I have a backstage in Datang

She still took a breath, holding on to prevent herself from dying.

She stared fixedly at Gu Tianya, and a pair of skinny and pale hands were also holding on to Gu Tianya. As if he was trying to muster up all his strength, he finally opened his mouth weakly, as if pleading: "My child, my child ..."

It turned out that her last wish was not fulfilled, but she had a child at home.

Gu Tianya only felt his nose sore.

He wiped away his tears, tried his best to nod to his sister-in-law, and assured him loudly: "Don't worry, your child will not starve to death. As long as I, Gu Tianya, live for a day, your child will never starve to death."

Fourth sister-in-law's eyes brightened up.

But she still held onto Gu Tianya tightly with both hands, and said weakly again: "I want to be with... I want to be like A Yao... I want to be like A Yao..."

Without hesitation, Gu Tianya reassured loudly, "Okay, just like A Yao, after I go home today, I will take your child home, and from today onwards, your child is also a member of my Gu family. "

As soon as these words were finished, the fourth sister-in-law seemed to let go of the burden in her heart, the light in her eyes quickly dimmed, and she was about to lose her breath.

But she suddenly seemed to be back, and she sat up from the ground suddenly, shouting loudly: "Money, money, my wages..."

He was only halfway through yelling, and suddenly lay down again, his eyes completely lost their luster, and they were wide open with deep resentment.

When he was dying, he couldn't close his eyes.

This is the third women's clothing in Gujia Village who died of exhaustion working in the ditches.

Gu Tianya's tears were surging uncontrollably, he held back his grief and stretched out his hand to help Sisao close her eyes, but he seemed to be unable to touch Sisao's face with his outstretched hand because his tears were blurred.

"Ugh……"

At this time, I suddenly heard a sigh from behind, and someone's footsteps approached slowly.

After the person arrived, he sighed again, like guilt, but also like helplessness, and said: "Brother Gu, I reminded you a few days ago that you, Gu Family Village, can't go on fighting like this, and you can't fight like this anymore." I'm afraid none of you will be able to survive if you keep fighting. It's only been half a month, and two of you have already fallen..."

While the man sighed, he squatted down. He reached out and patted Gu Tianya's shoulder, and said softly, "Take your people and go back to rest for a few days. After resting, come back to work."

Gu Tianya squatted on the ground without getting up, he just turned his head and glanced at the speaker.

This person is none other than Steward Sun Qi who has just taken over the position of the Sun family in Miyun.

Seeing Manager Sun Qi squatting beside him, he seemed to want to say a few more words of persuasion, but Gu Tianya waved his hands indifferently, and made a hoarse voice from his throat, as if he was treating a stranger and said: "Money! Fourth sister-in-law's salary !"

Sun Qi nodded without hesitation, then reached out and took out a handful of copper coins from his pocket. He handed the copper coins to Gu Tianya, and at the same time sighed: "You know, I'm just a manager. The rules, as a manager, I have no ability to change..."

He said with a wry smile, and said again: "A woman's work is only worth three copper coins for a day. Although it is not dark yet, I can privately believe that this woman has finished her day's work, so I will pay her three copper coins."

He said three copper coins, but what he took out was clearly a handful of copper coins.

He looked at the fourth sister-in-law who was lying on the ground, and sighed with the copper coins in his palm: "I am just a manager, and there is only so much I can do. There are a total of twenty coins here, and three of them are her wages. As for The extra seventeen essays can be regarded as the condolence soul of my manager.”

As he said that, he stuffed the money heavily into Gu Tianya's hand, stood up and said, "Take the women from your village back, and come back to work after resting. If you don't agree, I will cut off your job. Brother Gu , don’t blame me, I’m just a manager, there’s only so much I can do.”

Gu Tianya glanced at him, and nodded for a long time.

Sun Qi arched his hands slightly, turned and left along the ditch.

Gu Tianya kept watching his back, until Sun Qi's figure was about to disappear and suddenly shouted, "The extra seventeen coins is a debt owed to you by our Gu Family Village. In the future, I will pay you back..."

Sun Qi's footsteps obviously stopped, and then he lifted his feet away again, but his voice came from afar, and his tone was very solemn: "Alright!"

Sun Qi knew that it was Gu Tianya who was protecting him, because he was only a manager of the Sun family, and it was already a violation of the rules for him to pay money without permission today.

The rules set by the rulers of the aristocratic family are not allowed to be changed casually by the house slaves. A woman can only be paid three copper coins for a day of work. This is not only a kind of oppression, but it is also a kind of rule. Save the extra money, otherwise who would jump into cold water to work in the winter?

If you don't come to work, how can Sun's [-] mu of fertile land be retting to make winter fertilizer?If you can't store enough winter fertilizer, how can you plant the land in the next spring?

The life of the mud leg is nothing more than the manure and farming of the aristocratic family.

Giving three pennies to the poor every day is to ensure that the poor will not starve to death, but they must not let the poor earn more money, otherwise the ruling power of the aristocratic family over the poor will be reduced.

Although Sun Qi only paid [-] Wen more privately, strictly speaking, it cannot change the situation of the poor in Miyun County as a whole, but after all, he broke the rules set by those in power in the Sun family, so Gu Tianya specifically explained that the money was regarded as borrowed.

……

It was almost evening at this time, and the cold wind became more and more severe. The women squatted on the ground wiping their eyes and tears, quietly waiting for the only man in Gu's Village to make a decision.

Although they are all older than Gu Tianya, the backbone of women in this era is always a man, even though Gu Tianya is underage, he is still the backbone in the eyes of the women in Gu's Village.

"Let's go, let's go home!" Gu Tianya suddenly wiped away his tears, bent down and picked up his fourth sister-in-law who was lying on the ground with difficulty.Although the fourth sister-in-law's body was very heavy, Gu Tianya gritted his teeth and carried it on his back.

Fallen leaves, you have to go back to your roots, no matter how heavy Sisao's body is, Gu Tianya will always carry Sisao back.

He slowly raised his feet, looked at the women around him, and called out again, solemnly: "Sisters-in-law, go home!"

The women gathered around and helped him each other. Although Gu Tianya was still carrying the fourth sister-in-law on his back, the women stretched out their hands to support him. This would reduce some of the weight and prevent Gu Tianya from getting tired in the middle of the journey.

When they came to work, there were 12 people. In just one month, only [-] people went home.

It was very cold, and the fourth sister-in-law's body was also getting colder. A cold wind struck like a sharp knife, and Gu Tianya burst into tears again.

His heart was sore and unbearable, he suddenly couldn't restrain himself from crying loudly, and said with tears all over his face: "Sister-in-law, let's go home, you have to follow along the way home..."

No matter how tough his heart is, he is still just a young man. These women in the village are his sister-in-laws of the same generation. The villagers in the village know each other like a family. He brought everyone to work, but when he returned, he could only bring back the souls of the dead. .

This kind of pain is difficult for outsiders to understand.

He carried the corpse of his fourth sister-in-law on his back all the way, followed by the women of Gujia Village, and he walked towards home step by step, shouting 'fourth sister-in-law must follow' in his mouth.

This is a folk rule, people who die outside must call their souls home, otherwise they will only carry back a soulless corpse, and the person who dies will become a lone soul in the wilderness.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, you've made it right, Fourth Sister-in-law, you've made it good..." Gu Tianya kept shouting, as if he was really summoning the soul of Fourth Sister-in-law to follow him.

As he walked step by step, he often burst into tears suddenly. Since he was carrying his fourth sister-in-law behind his back, he couldn't free his hands, so the women who followed him could only wipe him.

So Gu Tianya screamed again and again, and said loudly: "Fourth sister-in-law, follow me, brother, I will take you home, you must not get lost. In the next life, you have to give a good job, and you must wipe your hair when the time comes." Bright eyes, please don't come to Gu's Village again..."

I hope there will be no hardships in the next life. Huang Quan waved his hands and smiled at the common people. Fourth sister-in-law, this is my blessing from Gu Tianya, you can follow along, don't get lost.

……

It was getting dark gradually, and the poor people who worked in this ditch finally started to call it a day.

Many people sat tiredly by the ditch panting, silently watching Gu Tianya walking with the corpse of his fourth sister-in-law on his back. These people were all poor people from nearby villages, and everyone had sympathy and resentment on their faces.

It's a pity that it's just sympathy and intolerance, and I can't help anything else.

Gu Tianya led the women and slowly left the range of the ditch. Suddenly, his body shook and he stared blankly at a certain place in front of him.

But seeing there, there was a person kneeling on the ground impressively, and another person holding a whip beside him seemed to be waiting for him specially.

The man kneeling on the ground was clearly the Manager Sun Qi not long ago.

As for the person holding the whip, it turned out to be Sun Zhao, the eldest son of Miyun's Sun family. It is said that he is going to serve as the magistrate of Miyun this time. How could such a big man appear here in the ditch?

Gu Tianya's face changed slightly.

And Sun Zhao, who was holding a whip over there, also raised his hand at the same time.

He beat down viciously.

Snapped!

Snapped!

Snapped!

The whip whipped continuously, seventeen times in a blink of an eye, the kneeling Steward Sun Qi was bruised, but he still didn't dare to dodge and beg for mercy, until all seventeen whips were whipped, Sun Qi glanced at Gu Tianya.

Sun Zhao, who was holding a whip, also took a look at Gu Tianya, and suddenly asked in a cold voice, "Do you know why Sun Qi was whipped seventeen times?"

Gu Tianya nodded.

He knew very well that it was because of the seventeen Wen that Sun Qi took out privately.

Chapter 26 [Pride is born from the bones, it is impossible not to bend the knee]

Seeing Gu Tianya nodding, Sun Zhao casually threw away the whip.

The son of the aristocratic family slowly put his hands behind his back, and said in a deep voice: "The rules are the rules. As the head of a county, I can treat the people and save the poor, but Sun Qi can't. He is my Sun family's slave... "

He paused for a while, and then said: "Sun Qi dared to give you seventeen Wen coins without permission, but he broke the rules set by the Sun family in Miyun, so I came here in person after hearing about it." Hit him, and wait until you pass here before you start beating him..."

These words have two meanings.

First, he is a county magistrate. He fulfills his duties as a parent official and may help the poor in the future.But Sun Qi is a domestic slave, and giving money to others without permission is a violation of the bottom line of the family.

Second, he specifically beat Sun Qi at the place where Gu Tianya passed by. This is to tell Gu Tianya that the poor should be more honest. Sun Qi gave you money, but you dare to take it...Since you forgot that you are a mud-legged Noble, then I will remind you by beating Sun Qi.As for why you didn't just beat you with a whip, you can understand that a poor man with mud legs is not qualified to be beaten by me.

He is not even qualified to be beaten by him, which shows how arrogant this young man is.

Sun Zhao suddenly said again: "You need to pay attention to one more thing. I never wore an official uniform when beating someone."

Gu Tianya nodded, and said: "You are telling us that when you beat Sun Qi, you used your identity as the son of the Sun family. The reason why you don't wear official uniforms is to show publicity."

Sun Zhao nodded, and said lightly, "You just need to understand. Do you know what to do next?"

Gu Tianya also nodded, and suddenly said to the women in Gu's Village: "Which sister-in-law will help you out, take out the money bag from my arms."

Since he was carrying the fourth sister-in-law's body with his hands, he couldn't reach into his arms to take out things by himself.

The sisters-in-law looked timidly at Sun Zhao, and one of them reached out and took out a money bag from Gu Tianya's arms.

Gu Tianya spoke again, and said in a deep voice, "Count out seventeen coins and return them to the Miyun Sun family."

Seventeen Wen is exactly the amount of money Sun Qi gave him privately.

The sisters-in-law lowered their heads and carefully counted out seventeen cents, and were about to send it back to Sun Zhao, but saw Sun Zhao waved his hands indifferently.

Sun Zhao smiled faintly, and said leisurely, "No need, just keep it."

Gu Tianya looked at him, as if he wanted to hear the following.

Sun Zhao held his hands behind his back, and his tone was still calm, and he said again: "My son asked you to return the copper coins because you did not abide by Sun's rules. Since you are taking out the money and preparing to return it, you already know what you have committed. Fault. But the seventeen coins are not in my eyes, so I will reward you as a county magistrate."

When I said this, the tone was very generous, but unfortunately Gu Tianya still looked at the sister-in-law who was holding the money bag, and said in a deep voice: "Seventeen coins, return it to Mrs. Sun."

The sister-in-law held on to her courage and sent the money tremblingly.She didn't dare to hand the money directly to Sun Zhao who was standing behind his back, but only dared to carefully stuff it into the hands of Manager Sun Qi who was kneeling on the ground.

Sun Zhaoming's face froze, and displeasure appeared in his eyes.

It's a pity that Gu Tianya didn't seem to see him, he just asked softly: "Dare to ask the county lord, we can go."

Sun Zhao's eyes were angry, as if he felt that being provoked by a poor man would damage his dignity, but he waved his hand after all, pretending to be magnanimous, saying, "As a parent official, my son will naturally not embarrass the people under his rule. "

Gu Tianya didn't even bother to start a conversation.

He just glanced silently at Steward Sun Qi who was kneeling on the ground, then raised his feet and strode forward with Sisao's body on his back.

A few women from Gu's Village hurriedly followed behind, helping Gu Tianya continue to hold the body of the fourth sister-in-law.

The night wind was very cold, Sun Zhao suddenly waved at Sun Qi who was kneeling on the ground, and said in a deep voice, "I hit you today not just because of the rules."

As for other reasons, Sun Zhao did not explain to Sun Qi.

He just looked at Gu Tianya, staring at Gu Tianya's figure that kept going away, and suddenly opened his mouth slowly, uttering three words: "Gu Family Village."

As the county magistrate of this place, no government affairs in Miyun County could bypass him. He knew the inside story of the approval of the establishment of a new post station by the court five days ago.

Originally, he didn't pay much attention to it, after all, it was something only the top bosses could get involved in, but this morning he suddenly received a letter from Chang'an, and only then did he know that Gujia Village would set up a specially approved new post station.

The head of this specially approved post station is actually a seventh-rank official.

On the seventh grade, the same level as him.

How can they keep pace with each other within the same county?

Although he still doesn't know who the postmaster is, it doesn't prevent him from becoming vigilant about Gu's Village. It just so happens that Sun Qi made a mistake by paying for it privately, and the person collecting the money is the poor people of Gu's Village...

This made him immediately feel that it was a good opportunity to hit the people in Gujia Village.

He continued to look at Gu Tianya's back, as if he was recalling whether this young man was afraid of his beating, but unfortunately he thought about it, and seemed to only recall Gu Tianya's unassuming repayment of the money.

So Sun Zhao faintly felt that the young man did not accept his beating.

At this moment, a voice was suddenly heard from the depths of the night. It was the boy's loud cry, as if he was calling for the dead soul of the exhausted woman to follow him home.

But why does it sound a bit wrong?

Just listen to the voice of calling, although it is hoarse, but it seems to go straight into the sky, wild, like crying:

"Humbleness comes from reincarnation, and it is inferior to others in every way. Pride is born from the bones, and it will never bow its knees in all difficulties. Anger lingers in the throat, and evil grows in the guts. Why are the poor and oppressed so ridiculed. Everything is fate, and it cannot be controlled at all. Fourth sister-in-law, you have to get along well, even if we poor people die, the fallen leaves must pay attention to returning to their roots, you have to get along well, brother will take you home..."

Obviously calling for the souls of the dead, when calling out, it seems to be mourning for the suffering of the poor, obviously screaming that everything is fate, crying to the sky that no one can help...

But why did I faintly feel dissatisfied when I heard this screaming?

Sun Zhao looked straight into the depths of the night, as if he wanted to see the back of the boy who had long since disappeared.