However, it was said that after Yunyang Hou's mansion was closed down by the official family, Shen Zhen and others moved to Zhaoxingfang, which is located in the southernmost part of Chang'an City. Most of the people living there were white and vulgar, and it could be regarded as the cheapest place for rent.
When Shen Zhen came home, Shen Hong was drinking medicine with a bowl.
An Mammy stroked his back and said, "Hey, my little ancestor, we're not in a hurry, you slow down, slow down."
Shen Hong wiped his mouth, raised his eyes, his eyes immediately lit up, "Third sister is back!"
She stepped forward and touched Shen Hong's hair with pity.
Shen Hong was intelligent since he was a child, but he was born weak and sickly. Every winter, he would turn into a small medicine jar, and it would not fall in the morning, noon and evening, so he almost ate the concoction as a meal.
Shen Zhen raised his hand and pinched his thin face, and said, "After drinking the medicine, cover and sleep for a while." In autumn, she could hear intermittent, weak coughing sounds almost every night.
Even with her eyes closed, she could imagine Shen Hong bowing and covering his mouth with his two little hands.
Thinking of this, Shen Zhen covered him with a quilt and said softly, "Go to sleep."
Shen Hong always took the words of his three sisters as a guide, and immediately closed his eyes, but a child is a child after all, and the way of pretending to be asleep is really shallow, his eyelids tremble, and his long eyelashes tremble like butterfly wings.
Shen Zhen saw it at a glance, and put her hand on his shoulder, her tone was like that of the eldest sister to her one day many years ago, "I will wait for you to fall asleep before leaving, no hurry."
Hearing this, Shen Hong's brows loosened, he turned over and grabbed one of Shen Zhen's fingers,
When Shen Hong fell asleep, there was a weak breathing sound, An Mammy squeezed Shen Zhen's palm, "The girl is here with the servant."
—
Entering the room next door, An Mama took out a square box and said slowly, "This is at noon today, the eldest girl asked someone to bring it here, girl, take a look."
Shen Zhen took it and slowly opened it. Immediately, the blood around her body seemed to congeal.
She seemed to hear the string that had been stretched in her heart for the past month, and it snapped with a "ding".
She is familiar with the gold, silver and jade objects in the box. These are the dowries of the eldest sister...
Looking at it, Shen Zhen's tears fell in a rush.
Mammy An looked at Shen Zhen's sobbing secretly, her heart was sour, and looking at the jewelry that Madam Hou had chosen by herself, she couldn't help thinking of three years ago—the year Madam Hou passed away.
That year, the Marquis of Yunyang's mansion was like a demon.
At the beginning of the year, the eldest girl Shen Jiao fell into the river and was rescued by the poor son Li Di inadvertently, and was forced to marry the Li family. At the end of the year, when the second girl Shen Yao was discussing her relatives again, she was caught by the prince of the Uighurs at a glance.
Immediately afterwards, Mrs. Hou contracted the epidemic and died suddenly...
An mama has been by the old lady's side since she was fifteen years old. In the past 30 years, she has witnessed with her own eyes how the Shen family has become step by step, the hairpin and the family of Zhong Ding.
But who would have thought that a little carelessness could lead to a disaster.
She squatted down, held Shen Zhen in her arms, put her lips to her ear, and whispered: "Miss, let the old slave tell you that instead of pawning everything and not being able to pay back the money, it's better not to return."
Shen Zhen raised her eyes and said with a trembling voice, "Big sister, but what else did you say?"
Mammy An nodded, gave her a "shush" gesture, and continued: "Tomorrow night, the eldest girl will send two of your sisters and brothers out of Chang'an. Hidden in the bottom of this box is a household registration. Wait. When you arrive at the gate of the city, remember to find an officer named Xu, the Hou Ye is kind to him, and he is reliable. He has a scar at the corner of his eye, which is easy to recognize."
Shen Zhen narrowed his eyes in astonishment.
Although she has reached the end of her life, she has never thought of running away. After all, there are so many people staring at her. As the saying goes, there are wolves in front and tigers in the back. How can she escape
Mamma An saw what she was thinking and continued to whisper, "At that time, I will set a fire in the front yard to prevent people from entering the yard, and Qingxi will pretend to be a girl and stay and call for help. You and Hong'er will take advantage of this. When you are in a panic, walk out of the dug hole, and once you leave the city, you will never look back, and you will never go back to Chang’an in this life.”
The more he heard, the more wrong, Shen Zhen said hurriedly: "What about Mammy? What about Qingxi?"
"Old slave and Xi girl are slaves. Even if the government comes, they will not do anything to us. Zuo is just sending it to Yaba to sell it again. But the girl is different from Hong'er, the mortgage document. It's weird, we can't see the Marquis, and we can't know the inside story at all, if we sign the deed of prostitution at this time, it will be like a sheep entering the tiger's mouth."
She reached out and grabbed Nanny An's arm, and just as she was about to speak, Nanny An shook her head at her.
She could guess every word Shen Zhen wanted to say.
An Mammy stretched out her hand and stroked Shen Zhen Ruyuan Shan Handai's brows, her eyes reddened with a smile.
This child was brought up by her since she was a child, from crying to being slim.
Sixteen years have passed so quickly.
She was really reluctant.
An Mammy looked at her for a long time, as if she would never see her again, "Old slave knows that the third girl is always squeamish. In the future, when she can't survive, she will think of Brother Hong."
After a long while, Shen Zhen finally pounced on An Mama, sobbing and sobbing.
—
On the ninth day of the tenth lunar month, the hour of the hour.
Shen Zhen went to Baihua Pavilion to take care of the business as usual, and everything was the same as usual.
When it was almost noon, a young servant in a long blue coat walked in, bowed, and said, "My eldest son asked me to fetch the incense powder."
Hearing this, Shen Zhen got up quickly, "But what was Master Lu ordered?"
The servant nodded, "Yes."
Shen Zhen took two steps forward and handed him a box of incense powder prepared in advance, "Well, this is the box." After she finished speaking, she took out a painting from the cabinet on the side and put it in the box. in the gap.
This is Mr. Chunzhi's painting, which was originally intended to be pawned.
But she is leaving Chang'an today. Since she can't take the things in this store, it's better to leave it to the adult who helped her once.
After this episode passed, an uninvited guest came to the Baixiang Pavilion.
Shen Lan was wearing a red floor-length jacket, wrapped in an ivory white fox collar scarf, and properly dressed as a noble lady in Beijing.
She stepped through the door, then raised a veil covering her face with her right hand.
"Why is my aunt here?" Shen Zhen got up and asked.
Shen Lan walked over, sat down on the square bench with mahogany carved orchid pattern inlaid with marble opposite Shen Zhen, frowned and said, "Zhen'er! Tomorrow is the tenth day of the first lunar month, do you really want to sign the deed of sale to pay off the debt? Do you know where you are going to be sent when you sign the deed of betrayal! Would you rather sell yourself than trust your aunt?"
Shen Zhen bowed her head and lowered her eyes, she knew that the more this time came, the more she had to appease her aunt.
She clenched her fists, so she thought: "Zhen Er knows that my aunt must be scolding me for not knowing what to do, but my aunt, Teng Wang and my father have never dealt with each other. I am really afraid of him..." After saying that, the little girl covered her head. Shut up.
A month ago, Shen Zhen couldn't believe that he still had the talent for acting.
Shen Lan heard the meaning of her words and said quickly: "Silly child, with your aunt here, what are you afraid of doing? If you were really bullied, wouldn't your aunt watch it?"
"Zhen'er, if you are with King Teng, it's not just me, but the entire Suning House will advance and retreat with you. Don't think about it, you know?"
After a while, Shen Zhen lowered her head and said in a voice like a mosquito, "If aunt can keep Hong'er, Zhen'er will listen to aunt's everything."
Hearing this, Shen Lan finally let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Hong'er is also my nephew, and after tomorrow, my aunt will take him to live in Bo Suning's mansion, and she will take good care of him. , if you want to see him, just tell your aunt."
Shen Zhen looked at Shen Lan's sincere expression, and her whole heart went cold.
This is a high-sounding statement, but in the end, they just wanted to detain Shen Hong in Suning Bo Mansion to threaten her.
Shen Zhen knew that if she couldn't leave tonight, then she and Hong'er would really become fish on the chopping board, and they could only be slaughtered by others.
—
In the evening, the twilight is getting darker.
While Shen Zhen and Shen Hong were changing clothes, Qingxi whispered: "After the girl leaves, you must remember, don't take the official road, and don't take the water route, and no one will say the final destination."
As soon as the voice fell, there was a continuous sound of boring outside.
The sound of drums hammering ears means that the curfew is about to begin.
The curfew system in Chang'an City is strict. When the market is closed in the daytime, Shuntianmen will use the sound of the twilight drum to urge pedestrians to return home quickly. When the sound of the 600 bats and drums stops, not only will people be prohibited from passing through the streets, but the gates of the city gates will also be closed.
It is now.
Mammy An was wrapped in a coat, her hair was loose, she lit two torches, and walked out of the house slowly.
The sky was dark and the surroundings were pitch-dark. An Mammy swiftly threw the firewood onto a pile of fine wood and hay in front of the front yard, "brushed" the ground, and the flames rose up, instantly lighting up the whole place. courtyard…
On the other side, Shen Zhen took Shen Hong's little hand, bowed his body, and got out of the hole.
Shen Zhen didn't dare to look back, and ran desperately in the direction of the city gate. Even with her back to the yard, she seemed to be able to see the thick fire...
Halfway through, Shen Hong coughed desperately, Shen Zhen stopped and stroked Shen Hong's back, "Would you like to stop for a while?"
"Third sister, I can bear it."
Shen Zhen gathered up the clothes on his body and whispered: "Don't breathe through your mouth when running, try to use your nose, it's really uncomfortable, so just squeeze the third sister's hand, you know?"
Shen Hong nodded.
Zhaoxingfang was the closest to Anhua Gate. The two of them hid all the way, and finally reached the gate of the city, but they couldn't see the officer with the scar at the corner of his eye.
Shen Zhen became more and more anxious, couldn't help looking around, feeling more and more uneasy.
At this moment, she heard footsteps appearing behind her. Shen Zhen looked back and saw a few men dressed as government soldiers standing behind her impressively.
Everything seemed to stand still.
After a while, the cold wind whistled and fell on her like a knife and axe.
The sky was dark, and the dense snow fell rapidly from the ink-colored air, and fell heavily on her face, melting into water, like tears.
Seeing the man, he turned over and dismounted, crossed the crowd, and came to her in a slow and slow manner.
His eyes were dark and deep as always.
He looked at Shen Zhen forcefully and without pity, his thin lips lightly opened, "Three girls, where are you going?"