Red plums reflect youth

Chapter 90

The three of them paid homage to Wanru, and walked together on Qingshi Mo on the outskirts of the city.Both Ziqing and Chuxiang remained silent, walking with one foot slipping and focusing on the other.

The wind does not blow the face cold; the rain makes the clothes wet.But this atmosphere condensed into frost and turned into ice.

Liu Qiaoyang had no choice but to break the ice: "Chuxiang, is your adoptive father and mother's home in front? You live here these days? Is the old man in good health?"

Chu Xiang pondered for a moment, then said quietly: "I don't have adoptive parents, I grew up with the old man and grandmother of the He family. They passed away peacefully a few years ago, and now, I am the only one left there. Some mother's relics, I thought you might want to see them."

"Yes." Ziqing replied softly.

As he spoke, he had already arrived at a small farmyard.At this time, it was getting late, and only a three-room bluestone brick and tile house could be vaguely seen in the courtyard, lonely in the lingering rain.

Chu Xiang pushed open the tent door, led the two into the main room, led the candlesticks to put on the table, then lifted the curtain and entered the inner room.

Ziqing sat alone at the table, looking at the trembling candle flames blown by the faint wind, her heart also trembled slightly.

Liu Qiaoyang looked at the small house. Although it was old, it was kept spotless, and the simple furniture was neatly arranged.There is still a book on the table, it is a collection of poems, the corners of the book are slightly damaged, as if left by frequent flipping.

Liu Qiaoyang couldn't help but think of the poems and songs that Chuxiang often uttered when he was drinking with him, they were not even a little bit obscene.At that time, I also loved his unsullied integrity, so I was willing to help him with money.

Alas...it's really a trick of the world.

At this time, Chuxiang came out with a small wooden box and put it solemnly on the table. After cutting the lights, she reached out to open the box and took out some things from inside.

"This is Mother's pendant." Ziqing looked over, and saw that it was a dark red agate, like a teardrop with rouge, glowing faintly in the candlelight.

Chuxiang handed the pendant to Ziqing, and said in a low voice: "The old man of the He family was once favored by the royal family. Fortunately, the Wang family was not implicated when the whole family was ransacked. After the accident, my mother secretly carried me to ask the old man to adopt me. The old man felt sorry for my mother." , and feeling grateful for the kindness of the royal family, he insisted on pulling me up with a half-disabled body."

"When I was young, I only thought of them as my grandparents, and always asked where their parents were. Every time at this time, He Bo would sigh and shake his head. Grandma He was in tears, touching me and pointing at my neck. The pendant hanging said, your mother will live in it, and when you grow up and understand, you will be able to see her."

Ziqing remained silent, just staring at the pendant in a daze.Liu Qiaoyang didn't want to interrupt Chuxiang, and just waited for Chuxiang to continue.Outside the window, the night was dark and the wind and rain were desolate.

"When I was young, I was playing outside the house. Occasionally, I would find a beautiful woman looking at me from a distance. But once I looked at her, she would pretend to look at the mountains and waters as if nothing had happened. But I know she is looking at me, I am very sure, children are the best at exposing the poor acting skills of adults. But at that time, I thought she was a bad person, and I hated her indescribably, and when I realized that she was looking at me, I ran into the house I didn't let her see it. I didn't tell the old man of the He family, it was just a secret hidden in the young man's heart. If... I knew she was my mother at that time, I would definitely stand outside and let her see it. Let her see." Chuxiang was slightly agitated, and there was a slight sadness in her words, she turned her head to look at Ziqing, and asked softly, "Has mother visited you?"

Ziqing shook her head, leaning to one side, as if shrunk into the shadows, feeling aggrieved like an unattended child.

"Perhaps, she knew that you were very happy in Liu's house, so she was relieved to let you stay there. Or maybe, she had been there, but you didn't find out." Chu Xiang was a little hesitant.

Liu Qiaoyang quickly echoed: "Yes, yes, that must be the case. Your mother definitely came here secretly. Seeing you running behind me happily, I just want you to be the second son of the Liu family with peace of mind." After finishing speaking, he asked Chu again. Xiang: "But why didn't she dare to recognize you? Do you know the reason?"

At this moment, resentment appeared on Chuxiang's face: "It's all that hateful Zhang Nansu! That despicable and shameless guy! Mother is afraid that he will hurt me, so she dare not recognize me."

Ziqing's eyelashes trembled slightly: "Zhang Nansu... seems to love mother very much, I remember Wan'er said that he would go to worship on mother's memorial day every year, and turned his thoughts into a song, which Wan'er often sang. "

"Hahaha." Chuxiang laughed immediately when she heard the words: "Do you think that is love? Lock up the person you love, prevent her from contacting the outside world, come out occasionally, and stay by her side every step of the way. It's like guarding a prisoner." Prevent her from escaping, abuse her body, her heart!"

how could this be?Ziqing's heart ached.Liu Qiaoyang was startled. He still deeply remembered that day in the guest room of Linglongzhai, talking about Zhang Nansu's sad and painful expression when talking about Wanru, he asked, "How did you know?"

Chuxiang's eyes dimmed, she took out a stack of letters from the box, and said sadly: "When I was 11 years old, my mother was pregnant with Zhang Nansu's flesh and blood, in despair, she sneaked here and handed these letters to The old man of the He family also left behind the money she secretly saved for the old man to send me to a private school. At the end of the letter, she said that she did not want to leave behind the evil seed, and was determined to commit suicide by drinking poison. It must have been discovered by Zhang Nansu later and forced her After giving birth to a child, she herself was exhausted physically and mentally, and died of blood collapse."

After handing the letter to Ziqing, Chu Xiang said sadly: "But at that time, I didn't know anything. At the age of 16, Grandma He passed away, and He Bo felt that he was dying, so he gave me these letters. He told me about my life experience. Only then did I know why my grandfather’s surname is He, but my name is Wang Zhichu.”

Ziqing took a deep breath, and took the letter. The handwriting was beautiful and neat, but the content was jumbled and scattered.It seems that the person who wrote the letter was in a very bad mental state at that time.

After reading this messy letter without knowing what was said, Ziqing already knew that everything Wang Zhichu said was true.In the last few years of my mother's life, my life was not happy, but miserable.Thinking of this, the tears I had endured for a long time finally burst into floods, and the handwriting on the letter gradually became blurred.

But Liu Qiaoyang's heart was full of anger. Naturally, he hated that Zhang Nansu's abomination, not only framed the Wang family, but also treated Ziqing's mother like this.

With tears in his eyes, Wang Zhichu said sadly: "I read this letter over and over again, and I also secretly asked people, and searched for clues about what happened at the beginning from other people's words, and compared the scattered information revealed in the letter, I added some of my own. Speculation, and finally know the whole story."

Liu Qiaoyang tightly held the hand of Ziqing, who was streaming down tears, and nodded to Wang Zhichu, motioning him to continue talking.

"My mother's surname is Shen, and she was originally the most beloved daughter of Jiangnan Shenyuan. Once my father went south to Jiangnan, it was one spring, on the shore of the West Lake, the wind was warm and the sun was warm, and the two met and knew each other. Unfortunately, my father already had a family. , and heirs. The Shen family is in Jiangnan's wealthy family, so how could they marry their own daughter to someone else? What's more, Niang already had a marriage contract with another wealthy family."

"Father and mother met each other late, but they had no choice but to separate. Later, when father returned to Pingyang, on the way back, he suddenly discovered that mother was secretly hiding on the boat on his return trip, and she followed him."

"When I arrived in Pingyang, I was afraid that I would disgrace the Shen family's lintel. My mother never mentioned her family background, she only said that she was an orphan. The Wang family disliked her humble background, and Mrs. Wang obstructed her, so they refused to let her enter the Wang family's house. Father is outside the house. A house was taken care of by He Bo and He Nai, and the mother did not compete for fame, and followed her father for no reason, and had children for him. Unfortunately, it is a shame to say such things, so outsiders don't know about you and me exist."

"Father was first imprisoned for the crime of forming a party, which was already a felony, and his life was in danger. Later, when Yang Tingzhi's incident was revealed, father's crime was added to the crime, and his family was murdered. Fortunately, no one except the Wang family knew about mother's existence. , father asked mother to take the child back to her mother's house to take refuge, but at that time, for some reason, the Shen family was suddenly wiped out. Moreover, mother loved father deeply and was determined not to leave. Entrust you and me to each other, and plan on your own. Follow daddy."

"Unexpectedly, Zhang Nansu, who investigated the Wang family, fell in love with him, and took his mother as his own. My mother wanted to die many times, but was insulted by him. I couldn't escape, I couldn't die, so I had to miss my father every day and support myself Don't go crazy."

Hearing this, Liu Qiaoyang pondered for a moment, and couldn't help asking: "Then your mother, did you reveal in the letter how the Wang family was framed? The Zhang family was the one who framed it at the beginning. She has been in the Zhang family for so many years, and she must know about it." Some beginning and end."

Wang Zhichu nodded and continued to say sadly:

"After my mother followed my father, the Shen family gave the family treasure, Wu Nianzi's vase, to the Wang family. The Wang family only thought that the Shen family wanted to win them over, but they didn't know that the vase was the dowry my grandfather had promised to my mother. Only then did my mother know It turns out that my grandfather has already forgiven my mother."

"Because there is an authentic work of Wu Nianzi on that vase, the Wang family cherishes it very much, and they don't know how to leak it. Even the emperor knows that the Wang family has a treasure."

"But later, the vase suddenly disappeared, and later, for no reason, the vase came to the home of Qin Hui, the commander of the Yulin Army at that time, and the former emperor concluded that his father had colluded with Qin Hui."

"But Mother knew that it wasn't like that at all. The missing vase was in Mother's hands. It was Father who gave the vase to Mother, because Father knew Mother's longing for Shen Yuan, and also because of his longing for Mother. Guilty. But the vase in Qin Hui's house is another one. That vase...was originally a pair, and although they were made exactly the same, their respective seals were symmetrical."

"It's actually a couple!" Liu Qiaoyang couldn't help being surprised and said, "Then your mother knew from the beginning that the Wang family was framed."

"When my mother visited my father in prison, she asked him what he meant. She wanted to take out the vase in her hand as a testimony, and compare it with the confiscated vase. Wouldn't the truth be revealed?"

"Unexpectedly, father smiled wryly and shook his head, and said to mother, this is just the beginning, and the Wang family is doomed. If mother appears rashly, it may endanger our lives, so it is better to leave some blood for the Wang family. Sure enough, later Because of Yang Tingzhi's crime of treason, he was punished and beheaded."

Liu Qiaoyang sighed after hearing this: "I didn't expect the court's power struggle to reach such a point." He looked at Ziqing and Wang Zhichu with pity: "Wang Chenfeng had already expected this catastrophe, and fortunately he saved you."

The tears on Ziqing's face were dry, and he sat there in a daze, not saying a word.

Wang Zhichu said angrily: "But...why? Why is this? Dad has worked hard for the people all his life, but he ended up like this! And mother was insulted by that Zhang!!"

Liu Qiaoyang's eyelids twitched, and then he said clearly: "So you joined the Gale Wind Hall, and Fu Yongbin...in fact, to avenge the family."

Wang Zhichu didn't answer, but his eyes shot out resentment and coldness.

Knowing that he didn't want to mention his embarrassing past, Liu Qiaoyang sighed slightly.

At this time, Ziqing suddenly panicked: "No! Wan'er! I want to save him, I'm going to save him! I can't let Zhang Nansu harm him!"