There is no phoenix

Qiaojie, who was weeping sadly, heard what Steward Zhou said, thinking that she no longer had a mother, and her father was not around. Jiamu and Mrs. Xing, who were in charge of her own affairs, were both dying, so she had to wipe away her tears and reluctantly got on the sedan chair without saying a word. Er and Baochai could not help but burst into tears.

The moment Qiaojie put down the sedan chair curtain, she suddenly turned her head and said to Jiamu Pinger Baochai and the others with infinite sadness: "Old lady, second aunt, Aunt Ping, if we don't come back, you should remember to come and see me! "

The sedan chair curtain was lowered quickly, Zhou Steward and the woman hurriedly urged the bearers to leave quickly, the two bearers lifted up the sedan chair and started to leave, the faint cry of Sister Qiao's choking could be heard from inside the sedan chair.

Seeing that the sedan chair had already left, Jia Zheng went to set off a string of firecrackers outside the courtyard gate himself. Sister Qiao's cries were quickly drowned out by the sound of firecrackers, and gradually faded away.Jia's mother was leaning on the pillars under the eaves, Mrs. Xing, Aunt Zhao, Baochai, and Li Wanping were all staring at the dust and smoke left by the firecrackers outside the courtyard, while Qiu Tong hugged Ning'er and said that she was going to watch the food prepared by the cook.

Although it was a rare reunion of the Rongguo Mansion's female relatives, there were two tables full of banquets, but more than half of them were left unfinished, and there were few people talking.After a while, they all dispersed.

But Sister Qiao was sitting in the sedan chair, thinking of her mother, Sister Feng, when she left Jia’s mansion, Mrs. Wang who died of illness, and her hateful and helpless father who was far away in the northwest border. Like the tide, she only cried faintly, and she didn't know how long she cried or how far she traveled before Qiaojie stopped.

Qiaojie wiped away her tears slowly, only to feel some stinging pain in her eyes and face, thinking that her eyes must have been swollen from crying.Sister Qiao only felt a lot of voices outside, hurriedly lifted her hijab, and secretly opened the car curtain, looked outside, and saw that she had come to a bustling but small street.Then he secretly looked behind the sedan chair, and saw that there was only the brightly dressed woman and a girl, but the housekeeper Zhou, a woman and another girl had disappeared, so he couldn't help becoming vigilant.

Seeing that woman walking swaying, her face full of complacency, she was indeed not a kind person.Qiaojie is a smart person who has read poetry and books. She has the shrewdness of Fengjie and the decisiveness of Tanchun. She quickly hides a hairpin on her head in her sleeve, and rubs the handkerchief in the other hand. Thinking about the various situations that may be encountered.

After walking forward for a while, the sedan chair seemed to have turned a corner. Sister Qiao saw that it was still on the street.But that street seemed to face a big river.Sister Qiao saw that the woman was very familiar with this place, because many people were greeting her, and most of these people were laughing men.

Sister Qiao guessed that it was coming soon, and felt nervous for a while.After a while, feeling that the sedan chair had stopped, Sister Qiao secretly lifted the curtain of the sedan chair to take a look, and saw that she had come to a pavilion called "Drunken Country Pavilion".

I only heard the woman say to the bearer: "Go in from the side." The sedan chair was lifted again, and it took about ten steps before it stopped.

Then I heard the woman say to the girl: "Ming'er, quickly help the girl in!"

Qiaojie hurriedly put the hijab on.The girl approached, opened the curtain, and helped Sister Qiao down.The woman said again: "Miss Jia, take off the hijab, it's not popular here."

Miss Qiao didn't move.The woman came over by herself and took off Qiaojie's hijab, which surprised Qiaojie.

The woman said: "Miss Jia, don't blame me. I did this for your own good. It's broad daylight now. It's convenient to go upstairs. Let's go."

Sister Qiao was supported upstairs by the girl named Ming'er. When she got upstairs, she saw five or six beautifully dressed girls in cloaks talking and laughing under the upstairs porch.When the girls saw the woman bringing sister Qiao over, they all smiled and said, "Mom, this new girl is so handsome."

The woman also smiled and said: "Of course, mother's vision is not bad." Hearing that, Qiaojie was cold from head to toe, and shivered all over.But after a while, Sister Qiao calmed down, knowing that everything was on her own.

The girl Ming'er helped Qiaojie into the room at the far end, the woman said to Qiaojie: "Miss, let's rest here first."

He also told Ming'er: "Ming'er, you stay here with the girl well."

Seeing that the woman was about to leave, Sister Qiao hurriedly stepped forward to hold her back and said, "Mama, where is this place? Isn't this the Zhou family?"

The woman saw that Qiaojie's eyes were red and swollen, and said lightly: "Girl, let's rest. I'm tired after walking so far here. I'll talk to you after dinner." After saying that, she walked out.

Sister Qiao grabbed the girl named Ming'er to ask questions, and that girl only advised Sister Qiao to rest and didn't say anything else.Qiaojie had no choice but to sit on the edge of the bed and lean on it. Everything in front of her eyes was already clear, and she was at a loss as to what would happen next if she met someone so unkind.

After an unknown amount of time, a girl came in with food.Qiao Jie was so anxious that she couldn't eat it.After more than an hour, sister Qiao didn't eat, and didn't touch the food that was getting cold, she just said to Ming'er: "I know your name is Ming'er, you go and tell mom, if she doesn't explain clearly to me, I won't For dinner!"

Ming'er listened, but still didn't speak, just sat aside.

Sister Qiao sat and leaned, feeling a little tired, but she did not relax her vigilance at all, holding on to the hairpin tightly.

Maybe one hour, Qiao Jie closed her eyes and rested for a while, and suddenly heard the sound of the door opening, Qiao Jie woke up quickly.I saw the girl from before brought food again and replaced the cold food.

Sister Qiao said to the girl coldly: "You go and ask mom to come, if she doesn't come, I'd rather starve to death! I will do what I say!" The girl went out without saying a word.

After a while, the woman walked in with her fat waist, looked at Qiaojie with a smile, and said, "Miss Jia, I thought you were almost a day old, and your anger should have disappeared, but I didn't expect that you are young and have a good temper Great! What’s wrong here? You actually said you were going to starve to death? You ask yourself, why don’t you get the hang of it when I let people serve you so patiently?”

Sister Qiao stood up and said with tears: "Mom, you picked me up from my house. You should know that I am the daughter of a good family. I don't blame you, but I just ask you to tell me why you didn't pick me up from Zhou's house. What about the housekeeper of the Zhou family? We agreed at the beginning that we would take it to the Zhou family."

The woman sneered and said, "I said Miss Jia, are you really stupid or fake? You also know that the Zhou family is not a small family. If they get married and come in, is that the case? Miss Jia, I might as well tell you, here is Zuixiang Pavilion is also a well-known brothel along the river in the capital city, and most of the guests from south to north come to my place. With a girl like this, I am here with my mother, it is not ten times better than going to Zhou's house to be a wife!"

After Qiaojie heard this, her whole body became cold, and she knelt down to the woman and cried, "I beg mother to send me back! I kowtow to you! I only ask mother to be merciful!"

The woman sneered and said, "Miss Jia, it's no use begging me. Let me tell you, I'm the same as shopkeeper Zhou. I only recognize money but not people. I bought you at a huge price, and I want me to send you back." , how much silver do you have for me?"

After hearing this, Qiaojie quickly asked: "How much did my mother pay for mine? I will ask my family to pay you back, and I just ask my mother to let me go back!"

The woman said: "How much are you worth? Whatever the Zhou family spends on you, you can give as much as you want! Here you spend one tael of silver a day. Today's running away, I can count you as nothing."

Sister Qiao hurriedly said, "Then how much did Mom say in total?"

The woman said: "The shopkeeper Zhou said that he has already spent two thousand silver on you, and he also said that he can give birth to at least 500 taels a month for every thousand silver, so I bought yours for 320 taels. I will hire you today." The sedan chair cost me another ten taels. Let me tell you, for three thousand 330 taels, you can go back.”

Qiaojie heard this, and hurriedly said: "Good mother, then you send me back, I will ask my family to give you three thousand 330 taels, I just ask my mother to help me!"

The woman sneered and said: "Miss Jia, the people I bring in all give money here. If I want to send you back, what's the difference from me sending out money? Let me see, you should pick up the guests as soon as possible, if you meet your acquaintances , ask them to send a letter to your home, and you can leave naturally after giving the money."

After hearing this, Qiaojie hurriedly said: "Mom, how can this be? If I can't clean, what else am I going to do? Let me tell you, if our family knows that I am here, they will definitely come to redeem me. You can help me send a letter to them." !"

The woman said: "Miss Jia, I won't send someone to deliver a letter to your house. I just want to tell you a word, the girl who comes to my place will have to pick up guests in at least three days!"