There was the sound of the padlock hitting the chain outside the door, and the door was locked again.
With her hands free again, Qiao Ruolan couldn't wait to tear off the rag from her mouth, slapped the door panel frantically, and shouted hysterically: "Let me out! Let me out quickly! Do you know who I am? I am..."
"big sister… "
A childish girl's voice suddenly sounded behind Qiao Ruolan, Qiao Ruolan felt a lot of rustling sounds behind her, it seemed that there were many people hiding behind her, no, or it was in this room.
Qiao Ruolan's heart suddenly rose, took a deep breath, and turned around in fear.
Behind her, less than a foot away from her, there were more than a dozen people standing densely, men and women, but these people were all children, and the oldest one seemed to be no more than ten years old.
Each of them is yellow and emaciated, dressed in rags, and their bodies are so dirty that it seems that several layers of mud can be rubbed out.
A round-faced girl took a step forward and said reassuringly, "Big sister, you're fine. As long as you obey me here, you'll get steamed buns to eat!"
"Don't come near me!" Qiao Ruolan frowned tightly, showing disgust on her face, wishing she could take a few steps back, but behind her was the door panel.
The girl thought Qiao Ruolan was afraid, so she gave her a kind smile, showing a pair of cute dimples, and said, "Sister, don't be afraid. Although we can't go out, no one will beat us, and we won't be hungry." Yes. As long as you listen to me, you'll be fine."
The children stared at Qiao Ruolan unblinkingly with bright black eyes, as if they were saying, it's all right.
Qiao Ruolan leaned against the door panel behind her, looked around, and saw that there was no furniture in the room, and straw mats were spread everywhere on the floor, which were obviously places for children to sleep. In the corner, there was a The toilet with peeling paint, a stench came faintly from that direction... Difficult, could it be that she was going to use the toilet here
Qiao Ruolan's eyes widened, her eyes went dark, and she fell down limply.
Nightmare, all of this must be fake!
"big sister… "
Amidst the girl's nervous shouts, Qiao Ruolan lost consciousness and knew nothing.
What she didn't even know was that there were two people outside Zhuangzi lurking around, watching the movement in Zhuangzi all the time. At this time, after the two met behind Zhuangzi, one of them stayed on, while the other hurried to Luoyue City.
Things changed, Miss Qiaobiao accidentally broke into the Zhuangzi, and was caught by the people in the Zhuangzi!
Why!
The hidden guard sighed silently in his heart. When he saw Qiao Ruolan appearing nearby, he thought about whether he had fainted with a slap of his palm, and then tied a bundle and threw it into the back alley of Qiao's residence, but people from the village happened to appear. I can only hide...
However, if something went wrong, I have to report back to my master.
The black horse galloped into the city and arrived at Zhennan Wangfu before noon... But Nangong Yue happened to be away from the mansion, so Zhu Xing hurriedly rode his horse to Huanxi Pavilion after receiving the report.
Today is the day when Master Shi discusses piano in Huanxi Pavilion.
There are two buildings in Huanxi Pavilion. The building facing the street in front is the normal place to receive guests, and the room in the back yard is often borrowed by wives and girls to hold various small banquets here. Occasionally, the owner of Huanxi Pavilion Mrs. Jiang will also preside over some elegant events such as fighting paintings and appreciating calligraphy, just like today's Lunqin.
Although Huanxi Pavilion still welcomes guests today, the backyard is temporarily sealed off to thank guests behind closed doors. Only a few distinguished guests who have received a post from Mrs. Jiang can enter to play piano with Shi Qingya and everyone.
The piano discussion was held in the lobby on the first floor of the back room. Mrs. Jiang specially re-arranged the lobby to make it more elegant and quiet.
At this moment, the windows on the north side of the lobby facing the back courtyard are wide open. On the tall flower table in the corner are a pair of official kiln vases with white background blue and white, and a few freshly blooming camellias are inserted. There is a guqin. Beside the piano case, there is a huge brass incense burner, and the fragrance is wafting, filling the entire lobby, making the hearts of those who hear it calm down.
A pair of bare hands as beautiful as flawless white jade fluttered on a burnt-tailed qin. Behind the qin sat a woman who seemed to be in her forties, wearing a moon-white willow-patterned gown. She was pure and elegant, but the most attractive Her gaze was still on her pair of bare hands, which were softer and slender than a girl's. What attracted the most attention was the sound of the piano flowing out from under her fingers. It was clear, melodious, and clear, echoing in the lobby and pulling everyone's heartstrings. Everyone is listening attentively...
After the pair of bare hands stroked the strings for the last time, the sound of the piano stopped leisurely, and the hall was silent for a while. After a while, a lady clapped her hands and praised: "What a song "Shen Hua Yin", well-deserved of its reputation!"
Amidst the voices of admiration one after another, Baihui who didn't know when she went out came back quietly. She whispered something to Nangong Yue, and Nangong Yue followed her to an elegant seat on the second floor under the pretext of changing clothes.
In the private seat, only Nangong Yue and Baihui were there, because the matter was of great importance, the others were all sent out, and Que'er was left to guard outside, not allowing anyone to approach.
"Prince Concubine, the dark guard reported that Miss Qiao Biao fell into the hands of Boss Jin more than an hour ago..." Baihui first said the main point, and then relayed the ins and outs of the dark guard's report in a straightforward manner, without contempt or contempt. Criticism... For a while, she was the only voice in the booth.
Then she presented a pearl hairpin picked up by the hidden guard.
It has been several days since Qiao Ruolan disappeared from Shuyao's women's courtyard. It was related to Qiao Ruolan's boudoir reputation. King Zhennan just sent someone to inquire secretly, and Nangong Yue was happy to pretend that he didn't know, so as to save trouble. Who would have thought that Qiao Ruolan would run into In the "wolf den"? ! Nangong Yue's expression was a bit complicated, and she lowered her eyes in thought.
"Baihui..." Nangong Yue seemed to have made some decision, raised her head, and gave Baihui some instructions.
Baihui complied with a dignified expression, and then hurriedly withdrew.
Nangong Yue and Que'er went downstairs again, with unclear expressions on their faces.
After learning about the existence of that Zhuangzi from the mouth of the little girl, Nangong Yue sent secret guards to investigate around Luoyue City, and it took a few days to find that unremarkable Zhuangzi.
Zhuangzi is not big. On the surface, it looks like an ordinary Zhuangzi. It grows some crops and raises a few chickens and ducks. There are no people coming and going on weekdays. It is very remote.
However, after the investigation, the secret guard reported that there are more than a dozen children who are about the same age as Xiaoya in this village. Of course, they are not raised for nothing, but they are raised by medicine people who test medicines!
It's like she used mice to test medicine, but this village uses people!
After Nangong Yue learned about this, she always wanted to save the children who were locked inside, but because of Boss Jin's incident, which involved the Southern Border Army and millions of people in Southern Border, she dared not and could not easily startle the snake.
Now Qiao Ruolan gave her a chance.
There was another piano sound in the lobby, melodious and clear, like the fragrance of flowers blowing through my heart...
This is…
Nangong Yue's heart moved, and when she walked down the stairs to the lobby on the first floor, a smile was already on the corner of her mouth.
Xiao Fei who was sitting next to her was no longer in her own seat.
Nangong Yue looked into the hall while sitting down, and saw Xiao Fei, who was wearing a lake blue embroidered pomegranate embroidered gown, was sitting behind the pear xylophone table, looking down at the anxious woman in front of her with all her attention. On the tail piano, the slender and white fingers are skillfully touching the strings, the sound of the piano is smooth and pleasant, as beautiful as a picture of a lady...
The smile on the corner of Nangong Yue's mouth became stronger and stronger. Putting aside the previous disturbances, she allowed herself to immerse herself in the beautiful and familiar sound of the piano for the time being.
After a while, the sound of the zither gradually became louder and louder, and began to enter the high court, and everyone's emotions were also affected... At this moment, there was a commotion from the direction of the courtyard at the door.
Many wives and girls who had closed their eyes to listen opened their eyes and frowned slightly.
As the host, Mrs. Jiang showed even more displeasure. She winked at a middle-aged woman beside her, who immediately moved forward.
In the courtyard, a woman guarding the door of the back room was arguing with a maidservant in green clothes holding a big red post. Behind the maid stood a girl in emerald green twig-wrapped flower-carved silk gown.
"Why can't my girl go in?!" The maid in Tsing Yi tried to push the woman away, "Could it be that this post is still fake?"
The mother-in-law explained with sweat profusely: "Girl, although your post is true, the qin party inside has already started, and Master Shi is playing the qin inside. It is really inappropriate to interrupt rashly at this time..."
"You said Master Shi is playing the piano in there?!" The girl in Cuiyi suddenly called out, and interrupted the old woman sarcastically. There was a hint of arrogance on his face, making him seem difficult to get close to.