[Comprehensive] leaning on flowers and bamboo

At night, they went back to their houses to rest. Gongsun Ce and Zhan Zhao used to live together often, but Gongsun Ce was more worried about whether there would be any problems with Huamanlou and Baiyutang.

While arranging things and thinking about things, he didn't even hear Zhan Zhaoming himself.

"Brother Gongsun, what are you thinking? I called you several times and you didn't hear me."

"Hey? Did you call me just now?" Gongsun Ce turned his head to look at Zhan Zhao in embarrassment, "I'm just worried that the two of them might not get used to it."

Hearing Yan Zhanzhao shrugged and sat down, took a bite of the steamed bun in his hand, "Anyway, there won't be a fight, even if there is a fight, you don't have to worry about it, Chin Maoshu is no match for Big Brother Hua."

"It's really troublesome to fight."

"Brother Hua has such a good temper, even your temper can be tolerated, what's the matter—" Zhan Zhao swallowed suddenly, stepped back quickly, and looked at Gongsun Ce with a smile, "Then what, Brother Gongsun, what did I mean just now?" That is to say, Brother Hua can get along well with anyone, so you don't have to worry about it."

Gongsun Ce shook his head, sat on the edge of the bed, yawned, and stretched, "It doesn't matter, anyway, it will take a lot of money to deal with it, go to sleep."

"Well, I'm sleepy too."

In a room across the room, Hua Manlou was about to take off his clothes and go to sleep, but a strange gaze stared at him from behind, and he smiled and said, "What's the matter?"

"Ahem, I'm blowing on the lamp, I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep first."

"Are you not used to it? If not, I can—"

"Brother Hua, are you and Brother Gongsun always like this?"

Hua Manlou raised his eyebrows, tied up the belt of his outer robe, lay on the bed with all his clothes on, and turned over, "It's not the same with him."

Bai Yutang was startled, then thought of something, his ears turned red, and he cleared his throat, "People who can coexist peacefully with Gongsun Ce must be very strange and unusual."

I thought that Hua Manlou was just an ordinary son of a family, but who knew it turned out to be like this, it's really...you can't judge by appearance.

Hua Manlou heard this, but just smiled, pulled the quilt and fell asleep.

Waking up early the next day, there was no smell of Bai Yutang in the room, and Huamanlou was no surprise. After saying that it was all right, he pushed open the door to find Gongsun Ce and Zhan Zhao.But just after two steps, he ran into Gongsun Ce and Zhan Zhao who also came to look for him.

"Pack up your things, let's say goodbye to the mayor."

"kindness."

"Where is Chinchilla? This person is really unreliable. He knew something about us, but he disappeared. It's too much!" After Zhan Zhao finished speaking, he was a little angry.

Now that Bao Zheng's whereabouts are unknown, and Gongsun Ce has been demoted to common people, it is already very difficult to go to Xiangyang to investigate, but Bai Yutang didn't cooperate with them, which made Zhan Zhao very angry and felt that Bai Yutang didn't care about Bao Zheng's safety at all.

Just as he was talking, Bai Yutang popped up, "Speaking ill of people behind their backs is not what a gentleman does."

"Hmph, what else can I say to someone like you?"

Bai Yutang ignored Zhan Zhao, and looked at Gongsun Ce and Hua Manlou, "Just now I went out and circled around, but Liu Shu wasn't here, so I went outside to look for it, but when Liu Shu's wife and children came back, they were found by the patriarch Take it away directly, now... I am afraid that I have become one of the virgins."

"Isn't Liu Shu just an only child? The child is probably only six or seven years old."

"Exactly."

Gongsun Ce was silent when he heard the words. On the one hand was Bao Zheng, and on the other was Liu Shu who treated them politely. This matter——

"Let's go to the patriarch."

"Brother Gongsun?"

Zhan Zhao called Gongsun Ce to stop, and Gongsun Ce handed the burden to Bai Yutang, took Hua Manlou's wrist and walked out, "Bao Zheng will be fine."

Bao Zheng's life is fate, as is the life of Liu Shu's son and another innocent girl, no one can let it go, so...

"Zhan Zhao, Yu Tang, you two should go to Xiangyang now. You know Bao Zheng very well, Zhan Zhao, and Yu Tang, you are more careful, and you know more about the tricks of the rivers and lakes than Zhan Zhao. Let's go to Xiangyang in two days, at most two days." Follow you."

"Brother Gongsun!"

Bai Yutang grabbed Zhan Zhao, "Listen to him, that's right."

Zhan Zhao wanted to say something else, but Gongsun Ce had already dragged Hua Manlou away, so he had to accept Gongsun Ce's arrangement and go to Xiangyang with Bai Yutang first.

Hua Manlou, who was being dragged away, had turned to grab Gongsun Ce's wrist at some point, and walked side by side with him, and Gongsun Ce didn't notice anything wrong, but was just anxious to find out where Liu Shu was now, right? In the patriarch's house.

"Big brother, where are you going?"

"Hey, it's you, the little girl I met by the river yesterday, why are you here alone?"

"Huh? I'm here because I have nothing to do, and Mother said we can go out casually, so I'm here waiting for them to come to me."

"So, can you tell me where the patriarch's house is?" Gongsun Ce knelt down and looked at the little girl at eye level: "I have something to ask the patriarch."

The little girl tilted her head to look at Gongsun Ce, and then looked at Huamanlou behind, "Big brother, there are no outsiders in the patriarch's house right now, and I have something to do."

Gongsun Ce looked up at Huamanlou, "We went because of this matter."

"Ah? Are you going to meet brother Liu Yisheng?"

"Is the Liu Yisheng you mentioned a child of the mayor's family?"

"Yeah, brother Yisheng is all right." The little girl seems to have a good relationship with Liu Yisheng, "Hurry up, let me tell you, the patriarch's house is the first house in the east of the town, that's the patriarch's house, the gatekeeper Your uncle is very fierce, so be careful."

Gongsun Ce got the answer and stood up, said a few words to Hua Manlou, and was about to leave, but saw Hua Manlou bent down and took out a flower from nowhere and handed it to the little girl, "What's your name?"

"Cui Yu."

"Xiao Yu'er, this is for you."

"Thank you big brother."

Hua Manlou patted her on the head, stood up straight, and walked back to Gongsun Ce, "Let's go to the patriarch's house now."

Gongsun Ce responded and walked to the patriarch's house with Hua Manlou.

The town was exactly as Cui Yu said, since the matter was resolved, it was already quite lively, at least it didn’t look like yesterday’s indifference, presumably it was all because the children were relieved that nothing had happened.

There are women washing clothes by the river, and a big man carrying water home.

"How did you think of sending a flower to Cui Yu?"

"I think girls will like it."

"Xiao Yuer is very happy."

Just as he was talking, he suddenly heard a heart-piercing cry. The woman cried out as if her throat was being torn apart. The crying made Gongsun Ce and Hua Manlou stop at the same time. Some hesitated.

If they can't stop it, does it mean that the lives of the two innocent children are gone.

"Since you're here, let's go, otherwise wouldn't it be the same as not coming here?"

The sound of Hua Manlou closing the fan was accompanied by the sound of persuasion. Gongsun Ce came back to his senses, "There is still time to go now."

"Yes."

Walking a little further, you can see two stone lions at the gate of the patriarch's house and a woman kneeling at the gate and kowtowing. He couldn't help but look up at the two big men at the door of the patriarch's house.What's the reason for this, so you don't care about it, even if you can't let the child go, can't you even say something to comfort the woman?

The young woman's forehead was broken, and blood was left along the forehead, and the forehead was covered with blood.

"Elder sister, you should get up first."

"Young master, I only have one daughter. The man in the family died early. Our mother and daughter depend on each other for life. I can't live without my daughter!"

"Sister, it won't work if you do this, why don't you go home first, I promise, your daughter will go back." Hua Manlou came up from behind, and said softly, "What's your daughter's name?"

"rue."

Hearing this, Hua Manlou nodded and said with a smile, "We will send Yunxiang back to your home, may I ask which household does Eldest Sister live in in the town?"

"The second one on the west side of the town, next to it is a tofu shop."

Gongsun Ce was a little surprised at Hua Manlou's boasting, but he said: "We have made a note, you should go back quickly, and take care of the wound on your forehead so that it doesn't get infected."

Watching the young woman leave, Gongsun Ce and Hua Manlou stepped up the steps, but were stopped by two big men, "Who are you two? It's not something you can inquire about, go back quickly, go quickly!"

Hua Manlou heard the two people's kung fu, and waved the fan in his hand, and opened the hand holding Gongsun Ce, "Passing by here, thanks to Mayor Liu's hospitality, I was about to say goodbye in the morning but I didn't see him, saying it was here , we will come here to personally apologize to Mayor Liu, if you don’t believe me, just invite Mayor Liu out and ask.”

"you……?"

"Gongsun Gongzi, why are you guys here?"

"Mayor Liu."

"We're planning to go back, you guys are—" Liu Shu was accompanied by a young woman who looked about 23 or [-] years old, and the forced smile on her face made Gongsun Ce feel irritated.

Gongsun Ce cupped his hands and said with a smile: "We originally planned to bid farewell to you in person, but we didn't see you at home, so we had to come here to bid farewell to you in person." After finishing speaking, Gongsun Ce looked around and asked, "Brother Liu, didn't you mention that you have A son? Why don't you see me, I still want to see how clever Brother Liu and Madam Ling's child is."

As expected, the expressions of Liu Shu and Mrs. Liu changed, even the expressions of the two big men changed.

Hua Manlou stood aside, the two big men were afraid of the one just now, and they didn't dare to step forward to interrupt Gongsun Ce's words.

"Mr. Gongsun and Mr. Hua, are you planning to leave? If that's the case, you must have something to do, and I won't keep you any longer."

"Brother Liu, why not take a step to speak."

Liu Shu was startled, but saw that Hua Manlou and Gongsun Ce looked confident, they exchanged glances with Mrs. Liu and nodded in response.

"Then it will waste the time of Gongsun Gongzi and Playboy."

"No delay."

Gongsun Ce and Hua Manlou walked down the steps. Before leaving, Gongsun Ce looked back at the door, saw a figure, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Back at Liu's house, Gongsun Ce and Hua Manlou sat down, while Liu Shu and Mrs. Liu waited for them to speak.

"We've heard some things about the town. Madam Ling came back, but the child didn't come back. He must have been detained there by the patriarch, and was chosen as a virgin together with another child named Ruxiang. They will be sent to the prison at noon tomorrow. The mountains are the best for worshiping gods, right?" Gongsun Ce looked at Liu Shu and then stared at their husband and wife.

The expressions of Liu Shu and his wife were not good. After a long time, when Gongsun Ce thought they would not speak, Liu Shu finally let out a low sigh. The atmosphere inside changed.

Hua Manlou and Gongsun Ce were silent, waiting for them to speak.

"Yisheng was indeed detained by the patriarch. As a sacrifice, he will sacrifice it to the mountain god tomorrow." Liu Shu said with a long sigh, "Where is there any mountain god in this world? Nowhere! The people in this town are pedantic and ignorant, and the patriarch is even more so." You are so stubborn that you actually trust some mountain god to bring peace to the people in the town, every year I would dream of them coming to ask for my life for the children killed every year!"

"It's been a habit since you were born?"

"I didn't know it before, but I had it when I brought my wife and children here."

Mrs. Liu is also a well-educated young lady. She originally thought that marrying the mayor would be harmonious and happy. She would not have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of her life. She also has a husband who loves and cherishes her and a well-behaved and smart child. How could she know that such a thing exists here? I regretted it a lot, but I couldn't leave. I could only take the child back to my mother's house to hide for a while every year when I worshiped the gods.

Who would have thought that this time before he escaped the time, he received a letter saying that Liu Shu was seriously ill, so he rushed back anxiously, fearing that he would not be able to make it through. As soon as he entered the town, he was taken to the patriarch's house by two big men, and he was never seen again. meet the kids.

"The two sons are capable people, please help our husband and wife, Yisheng is our only child, we really can't lose this child!"

"Both children are in the patriarch's house now?"

"We don't know. Brother Liu went to pick me up just now. When we asked about Yisheng's whereabouts, the patriarch didn't say anything. What should we do? If tomorrow, tomorrow——" Mrs. Liu couldn't continue, she covered her face and wept, her emotions collapsed .

Hua Manlou said on the side: "If it's in the patriarch's mansion, maybe I can give it a try."

"Playboy, you?"

"However, this is not a long-term solution. If you want to know where these children are going, why don't you make trouble for the time being, and secretly observe and obtain evidence to expose the deeds of the patriarch." Hua Manlou said these words suddenly, not only Liu Shu and his wife He was stunned, and even Gongsun Ce was stunned for a moment, unable to react.

Hua Manlou continued: "Sacrificing God? It's just a signboard to sell dog meat. This secret activity may be even more unacceptable than this."

The tone was very calm, but when Gongsun Ce thought of something, his face changed drastically.

Are these children not sent to sacrifice to the gods?

"Have you personally witnessed children being thrown into the mountains every year? Have you followed up?"

"Follow?"

"Never?"

Mrs. Liu shook her head, but Liu Shu nodded, "I once hired a warrior to go in, but I didn't see that warrior come out."

Hearing that Mrs. Liu's eyes widened, Hua Manlou nodded, "Then this is exactly what I guessed."

"what?"

"Where are these children going?"