Spring goes to the summer solstice, and Zhuanglou Township in May is already very hot. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info cicadas and frogs chirping, just like the sultry weather, enveloped the entire village.

This is a remote village in northern Jiangsu, the local location is not in the key chong, the people live here, hard work, repeated cultivation, and meager harvest in the fields constitute the whole of their lives. For them, the harvest in the field, the growth of the crops, and the amount of food left after paying the rent are far more worthy of their attention than doctrines or slogans.

Whether it was the abdication of the Golden Emperor, the emperor becoming the president, or the Yellow Dragon Banner being replaced by the five-color flag, or even the changes in the relationship between the north and the south, it had no impact on them. When there was an emperor, it was the old lady Zhuang Zhifei Zhuang who had the final say in the village, and when the president was changed, it was still the old lady Zhuang Zhifei who had the final say, and there was no difference. If there is a little change, it is that I heard that because of the change of Ge Ming, the imperial court has added a bucket of military rations, so the rent is heavier than before, and life is more difficult.

Zhuang Zhifei Zhuang's old lady was a Hanlin in Dajin Kingdom, and the more than 100,000 acres of fields in a radius were all his property, and the residents in the village were all tenants of his family. As far as the people in the village are concerned, Mrs. Zhuang holds the power of life and death of her own family, and is a fairy-like existence. Even whoever dares to call him by his name will be caught and hung in the banker's compound, and he will not be released if he does not pay enough money.

The dealer has a big wolf dog like a calf, as well as a guard with a gun on his back, which is enough to ensure the authority of the dealer, and it is more stable than the imperial power in this land, and it cannot be shaken. A descendant who entered the city said that now it is Ge Ming, and the Hanlin of Qianjin is not worth much, but when people turn their heads, they get themselves a councilor, and they are still the masters, not the grass people can withstand it.

The descendant who said that Hanlin was worthless was caught by the banker's family and taken to the yard, and when he came out, he was already a fragmented corpse, and it is said that some of his organs had become food for the wolf dogs. Since then, the old people in the village have said: Since ancient times, the poor have not fought with the rich, and the old lady Zhuang has money, but he can't afford to provoke him. We poor farmers can be his tenants with peace of mind, and don't think about fighting with him.

"I ...... I have to fight with the surname Zhuang! "In the low grass hut, a young man in his early twenties, with a black and red face, sharpened a sickle on the whetstone with great speed. The blade was under the oil lamp, reflecting the cold light.

"Erwa, you have to force your brother to death?" The one who spoke was a village woman in her thirties, who was the sister-in-law of the man named Zhou Gui, while his brother Zhou Fu was sitting on the kang and smoking dry cigarettes. The village woman said as she wiped her tears with a handkerchief

"I know that you and Hongling are childhood sweethearts, and they have the best relationship. But what's the use? The bride serves the old lady for the first three days, this is the old rule, and it is determined from the old lady's generation. I...... I also spent the first three days with him, didn't your brother endure it too? As long as the child is thrown to death, nothing will happen. If you want to blame, blame Hongling for being too handsome, if she is ugly, Mrs. Zhuang may not want it. ”

"If he doesn't come, he also has his housekeeper to ask for it, in short, there is no bride in the village who is not ruined!" Zhou Gui didn't listen to his sister-in-law's words, but stared at the eldest brother, "Brother...... Where did you hide the gun that your father left behind? ”

"What? If you don't tell you, you're going to hack me again? Zhou Fu was silent for a long time before he said that. Smoke filled the house, and those who choked couldn't open their eyes.

"If you want to blame, blame us for being poor, neither rich nor expensive. Otherwise, why not? Think about it, if Mrs. Zhuang didn't borrow our three stones of wheat, what would you do to marry Hongling? Besides, don't say it's you, it's the daughter of the county order, isn't it also for him to be a concubine? That's still a girl who has gone to school, and she was sent by his eldest wife at his house, and she is no different from a maid. In comparison, what is Hongling? Why is she so delicate that she is about to break the old rules of the village for decades? ”

At the junction of northern Jiangsu and southern Lu, it is heavily influenced by Confucianism, and a woman's loss of virginity before marriage will be considered a great shame. Even if you are forced, you will be instructed to hold your head up. If you take the initiative to sacrifice yourself, you will be pointed out by thousands of people, and even worry about your life.

As the head of the local Confucian Church, Mrs. Zhuang hated this kind of behavior without media, and once gave several lectures in the village, severely criticized this behavior from the perspective of maintaining Taoism, etiquette and ethics, and personally executed several pairs of men and women who dared to violate the rules of heaven.

The Taoist system was maintained, and although the people of Zhuanglou Village were poor, they were moral models, and women would never dare to give themselves without a wedding. Therefore, although Hongling and Zhou Gui were childhood sweethearts, they did not dare to cross the thunder pool by half a step. It is precisely because of this that Zhou Gui can't tolerate that his beloved woman was taken by Mrs. Zhuang first.

His sister-in-law is not as good at talking as his brother, and she can't help but scold: "You life-breaking ghost, a deadly ancestor." Do you know that your brother is about to bend his waist in order to pay off your debts? Our family is frugal and marries a daughter-in-law for you, why are you still not satisfied? Besides, the dealer has a gun and a horse, what is the use of you breaking the top of the gun? When the time comes, just like the old Liu Sanzi, you will kill the whole family, you will be willing, right? I'll tell you the truth, I threw that gun into the pond a long time ago, and it couldn't be fired when I fished it out, so you will die of this heart. ”

Zhou Gui looked at the eldest brother, saw the eldest brother nodding, and knew that what he said was not wrong, but he felt that the blood was surging all over his body, grabbed the sickle on the side, roared and rushed to the courtyard, and slashed at the small fence wall.

When the poor marry a relative, there is no too important ceremony, the sedan chair is carried over, and the ceremony is completed. It's summer, and it's the time when the greens and yellows are scarce, and every family has no food to spare, and they can't afford to drink. The left and right are just picking some wild vegetables and putting them in the courtyard to entertain guests.

It was just evening, and a two-person sedan chair had stopped at the door of Zhou's house, which was not a sedan chair to send relatives, but a sedan chair to receive relatives. As soon as the bride arrives and is not allowed to meet the groom, she will get on this sedan chair and carry it into the village. Two palanquin bearers and a steward looked at the Zhou family with cold eyebrows, eating a plate of scrambled eggs sent by Zhou Fu's family, plus a few black nests.

The sedan chair husband was tall and strong, as if it was an iron tower, and when he was eating, he pinched it in the hand of Zhou Fu's wife. "Eight years ago, you passed the door, it was my eldest brother who carried you, and now I carry your brother and daughter-in-law, we can be regarded as fate. I said, your family is also a great creation, Hongling is such a beautiful flower, why did she marry into your family? Look, on the day of marriage, just eat this, this can also support a wife? It's better to live in the old lady's house, eat fragrant and drink spicy, that's called happiness. ”

Zhou Gui's eyes were spewing fire, but he was desperately dragged by his brother's arm and couldn't move. The person in charge looked at Zhou Fu's family, and smiled, "Your family married Hongling, which is creation." As long as she is smart, your family owes that debt, and it won't be a problem. The old lady is happy these days, he is an old man, and he is going to the provincial capital to be a councilor. Do you know what a councillor is? Even if we have something to do with the Jiangbei Parade, we have to discuss it with the parliamentarians first. If Hongling serves her well, she will take her to the province to enjoy the blessings, and when she is pregnant with a baby and come back, she will even save the strength of your seed sowing, just waiting for the crops to be harvested, what a big bargain. Who else but the old lady did this kind deed? ”

Hongling's sedan chair was carried over when the sun was in the west. The two sedan chair drivers, both of whom were descendants of the village help, were pushed by the sedan chair man here, and they slipped away. The butler lifted the curtain and looked inside

"Tsk, it's so handsome, no wonder it's our famous flower. Girl, your luck is coming, don't cry, it's a happy thing to get married, what are you crying about. Look at it, the daughter-in-law who went back to the Wang family last time didn't bring a knife to the house, what was the result? put his family on board, happy events turned into funerals, what do you want. Hurry up and send people to the sedan chair. ”

"Zhou Gui!" A scream came from the sedan chair, and after Zhou Gui heard this scream, his face turned red, and he desperately wanted to get rid of his brother's shackles. But his brother also used his death force to use the family heirloom capture kung fu, and no matter how Rao is Zhou Gui struggled, he couldn't get rid of it.

At this moment, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from outside the village, and no one in this small village had horses, and when had they heard the thunderous sound of horses' hooves. Everyone's eyes were attracted to the past, but they saw that in the afterglow of the setting sun, more than 20 high-headed horses galloped in from outside the village.

The sun shone on the knights, as if these people were wearing a suit of gold armor. The leader rode side by side, a white horse, and was a young and handsome man, with a bright red cloak dancing in the wind. The person who is parallel to it is a blonde and blue-eyed, tall Taixi girl. Wearing a tight jacket and pants, he is even more heroic.

When have foreigners ever been in this small place? Even the dealer in charge felt a little dizzy. The incoming horse team ran all the way and did not restrain their mounts until the sedan chair was in front of it. The horses neighed, and the smoke and dust that roamed, and the choking people coughed incessantly.

The bride's screams attracted the attention of the Western woman, who looked at the man with her big beautiful eyes, "What's going on?" Why does a family get married and have two sedan chairs? I've never seen this custom before. ”

The man simply pointed at the matter with a horsewhip, "What's going on?" Why are there two sedan chairs? ”

Looking at the tall horses and the two dozen or so sturdy men, somehow, the butler felt that his legs were weak. Subconsciously, he lied to this stranger, "This ...... We are kissing, this is the mother's family, the sedan chair to the sedan chair, not to let the bride see the three lights......"

"Is that so?" The man's gaze crossed the housekeeper and fell on the face of the Zhou family brothers, "Is it your sister in the sedan chair?" ”

"It's not! I'm not their sister! Although the bride didn't know who it was, she still seized the last chance to save herself like a drowning person encountering a life-saving straw.

Zhou Fu's wife and Zhou Fu both nodded desperately, and they said yes. Zhou Gui's mouth moved, and he wanted to say something, but he didn't make a sound. The man pointed at him with his horsewhip, "Come and speak to me." ”

Zhou Gui got rid of the pull of his eldest brother, came to the horse, looked at the twenty or so horses, looked at the distinctive equipment, and then looked, the revolver was pinned to the waist of the person. Zhou Gui's eyes lit up, a fire burned in his chest, his throat became thirsty, and his heart beat extremely fast. He subconsciously realized that this was the only chance for himself and Hongling......

"It's your sister in the sedan chair?"

"Nope! She's not my sister-in-law, she's my daughter-in-law! Zhou Gui wanted to shout out, but the sound of the exit was low and inaudible. In just a dozen words, I stuttered a few times, and I couldn't even form a sentence. The knight on the horse asked again, and Zhou Gui replied again, much more fluent than the first time, but his voice was still very small.

"I'm his daughter-in-law! These people are going to take me to someone else's house! The woman in the sedan chair had a much louder voice than Zhou Gui, and her speed of speech was more coherent.

The steward saluted the man: "This friend from a foreign country, the younger one belongs to the old lady Zhuang's family." In this sedan chair, it is the small of our old lady Xinna, if you don't believe it, you can go to the old lady's house to ask. Our old lady, but Zhishi's Hanlin, the current county governor, will not be long before he will go to the province to become the governor. is still the head of the Confucian Church in Northern Jiangsu, and Mr. Kang Changsu is still good friends. By the way, the head of the local security regiment, Zhuang Tuan, that is our old lady's nephew, do you know him? ”

reported so many names in a row, but Zhou Gui's heart kept sinking down with the names, and the originally low voice became smaller.

"Second brother! Save me! In the sedan chair, Hongling ripped open her neck and shouted.

Hearing his sweetheart's plea for help, Zhou Gui's blood rolled, and he finally couldn't help shouting: "She...... She's my wife! ”

"Short-lived ghost, you're going to kill a family!" Zhou Fu's family rushed up, scratching and scratching at the little uncle, while Zhou Fu stood holding on to the door, at a loss. Even the descendants who carried Hongling were already scared and ran away. This matter seems to be a big problem, so I still went to send a letter to Mrs. Zhuang, so as not to be involved.

The Tessie woman drew her pistol and pointed it at the steward's head, "You're lying to me!" Now you, and the people you bring, kneel down for me! ”

On your knees? The steward was stunned, he didn't care about kneeling, and he didn't care about kneeling for foreigners, but this kneeling was a bit inexplicable, and he couldn't react.

The man on the horse had already picked up the whip, and with a bang, the steward screamed and rolled on the ground with his face covered. This whip was fast and ruthless, and all of a sudden it was a full face. The two palanquin drivers were furious and said, "You ...... Dare to hit someone? ”

"Nonsense, you all dare to rob people, I don't dare to hit people? Come on, tie up these three grandsons for me! ”

At the sound of an order, the entourage jumped off their horses, each with a pistol on his body, and the muzzle of the gun was pointed at him, and the person was immediately captured. Zhou Fu's family was not afraid and shouted: "Bandits! Oh no, the bandits are coming! Then he turned and ran into the house, and took his husband into the room, and put the door to death, and went to look for the bottom of the pot and wiped his face, so that he would not be plagued by the bandits.

Zhou Gui didn't move, kneeling on the ground, looking at this group of visitors from other places. Even if they are bandits, they don't care, as long as they can marry Hongling, they would rather be bandits.

The man helped him up and smiled at him, "Are you the groom?" Today is a good day for you, you don't need to kneel, I have heard about your customs here, and today is for this. Don't worry, I'm here, your bride, no one else can take it away. Come, I will officiate at your wedding. Hannah, you come to be a witness, Huo Qiu will send a signal to everyone to prepare hard goods to entertain our guests. (To be continued.) )