"Girl, girl!"

Ning'er was drowsy and suddenly woke up with a start. She was stunned for a moment before she realized where she was.

She actually fell asleep in the carriage without realizing it.

Yan Ling's voice rang in my ears: "Miss, we have reached the north of the city. We will reach Jingshuifang in about a quarter of an hour."

His voice was gentle, but there was some embarrassment in his tone: "I have something to trouble you with, young lady. Once we enter the market, I need your instructions on where to go. Also, there are so many people here, and it's a mixed bag. No matter what, young lady, please be careful and follow closely, don't get separated."

Ning'er was now mostly sober. She calmed herself down and thought that in a moment she would be returning to the place where she grew up. Suddenly, an indescribable feeling welled up in her heart.

She took out a small mirror from the drawer and tidied her slightly messy hair in the mirror. Then she lifted the curtain and said to Yan Ling who was driving: "I understand."

Ning'er didn't say a word until the marquis's car drove into Jingshuifang. She just pointed out the places where Yan Ling needed to turn or fork in the road. The closer she got to home, the more uneasy she felt.

She looked down at the cloak embroidered with black bamboo and silver beads that she was wearing. It was the plainest and simplest piece of clothing among the silk and satin clothes in the closets, but it seemed so out of place here.

Just as I was daydreaming, I saw Yan Ling rein in his horse, slowly stop the carriage, turn around and call Ning'er, "Miss, we're here."

Ning'er shuddered slightly and almost didn't dare to lift the curtain to look outside.

Yan Ling jumped off the carriage, led the horse to the entrance of a narrow alley, and said to her through the curtain: "This alley is narrow, I'm afraid the car can't pass. Please wait in the carriage for a while, young lady, I will go to see what happened ahead and come back to find you, so as not to bump into you rashly."

It turned out that about ten steps away from the alley entrance, in front of a house on the left, there were a dozen people crowded together, shouting and cursing angrily, and the scene was in chaos.

Ning Er heaved a sigh of relief when she heard him say that, and said, "Brother Yan Ling, go ahead. I'll stay in the car and wait for you to come back."

Yan Ling tied up the carriage carefully, and gave Ning'er a few worried instructions before walking towards the man's door.

When he was still a few steps away, two or three young men with disheveled hair and wearing short blue cloth jackets passed by him from behind. As they pushed and pulled each other, the tallest one said with a smile, "That's great! Sister Qian, who usually behaves like a demon, has finally gotten what she deserved."

Another boy with a messy braid said in a dirty way, "Bah, she deserves it! I've always disliked that woman. She used to take advantage of her husband and did a lot of things to deduct and exploit him. I want to see what happens to her."

After hearing this, Yan Ling's heart moved, and he took out a dozen precious coins from his waist and called out to the boys: "Hey, come here!"

Before those people could react, they saw a tall and handsome young man in brocade robe standing in front of them, looking at them with his arms folded.

Before they could get angry, he threw the precious money into their arms. They didn't have time to speak, and hurriedly took the money with their hands and feet. When they spoke again, they were more flattering: "Sir, what do you want?"

Yan Ling raised his chin, pointed at the family, and asked, "What happened in front?"

The leading boy snorted and said, "So that's what the official is asking about. That's the family of Qian Lao San. The neighbors all call his wife Qian Sao Zi. Qian Sao Zi was originally the wife of the contractor in our neighborhood. She usually relies on her brother who is a constable to do a lot of immoral things."

"Fortunately, God opened his eyes. A few days ago, her husband fell down, and a few days later, he died of illness. His brother, who was a constable, found out about it, and came to the house and beat up Sister Qian, saying that she was an unlucky star and had brought down her brother."

He pointed at the group of people gathered in front of the Song family's door and said, "After seeing the commotion, they realized that Sister Qian no longer had anyone to rely on, so they came in droves to ask for their wages."

So that's what happened. Yan Ling nodded when he heard it, and took out a silver coin from his bosom and threw it to the boy who replied. Seeing that he was so generous, the boy took it with a smile and said a bunch of flattering words.

This made the others jealous, and they only regretted that they were not the ones who answered at that time. Seeing Yan Ling asked clearly and turned away neatly, they continued to walk forward with envy.

Yan Ling climbed on the shaft of the cart and told Ning Er what he had just heard. He discussed with her: "I think this crowd will not disperse in a short time. I don't know how long it will last. Maybe we can go around the back of the alley. What do you think, young lady?"

Ning'er shook her head: "This is a dead end. This is the only way back." She hesitated for a while before asking: "Those people said the surname of the person in the accident was Qian?"

Yan Ling nodded and said, "They call the hostess Sister Qian."

Ning Er took the initiative to lift the curtain and said, "I will go over there with Brother Yan Ling."

As she spoke, she fastened the veil that had been prepared in the carriage. Seeing that she had no problem wearing it, Yan Ling hurriedly helped her get out of the carriage.

A farce was happening in front of Mrs. Qian's door.

Amid the crowd's angry curses, the door suddenly opened and a woman in her forties, wearing mourning clothes, walked out of the house. Her left cheek was swollen and her face was blue and purple. She was holding a two-year-old child in her arms.

As soon as she went out, she cried loudly to everyone, "Oh, God, have mercy on us, an orphan and a widow, are you going to force us to death?"

A tall and strong man cursed: "It's easy for you to say that! Your husband is dead, but you are still alive. We have worked hard from dawn to dusk for half a year, but now we haven't seen a penny."

"Look at the neighbors standing here. Which family doesn't have hungry wives and children waiting for rice to be cooked? Who is trying to force whom to death?"

Mrs. Qian was unmoved and cried out, "Look at me, everyone! You can't get a single penny from me even if you kill me and skin me alive. If you want money, ask that damned Qian Lao Er. He claimed that he wanted to bury his brother and took away all our belongings!"

She slammed the door and said, "If you don't believe me, you can come into our house and take a look!"

The child in her arms could no longer hold back and started to cry loudly. For a moment, the sounds of crying, shouting, scolding, screaming, and throwing things were all mixed together, making it a complete mess.

Yan Ling couldn't help but feel his scalp tingling when he saw this scene. He hurriedly looked at Ning'er who was protected by his side, fearing that she would be hurt by the quarrel.

Unexpectedly, Ning Er didn't even raise his eyebrows, as if he was used to it. Seeing Yan Ling looking at him, he chuckled and said, "Brother Yan Ling has been following the Marquis since he was a child. I guess he has never seen such a farce."

Yan Ling felt a pang of pain in his heart, and he suddenly realized very clearly that the girl Ning beside him had grown up alone in such a terrible situation.

An orphan and helpless little girl, who knows how much hardship and suffering she went through, but she grew up to be such a good girl.

Yan Ling's heart was in turmoil. Just as she was about to speak to Ning'er, she was suddenly hit by a strong force from behind. She didn't know who hit her, and she staggered and was about to fall!

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like