Hearing about the widow, Qi Su Niang couldn't help but be surprised. Mrs. Wang packed up the chicken coop indiscriminately, entrusted it to an acquaintance, dragged Qi Su Niang, ran like a little fly, and hurried to the back street of the county seat.

On the back street of the county is a half-closed door, a private house. On the wall of the third secret gate courtyard on the street, in front of the courtyard gate, there was a crowd of people watching the excitement, old and young, men and women, and most of the people from the county town. There are people sitting or standing on the locust trees outside the courtyard wall, which is very lively, as if they are watching a big play.

Mrs. Wang's kung fu squeezing the wall is first-class, and Qi Su Niang is not a thin-faced girl who is afraid of crowding, and after a while, the two of them squeezed to the front. Qi Su Niang looked at it, and in the courtyard, Widow Xu waved a kitchen knife in one hand, chased after Wen Qi, crying and shouting: "You brute, where did you sell my daughter?" You give back my daughter! ”

At the door of the main room, the girl and the prostitute in the private house closed the door tightly, opened the window and looked at it, and someone shouted: "Tofu Shih, everyone has already left Qinghe, and it's useless for you to make trouble." ”

Widow Xu's eyes were red, she waved her kitchen knife frantically, and screamed, "I'll kill you, brute, I'll kill you!" ”

Wen Qi's clothes are scattered and topless, where do you dare to carry her bare-handed? The gate of the courtyard was blocked, but fortunately, the yard was not small, he ran around the mule pillar, the trough, and the water tank like a mouse, and saw that Widow Xu was about to catch up, so he picked up a flat pole by the water tank in a panic, turned around, and hit Widow Xu's left arm hard, and then heard a loud sound, and the kitchen knife fell to the ground.

Wen Qi was already so frightened that his face was bloodless, and at this time he was furious, and knocked Widow Xu to the ground with a flat shoulder, and scolded: "Crazy woman, stinky ****, the women of your Xu family are only worthy of being ****, I sold your daughter to Caoshang passing by the head of the Yangzhou opera troupe, and I was already taken to Yangzhou Mansion to be ****!" ”

Widow Xu snorted miserably, jumped up and hugged Wen Qi's feet, and screamed: "What a troupe, what a troupe!" ”

Wen Qi kicked her away three steps, and Widow Xu reflexively threw herself back, hugged his legs, and begged: "Wen Qi, I will pay you back, please tell me who you sold her to?" Wen Qi threw away the flat burden, overthrew her to the ground, and sneered: "You pay back?" Your daughter is gone, you don't have a salt brand, what do you take to pay back! Mrs. Xiantai has given you a guarantee, okay, even if you have the ability, I'll wait, how long has it been now? You haven't paid back a copper plate yet, and you owe me three years for these ten dollars, and I'm not wrong when it comes to going anywhere! With that, he turned around and walked out, shouting as he pushed through the crowd, "Go away, go away, what's there to see?" Wang Pozi and Qi Su Niang were both lifted into the courtyard by him.

Widow Xu crawled desperately on the ground, trying to pull Wen Qi's trouser corners, but suddenly saw Qi Su Niang, suddenly froze, and then screamed sadly, jumped on Qi Su Niang's legs, and cried: "Madam! Madam! Ask Mrs. Xiantai to call the shots for the people's women! ”

Hearing the widow Xu calling "Mrs. Xiantai", seeing the lively crowd suddenly in an uproar, Mrs. Wang was startled, that Wen Qi hurriedly turned around, and was about to ask, there was a gong outside the crowd, and someone shouted, "Go away, go away, what's wrong?" The officials from the county government came to see it! Idle people wait for me to go away! ”

The crowd quickly parted a road, Wang Zhutou walked in with four fast hands, and when he saw Wen Qi and the widow Xu on the ground, he showed a headache and embarrassment, and was about to show his official authority, and the mud, but he saw that the widow Xu was holding a girl, and when he saw it, he was immediately shocked, and hurriedly called a thousand children, and said with a smile: "The little one asks Mrs. to say goodbye." ”

The crowd became more and more noisy, and Qi Su Niang hurriedly said: "Wang Zhutou, please get up quickly." Wang Zhutou stood up, swept around, and shouted: "Mrs. Xiantai is here, and all the idlers and others will be avoided." With that, the four fast hands went to drive people away.

Qi Su Niang hurriedly stopped and said: "Wang Zhutou, it's still important to be on business, you better ask Xu Niangzi and Wen Qi about this matter first." As he spoke, there was a commotion in the main room, and the girl's clients poured out and knelt on the ground to salute.

Qi Su Niang knew that this place could not stay for a long time, so she lowered her head and said softly: "Wang Zhutou is here, you can talk to him well." You will know your daughter's whereabouts. ”

Widow Xu didn't dare not let go, but kowtowed again and again: "Ask Mrs. to be the master of the people's women, and the women can only look up to Mrs. to be the master." ”

Qi Su Niang was very embarrassed, and Wang Zhutou hurriedly said: "There is a tea shop outside the street, which is opened by a small mother-in-law, although it is simple, it is quite clean. ”

Qi Su Niang nodded in a deep voice, watching Wang Zhutou lock Wen Qi, she helped Widow Xu up, and said, "Let's go out and talk about it." Then he turned his head and pulled Mrs. Wang, and walked out together.

When she arrived at the tea shop outside the street, Qi Su Niang smiled and took the tea from Mrs. Wang, turned around and handed it to Mrs. Wang. She looked at the Qinghe people around her and the widow Xu and Wen Qi kneeling in the middle, and said in a loud voice: "The concubine is ignorant, Yiming has national laws, the family has family rules, and the yamen has its own chief official and rules and regulations in the yamen, and the concubines don't dare to beak such as the inner house." Wang Zhutou was the host of the first trial of the case in the Yamen, and the matter was naturally handed over to Wang Zhutou to preside. It's just that this matter involves a matter of money and property, and the concubine is the guarantor, so I have to listen sideways, and I also ask all the fathers and villagers to testify. After that, he got up and invited a few old men and women who were old and white to sit side by side with Mrs. Wang, and served tea in person.

Wang Zhutou saw Qi Suniang sitting aside, left the middle table for him, and didn't dare to hold it up, stood at the table, called Widow Xu and Wen Qi, and asked about the case carefully.

But it turned out that it was Widow Xu's illness, and she had been delaying the doctor to take medicine, and she lost all the little money she earned from selling salt to the medicine money, and she didn't pay Wen Qi a single money for most of the year. Wen Qi was angry, and he was hindered by Mrs. County, so he didn't dare to come to the door, so he took advantage of Li'er walking the street to sell salt, and abducted her, sent her directly to the dock, and sold it to a passing troupe. Widow Xu dragged her illness and searched for seven or eight days in the county before she heard the wind and dragged a kitchen knife to fight with Wen Qi.

Wang Zhutou frowned and asked, "What kind of troupe is it?" How many days have you been gone? How much did it sell? ”

Wen Qi said in a low voice: "It's been eight days, it's not a serious and famous drama troupe, a few broken boxes are set up behind the gray dung boat, and the three girls in one class are only sold for one penny." ”

"What's the head of the squad called? Where are the ash manure boats? ”

"I didn't ask the name of the team leader, I just said that I was going to Yangzhou City, and the gray dung boat seems to be from Baoying County."

Wang Zhutou sighed secretly in his heart, and he was still about to ask, but the widow Xu over there had fainted silently, Qi Su Niang was startled, and hurriedly stepped forward to help her up.

Wang Zhutou whispered in Qi Su Niang's ear: "The nameless Xiaoban has no money to take a passenger ship, so he must keep changing boats and going for another eight days, so I am afraid that I will not be able to find it." ”

Qi Su Niang was silent, looked at Widow Xu, and said, "Let her stay alone for fear that she will find a short time, the county lord is not at home, let her live in my house for two days first." Wen Qi has his own history of cloud classics and handles it according to the law. Wang Zhutou hurriedly responded, and Wang Zhutou's mother-in-law found a few powerful women and carried Widow Xu to the backyard of the thatched cottage.

Qi Su Niang's house has five rooms, one is a hall house, one is an inner room, one is Chen Yan's study, and the other two rooms for the dowry, there was originally a shelf bed for Lianxiang, but now it was a mess due to drying, Qi Su Niang cleaned up a vacant space in the inner and outer rooms, and carried the rotten bamboo bed and bedding in Widow Xu's house and let her sleep.

After everyone retreated, Qi Su Niang left Wang Pozi to speak in the hall, "Mother-in-law, if you find someone for her to marry, it can be regarded as a hope, is it feasible?" ”

Mrs. Wang thought about it carefully, "I'm afraid it won't work, her reputation is too bad, and she is so poor that she doesn't have a dowry, unless she marries into a ravine, Qinghe County is afraid that it won't work." Glancing at Qi Su Niang, "Mrs., you subsidize her with some dowry, and you want her to be willing, my wife looks at it, if she has no daughter, there is only a dead end." ”

Qi Su Niang was speechless for a long time, and Mrs. Wang persuaded: "Madame has exhausted her benevolence and righteousness, Yangzhou is far away, and she has no whereabouts, who can she send to find it?" only blames her for her misery. ”

Qi Su Niang nodded and thanked her, Wang Pozi said goodbye and went out, Qi Su Niang hurriedly stayed, went to the wing room to open the box and took a white Sujuan, a blue cocoon silk made a shroud inside, and wrapped two wind chickens with lotus leaves, came out and said: "Mother-in-law is good to the concubine, it is not this thing to say." I made the chicken myself, just to taste my craft. I usually hear my mother-in-law say that the longevity coffin that will be buried in the future has been prepared, and the longevity clothes are missing, and these two pieces of material should be regarded as the fulfillment of the mother-in-law's thoughts, and the mother-in-law should not dislike it. ”

Mrs. Wang was so happy that she thanked her, and whispered before going out: "That matter, you don't have to worry about it now, you are humble and polite in the market on weekdays, who doesn't look at it?" And how can anyone believe it? With that, he smiled and went.

Qi Su Niang stood in the courtyard, thought for a while, returned to the inner room, and looked at Widow Xu on the bamboo bed next to the dressing table, especially sleeping. He opened the makeup box, showed all the gold beads and jewelry inside, and only put the Ruyi head gold hairpin and bronze hairpin into his arms.

At night, Widow Xu still hadn't woken up, Qi Su Niang had a meal, put a plate of cut cakes on the dressing table, and went to sleep early.

Early the next morning, looking outside, Widow Xu was gone, a plate of cut cakes was not left, the four pearls inlaid with silver beads in the makeup box were missing, and the other gold beads and jewelry were not touched at all. Qi Su Niang sighed slightly, "I underestimated her...... "I went out to the market and told Granny Wang about it.

"She must have chased after her overnight." Mrs. Wang also sighed, "I don't know where the person is, I don't know how much hardship she has to suffer, I hope she can find it." ”

Qi Su Niang asked someone to carry Widow Xu's bed back as usual. In the alley behind the thatched cottage, the dilapidated house surrounded by bamboo scorn was dark, and although the sun in the sky was brilliant, it could not shine into this corner. There was a sour smell of medicine in the room, and two bamboo stools with missing feet were lying crookedly on the gray, black and damp ground, and the tofu burden in the corner of the room was covered with thick dust.

Qi Su Niang stood in the house, silent for a long time, and finally walked out, turned around and tied the bamboo door with a straw rope, and said softly: "I'm sorry, I can't tolerate it." ”

And he went.