Chapter 55 cruel parting

While Yu Huai was talking with Li Shiniang, Sister Mei stayed silently by the side.She is the younger sister of Shi Niang, who is only seventeen years old this year. She was born with a long, slender waist, and is extremely fair and clean. Coupled with two long black eyebrows and a pair of black and white flexible eyes, she looks like an old lady. The beauty who came down from the picture.If Yu Huai used to go to Hanxiu Zhai, half of it was because he liked the quiet and elegant environment here, and the other half was because of his love for Sister Mei.Li Shiniang also saw what Yu Huai meant, and once half-seriously, half-jokingly proposed to be a matchmaker for the two of them.Later, because Yu Huai failed the exam, he was a little discouraged, so he procrastinated.Perhaps because of this unusual affection, from the moment she saw Yu Huai coming, Sister Mei never left his eyes, and always showed a look of wanting to talk to him.Seeing Shi Niang sitting there weeping sadly and Yu Huai standing aside silently, Sister Mei approached lightly and reached out to tug on Yu Huai's sleeve.When Yu Huai turned her face away, she first grinned her plump mouth, gave him a flattering smile, then stretched out her jade-like fingertips, beckoning him, then turned and walked to the other corner of the courtyard .

Seeing her like this, Yu Huai couldn't help being a little puzzled, although Li Shiniang's weeping was still tugging at his heart, he still followed her involuntarily. Sister Mei seemed to be a little impatient, and when he approached, she hurriedly asked in a low voice: "Young Master Yu, just now my sister said that Master Fang would not let her go with him even if he was in Liudu. Poor sister, I'm so sorry." Life is hard! Then, if the slave family is willing to go with the young master, will the young master be willing to take the slave family in?" After a pause, she probably saw Yu Huai blinking her eyes, as if she didn't understand what she meant, Sister Mei hurriedly explained: "Oh, it's like this - since the Tartars entered the city, all the old guests have dispersed Some scattered, some ran away. We stretched our necks and waited all day long, but no one came to the door. How anxious! Sometimes, it’s so hard to hope for one, the young master knows, and my sister is that Waiting for a high-handed and arrogant temper, as long as you don't like it, you would rather leave others aside and sit on the bench than wrong yourself to flatter. After so many times, no one came to the door! What should I do? I can only sit and eat. Yes. The savings in the family were not much, and when my mother died a few days ago, I spent a lot of expenses. Now, all that can be sold have been sold. Seeing that there is no way out, my sister has no choice but to embark on the road of becoming a good person. Way! But she was always worried that the slave family would not go down, so she thought of the young master—oh, I don’t know, I don’t know if the young master is willing to let the slave family go with the young master? If yes, sister can rest assured! The slave family must also follow the rules and serve the young master wholeheartedly , stay with the young master, and won't make the young master angry like Xiang Chang!"

Meijie Kaka finished speaking in one breath, but Yu Huai could only keep blinking her eyes.Because to be honest, he came to Hanxiu Zhai today entirely because he was urged by Li Shiniang again and again, and he felt a little unfavorable. Apart from that, it can be said that he didn't think of anything else at all.Now that sister Mei suddenly made such a straightforward request, he really didn't know how to answer it.But, then again, the little girl in front of her was so innocent and lovely, and she had a ecstasy and intimate relationship with him.In the past six months, due to the drastic changes in the current situation one after another, and the fact that Han Xiuzhai is almost extinct, Yu Huai has put down this relationship to some extent, then now, facing his charming former lover again, Listening to her clear and sweet voice, looking at her anxious and expectant eyes, many old love affairs reappeared in Yu Huai's mind, which made his heart soften and his feelings tremble, so that he felt that it was difficult to say the words of rejection...

"Young Master Yu!" An urgent call sounded beside his ears.Yu Huai turned around in a daze, only to realize that Li Shiniang, who had been sitting on the stone pier and weeping for her unfortunate life, had wiped away her tears at some point and came closer. "Please, please," she tried her best to calm down her sobbing, and said in a broken voice, "Looking at, Sister Mei Tong, the young master's love in the past, you, you should agree to her! If so, she will be blessed." , and follow the young master, then I will go here, even if I die, I will have nothing to worry about..." As he spoke, he couldn't stop crying again.

Yu Huai silently looked at her, then at Sister Mei, and clearly felt a hot current—a male hot current began to surge and roll in his heart. "Yes, when the world is overturned and all directions are displaced, I, Yu, was born as a man. No matter how virtuous and incompetent I am, wouldn't I even refuse to accept a woman who begged for protection? What's more, this woman had slept with me My kindness!" Thinking of this, he made up his mind, so he raised his head, ready to make his promise.However, at this moment, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps from the main room.Then, he hurried in with Ah Wei.When he found that his master was standing with sister Li Shiniang, he stopped at a distance, as if hesitating to speak.

"What's the matter?" Yu Huai looked at the servant and asked. Ah Wei twisted his body uneasily, but did not answer.Seeing him like this, Yu Huai could only frowned and walked over.It was only then that Ah Wei came up in a hurry and said in a low voice: "My lord, there are people at home looking for him, saying that Mr. Shen has returned, and he is waiting at home right now, please go back immediately, lord!" "What did you say? Shen—he, he's back?" Yu Huai who was startled almost didn't jump up.Seeing his attendant nodding his head affirmatively, he let out an "ah" and took two steps back, then became very excited.

"Good, good, good!" He clenched his fists and said repeatedly. "My lord, who's back?" asked the bewildered sister Mei. "Oh, it's nothing, a friend." Yu Huai made a gesture, and it was only then that he calmed down a little.However, it's strange to say that when he turned his eyes to the two women again, his heart froze suddenly, as if the previous tenderness had encountered a huge piece of ice that suddenly appeared. "Oops, why did I forget about Shen Kuntong, the anti-Qing volunteers outside the city, and the fact that I was doing a life-threatening business! You must know that this is not a joke, as long as you are not careful, you will be killed." The fate of destroying the family! At this time, how can I take in another woman? I am afraid that if I take her in today, I will harm her tomorrow!"

Thinking of this, Yu Huai couldn't help but feel a sense of danger and fear, and his heart for pity and jade was greatly reduced.He raised his eyes again, and found that sister Li Shiniang also seemed to sense that something was wrong, and was opening her eyes wide, looking at him in panic and despair... "Well, they are full of hope, expecting me to accept Sister Mei, and believe that I will accept Sister Mei. Then, maybe I will wait for a while, so I don't have to say no at this time? All in all, I will help them more later. Just give them some money and let them find their own way of life!" he thought.

However, having said that, when I think of this meeting, Li Shiniang will marry from Liangyuan, and I am afraid that there will be no chance of reunion in the future; and sister Mei, even if she gets some support from herself, cannot last long; let alone in troubled times, The catastrophe is imminent, facing the boundless future, everyone is good or bad, death or life, in fact no one can predict, Yu Huai can't stop feeling infinite sadness and desolation from the bottom of his heart.Although he wanted to say a few more words of comfort to the other party, after hesitating for a while, he didn't know what to say, so he just nodded and said:

"I am very grateful for the kindness of the two young ladies. It's just that it's hard to make a decision in a hurry. I will reply after careful consideration. Unfortunately, a friend came to visit and said that there is something important to discuss. Now I am waiting in my humble house, Xiaosheng has no choice but to leave here, I hope you two will remember Xiaosheng's words: no matter how difficult it is in the future, you must take good care of yourself! Take good care of yourself!" After finishing speaking, without waiting for the other party to answer, he turned around in a hurry, left the courtyard as if fleeing, walked through the main room, and walked straight to the door.Although when he stepped on the back of the donkey, he could clearly hear the whining sound coming from the house, but he didn't dare to look back...

After half a day, Yu Huai returned to his home in Xiaoyoufang Lane, and Shen Shizhu was already waiting for him.We haven't seen each other for five days. From the tired face of the other party, Yu Huai can easily guess that this thin but energetic friend must have gone through a lot of hard work and even nervous adventures.However, Shen Shizhu looked very excited.He told Yu Huai that he had contacted the anti-Qing forces outside the city, and reported the information he got from Huang Shu to the prince in person.The reason why he came back so late was because he was waiting for the base camp to gather key figures to discuss countermeasures.Now that the prince's Jun decree has come down, he is going to send people to the south to contact the Lu Wang regime in eastern Zhejiang, and ask them to take advantage of the emptiness of the Qing army in Nanjing and send troops to the north as soon as possible. , Take back Nanjing in one fell swoop.As for the errands for going south, the base camp has already decided, because Shen Shizhu, Yu Huai, and Liu Jingting have friendship with Huang Shu, and they can use their relationship with the latter to get the customs clearance along the way when they go south, so they will be in charge of them.The base camp also ordered them to start preparations immediately, and once the conditions are met, they will set off south... "Aha," Shen Shizhu finally stood up and said, "Guess, who else did I meet after I returned to the city this time? You must not be able to guess!" Yu Huai asked hesitantly, "Have you met other people?" Shen Shizhu nodded, and said triumphantly: "Let me tell you, I went to Qian Muzhai's mansion and met his Hedong Lord!" Yu Huai was startled suddenly, and said in a low voice, "What, you went to see Liu Rushi?" "That's right! She sent someone to look for me—hey, don't open your eyes so wide!" Shen Shizhu made a comforting gesture, "Yes, she has caused a scandal these days. This old man I've heard about it a long time ago. But you don't know that before Qian Muzhai left, he specially summoned me to tell Liu Rushi that if there are any important matters that no one else can discuss, you can come to me. As a result, yesterday, she Sure enough, Li Bao, who sent Mu Zhai to find me, told me that Mu Zhai had a letter back, expressing his intention to resign from office and return to the south; she also said that according to her estimation, the old man did not intend to go back to hiding when he came back this time. Tianyuan, but I miss my friends in the south very much. She also asked me if I have such a way, if I have, I will make more contacts for her!" The relationship between Qian Qianyi and Shen Shizhu has always been very close, and Yu Huai knows this.At that time, Qian Qianyi participated in Xiancheng's surrender out of compulsion, and he always felt quite regretful afterward. Yu Huai had also heard Shen Shizhu talk about this many times.However, to say that Qian Qianyi was planning to resign and return to the south, and intended to join the anti-Qing camp, Yu Huai felt that this turn of events was too big, which was a bit unbelievable.What's more, this kind of statement came from Liu Rushi's mouth, and Liu Rushi just carried Qian Qianyi behind his back, causing such a scandal that humiliated his family. "Hmph, don't forget, that Liu is a flirtatious woman who can't bear to be alone for a long time! Do you really believe what she said?" He said disapprovingly. Shen Shizhu scratched his shiny scalp and nodded: "Of course that's true. However, I heard that Liu Rushi has already sent that face away since she learned that Mu Zhai planned to return to the south. As for whether her words are true or not , we might as well listen first, and watch the next chapter to break it down—hey, by the way, Liu Mazi also has a part in this trip to the south of Zhedong. He didn’t know until now! While it’s still early, How about you and I visit him?"