Chapter of the Kingdom of Wei with Strange Aspirations

There has been a sacrificial custom in Guiling County since four years ago, that is, in the middle of every month, a virgin will be sent to Qinyao Mountain as a sacrifice to the mountain god, so as to appease the anger of the mountain god and cause disaster if she does not go down the mountain. adjacent.

This time, little Zhener was selected by the county magistrate to be sent to Qinyao Mountain as a sacrifice to the mountain god.She was just a ten-year-old child. Because her family was poor and had no one to support her, she was forcibly pulled by the county magistrate as a sacrifice.Even though she was still young, she clearly knew that once she sat on the bamboo frame and the villagers carried her into Qinyao Mountain, she would never have the chance to see her parents again.

Little Zhen Er hugged her relatives and refused to let go, crying and shouting: "Father and Mother, I don't want to be sent to the mountains."

Of course, the Zhen family didn't want to see their daughter being sent to the tiger's mouth like this, especially the little Zhen'er's mother Meng Shi, seeing her daughter begging for him, couldn't bear to let little Zhen'er be robbed by others like this. Go, desperately holding the child in his arms, crying and begging: "Let my child go."

The person who came to fetch them was the official of the government office. Seeing the resistance of the mother and daughter of the Zhen family, he immediately ordered someone to step forward and pull Meng Shi and Xiao Zhen'er away, and forcibly opened the hand that was finally held together between them. , yelled at Zhen Ziqi viciously: "Take care of your mother-in-law and aunt. It is the blessing of your Zhen family to choose your daughter to sacrifice to the mountain god. If you continue to gossip like this, don't blame us for being rude."

Zhen Ziqi was originally a cowardly person. Although he saw little Zhen'er being taken away by the guards earlier, although he was reluctant to give up, he was also afraid of the government's intimidation and did not dare to do anything. He only sighed secretly.Later Meng was infected by Xiao Zhen Er's cries, and broke free from his hand, and insisted on stopping those guards and neighbors from robbing people, but he just stood aside and worried.Now, after hearing such a coercion from the guards, he was afraid of getting into trouble, so he hurried forward to stop Meng Shi and said: "Stop making trouble, everyone, you are deliberately trying to harm our family."

In Meng's eyes, only little Zhen'er was forcibly resisted on the bamboo frame, and ignored Zhen Ziqi's persuasion until everyone took little Zhen'er away, and she could no longer catch up, so she sat on the ground and wailed. cry.

Although Zhen Ziqi was sad, he was upset by Meng Shi's crying, and said: "My daughter has already been taken away, and it won't help if you cry again."

Shocked by Zhen Ziqi's words, Mrs. Meng didn't bother to wipe away the tears streaming down her face. She beat Zhen Ziqi and cursed loudly: "You useless wretch, why did I marry such a coward like you? I can't keep my daughter , I am not allowed to rob someone, that is my daughter..."

Little Zhen'er was taken away by the guards, but the rest of the neighbors had not yet left. At this time, they were watching the poor couple shoving and crying in public. Although most of them sympathized with Meng's pain of losing her daughter, no one was there. Dare to go forward to persuade, because this is the Zhen family's family affairs.

Yen Ziqi saw that it would be too unseemly to make such a noise, so he dragged Mrs. Meng back to the house.Although Ms. Meng was full of resentment, she knew she didn't want people to watch and annoy her, so she followed Zhen Ziqi back home with half-pushing, still cursing her incompetent husband non-stop, and crying bitterly for little Zhen'er.

When the two returned home, they heard someone knocking on the door.Yen Ziqi felt strange, he exchanged a glance with Meng Shi before opening the door, but he didn't see anyone outside the door.When he was about to close the door, he found a bag beside his feet.He looked around to make sure there was no one else around, so he picked up the bag and quickly closed the door.

Meng Shi immediately stepped forward and asked, "What's going on?"

Zhen Ziqi had already weighed the bag, and he probably knew what was in it. With a mysterious smile in his eyes, he said to Meng Shi, "Good stuff."

Meng's eyes were red from crying, she thought that this heartless Zhen Ziqi changed his face at this moment, and was about to continue scolding him, but saw Zhen Ziqi opened the bag, which contained a lot of won money.

Meng Shi was shocked and said: "This is..."

Yen Ziqi immediately put away his purse and said, "It seems that the rumors are true."

Although this bag of won money seems very tempting, but seeing Zhen Ziqi's ungrateful appearance, Meng still secretly hated his weak family affection, and spat: "No matter how real it is, it can't compare to my little Zhen." Son! Give me back my daughter!"

Zhen Ziqi grabbed his purse tightly and persuaded Mrs. Meng: "My daughter is taken away, how can I, as a father, not be sad? But the government has a lot of people, and the village also helps them. We are weak, and we can only watch It’s because of her daughter being taken away. Now that she’s gone, if you scold me and beat me, my daughter won’t be able to come back. With this bag of money, it’s right to be comforted.”

Meng Shi felt resentment in her heart, but what Yen Ziqi said made sense.It's just that she still didn't want to forgive this ruthless husband, so she just waved her hands and stopped talking.

Zhen Ziqi saw that Meng Shi could not be persuaded, so he simply stopped talking.He weighed the bag of won money in his hand, but he was indeed in a complicated mood. After all, little Zhen Er was his own daughter. How could he not feel sad at all for what happened today.However, he could not protect his family with his own power like those officials and squires. He could only let others slaughter him and was powerless to resist.

When the Zhen family and his wife were moaning and sighing at home, little Zhen'er was still crying on the bamboo frame.When she was forcibly taken away, she could only see Mrs. Meng sitting on the ground and weeping bitterly, but she couldn't escape because her hands and feet were bound. She could only cry and watch her mother get farther and farther away from her. The dilapidated house at home disappeared from sight.

Her fear is more due to the helplessness of leaving her parents. Although she knows that she will never come back after entering Qinyao Mountain, her understanding of death is not as deep and clear as adults. Meng's cries and tears That's what made her feel nervous.

After being brought to the government office, little Zhen'er was still crying and fussing. The county magistrate heard that she was upset, so he ordered someone to give her medicine, which made little Zhen'er calm down and fell asleep for a while.

At this time, the officer said that the son of the Ban family was visiting, and the county magistrate thought that the son of the family came at the right time, so he asked the officer to invite him in.

As soon as Ban Jiyou entered the hall, when they saw the unconscious little Zhen'er, they immediately darkened their faces, and said to the magistrate, "It's only a ten-year-old child, why did the magistrate do such a thing?"

The Ban's family is a wealthy family in Guiling County. Many bridges and buildings in the county were built by the Ban's family. Therefore, the county magistrate has always been courteous to this young master of the Ban's family.In the past, whenever there was a sacrifice of virgins, the class and the children would be there, ordering people to wash and dress up the virgins, and then talk and joke with them, trying to calm the nervousness and fear of the virgins.Therefore, the county magistrate knew the purpose of Ban Jiyou's coming to the government office at this time, so he did not raise any objection to his disrespect just now.

The maid of Ban's family took the maiden down to take care of her. The county magistrate stepped forward and said to Ban and Xiao: "The former Japanese official discussed with Ban Gong about paying for the repair of Xunyi Bridge. I don't know how it is going?"

Ban Jiyou knew that the county magistrate wanted to use the Ban family's contribution to embezzle the public funds allocated by the court. Facing this kind of privately pocketed officials, he always hated them. No matter how patient he was, he said, "my father is already presiding over this matter, sir, don't worry. I'll go in and see that girl."

Ban Jiyou left the county magistrate and walked away.

Ban Jiyou has always had a noble reputation, and the county magistrate of Guiling knows it all.But because of the interests between them, he endured this self-righteous young man.Now that Ban Jiyou had left, he had an angry look on his face, and he snorted coldly, making all the waiters and servants around him silent.

The effect of the medicine hadn't worn off, and little Zhen Er hadn't woken up yet.The maid had already groomed her and changed her clothes. When she saw Ban and Young coming in, she stepped forward and said, "The county magistrate is really capable of doing this. The dose is so heavy, I don't know how long this child will sleep."

Looking at the little Zhen Er who was sleeping peacefully at this time, Ban Jiyou felt sympathy again, and said: "If you don't wake up all the time, it's not a bad thing, otherwise you will have to face this dangerous world again, and you will be ugly."

"My lord has a kind heart," said the maid.

Ban Jiyou shook his head helplessly and said, "I still can only watch helplessly as they send innocent girls to Qinyao Mountain to be killed by that monster."

The maid saw that Ban and Xiao were angry, but she didn't know how to comfort her, so she just kept silent.

"Take care of the girl's family in the future. They are saddened by the loss of their daughter." Ban Jiyou urged.

"Don't worry, my lord, the slave has already sent the money to Zhen's house, and I also watched Zhen Ziqi collect the money bag." The maid said.

Ban Jiyou nodded, took another look at Little Zhen Er, and left the government office.

Before sunset, the guards sent little Zhen'er into Qinyao Mountain and stopped on a stone platform halfway up the mountain.Because after dark, the mountain gods would appear, it was unavoidable that something unexpected would happen, once they put Xiao Zhen'er down, they immediately hurried down the mountain, never daring to turn back, and not daring to stay for a while.

The mountain wind blows with the warmth of late spring, waking up the sleepy little Zhen Er.She opened her eyes and saw the dense trees around her, and knew that she had been sent to Qinyao Mountain, and the fear in her heart followed.

Because she was drugged and fell into a coma before, little Zhen Er was not tied up.Now that she is awake, her first reaction is to run away immediately.But she didn't know which way was the way down the mountain, so she just fled indiscriminately in the mountains, not knowing where she was going.

The setting sun was sinking and the afterglow was also dimming. The night soon covered the whole Qinyao Mountain.As the night gradually darkened, little Zhen Er, who had no direction at all, became even more flustered, and the urgency in her heart turned into tears once again bursting out of her eyes.While crying, she searched for a way out in the mountains and forests, but she couldn't find the way down the mountain until the sun was completely silent and the moon was hanging in the sky.

The surrounding trees made rustling sounds in the evening wind, appearing in Xiao Zhen Er's ears one after another, as if someone was always chasing after him, so scared that Xiao Zhen Er was still running hard even though she was already struggling.

The increasingly strong wind made it almost difficult for little Zhen'er to move forward, and a strong wind came from nowhere, causing her to fall to the ground.The sound of the wind seemed to be howling with wild animals, filling the entire Qinyao Mountain, causing the girl who was already in a panic to collapse completely, forgetting her intention to escape, and fell on the ground crying loudly in extreme fear.

The weird gust of wind became more and more intense amidst Xiao Zhener's cries. She knew that she could no longer escape the control of the mountain god, and could only wait for death here.Thinking of her mother, Meng Shi, made her even more sad, and therefore cried even more mournfully.

The strong wind swept across the entire Qinyao Mountain, and the trees swayed wildly like a carnival ghost at night, celebrating another girl who was about to die here.

Little Zhen Er felt the wind of unscrupulously walking through the mountains, and missed Meng Shi.A strong wind blew from behind, and little Zhen Er finally called out "A Niang", she was ready to bid farewell to her relatives, but she didn't want her body to fly up suddenly.The wind blowing head-on made her face ache, and she didn't dare to open her eyes, but just relying on her feeling, she hugged what looked like a human body beside her.

When her feet landed on the ground, the frightening wind disappeared.Only then did she slowly open her eyes, looking at the peaceful mountain forest, she realized that she was actually standing on the top of a tree, and what she was hugging was a strange boy in white.