbbed.

Tang Ting's face showed a dejected expression, her pale face became more and more bloodless under the reflection of the candlelight, and she said softly: "Actually, my uncle has been sick before, but he is not so sick, although there has been no improvement for a long time, but he can still hold on." But after that time, he fell. was originally a very capable person, but no one expected that he would suddenly fall like this. ”

“……”

"And I never got up again. ”

“……”

I looked at her with a somewhat vacant gaze.

Yes, I remembered, it was in that year that even the student of Xishan Academy who appeared in Jixiang Village passed on my news back, and I also got the news from Huang Tianba that Yan Qingchen might come to Yangzhou, and I had no doubt that he would come to me immediately.

But until Pei Yuanhao appeared and forced Liu Qinghan away, he didn't come.

Later, I found out that my father died of illness that year.

But I didn't know where my father's illness began.

It turned out to be ......

Tang Ting then said softly: "Later, I went to the Sacrifice Cliff again, and at that time the statue of the Bodhisattva had already been molded, and those workers told me that when my uncle went to the Sacrifice Cliff and saw the statue, he had locked himself in that temple for a whole night, and no one knew what he was doing in it. ”

“……”

"He didn't sue anyone. ”

“……”

Speaking of this, looking at my already red eyes, Tang Ting paused for a moment, and then said softly: "Miss, it's not that I deliberately concealed it, I also know that I should tell you about this matter." But, in my heart I always have—"

She wanted to speak and stopped, there was an indescribable heaviness and contradiction in her eyes, I didn't say anything, only nodded slightly.

I understand it too.

Although they all belong to my mother's command in terms of power, they can't be as completely hostile to my father as they are to Xue Qian, and besides, my father aggravated his condition after seeing the statue that was exactly the same as my mother, which also made Tang Ting feel guilty.

Not to mention......

I can remember a qiē when I was a child, and of course she also remembers that when she was a child, when she was still behind my ass and called my sister, her father also hugged her lovingly, and let her ride on his shoulder, to pull the leg of Anyang Gongzi, who was lying on the tree and hit her back with a small stone.

All good memories should not be distorted and deformed by interests, positions, and hatred in the years that follow.

She wants to remember the good, and so do I.

I let out a long sigh, and then said, "You only sued me for these things?"

"Well," she nodded, "all these years, even my parents didn't know." ”

"Okay, I got it. ”

Seeing a faint tiredness on my face, Tang Ting thought about it and asked, "Miss, this matter shouldn't have any impact on tomorrow's affairs, right?"

I smiled: "It's been more than ten years ago, what impact can it have." ”

“……”

"Don't worry, tomorrow we just need to deal with it well, if it really doesn't work - Chengdu side, we can find another way. ”

"Hmm. ”

She nodded, looked at my face again, and then said, "The eldest lady must be very tired, so it's better to rest early." ”

"Hmm. ”

I got up and sent her out, it was so dark outside that I couldn't see my fingers, but fortunately she didn't need guidance at all, and soon walked out of the small courtyard and disappeared into the night, and in the distance, I heard a few naughty children in the village running back from the entrance of the village, probably caught by their own parents, beating and scolding, and making the noise that his dogs barked.

Standing at the gate of the courtyard, I felt these almost earthy lives, and I only felt an indescribable sourness in my heart.

I don't know, if my parents, if they were born in such a calm and indisputable small village, living next to each other, chickens and dogs, can they also grow up carefree from a young age, and talk about marriage at the right age, they don't know the outside world, and don't understand the cruel life of those official eunuchs, in that case, can the two of them be happier?

And I, my fate, will it be different?

But this qiē is just my delusion.

Our lives have come to this point, and there is no turning back.

I slowly returned to the room, closed the door, and looked back to see the candle flame that was constantly swaying by the wind, and the small medicine box under the candlestick, as if it was still faintly scented in the night.

I walked over and watched calmly for a moment, then leaned down and blew out the candle.

一qiē, return to calm, return to darkness.

|

The next day, Aunt Hong and Su Su came together to serve me and get up.

I didn't sleep very well, but fortunately I was not in bad spirits, and after I had eaten a little bit, I stood in the middle of the room, tossed by them like a puppet, and the heavy dress was put on top of me.

Today, it is ancestor worship.

According to the rules, women are not allowed to enter the ancestral hall, nor can they worship their ancestors, but they can always think of a way outside the rules, the rules of the Yan family are that women can take children, and the servants of the Yan family can sacrifice outside the ancestral hall, still express their reverence for their ancestors, and pray for blessings.

It took me a long time to change my clothes and finally go out.

As soon as I went out, I saw that almost all the villagers of Gantang Village were dispatched.

All the people went to the side of the ancestral hall.

Although none of them have the surname Yan, because in this Gantang Village, they all follow Old Man Ma to guard the ancestral hall, so they are also members of the Yan family, and they naturally want to go to such a big sacrifice.

I was supported by Su Su, and also walked over there, just walked through an alley, I heard a group of dolls running out from behind noisily, almost hitting me, Aunt Hong grabbed the collar of one of the oldest and tallest boys and scolded: "Ergou, what are you bumping into!"

The boy was ten years old, dark and thin, like a naughty monkey, he was scolded by Aunt Hong, looked back at us, and immediately blushed to the root of his ears, and said: "Aunt Hong, I have a big name, don't keep calling me a nickname." ”

"What's wrong with calling you by your nickname?"

"I'm grown up, not a kid anymore. ”

"It's not a child, then who was it last night, who was hit by your father in the middle of the night? ”

"Oh, Aunt Hong, don't say it, don't say it!"

The child's face was red, for fear that he would lose face in front of his friends, and Aunt Hong saw that he was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks, so she threw him away: "Stand aside obediently." Later, if you rush to the ancestral hall and make a noise, I'll break your legs!"

"I know, my father and mother have been talking about it for a long time. ”

"Also, don't be lazy when you run errands later, or I'll tell your dad to let him whip you!"

The kid reluctantly agreed, and ran away against the wall, I was a little nervous, but I thought they were making this scene, but I relaxed a little, and said with a smile: "This kid is the one who was beaten last night? ”

"He is the most disobedient person in the village, he has to be like a monkey, and he doesn't learn well with his younger brothers and sisters, and he runs in the wild outside the village every day, and he doesn't know what to be afraid of. ”

"Nobody cares?"

"Who's in charge? It's like that in this village. In fact, his parents originally wanted to send him to study in the town, but where could he study? ”

Aunt Hong watched the child run away and nagged a few words.

I looked back at her with a smile on my face, and Aunt Hong came over to accompany Su Su to continue walking with me.

After a while, we walked outside the Yan family ancestral hall.

It was a little different from when she took me to see it that day, the yard was cleaned up before it was full of fallen leaves, and it seemed that it had been washed with water at dawn, and it was not clean, and when I stood here, I could feel the coolness on the bluestone slab.

Almost all the people of the village gathered here, but there was no noise at all, and even the noisy children just now stood quietly behind their respective adults, and they stood neatly around this large courtyard.

And in the center of the courtyard, stood Xue Qian.

She was already wearing a very formal dress, holding a dragon staff, which was extremely majestic, and all the ladies of the Yan family were listed behind her.

As soon as she raised her eyes, she saw me, and her brow immediately furrowed.

I didn't say anything, just walked up and walked up behind her.

Yan Ruoyu stood beside me, saw me walking over, nodded and smiled at me gently, I also smiled back at her, and when I looked up at the front, Xue Qian glanced at me coldly, and then "hummed" and turned her head.

I sighed inwardly and didn't say anything, just looked around.

On the ground of this courtyard, there are several stout wooden pillars horizontally, and hemp rope is wrapped around them, forming a large circle, and I don't know what they are used for.

I wondered, and looked up again.

All the people standing here were women, not a single man, and in front of them, the door of the ancestral hall, which had been closed, finally opened at this moment.

But even if you open it, you can't fully see the scene inside, you can only faintly see a few small servants busy, still holding sacrificial sacrifices in their hands, and then you can't see what is inside.

Most women will never see it in their lifetime, because no matter what our surname is, we will not be able to enter our ancestral hall for the rest of our lives.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but sigh softly in my heart.

When I looked back again, Aunt Hong had already taken Su Su to stand in another column at the back of our queue, they were not surnamed Yan, but they still belonged to the Yan family, and they could not enter the ancestral hall during the sacrifice, so they could only follow us female dependents to salute outside.

After seeing them, I thought about it and glanced around again.

Basically, all the people have arrived here, I looked back and forth a few times, and finally behind a group of villagers behind, I saw that familiar figure - Pei Yuanxiu.

Suddenly, I breathed a sigh of relief.

He stood so far away, naturally because today's sacrifice belonged to the Yan family, he was not surnamed Yan, and he had already separated from me - in fact, even if the two of us were not separated, he had nothing to do with the sacrifice of the Yan family. I was looking for him because I was a little uneasy.

After all, things have come to this point, and I have to be wary of him in front of me, but if he is not in front of me, I will have to worry about more things.

And he, standing in the middle of the crowd with a blank face, was looking at me when I looked at him.