By the time we crossed the river and got off the ferry, it was almost noon.

Yangzhou is still full of people, busy with traffic, now is the time to be lively, on the shore, the ferry has arranged a carriage to pick us up, I have hardly touched the ground in the past few days, but the body is so, there is no way, can only let Pei Yuanxiu pick me up.

But this time, I held on and sat by the window, looking out through the dangling curtains.

Knowing that Yangzhou is already Pei Yuanxiu's sphere of influence, the mood is different when he looks at it here. To put it mildly, there is no Yangzhou to show a rebellious attitude, this trick is indeed clever, Pei Yuanhao is different from Yangzhou, it is not easy to fight at this time, if you don't fight, it will be even more difficult to collect the six provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.

It's really hard to guess what the future situation will be.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but glance back at Pei Yuanxiu, he was still sitting calmly next to him, with the same gentle smile on his face, the corners of his eyes were crooked, and the whole person seemed to be the warmest piece of warm jade, which made people can't help but want to get close to him.

Who would have thought that on the other side of the Yangtze River, the six provinces south of the Yangtze River that confronted the imperial court belonged to him?

Thinking of this, my mood is even more chaotic.

Just as he raised his eyes to look at me, I could only pretend not to see it and turn my head to look at Ping'er. The kid didn't say a word along the way, and was unusually silent. Of course, I understood how hard it had hit him, and the closer he got to home now, the paler and more silent he became.

I was afraid that he would be crushed, so I said softly, "Ping'er." If you are sad, just sue Aunt Sù Qing. ”

He raised his head to look at me a little sluggishly, was silent for a while, and said, "Aunt Qing, I'm afraid that my mother will be sad." ”

“……”

"I don't dare sue her. What shall I say? ”

“……”

"My mother, she is the daughter of a big family, in order to follow her father - she ran away with her father, and for so many years, her grandparents did not let her go back. She only has her father, and she only has us. When Dad went to the South Shore and didn't come back, she couldn't sleep every night, what should she do, what if she knew Daddy? ”

Listening to him cry, I also felt bitter in my heart, I just saw that the seventh sister-in-law thought that she was beautiful and her behavior was not as rude as ordinary village women, but I didn't expect her to have such a past, for a man to leave home, abandoned all the qiē, and this man went behind her back to find another woman, which was a painful blow to her.

I gently stroked Ping'er's hair and said softly, "Ping'er, I know how sad you feel when you encounter such a thing. But you have to remember that you said that you are the only man in the family, and it is your responsibility not to make your mother sad. You shouldn't cry now, but think about what you can do to keep your mother from crying! ”

Hearing my words, the child was shocked, a light flashed in his teary eyes, and he bit his lower lip and nodded vigorously.

Seeing him like this, I was only slightly relieved, and when I turned around, I saw Pei Yuanxiu looking at us thoughtfully.

Although he smiled gently at me all the way, it seemed that this time, he also seemed a little dignified, and he gently bowed his head when he met my gaze.

Although nothing was said, they understood each other.

There are some things that have not yet been unraveled.

Ping'er has been in the pain of his father betraying his mother now, but he forgot that the woman said that his father promised to cross the river years ago, but he didn't pass, but Gu Qi is not at home, so where is he these days?

This is what has always disturbed me the most.

The carriage was already about to drive to Gu's house, as long as he walked through this street, he would arrive at a corner, and I also reminded Ping'er to wipe away his tears, and at this moment, there was a sudden noise in front.

The streets of Yangzhou were originally very lively, but this time it seemed to be different from the general liveliness, faintly heard someone shouting, everyone was running forward, and vaguely heard a few people running next to the carriage talking-

"What's going on? Why is it burning over there? ”

"It seems that the people of the government have passed."

"Let's go and see, which store is it?"

I didn't hear it right, and subconsciously lifted the curtain to look out, and saw that there seemed to be a fire burning in a bungalow in front of me, and the smoke went straight to the sky, blackening a large canopy, and the people around me ran towards it.

That direction--

I was stunned all of a sudden, and Ping'er also happened to look out, and after a glance, I was also stunned.

"That, that, that's—"

"Ping'er."

"That's my house!"

He was in a hurry, and he was about to rush under the carriage, but I didn't have time to catch him, but Pei Yuanxiu next to him grabbed him, and said to the coachman outside: "Quick!" ”

The coachman got the order, raised the horsewhip and waved it twice, the road was not long, turned a corner, and the carriage arrived at the door of the Gu family, there were already many people around here, all looking at the fire there, Ping'er broke free and jumped out of the carriage, but his feet were weak, and the whole person fell to the ground.

There seemed to be a familiar neighbor next to him, and when he saw him, he immediately said: "Ouch, Ping'er, why did you come back, your mother and your sister are inside and haven't come out!" ”

Ping'er was already frightened, and was about to rush in, but the people around him immediately stopped him, and someone said: "Don't be stupid child, such a fire will burn you to death!" ”

At this time, I was also hugged by Pei Yuanxiu and got out of the car, staggered over and grabbed Ping'er, only to see that his face was already pale, the whole person seemed to have lost his soul, stupidly looking at the sky-high fire, the Gu family had been completely engulfed in the fire, the beams of the house fell down one by one, stirring up countless sparks, the fire was burning, and it was gushing out along the door frame, and I felt hot and unbearable when I got closer, I could only work with Pei Yuanxiu and grab him hard to stop this kid from doing stupid things.

"How so...... How can this be......"

He was completely stupid, he slowly stopped struggling, and stopped rushing in, but the whole person was trembling, shaking so badly that in the end he could barely stand on his feet, and fell to his knees with a thud, looking inside with blank eyes.

I looked at the qiē in front of me, and the shock in my heart was no less than his.

Why is this happening? What's going on with this fire? The seventh sister-in-law, and the second girl, they are all inside, what is wrong?

The pain in my heart came well, and I almost cried, but I couldn't. And Ping'er, he didn't even have a tear, he just looked inside, his eyes were so dry that he lost even the light.

I suddenly saw that there were several people from the government next to me, all busy fighting the fire.

Why did the people from the government come to the Gu family again?

At this time, I heard a few people around me talking in a low voice: "Have you heard, their family is in trouble." ”

"Well, I know. It's the woman the government posted out to find a while ago. ”

When I heard this, my back suddenly went numb.

"I heard that someone went to report to the official and said that the woman was at their house."

"Are you there?"

Later, the government came to look for him, but they didn't find him, but they seemed to have found something in his house again. No, she even brought the house today, but the woman set fire to the house herself. ”

"Huh? She set the fire herself?! ”

"yes. We saw it with our own eyes. ”

I froze for a while, only to feel a dull pain in my chest, and I raised my head in disbelief and looked at the Gu family who was engulfed in fire.

It's because of Gou Er! It was he who followed Rue Xiang and knew my whereabouts, so he went to report to the official, but I had already left the Gu family that night, but the government here still sent someone to search the seventh sister-in-law's house, they didn't find me, but they seemed to have found something else, and when they came again, the seventh sister-in-law burned the house herself.

What is it?

What is it that makes the seventh sister-in-law burn the house, even herself, even the second girl, are buried in it.

I looked at Ping'er who was kneeling on the ground, his whole body seemed to be empty, kneeling there and doing nothing, just looking at the fire in front of me, I slowly walked over and hugged him, obviously there was a scorching flame in front of him, but this child's whole body was like a piece of ice, even my heart was frozen and painful.

A familiar pain welled up in my heart, and I immediately felt as if I was about to be poisoned again, and my eyes turned black for a while, when a large, warm hand reached out from behind me and helped me.

Looking back, it was Pei Yuanxiu.

He is still very calm, even in the surprised and envious eyes of some people around him, he still seems to stand alone in the sea of people, not stained with dust, and the only light and shadow in his eyes is the emaciated figure I cast. He said in a deep voice, "Don't be sad. Let's wait and see. ”

At this time, it seems that he is the only one who can be so calm.

And I held Ping'er's hand, only to feel that the palm of my hand was cold.

I don't know how long it took, but the fire was finally extinguished, and a thick stench of burnt came out of it. The people of the government wrapped **** cotton cloth around their mouths and noses before they dared to enter carefully.

The charred bodies of the seventh sister-in-law and the second girl were soon discovered.

The two of them were still sitting on the bed, the seventh sister-in-law hugged the second girl tightly, as soon as the miserable scene appeared, I immediately covered Ping'er's eyes, he didn't struggle, he didn't even move, but in my palm, a burst of hot wetness gushed out.

The official on the other side went to the backyard, which was where the seventh sister-in-law usually made steamed buns, but now the beams of the house collapsed, shattering the stove, and it was a mess.

They had just walked over when someone shouted—

"Here, there's something!"

We were all taken aback, and subconsciously walked over to take a look, and saw those people carefully peeling off the charred charcoal and bricks around them, only to see that behind the smashed stove was a large empty shell, and now, inside there was a white thing.

My heart sank, and I fixed my eyes.

It's a skeleton!