Liu Qiaoer traveled here from the end of the world. Although she was just a maid in the county magistrate's house, her living environment was extremely good. At least there were people around her.
But this kind of life had not lasted three months when something happened in the county magistrate's family.
There was a drought in the spring and locusts were rampant. Several villages in the south of the county had no harvest. The county magistrate reported the disaster to the court and distributed grain to provide disaster relief.
Who would have thought that a month ago, the relief grain and money distributed by the court disappeared along the way.
The imperial court sent people to investigate, and Lord Lu received news that the relief grain funds were lost in his territory, and he must have embezzled them.
Lu Yunzheng hurriedly looked for evidence to prove Lord Lu's innocence, while also looking for the whereabouts of the disaster relief grain funds.
The evidence had not been found yet and the house search came so suddenly.
All members of the Lu family were thrown into prison, leaving only the two children of Liu Qiaoer.
The weather gradually became darker, and dark clouds rolled towards the top of our heads. Suddenly, strong winds blew, and a storm was about to come.
But Liu Qiaoer never expected that the people of the Liu family were so mean.
As soon as she knocked on the door, her aunt frowned and pushed her out.
"Why don't you stay at the county magistrate's house? Why do you come back? Do you think the rice at home is enough to feed you?"
Liu Qiao'er was shocked: "I send money home every month. I'm just staying with you for a few days. How much rice can I eat?"
The aunt glanced at Liu Qiaoer and saw that she was carrying a child on her back and holding another child in her hands. She was dirty and looked like she was fleeing from famine.
"It would be fine if you came back alone, but you brought back two beggars from there."
Just as the aunt was about to close the door, Liu Qiaoer's sister Liu Erniu came over with a look of surprise on her face.
"Big sister, you're back. Our mother is just missing you. Come in and see mother."
Liu Erniu didn't expect that Liu Qiaoer would come back and bring two children with her. She hesitated for a moment, but still resolutely pulled her sister into the house.
It was Liu Qiaoer’s first time to visit the original owner’s house, and it was so shabby.
It was a huge yard with brick and tile houses on both sides of it, except for Liu Qiaoer's yard in the middle which was a thatched house.
The house was leaking everywhere. When the wind blew, the roof whistled loudly and it felt like it was going to be blown away.
If she remembered correctly, the original owner was sold for five taels of silver and received five hundred coins every month. Prices were not very high at that time and two taels of silver could build a solid house. How could the family still live in a thatched hut
"Qiao'er, your family is so poor. My mother never blames the servants. How come your family can't even afford to build a house after all these years?"
The kind-hearted Lu Yunxi probably didn't understand why boys were favored over girls in the village.
Liu Erniu's eyes were red. "I gave all the money that my eldest sister brought me every month to grandma, leaving only fifty coins for mother to buy medicine."
"Grandma said that my elder sister and I would get married sooner or later, so there was no need to build a new house."
Although Lu Yunxi was young, she had heard from the servants about how they were sold.
As long as the family can make ends meet, who would be willing to sell their children? Or if there are too many sisters in the family, one or two older ones can be chosen to be maids to make money for the family.
For those like Liu Qiaoer, who came from a family with few sisters, those who were sold were rare.
Liu Qiaoer squeezed Lu Yunxi's hand, told her not to ask any more questions, and carried the sleeping young master into the inner room.
After surviving the disaster, they fled from the county town to the village without stopping for a moment. They walked for almost two hours. Not to mention Lu Yunxi, even Liu Qiaoer was exhausted.
Fortunately, when the aunt took them away, Liu Qiaoer put all the freshly made snacks in her pocket, and fed them to the young master two along the way, one for her and one for Lu Yunxi.
Now they were tired and hungry and needed rest badly.
"Big sister, stay with mom and talk to her first. I'll go get you something to eat."
The room was shabby and had only one bed. Liu Qiaoer's mother, Zhang, had been ill for several years. It was said that the illness was caused by a miscarriage. Now she could not give birth anymore and it was difficult for her to get out of bed. She was barely surviving and lived without any dignity.
Her heart sank when she saw Liu Qiaoer coming back.
"Why are you back? Did the county magistrate kick you out?"
The truth is worse than this.
Liu Qiaoer told the county magistrate about the situation in his family.
Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. This village is not far from the county town. By tomorrow, the whole village will know that the county magistrate's family has been arrested.
Zhang's heart started beating fast as she listened. She grabbed Liu Qiao'er's hand with all her strength, and her veins popped out.
"So these two children are from the county magistrate's family?"
Liu Qiaoer nodded and touched the young master's head. He was young and naive, and could eat and sleep well. Then look at Lu Yunxi, a good lady from an official family, but was treated like a beggar.
"Mom, we will stay at home for a while. The county magistrate was wrongly accused. I believe that the eldest son will be able to clear the county magistrate's name."
Zhang sighed quietly, "But you can't protect these two children. You know your grandmother's temper. You never know when she will sell these two children."
The two children had no identification, so who knew they were the county magistrate's own flesh and blood? Besides, it was a famine year, so once they were sold, it would be difficult to find them.
When Lu Yunxi heard that she was going to be sold, she quickly took out the only jewelry she had left in her arms.
"Aunt, I have money. I can buy rice for myself. Please let my brother and I stay and wait for my brother to come and find me."
In the small bag there was a gold lock, a pair of earrings, a jade pendant and a gold bracelet, which together could be worth some silver.
However, Zhang quickly packed up the things and stuffed them back to Lu Yunxi.
"Hurry, keep it. Don't show off your wealth. This is what your family left for us. We can't accept it. But I don't make the decision in this family. Whether you can stay or not is up to Qiao'er's grandmother."
Liu Qiao'er thought about it and realized that it was not a long-term solution for her, a maid, to take care of two children.
"Mom, let's stay at home for a few more days. I think since such a big thing happened in the county magistrate's family, their maternal family will definitely get the news and take the two children back."
This was the only way. Zhang pursed her lips and said, "It may be okay to stay for a few days. If you stay for longer, it will be difficult to talk to your grandmother."
Liu Qiaoer knew that the Liu family was greedy for money, so she took off her earrings and gave a hairpin to Zhang.
"Mom, take these to grandma. I will go to the county tomorrow to find out when their relatives will come."
Zhang found a silver bracelet from under her pillow and dragged her frail body to look for Geng. She came back after a long time.
Following behind her was Liu Erniu, carrying two bowls of vegetable porridge.
"Grandma agreed and promised to let me stay for a few days, but the food and drinks are the same as ours."
Geng was a mean person and would not treat the two children well just because they gave her money to stay at her house.
Liu Qiaoer didn't originally expect much from her. She just wanted to wait for the child's grandmother's family to come and take the child away safely, and then her mission would be accomplished.
To make matters worse, the next morning, bad news came from the county town.
The county magistrate's case was classified as a cold case and could not be overturned.
The eldest son, who kept saying that the county magistrate was wronged, was beaten to death.
I heard that he died a tragic death, his bones were all broken, there was not a single piece of good flesh on his body, it was bloody and very miserable.
Lu Yunzheng is dead...
That brilliant young man is dead...