Stage [Republic of China]

For what purpose, I told the coachman that it was just to walk around casually, walking around the streets and alleys, and made a few laps around Daotai Mansion.The outside of the Daotai mansion was indeed very strict, the two side doors that were usually full of cars, horses and sedan chairs were now tightly closed, and the main door was not opened.

When he arrived at the gate of the yamen, Shui Jiu opened his eyes a few extra times, and he could see soldiers patrolling with guns a few feet away.

Probably something really happened.

Shui Jiu sat on the rickshaw with eyes downcast, and didn't ask the driver to stop.Outside De Xiafei Road, Shui Jiu suddenly frowned and shouted: "Stop!"

The rickshaw driver hurriedly stopped the car.

Shui Jiu saw that there were many people rushing there carrying sacks, and another section of the road was blocked, so she couldn't help asking the rickshaw driver, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm afraid my wife seldom goes out on the street?" The rickshaw driver raised his hand and wiped his sweat with a white towel, and said with a smile, "Xiafei Road will soon be repaired as an asphalt road. After a while, this section of road will be easy to travel." !"

Shui Jiu stared blankly at the various faces carrying sacks and galloping reflected in the shining glass window, lowered her eyes, and laughed self-deprecatingly.He had only been confined in Zeng's house for a month, but when he returned to the area of ​​Joffre Road and Gordon Road today, he felt very dazed, as if he had been in a lifetime.

"...Madam?" the rickshaw driver called him.

Shui Jiu came back to his senses, lowered his eyes, and said calmly, "Let's go again. By the way, let's take a look at the Mingsheng Theater to see if there are any plays scheduled today?"

"okay--"

Shui Jiu drove for a while in the car, and when he got to Mingsheng Theater, he yelled, "Stop!"

The rickshaw driver stopped the car steadily.

Shui Jiu stepped on the stiletto shoes to get out of the car, paid the fare, and pushed down the flower brim hat.The front door of Mingsheng Theater was deserted, and the ticket inspector sat on the bench with his legs crossed, swatting flies with a cattail fan in boredom.

"We won't play the gong today," the guy saw Shui Jiu looking over from a distance, flapped his cattail fan, and greeted him proactively. "Come on tomorrow, please be early, ma'am!"

Shui Jiu's heart sank.The Mingsheng Theater is full of gongs and drums all year round, and only when there is a national funeral or the like, it will stop for a day.The assassination of Li Daotai is probably true in all likelihood.

Shui Jiu nodded slightly, left the Mingsheng Theater, and took a newspaper of the day from the newsboy selling newspapers on the side of the road.As soon as he dropped three copper coins, the newsboy immediately looked up at him with bright eyes, and said loudly: "Madam, the price has gone up today, and I get four copper coins."

The little newsboy showed him four black fingers.

Shui Jiu was taken aback.

"It's unusual to have an extra number today." The newspaper boy said, glancing furtively to the left and right, and said, "Ma'am, look at the headline in black! I will never lose your pennies." .”

Shui Jiu looked along where the newsboy pointed, and saw that in the inconspicuous place on the lower left corner, a notice was issued quietly, saying that the whole city was to search for suspicious thieves.

It is probably related to the affairs of the Daotai Mansion.

Shui Jiu calmly took out another big coin and handed it to the newsboy.The newsboy got the money and smiled happily, "Madam, take it back and have a closer look! It's quite a commotion."

Shui Jiu curled her lips slightly. "Thanks."

In the night of that day, the whole city will be strictly prohibited.Soldiers with big guns were divided into several waves and walked back and forth to the downstairs of the apartment where Shui Jiu lived.He leaned against the window, hiding in the shadows, so that the soldiers downstairs would not notice his peeping.

Eryuanli has always been a place where fish and dragons are mixed together. People who deliver news, sell vegetables, deliver water, and dig out excrement all live here. Shui Jiu's right eyelid keeps twitching, and she always feels a little nervous.Since he returned to this apartment from outside, not only has Lulu disappeared, she hasn't even left a note.

Could it be that something else happened?

But before when Lulu went to a banquet or attended a reception, she never left him a message.

So Shui Jiu always hoped that maybe the situation would not be so bad.He got up again in the middle of the night and stood alone on the terrace with his clothes on.The sky outside is always so dim, and even the big and round moon looks dim under the neon lights.

The moonlight was pale, and the moon seemed to be cut out of paper.And the cement ground looks cold under the moonlight, which always makes people afraid.

It's a night of mixed characters and something always lurking in the dark.

Shui Jiu looked at the sky, counted the time, and found that it was three or four o'clock in the morning, and Lu Lu hadn't returned all night.I don't know whether it was a custom to go to the banquet, or to go out to settle accounts with Ning Jimin.

Shui Jiu waited until the sky turned white and did not wait for Lulu. She was sleepy for a while when she returned to the house, when suddenly her heart twitched and she woke up inexplicably.He sat on the head of the bed with his body half supported, gasping for breath, dense sweat oozing from his forehead and temples.He raised his hand to wipe it, but it was covered in cold sweat.

Shui Jiu waited for her mind to settle down, put on her clothes and got up, just as she walked to the terrace, there was a lot of noise in her ears.He poked his head and heard many people talking downstairs.

-"It's terrible, it turns out that there is a Miss Wu living in our building."

"Oh, if you want me to say, Miss Wu is fine, but I am!" An aunt in a patched shirt held a laundry basket in her right hand, spat all over the place, and spat in the street viciously. He scolded: "This little cousin is going to collude with thieves to do that kind of shady business. This is good, and the people in our whole building will be interrogated door-to-door."

Shui Jiu turned pale with shock, and hurriedly looked into the distance carefully.Sure enough, a group of yamen soldiers with guns came from the direction of the vegetable market, and everyone looked at them as strangers.

Probably really came to search.

Those neighbors who were discussing in Eryuan saw the officers and soldiers coming, coaxed them, and scattered like birds and beasts.

Shui Jiu hurriedly closed the door with a bang!Shui Jiu was startled by the sound of closing the door, her brows twitched, her heart trembling with fear.

He subconsciously turned his head to look at the apartment rented by Lulu, a popular dancer from Paramount. There were only two compartments, separated by a floral curtain in the middle. Even the narrow hallway was full of women's miscellaneous items.High-heeled leather shoes were thrown everywhere, and a cheongsam that smelled of alcohol hadn't been washed overnight.

Shui Jiu thought about it, pressed the corners of her eyes that were throbbing like cramps, and felt that this day was going to be really bad.If something really happened to Lulu, those soldiers would definitely come in and search the house. In such a small apartment building, they can search everything within three to five minutes.When the time comes, he won't even have a place to hide.To make matters worse, he wasn't sure if Lulu had been caught, and if she had been caught, how much had she confessed?How should he answer the confession with Lulu?

No, no, he had to find a way to get out.

It's just that he is hiding in this apartment now, and he really has no way to go to heaven and no way to go down to earth.

22, 22

◎"Please see him for the last time"◎

By the time the sound of ruffled soldier boots going up the stairs hit Shui Jiu's floor, the room was already quiet and there was no one there.

A few soldiers kicked open the door of the apartment, only to see a dazzling array of things inside, rose ointment, rouge and powder lying scattered in front of the dressing table, and a few confiscated women's underwear and floral cheongsam hanging on the balcony.The first soldier who entered the door almost stumbled, lowered his head to look, but there was a pair of bright white high-heeled leather shoes where he entered.

"Here's the shoe. Where's the woman who lived with the suspect?"

The soldiers searched everywhere, but they couldn't find any trace of the second woman who lived in this house besides Lulu.A soldier carried a gun to the entrance of the corridor, and saw a man in a moon-white gown with a crew cut leisurely walking out from the public washroom. He looked very familiar.

The soldier couldn't help but let out a gasp.

Two more soldiers poked their heads out to look, and one of them, who was used to listening to dramas and praising his role, recognized him instantly. "Ouch, isn't this Boss Shui whom I haven't seen for a long time? Boss Shui, why are you here?"

With a click, the soldier walking at the front held the gun in his arms and pulled the bolt.

Shui Jiu brushed the folds of the long gown in a calm manner, and said calmly, "No, I just happened to go out for a while to avoid disaster. And it just so happened that I passed by here today, and I wanted to come here to take a toilet by the way."

Shui Jiu showed a deep smile as he spoke, a smile that all men understand.

Sure enough, the soldier who recognized Shui Jiu also laughed.As soon as he laughed out loud, he immediately felt something was wrong, and adjusted his expression again.

The soldier walking at the forefront turned his head, put his gun on his shoulder, and pursed his lips. "Shanzi, do you recognize this person?"

"This is Boss Shui who sang "Legend of the White Snake"! He is a well-known figure." The soldier nicknamed "Shan Zai" is an old fan of Shui Jiu. flat.Surprised and unconvinced, how could there be people in this world who don't know who Boss Shui is? !

"The "Legend of the White Snake" sung by Boss Shui is very popular in our northern Hebei. It went out of the south of the Yangtze River and reached the border of Jingxi Prefecture in the north. Many people know that Boss Shui sang Bai Suzhen. Tsk tsk, that’s called a song. Absolutely!" Shuanzi said triumphantly and raised his thumbs up, as if the person who sang Bai Suzhen's popularity all over the country was not Shui Jiu, but him. "Boss Shui, the pillar of Desheng's team!"

Shui Jiu lowered her eyelids and cupped her hands with a smile. "Thank you, Lord, for your love."

The soldier in the lead let out a long oh, then pouted again and asked Shui Jiu. "Then why doesn't Boss Shui go on stage to sing, but hides in this small corner instead?"

"Ah, because I offended you a few days ago