Chapter 18: Twenty Rods

Shen Qianmo declined Qin Niansheng's offer to send him back. After being delayed in the Criminal Department for so long, she has to hurry back to the Gongfu, Luzhu and Mama Xu should be worried.

She hurried back to the Guogong Mansion, as usual, and quietly came to the west side gate, where few people usually go in and out, and it is the closest to the small courtyard where she lives, every time she goes out in the costume of Moxin, Luzhu or Mama Xu will pick her up here.

But it was not Luzhu and Mama Xu who answered her at the door today, but Shen Mingxuan.

Shen Mingxuan is from his aunt Sun, who is 13 years old this year. Aunt Sun has always been unfavored in the house, and she is also timid and afraid, and seeing Cui's is like a mouse seeing a cat. Therefore, Shen Mingxuan's life in the mansion was not easy, and he was bullied.

That day, Shen Qianmo passed by the street corner near the Guogong Mansion and saw that Shen Mingxuan was surrounded by a group of teenagers of about the same age, led by Shen Gaoxuan. Shen Gaoxuan is from Cui's family, one year younger than Shen Mingxuan, but much taller than the malnourished Shen Mingxuan.

Seeing Shen Mingxuan's blue nose and swollen face after being beaten, and even more humiliated by those bad teenagers riding under him, Shen Qianmo couldn't help but shout. Shen Gaoxuan saw that it was his demented eldest sister, so he was even more arrogant, and commanded the two older teenagers to step forward, and wanted to remove her veil and humiliate her in public.

Shen Qianmo didn't want to do it, but it was useless to be reasonable to deal with these bad teenagers, and violence must be countered with violence. Born as an orphan, she didn't know how many hooligan sisters she had subdued since she was a child, and she didn't pay attention to these unlearned and unskilled gentlemen in front of her at all.

She shot quickly and accurately, knocked down the two teenagers at once, and threw Shen Gaoxuan, who rushed up, over his shoulder, causing him to dislocate his shoulder and lie on the bed for more than ten days. Shen Gaoxuan can't say that Shen Qianmo hurt her, how embarrassing it is to say it! Shen Yi'an decided that he was injured in a fight with someone, and reprimanded him. Therefore, after that, Shen Gaoxuan always stared at her with resentful eyes every time he saw Shen Qianmo.

Shen Mingxuan admired Shen Qianmo even more. As early as the last time Shen Qianmo exposed Zhao Sanhuai in the mansion, he felt that this big sister was very powerful, and now he sees that she not only has wisdom, but also can fight, and she is even more admired. He really wanted to learn from Shen Qianmo, make himself stronger, and have the ability to protect himself and his mother, but he was used to being timid, and he usually only dared to secretly pay attention to Shen Qianmo.

Because of this, he knew that Shen Qianmo had gone out in disguise as a man several times, so now he was waiting for her here with an anxious face.

When Shen Mingxuan saw her coming back, he hurriedly greeted her and shouted, "Big sister, you're back!" ”

Shen Qianmo looked at him anxious and scared, and asked, "Mingxuan, what's wrong, what's wrong?" ”

Shen Mingxuan stuffed a burden into her arms and said anxiously, "Big sister, hurry up and change your clothes and go to the flower hall, Luzhu...... Green Bamboo is about to be killed! ”

What's wrong with Green Bamboo? Shen Qianmo was also a little worried when she saw Shen Mingxuan's anxious appearance. She hurriedly changed into men's clothes and rushed to the flower hall.

When she rushed to the flower hall, Shen Yi'an and Cui Shi sat at the top, and Shen Qianxue, Shen Gaoxuan and several aunts stood next to her.

And Luzhu was kneeling in the hall by the five flowers, and a strong man was hitting Luzhu with a cane, and Luzhu collapsed to the ground, as if he had passed out. Mama Xu knelt beside Luzhu and kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, saying in her mouth, "Master is gracious, Mrs. spare her life!" The forehead was dripping with blood.

"Stop!" Shen Qianmo snorted. The big man who beat people was stunned for a moment, the stick in his hand stopped in mid-air, and when he saw that it was the eldest lady who spoke, he stopped his movements and looked at Shen Yi'an.

Shen Qianmo stepped forward to Lu Zhu's side in a few steps, squatting down to check Lu Zhu's injuries. Fortunately, I just fainted, and I was still angry. Seeing that it was Shen Qianmo, Mama Xu cried bitterly and threw herself in front of her, saying, "Miss, you are here, you can save Luzhu, she is dying." ”

Shen Qianmo patted Mama Xu's back soothingly, signaling that she was okay, and then looked at Shen Yi'an with a cold face, and asked, "Father, what did Luzhu do to be punished so heavily?" "If she comes one step too late, are these people trying to beat her to death?

Shen Yi'an snorted heavily and said, "You are back, everyone has been looking for you for a long time." What are you doing when you're not in your own yard all this time? ”

Could it be for this? Shen Qianmo thought for a moment and said, "Today is the first day of junior high school, my daughter went to visit her grandmother, her old man's house, and she forgot the hour while chatting with her grandmother, so she came back late." ”

She casually made one up, and Shen Yi'an would not go to the old lady for verification.

Hearing Shen Qianmo talk about the old lady, Shen Yi'an snorted coldly again. He was a little jealous of this eldest daughter, who could get into the eyes of the old lady. Thinking about her attitude towards herself, alas, it's all tears when she talks too much.

"A girl who has not left the cabinet should stay in peace, and besides, since you have been married to King Xuan, you must think about your own identity in whatever you do!" Shen Yi'an reminded solemnly.

What the father said was that the daughter obeyed. It's just that I don't know what Luzhu has committed, and he will be punished so far? "With such a thick cane, I don't know how many beatings I have been beaten, although Luzhu is usually strong, in the end, how can she withstand it!

Speaking of this, Shen Yi'an said to Shen Qianmo with an ugly face: "You ask your mother!" ”

Shen Qianmo glanced at the Cui mother and daughter who were secretly proud, this matter must have something to do with the two of them. She forcibly suppressed her anger and said coldly: "Please also ask my mother to make it clear." ”

Cui's gestured to his personal grandmother Sun, who was beside him, and Mama Sun was relieved and said to Shen Qianmo: "Miss Hui, this cheap maid is bold enough to fornicate with a man and corrupt the rules of my country's government, and according to the government rules, she should be punished with a cane!" ”

Fornication with a man! When Shen Qianmo heard this, her face changed, and she said sharply: "Nonsense, Luzhu is my personal maid, and she has always been with me, how can I have an affair with someone?" You say that there is no evidence, but there is evidence? ”

"Yes." Mama Sun threw out a burden and said: "Just now this girl hurriedly bumped into the old slave with a burden, the burden fell to the ground, the old slave saw that the burden was full of men's clothes, so he asked her who this was, this girl did not say, so the old slave suspected that the girl was fornicating with the man, so he told the old lady." ”

It was indeed men's clothes in the baggage, but Shen Qianmo knew that this was the clothes she wore when she was dressed as a man. Just because Dasheng women's words and deeds are more conservative, it is rare for women to disguise themselves as men and leave the mansion without permission, not to mention the Shen Guogong Mansion, which has a very strict family style. Luzhu, this girl, probably didn't say anything to protect herself.

Shen Qianmo thought of this, looking at the unconscious green bamboo and the tearful Mama Xu, she was distressed. These two people have indeed done their best to protect themselves. It's just that she must not let Luzhu be charged with fornicating with men, how important is the honor to a woman, not to mention that she is still a girl who has not been out of the cabinet.

She glanced at the clothes in the baggage, gritted her teeth, knelt on the ground with a "bang", and said to Shen Yi'an: "Father, these clothes were ordered by her daughter to buy them, and Luzhu She is just acting on orders, if you want to punish her, punish your daughter." ”

Shen Qianxue on the side hid her face and smiled, and said disdainfully: "Why did the eldest sister buy men's clothes, didn't she think about preparing for King Xuan so early?" It's a pity that King Xuan has asked for a postponement of the marriage, is the eldest sister too anxious? ”

After that, Cui's and the rest of the aunts all looked at Shen Qianmo with mocking expressions.

Shen Qianmo lowered her eyebrows, ignored them, still knelt firmly, and said: "Father, these clothes were purchased by my daughter for herself. If the father doesn't believe it, the daughter can try it on the spot to see if it's the daughter's size. ”

For today's plan, the only way to lead the fire to their side is to try their best, Cui's mother and daughter are aimed at themselves, and Luzhu is just a primer for them to deal with themselves.

Shen Yi'an said with a calm face: "Do you know that a woman does not follow the rules and leaves the house without permission, what punishment should be given according to the government rules?" ”

"The daughter knows, please punish the father." Shen Qianmo was already kneeling and said lightly.

"Miss, don't." When Luzhu woke up from the pain, she heard Shen Qianmo's words, and she said weakly.

Shen Qianmo was relieved to see Luzhu wake up, came to her side, checked the injury, and the injury was on the back, fortunately it was a skin injury, and it was enough to recuperate for a few days. She grabbed Luzhu's hand and said to her, "Luzhu, you have suffered, go down and rest with Mama Xu." He also instructed Mama Xu to give her medicine and take good care of her.

Mama Xu kowtowed to Shen Yi'an and said, "Master, if you want to punish the old slave, punish the old slave, it is the old slave who didn't take a good look at the young lady, and it was the fault of the old slave that he was entrusted by the lady!" ”

Mama Xu moved Xie Yun out because she thought that Shen Yi'an would give Shen Qianmo a light punishment for the sake of his dead wife and the Xie family in Suzhou.

Shen Yi'an's heart softened, and he also wanted to push the boat down the river to punish lightly, Cui Shi said lukewarmly on the side: "Master, Mo'er is a person with a marriage contract, but she is so unruly, and she comes privately, if it is passed to King Xuan, I am afraid that it will give the family an excuse to withdraw from the marriage, and where will the face of the Guogong Mansion be left at that time." ”

Shen Yi'an was right when he thought about it, the Guogong Mansion was already declining day by day, and if there were any more rumors that would damage his reputation, he would not be able to raise his head in the powerful circle of the capital. This matter must be severely punished in order to set an example. Therefore, it was ordered to be dealt with strictly according to the rules of the government, and no one was allowed to intercede.

Shen Qianmo suffered twenty sticks under the proud or pitying eyes of Cui's mother and daughter, and finally couldn't support it and lost consciousness. Fortunately, the charge of Luzhu fornicating with the man was cleared, and before fainting, she thought with relief.