In the depths of winter in the north, it rarely rains, but at this moment, winter rain falls from the sky, mixed with ice droplets that look like snow but not snow. Li Mao held up an umbrella, stood behind Xing Ruyi, draped a thick coat on her, and said, "Shopkeeper, why don't we go back to the carriage and wait?" ”

"No need, look at the weather, A-Niang should be coming out soon." Xing Ruyi stretched out his hand, and the rain fell into his palm, revealing a cold chill: "There should be a spare big puff in the car, take one over, and wrap it in A-Niang later." She is old, and I am afraid that she will not be able to stand the cold. ”

"The spare big puff has been taken and put it at Ah Niu's place." Li Mao saw that the rain was getting heavier, so he pressed the umbrella low.

There was footsteps behind him, and when he turned around, he saw Ah Niu helping the old woman out of the broken temple. The old woman didn't say anything, and Xing Ruyi didn't ask anything, but she knew in her heart that Abi had gone where she was supposed to be.

Because it was raining, Xing Ruyi and Li Mao took the old woman back first, leaving Ah Niu to take care of Ah Bi's body temporarily. After the torture Ruyi and the old woman returned home, Li Mao drove the carriage over and brought the bodies of Ah Niu and Ah Bi back for resettlement.

There was nothing to say all the way, and after returning to the old woman's house in the mountains, she slowly spoke: "Thank you Madame for helping to cover up in the temple, if you let Abi know that her sister is no longer there, it is indispensable to let her worry about it, so that she will not feel at ease when she leaves." ”

"How did A-Niang know that A-Zhu was gone?"

"Although I am blind in this eye, my ears are not deaf, and my heart is not confused." The old woman groped her way to the corner and took out a bag of things: "Although Azhu's temperament is not as gentle as Abi, and she is also a little stubborn, but like her sister, she is a kind-hearted child. That year, her sister suffered, and she escaped. Although I have some contradictions in my heart, I am still a mother after all, and in front of the master, I can be regarded as helping her delay for a while. I know that this kid has never gone far, and he has changed his name and surname to stay in Yunjiaji. I haven't seen her again over the years, but I know that she often visits her sister and comes to see me. She left all these things. ”

The old woman said, opening the baggage, and there were gold beads, silver ingots, jewelry, and some silver tickets of different denominations.

At first, she left only some food and some loose silver. My eyes are not very good, but my sense of smell is quite acute, and I can smell all kinds of smells from the broken silver. So, I knew that my daughter was not doing well outside, and all this money was her hard-earned money.

Later, I met Ah Niu and asked him to go to Yunjiaji to inquire. This Yunjiaji is just a little bigger, and my daughter's appearance is different from that of ordinary girls, as long as she asks a little bit, she can ask it. I know that she sang music in the teahouse, and I also knew that she met someone who liked her and married her as a wife. But I never thought about going to her. ”

The old woman said, and carefully wrapped the bag of things.

"You say, a mother like me, being remembered by her daughter is already a blessing from her previous life, where can she be cheeky to find her and disturb her current life? Although Ah Zhu is the wife of others, she still hasn't forgotten me as a mother after all, she secretly sent me more and more silver, and the silver tickets are also easy to exchange, but I didn't spend it, and I didn't let Ah Niu make a penny. I thought, when I'm gone that day, I'll ask Ah Niu to give her back these things. When my daughter gets married, I, a mother, is already ugly if I don't give a dowry, how can I ask for her things. ”

"So, when the messenger from the government came to you, you already knew that the deceased Zhu was your daughter?"

"Nope! I do not know! When the officials came, they were all fierce, saying that someone had died near our house, and they suspected that Ah Niu and I were murderers, so they forcibly took us over. When I arrived at the scene, I heard Ah Niu shouting that he had only met this lady a few times, and he was still in the market, and there was no reason to murder this lady at all, and I was blind, and I didn't know this lady, so why should I kill her.

When I saw that Ah Niu was anxious to defend himself, lest he might anger the officials and bring trouble to myself, I asked him who the dead was? Only then did he tell me that it was the wife of the Yun family who gathered the silk shop of the Wang family, and this lady's surname was Zhu. I already had a bad feeling in my heart at that time, and asked Ah Niu if there were any marks on this lady's body. It just so happened that Ah Zhu was not wearing shoes at the time, so Ah Niu told me that this lady was dignified, some of them looked like a lady in the temple, and there seemed to be a black mole on her bare feet. At that time, I knew that the murdered Zhu was my second daughter, Azhu. ”

"You didn't tell the government about this?"

"Nope!" The old woman shook her head: "After living for so many years, I know that more is better than less. If the people in the government know that this person is my daughter, they will definitely send someone to search for me in my house, and I have these things in my house, if the people in the government ask, how do you ask me? Did he tell them what happened back then, or did he tell them that Azhu secretly sent the money to her husband without telling her?

Azhu is dead, and there is no way for a dead person to speak. Not all of the old men in the government are Lord Qingtian, if I open this mouth more, I'm afraid that Ah Niu will be dragged in. Isn't that little beggar a living example? ”

For the old woman's explanation, Xing Ruyi believed it. After all, those things in the past are no longer clear, and such a barren family hides so many silver taels, it is difficult to guarantee that the government will not deduct them from the crime of murder for money. ”

"Then, on the night Azhu was killed, did you hear any movement?"

"Movement? The mountains are full of movement at night. The old woman's eyes were red: "If I really hear something, I will definitely ask Ah Niu to go out to see, if Ah Niu goes out, maybe my Ah Zhu will not die." But I heard nothing but the sounds in the mountains. Ah Niu was young, and he slept heavily, and he didn't hear anything. ”

Although I don't know which of the old woman's words are true and which are false, Xing Ruyi doesn't want to pursue it anymore. Whether or not she heard something strange that night, the torture was enough for her.

Xing Ruyi sighed, looked carefully at the old woman's regained eye, and explained some precautions. Then he stood on the front porch and silently watched the winter rain getting smaller and smaller. This rain was for Abi, and it was also the last thing she left in this world.

When helping Ah Niu place Ah Bi's body, Xing Ruyi took the opportunity to ask about the nails, but she deliberately concealed the word coffin. The old woman didn't think much about it, so she told everything about the year. When talking about the beams, her tone and demeanor did not change in any special way, saying that the timber was cut from the nearby mountains, and the carpenters who made the beams were also from nearby villages. As for the nails, most of them were brought by the carpenters themselves.

Seeing this situation, Xing Ruyi did not intend to pursue any further questioning. Because those people back then have either moved out of here, or they are no longer alive, even if she wants to inquire, I'm afraid she won't be able to inquire about anything. But just when Xing Ruyi was about to leave the old woman's house with Li Mao, she said two words abruptly.

This first sentence: On the day the temple was built, that is, the day of the sacrifice to Abi, a Taoist priest suddenly came to the mountain. He claimed to be passing by, and when he came to him, he asked the people why they had built the temple, and then jumped on the roof to see the scenery. Then, he left. Because it was only a small episode, the people at that time, including the old woman herself, did not take it to heart. It was only when Xing Ruyi asked about the nail that the old woman suddenly remembered such a thing. She vaguely remembered that she had seen the Taoist priest nail something to the beam, but she was very confused at the time, so she didn't mention it.

As for the Taoist priest who passed by, Xing Ruyi had already guessed who he was? In this world, there can be such a leisurely Taoist priest who likes to intervene in everything, who else can there be except for nothing.

This second sentence: When the youngest daughter Azhu got married, she secretly went to Yunjiaji. At that time, her eyes could still see something, and she vaguely looked at the woman standing beside Azhu. In retrospect, I felt that the woman was vaguely the daughter of the village chief back then. It's just that the two haven't met many times, and they're not very sure. Although the old woman did not know what happened to her two daughters when they were fostered at the village chief's house, after Abi was sacrificed, the situation in the village not only did not improve, but became more and more serious. There is no food in the house, no water to drink, and in the end, there is even a tragedy of cannibalism.

The old woman heard that the daughter of the village chief came back with her husband and the child who had just completed the moon to visit after hearing about the disaster in her home. Her husband, in order to find the child, was also killed by the crazy villagers, if it weren't for the village chief's father and son to protect her, I am afraid that she would not be able to escape the natural disaster**.

"That being the case, haven't you worried about Azhu's safety? After all, what happened in the village back then, the daughter of the village chief is very likely to be counted on Azhu's head? ”

"How can you not be worried? It's just that I asked Ah Niu to inquire. The woman was the widow of the Arjune and had a different name from the village chief's daughter. So I thought...... I thought that maybe it was because I had bad eyes and that I was looking at the wrong person that day. The old woman said, pursing her lips: "But now, Azhu's death is strange, and I vaguely feel that all this is related to the daughter of the village chief?" Maybe after the tragedy of that year, she was also like my daughter Azhu, incognito and remarried. ”

"Ah Niang, is the woman you saw at that time the same cook who will follow Ah Zhu in the future?"

(Education 123 Literature Network)