When the master heard this, he couldn't help laughing: "In these years, there are all kinds of rare things. Before Lord Assassin Shi arrived, scammers pretending to be relatives and friends came to the door! ”

I was stunned for a moment and asked, "What did you say?" Lord Assassin has not yet taken office? ”

"Today's big pomp is to welcome Gu Zhijun to take office."

"Gu Yuanjun?" Li's face was dazed.

"Gu Envoy Jun is Gu Thorn History. Educated people call the assassin 'envoy'. ”

I was anxious: "Since Gu Tingshi has come to take office, what about Wen Tingshi?" Has he been dismissed from office? ”

The corners of the master's mouth twitched a few times, and he said coldly: "If you can be dismissed, it will still be a good end!" ”

"Could it be that Master Wen was also exiled?"

"This is already Lingnan, where will I go to exile? He was exiled by Lord Yama - exiled to the Ghost Gate - and died. ”

"What, Lord Wenlong is dead?" I wish I had misheard.

"He is from the north, he is not adapted to the climate in our Lingnan, he is not accustomed to the water and soil, he is infected with miasma, and he died of illness a few months ago. Alas, there is no time in life to force it. Although Master Wen has become a member of the Weizhen country, glorifying his ancestors and having unlimited scenery, he has left his life at the end of the world far away from his homeland......"

Before the master could finish speaking, my legs weakened and I collapsed to the ground......

Neng'er was half-backed, half-carried and half-dragged, and finally brought me back to the small inn where we were staying.

Neng'er invited Langzhong, boiled herbs, and served day and night, a nine-year-old child, it was really difficult for him. Perhaps it was his sincere and filial piety that finally dragged me back after wandering in front of the ghost gate for three days.

I slowly opened my eyes, and for a moment, I didn't know where I was, where I was - there was a feeling of being in a different world.

As the saying goes, illness comes like a mountain, and illness goes like a thread. Although I have come back to life, my body will be difficult to heal for a while and a half, and I still can't get out of bed, so I need to take medicine to slowly recuperate.

However, after ten days and a half months, although the little Neng'er was not dragged down, our money bags were wilted first--to see a doctor and take medicine, and we were about to spend all the money we had from selling our farmland to settle down in Guangzhou. Thankfully, the innkeeper was kind-hearted and didn't kick us out of the house, leaving us on the streets. Neng'er didn't want to go, and whenever she had free time, she helped the store wipe the table, sweep the floor, and serve the dishes.

The inn uses a lot of firewood to cook on the fire, and every few days a boy about ten years old drives a donkey to bring firewood.

One day, Neng'er was cleaning the backyard when the boy who delivered firewood came in through the back door with a donkey carrying bundles of firewood. Neng'er was just about to help him unload the firewood, but the innkeeper hurriedly shouted in the lobby: "Slow, slow, don't unload." ”

The boss came to the backyard and said to the boy who delivered firewood, "From now on, don't send firewood again." ”

The boy asked in confusion, "Why?" ”

"Because the firewood from your house emits black smoke, and it does not burn. Especially when stir-frying, the fire is too small, and the dishes that should be stir-fried can only be boiled in the pot. How unpalatable it is, how unpalatable it is! Since I started using your firewood, many of my regular customers don't come to eat. ”

The boy looked aggrieved and said with a crying voice: "These firewoods are the best firewood that my father and I took the risk of cutting from the deep mountains." ”

Neng'er grew up in the mountains since he was a child, and he knew that the boy's gift was indeed the hardest and most resistant firewood. However, the boss insisted: "I'm an adult, can I still deceive you as a child?" The firewood you sent is just not good for burning! If you don't believe me, go to the stove and see for yourself. ”

Neng'er also felt very strange, so she followed her to the stove.

No wonder these good firewood is not easy to burn, it turns out that the fire-burning guy is trying to save trouble, and they are all stuffed into the hearth whole, whole, whole, these firewood are hard and cannot be fully burned, so the light smokes, and does not burn.

As if by magic, Neng'er took out a sharp axe from his luggage and split the hard firewood, and the fire in the hearth immediately burst into flames. The innkeeper and the boy who delivered the firewood were all happy. In addition to being happy, the boss looked at the sharp axe in Neng'er's hand, and asked in surprise: "Xiao Huineng, your hometown Xinzhou is hundreds of miles from here, why did you bring a heavy axe?" Did you know that you would come to Guangzhou to chop firewood? ”

At the beginning, when I saw Neng'er stuffing this axe into Li, I also said: "Neng'er, you went to Guangzhou to study, what are you doing with such an axe for chopping wood?" ”

"Mother, bring it, it will always be useful."

"However, there is no light load on the road. It's too cumbersome to bring this useless thing. ”

"Mother, I'll carry it on my back."

The axe that Neng'er insisted on bringing actually came in handy. Since then, he has used this sharp axe every day to break the firewood sent by the boy named "Lin Shanzi" into easy-to-burn and economical chopping wood.

Although Neng'er got up early and worked greedily at night, although our mother and son would not become beggars, his immature little hands could not earn the medical expenses I needed for medical treatment.

After stopping the medicine, my illness sank day by day, and it seemed that I was just waiting for days to die. Neng'er's heart was like a knife, but he was helpless, so he came to the pharmacy to kowtow and ask the shopkeeper to give him a few doses of medicine on credit.

The shopkeeper said sarcastically to him: "I've heard of rice and noodles on credit, clothes to wear on credit, and I've also heard of the coffin shop on credit boards, who in the world has heard of medicine on credit?" Your mother's disease needs long-term medication to recuperate, and it can't be cured without a silver of ten taels or eight taels. Did you hear me clearly? Ten taels of silver! A strong man carries a year's long work for others, and he can't earn enough money for a tael of silver. How can you afford to pay for the medicine as a little cub who has not lost her fetal hair and her milk teeth have not changed, can't we let us sell you? Neng'er was reprimanded by the shopkeeper, sarcastic, and retreated from the pharmacy empty-handed.

Guangzhou, the southern metropolis, is unusually rich and prosperous. However, Neng'er stood on the busy and lively street, unaccompanied, penniless; I want to cry without tears, I want to cry silently; Cornered, there is no way to ask for help; It should not call the heavens, and the earth and the earth will not be spiritual......

How could he, a nine-year-old child, get the money for life-saving medicine and save me from illness in a foreign place where he was unfamiliar with life? If possible, he would rather analyze the bones and extract the marrow, cut out the heart, and boil it into a dose of elixir, in exchange for the sudden recovery of his mother.

For some reason, the ironic face of the pharmacy shopkeeper suddenly appeared in his mind. "How do you pay us back for the medicine? Can't we sell you? ”

That's right, sell yourself to save your mother!

Neng'er has heard her father tell the story of an ancient righteous girl who sold herself to bury her father since she was a child. At this time, he suddenly had the idea of selling himself. So, he went to the market and planted a straw on his head as a symbol of selling himself.

In the bustling market, there are grain sellers, donkeys and horses, pigs and sheep, chickens and dogs jumping, shouting and shouting, the most lively place, of course, is the scene of Neng'er's body sale. The onlookers were three layers inside and three layers outside, crowded and crowded.

In the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, the government is harmonious, the wind and rain are smooth, the country and the people are safe, and there is very little phenomenon of selling children and daughters, not to mention selling oneself, which is unheard of. There was a quiet rumor among the crowd about how Huineng's mother and son came to Guangzhou from Xinzhou to join relatives and friends, coinciding with the death of relatives and friends, and the mother unfortunately fell ill, had no money for treatment, and was dying, so she was forced to sell herself as a slave......

How can a nine-year-old child have to bear such misfortune and tears in people's hearts? A young daughter-in-law with red circles in her eyes silently walked up to Neng'er, gently put down a few copper coins, and quietly left.

So, people donated money one after another, or stuffed some money into Neng'er's hands, or put it in front of him. An old lady was shy, so she handed Neng'er a basket of eggs that she was going to change tea with, saying that she wanted him to make up for his mother's body...... Neng'er pricked her hands and shook and said, "Grandparents, uncles and uncles, aunts, aunts, and aunts, thank you for your kindness." But I want to sell myself, not beg, so I can't accept your alms. My father once said that starvation is a small thing, but loss of discipline is a big thing. Aunts and uncles, aunts and uncles......"

An old man said while helping Neng'er collect the change that people gave away: "Child, look, is this money enough for your mother to see a doctor and take medicine?" ”

"yes, yes." The crowd chimed in.

However, counting them, these copper coins are equivalent to one tael of silver, which is far from ten taels of medicine.