"That's all?"
Chen Guanglu didn't believe it. "Why did the Jiang family write a petition and submit it to the county government? You are not going to kill anyone, are you?"
"How is that possible?"
Xiao Han's eyes dodged, "They just took the child to Zhouhe County. He was not originally a child of the Jiang family. What right did she have to write a petition to appeal?"
"idiot!"
Chen Guanglu slapped Xiao Han in the face and angrily said, "If she's not from the Jiang family, how do you know she's from your eldest sister's family?"
Xiao Han covered half of her face and dared not say a word.
Chen Guanglu pointed at her and scolded, "Since you think she is your eldest sister's child, you should hand her over to your eldest sister and let her negotiate with the Jiang family herself. Isn't that reasonable? Why did you send the child to my eldest brother's house?"
Little Han started to cry, "I, I have no choice. The child has no birthmark on her wrist. My elder sister was afraid that the family would cause trouble, so she didn't dare to keep her at home. She asked me to take her back to the county town for a while, but how could I bring her home..."
Chen Guanglu gnashed his teeth in anger and kicked her, knocking her to the ground. He cursed, "Bitch! So you're going to pass the disaster on to my brother?"
Although he was not very close to his eldest brother, he was still his only blood brother. How dare Han...how dare she send the child to his eldest brother
What if the Jiang family refuses to let go? Wouldn’t his eldest brother be punished for nothing on behalf of the Han sisters
Chen Guanglu walked around the room with his hands on his hips, glanced at the sobbing little Han, and said viciously: "Hurry up and go to Zhouhe County to get rid of that child. Don't leave any traces! She is only three or four years old, it's easy to get rid of her. If you leave any handle, I will divorce you!"
After saying that, Chen Guanglu slammed the door and left.
Little Han got up, wiped her face casually, and immediately went out to ask the servants to harness the carriage and rush to Zhouhe County again.
Sitting on the mule cart, she wrapped a thin hemp rope around her hands and thought about how to kill the kid in the easiest way.
The best way is to strangle the body to death without spilling a drop of blood, and then just dump it in any river, ditch or wilderness, without having to dig a hole or bury it.
If a child that young died in the wild, he would soon be eaten by wild wolves and dogs without anyone noticing. No one would even notice it.
Thinking of this, Xiao Han calmed down and complained to her elder sister in her heart.
If it weren't for her, how could she be insulted and beaten by her husband
What a useless woman! She couldn't give birth to a son, but she was thinking about that unfounded worry, which made her travel hundreds of miles in the snow, not only tiring herself to death, but also having to pay for the trip.
I don't want to care about her anymore!
The mule cart drove fast and finally arrived at Zhouhe County.
But when Xiao Han rushed to her uncle's house, her uncle's sister-in-law said that the child had run away by himself and had not returned all night. The family had been searching for him for a long time but couldn't find him.
Xiao Han's head was buzzing with anger, but she didn't dare to stay for long, and immediately asked her servant to drive back to Qinchuan County.
The snow only fell for one night before the sky cleared up, but the temperature was surprisingly cold.
Yingbao lived in this family for a few days, staying in the house every day and never stepping out of the yard except going to the toilet.
The hostess had someone send her an old cotton-padded coat to change into, and also asked a little maid to wash and comb her hair for her every day.
That day, Wu Daozi finally came to pick her up, bringing with him two servants and two mule carts.
The two servants drove each a car, and there were many luggage, quilts, book boxes and other items tied to the back of the car.
After bidding farewell to her host, Yingbao left with Wu Daozi.
She and Wu Daozi sat in the front car, which was covered with soft cushions and two thin blankets. Each of them covered their knees with one blanket to block the cold wind coming in through the curtains.
Wu Daozi did not wear a Taoist robe today, but a green cotton robe, which made him look like a scholar.
Yingbao glanced at his neck, took out two cooked water chestnuts from her pocket and handed them to him: "Uncle Wu, here you go."
She did not explain the origin of water chestnuts, so Wu Daozi was left to imagine it himself.
Wu Daozi took the two water chestnuts and looked at them over and over again: "Do you want to peel them?"
Yingbao shook her head: "Wash it clean, it's cooked, you can eat it without peeling it."
"Oh." Wu Daozi ate slowly, glanced at the little kid, and asked, "Do you have any relatives in Qinchuan County?"
"No." Although Aunt Jiang Yunniang lived in the county town, Yingbao didn't know where her family lived, so she simply said no.
The mule cart was wobbling along, and not moving very fast. We would be lucky if we could reach our destination by the evening.
"I'll take you back to the county first. If you have time, we can go to Simen Town to see the big gourd you mentioned."
Yingbao: "...Okay."
The carriage had not gone far on the street when it encountered a long procession of people performing a sacrificial dance. It had no choice but to move aside and wait for the procession to pass.
Yingbao quietly lifted the car curtain and looked outside, only to see hundreds of dancers dressed in colorful silks performing a sacrificial dance to the sound of drums.
Most of them were shirtless, revealing their muscular arms and chest muscles. In the biting cold wind, these people seemed not to be afraid of the cold. They danced and sang prayers in slang as they headed towards the Taoist temple.
Many people followed to watch, and the procession was once as long as two or three miles. There were drums and music playing, and flags flying. Some flagpoles even had strings of white lanterns hanging on them.
It’s a pity that it’s daytime now and these lanterns are not lit. If it were night, the light emitted by these lanterns after being lit one by one would be like the stars in the sky, which would be really beautiful.
Wu Daozi also watched with great interest and clapped his legs to the rhythm of the drums.
Yingbao counted on her fingers and found that today was October 15th, the Lower Yuan Festival, the day when the Taoist Water God relieves disasters, and all Taoist temples would hold Taoist ceremonies.
No wonder I could meet Wu Daozi in the Taoist temple. This man is a true Taoist believer.
After waiting for a long time for the sacrificial dance team to pass, the mule cart slowly started moving.
Yingbao was still leaning on the car window and looking out, and she saw that many houses on both sides of the street had erected flagpoles with colorful flags hung on them. The flags were embroidered with words such as "Heaven, Earth and Water Palace", "Good Weather and Good Harvest", and "Avoid Disasters and Bring Blessings".
Some families set up an incense table at the door, on which were placed various cakes and fruits, such as glutinous rice and vegetable balls, red bean steamed buns, fried tofu, etc., for their children to eat as they please, and sometimes they would share some with the children from the neighborhood who came to beg for food.
When the mule cart drove out of the county town, you could still see flagpoles erected in front of farmers' houses, but most of the flagpoles were hung with animal shapes made of rice stalks or wheat straw, such as carp, cows, sheep, etc., to pray for a good harvest.
At the door of the farmer's house, there are children, under the guidance of their family members, holding burning incense sticks and arranging them into the shape of the Chinese character "田" (field) to commemorate the souls of the dead and to save the wandering ghosts so that they will not haunt the children.
Yingbao was also taught by her parents to light incense fields in this way. She also heard her parents asking her to light incense while praying that the passing dead souls would eat the offerings and leave quickly and not bother the child.
The mule cart sped up once it got on the official road.
There are either farmlands or wilderness on both sides of the official road, and there is nothing interesting to see.
Yingbao lowered the curtain and looked around the carport boredly. Suddenly, she became curious about the tumor on Wu Daozi's neck.
But she couldn't say it directly. After thinking for a while, she said to Wu Daozi who was reading a book: "Uncle Wu, I learned medical skills from my teacher at home. Do you want me to take your pulse?"
Wu Daozi glanced at her and ignored her.
Yingbao picked at her fingers and thought for a while, then continued, "Uncle Wu, the doctor praised my excellent medical skills. Do you really not want me to take your pulse?"
Wu Daozi didn't even raise his eyelids and still ignored her.
Yingbao couldn't help but feel discouraged, but was she someone who would give up easily? Definitely not.
Anyway, I am still a child, so it’s okay to be thick-skinned, as long as Uncle Wu doesn’t kick me out of the car.