Zuo Shaoyang came to the door and saw a copper lock hanging on the door, locking the door from the outside.

Zuo Shaoyang took out the little squirrel from his waist, took out the note and folded it small, let the little squirrel bite it, stabbed a small piece of paper in the window lattice silently with his wet fingers, and then stuffed the little squirrel's head in. The little squirrel seemed to understand his master's thoughts, and slipped in, clutching at the wall of the plank and climbing up.

"Ouch mom! Mouse! There are rats! When a few old women saw the little squirrel go in, they didn't look carefully under the old dazzle, and thought it was a mouse, so they were so frightened that they hid far away and crowded the door, but the door was locked from the outside, and they couldn't get out, so they turned their backs and screamed in fright.

The little squirrel quickly got up the curtain, climbed down, and came to the head of Sang Xiaomei's bed.

Sang Xiaomei was also startled at first, and then recognized that it was Zuo Shaoyang's little squirrel, surprised and delighted, and carefully reached over, last time in Guizhitang, the little squirrel had squatted on her shoulder to play, so she didn't dodge, let her hold it in her hand.

Sang Xiaomei immediately found the note in the little squirrel's mouth, hurriedly took it down, unfolded it, and said: "Miss Sang: Please give me the pawn ticket, I have raised enough money to redeem the jewelry for you." Your mother went to my father to ask for money, and the jewelry must be redeemed as soon as possible, you can rest assured, I will keep the jewelry for you, and when it is convenient for you, I will return the original item. Take care and don't go to extremes! ”

Sang Xiaomei looked up at the window, except for the hole, she didn't see anything, turned her face to look at the old women, and was so frightened that she screamed, and quickly took out the pawn ticket from the pillow and folded it so that the little squirrel could bite it. The little squirrel scurried to the window and got out of the crack in the window again.

Zuo Shaoyang took the pawn ticket and swaggered downstairs.

When Father Sang saw him coming down from upstairs, his eyes widened: "Xiao Langzhong, what are you doing upstairs?" ”

Zuo Shaoyang shook the pawn ticket in his hand: "Go and get this thing from Miss Sang." I'll go back and redeem the jewelry now. ”

"I'll go with you, just redeem it for me."

Zuo Shaoyang shook his head, looked left and right, lowered his voice and said: "Uncle Sang, we all know very well in our hearts that this silver was given to her by Miss Sang's grandmother as a dowry, just to take care of your face, and only to say that it was the jewelry you took out." Miss Sang had already said that this jewelry must be returned to her in person after redemption. I have to do this. Can't give it to you directly. I'm sorry. ”

Father Sang thought to himself, anyway, his daughter was locked up in the house, and the jewelry was still in his daughter's hands, so it couldn't fly to the sky, so he laughed and said: "Okay, since the third girl said so, I will return it to her, anyway, the dowry given by her grandmother is also to be given to her." ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled, took out two coins and put them on the table, and walked away.

Out of the door, he took out the pawn ticket and looked at it carefully, he had never seen this thing, he was a little curious, he saw that it was painted like a ghost peach charm, he couldn't understand it at all, and he recognized it for a while before he recognized the name of the pawnshop, which was called "Yongxiangdian".

He asked for a stall, learned the location of Yongxiang pawnshop, and looked all the way, the façade of this pawnshop is very large, and the big banner hangs in front of the door, and the golden signboard is very easy to find.

There was a thick curtain hanging at the door, and after opening the curtain and entering, I saw that there was no one inside, and the high counter reached the person's chin, and there was an old man sitting behind the counter, napping with sleeves caged. He looked around, and when he saw that no man had stepped forward to say hello, he walked to the counter and handed the pawn ticket in: "I'm going to redeem this thing." How much? ”

The old man opened his eyes, looked at him, took the pawn ticket slowly, glanced at it, and said, "Five taels and three dollars!" ”

Zuo Shaoyang was taken aback: "It's only been a few days, why do you want three dollars?" ”

"Don't be too expensive!" The old shopkeeper snorted coldly in his nostrils, threw the pawn ticket back to him, and closed his eyes again with his sleeves cuffed.

"Forget it, three dollars is three dollars, redeem!"

The shopkeeper snorted impatiently: "Wait! Slowly rolled his sleeves into the back door, and after a while, he came out with a cloth bag and threw the bag to the counter: "Check the sealing fire paint yourself!" When you open it, you should be recognized! See clearly. ”

According to the rules of pawns, pawnshops are afraid that the guests will deceive, and when redeeming, they blackmail that the pawned things have been dropped, not the original, so the valuable small pieces of jewelry, treasures, etc., must be sealed in person after inspection, covered with fire paint sealing, and opened after the inspection during redemption, and pointed out in person.

After Zuo Shaoyang checked that the bag was consistent with the number on the pawn ticket and the type of pawn item, he checked the seal and nodded: "That's right." ”

The shopkeeper took a knife, cut open the seal, and poured the contents on the counter, which were several pieces of jewelry such as bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and rings. After comparing the pawn items registered on the pawn ticket, the types and quantities matched, so he paid five taels or three coins of silver, put the jewelry in a bag, and carried it out of the pawnshop.

Zuo Shaoyang returned to the pharmacy, and when he entered the door, he saw Sang's mother sitting on the stool angrily, his mother Liang standing aside and laughing and saying something, and Dad Zuo Gui sitting behind a long couple of cases with his sleeves crossed.

Seeing him come in, Sang Mu stood up suddenly, pointed at Zuo Shaoyang and said, "Okay, you are a little Langzhong, dare to deceive the old lady!" Thanks to our family for helping you so much, you are actually a liar! - Bring the silver! ”

Zuo Gui sighed and said, "Zhong'er, hurry up and give them the silver, they want to redeem themselves, then give more money, let them go back and redeem themselves." ”

"It's like a human being!" Sang Mu said angrily, "Hurry up, five taels and five dollars of silver, give it to me!" ”

Zuo Shaoyang said coldly: "It's five taels or three dollars, how did it become five taels and five dollars?" ”

"How do you know?"

"Because I've redeemed my jewelry." Zuo Shaoyang shook the jewelry in his hand.

Sang Mu's eyes lit up and she pounced: "Give it to me!" ”

Zuo Shaoyang stuffed the jewelry into his arms, hugged his shoulders with his hands and sneered: "I'm sorry, this jewelry can't be given to you." ”

"Why? This is our family's jewelry, do you still want to occupy it? ”

Zuo Shaoyang ignored her, turned his head to his father Zuo Gui and said, "Dad, I just learned that these jewelry are actually the dowry left to her by Miss Sang's grandmother, and they are owned by Miss Sang's private property. She had repeatedly told me that after redemption, I must return it to her with my own hands, and not to anyone else. Therefore, these jewelry can only be returned to Miss Sang in person. ”

Zuo Gui was taken aback: "Is there such a thing?" Miss Sang......, why did you pawn the dowry to help us? ”

"I don't know about this ......, but I know now that it wasn't the two of them who helped us at that time, but Miss Sang herself!"

Sang Mu looked like a shrew, pointed at Zuo Shaoyang and said, "What did you say?" What is not us? What my daughter does is what we do! My daughter's stuff is ours, -- give me the jewelry! ”

"I'm sorry, I've made it very clear, these things are Miss Sang's personal things, so I can only return them to her."

Sang Mu's eyes rolled and slowed down: "That's okay, you go back with me and give it to her in person." ”

"That's not going to work."

"Why? You also said that this is the dowry of the three girls, telling you that the three girls have already made a marriage, and they will pass the door tomorrow. If you don't give it to her now, what will she do as a dowry. ”

"If Miss Sang is unwilling to do this family business, she can't talk about the dowry."

"How do you know she's unwilling, she's willing! The shopkeeper Zhu has money, which is like you, and you don't pay it back! ”

An angry look flashed on Zuo Gui's face on the side, but he held back in the end.

Zuo Shaoyang sneered: "Just now, Miss Sang clearly entrusted me to take care of these jewelry. She said that she was not free now, and that she would take it herself later. ”

Sang Mu said angrily: "Nonsense! She and Huang Qin were locked in the house by the old lady, and there were four old women guarding them, how could they entrust you? ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled: "Yes, since you just said that this family affair Miss Sang is willing, then why did you lock her in the house?" Still send someone to guard? ”

Sang Mu opened her mouth and couldn't justify herself, so the surname Suo said: "You don't have to worry about our family's affairs!" The order of the parents, the words of the matchmaker, I just decided, it is not her turn to agree or not! -- Give me the jewelry, or I'll go up to the yamen to sue you!" ”

Zuo Shaoyang turned sideways: "Please!" I'm also thinking about going to the Yamen! I am strictly following Miss Sang's entrustment, and there is no fault in it. I heard that the county magistrate is a very strict person, and he will send someone to verify this matter. Miss Sang will tell the truth, and will also say how you sell her at a price like a commodity, and sell him to an old man in his sixties as a little wife, and she will lock her in the house if she doesn't follow you, although I don't understand how our Tang Dynasty King Law stipulates it, but I believe that if you are greedy for money and force your own daughter to marry an old man in her sixties as a little wife, the county magistrate may not appreciate your approach, right? How many of the people who are hearing the trial outside the hall give you a thumbs up and say that you did the right thing? And how many people will spit on you? After knowing your virtues, how many people will come to your tea shop to drink tea? ”

Zuo Shaoyang really doesn't understand Tang Law, but when he first studied history, his teacher once said that although in ancient times, although the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers were important, if the children did not obey desperately, their parents were not allowed to use violence or threats to force forced marriage. "Tang Law Shuyi? The volume of the "Household Marriage Law" clearly stipulates this: "If all illegal marriages are married, although there is a matchmaker, and the person who intimidates the marry, the crime will be increased by one degree, and the person who is forced to marry will be added by one degree." "Those who are forced to take a concubine are also punished, but the punishment is lighter than that of marrying a wife.

Although Sang Mu didn't know how Tang Law stipulated, she also heard that forcing people to marry was to be punished, so she did it secretly, and she blurted out in a hurry just now, and now when she heard Zuo Shaoyang's words, she immediately regretted it, and said sharply: "Don't take Wang Fa to talk about things, the old lady is not afraid of this!" Hum! He turned to Zuo Gui and said, "Zuo Langzhong, your son bullied my old woman, refused to return the jewelry, and wanted to go to the yamen to show my old woman's ugliness, do you care?" ”

(To be continued)