The maid hurriedly shut up, playing a fan with her hand, and didn't dare to stop.

"Where are the others?" The woman was still looking at her painting.

The maid secretly sighed and replied: "The Tang family outside the city has already asked Liu Zhutou to send someone to keep an eye on it, and there will be news that will be sent back." ”

"You go and see if there's any new news." The woman didn't raise her head, just looked at her painting.

The maid answered, put down the fan and hurried out.

About two moments later, the maid hurried back to the house and shouted, "Yun Niang, it's not good, that person has run away!" ”

The woman who was immersed in her own world was shocked when she heard this, suddenly got up, and asked urgently, "Ran away?" ”

"The official said that the man did not return to the city, and went directly to the Sungai ferry by car, and it is estimated that he has already left by boat." The maid hurriedly replied cautiously.

The woman looked at the maid speechless, and after a while, she suddenly cried: "This one who has no conscience left without a sound, I hate him to death!" ”

After speaking, he swept the painting on the table to the ground, and a few crystal tears welled up from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

"Such a negative man, don't care what he does, just leave when he leaves, when he is dead." The maid stepped forward to persuade.

When the woman heard this, she suddenly turned her head to look at the maid, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became cold.

The maid consciously lost her words, picked up the fan, lowered her head and fanned it violently.

After a few breaths, the woman withdrew her gaze, leaned over to pick up the painting on the ground, and saw that it was not damaged or stained, and her heart was slightly relieved.

took out a silk scarf to wipe the tears off his face, glanced at the man on the painting again, and slowly rolled the painting and put it away.

"Come out for a walk with me." After the woman put the painting away, she said calmly.

"It's so hot, where are you going?" The maid found that the other party was not angry anymore, so she peeked at it and quickly responded.

"It's too stuffy in the house, go out and breathe. You go find a carriage right away. ”

There was no room for negotiation in this order, and the maid knew that she was in a bad mood, and if she provoked it again, I was afraid that she would be hungry today. So he hurriedly responded, put down the fan, and hurriedly went out to find the car.

A quarter of an hour later, the carriage departed from the back gate of the palace, turned onto the street, and drove quickly towards the east gate.

Sungai Ferry.

Under the scorching sun, several cargo ships on the shore were busy loading goods, and dozens of coolies were sweating profusely and tirelessly.

Not far away, two small passenger boats were docked, and the two boatmen were discussing something with a guest on the shore.

"Guest officer, you are going to Fuzhou, it is easy to go down the river, but it is easy to go down this boat and it is difficult to come back, twenty times the money is too little, how can you get fifty times." A boatman shook his head.

"Fifty is a bit much, thirty." It was Yang Congyi, who came to the ferry from Tangfu to bargain with the boatman.

"Fifty times can't be less, in addition to people and a horse, when you wait in Fuzhou, this boat can't be wanted, and you can't pay for this trip." The boatman shook his head firmly, as if he had lost a penny.

Another boatman said: "It's okay to go to Fuzhou for 30 yuan, but you have to change ships." ”

"What boat?" Yang Congyi doesn't have much money available on him, the rest is silver money, how can he take it out casually in such a place, he knows very well the truth that wealth does not leak out, and he still has to take the waterway.

The boatman said: "Only the guest officer has one person and one horse, and he can use a bamboo raft to go down the river and get to Fuzhou in one day." ”

"Bamboo rafts? Isn't it about falling into the river to feed the fish? Yang Congyi frowned, expressing doubt.

In the river with a steady flow, it is not impossible to take a bamboo raft for a distance of ten or twenty miles, but it is two or three hundred miles from here to Fuzhou, and I don't know how many dangerous rapids there are on the way, once the bamboo raft is dispersed, my life will be lost.

"Guest officer, your bid is indeed too low, not only will you not make money by going to Fuzhou, but you will also lose money, and this transaction cannot be done." Ichishipa continued to shake his head.

"Otherwise, since the guest officer is in a hurry to leave, I also intend to give the guest officer a ride, you don't say thirty times, I don't say fifty times, the guest officer will give forty times, I will go next to this business, what does the guest officer think?" Another boatman proposed.

Yang Congyi only had forty or fifty yuan of change left in his hand, and there were a few ingots of silver, but they were all fifty taels, and they couldn't find it when they took it out, and what worried him even more was that the exposure of the money would increase the trouble, so he would bargain with them.

"Okay, it's not too early, then forty yuan, pay half of it first, and then pay the other half when you get to Fuzhou." Yang Congyi thought for a while before agreeing, and seemed to have made a lot of determination.

"Why pay half upfront? If the guest officer doesn't pay the money, my ship won't be able to move. The boatman looked displeased.

Yang Congyi said: "The boatman's words are unreasonable, if I pay the money off now, and your boat doesn't leave halfway, who will I find to reason, do I jump into the river and swim to Fuzhou by myself?" It is reasonable to pay half in advance and then half in Fuzhou. Whoever of you two would like to make this trip, I'll pay now. ”

"I'll send the guest officer!" The two boaters responded almost simultaneously.

Yang Congyi looked at the two of them, glanced at the two passenger boats by the river, and then said, "This is the boat." Whose? ”

A boatload of family was overjoyed, and immediately replied: "Mine, I'll send the guest officer." The guest officer wants to go, prepare for a while, and can leave immediately. ”

Yang Congyi nodded and said, "I'll leave immediately." ”

Another boatman glanced at the boatman who took over the business, and asked a little jealously: "Lao Huang, you have only bought this boat for a few years, and you are willing to go to Fuzhou?" There are so many dangerous shoals down there, and your boat will be ruined if you go down! ”

The boatman named Lao Huang smiled: "No way, since the guest officer pays to go to Fuzhou, I can only accompany the guest officer on a trip." In the next few months, the business of Sungai Ferry will be handed over to you alone, you should be happy! ”

"Then I wish you a smooth sail and no accidents on the way, otherwise I will be the only one in this Shuangxi ferry in the future, how boring it will be!" The boatman turned and walked onto his old wooden boat.

Yang Congyi carried the package and the saber, and quickly boarded the passenger ship that was not too old.

The boatman and one of the ship's boatmen worked together to lead Yang Congyi's horse onto the boat.

Soon after paying twenty times, seeing that the boatman had prepared everything, Yang Congyi did not want to delay the time, and ordered the boatman to hurry up.

The anchor that fixed the passenger ship was retracted from the shore, and the bamboo pole in the boatman's hand was propped up, and the passenger ship slowly went off the shore, and after a few more supports, it floated towards the river.

Yang Congyi stood at the bow of the boat, looking in the direction of Jianpu City, in just a few days, so many things had happened, and now the dispute was suspended, and he could finally leave the place of right and wrong.

When the boat reached the river, a horse-drawn carriage suddenly appeared in sight, galloped towards it, and stopped at the ferry.

Then I saw two women standing on the riverbank shouting at the boat in the middle of the river, as if they were calling for a boat, but their voices were so low that they couldn't hear what they were shouting.

"Guest officer, it seems that those people at the ferry are also going to take a boat, why don't you take a ride with them?" The boatman named Lao Huang shouted at the stern of the boat.

Yang Congyi was in a hurry, he had already chartered this boat, and there was still a boat at the ferry, so he replied: "No, isn't there still a boat at the ferry?" ”

The boatman originally wanted to take two more guests and earn another penny, but when Yang Congyi said this, he could only give up.

"U-turn!"

The boatman shouted at the stern, and the boatman standing at the bow of the boat poked the long penny into the river, and with a strong push, the passenger boat slowly turned around in the calm water.

After a short break, the passenger boat turned around in the middle of the river, and the boatman slammed the penny a few times, then pulled it out of the water and put it on the bow.

The passenger ship then accelerated down the water, and the scenery on both sides of the strait flew upside down, and the scene disappeared from the eyes.

Standing at the bow of the boat for a moment, feeling slightly dizzy, coupled with the scorching sun, Yang Congyi turned around and returned to the cabin.

The handling of the ship is left to the shipwreckage and the boatmen.

After experiencing strong winds and waves, this small river more than ten zhang wide and two or three zhang deep did not seem much danger in his opinion, even if he fell into the water, he could easily swim ashore, so he did not have much to worry about, after entering the cabin, there was nothing to do, and he did not have the habit of reading, so he began to meditate and practice.

At the Sungai Ferry, the carriage did not leave, and the two women stood on the shore and watched the passenger boats drift farther and farther away in the river.

A woman covered her face with a silk scarf, the corners of her eyes were moist, and there were tears in her eyes, faintly crying.

The maid next to her also covered her face with a silk scarf, but her eyes were full of complaints when she looked at the direction of the passenger ship.

"Yun Niang, the boat is far away, let's go back." The maid turned her head to look at the woman with tears in the corners of her eyes.

The woman looked into the distance and said nothing.

The boatman, who had been watching the boat for a long time, suddenly jumped off the boat, took a few steps forward and said with a smile: "The two ladies want to keep up with that boat?" Or are you going to Fuzhou? ”

The woman didn't even bend her eyes, and she didn't pay any attention.

The maid immediately turned her head, glared angrily, and reprimanded: "We don't take the boat, if you don't want to cause trouble, don't ask!" ”

The boatman's face froze, and he didn't dare to say anything more, so he quickly retreated to the ship and hid in the cabin.

Judging from the tone and eyes of the maid's speech, and most importantly, from the clothes of the two, the two women are not from ordinary families, since they don't take the boat, he doesn't dare to harass and provoke at will, otherwise this bowl of rice will be lost.

Seeing the boatman walking away, the maid turned her head vigilantly to look around, and after not finding any danger, she said again: "Yun Niang, go back, the boat is out of sight." ”

The passenger boat in the middle of the river gradually became a small boat, a leaf, a small dot, and finally disappeared from sight.

And the woman on the shore stared into the distance stupidly, motionless, as if her soul had drifted away with the vanished passenger ship, to a place where she had never been.

After a long time, a few strings of clear tears slipped from his eyes, soaked into the silk scarf on his face, and his eyelashes were moist in the blink of his eyes.

The woman tightened the scroll she was holding, and slowly turned to walk towards the carriage, while her eyes were still reluctantly looking in the direction where the passenger ship had disappeared.

The maid on the side hurriedly turned around and followed, accompanied the woman back to the carriage, reached out and took the ottoman on the carriage and put it at the woman's feet.

"Get in the car, go back early, otherwise the master will be in trouble if he knows."

The woman looked back at the river and the distance, looked back gloomily, stepped on the footstool, and got into the carriage with the support of the maid.

The maid followed.

The coachman put away the footstool, got into the carriage, pulled the reins with one hand and whipped with the other, and then the carriage turned and drove back into the city.