Chapter 69 Surprised by family changes

Just as Qian Qianyi approached the sedan chair, he suddenly heard hurried and chaotic footsteps coming from the diagonal stabbing.Instinctively, he turned his head and found that in the still dazzling sunset light, a group of people—about four or five in number—headed straight towards him.He couldn't help being startled, and just as he didn't know what was going on, he heard someone walking in front of him yelling, "Father, your old man is back!" : It turned out that it was his son Sun Ai, followed by Li Bao and several other servants! Qian Sun'ai rushed to the front, and with a "plop", she knelt on the ground and said in a weeping voice: "I don't know that my father has arrived, and my child is late. I beg for your forgiveness for the crime of unfilial piety!" As he spoke, he kowtowed his head "dongdong".

Qian Qianyi stared at his son with wide eyes.For a moment, he wanted to open his mouth to speak, but he couldn't make a sound, he wanted to move forward quickly, but he couldn't move his legs, he just felt a deep and long hot current bubbling up from the bottom of his heart.Then, the eyes began to sting, and the lips trembled uncontrollably.Indeed, although it was only less than a year since he was separated from his family this time, his longing for his family was much stronger and more difficult than any previous time away from home.Among them, the one that fascinates him the most, needless to say, is Liu Rushi the first one, and the second one is the turn of this precious only son in front of him.Just now, just to be on the safe side, he had to rush to the Governor's Xingyuan to report first, but it was still these two people who disturbed him the most along the way.Now suddenly seeing his own son kneeling in front of him, and his behavior is so respectful and polite, his expression is so deep and sincere, he looks like a sensible adult, the excitement, joy and feeling in Qian Qianyi's heart are really not words indescribable.Finally, he took two steps forward abruptly, stretched out his hands, and tightly grasped his son's arms. At the same time, he wanted to say a happy and intimate word, but his throat seemed to be blocked, and tears had already gushed out of his eyes. And warmly flowing down the cheeks...

"Ah, father, you...couldn't you make father angry because of the late arrival of the baby?" Qian Sun'ai asked fearfully as she stood up. "No, being a father is... like..." "But……" Qian Qianyi made a "really nothing" gesture, and then let go of his son. Although tears were still on his face, he had already grinned and smiled kindly. At this moment, Li Bao and several other servants all surrounded him and began to kowtow to the old master one by one.So Qian Qianyi took the opportunity to wipe away his tears, nodded in agreement, and at the same time said one or two kind words as usual.The master and servant chatted happily for a while, until Li Bao reminded: "It's getting late, it's time to go home!" Everyone waited attentively again, and sent Qian Qianyi to the sedan chair.After Qian Sun'ai also got on the donkey, the group of people walked along Zhengyangmenwai Avenue to Shanhefang in the south of the city.

Perhaps because he finally saw his relatives, Qian Qianyi's mood became much more stable and cheerful now.In order to kill the boredom of sitting in the sedan chair, he raised the curtains a little bit, and looked at the winding street scene. At the same time, he thought of Liu Rushi and other family members again, and remembered that because he was only focused on answering his son, and then there were Li Bao and his family. Greetings from the servants, it was too late to inquire about the situation at home. "Well, anyway, it's coming soon, everything will be known, and this moment is not too far away. Besides, if there is something important, Sun Ai and the others will not have told me just now..." Comforting himself in this way, he sat up straight , close your eyes, and try to raise your spirits.

However, when the sedan chair shook slightly and rhythmically for a while, Qian Qianyi's mind became active again involuntarily. "Well, but just now, when the governor was walking, both Hong Hengjiu and Huang Zhonglin urged me to go home quickly to visit. This is normal, but the expressions are all weird, as if hinting at something. So, could it be that someone from the family Is something so important that even Sun Ai and Li Bao dare not tell me immediately?" Thinking of this, Qian Qianyi immediately opened his eyes again, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt uneasy.Finally, he couldn't help but lift the curtain of the sedan chair, and waved to Qian Sun'ai who was riding beside her on a donkey.When his son came closer, he stared closely and asked:

"These days, everyone in the family—well, your mother, Mrs. Liu, and your third mother, are they all okay?" "Father means, everyone in the family? Oh, they're all fine, they're all fine!" Qian Sun'ai replied, paused, and added: "Thanks to Father, they are all fine and healthy. No pain." "Nothing happened?" "An accident? What happened?" Noticing that his son's eyes were wide open and he looked innocent, Qian Qianyi once again felt a soft feeling of love and pity in his heart, and at the same time breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself: "It turns out there is nothing wrong! It's strange, why Hong Hengjiu and the others..." Thinking this way in my heart, I accidentally said it out of my mouth.When Qian Sun'ai heard it, she asked, "Father, what's 'weird'?"

"Oh, it's nothing, it's nothing!" Qian Qianyi waved his hand and replied vaguely, and then put down the car curtain again, without further questioning. "Yes, it's because I care too much! Hong Hengjiu and the others just saw that I came back from a long distance and have not yet returned home, so they said the last sentence as usual. There was no other purpose, but I guessed it for a long time, which is ridiculous!" Thinking of this, Qian Qianyi became more relieved, so he began to imagine various situations of meeting Liu Rushi and his family members, and kept this brisk mood until he entered the sedan chair hall at home.

"Ah, master is back!" "Master is good!" "Master has worked hard on the road!" "Master..." As soon as he walked out from under the raised car curtain, Qian Qianyi heard all kinds of warm greetings from around.He looked up and found that there was a crowd of people in front of him, full of male and female family members who had heard the news. Judging from their clothes and attire, most of them were servants. Some of them knew and some didn't know, and they all looked at him with wide eyes.Those faces of different fat and thin, beautiful and ugly, showed expressions of joy or awe.In front of them, at the place closest to the sedan door, stood Chen Zaizhu, Qian Yangxian and Qian Zeng, three close relatives.They also looked very excited, especially Chen Zaizhu, who had a square face and a big mouth, squinted his eyes and looked cheerful.Seeing Qian Qianyi coming out, they all clasped their hands together, addressed each other according to their different identities, and said in different ways:

"...I am overjoyed to be back! Just because I just learned the news, I am sorry for my disappointment!" "Hehe, I don't dare to work! I don't dare to work!" Qian Qianyi said back, smiling as usual.However, perhaps because he had met Qian Sun'ai before that, he was not as excited as before; besides, there were servants crowded around him, so it was not the time to speak calmly.Therefore, after exchanging pleasantries, Qian Qianyi turned around, passed through the narrow passage made by the greeters, and walked towards the inner house. "Well, this house, of course, I moved in after I left. Now it seems that it's not bad... So, I'm finally home! See you soon! I haven't seen you in half a year, I don't know Has she lost weight? Gained weight? Well, she won't be wronged if I'm not around, right?" Qian Qianyi said casually to the side as he walked through the halls and courtyards. The close relatives of the family were talking, and while they were somewhat lost in thought, at the same time, their hearts became excited again.Still far away, he couldn't help stretching his neck, and looked towards the back hall where many flowers and trees were planted in the courtyard.

Sure enough, a group of female relatives had long been waiting in front of the back hall.As soon as they saw the master appearing, they all gasped in amazement, and moved their little feet to greet him.Mrs. Chen was walking in front, followed by Aunt Zhu, Yue Rong and some other maids and mothers... "The master is back! Good luck, the master! Did the journey go well?" Mrs. Chen's familiar voice rang in my ears. Qian Qianyi, who was looking for Liu Rushi among the crowd, was taken aback for a moment, only to realize that his wife had already come to him, and she folded her sleeves around her waist, saluting to him.He hastily said "ah", saluted, and waved his hands around again, as an answer to the greetings of the other female relatives, then nodded and said:

"Thanks to the ancestors, I finally came back! The journey went smoothly. Naturally, it was not easy to come back so soon! But it's hard to say, and I will tell you later—— Well, I originally said three days in advance Qian An came back to report the letter. Why, he hasn't returned yet?" Seeing Mrs. Chen shaking her head, he made a dejected gesture and said, "Then, there must have been an accident on the way! Now there are wars everywhere, and it's very chaotic! But that's all—well, what if? She Where did you go? Why don't you come out?" "The concubine has already passed the East Side Courtyard and told her." Mrs. Chen replied flatly, "I don't know why I haven't come out yet." "Then, send someone to tell her again, and tell her that I'm already home!" After ordering so doubtfully, for a while, Qian Qianyi really wanted to go to the Eastern Side Courtyard by himself, but he was hindered by the fact that he had just entered the door and was with his wife. It would be too unkind to leave immediately without speaking a few words with relatives, so I had to endure it reluctantly and went into the back hall with everyone for the time being. Because it was known in advance that the master of the family would be back, preparations were made in the back hall—the tea was brewed, the wash water was brought up, and there were sliced ​​red watermelons on the side table.Therefore, Qian Qianyi was served by maids and mothers, took off his coat, washed his face while continuing to talk.The topic is naturally inseparable from their respective situations after the separation, and the process of Qian Qianyi being "returned by grace" this time.However, because Qian Qianyi remembered Liu Rushi, he was somewhat absent-minded, so the conversation became intermittent and never heated up.However, to Qian Qianyi's surprise, Liu Rushi still didn't show up until after he finished washing his face, sat down on a chair, and ate a slice of watermelon.This made him unable to sit still any longer, put down the watermelon, wiped his hands on the handkerchief handed over by the maid, stood up and said: "I've been tossing all day, and I'm tired right now. That's all for today. Let's talk about the rest tomorrow!" After finishing speaking, without waiting for Mrs. Chen to answer, she lifted her legs and walked out.However, just as he was about to step out of the threshold, Chen Zaizhu called from behind: "Hey, brother-in-law, stay!" Then, the short fat man hurriedly followed and asked, "Is brother-in-law going to the Eastern Side Hospital?" Seeing Qian Qianyi nodding vaguely, he said: "Wait a moment!" Then he turned around, made a gesture, and said, "Sister, you stay, and the rest of you leave!" Hearing his brother-in-law's voice to persuade him to stay, Qian Qianyi didn't pay much attention at first, but then he found that the people in the room seemed to have a tacit understanding, and all of them suddenly became solemn and silent.Moreover, when they retreated quickly, they all lowered their heads, clearly avoiding his sight... Qian Qianyi couldn't help being surprised, so he asked: "Well, what's going on?" Chen Zaizhu still didn't answer, but made a concession gesture, leading Qian Qianyi and Mrs. Chen to a folding screen on the right side of the main room.There are already two chairs placed behind it.He asked the two to sit down first, and then said: "Brother-in-law, sit down for a while and listen quietly to my younger brother's interrogation of this person, and then leave before it's too late!" "Arraignment?" Qian Qianyi was taken aback, "Who is arraigned?" "Oh, of course my brother-in-law recognizes this person. And I will know the result immediately, and I will never delay my brother-in-law's work!" After appeasing Qian Qianyi in this way, the short fat man turned around, and while walking out, he ordered loudly, "Come here! Bring me that lowly servant girl!" Until now, Qian Qianyi had been at the mercy of his body, and he couldn't figure out what the other party was up to.However, just now when he was going to look for Liu Rushi in the East Side Hospital, the expressions of the whole family suddenly changed, and Chen Zaizhu's secretive expression and flickering words made him somewhat guess that the matter had something to do with Liu Rushi.He wanted to ask on the spot, but for a reason that he couldn't even explain clearly, he was a little hesitant to ask.Now when he suddenly heard that Chen Zaizhu was yelling for a "low maid" to bring, Qian Qianyi couldn't help but "thump" in his heart: "Ah, could it be that way?" He thought nervously, and when he was about to ask Mrs. The old lady closed her eyes, sat upright with a sad expression, and was counting the prayer beads in her hand, as if she was praying for something.Qian Qianyi hesitated for a moment, but held back again. At this moment, there was already a sound on the other side of the screen, and it was clear that someone had come in.Qian Qianyi hurriedly bowed his body, put his eyes in the crevice of the curved screen and peeked out.He found that Chen Zaizhu had already sat down on the arhat couch in front of him carelessly, as if preparing for interrogation; while the person who was brought in just now, although it was indeed a woman, was not Liu Rushi, but hers. The close maid, Lu Yi!Qian Qianyi remembered that this girl was thin and small, with high cheekbones and thick lips, she was not good-looking at all, and she was also a bit clumsy. look.Perhaps it was for this reason that Liu Rushi kept her by his side again.Now, Qian Qianyi saw Luyi standing shyly in front of Chen Zaizhu, with fluffy hair and shabby clothes, her appearance was even more wretched than a year ago. "Well, where did she come from? Did she come from the Eastern Side Courtyard? How did it become like this? However, judging from the way Zaizhu called her just now, it doesn't seem like she came from Rushi, so..." Zheng was so surprised Uncertain, I heard Chen Zaizhu shouting suddenly: "Baby maid, don't kneel down for me!" Luyi let out an "ah" and knelt down obediently. "Well, last winter, the stinky and scandalous things that happened in the Eastern Side Hospital, you quickly bring me the truth!" "Go... what happened last winter? No, didn't you recruit all the maidservants?" Lu Yi said tremblingly. "Hit again!" "My maidservant, whoever my maidservant knows, recruited! Nothing, nothing, nothing else." "I'm not asking you to hire someone else, just tell me what you know!" "Oh, yes... Then, it was the eighth day of October last year. Miss Hui and the same guest visited Mrs. Liu, but it was a mischief. They didn't get off the sedan chair in the hall, and the two sedan chairs were carried all the way to Lvyunxuan at the east end of the courtyard. Mrs. Liu also passed by immediately, but she refused to let our servants follow. Later, Miss Hui left first, but Mrs. Liu stayed with the guest until dark, when the guest left in a sedan chair, She just came back to her residence..." "Well, is that really a guest?" "Later we found out that it wasn't, and we thought it was at the beginning." "How do you know it's not?" "Because later on, he would come every three to five days. At first, Miss Hui was with me, but after getting used to it, he came by himself. Several times we walked by the window of Lvyunxuan , I heard the laughter of a man inside..." "Hmph, a man's laughter! And he came by himself. Then the old lady who guarded the door let him in without even looking at it?" "This... the servant girl doesn't know. But one time, that is, after more than half a month, Mrs. Liu called Hong Qing, the maidservant, and a few old mothers to a place, and rewarded each of them five taels on the spot. Yin Zi, said: "You must know what happened in the yard these days. It is good to know, so as not to worry about me. Since you have accepted my money today, you are all accomplices! No one is allowed to speak out, no one I’ll discount her dog legs! And tell her to die!” Mrs. Liu also said that she had agreed with the master a long time ago, and the master agreed. It’s just that the people in the main courtyard didn’t agree. That’s all I know. So we don’t need to be afraid, she will carry the sky when it falls..." Luyi's confession has probably been made more than once in the past, so there is no hesitation or difficulty in repeating it now.However, when Qian Qianyi heard this, he felt as if he had received a sudden blow, his brain was jolted, and his heart tightened accordingly.For a moment, he became stunned and at a loss, and gradually, he felt as if he was on fire from top to bottom, left and right, until his hair was dizzy, his brain was swollen, and the blood all over his body began to run wildly. "Oh, nonsense! No, it's impossible!" he cried inwardly.Suddenly, with a "crash", he pushed aside the screen in front of him, strode out, pointed viciously at Lu Yi who was kneeling on the ground, and said sharply: "Bad maid! How dare you make up your mistress like this! You, you want to die!" Luyi was answering the question with her head down, she had no idea that there was someone hidden behind the screen.He was startled when he heard a loud bang suddenly; suddenly he saw someone running out from there, and it was the old master Qian Qianyi!Her horror was almost like facing a tiger out of the park, so that before Qian Qianyi ran to her, she had already let out a terrifying scream and passed out on the spot. However, Qian Qianyi, who was mad with anger, couldn't see it at all. He only felt that this skinny maid was simply a terrifying evil spirit. If he didn't try his best to restrain her, all his future hopes and reliance would be lost. It will be smashed to pieces, and there will be no residue left.Therefore, even though Lu Yi was lying unconscious on the ground, he still raised his feet and kicked her body desperately, cursing viciously while kicking: "Dog, let's see how dare you spit blood, let's see how dare you still spit blood!" "Brother-in-law..." Seeing that Qian Qianyi kicked again, maybe it would kill someone, Chen Zaizhu finally spoke to dissuade him, and then stretched out his hand, half pushing and half dragging him to the side.He found that although Qian Qianyi was still panting for breath, his hands and feet finally stopped moving, so he took out a pocketbook from his sleeve and said slowly: "Brother-in-law, this is not Luyi's random nonsense, I'm afraid It's true. The adulterer surnamed Zheng has now been arrested by the people of Shangyuan County and put in prison. After torture and interrogation, he has been recruited. This thing is what my younger brother asked someone to copy. Confession..." After venting his fury just now, Qian Qianyi finally became a little sober now.Undoubtedly, the news in front of him was so cruel and terrifying that he couldn't accept it no matter what. However, with his restored rationality and understanding of Liu Rushi's nature, deep down in his heart, he had already begun to believe that the matter was true. .Therefore, even though Chen Zaizhu handed over the booklet, he instinctively took it in his hand, but for a while, he didn't have the courage to look at it again, only felt that his legs were swaying, and suddenly he became powerless, and finally, a buttock Sit on the Luohan couch.