The black-bellied peasant girl is reborn, and her weird relatives are mad

"Knock knock knock..." The sound of the wooden fish rang out, and a monk named Rong Qingjun held a gong and struck the wooden fish in front of him evenly. He was muttering something, but the sound was as soft as a loud bell and entered one person's mind.

The young man on the bed was sweating profusely, tossing and turning but still deeply in a dream and refusing to wake up.

His head was buzzing, and he couldn't hear the words in the voice at all. Gradually, the voice faded, and the sound of the wooden fish disappeared. There was darkness in front of his eyes, and strings of raindrops slammed into the ground. A little light in the sky allowed him to vaguely see the scene in front of him. There was a large area of ​​thorns, and on the half-man-high thorn trees were small red oval fruits hanging, high and low, and the sound of rain between heaven and earth filled his ears.

There was confusion in his eyes, and he didn't understand why this strange place appeared in his dream.

His feet landed on the flat muddy ground, surrounded by dark thorn bushes. The rain poured down on him, freezing cold, instantly clearing his mind.

He raised his foot and took a step forward, but the thorns at his feet pierced his clothes, forcing him to stop.

He bent down and was about to pull away the thorny branches with his hands, when he suddenly heard a rustling sound not far away, accompanied by someone's heavy breathing.

At this time, the branches broke away from his clothes, and he suddenly stood up and looked towards the source of the sound.

It seemed to be a high slope winding down, with thorny branches moving slightly. He strode over and looked down the slope.

What surprised him was a ragged girl with bloody scratches on her face and hands from thorns. She held on to the main trunk of the thorns with both hands and struggled to climb up.

Seeing that she was struggling to climb, Tang Zhongbai shouted, "Girl, let me help you."

As he spoke, he lay prone on the ground, stretched his right hand down, and tried desperately to reach the girl's bruised and muddy hands.

The girl seemed not to hear him, and continued to climb up with her hands and feet. Then, as if she sensed something, she suddenly stopped and slowly raised her head to look up the slope.

Tang Zhongbai stared at the pair of cold and resolute eyes, and his heart trembled. What a familiar face. Perhaps because she had been drenched by the rain for too long, her face was pale with a hint of blue. She bit her lower lip tightly, and her eyes were bright and clear. After their eyes briefly exchanged, she exhaled as if she didn't see him, and continued to climb up.

Tang Zhongbai was suspicious, thinking that the girl couldn't hear him because of the loud rain, so he raised his voice and shouted, "Girl, stretch your hand up, I can pull you up."

It would have been a good thing that he didn't shout. Although the girl had a hard time climbing, she took every step carefully and was about to escape from the sea of ​​suffering.

When he shouted, the girl's body stiffened, and just as he shouted, her hands broke free from the thorns and she stretched out both hands to him.

He was delighted, and just as his fingers were about to touch hers, the girl let out a soft cry, and her body slid straight down as if someone had poured oil on her.

The girl's face was horrified. She raised her head in horror and stretched out her hand to ask him for help.

"help me……"

He reached down with both hands, but his hand scratched the thorns. He heard a "hiss" and the girl disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Girl..." he shouted.

He sat up with a start. The air was filled with the scent of soothing incense. He blinked hard and then looked up, only to find that he was in his familiar bed.

Hearing his shout, Nanny Jiang pushed the door open and saw that he was sweating profusely. She hurriedly threw a handkerchief to help him wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Did Second Young Master have another nightmare? Why are you so scared?"

Tang Zhongbai still felt a chill down his spine when he recalled the scene in his dream. He let out a long breath and answered Nanny Jiang's questions randomly.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm really okay..."

He had had the same dream as tonight many times. Every time he woke up, it was just like the present moment. The servants who served him were no longer surprised.

Nanny Jiang glanced at him a few times and asked someone to bring him a bowl of calming tea.

"It's still early, Second Young Master, drink some calming tea and have a good rest."

Tang Zhongbai put down the bowl and nodded subconsciously. The figure of the woman in his dream became clearer in his mind. Her confused and helpless look when she fell into the abyss made him feel guilty.

Nanny Jiang walked to the door and was about to open it when she was suddenly stopped by him.

"Madam, please stay. I have something to ask you."

Nanny Jiang turned around, looked at him lovingly, and said with a smile, "Sir, please feel free to ask. There is no need to ask for advice."

"Mammy, do you know what kind of plant has thorns all over its body and small red oval fruits?"

Tang Zhongbai thought about the thorn bush in his dream and told her the whole picture of the plant. His eyes were eager and eager to get the answer from the nanny.

He had already decided in his heart that he must find this place and look for the girl in his dreams. He firmly believed that since he had dreamed of this scene so many times, this girl, they must have a special fate.

He was determined to get to the bottom of the matter and resolve his doubts.

Nanny Jiang lowered her eyes and pondered for a while before saying, "As described by the young master, there are many plants that match it, such as wolfberry and sour jujube..."

"Speaking of Suanzao, there is a county in Chenliu County called Suanzao County, and Feng Nian is the county magistrate of this county."

Nanny Jiang's eyes flashed, and she changed the subject.

"Suanzao County..."

Tang Zhongbai lowered his eyes in thought. Seeing this, Nanny Jiang smiled faintly, turned around and left.

In the elegant room on the second floor of Lai Ju Tavern in the county city, incense smoke curled up, the sound of piano was melodious, and the fingers of a stunningly beautiful and gentle woman flowed on the strings.

"Uncle Cao still doesn't agree with your marriage?"

Tang Zhongbai glanced at the woman and asked.

The man opposite shook his head, picked up the wine glass and drank it all without caring, then put the glass heavily on the table.

"That old antique... forget it, let's not talk about him. I have plenty of time to wait for him to bow his head and surrender, but Xuer will be wronged." He looked up at the woman, who raised her eyes and smiled gently at him, and after a smooth performance, the sound of the piano stopped.

She stood up and walked towards Cao Jun'an, picked up the wine jug and poured wine for the two of them.

Cao Jun'an waved his hand to let them leave, then asked, "Tell me, what do you want from me?"

Tang Zhongbai was not polite to him and asked him about the situation in Suanzao County.

"You found the right person. Although I have only been in the county for two years, the poverty of that place has remained unchanged for a hundred years. I think the current Suanzao County is not much different from when I was young. County Magistrate Feng is a corrupt official. It would be a miracle if he could let the people live a good life."

Hearing him mention Feng Nian, Tang Zhongbai frowned, remembering that his father had often summoned his confidants to discuss matters in the study, and Feng Nian was one of the names often mentioned.

His father had high hopes for him, but he disappointed him.

Now that he had confirmed that he was going to Suanzao County, he suddenly wanted to help his father find out what Feng Nian had done in Suanzao County over the years.

He slammed the table hard and said, "I'm going to Suanzao County. Brother Cao, do you want to come with me?"

Cao Jun'an's eyes were dark and unclear, and he raised his glass to toast him, "Brother, you are a real man. I admire you and wish you all the best."

These words were full of sarcasm, and Tang Zhongbai couldn't help but roll his eyes at him.

Tang Zhong left home to look for his father without finishing his rice.

Tang Shiyan was sitting in the study, listening to his son's request to go to Suanzao County to help him solve his problems.

He didn't say anything for a long time. Tang Zhongbai felt anxious when he saw his father hesitate and refused to make a decision. Whenever he thought of the desperate eyes asking for help in his dream, he couldn't help but feel the throbbing in his heart and wanted to find the girl as soon as possible.

"Are you sure? This road is not easy to walk on."

"Father, please let me go. I will never let you down."

"Okay. Wait a month before leaving. I'll write a letter to your elder brother." Tang Shiyan picked up the pen and was about to write.

He looked at his son who was standing still, raised his eyes and asked, "What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

"Father, Feng Nian watched me grow up after all, please give me a bottom line."

Tang Shiyan's eyes shone, and a cold light swept over, "No bottom line."

"Go to the yamen and find Lord Hu Yuhu. He will tell you what to do."

More than a month later, two young men came from the capital. Tang Shiyan placed the two men next to Tang Zhongbai and told his son that he could set off.

"Greetings, Second Young Master." Tang San and Tang Si bowed to Tang Zhongbai.

Tang Zhongbai looked at the two of them, feeling excited. They had only met each other when they were young, and now he was ecstatic to see his childhood friends again.

After the joy, Tang Zhongbai felt a little sad.

"It's a pity that Tang Yi and Tang Er are gone."

Liu Ying trained ten guards of similar age for the three brothers and placed them in the Cao family army to train with the army. A few years ago, Tang Bo'an returned to Beijing to take up a post, and Tang Yi and Tang Er returned to serve as his guards. The year before last, Tang Bo'an was assassinated while handling a case in another place, and these two died to protect him. Now the eldest son is followed by Tang Wu and Tang Liu.

The three of them arrived in Suanzao County on September 6th of the tenth year of Yuanhe.

As soon as the three of them left, Nanny Jiang went to Liu Ying's room to report.

"Madam, the second young master has left."

Liu Ying sighed and said with some concern: "I don't know whether it is right or wrong to let him go to Suanzao County?"

Nanny Jiang smiled knowingly and stepped forward to comfort her, "Madam, you are worrying too much. The Second Young Master is such a smart man, Feng Nian will not be his opponent. The Second Young Master has grown up, it's time for him to help the old master share his worries, isn't this what Madam expects?"

Liu Ying touched the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief and sighed, "Yes, the child is grown up now, it's time to let him go and explore the world on his own."

Three days later, the three men who arrived at Suanzao County were humbly welcomed into the city by Feng Nian. Tang Zhongbai took the Juecao token arranged for him by Hu Yu and successfully took office in the county government.

He asked Feng Nian for three days, and took Tang San and Tang Si on horseback to travel around the county, looking for the thorny land in his dream.

For many years afterwards, Tang Zhongbai felt fortunate when he thought about his decision to come to Suanzao County.

On the third day after arriving in Suanzao County, he rode his horse to the east of the county. He originally wanted to go straight, but the horse was attracted by something and turned at the crossroads and ran to the northeast.

When he heard that two groups of people were getting angry and a fight was about to break out, Tang Zhongbai rushed forward and shouted loudly to scare the two groups.

He jumped off his horse and walked towards the crowd. His eyes turned inadvertently and he saw a girl in green standing against the wall near the gate.

The two looked into each other's eyes, and he saw the pair of eyes that he had seen countless times in his dreams, the pair of eyes that were desperate and pleading for help. His heart was moved, and his heartbeat was like a drum, and he was stunned on the spot. Tang San called him softly from behind, and he suddenly woke up and smiled at her.

The girl blushed, her eyes turned indifferent and distant, and she avoided his gaze.

From the moment he saw her, he vowed to protect her.

Later he found the thorn field in his dream, which was indeed at Beiyangang in Xigang Village. He also learned from the villagers that on the sixth day of September this month, the night before he arrived in Suanzao County, Jiang Yuzhou and his wife searched for their daughter everywhere in the village and finally found her at the bottom of Beiyangang.

When she was carried home, her body was covered with wounds from thorns and her leg was broken.

Tang Zhongbai felt extremely distressed after hearing this, but as he got along with her, he found that this girl was independent-minded and had her own ways of dealing with people, and did not need his protection.

That day, he met Li Jiyi, who was driving a ox cart hurriedly at the ferry. When he learned that her brother was missing, he put down his official duties and followed her to Xigang Village.

When he was at the woman's door, he met a familiar face. The man nodded at him. He was slightly surprised, but when he lay in bed at night, he couldn't remember who the man was.