On the afternoon of 14 July, hundreds of women, children, and women, dressed in filial piety clothes and with white cloths wrapped around their heads, gathered at the Lin family's shochu shop outside Shuri Castle.

Since learning that he was monitored by the government, Lin Yiguan panicked, of course, he also knew what was wrong, so he tried to contact the mysterious prince, but the other party did not accept at all, in order to continue to develop in the Ryukyus in the future, to build a base for trafficking arquebuses, decided to buy the government with blood.

He sent someone to send Chen Ping 5,000 taels of silver and two boxes of gold bars, and the gifts to other officials were at least 1,000 taels of silver and two gold bars, and even the master of the signing room was also treated like this, without exception, all these heavy gifts were returned.

At this time, Lin Yiguan understood the good intentions of the old shopkeeper, this uncle has no children and no daughters under his knees, only an adopted son, and never let him get involved with business, so it seems that the past enmity may not be resolved at all, sooner or later it will break out, the opponent does not want to see the children of the Lin family living in the Ryukyus, if he has to gain a foothold here, sooner or later he will have to die at his hands.

In the evening, a full moon hung over the Anli River.

Located on the west coast of present-day southern Okinawa Island, Shuri is flat and faces the East China Sea, surrounded by rolling hills, with the Ansato River running through Shuri and flowing from east to west into the East China Sea.

Legend has it that the Mongols occupied the Central Plains and crossed the river in the south, and the day was chosen on July 15, and the people in the south of the Yangtze River got the news, so they prepared wine and food and paper money one day in advance to pay tribute to the deceased, and held a grand ceremony to show their nostalgia for their ancestors.

opened the door of the Lin family's shochu shop, a group of monks chanted scriptures, a group of Taoist priests danced the magic weapons in their hands, and a large group of strong men carried out a piece of incense case, and walked out of it one after another, and the old shopkeeper with a solemn expression followed in filial piety clothes at the end.

When the villagers saw that the Taoist priests and monks had all come out, they immediately became very quiet, and they saw the old shopkeeper of the wine shop running up to the high platform quickly, taking out a sacrificial text from his arms, and all the villagers knelt on the ground with brushes.

After the old shopkeeper of the wine shop read the sacrificial text aloud, he listened to the cries below one after another, and soon became one, which was really earth-shattering and tearful, so that the officers and soldiers and servants who were in charge of monitoring Lin Yiguan also wiped their tears.

The officers and men always maintained a high degree of vigilance to prevent Lin Yiguan from taking the opportunity to escape, and so far, no trace of him has been found.

After reading the sacrificial text, Zhuang Ding began to put an incense table at a position every 100 steps, and then, someone put fresh melons and fruits and "ghost buns" on the incense table.

At this time, a row of incense cases was placed on the bank of the Anli River, monks and Taoist priests worked in pairs, practicing in front of each incense case, and the monks chanted scriptures and shook the ritual utensils; The Taoist priest stood behind the incense case and sang the "Shi Ge'er" to sacrifice to the ghosts.

At three o'clock, the strong men returned to the Lin family shochu shop, and when they arrived, a lotus-shaped "water lantern" was transported to the outside of the village.

In front of these two lanterns, there are portraits of Zhang Sanguan and Li Siguan respectively, with two huge candles inserted above, placing their shrines, and some sacrifices such as paper figures, paper horses and paper sedan chairs standing on the top.

The water lanterns and offerings were transported to the banks of the Anli River, and the villagers followed them to the river, and with tears in their eyes, they lit lotus lanterns together, and recited words in their mouths.

Zhang Gou'er and the others bowed and bowed in front of two huge water lanterns, and he and another child climbed on top of the wooden box, lit the candles and offerings on it, and then pushed the water lanterns down the river......

Lotus lanterns floated all over the Anli River, like ghosts flowing down the river, disappearing into the river with the night wind......

It wasn't until late at night that the villagers on the riverbank dispersed one after another, and the officers and soldiers who were responsible for monitoring the Lin family's shochu shop also arrived at the time of the change of guard.

A commander made a round tour and said to the officers and soldiers who had just been replaced: "Fortunately, tonight we are keeping a close eye on that guy, that guy didn't dare to go out, we can confirm his identity if we hold on for a few more days, everyone must be vigilant, and we must not let him slip away." ”

Two giant lotus lanterns floated to the lower reaches of the Anli River, followed by Zhang Gou'er swimming, and only after all the crowds of people participating in the memorial had dispersed did he push the two wooden boxes to the other side.

Lin Yiguan and Luo Amin crawled out of the wooden box, all panting eagerly and coughing.

Zhang Gou'er patted Lin Yiguan on the back and asked, "Uncle, the old shopkeeper has already arranged the big boat, I want to know where you are going?" ”

Before Lin Yiguan could speak, Luo Amin replied with a sigh: "Go to Liaodong!" ”

Lin Yiguan shook his head and said: "Amin, now that the new Franc arquebus can penetrate armor, let's go to Taiwan, go to meet our uncle Lin Daoqian, buy a batch first, and then cross the sea to the north." ”

Luo Amin glared at him and replied angrily: "In the future, you take your Yangguan Road, and I will cross my single-plank bridge!" I'm going to go to Liaodong via North Korea to find Ah Ping now, and I'm going to say goodbye. With that, Amin walked towards the sea in a huff.

Looking at her firm attitude, Lin Yiguan held his face with both hands and was speechless for a long time.

Zhang Gou'er asked, "Uncle, what now?" ”

"Listen to her."

At the same time, on the banks of the Yamato River in Sakai Town, Xu Ling'er, Zhu Hui, Lin Wenjing and others were also lighting lotus lanterns.

The three of them stood side by side, bowing and bowing to the river, waiting for the candlelight to disappear from view.

Xu Ling'er prayed for her mother with tears in her eyes, and Wen Jing took Zhu Hui to watch the excitement.

At this time, Xu Yihou and Zhu Junwang put down the incense case on the riverbank, and began to burn incense and paper in front of the case, Xu Linger looked at the Yamato River full of lotus lanterns from afar, and kept asking in her heart: The imperial court's newspaper can be sent to the hands of the shopkeeper Chen through the merchant ship, and it is obvious that he can also receive a letter from Yan Shifan, it has been almost a year, why does Rusong not even have a letter, thinking of this, it is a burst of heartache, do you have to let me write to him first? The girl's furniture is determined for life, and it is already embarrassing, how can some words be spoken?

While pondering by the river, he suddenly heard a plop behind him, Xu Linger hurriedly turned around and looked, and found that Yajiro, who was like a big toad, was lying on the ground kowtowing like pounding garlic.

"The life-saving Bodhisattva, the blessing of the undead of your parents, I really met the life-saving Bodhisattva again......"

Xu Ling'er, who was laughing and laughing, hurriedly asked, "Yajiro, get up, what trouble have you encountered again?" ”

"Bodhisattva bless! After I came back from Kameyama Castle, I eloped with Kiyohime of the tea house family to Owari Province, where I did a small business in Kiyoshu Castle, and life was good, Kiyohime was also pregnant, and I asked her to stay at home every day to take care of the housework, and suddenly one day, Kiyohime disappeared, and now there is no news, what can I do......" Yajiro said, and began to cry again.

"So, you didn't find Kiyohime at the Chaya Shiro Jiro house?" Ling'er asked.

"The rice shop of Shiro Jiro's family at Chaya has closed, and I heard from the neighbors that they left here two months ago."

"Where is Shiro Jiro Chaya from? Now that his family's rice shop is closed, Kiyohime may have been taken back to her hometown by her father. Don't worry, Yajiro, you might as well go and look for them in their hometown. Xu Linger comforted.

"Bodhisattva, Kiyohime is not the daughter of the bastard Shiro Jiro Chaya, but his sister, and I suspect that he sold Kiyohime ...... secretly" said Yajiro and cried again.

Hearing Yajiro say this, Xu Ling'er couldn't help but worry about their fate, so she asked, "What should I do then?" ”

"I, I, I need money, even if I go to the ends of the earth, I have to find my Qingji, Bodhisattva help......"

Xu Ling'er couldn't help but look at him a few more times, judging from his face, this short and fat black man is quite honest, but judging from his previous behavior, he is a very cunning guy with a lot of vices, but anyway, he still saved us outside Satsuma Kameyama City, sometimes, people's good and evil are often the difference of one thought, maybe Yajiro has changed, help him.

Thinking of this, Xu Ling'er took out two taels of silver from his body, handed them to Yajiro, and said, "You can use this money first, and hurry up to find Qingji." ”

Yajiro grabbed the silver, lay on the ground and kowtowed a few times, said a bunch of words of gratitude, and just got up to leave, but was pushed to the ground from behind.

Wen Jing stood behind Yajiro and asked loudly, "Good boy, you stole my silver in the inn of Kameyama City and ran away, and you dare to come back?" ”

Yajiro turned around in a circle, kowtowed on the ground, and begged: "Young Master Wenjing, you don't remember the villain, don't forget, it was I who saved you at the door of the Lin family's pharmacy, and it was I who stole the two horses of the teahouse family to take you to Guishan City." ”

"Haha, Yajiro, do you think I, Lin Wenjing, am so stingy? Get up, I'm worried about one less helper, the shop in Jinai Town is about to open, Shopkeeper Chen went to Ryukyu and hasn't come back yet, Zhu Hui, a kid who doesn't know how to do business, Sister Ling'er still has a task to do, you stay and help me. Wen Jing smiled and pulled up Yajiro, looked him up and down, found the silver in his hand, squinted his eyes and asked, "Yajiro, have you made a fortune?" ”

Yajiro was shocked, still holding the silver he had just gotten in his hand, regretting that he hadn't put it in his arms, and he smirked a few times, not knowing how to answer.

Lin Wenjing then asked, "Sister Ling'er, let Yajiro come to us as a partner, do you have any opinions?" ”

Xu Ling'er replied: "Of course, Yajiro is our benefactor, and we should treat him well. However, he now has his own business in Cheongju City, and his wife is pregnant, and she suddenly disappeared a few days ago, and she has not been found in Sakai Town, and now I am afraid that he is not in the mood to help us. ”

"Bodhisattva, my greatest wish in this life is to open a geisha house in Sakai Town."

"Okay, Yajiro, when you get Kiyohime back, come to Sakai Town and follow Wen Jing to do it."

"Yajiro, if you have a chance, follow me Lin Wenjing and work hard, you will definitely be able to open a geisha shop in Sakai Town!"

"Thank you, Young Master Wen Jing, for your support! I'll go first, and when I find Kiyohime's whereabouts, I'll come back to help whether she wants to go with me or not. ”

"Where are you going to find Kiyohime?" Wen Jing asked.

"Kiyohime's brother is called Shiro Jiro Chaya, I heard that he was called back to Mikawa by Matsudaira Motoyasu, I'm afraid that this bastard sold his sister, and I have to go there now." Yajiro said and was about to leave, but was grabbed back by Wen Jing.

"Hehe, it's a coincidence, I'm also about to go to Mikawa and send a batch of cotton cloth to Matsudaira Motoyasu, why don't you come with me."

Before I knew it, it was almost late at night, and Xu Yihou and Zhu Junwang had already finished the memorial, and everyone left the Yamato River together.

Xu Ling'er turned around and looked, and the river was full of lotus lanterns, like the Milky Way in the sky.

At this moment, as if she had seen her mother, she floated gently from the lamp she had banished, and was smiling and waving at her, turning into a bright star in the sky, blinking and showing her the way......