One day when it rained heavily, the couple were talking in the nianyu shop. They heard someone calling the door outside, saying that they were passing by and taking shelter from the rain. Please give them some water to warm themselves up.
Nanxiu went to open the door, but was pulled by Cui Ying. Cui Ying asked, "I wonder where the guest comes from and where he is going? I have an umbrella here. You can take it on your way."
Nanxiu hesitated, "Why?"
He covered her lips with his fingers, "Don't be anxious."
"No, if it's inconvenient for you, I can leave now." The visitor was about to leave.
Nanxiu pushed Cui Ying away, "Brother, what are you doing? There is no place to hide from the rain. If something happens at night, the family will be anxious."
She opened the door and said, "Please come in and take shelter from the rain."
"What if it's a bad guy?" Cui Ying said.
"With my brother here, wouldn't he be able to do a few more tricks?" She had seen with her own eyes Cui Ying break the arm of a man who was teasing her, and his skills were not ordinary men's.
"Call me husband." He turned around helplessly and let her go.
The guests walked back, and under the light, Nanxiu shouted, "Sister Ruan, why is it you!"
She was overjoyed and stepped forward to hug Sister Ruan, "Why are you here? I haven't seen you in two or three years."
Ruan Xiu Niang was also surprised and happy, "After I left the county government, I went back to Li'er's hometown and married a man in Tanzhou. I didn't expect you to be in XZ."
Cui Ying kept silent, but in her heart she was already planning to leave this place, and even Li Er couldn't stay for long.
Nan Xiu stayed with Ruan Xiu Niang for a few days. Before leaving, Nan Xiu said, "If you still meet people from the county government, don't tell them that my husband and I are here. We escaped from the county government and can't go back again." , Sister, please remember to keep it secret."
Ruan Xiu Niang said yes, "The Duke will not know that you two are here. I have nothing to do. Anyway, what are you talking about? I can't do such a thing as informing."
In the evening, Nan Xiu saw Cui Ying packing her things and asked, "Brother, what are you doing?"
"We need to leave here as soon as possible." Cui Ying said.
"Brother is afraid that Sister Ruan will go to the county magistrate to arrest us?"
"It's important to be on guard against others. Even though she is on good terms with you, people's hearts are still apart from each other and they cannot trust others."
Nan Xiu said no, "She is Sister Ruan. As soon as I entered the house, she took great care of me. She loved me as my own sister and would not betray us."
Cui Ying persuaded him again and again, and Nan Xiu finally agreed to him that the two of them would leave here at dawn. Originally, Cui Ying wanted to leave now and overnight. He didn't want the Nianyu Shop, put down everything, and immediately went to Diaoti or Beiqiu. The place was safe, but Nanxiu felt that even if she really informed him, the people would not come so quickly. Besides, there was also the Guanyin that Cui Ying had been carving for half a month in the Nianyu Shop. She had already promised a lady that tomorrow I sent it to people early, and then headed north to leave XZ.
The servant in the Duke's mansion knelt down and said, "Someone is here to send word that Mr. Cui has been found."
The Duke opened his scarlet eyes slightly, "What?"
"I told you that... Mr. Cui has been found."
On the second day, Nanxiu and Cui Ying were surrounded by Bolu officers and soldiers outside the house.
Someone reported to the officials of Li Er XZ. The leader of the Bolu soldiers said that they had left Bolu earlier to look for the guards of the escaped slaves of the county government. They had been looking for a year and a half, and now they just found them. Waiting for the county When the Duke came here, the Duke of the county naturally spoke, and now the two escaped slaves must be detained first to prevent them from escaping again.
The Duke first came to Tanzhou, and Ruan Xiu Niang knelt in front of the adults and replied, "They invited the maid to have wine and food, and repeatedly asked the maid not to reveal their whereabouts."
The Duke turned his head and asked his servant to throw a bag of gold to her.
"What is he doing now?" the Duke asked coldly.
"Mr. Cui opened a jade shop, and Miss Nan helped people make embroidery."
He pondered for a moment, and then asked someone to inform XZ of what to do. He sent the arresting envoy to follow him, and also had someone prepare his fast horse and transportation for him, and headed all the way to XZ.
XZ Xingxing and other officials came to greet him on the way, but he said nothing and his face was ashen.
There was only that one place in his eyes, where Bolu soldiers pressed the two of them until they were in front of the Duke.
He was so anxious that he played with a crescent moon dagger in his hand. He looked at the two people pressed in front of him calmly, opened his eyes with the intention of killing, stood up suddenly, and held Nanxiu's neck in his hand. Pulled to her feet, a dagger hung behind Nanxiu's back. Nanxiu was blindfolded and couldn't see anything, but she knew who was in front of her now.
"No! Give her back to me!" Cui Ying roared, not allowing him to touch her.
As soon as the Duke let go of his right hand, the dagger pierced Nan Xiu's back. He gently pulled out the dagger, soaked it with blood, twisted the warm blood on the tip of the knife and said, "I will return her to you, then, who Give you back to me?"
"Shameless villain." Cui Ying said.
"This king is shameless, and there are even more shameless ones. Do you want to see him?"
He held the sharp knife in his hand and gritted his teeth. He lowered his head and was about to cut off Nanxiu's neck. Suddenly someone shouted, "My lord, I don't want it."
It turned out that the lady had arrived, and she hurriedly said, "This is Li'er, not Bolu. Killing people here is not as good as Bolu. If it falls into the ears of Duke Li'er, it will only bring trouble to Bolu. We take people back and torture them in a long time, and outsiders can't say anything."
"He can take her back, but she must die." The Duke pointed at Nan Xiu.
Cui Ying raised her head and said, "If you kill her, I will not live alone."
"You are not qualified to bargain with me. Even you are my collection. What right do you have to speak out if you are an item?"
The lady knew that the Duke was furious and couldn't comfort her, so she had to say, "Nanxiu is the person I brought into the house. Naturally, I have to deal with the troubles she caused, but we can't kill people in Li'er territory. It is okay to punish a domestic slave. I asked someone to give her dozens of whips, and then brought her back to Bolu for disposal. Dozens of whips could not kill her, but I would not let anyone diagnose and treat her and let her die on the road. Death is in your hands and mine."
The Duke nodded and handed Nanxiu to his wife. Ruan Xiu Niang stood aside and grabbed Nan Xiu's hands without saying a word.
Cui Ying struggled, "Don't touch her... don't touch her!"
The Duke just looked at him and smiled. The smile was so strong that the lady and the soldiers were startled.
Cui Ying slowly knelt down at his feet and begged him, "It's all my fault and has nothing to do with her. It was me who coaxed her out of the house. She didn't do anything wrong."
Nan Xiu then said softly, "Husband, I will come back as soon as I go. Don't worry about me. If I can't go home today, then you will cook. I want to eat the cold Chinese toon you made."
It seemed that none of this had anything to do with her, and she didn't pay attention to such a critical situation. Ordinary women would have been scared to death, but she didn't. Even if she was blindfolded, she just stayed quietly, and it seemed that she had already been scared to death. Knowing this day, she was not impatient or impatient. She was so calm, and the lady was also surprised.
(End of chapter)