Just when the front yard was busy distributing porridge, a woman in a blue kudzu dress in the back kitchen said to another young woman who was hanging a bib and was scooping porridge from the pot with a horse spoon: "Madame, this is the last pot today, and all the stone of grain that came from the store on credit yesterday has been boiled." ”

The lady in this woman's mouth is none other than Jiang Qi's mother, Jiang Fang. Since his son Jiang Qi was injured and left the Wang family, Jiang Fang, who was angry, took the dowry and daughter, and brought a pair of subordinates to cut off relations with the Wang family.

Then the master and servant summed up, and soon took down the current wine house and started a new life. Although she is still nominally the wife of the Wang family now, she is already a completely free person.

Reminded by the maid, Jiang Fang wiped the scattered hair in front of her forehead and behind her ears with her slender fingers, wiped her sweat and said, "Cui'er, you go and see if there are any refugees outside, if it is not enough, you can go to the grain store to buy some rice." ”

"Madam, just now Ada said that the refugees have basically eaten, and today is enough, and now there is not much spare money in this store, and it may not be able to afford rice."

"Hey, over the years, the rivers have been declining, and the number of victims has increased year by year, no matter what, I can help! This is considered a blessing for Ananda. So、、、 wait a minute, let Ada go to the grain store again to see if you can get some rice on credit, if not, you can take some of my jewelry and buy it!" Jiang Fang thought for a moment and then said resolutely.

"No, ma'am, your dowry has been sold quite a bit over the years. If it really doesn't work、、、 Mrs., don't consider the daily supply less, the slave maid heard Ada say yesterday, the price of rice is now a bucket and a long thirty wen, and it has been sold to one hundred and sixteen, and it is already very good that this store can provide relief for more than half a month. ”

"Hey、、、、 these black-hearted businessmen are all unscrupulous people, when will they still make a fortune in the country, they should be punished by heaven、、、

"Who says it's not! By the way, Mrs. Slave heard that there was a Taiping Sect in this Julu County, and began to set up an altar in the city to relieve the disaster, and also sent talismans to save many sick refugees. Now many refugees have heard the news and left, otherwise we would not have enough porridge. ”

"Oh, and that's the thing, it's pretty good to hear you say that these Taoists are pretty good. I just don't know if it's really good! As he mentioned the Taoist, Jiang Fang stopped the movements in his hand for a moment, and couldn't help but think of the son who went with the Taoist, and now he doesn't know what to do if he doesn't see anyone alive or dead.

Seeing that her wife was distracted, Cui'er understood, and immediately said in a low voice: "Madame, but I think of my son again, I'm sorry, if Madame hadn't been the slave and maid that day、、、、、" As soon as she remembered her natural mistake, Cui'er couldn't help but have tears in her eyes again.

Seeing that her emotions had an impact on the faithful maid, Jiang Fang slowly put away her mood and stepped forward to take out a handkerchief to wipe her tears for Xiao Cui and comforted: "Didn't Cui'er tell you many times, what happened to Ananda back then was an accident, you don't need to blame yourself anymore, 、、、maybe Ananda is still a blessing in disguise?" ”

"Mother, okay, it's not early, and if you don't set off, you'll have to delay time." Just between the two masters and servants talking, a little lady in a white fairy dress jumped out of the kitchen door, this little lady was about ten years old, well-behaved and exquisite, with a youthful and lively atmosphere around her, and behind her there was a tiger head and tiger brain sturdy child.

Seeing the child appear, Jiang Fang stepped forward and doted on her daughter, who was almost the same height as her shoulders, and touched the child's head and said lovingly: "Li'er, you took Cheng'er to be naughty again." ”

"How can there be! Didn't my daughter just take Cheng'er to help in the store! Besides, Cheng'er is very honest, and she doesn't look like her brother、、、" Jiang Lin'er tilted her head and said to the child who looked honest on the side, but as soon as she mentioned her brother Jiang Qi, she quickly stuck out her tongue and closed her mouth.

Jiang Fang heard her daughter mention the pain in her heart, and she didn't get angry, but just slapped her lightly and said: "What nonsense are you talking about, we Cheng'er is steady, just like his father, and he must be a person who will do great things in the future, but to be honest, Cheng'er's body really looks like Ananda, hey、、、 I don't know what happened to your hard-working brother." ”

When Jiang Lin heard that his mother was thinking about sadness again, he hurriedly interrupted coquettishly: "Auntie, don't worry! My daughter dreams of her brother every night, and he mutters so much! Every day, there are big fish and meat, and now they must be taller than their mothers, so don't worry about them. However, the daughter wants to remind her mother that if we don't set off again, we won't be able to go to Pingyuan County to participate in Uncle Clan's birthday、、、"

"You girl, okay, okay、、、 go and let your Uncle Da pack up the carriage, and I will go to prepare the kitchen with your Aunt Cui!"

"Okay, let's go, this time Miss will take you to the birthday banquet, there must be a lot of delicious food there、、、、、"

"Is it true that the young lady is better than the things made by the lady?"

"You'll know when you arrive, hurry up and see if your sister is awake, my mother said that we will go together as a family、、、"

"Really, Madame is so nice、、、"

Watching her daughter leave with Jiang Da's eldest son Jiang Cheng, Jiang Fang smiled comfortingly, although it has been a little bitter over the years, but the days have passed, thinking that time has passed in a blink of an eye, her daughter is ten years old, and Jiang Da, the housekeeper at home, also has a son and a daughter.

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All the way north through the state and county, what left the most profound impression on Jiang Qi during the journey was not the different customs and customs of various places. In Jiang Qi's eyes, those displaced people, beggars, and the people who planted grass on both sides of the official road to buy children were enough for him to remember for a lifetime.

Although as monastics, the two masters and disciples should do their best to help the suffering refugees. However, the master and apprentice did not dare to stop along the way, because as soon as they stopped, there would be many parents who would come to sell their children to them, and the situation became more and more serious the further north they went.

However, even though the refugees are everywhere, the officials who are supposed to be responsible for comforting the victims are the opposite, not only ignoring the refugees, but also increasing taxes and exploiting the people.

Of course, Jiang Qi also has a personal experience, especially when he was passing the song, the Han army guarding the checkpoint at that time saw that Jiang Qi's master and apprentice were not local accents, so they wanted to increase their tariffs, and Jiang Qi, who was reluctant to swallow his anger all the way in the face of blackmail, almost ran away.

Tired of being fed up, Jiang Qi's master and apprentice finally came to the Handan realm after walking for nearly a month. Seeing that Jiang Qi was about to get home, his mood was just better, and after a long time, the master and apprentice walked into a wine shop outside the city with the fragrance of porridge holding their rumbling stomachs.

Of course, the reason why they came around the porridge was not that the two masters and apprentices were diligent and thrifty, but that there was really no way. The money and goods they brought along the way had already been given to the refugees, and for a large part of the time, their masters and apprentices were looking for wild fruits to satisfy their hunger, but they must know that if the wild fruits were so easy to find, those refugees would not buy children and daughters.

Faced with this situation, Jiang Qi couldn't help but complain that he couldn't finish killing those prey in the mountains before, but the prey outside was all dead. He hasn't suffered much since he was a child, and he hasn't eaten enough for three consecutive days, but fortunately he has finally arrived home now.

The master and apprentice walked into the porridge shop, and just found a clean seat to sit down, a guy who ran the hall greeted him warmly: "Where did the two Taoist leaders come from!" I watched a lot of dust! ”

"Haha, my little brother's eyes are quite sharp! What is ready-made, I didn't get some to moan hungry! Jiang Qi patted his hungry stomach and said.

"Hehe, look at your little bit of 、、、" Zuo Ci complained to Jiang Qi with some hatred, and then took out a few big coins from his arms and said: "That's all this money along the way, little brother looked at it." ”

The guy picked up the five baht coins scattered on the table and folded them with a smile, but he didn't accept them, but pushed them back unexpectedly, and then said: "Daoist, please take it back, my wife has orders, as long as there is a Taoist who comes to the door, all money cannot be collected、、、、、"

"Oh, and such a good thing, it seems that your wife is still a good person!" When I heard that there was still free food Jiang Qi was interested, and he was not busy eating.

"Not only the good man, has the Taoist seen it? This wine house was originally a good business, but my wife insisted on giving porridge every day, and it was about to be made into a porridge shop. The villain also fled here three years ago, and fortunately his wife rescued him to survive in the world", said the guy's eyes were moist.

"Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable" Zuo Ci folded together and said: "Madame is really a great and kind person, since I am destined to enter here, I don't know if I can invite the master to come out, and the poor Taoist master and apprentice can thank you in person." ”

"It's unfortunate that my wife went to the banquet in the morning, and it will take a few days to come back." The guy said with some embarrassment.

"Oh, that's a pity, Poor Dao still wants to thank one or two, then it only depends on whether there is fate another day." Zuo Ci didn't take it seriously, and saluted again.

"It is a great good thing for your wife to help the people, but Yu Yang doesn't know why she still treats my people in the Dao Sect preferentially?" Jiang Qi interjected curiously after following the master's salute.

"The villain doesn't know much about it, but many of them are Mrs. Yunyou's favors, hoping to repay the favor! Okay, the villain didn't bother the two Taoist chiefs, and immediately served some food to the Taoist chiefs. Seeing that another guest came to the door, the guy said and left politely.

It didn't take long to run the hall, and it didn't make the two masters and apprentices wait any longer, when two guys with trays came over. The two skillfully took down a few small dishes from the tray, five or six steamed buns and two large bowls of gruel. The food was served, and Jiang Qi, who had been hungry for a long time, was not polite, and devoured the food on the table.

Just a cup of tea, a table full of food, already stomached, drank a sip of tea on the guy Jiang Qi wiped his stomach, although he only ate half full, but since it was free, he was embarrassed to call again, so he had to complain to the master: "When I get home, I will ask Aunt Cui to make you some pastries, the pastries made by Aunt Cui are delicious."

Zuo Ci, who also finished eating, put down the teacup and asked, "Can you remember your home address clearly?" ”

"Why does the master ask this, doesn't the master go into the city with Yu Yang." Jiang Qi looked at the master suspiciously.

"No, when I left, I promised the Qingyun Daoist that I was in the Void Cloud Temple, and when I came back, I would go back to sit down, and it would be good to disturb your family reunion as a teacher." Zuo Ci said indifferently.

"However, if you can't go back when you get to the door, my mother will definitely blame Yuyang for not knowing etiquette." Jiang Qi knew that his master's decision would not change, so he could only try his best to persuade him.

"You kid still knows how to be polite, you weren't naughty in the mountains that day, even if you went down the mountain and hurried, you didn't know how to respect the master and rush to chase the clouds, and let the master ride a broken horse." Zuo Ci said and got up and laughed and scolded Jiang Qi, who had a bad smile on his face with a whisk.

"Remember to feed some concentrate to Chasing Yun after I go back, I have lost weight all the way."

After speaking, without waiting for Jiang Qi to refute, he went out and rode the remaining horse after selling the carriage and left.

Seeing this, Jiang Qi had no choice but to shout at the back of the old man: "That's not to take care of you in vain, I'm afraid that you are too old to ride a horse that is too fast", but the next moment Jiang Qi responded to it just by smashing it over, and I don't know when I will wear the five baht money.

Jiang Qi accurately took the five-baht coin thrown by the master and called the running hall with a smile: "Does the little brother know how to go to the Wang family in the city?" ”

"The Wang family, what did the little Taoist chief say, but the Wang family, which is known as the first family in this city? Who is the Taoist from the Wang family、、、 "I didn't think that the little Taoist priest who had a good impression just now would ask like this, and the guy immediately said with some displeasure.

"Oh, it's nothing, Xiaodao has a relative in the Wang family, it's not like I want to visit." Jiang Qi didn't know why this guy, who was originally smiling, heard that the Wang family was a little displeased, so he just said casually.

Hearing Jiang Qi's words, the guy's face improved slightly, and then pointed out the way to Jiang Qi: "Oh, that's the case!" Chief, you enter the city and walk all the way through the county guard's mansion, and you can see it by walking two more streets, the Wang family is very big and easy to find."

"Oh, thank you, little brother、、、"

Knowing the destination, Jiang Qi didn't stay any longer, thanked him, and got up and went out directly to untie the chasing clouds tied to the door and run towards the city gate.

Looking at Jiang Qi in the distance, the guy who pointed the way just now muttered: "If I knew that you were going to Wang's house, it wouldn't be cheap, you would have eaten a meal."

However, when the guy finished sorting out the tableware, he didn't say so, it turned out that when he left, Jiang Qi had already stuffed the string of five baht coins that the master threw at him under a food bowl, although the money was not much, but it should be more than enough to pay for the meal.