"My Xi family has only a small number of people, and Xi Xing is suspected of being bribed by outsiders." Xi Fuwei thought to herself, "Now that my father is ill and my son is young, I am a prostitute and I don't have many connections to connect with. The only The one he had friends with outside was his elder brother. But his elder brother is gone. As the saying goes, when someone is gone, only a few of his close friends are willing to think about their old relationship."
The most important thing is, "The Wen family covers the sky with only one hand in Dongchang Mansion. Although my brother was recognized as extremely talented when he was here, but because of his age and the fact that he was admitted to the Juren Examination at the end of his life, most of his reputation is still in Dongchang Mansion." inside."
"Even if those people intend to help, I'm afraid they are unable to do anything, and may even drag them down..."
She frowned and pondered for a long time, then raised her head and said to Xi Lian, "The Xi family's way of survival now is, firstly, to escape from Dongchang Mansion and go to a place where the Wen family can't reach! Secondly, it is to find the Wen family. A backer who doesn’t dare to make mistakes!”
"But if the Wen family has no ill intentions towards us, that's fine. If so..." Xi Lian hesitated, "I'm afraid we've been watched inside and outside, and there's no way we can escape. Especially Mr. Sun is young, The master is still ill now. Although you have practiced some martial arts, after all, it is your daughter’s house and it is inconvenient to go out and take good care of her."
Xi Fuwei said: "I thought so too... So I thought, our way out is probably to fall on that unexpected noble person."
How to find that noble man, Xi Fuwei had just reminded him.
What Xi Lian is in trouble now is: "If the Wen family really wants to establish a relationship with that noble man, I'm afraid there will be people following him now, and our people will not be able to get close at all?"
Moreover, "According to the lady's speculation, the man came here to open the canal. He was still angry with the Wen family, but he still made peace with it. It was probably because the Wen family had deep roots in Dongchang Mansion and reopening the canal would be useful." Their place. In this case, even if we manage to present the actions of the Wen family to the noble, the noble may not pay attention to it, and maybe, it will be handed over to the Wen family for disposal? "
In that case, the Xi family will become even more desperate!
Xi Fuwei was about to answer when there was a sudden noise outside. The faces of the master and the servants changed when they heard the sound. Just as they were about to ask questions, a little maid stumbled in and said with a cry: "Miss, it's not good. ! There is something wrong with our house! We got up from the main house!"
"What?!" Xi Fuwei and Xi Lian were shocked when they heard this. They rushed out of the door and ran back hurriedly without asking for more details!
He ran wildly along the way, because Xi Zongwang learned the lesson that after the Xi family was involved in the "Blue Jade Case", many weak female relatives died in a hurry, and he raised his daughter as a son and taught him culture and martial arts. They are not even allowed to have their feet bound, in the hope that if the family changes again, they will have more opportunities to survive than those delicate girls raised in a boudoir who no one knows about.
At this moment, Xi Fuwei took three steps at a time, and even ran to the main room where Xi Zongwang lived before Xi Lian. When she got nearby, the heat of the fire spread over her, and she saw a group of maids and servants carrying buckets and basins. , are panicking to put out the fire, but compared to the raging fire, their efforts are really insignificant.
"Has dad been rescued?" Upon seeing this, Xi Fuwei's pupils suddenly shrank, she grabbed a maid next to her and asked sternly!
The maid was already very frightened, and only hurriedly helped after being scolded by others. Now that she was holding her, she became even more frightened, and she hesitated incoherently for a long time. Xi Fuwei was furious when someone walked up beside her. The steward said anxiously: "Miss, not only is the master still in there, Mr. Sun just came to see the master, he is also in there!"
Hearing this, Xi Fuwei's eyes almost went dark!
Seeing her pale face, the steward quickly added: "I was worried about the master and Mr. Sun just now, so I took it upon myself to offer a reward of ten taels of silver, and asked the subordinates to wrap themselves in water-soaked quilts and go in to rescue her. Also, please Forgive me, Miss!”
"You did a good job!" Xi Fuwei finally breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly, "It's just that ten taels of silver is too little. As long as dad and Jiao'er are safe, you and the servant who rescued me will go to the counting house. Each receives one hundred taels of silver!"
At this time, the county magistrate's salary was only forty or fifty taels of silver throughout the year. One can imagine how impressive a hundred taels of silver was. When the steward and the nearby servants heard this, they were all happy. Without Xi Fuwei's instructions, two more healthy servants took off their coats and soaked in the bucket. Finally gritting his teeth, he rushed into the fire!
There was a brave man under the heavy reward. After a while, someone really rushed out with a small figure in his arms. This person should be the first servant to enter. The quilt on his body had already been dried. When he came out, he looked like a burning man. , rolled on the ground for a long time, and the people around him hurriedly poured water on him, then put out the fire on the quilt, climbed up and sat up, revealing Xi Jiao who was protecting him in his arms.
Xi Jiao was young. He had been trapped in the fire scene for so long and had to be held by this man and rolled around on the ground several times. He was already in a state of disrepair, and his face looked pale and shaky.
Frightened, Xi Fuwei hurried forward to check, urging people to call a doctor, and asked: "Where is daddy?"
The servant who rescued Xi Jiao took a breath and said, "The young man is incompetent and can only bring one person out. The master insists that the young man send Mr. Sun out first..."
"Thank you for your hard work!" Xi Fuwei's heart sank. Xi Zongwang was also a bit old. He had fainted due to a sudden attack of anger before. The rescued Xi Jiao was so sluggish. He didn't know how long Xi Zongwang could still hold on. Live
But there are only a few people left in the Xi family now. It’s not that she cherishes herself and is unwilling to go out to save her father personally, but she is not sure that she can save Xi Zongwang. If she is involved, what will her young nephew do
Who cares whether the Xi family is in this situation due to bad luck or falling into a trap? !
Now I suppressed my worries and comforted myself: "Since dad is awake, he will definitely find a way to take care of himself now. I have just offered several people rewards to encourage them to go in and rescue people. I believe there will be good news soon." Got it!"
It's just... After a while, the servants worked together to bring Xi Zongwang out, but at this time, Xi Zongwang had only one breath left!
There were many burns all over his body. He looked hideous and terrifying, and his face was half ruined. If the father and daughter hadn't been together day and night, they had never been separated for a long time in more than ten years, and they were so familiar with each other... Xi Fuwei simply couldn't. I can believe that this is the father who was fine half a day ago!
"...Okay...Okay!" Xi Zongwang, who was holding on to see his daughter, struggled to say this, pointed at Xi Jiao, and wanted to say something else, but his hand suddenly dropped!
Xi Fuwei knelt beside her father's still-warm body, her face as pale as paper, and her mind went blank!
... I don't know how long it took, but she heard her own voice say: "Uncle Lian, I'm a little confused now. Daddy's funeral... Please help me to take charge of it. I... I'll take Jiao'er to the back to have a look."
Xi Lian, who had been looking at her with worried eyes for a while, immediately nodded: "Miss, just go ahead and leave this place to the old slave!"
Perhaps it was because the Xi family's blessings had been exhausted. Not long after Xi Fuwei took Xi Jiao to the rear, Xi Lian, who was directing the arrangement of the mourning hall in front, received bad news again: the back hall was also leaked!
Moreover, the intensity of the fire and its rapid spread were even worse than those in the main hall!
Xi Lian ordered people to beat the gongs and drums, attracting people from several nearby villages to help put out the fire. Even so, it burned for half a day and a night, and even spread to the entire mansion. The huge Xi Mansion was reduced to nothing!
Although almost all the servants escaped, the three masters of the Xi family were nowhere to be seen.
Even the bones were only those of Xi Zongwang. Xi Lian saw that the situation was not good and ordered people to carry them out first. However, the Xi family's young lady Xi Fuwei and Sun Gongzi Xi Jiao were both believed to have been buried in the sea of fire, and their bodies were not intact!
Such a tragedy has never happened in Dongchang Mansion in recent years, and there was a lot of discussion about everything.
While they were making a fuss, they saw a man in plain clothes running over crying and shouting, calling him "uncle", bowing down to Xi Zongwang's coffin, and kowtowing repeatedly.
After only a few moments of fighting, the old housekeeper Xi Lian kicked him in the chest, and angrily shouted: "You are so unscrupulous! It is in vain that the master and the young master have shown you so much kindness. You don't want to repay it, and you collude with outsiders to plot against the master." Not to mention the family property, now I have set fire to my entire family and cut off my bloodline. Now you dare to come here and pretend to be compassionate?!"
Everyone onlookers recognized that the man was Xi Xing, the only member of the Xi family. They were surprised when they saw Xi Lian attacking him. When they heard this, they couldn't help but shout: "Is this true or false?"
Xi Lian told Xi Fuwei's previous inference on the spot, only concealing the matter of the Wen family. He burst into tears and said: "The young lady died just after saying this. This beast must have an accomplice in the Xi Mansion. This is for fear of the young lady." If you find out the truth, you will jump over the wall to kill people and silence them!"
"You old slave is shouting to catch a thief!" Xi Xingze yelled, "Who doesn't know that my uncle has always treated me as if he were his own child?! Our Xi family has only been settled in Dongchang Prefecture for a few decades, and the number of people here is very small. Without my uncle's family, , I am an orphan! Who doesn’t want my uncle to be well, and it’s definitely not me! I think you are the bully, and you want to take advantage of the death of my cousin to seize the Xi family’s property, but my uncle, cousin and others found out and killed him. ! It’s a pity that my cousin is in her prime and has not yet left the government. My nephew is only six years old this year, only six years old!!!”
They couldn't argue with each other, and it was difficult for the onlookers to distinguish right from wrong. They were so noisy that they had no choice but to go to court.
When this grievance swept through the entire Dongchang Mansion and was talked about by people from top to bottom, in Yanzhou Mansion, which is adjacent to Dongchang Mansion, on the road leading to the state city, an old carriage was hesitantly driving. A timid voice: "Aunt... uncle, I'm hungry."
In the carriage, Xi Fuwei came back from her deep thoughts, touched her nephew's head, and said warmly: "We have run out of dry food. Yanzhou City is in front of us. When we enter the city, I will take you to have a meal immediately, okay? ?”
Xi Jiao nodded obediently.
However, among the passengers in the same car, someone enthusiastically handed over the dry food: "Little brother, don't let the children be hungry, eat our food!"
Xi Fuwei smiled and refused one by one. She was now disguised as a teenager, and her voice was deliberately lowered into a young person's voice. After all, a female prostitute takes Xi Jiao on the road alone, so she must be extra cautious. The people in the car in front of me said they met by chance. Who knows what their intentions are
If someone tampered with the dry food, wouldn't their aunt and nephew be doomed
Anyway, Xi Jiao was not hungry enough to cause trouble, so although his words were polite, his attitude was very firm.
After some reasoning, everyone was a little disappointed. After putting away the dry food, they stopped talking. The atmosphere in the carriage was a little awkward for a while.
But this is exactly what Xi Fuwei was looking forward to... He faked death by taking advantage of the fire and escaped from Dongchang Mansion with his nephew in one go. The thrill during this period still frightens him even now when he thinks about it!
These days, she has barely slept a wink. Now that she has finally left the territory of the Wen family, although it is not yet safe, she can feel relieved to some extent!
She needs to think carefully about what to do next