Yanzhou Prefecture was promoted during the reign of His Majesty Emperor Taizu. It has 23 counties in four prefectures: Jining, Dongping, Cao, and Yi. It is considered to be the prefecture with more counties under its jurisdiction among all the prefectures.
However, Xi Fuwei chose to escape here instead of Jinan Prefecture, where Si Yamen, the chief envoy of Shandong Province, was stationed. This was not because of these reasons, but because the most important places in Shandong that the Grand Canal passed through were Yanzhou Prefecture and Dongchang Prefecture.
Although the tragedy of the Xi family began with Xi Fucui's untimely death, it was Yingtian Mansion's decision to dredge the Huitong River that directly caused the family's destruction.
When Xi Fuwei decided to take her nephew away overnight, she subconsciously chose Yanzhou.
Now that Fucheng is in sight, and no trace of the pursuers has been found yet, the emotions of being forced down before can't help but surge a little.
"The Wen family has deep roots in Dongchang Mansion. It is a powerful family that has been standing firm from the end of the previous dynasty to the present. Even the officials appointed by the imperial court to take office in Dongchang Mansion were polite to them!" He pinched his palms hard and forced himself to calm down. After coming down, Xi Fuwei thought to herself, "In comparison, my Xi family has nothing worthy of being valued by others. Not to mention that there is no evidence now, even if the evidence is solid, it will be in vain!"
As for meeting Mr. Qingtian and helping to seek justice regardless of the cost or gain or loss... Ordinary people may expect this kind of thing, but for people like Xi Fuwei who grew up in a gentry family and have been a householder, it is nothing short of a fantasy.
After all, in thousands of years, how many such honest officials have there been
If the Xi family had been so lucky, would they have fallen into this situation
"For today's plan... we can only start by dredging the river and taking chestnuts from the fire. Only then can we have the possibility of revenge!" Xi Fuwei thought for a long time and exhaled, thinking, "I just want to pay it back. As long as the purpose is If you achieve it, it won’t matter if you are shattered to pieces. But Jiao’er…”
His eyes fell on Xi Jiao across the table.
Their aunt and nephew had already entered the city. After Xi Fuwei said goodbye to the people who were traveling with him, she immediately fulfilled her promise and took him to an ordinary but clean restaurant and ordered two home-cooked dishes and a small bucket. rice.
Xi Jiao got hungry on the way. When the food was served, he saw his aunt nodding and couldn't wait to eat it.
The child is still young and has not yet understood what happened.
Seeing him eating delicious food, Xi Fuwei frowned slightly and said to herself: "We can't drag Jiao'er into trouble! He is already the only bloodline of my Xi family, if there is someone who is good and bad...even if he is reported to be dead. What’s the point of having a big feud?”
It's just that although she didn't forget to bring some belongings with her before leaving, the fact that her aunt and nephew were able to arrive at the Yanzhou Mansion without any danger was also a very important reason for her abundant funds. Xi Jiao was only six years old after all, so it was impossible for her to have no one to take care of her.
If someone is looking for someone to take care of him, he is not familiar with this place. If he is entrusted with someone else, who knows what will happen to Xi Jiao
Give it to a childless family for adoption... If a family has no children, they definitely want their adopted child to be close to them. Xi Fuwei may not care about this, but most of the time they want Xi Jiao to change their surname so that their family can inherit their family name!
Xi Fuwei can't accept this!
She only has a nephew, and the Xi family only has a male heir. If the surname is changed, who will be sacrificed to the ancestors of the Xi family? !
Just when I had a headache, I suddenly heard Xi Jiao timidly ask: "Uncle, I've finished eating, don't you want to eat?"
Because he was a woman disguised as a man, Xi Fuwei had sternly warned him to call her "brother-in-law."
"...I'm not hungry." Xi Fuwei interrupted her thoughts, looked at her nephew who looked obviously dull after eating and drinking, sighed secretly, and said, "Are you tired? Let's find an inn to stay first."
Xi Jiao knew nothing about the future and nodded in confusion.
After the aunt and nephew made money, they left the restaurant and asked people about inns with good reputations and good prices in the city... In fact, according to their daily life in Xi Mansion, they must go straight to the best inn in Yanzhou. Xi Fuwei now has on hand She also had enough money, but even if she dressed up as a teenager and took a young child out, she would draw attention to herself, so she had to keep a low profile.
After walking for a while, I finally found a suitable inn, which was not too far away. So Xi Fuwei planned to take Xi Jiao and walk there slowly, just to eat.
Unexpectedly, on the way, I turned around a high wall and came face to face with a woman with a swollen belly. She looked as if she was about to give birth. She wore a Jingchai cloth skirt with several patches on it, and she held a Bamboo baskets from some eras are covered with an old cloth, giving them a very poor look.
She was walking in a hurry with her head lowered and was only one step away from Xi Fuwei when her foot suddenly slipped and she let out an "Oops". After a stagger, although she barely regained her balance, she dropped the basket, which turned out to be half of the basket. The oranges suddenly rolled everywhere.
"This little brother, can you please help me?" The woman hurriedly picked it up when she saw this, but just when she was about to bend down, she was blocked by her belly. She suddenly looked embarrassed. She looked back and forth and saw this The road was relatively remote, and there were only two aunts and nephews from the Xi family. They looked at Xi Fuwei sincerely, "My natal father is sick, and I finally begged my mother-in-law for permission to go back for a visit, but she also ordered me to go back as soon as possible! This orange belongs to my natal family." I knew that I was pregnant, so I specially bought it for me. If I can't go back on time now, I'm afraid my mother-in-law will beat me and scold me if she finds out!"
Xi Fuwei felt a little pity when she saw how she wanted to bend down but couldn't. Hearing this, she said cheerfully: "It's easy, Madam, please wait a moment!"
He stepped forward to help pick up the oranges on the ground, and carefully wiped off the dust with his sleeves before putting them in the basket.
Originally, she had been holding Xi Jiao's hand, but Xi Jiao had not had much fun during this period of time when he was being driven around. Now he regarded picking up oranges as a game, making noises to ask her to let him go. Want to pick it up.
Xi Fuwei looked around and saw a high wall next to it. There was a clear open space on the side. There was no one in front and behind, but there were only three people there. The pregnant woman looked like she was having difficulty walking, so she really had nothing to worry about. Yes, he nodded: "Remember to clean it after picking it up before putting it in the basket!"
The woman thanked her hurriedly, as if she felt a little embarrassed, and took the initiative to talk about the situation at home. She probably had a powerful mother-in-law and an incompetent husband. It was such an unfortunate thing. If I hadn't met Xi Fuwei, I would have been scolded when I returned home.
I don’t know if it’s because her life is so miserable, but when she meets a stranger, she can immediately feel her heart and lungs. When she talks about her sadness, she even sheds tears and bursts into tears.
This left Xi Fuwei quite speechless, but as a woman who had just been cheated by her fiancé's family, she sympathized with this woman's experience and couldn't help but offer some words of comfort.
So distracted, after a while, the oranges were picked up. The woman thanked her gratefully, took the basket and was about to leave, when Xi Fuwei suddenly realized something: Where is Xi Jiao? !
Although Xi Jiao is the only descendant of the Xi family, because his biological mother is just a first-in-law, Xi Fucui is usually busy with his studies, so he can't be said to be deliberately indifferent to his son, and he really doesn't have much time to pay attention, so he is not very good in front of the servants. He is valued, so he has always been well-behaved and obedient, even a little timid.
Even though I had made a fuss before to help pick up oranges, I would never run away to other places without saying a word!
At this moment, he looked around, but there was no trace of his nephew. Xi Fuwei couldn't help being shocked and grabbed the woman's arm: "Madam, where is my nephew?!"
"Your nephew? What kind of nephew are you?" She originally thought that although Xi Jiao was not a person who would run away rashly, something unexpected might happen if Xi Jiao wanted to urinate, or if the child was killed by a passing cat or bird or something. It's possible that he was attracted and walked away unknowingly. Maybe the woman was chatting with him and didn't pay attention. However, as a local, she was naturally familiar with the nearby terrain, and she might be able to give him directions or something.
Who would have thought that when the woman heard this, she said with a surprised look on her face, "Young man, stop making such jokes! Didn't you come here alone?"
Xi Fuwei's eyes suddenly widened, he couldn't believe she actually said such words? !
But the woman had something even more shameless: she opened Xi Fuwei's hand and sneered: "Don't make up such invisible lies to take advantage of me! If you do anything again, be careful that I drag you to see you." Officer, punish you for teasing a good woman!"
If Xi Fuwei still doesn't understand that she has been cheated, then she will have been in charge of the Xi family for many years in vain!
She was extremely angry and laughed: "Our uncle and nephew saw that you were about to give birth and were in trouble, so we took the initiative to help. Who would have thought that you would actually repay kindness with hatred..."
Before she finished speaking, she grabbed the woman's arm again, but this time she wasn't as gentle as before!
Xi Fuwei simply broke her arm, raised his hand and slapped her face with an ear scraper, and said in a cold voice, "Hand over my nephew honestly, and I can still spare you! Otherwise... I will teach you. I will regret messing with me for the rest of my life!!!”
The woman saw with her own eyes the white broken bones at her elbow, screamed in pain, but said stubbornly: "Little girl! Don't scare me! I saw from a distance that you were a woman disguised as a man! A A little girl who is about to get married is walking around with a child of five or six years old. She has no elders, no brothers, and no servants. Her accent is not from the local area. Maybe there is something wrong with her family, so she came here to visit her relatives. Come on! If you are so helpless and make a big mess, you may even have to pay for it! The sensible people will fall apart like this, otherwise... "
Xi Fuwei was anxious in her heart. She was not the kind of rich girl who was raised in a boudoir and had no knowledge. She knew that many kidnappers had children and sold them to childless families as sons. Most of them would beat the children. Cut off the limbs, make them look disabled, and throw them out to beg for food!
These people are all cruel and ruthless. Judging from this woman's reaction, she is not a fuel-efficient lamp!
Maybe Xi Jiao will be...
Thinking of this, she became more vicious. She pulled the woman's hair and hit the wall next to her six or seven times. The woman's forehead was bleeding and her eyes were covered with blood. Then she gritted her teeth and said, "One day." Shoot them apart? You bitch! You fall into my hands and you dare to talk nonsense! If you don’t hand over my nephew, I will slash your face, break your hands and feet, and make you into a human pig! Then I will kill you in your arms! Sprinkle honey on the wound and attract thousands of insects to bite you... And do you think those accomplices will care about your life or death when the time comes?!"
That woman has been traveling around the world for many years and has tricked countless people. Among them, there are not many people who will be ruthless without noticing something is wrong. However, at Xi Fuwei's age, there are not many people who are so ruthless. This time The child's head was dizzy and he couldn't laugh. However, he still refused to give in: "You are from out of town and have no evidence. Why do you say that we took away your nephew? Who knows if you think your nephew is a A burden, after abandoning him, you framed us?! Since I just dared to say that I would drag you to see the official, it is naturally because there are our people in the official! Now you are treating me like this, go back to the Yamen, and with the killing stick, shout You know it looks good!”
"My brother is the candidate for the new government examination. How dare you touch his only heir? Let's see what the government says after they find out!!!" Xi Fuwei was anxious and gave her a few more hard blows, but this time The woman was not an ordinary powerful woman. She was so stunned that she could hold it back. Not to mention begging for mercy, she didn't even scream!
Xi Fuwei didn't dare to kill her seriously. After all, as the woman said, this place was unfamiliar to her. Without the clue of the woman, her search for Xi Jiao alone would be like looking for a needle in a haystack!
As for finding the government... Not to mention the way this woman swore, she might really have some influence in the government; just say that Xi Fuwei and Xi Jiao's aunt and nephew now came to Yanzhou under different names, and Lu Yin did everything with money. Even though the seller swears by it, it may not stand up to scrutiny!
What's more, although the main force of the Wen family is not in Yanzhou Prefecture, it is still a first-class family in Dongchang Prefecture. Who knows if there are a few old friends here who will leak the news
Therefore, Xi Fuwei did not dare to go to the government unless absolutely necessary!
Just when I was anxious, there was suddenly a sound of neither light nor heavy footsteps behind me, followed by a familiar voice, with a unique southern accent, calmly said: "Miss Xi, are you looking for your nephew?"