The wife of two taels of silver

The Hero Village was not originally called the Hero Village. After a hero emerged from it, the founding emperor of the Kang Dynasty personally named it the Hero Village. At the beginning of the Kang Dynasty, the border was in turmoil. The Hero Village produced a general with great talent and strategy who stabilized the situation at the time. The emperor was very pleased and the small village also benefited from it.

After arriving at the village, Lin Haitang and Gu An stopped riding their horses and walked along the road, leading their horses. They asked an old woman who was sewing shoe soles, "Grandma, do you know how to get to You Dacai's house?"

The old lady was very old. She stretched her neck, squinted her eyes and looked at the two people in front of her. She said in a hoarse voice, "Dacai's house, right next door."

After expressing their gratitude, Lin Haitang and Gu An went straight to the door of the next yard and started knocking.

There were three knocks, and Gu An called out, "Is anyone home?"

It was quiet inside and no one responded.

Gu An increased his strength and shouted again: "Is anyone home?"

This time, there was finally some slight movement.

After a moment, an old voice came: "Who is it?"

Gu An and Lin Haitang looked at each other and saw a bad premonition in each other's eyes.

Soon after, the door was opened from the inside, and an old man in his sixties asked: "Who are you looking for?"

You Dacai looked at the two young men at the door. Their clothes were made of fine material and their demeanor was extraordinary. He was very sure that he did not recognize them. "Did you come to the wrong door?"

Lin Haitang cleared his throat and said, "Uncle, we are looking for You Dacai. Is he home?"

You Dacai was even more confused and said, "I am You Dacai."

Silence lingered between Lin Haitang and Gu An.

Lin Haitang's heart finally cleared up. She swallowed hard, closed her eyes, and said, "Master, were you a handyman at Qingyang Academy before?"

You Dacai hunched his back, his mouth tightly shut. He put his hands behind his back and turned to walk into the house, saying, "Come in, and don't forget to close the door."

Lin Haitang and Gu An followed in, with Gu An walking at the end and closing the door.

You Dacai sat on a stool, poured a cup of coarse tea for the two uninvited guests, and said, "I work as a handyman at Qingyang Academy. I'm the gatekeeper."

"No other place would accept an old man like me. Only Qingyang Academy would. They are kind and took pity on me, an old fellow, so they let me guard the gate there."

You Dacai spoke slowly. He took a sip of tea and said, "You are here to ask about the fire, right? I will tell you everything I know."

That day, You Dacai sat in a shabby but sturdy chair as usual, watching the gate, holding a palm-leaf fan and fanning himself leisurely.

There happened to be a big sycamore tree here, which was quite old and had lush branches and leaves. You Da realized that he was sitting in the shade of the tree.

Not long after, just before noon, a servant came to You Dacai and said, "Hey, old brother, come on, I'll take you to eat something good."

You Dacai shook his head and said, "Oh, that won't do. Can't you see I'm working? They don't despise me, an old man, and they've given me a salary. I must do a good job for them."

The servant smiled and shook his head, then patted You Dacai's belly with a palm-leaf fan and said, "Look at what you've said. It's almost dinner time now, and you should eat anyway. It won't delay your work."

After a few rounds of persuasion, You Da was finally persuaded. Seeing that the time was really about right, he followed the servant and left.

The two of them didn't go far, they just went to the kitchen of the academy.

The kitchen is where teachers and servants cook, and many people come and go without any restrictions.

The servant let You Dacai eat the roast chicken and roast duck he brought from Zuixianlou.

"Well, I followed a rich young master to Zuixianlou to work as a servant. He ordered a large table of dishes, but he only ate a few bites and left many dishes untouched. I felt it was a pity, so I asked the young master for a favor and let me take the leftovers out."

The servant described it vividly. He pulled off a chicken leg and stuffed it into You Dacai's hand, saying, "Brother, eat quickly. These chicken and duck have not been touched at all. Smell the aroma. Oh, they are so delicious."

You Dacai was also very happy. He took a bite of the chicken leg and said, "Boy, you still think of an old man like me. I really don't know how to thank you."

"Hey, what are you thanking me for, brother? You always bring me food." The servant waved his hand and grabbed a chicken leg and started eating.

The two of them chatted happily, and their faces were greasy with the food.

However, not long after, the two heard someone outside shouting, "Fire! Fire! Run! It's on fire!"

The two men were startled and dropped the duck and chicken in their hands and tried to run out, but You Dacai was very old and could not run fast, so the servant immediately picked You Dacai up on his back and ran out quickly.

As soon as they came out, the two men found that the lecture halls had become a purgatory, all surrounded by fire. People kept running out of the lecture hall doors. Some of them had fire on their bodies and were screaming and running forward with their teeth and claws bared, as if they were dancing some strange sacrificial dance.

Fortunately, the servant was quite strong, in his forties, and he ran very fast, taking Youda with him.

You Dacai watched the fire devour the house and the people. He slapped himself in regret: "It's all my fault! It's all my fault! I shouldn't have been lazy!"

Looking at the person who was burned alive and screaming miserably, You Dacai started to run inside.

But he was stopped by the people around him: "What are you doing?! Do you want to die?"

"I want to save people! I want to save people!" You Dacai kept slapping his thigh.

An old lady grabbed You Dacai tightly and snarled, "You can't save anyone! You're even risking your own life! You might as well get some water and put out the fire!"

This lady is a vegetable vendor who is selling vegetables at the stall nearby.

Only then did Youda start to help people carry water to put out the fire.

Snap──

The teacup made a soft thud as it was placed on the table. Yu Da only then remembered the tragic scene. His eyes flushed as he shook his head. "That's all I know. Are you investigating the cause of the fire? If you have, could you please tell me, an old man?"

Lin Haitang looked at the regretful old man, nodded, and said, "Okay, old man, who was the servant who called you out to eat?"

You Dacai placed his cracked palms on the table and said, "It's Hu Yong."

That’s right, Hu Yong is another servant who survived the Dali Temple Prison.

Lin Haitang and Gu An left Yingxiong Village and went to Hujia Village where Hu Yong's family lived.

Gu An hugged Lin Haitang in front of him, and with a command, "Gee!", the horse under him began to gallop.

"Hu Yong is highly suspicious." Gu An leaned over and whispered in Lin Haitang's ear.

Lin Haitang nodded and said, "When we meet him, we might be close to the truth."

The voices of the two people talking vanished in the rapidly receding air, and the horses' hooves stomped heavily across the ground, galloping forward.

Similarly, after arriving at Hujia Village, Lin Haitang asked someone for directions. Coincidentally, the first person he asked was Hu Yong's mother.

Hu Yong's mother was accompanied by a timid little boy, about six or seven years old.

The old lady said, "What do you want from my Ah Yong? He has been away from home for several days, and I don't know where he is."

Lin Haitang and Gu An's brows furrowed instantly. Lin Haitang asked, "Hu Yong is gone? Auntie, when did Hu Yong leave home?"

The old lady held her grandson's hand, her eyes lost in thought as she murmured, "Oh... How many days has Ayong been gone? Hiss... It must have been five or six days. I don't know where this kid has gone. There's no one to fetch water for our house..."

Lin Haitang smiled slightly and quietly pulled Gu An with her right hand: "Auntie, we are friends of Hu Yong. We used to work together in a wealthy family. Your water tank is out of water, right? It's okay, let my husband fetch you a tank of water!"

The old lady waved her hands repeatedly and said, "That won't do. That won't do. Guests are guests. It's not right to ask guests to carry water."

Lin Haitang laughed heartily, and like a host, she brought out two small stools and said, "It's okay, Auntie. We have a good relationship with Hu Yong, so fetching water for you is no big deal!"

The old lady was so happy with Lin Haitang's coaxing that she smiled brightly. She pulled her grandson to sit on her lap and said, "Oh, thank you so much. I feel relieved that Ayong has friends like you."

Lin Haitang didn't understand the old lady's train of thought. She glanced at the dirty child and said, "Is this Brother Hu Yong's child? How old is he?"

The old lady sighed and said, "This is Qiang'er, Ayong's only son."

Lin Haitang remained silent, listening quietly to the old lady. "Ayong has a miserable life. He married two wives. The first wife stayed at home for five years and died of illness before she gave birth to a child. The second wife didn't give birth to Qiang Ge'er until the fourth year, but she also died of illness before Qiang Ge was even three years old."

"Now the rumor is that Hu Yong is unmarried and has never been able to marry again," the old lady said with a bitter look on her face. She shook her head, and suddenly a trace of relief appeared on her face: "But our Ayong is strong and willing to work as a handyman for those rich families. He has saved some money over the years. Just a few days ago, he gave me a full twenty taels of silver!"

Lin Haitang was now even more certain that Hu Yong was related to the fire.

For an ordinary wealthy family, having three taels of silver every month is a great thing, not to mention that Hu Yong is just a peripheral servant who does odd jobs everywhere. It is impossible for him to come up with twenty taels of silver at once.

Lin Haitang's eyes flashed, and she pretended to be surprised: "Really? That's twenty taels. Brother Hu Yong is so filial. Auntie, you gave birth to a good son."

The old lady smiled so hard that her toothless gums were exposed. She said, "Our Ayong is so filial. He treats his two wives very well. He never lets them do any work."

Lin Haitang didn't know why the old lady suddenly brought up this topic. She smiled and said, "Really?" Then she asked, "Auntie, did Brother Hu Yong tell you where he went?"

The old lady shook her head and said, "Ayong is very stubborn. He never tells me what he wants to do. This time, he left in the middle of the night. He just knocked on the door and told me, but when I woke up, he was gone."

Lin Haitang nodded thoughtfully: "Is that so."

Lin Haitang was so focused on Hu Yong that she didn't even notice the old lady nodding her head. She was looking at her as if she wanted to see another item.

"Girl." Lin Haitang heard the old lady's voice, turned her head and found that the old lady was smiling, but she always felt something was wrong.

"Would you like to be my son's Ayong's wife?" The old lady came closer, looked at Gu An's back as he left with his empty load, and said, "I think this man has no strength, and he's definitely not as healthy as my son. I guarantee that he will hold you and serve you well. If you don't miss him, you won't be able to fart even if you hit him with three sticks."

From the moment they entered the door until now, it was Lin Haitang who was talking all the time, and Gu An didn't say a word.

"Neither of my two daughters-in-law was dissatisfied with my son's performance tonight. If you become my daughter-in-law, I guarantee you will love her very much!" The old lady tried hard to encourage Lin Haitang. She was obviously very satisfied with Lin Haitang and wanted her to be her daughter-in-law very much.

Lin Haitang's face turned cold instantly. Looking at the two remaining yellow teeth of the old woman, whose breath was foul even without her saying a word, she felt a little nauseous.

Lin Haitang stood up, stared at the old woman for a few seconds, smiled coldly, and said, "Old hag, you're really tired of living."

The old woman was so angry that she trembled instantly. She hugged her grandson tightly and pointed at Lin Haitang and said, "You little bitch, you are really rebellious!"

Lin Haitang said nothing. She looked around and saw a medium-sized stone at the door. She ran over, picked it up, and walked over with a sarcastic look on her face while holding the stone.

Staring at the old woman, he walked towards her step by step.

The old woman was so frightened that she screamed, "Help! Murder!"

In order to protect herself, the old woman grabbed her grandson's collar and blocked him in front of her, backing away slowly.

When Lin Haitang was about to walk up to the old woman, she suddenly turned and walked towards the water tank. Gu An had already filled half of the tank with water. The water surface was shaking slightly, making Lin Haitang's shadow a little distorted.

Lin Haitang took a step back, raised the stone in his hand, gritted his teeth, and threw the stone out.

"boom!"

The stone hit the belly of the jar with a loud noise.

The jar didn't break the first time, so Lin Haitang picked up a stone and hit it a second time. This time, the jar cracked and the water inside flowed out instantly.

The soles of Lin Haitang's shoes were dyed.

"Ah! My water tank! You have to pay for it!" The old woman stood up and yelled, putting her hands on her hips and started cursing in a very unpleasant way.

Lin Haitang's temples were throbbing wildly. She had been in a bad mood these days, and this old woman had really walked into her trap.