Chapter 6: Substitute for the Dead
As soon as he arrived, he carefully inspected the cell of Wang Zhi and his son, and opened a small square window in the cell towards the corridor wall, so that Wang Zhi and his son could also see a beam of white light shining in outside during the day!
After that, the cell boss cleaned the cell of the father and son again, and replaced them with two dry straw mats, and the comparison between the two made Wang Zhi and his son feel the warmth of each other's faces. At this time, the dinner bell rang in the cell, and the cell boss immediately took the rice bowls of Wang Zhi and his son, washed them, and put them at the door of the cell, ready to serve them and their father and son.
When the bell rang for dinner, the head of the fire in the prison walked into the prison door with a flat pole, carrying rice at one end and vegetables at the other; along the long and dimly lit corridor of the cell, the coarse porcelain rice bowls placed at the door of the prison were scooped up one spoonful of rice and one spoonful of vegetables. This is the prisoners' supper! The firehead carries the prisoners' meals and distributes them in turn, while the cell boss himself goes to the unified prison officials' dining hall to eat, so the firehead is left to distribute dinner to the prisoners.
Unexpectedly, this firehead came to the cell door of Wang Zhi and his son, and gave them a spoonful of rice and a spoonful of vegetables as he did with other prisoners, and then he quickly looked around and saw that there was not half of the others present. So, from the cloth pocket of his apron, he quickly took out a packet of medicinal powder, quickly ripped it open and sprinkled it on the noodles of their father and son. When everything was done, he pushed his rice bowl into the gap under the cell door and said:
"It's time to eat!"
After doing these things, Huotou was about to turn around and leave, but he heard the cell head respectfully lead Xiao Hua, the old housekeeper of Taishi Mansion, into the aisle and was walking towards this side. When the firehead saw that the comer was dressed decently, behaved nobly, and carried a crockpot in his hand, he knew that he must be a very well-known person. Therefore, he was a thief with a weak heart, and he walked out in a panic with a food burden, and when he was looking at his face, the rice bucket behind the fire almost hit Xiao Hua. The head of the cell scolded the fox and the fake tiger and said:
"Beware, look at you, you're in a hurry!"
However, the other party still did not look back, and walked out of the dark corridor of the prison with a smoke.
Before they reached the prison door of Wang Zhi's father and son, the cell boss shouted:
"Lord Wang, Master Taishi's butler has come to visit you!"
Wang Zhi and his son were picking up their rice bowls and preparing to eat! When they heard the cell boss shouting loudly outside the door, they thought that there was good news from the Taishi Mansion and asked the old housekeeper to come and report it; therefore, the father and son were very excited, so they put down their rice bowls and waited for the old housekeeper of the Taishi Mansion to come and convey the good news.
After a while, the cell door was opened with a bang, and Steward Xiao shouted:
"Two adults, our master is worried about the two of them, and the prison is miserable, so he specially ordered the old slave to send a jar of wild ginseng soup to make up for the body with the two adults!"
So saying, he walked in with the soup can, and chose a flat and dry place under the wall with a window hole in it, put the soup can down, and took out the clean white clay bowl and the wooden spoon for scooping the soup, and served the ginseng soup for the father and son, and brought it to their respective hands.
Wang Zhi had already sighed with emotion, holding the steaming wild ginseng soup, and said excitedly:
"Enxiang is so wrong to love, teach us how to repay father and son!"
Wang Biao took the soup bowl and said:
"Old butler, bother!"
"Lord Wang, your father and son have always been honest and honest, and they are selfless," Xiao Hua said with emotion, "Today, suffering this injustice is really chilling to the people of the world." It also makes it difficult for our lord to sleep and eat, and now he is also trying to find a way to investigate this case, and I believe that it will soon be revealed, and he will be innocent with the two adults, and the traitors will be brought to justice!"
While they were talking, the bold rats in the prison had already stolen the prison food that Wang Zhi and his son had put under the wall, and the result was very tragic -- the three big rats who had eaten the prison meal immediately bled and died by the rice bowl!
Wang Zhi had no intention of glancing at it, but when he saw it, he was taken aback, so much so that the soup bowl in his hand also shattered to the ground with a bang. When everyone saw this scene, they were also shocked, and the cell boss took the initiative to declare without waiting for everyone to ask:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the little official really doesn't know anything, this must have been done by the firehead just now!"
Xiao Hua was furious and shouted:
"Go quickly, catch me the fire just now, this will be known to the Grand Master, you will all suffer!"
"Looks like someone is going to poison my father and son!" Wang Zhi muttered.
"Lord Wang don't worry, I'll go and inform Master Taishi, and let him send more powerful soldiers to protect the personal safety of the two adults!" Xiao Hua said.
When the cell boss rushed to the prison kitchen, the people inside said that the fire had run away and was missing.
When the prison officer heard the news, Xiao Hua said to him and the cell boss:
"I hope you will take this as a warning and take care of the lives of Lord Wang's father and son, if there is any mistake, Master Taishi will definitely not forgive him when he is angry!"
The prison officer and the cell boss replied yes one after another, and kept saying:
"Steward Xiao, rest assured, we will definitely do a good job. ”
Parting, Xiao Hua said to Wang Zhi again:
"Two adults, please stay a few more days, I believe that our master will soon find out the truth of the matter!"
When Xiao Hua walked out of the capital prison, it was already time to turn on the lantern, and the coachman had already turned on the lantern, and while he stepped into the carriage, he said to the coachman:
"Go to the flower shop in Yangshan Hutong outside the east gate!"
The coachman shouted and whipped his whip, and the carriage sped away.
After a while, the carriage came to the door of the flower shop in Nanping, and Xiao Hua stepped out of the carriage, only to find that the flower shop was closed. It's not as lively as in the city, and every family goes to bed early in the evening, so it's dark and bleak!
Xiao Hua looked around the house and found a few pots of winter chrysanthemums shivering in the cold wind, and only then did he conclude that it was this one. So, carrying a bag of prepared silver, he walked up the stone steps and knocked on the door.
It didn't take long for a crisp man's voice inside to ask:
"Who!"
"I'm looking for Wu Shuang!"
The other party paused for a moment and said:
"There's nothing Wu Shuang here, you're in the wrong place!"
"Then I'll find the owner of the flower shop!" Xiao Hua said again.
"What are you doing with the florist owner?" the other man asked coldly.
Xiao Hua had no choice but to tell the truth, he said:
"Boss, I'm Xiao Hua, the housekeeper of Miss Xu Zixuan's house, I came to you last time, and I saw you; In addition, our master also explained that if he met Wu Shuang, he would tell him, and our master wanted to talk to him face-to-face......"
The door creaked open, and the fair-eyed boy last time said to him:
"Come in!"
So, Xiao Hua walked in with the bag of silver. (To be continued.) )