She raised her head and looked out, the black clouds rushing in the sky were accumulating bigger and bigger, and the wet wind was blowing the curtain and shaking slightly.

"Old man......," she said timidly to the coachman, "how far is it?"

The coachman looked around and said, "It's not far away, this is a few miles further south to the village, where it is surrounded by mountains and rivers, it is a good place, but there are often flash floods, and the traffic is inconvenient, so there are not many people, it is a remote and poor place." ”

Liu Xiaoxiao lowered her head and lowered her eyes, her long black hair covering the tattoos on her cheeks.

According to Wu Law, wearing this tattoo means that the exiled prisoner can only stay in the place of exile for the rest of his life, and is not allowed to leave, and can only work for the rest of his life, and is not allowed to enter the army, let alone join the army as an official, and his children and grandchildren will also be killed.

Before coming, as the temporary county magistrate of the county government, Zhang Renjie had clearly told her that considering that the prisoner was an unarmed weak woman and a child, and the county government had complicated affairs at this time, there was not too much manpower, so he only sent an elderly coachman to escort him all the way.

When Liu Xiaoxiao was young, she was still the top piano girl in Qingyulou, she played the pipa well, coupled with a good face, decent conversation, and an unstoppable youthfulness between her gestures, which fascinated a literati student in the south of the Yangtze River, and the matchmaker stepped through the threshold. Then, under Niu Tao's money offensive and coercion, she finally married Niu Fu.

In Niu Mansion, she endured the darkest days of her life, although Niu Tao said that she had a lot of money, but she was misbehaved, short-tempered, beat and scolded her, and treated her as a lowly subordinate. She endured it silently until Niu Tao finally sent her to Liu Zhenwei's bed, and she woke up like a dream and was extremely disappointed in this old man.

One night, Liu Zhenwei got drunk and excitedly showed off to him that he had stolen the ledger that was crucial to Niu Tao's business. She was indifferent to Niu Tao's business and didn't take it seriously. But later, Niu Tao found out that the ledger had been stolen, and he was furious, pointing directly at Liu Xiaoxiao, and wronged her and Liu Zhenwei for stealing his ledger. Subsequently, she was placed under house arrest and tortured, even though she confessed to Niu Tao that Liu Zhenwei stole the account book, Niu Tao still sprinkled a fire on her.

Later, Niu Tao finally secretly found Liu Zhenwei's traces, and invited him to come to the house as a guest as if he was fine, but secretly prepared to kill him and Liu Xiaoxiao tonight.

Hearing the news, Liu Xiaoxiao was terrified, so he simply didn't do anything, preemptively attacked, and prepared to poison Niu Tao, but the dose of medicine was too small, Niu Tao just fell into a coma, afraid that he would be guilty when he woke up, so Liu Xiaoxiao hid in the next person's room for a night in fear.

Fortunately, early the next morning, Niu Tao still died. Although she didn't know who the murderer was, she was secretly relieved in her heart.

But she never thought that the final murderer was actually a little girl on her lap who was not yet in her cardamom years.

Thinking of this, she gently stroked the sleeping Niu Lian's hair temples with her fingers, Niu Lian closed her eyes peacefully, and her lovely cheeks bulged into a bag, which made people feel sorry for her.

This child was also brutalized by her father on weekdays, but she undertook such a severe punishment at a young age.

Just as she was thinking about it, outside the carriage, the coachman's shout came again, and he said to her: "Girl, there is a crooked-necked tree by the edge of the field ahead, and there is a hut next to the tree, let's go there and hide from the rain." ”

Liu Xiaoxiao hurriedly raised his head and said, "Mm-hmm...... Good. ”

After speaking, she picked up Niu Lian and got off the official car lightly.

After a few years of time in the Niu Mansion, her appearance is no longer as good as it was at the beginning, but she can still see a beautiful embryo, triangular eyes and crescent eyebrows, coupled with the recent events that have happened one after another, so that her face has a sad look that cannot be dissipated, and her eyes reveal a trace of melancholy that makes people feel sorry.

The coachman kindly opened the umbrella for her, Liu Xiaoxiao thanked her, and the two walked along the winding path in the field to the hut at the end.

Halfway through, there was a sudden downpour in the sky, and it struck the oil-paper umbrella, making a loud crackling sound.

Liu Xiaoxiao carefully moved her steps, avoiding puddles on the dirt road, and walked slowly on the muddy road.

What the future holds, she doesn't know. She is already at a low point in her life, and without any worries, it doesn't matter what happens. At this time, the cow lotus in her arms was the last meaning of her life, and she accompanied her all the way for the rest of her confused life.

After walking for a while, the two finally came to the hut, the house had no door, and at a glance, it was black and silent.

The coachman stepped forward and shouted inside, "Is there anyone?"

After a while, no one responded inside, so the coachman turned around and said to Liu Xiaoxiao: "It's probably empty, it should be a place to rest during the day work and farming, let's go in." ”

"Hmm......" Liu Xiaoxiao replied obediently.

As soon as the two of them came to the door, a lazy voice came from inside the hut, and said, "Who ......?"

The coachman was stunned for a moment and shouted, "We are passing by, it is raining heavily outside, come in and take shelter." ”

After a while, a figure came out of it, Liu Xiaoxiao carefully raised his eyelids and looked, it was a tall and thin man, wearing a big hat, a pale face, and a plain shirt, which seemed to be an ordinary short-term worker.

He looked at Liu Xiaoxiao and the others, smiled faintly, and said, "Come in, my friend and I live here, she just left, there is a place." ”

After hearing this, the coachman hurriedly thanked him, and Liu Xiaoxiao was a little at a loss and followed the coachman into the house.

She noticed that the man had inadvertently looked at her, his cheeks flushed unconsciously, and his head lowered even deeper.

Now she is just a prisoner and doesn't dare to see anyone.

It was dark in the hut, and there was no light. Liu Xiaoxiao squinted her eyes slightly, and only then did she adjust to the dimness around her. In the small room, there was no superfluous furnishings, a stone kang was placed near the door, some dry straw was spread on the ground, and there was a faint smell of hair in the air.

Liu Xiaoxiao smelled the fragrance in the room, like a rouge used by a certain woman, but in such a small place here, except for the man wearing a hat, there was no one else, she couldn't help but have some doubts, but she didn't squeak either.

The coachman walked to the kang and sat down, rested, and thanked the man repeatedly. The man didn't look like a country man, he smiled politely at the coachman, then looked at Liu Xiaoxiao again, and said, "Girl, sit down first." ”

Liu Xiaoxiao didn't dare to raise his head, firmly blocked the tattoo on his cheek with the hair next to his ear, hummed softly, and carefully sat down next to the coachman, putting the sleeping cow lotus on his lap.

The man noticed Niu Lian, the corners of his mouth rose, revealing two puddles, and said, "This kid is very cute." ”

Hearing this, Liu Xiaoxiao didn't dare to respond, just lowered her head and looked at Niu Lian in a daze.

But the coachman smiled and said to the man: "Hehe, I don't know who this big brother's surname is, I came from Hangzhou with this girl and settled in Taizhou, I never thought that it was raining heavily in the sky, and there was no place to hide from the rain, so I came to disturb, I'm sorry." ”

The man shook his head, stood at the door, and said with a smile: "It's okay, my name is Yan Wuchang, a farmer, just a little effort." ”

"Yan Wuchang......" The coachman raised his eyes and thought about it, and muttered, "It seems that I have heard it somewhere......"

"Oh, old man, do you know me?" the man asked with a smile.

The coachman thought for a while, shook his head, and said, "Alas, you look at my memory, it seems to be a little familiar, but I can't remember where I heard it, alas, I'm old haha." ”

With that, he scratched his head at the man with some embarrassment and laughed embarrassedly.

Yan Wuchang didn't answer, nodded politely to the coachman, and leaned on the threshold to watch the pouring rain outside.

The cold rain and the river entered Wu at night, and Pingming sent the guests to Chushan Lonely.

The rain strung into a thread, the scenery in front of me became blurred, the fields were foggy, and the green hills in the distance seemed to be entangled in a white veil, looming. Water droplets dripped down the eaves of the thatched hut, and a rain curtain was hung at the door, and a refreshing breath came to the face.

Niu Lian in Liu Xiaoxiao's arms woke up in a daze, let out a childish voice, and said to her vaguely: "Sanniang...... Are we there?"

Liu Xiaoxiao saw that she was awake, so she hurriedly held her little hand and comforted her softly: "Don't worry, it's coming soon, let's sleep for a while." ”

With that, she gently stroked Niu Lian's sideburns, watched her lie on her lap, turned over sleepily, and fell into a deep sleep.

Liu Xiaoxiao's eyes were full of pity, and she didn't dare to alarm her, but there was a smile of relief on her pale face.

Yan Wuchang's eyes looked at the boundless fields, and the surrounding miles had melted into a cloud of rain and mist. On the narrow path, he saw a dilapidated official car parked in the woods by the roadside.

"Old man, is it the first time you've been to Taizhou?" Yan Wuchang suddenly asked.

The coachman smiled and said, "Yes, I took the girl and my granddaughter back to my parents' house, I never thought that the sky had changed, but it was annoying." ”

Liu Xiaoxiao listened, and glanced at the coachman, with gratitude in his eyes. He kindly did not say that Liu Xiaoxiao was an exiled prisoner, hoping that she would not be bullied and despised by the locals when she settled here. Yan Wuchang nodded casually and said, "Yes, there is no way, as soon as this rainy season comes, the weather will be hot and cold, and on a June day, the girl's face will change when she says it." ”

With that, he turned around and said to the two, "Both...... The three of you are hungry from afar, I have some food here, do you want porridge or rice?"

"Don't bother, don't bother, we've got some dry food here. The coachman said with a smile on his face.

"No hassle. The visitors are guests, as long as you don't dislike the poor food of my little peasant. Yan Wuchang said lightly.

The coachman saw that it was not easy to push, so he thanked him and said: "Just bring us a bowl of porridge for our grandchildren, everyone is a landman, and we don't pay much attention to it." ”

Yan Wuchang smiled, took out a small black crockpot from the corner of the side, and said: "It's okay, I still have some left, a girl walked from here not long ago, she also said that she wanted to eat porridge, and she was disgusted halfway through eating, but fortunately it rained, not rancid, and not damp." As he spoke, he lifted the lid on the crockpot, took out a broken bowl, filled it with some porridge, and handed it to the three men.

Ahh

The tip of Ouyang Mu's nose suddenly itched, and he couldn't help but sneeze softly.

She is at the gate outside Hangzhou at the moment, from Taizhou non-stop to drive for a day and a night, although it is commonplace for her, but along the way it happened to rain overnight, the road became unusually muddy and difficult to walk, tossing all the way to Hangzhou, as a result, because the heavy rain may lead to flash floods, the city gate of Hangzhou will not be open until tomorrow, just out of the city and into the city of the carriages and horses are trapped in the post station outside the city gate, it is difficult to move an inch.

That day, after Yan Wuchang talked with the old guys of Tianshu Pavilion, she came back and asked her to go to Hangzhou again, whose internal strength had not fully recovered, to search for clues about the remnants of the Chu State, and let go of her hand to let her move freely, and it didn't matter if she made a disturbance. But I don't know why I stayed in Taizhou.

Afraid of delay, she arrived in Hangzhou at a very fast speed, and it was raining, but she was still blocked at the door. There were quite a lot of cars and horses stranded here, and she couldn't break through, so she had to stay at the post station and wait in peace.

I inadvertently sneezed, presumably because I was drenched in the rain and cold, and my internal force was not working well, so I got a little wind chill.