good season

Chapter 110: Young Master Cui's Escape (Two chapters combined into one)

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Don't get tired, old man. I'll get the knife for you."

"Who is this person?"

As they were talking, the others dismounted and gathered around.

Shen Guanyue exclaimed: "Mr. Cui?"

Zhao Shiqing was startled and asked, "Is this Mr. Cui? Alive?"

Shen Guanyue nodded. He was present at the trial that day. Young Master Cui was not an ordinary guy who could be lost in a crowd. Besides, Young Master Cui was in a dishevel when he ran out of the brothel that day. And Young Master Cui who was hiding in the carriage today was also in a dishevel. Shen Guanyue recognized him at the first sight.

The young man who was held hostage by Zhen Wuduo, became like a deflated ball after hearing the three words "Young Master Cui". He had no strength left and was carried out of the carriage by a guard like a chicken.

Zhao Shiqing looked Zhen Wuduo up and down: "Grandpa, are you okay?"

The old man stuffed the dagger into his boot and said complacently: "I have seen all kinds of evil spirits, let alone this little thief. Even if there were ten or eight of them, I wouldn't be afraid."

Zhao Shiqing said angrily: "You are awesome, you are the best. Fortunately, I met a weak boy this time. If I really met a desperate criminal, I would be without a grandfather."

The old man was in the wrong. Based on his experience, he found someone in the car as soon as he got in. He could have gotten off immediately or informed others, but he just wanted to show off in front of his granddaughter. As a result, the thief was caught and he was blamed by his granddaughter.

"Hey, my dear granddaughter, don't be angry. Grandpa has changed. I won't dare to do it again next time. I really won't dare to do it again."

The group continued on their journey. Young Master Cui was tied up and gagged and thrown into the carriage. The old man volunteered to be the guard.

After walking for another hour, the group arrived at Zhuxitang.

Instead of entering the village, Zhao Shiqing went directly to the cemetery. He paid homage to his grandparents, his father and his mother. He also took some gold ingots to burn at the tomb of old doctor Yang, and talked a lot with his grandma and mother.

When they left the cemetery, it was already late. If they hurried on, they might miss their place in the evening, so they decided to stay in Zhuxitang for one night and continue their journey tomorrow morning.

The Meng brothers were overjoyed to see them come back, and Zhao Shiqing was also very satisfied to see that the small courtyard was tidied up.

The beddings in the room were bought last time. While there was still sunshine, Lingbo and Xiuxiu took the beddings to the yard to dry in the sun. Then they put a hot water bottle in the room at night and it would be very comfortable.

Zhao Shiqing took advantage of this time and, together with Shen Guanyue, took Young Master Cui into an empty house.

Shen Guanyue first untied Cui Sanshao, and then took the cloth out of his mouth. Cui Sanshao was able to speak, and immediately said: "I have no ill intentions, really!"

Zhao Shiqing asked, "I believe you have no ill intentions, but do you know why you were in our carriage? You almost scared my grandfather."

Cui Sanshao: Your grandpa? The fierce old man who always carries a knife? Would he scare people? Thank goodness he doesn't scare people.

"I don't know whose carriage this is. I just want to leave Luzhou City. The farther away the better. The carriage can go faster."

Shen Guanyue: "Yes, if you are recognized, you will be sent back to the Cui family. You are worth 50,000 taels of silver now."

Cui Sanshao's face changed drastically, and he asked nervously, "Do you think so too? Are you planning to send me back too?"

Zhao Shiqing smiled: "Yes, that's what we think. That's 50,000 taels. I've never seen 50,000 taels in my life."

Young Master Cui clenched his fists and said, "It's useless. I tell you the truth. The Cui family can't afford 50,000 taels. They are just bluffing and want everyone to think that they care about me and want to find me."

Zhao Shiqing nodded: "Yes, I know."

Cui Sanshao was stunned: "You know?"

Zhao Shiqing continued to nod: "Yes, I know, but what does it matter? I don't care whether the Cui family has 50,000 taels or not. Before sending you to the Cui family, I will beat gongs and drums to let everyone in the city know about this. Then, I will send you to the Cui family in front of everyone. By the way, I will report you to the officials and let them do justice.

It doesn't matter if the Cui family can't come up with 50,000 taels at once. I'm a very easy-going person. If you give me 5,000 taels, I'll be satisfied. The important thing is to send you home so that your family can be reunited!"

Master Cui's face became paler and paler. He knew that the little girl in front of him had hit the nail on the head.

The Cui family wanted to save face, but because of the relationship with the prince, they didn't want to offend their parents, so the girl mobilized a large force to send him back. The Cui family couldn't afford 50,000 taels, but they had 5,000 taels. Besides, the girl had already said that she would be satisfied if she was given 5,000 taels.

"Please, don't send me back, please." Young Master Cui moved his lips and finally squeezed out a few words.

Zhao Shiqing looked at Shen Guanyue: "Are we easy to talk to?"

Shen Guanyue: "Of course not."

Zhao Shiqing: "Are we short of money?"

Shen Guanyue: “Lack of money.”

Zhao Shiqing grinned at Master Cui: "Did you hear that? It's no use begging me!"

Young Master Cui was almost in despair. These people were skilled in martial arts, and even the most harmless-looking old man was carrying a knife. What should he do? Could he still escape?
"What do you have to do to let me go?"

Zhao Shiqing: "Tell me your story. I love listening to stories. If you tell it well, I'll be happy and maybe let you go. But if you're talking nonsense, Guanyue, what should we do?"

Shen Guanyue: "Of course, they sent him back to the Cui family in a sedan chair!"

Young Master Cui was on the verge of tears. A young boy of thirteen or fourteen years old, he had finally escaped from the tiger's mouth, only to find himself in a wolf's den. He didn't know what to do.

"Don't you want to hear a story? Well, I'll tell you, I wasn't the one who did the bad thing, so I have a clear conscience."

When Zhao Shiqing heard him say he wanted to tell a story, he immediately shouted towards the door: "Grandpa, Loach, Xiuxiu, Lingbo, come and listen to the story——"

Cui San Shao.
After a while, old and young, they sat in a row, eating melon seeds, waiting to listen to stories.

Mr. Cui. What kind of people did he meet?

Zhao Shiqing: "Let's start..."

Young Master Cui was a little embarrassed, but in order to avoid being sent back, he still went on with his story.

That day, he escaped from the brothel and went to the government office to sue Mr. Lou and the brothel.

Then, an astonishing scene happened. His uncle, Mr. Cui, beat Mr. Lou in court.

In everyone's eyes, Master Cui was eager to protect his nephew, so he hit him. But in fact, this was not the case.

Due to insufficient evidence, Mr. Lou was beaten again. Therefore, the two defendants were not imprisoned and returned to their homes. Young Master Cui was also taken back to the Cui Mansion by Master Cui.

The Cui family has five branches, and these five branches have not yet split up, and all live in the Cui Mansion.

Young Master Cui is from the second branch of the family, and his father is Old Master Cui II.

The Cui family produced two Jinshi in this generation, one was from a side branch, and the other was the second master Cui.

Although Master Cui Er was a Jinshi, his official career was not smooth over the years. He was not very lucky. He served as a county magistrate twice, but had no political achievements and many faults. Therefore, Master Cui Er was almost forty years old and was still a seventh-rank official. He was not promoted as fast as the one from the side branch.

Although his official position was not high, Mr. Cui Er had spent a lot of money over the years. Moreover, if he had not bribed people from all levels, he would have been demoted to the bottom long ago due to his faults. Of course, he is at the bottom now.

But no matter what, the money was spent and the official position was kept.

But it is also because of this reason that over the years, the other four branches of the Cui family have been quite critical of their second branch, complaining about it both openly and secretly.

The Third Master Cui is the only legitimate son of the second wife, and the Second Wife Cui only gave birth to him as a child.

Master Cui Er had been so nervous about being an official in recent years that he had no time to take care of his wife and children. Therefore, when Master Cui San was fourteen years old, Master Cui Er did not take them to the office. The one who stayed with Master Cui Er was Aunt Wang. Aunt Wang had served Master Cui Er for more than ten years and gave birth to two sons and two daughters. The Fourth Master was only three months younger than Master Cui San, and the youngest, the Ninth Master, had just turned one year old.

The fourth young master Cui was sent back to the Cui Mansion when he was young and was raised by the second wife. The ninth young master was still young and was still with Aunt Wang.

The Third Young Master Cui and the Fourth Young Master Cui are of similar age and grew up together. Although they are only three months apart in age, the Third Young Master Cui always gives in to his younger brother and never treats him as a bastard. The Fourth Young Master Cui is very sweet-spoken and does well in his studies, so he is loved by the old man and the old lady of the Cui family even more than the Third Young Master Cui.

The Fourth Young Master Cui also respects his biological mother, the Second Madam, and his brother, the Third Young Master Cui. Therefore, over the years, the Second House has always been a place where the mother is virtuous, the sons are filial, and the brothers are friendly and respectful.

But everything changed when Young Master Cui was brought home from the yamen by Master Cui.

That day, except for Master Cui II, several other masters gathered in Master Cui's room. After some discussion, they called Master Cui IV in, and then called Madam Cui II in.

When Mrs. Cui came out of the house, her face was pale.

Young Master Cui San was confused and asked what had happened. Mrs. Cui Er cried and told him that the old man had decided to register Young Master Cui Si under her name and would open the ancestral hall in two days to inform the ancestors. From now on, Young Master Cui Si was no longer a concubine's son, but a legitimate son.

Young Master Cui didn't think much about it and was even happy for Young Master Cui.

In the future, his younger brother will be a legitimate son like him, and will be able to find a good marriage in the future.

Although Mrs. Cui was unhappy, this was the decision of her elders. As a woman with her husband not around, what else could she do?
Besides, even if her husband was around, she would agree. After all, she hadn't seen her husband for many years, and Aunt Wang had been in office all the time.

But things are far from over, it's just the beginning.

In the next two days, even the careless Cui Sanshao discovered the problem.

He seemed to have become a marginalized person in the Cui family, no, a transparent person.

Except for the Second Wife, no one paid any attention to him. Everyone treated him as if he didn't exist. Instead, it was the Fourth Young Master Cui who was called to the study by Master Cui to ask about his homework.

However, Young Master Cui, who had never experienced any setbacks, did not take it too seriously. But on the third night, something still happened.

Before light that day, the doorman came to look for his servant Changtian and said that a neighbor of Changtian's family had come to tell him that Changtian's mother was ill and asked him to go back to see her.

When Changtian heard this, he became extremely anxious. He asked for leave from Master Cui and left the house in a hurry.

Although there were maids, Young Master Cui was not used to having maids on duty in his room at night, so when Changtian was not around, he slept alone.

But in the middle of the night, he suddenly felt short of breath and woke up abruptly.

He opened his eyes and found that he could not see anything, but he heard someone talking next to him.

"Keep applying. Young people are full of energy and vitality. You should apply at least four layers, otherwise you will not be able to die."

Young Master Cui immediately understood what was going on.

Mulberry paper, these people put mulberry paper on his face.

Born in a wealthy family, even if you have not seen the secrets of the backyard, you have heard about them.

The characteristics of mulberry paper are that it is thin, tough and has good water absorption.

Cover your face with mulberry paper and wet it with water. The paper will stick tightly to your face and the person under the paper will instantly have difficulty breathing. If you stick a few more layers on it, they will suffocate to death. Few people can survive up to five layers.

Young Master Cui was horrified. This man had already said that he would stick four layers of paper on his face until he died.

Young Master Cui wanted to resist, but found that his body could not move at all, as if his muscles were pulled and he had no strength at all.

He wanted to save himself, but he couldn't. His breathing became more and more difficult, his head felt dizzy, and finally he lost consciousness.

He woke up again in the hut of gardener Old Wu.

Only then did he realize that he was tied with stones and thrown into the lotus pond. It was already winter and there were no lotus flowers in the pond. Old Wu hid behind a tree and witnessed it all. After those people left, Old Wu jumped down and fished him out.

"Third Young Master, my youngest son fell ill last year and needed good ginseng as a medicine. It was the Third Young Master who gave me a jade pendant. I pawned it and exchanged it for silver to buy the ginseng. Without the Third Young Master, my youngest son would have died long ago. The Third Young Master is a great benefactor to our family. Old Wu, I don't know if the Third Young Master can come back to life. I just don't want the Third Young Master to stay in that mud. I want him to rest in peace."

Yes, Old Wu never expected that Young Master Cui was not dead, but was alive.

Old Wu has skills and can take care of flowers and plants. Gardeners like him are in great demand in the capital, but in Luzhou City they can only make a living.

However, he was not a born child and had not signed a death contract, so he was more relaxed, sometimes returning home once every two days, sometimes once a day.

The next day, Old Wu went home. The day after that, Old Wu did not go back. His youngest son came to Cui's house to look for him, and the Third Master Cui changed into his youngest son's clothes, followed Old Wu, and went out of the house from the back door. When the doorman at the back door saw them, he greeted them with a smile, without noticing that someone had replaced them.

In this way, Young Master Cui escaped from home. When he got outside, he found out that the Cui family had offered a reward of 50,000 yuan to find him.

The whole city was looking for him, and many people in Luzhou had seen him. Moreover, his portrait was posted on notices on the streets.

He could not move and could only hide in Old Wu's house.

He hid for a few days until he got a chance that day and joined a group of porters to leave the city. He wanted to find Master Cui Er and let his father make the decision for him. In the carriage inn, he overheard Niu Qiu and Shen Guanyue talking about Liangdi. Without thinking much, he got into the carriage.

His father was an official in Liang.