"My father was wronged. I am a juren. You can't treat me like this. I want to go to the capital to file a complaint..."
The brilliant eldest son Lu Yunzheng and the honest and kind-hearted second son Lu Yunqing were struggling in the prison van.
Lu Yunzheng's hair had long been crooked, his black hair was disheveled, and his body was covered with scars, but he still stood up straight and refused to bend. He shouted that he was innocent, and his face looked somewhat hideous.
Who would have thought that three months ago, when Liu Qiaoer saw him for the first time, he was so bright, lively, high-spirited, dressed in fine clothes and riding a vigorous horse, and no description was an exaggeration.
Wherever he stood, he became a painting.
He has a pair of peach blossom eyes full of affection, a clear and open look between his brows, delicate facial features, handsome and elegant, a gentleman as graceful as jade and as soft as pine.
Although Lu Yunzheng was young, he was already a man of extraordinary talent. He started to learn at the age of three, passed the examination for a student at the age of seven, became a scholar at the age of ten, and became a juren at the age of fifteen.
At the age of seventeen, he went to the capital to take the imperial examination, vowing to make the Lu family famous and to easily pass the exam and become the top scorer. However, when he came back this year, he actually told the county magistrate that he had given up the exam.
The county magistrate was so angry that he punished him to kneel in the ancestral hall. At that time, Liu Qiaoer had just traveled through time, and her favorite thing was to run around the mansion and learn about this world.
Just outside the ancestral hall, Liu Qiaoer pretended to clean and met Lu Yunzheng for the first time, and eavesdropped on the conversation between Lu Yunzheng and his brother.
"Brother, since you can pass the exam, why do you want to give up?"
"The officialdom is dark, corruption and fraud are everywhere. Even if I pass the exam, I will not associate with them."
"That's what you think, big brother. Passing the exam proves your ability, but not joining the government after passing the exam proves your disdain. This way, others will think you are afraid."
Lu Yunzheng was enraged, and patted his chest and shouted, "Then I will take the exam again next year. This time I will definitely pass the exam and become the top scholar. When they invite me to join the government, I will spit in their faces."
The two brothers laughed heartily, and under the pretext of toasting to their ancestors, they ate, drank, laughed and played mischievously in the ancestral hall, leaving the county magistrate shaking his head and sighing under the window.
Everyone says he is blessed, as he has two good sons, one smart and the other kind.
Only Magistrate Lu understood that his children were too kind and unsuitable for the corrupt court, but the Lu family was a scholarly family, so what else could his children do if they did not take the imperial examinations
The scholar was of strong character. County Magistrate Lu actually hoped that Lu Yunzheng would enter the officialdom and restore order to the court with his own strength. However, his son was too arrogant and was unwilling to associate with those court officials, which disappointed the county magistrate's good efforts.
Lu Yunzheng was finally persuaded to agree to go to Beijing again to take the exam. However, before he arrived in Beijing, something happened to the county magistrate.
Such an honest official was falsely accused of corruption. This imperial court is truly rotten to the core and beyond redemption.
"Shut up, everyone."
There were two "crackling" sounds of whips. The two young masters were whipped countless times. Their bodies were covered in blood, and their white undershirts were dyed red.
Liu Qiaoer couldn't bear to watch, so she held the two children in her arms, and with her big, clear eyes, she faced the officers who tried to stop her with neither arrogance nor servility.
"Sir, we are really new here from the countryside. My mother has been a wet nurse in the county magistrate's mansion for more than ten years. No matter how well she is fed and clothed, she is still a servant."
"I don't know what the county magistrate has done wrong. They are scary to look at. We are all country kids and cannot stand seeing this kind of scene. Let's go back quickly."
Nanny Zhang also secretly gave the official some small change and begged, "Yes, sir, please let us go back quickly. It would be bad if the child was frightened."
The officer glanced at the young master's tender face again and met Liu Qiaoer's calm and determined eyes. A hot light flashed in his sharp eyes, which quickly disappeared. At the same time, he regained his calmness and a hint of approval.
He waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
Aunt Zhang was dragged away by Liu Qiaoer holding her arm. She was hanging on to her last breath, her whole body felt like a sieve, and she was completely supported by Liu Qiaoer.
She walked a long way before she sat down on the side of the road and wiped the cold sweat off her forehead.
"Okay, I've brought you all out. I won't really take you home."
If the identities of the two children were discovered, her entire family would be beheaded.
Liu Qiaoer didn't plan to rely on Aunt Zhang anymore. She snorted coldly, "You won't return the young master's bag to him, will you?"
Aunt Zhang tightly held the bundle filled with banknotes and glared at Liu Qiaoer: "This is their life-saving money."
Nanny Zhang has done her best to get them out. It is impossible to get the money back.
Liu Qiaoer really didn't want to argue with her, so she picked up the young master swiftly, took the young lady by the hand, and left the city without looking back.
Nanny Zhang kept staring at the backs of the three of them, feeling mixed emotions. She had raised both children by herself, and she was reluctant to let them go. The county magistrate's wife was very good to her, but her life was also her life.
The young master lay on Liu Qiaoer's shoulder with a reluctant look in his eyes, which made Aunt Zhang's eyes a little moist.
Finally, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, sniffed, turned around and walked quickly towards home.
The well-behaved Miss Lu Yunxi turned her head to look at the prison van on the street as she walked, and asked her weakly with her big eyes filled with tears.
"Qiao'er, can my parents and brothers come back?"
Liu Qiaoer sighed softly and hugged Lu Yunxi in her arms, unable to bear to let her see her loved one suffer.
"Yes, your father is honest and kind to others. God will keep them safe."
Lu Yunxi sobbed faintly: "We can't go home either, where should we go?"
The Lu family was arrested and their servants were also taken away and sold.
As a maid with two young masters, she could not stay in the county town any longer and had to find a place to settle down.
"If you don't mind, how about coming home with me?"
Although Lu Yunxi was young, she was sensible. She took off the gold bracelet her mother had given her when she was seven years old from her wrist and bowed deeply to Liu Qiaoer: "Then I'll leave our brother and I in the hands of Qiaoer."
Liu Qiaoer was stunned for a moment. The little girl in front of her who had just been asking her aunt for candy had grown up in an instant.
The process of growing up is too painful, she would rather remain as innocent and lively as before.
Inside the county town were soldiers and officers who were arresting the Lu family, and outside the county town were refugees fleeing famine.
Liu Qiaoer changed the brother and sister's clothes into ordinary people's coarse blue cloth, and took off all the jade pendants they were wearing and put them in Lu Yunxi's arms.
He took the siblings to Liu Qiaoer's parents' home.
Although her soul was reborn into Liu Qiao'er's body, she only remembered a few fragments of her past memories. Liu Qiao'er herself was illiterate, dull and unlikable.
What is valuable about her is her honesty.
Working as a maid in the Lu family, she was paid 500 yuan a month, but she didn't want a penny and gave it all back to her parents' home.
With such filial piety, the Liu family should not refuse to help.
After all, it is easier to add icing on the cake than to provide timely assistance.
Liu Qiaoer felt that as long as the Liu family could take in the Lu siblings for a few days and wait for the children's relatives to come and pick them up, they would definitely receive a certain reward.
The Liu family is greedy for money and will not drive people away for the sake of silver.
There was a porridge stall outside the city that provided relief to the refugees, but it stopped operating because the county magistrate was arrested. The refugees gathered together and talked about what had happened in the city.
Liu Qiaoer carried the young master on her back, pulled Lu Yunxi along, and quickly left the city, blending in with the refugees. Only when she looked back at the majestic city gate did she feel that she had escaped with her life.
"We will come back, and I will see my father, mother, and brother again."
"Yes, we will be back, and they will be fine."